A Bone To Pick [Riyota, Medical Examination]

[Kazumi]

There were three things that were certain in a shinobi's life. Pain, death and medical examinations. It only made sense that the village would want routine inspection of its assets physical well being, even if it neglected their mental health much more often than it should. As such, it was in these exact circumstances that our unlikely hero of the Miroku clan found himself summoned to the Omni Prime Medical Facility one far too early of a morning. Unsurprising, Shinobi were not early birds, and it seemed that the jounin found himself on the short end of the stick of life once again.

Though she had no hand in this, performing these routine examinations had become one of the aspiring medical shinobi's near daily tasks. Her studies of practical medicine had been progressing steadily, but she still seemed to be almost incapable of learning some of the more nuanced techniques required in her study. As such, she had been delegated to this lovely bit of routine until she managed to progress on her basic requirements. At first it frustrated her, but before long she began to enjoy the work. It was not long after that before she began to be irritated by it once again, but not because of the work itself, but because of more of her failings that it represented.

Though this work, she was becoming more and more experienced with the strange physiology of some of the more interesting clans and bloodlines that flowed throughout the village. Skin that could harden to stone, shinobi that could control their own blood, and other stranger conditions. The medic in training was not the smartest nor the brightest, but she had an insatiable curiosity that could drag her kicking and screaming across lines that only intelligent and most driven could make their way across. It was this curiosity and determination that kept here standing patiently inside the small examination room, waiting for an all too familiar patient who she was beginning to think might not even show up. Did he even know where the hospital was?

 

[Miroku Riyota]

Riyota would've quite easily slept through his appointment if it wasn't for a very specific jutsu placed on his letter of summons. At precisely six o' clock in the morning, he would hear an extremely high-pitched wail in his head that startled him awake. Thinking nothing of it the first time, he would slowly settle back down into bed only for the noise to return far louder than previously. Looking over to the letter lying next to his bedside he groaned and ran a hand down his face. It appeared that this was to be his plan for the morning whether he liked it or not. At least that's what he finally settled on after both trying to throw away and incinerate the letter. Thus, groggy and annoyed, he made his way out of his bedroom to bathe himself and become at least somewhat presentable.

It was still quite chilly that morning as the sun hadn't yet had its chance to warm both the surface and the subterranean levels of Suna. There were a few people milling about in the streets, mostly storekeepers and labourers hoping to make an early start on their business. Riyota pulled his jacket tighter over his shoulders as he strode through the sands. He knew of the Hospital and had even seen it a few times in his life, but he had never before gone it, he hadn't needed to, at least not to his own knowledge. However, mandatory medical check-ups were becoming more and more intrusive and had proven that even he couldn't ignore them forever.

It took a few attempts and a number of people being asked for directions but eventually, he found himself at the Omni Prime Medical Facility. Taking a short moment to look over the exterior of the building he was quite surprised at the immense cleanliness of the interior. Most places in Suna were rough but functional, this place looked like it was thoroughly scrubbed in every nook and cranny with a toothbrush. The Jonin felt almost guilty that he was darkening their doorstep with his presence.

He stepped in slowly, approaching the reception desk. He placed the slightly singed letter of summons in front of the receptionist and coughed awkwardly. He waited for them to finish up some other miscellaneous business before they eventually directed him to where he needed to go.

Slowly he opened the door to the exam room, surprised to see the distinct features of his kinda maybe sorta student. He stopped for a moment and sighed, looking over the door. "I have to have the wrong room, right?" He murmured loudly to himself as he eyed the room number. It was definitely correct.

 

[Kazumi]

To say Suzume was not amused when her supposed teacher finally made his way into the examination room would be a disservice to the stark visage with which she stared at him with. "Thirty minutes," she suddenly started, reaching to the small medical bed, grabbing a thin medical gown with bland floral patterns and chucking it at the man's head. "I have been here waiting for nearly thirty minutes. You are lucky that I didn't just mark you as delinquent. That would have landed you directly on the Kage's desk." The man probably wouldn't have cared, but it technically could have been noticed by the head of the village. Shirking these evaluations of village assets, especially given the rising tensions in the country were heavily frowned upon.

"Take your clothes off, put them all in the bag here," she gestured towards a plastic bag on the bed, "put the gown on and sit here patiently. I will be back within a few minutes to begin the exam." She paused for a moment before adding, "we may need to move to another room, but I am sure you won't mind a little draft." She glared at him a little, but that quickly faded into a pleased smirk. Without listening to any of his complaints or even answering any questions, she stepped past him and shut the door behind her rather loudly.

His time with her had been much more sparse over the past few months. Often times it were due to excuses by the MiT. Usually they were reasonable, such as responsibilities at the hospital or things she had to do with her clan, but there were occasions where even Riyota could tell that she was either avoiding the training or possibly even him. He was well informed that she had been working long shifts at the hospital for quite sometime, and her own duties for the clan had grown but it was still strange. Suzume had made no obvious attempt to explain herself so far, and any questions he implications he tried to make to her were met with less than informative.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

"I'm sorry, I would've gotten here sooner. I just really didn't want to come." He chuckled as he attempted to lighten the dismal mood, likely to not much avail. He just barely caught the floral patterned projectile headed for his face as he laughed. He didn't think much of her threat but nodded as she instructed him on what to do next, not wanting to give off the impression of openly mocking her. He may have not wanted to do this, but she was clearly taking it seriously and he was going to respect that. He looked over to the location she indicated for the bag opening his mouth simply to ask "Is all this really necess-" He couldn't even finish his question before the door slammed closed behind her. He noticed the smirk but decided not to push his luck by asking more questions or not being changed by the time she returned.

He began stripping down as quickly as possible, the last thing he wanted was her storming back in whilst he had nothing on. Off came his long, brown, padded coat. Quickly followed by his undershirt, exposing fully his pale, burnt, scarred torso. He removed his one glove from his non-prosthetic left hand and tossed all three garments in the bag at once. Quickly moving on to the more dangerous area, thinking fast, he decided to throw the ugly robe over himself before stripping out of his trousers and underwear, thus protecting himself from any later awkwardness and furthermore preventing a need for a description of his lower areas.

He placed himself down on the bed and sat, waiting for his student turned doctor to return, ensuring that his gown remained at an acceptable length. He began to think about how their lessons had begun to drop in frequency, and as he waited he began to think about how she had seemed to be avoiding him. A topic that he would likely have to bring up with her later. He wanted something more definitive, less secrecy between the two, and perhaps being co-operative throughout this exam would assist with that. Even if he did feel a bit awkward having a medical examiner almost a decade his junior.

 

[Kazumi]

The medical examiner took a few minutes to walk through the halls, seeking to cool her head down as she went. There was something about seeing him that caused another flood of half-buried thoughts and emotions to spike to the surface. He had served as her teacher for quite sometime, and with her progress slowing down as much as it had seem she was feeling much more anxious than usual. Logically she should speak to him about all that had happened. The collapse of the building, the inability to sleep, the chaotic shifting of moods, the slowly diminishing ability to control chakra. It was that last one that stung the most.

When she was inducted into the Chains and was given a new body by one of the devotees, she had thought all her problems would be gone. They had, but when the building collapsed and killed all those people things had changed once again. At first she didn't think much of it, but it was hard to go a week without sleep and not notice something was amiss. She still looked the same, and was able to perform all the same feats of chakra control that she had before the incident. Over time that diminished more and more, and within the past few weeks it was difficult enough to even perform the most basic of medical techniques in triage. A fact that did not bode well for the medical shinobi training and prospects.

After a few minutes, she made her way back to his door and gave a quick knock before entering. "Now it says here that you have not had an examination for..." she read the chart and once again let out a sigh as she closed the door behind her, "multiple years." She looked up to him, the sight of him in that gown helped to soothe her irritation somewhat. "You do realize that you are supposed to do this at least twice per year, yes?" Her tone was still serious and professional, but there was a small smile creeping into her lips as she stared at him expectantly. It did not surprise her that he delegated all of this, and to see something so mundane and expected simply fall into place somehow gave her a little more comfort than she expected.

She walked closer, continuing to read over the chart as she pulled a pen from her pocket, clicked it and began to jot something down onto it. "Let us get the very basics first. Height, weight, eyesight, blood pressure and the like. Then we can move onto more unique items." She read further on the chart as she passively gestured with the board for him to make his way over towards a height/weight scale off near the far corner of the room. The charts were not exhaustive, and while she did know some of his capabilities, she knew she didn't know them all. Once he finished with the first two items, she would usher him over towards the eyesight chart. It was more demanding than the traditional civilian chart, with text near the bottom that was so tiny that each letter barely stood more than a millimeter tall. She would walk him through the chart, once with each eye and then with both, while she strapped the blood pressure band onto his free arm and multi tasked while he read.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

"Twice a year? Who has that much time?!" He questioned, surprised at how many he had missed, not that he would've attended had he the chance to go back and try again. "I've never needed to go." He explained. "I've always been a picture of health and the only medic that's cared enough to pester me about it has been you." He grumbled, clearly expressing his desire to be anywhere else at this moment. However, when she began instructing him on what he needed to do for the examination, he swiftly complied.

He walked over to the wall with the height chart on it and stood in front of it. "I feel like I'm getting my mugshot taken, make sure you get my best side." He joked as he stood up as straight as possible, his head reaching the line reading 6'2". Meanwhile, the gauge on the scale was struggling to locate an exact weight to place him at, seemingly flicking to all different numbers due to the constantly shifting metabolism of his body under the surface. It seemed weight would be indeterminable for now, not to mention the fact that Riyota was having his own fun by shifting the density of his skeleton to mess with the scales.

With a shrug, he stepped off the scales and moved opposite the eye test chart. Due to his missing right eye, there was really only one eye left to test. He focused the majority of his chakra into it, allowing it more power than normal, and began listing letter after letter perfectly. Doing the test began to slowly depress him though as he began to remember the fact that he no longer possessed either of his original eyes. Having lost his left as a child and having a new one transplanted and having only recently lost his right. His voice began to waver a tad as he reached the tiny letters, however, he did finish reading, no mistakes.

"Can I go now?" He asked impatiently.

 

[Kazumi]

"And it is a wonder that you haven't been brought up before the village for dereliction of duties." She was partly talking out of her posterior, but she did know it was a rule that was supposed to be followed. It just was not her position, especially given her position as a lowly medic-in-training, to do anything aside from report those who missed their required appointments.

When he made her way to the scales, she followed, pointedly ignoring his comments as she waited for the scales to resettle themselves. A few seconds passed and then a dozen before it was clear that something was amiss. If he turned to catch her eyes, it would become clear that she knew he was just making this needlessly difficult, she just didn't know how he was doing it. "I will just put the highest I saw on here... three-hundred and twenty-five pounds... twenty-three stones." She also proceeded to mark his height, at least he could not suddenly grow and shrink at will.

She stood behind him till the very end of his eye reading, marking something down at the very end as he finished reading. "Oh, quite the contrary, we are just getting started. Your medical history is painfully lacking, and it will not be on my shoulders to leave even a single measurement empty." It was her job, of course, but he could tell she was getting some level of enjoyment out of stringing him along. Thus the next half-hour was a blur of one annoying examination after another. Tethering him to a blood pressure cuff, testing degrees of motion for his neck and limbs, gauging lung capacity, and numerous other boring but routine examinations.

It was not all strictly boring, there were some that had some amusement value, and not just for her. She had taken him to a room that looked more like a gym than a hospital room. She gave him a quick explanation that this was to test his baseline capabilities, and that it was a more recent addition to the examination. With nearly a dozen wired patches stuck to his skin, she had him run at a full speed sprint on a specially designed treadmill, pull thick cables that were attached to adjustable weights to gauge his strength in a few different positions, and even something to measure his fortitude.

She hefted what could easily be described as a thick metal bat in her hands. "Pain resistance," she clarified when he would eventually ask about the ominous implement. "This isn't standard per-say, but for shinobi who excel at combat it is a frequent measure. Need to see that you won't break in half when someone clubs you across the head." She gave him a smirk, paused a moment and then added, "don't worry, we are all trained medical professionals here. I haven't had a fatality in this portion all week." She had never had one, of course, but there wasn't anything untrue about her statement.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

"I can fill out my medical history right now." He cleared his throat obnoxiously. "Riyota has never had any health issues in his life and continues to be functioning fine. There, I've freed up both our schedules for today." He remarked sullenly. The monotony of the tests was already getting to him, and they had barely even started.

He sat quietly as she tightened the blood pressure cuff around his arm, the device slowly gripping down on his muscular limb. The gauge ticked up once the cuff was tight as it could get '220/180' an abnormally high reading. Next was degrees of motion for his neck and limbs, due to his ability to remodel his bone structure at a whim it turned out he was able to turn his head almost 360 degrees and that his arms and legs could bend in numerous inhuman directions. Lung capacity was a different matter. She instructed him to breathe in and out, and with every exhale his breath came out strained and ragged. Something was clearly wrong with his respiratory system.

Eventually though, she lead him to an area that seemed far more at his pace. A gymnasium styled room with various pieces of equipment for more testing, at least it was more exciting than being told how to breathe. He stood patiently for once as she applied odd patches to him, wincing slightly when one was stuck onto his curse seal. He slowly stepped on to a treadmill that she had prepared and began running at the speed required to remain on. He managed it seemingly without effort, hardly breaking a sweat whilst going at top speed. After a while though he began coughing, hacking and wheezing as his strength failed and he collapsed, sliding off the treadmill onto the ground. He coughed and spluttered into his hand, the noise not pleasant for anyone. Eventually it slowed and he started to breathe ragged breaths again. He checked his hand, it was smattered in a black viscous liquid. He quickly hid it from his 'Doctor's' view. "Sorry...about that...small cold." He chuckled, trying to cover up what had just transpired.

He performed the next test without much issue, in fact, that was an understatement. He made an adjustment to the cables to be at their maximum weight, to test his own limits, as he tugged, the weights slammed hard against the top of the machine and came flying out, still hooked to the cables. He had to redirect the cable line to slam into a safe spot of the gym. Ahehe...whoops." He chuckled.

The fortitude test was probably some kind of punishment for breaking the machine. She had him suspended on a network of stretchy cables with numerous chakra-infused, super-dense weights tied to his various joints. His job was to keep all the weights suspended from his awkward position before he was forced to tap out. He made it impressively long despite the difficulty, although eventually he did have to give out. His bones were nigh unbreakable, but his muscles had limits.

After that test he took a quick moment to rest as she went to fetch the next bit of equipment. He raised an eyebrow as she returned with a thick metal bat. "What are we gonna play some Ninja Baseball? Doesn't sound like much of a test." He remarked cynically before he was swiftly corrected. She explained the 'legitimacy' of the test as he looked upon her with a dubious expression. "You've completely made this up as an excuse to hit me with a bat haven't you?" He questioned, his mind flashing to images of Azusa performing similar 'tests.'

As she came towards him, bat raised he began to speak. "Before we go any further, there's something I needed to ask-" His sentence was cut short as the bat came cracking down on his head. "Ah...jeez, with your spindly arms I wasn't expecting that much force. Anyway I-" He was cut off again, but this time not by pain, by the sound of the metal bat shattering as she swung it towards his stomach. He hadn't lowered his guard this time, and her bat had come into the full force defence of his skeleton. The vibration from the impact would have likely shaken her to the core.

"Do I win now?"

 

[Kazumi]

The examiner rolled her eyes as Riyota dictated the details of his medical history. Somehow she felt he was not the most reliable of sources on the matter. "Wonderful, thank you for the enlightening history lesson, now let us see if any of that still holds true." She didn't entirely know what to expect from the examination. He never seemed particularly unhealthy, and the fact that he seemed to heal from nearly any wound that she inflicted during their sparse training bouts certainly spoke well for his health, but she was not about to just take the man's word for it.

She was not prepared for him to practically spin his head around in a circle. Suzume managed to, for the most part, hide her shock at the inhuman gesture, knowing full well he was doing it just to spite her. Eventually she finally got to something rather interesting as she tested his lung capacity. He was breathing as poorly as a chain smoking man of twice his age, and that did not bode well for his future as a shinobi. Perhaps he was just sick at the time, or was recovering from a bad illness, but given that he was a veritable font of health, she was not sure what to ascribe it to.

She let the issue slide for the moment, but noted it down in her notes for future inquiry before she lead him off to the second stage of the examination. Things started as normal, with Riyota showing off as much as he did before. He never seemed to be the most humble of individuals, but she couldn't recall him making a distinct effort to try and show off. There were many possible reasons for this, but she quickly chalked it up to trying to make her feel silly for forcing him to go through the examination. It was actually working, for a few minutes as he blazed through the first test, but as the coughing began her mild amazement cracked and crumbled.

Nearly every part of her wanted to rush forward and help him up, try to comfort or heal him as he broke down, but she restrained herself. She was not supposed to interfere with the examinations as much as possible, and a small part of her felt a smug satisfaction at his breakdown after the demonstration he had tried to give before. So, as before, she noted down what she saw in the charts as he recovered himself. Had they been in nearly any other setting she might have been distracted enough to not notice the black liquid in his hands, but the outfit and her position gave her enough confidence to give him her undivided attention. So into the notes that went as well.

The next two tests went well for the older shinobi, although with considerable damage to expensive hospital equipment; expenses that would certainly be deducted from his stipend. His examiner marred down the results for endurance and strength and went to fetch the implement for the next part. For the next minute she ignored his words as she swung the 'testing implement' with surprising force. By the end of it, however, she looked exhausted. The bat was not all that heavy, but it was weighted towards the end, akin a mallet, and so the impact force was much higher than its form would have suggested. This taxed the young woman far more than a shinobi should have been, and by the end of it she was using it as a crutch to lean on as she caught her breath.

Feeling the stinging from the last impact still resonating within her hands, she pushed herself upright and leaned the bat against the wall, pulling the clipboard off to write down more results, her movements still sluggish and slowed. "You do not..." she took a moment to pull in a breath, "win an medical exam." She paused a few more seconds to try and regather herself back to normal. "So, you were saying something about asking something?" It was not obvious during her initial entrance, but after the small bit of exertion she had made swinging the 'medical device' at him, even he could tell that she was looking more frail and sickly than he had last seen her, as if she had not eaten or slept in days.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

He noticed her panting heavily after the conclusion of the most recent 'test' and his face began to morph from smug satisfaction to genuine concern. Suzume may not have been the elite of the elite, but she was capable and for the most part healthy. Beating Riyota with a bat should not have taken quite that much out of her. He didn't even react as she matter-of-factly informed him that there was no winning in this examination, he simply knelt down so he could speak to her face to face. Perhaps she was too old for that now, no longer a child in her own right but for the moment the Jonin did not care. "Are you sure I'm the one who needs the medical examination here?" He asked calmly. "I'm not doctor but you being easily fatigued, these bags under your eyes and the fact that I could probably poke a finger through your skin like it was paper tells me you've not been taking care of yourself." He stifled another phlegmy cough as he continued. "What's going on Suze? We can't both be dying." He smiled, trying to get a genuine answer out of her for once. Yes they had their back and forths, and she may consider him more of an annoyance than a mentor, but he genuinely cared for the young woman and as tough as she liked to act. Even she had to give away a weakness every so often. "Let's pause here so we can chat." He spoke softly, but with authority. He had no right to take control of her examination due to having no ranking as a medical shinobi, but he hoped she would at least allow him a conversation.

"Do you need some water?" He offered as he gestured for her to take a seat near him. If she responded in the affirmative he would take a few moments to fetch her a glass. Otherwise, he would be seated nearby, ready for the heart to heart we all knew was coming. He cast a glance to her "You've stopped training with me, I haven't seen you in quite a while. I'm sure hoping you've just found a better teacher and you haven't just given up." He began, stifling another few chesty coughs.

"I don't know if it's something I did, or you just weren't learning enough. Or what, but I'd grown fond of you, annoying as you are. I guess I'd just like a reason you stopped talking to me." He sighed sadly, still in a rather indignant outfit but he was working with what he had given the circumstances.

"Though to be honest I'm less concerned with why you get ties over why you're not taking care of yourself. You can't be neglecting your needs like this Suze. You should know better than that, you're the doctor here." He scolded her, still with that small dosage of Riyota-ish humour mixed in though. The two pictures of health sat there in the gymnasium as he waited for any sort of answer.

 

[Kazumi]

Even as she stood, trying to catch her breath, there was still an ember of the resistance in her eyes. She never liked being pushed around or being told what to do, compliments of her upbringing as the fragile daughter kept secure in her case of glass. So, as he started a bit of his lecture, she initially looked away with resigned defiance, but even that seemed to take more energy from her than she had to space. By the time he asked her to simply have a chat, she looked back towards him with a sigh, nodding and taking her seat in the spare chair for visitors in the room.

She didn't dislike him, not in the least, but more and more she was beginning to feel powerless. She still had nearly daily sessions with Nabushin and other clansmen and the Storm Lord was not one who made requests. It felt like she was starting to slip back into her role as the weak daughter, even if that was not necessarily the case. At the end of the day, she just had an issue with any sort of authority that she didn't feel she chose to subject herself to, and Riyota happened to meet those criteria.

She waved her hand to dismiss the offer of water. As he spoke she shifted her eyes towards and away from him at seemingly random intervals, looking conflicted in her emotions. As he finished, she glanced away one more time for a few moments before meeting his gaze again, "I've just been busy." Suzume's answer was short and blunt, but after a few moments she continued, sounding a little more open, "I've been trying to learn how to run the clan from Lord Nabushin. I've also been working and studying here." She grimaced slightly before adding in a softer tone, "neither of which I am very good at."

"Not a doctor, by the way. More a nurse, if even that these days." Suzume took a long deep breath as she appeared to relax into her chair. "I thought I was getting the hang of it at first, for the first few months it seemed pretty natural. I never was good at the book part, just sort of... winged it." She couldn't really explain her short lived aptitude for the art, not that she ever did anything the proper way back then. "Stitching a broken bone with chakra together isn't as easy as it looks. You have to have the entire structure of that area of the body memorized." She leaned forward a little, a little bit of that spark flickering in her eyes, "do it wrong and a broken hand could get fused together into a worse mess than it came in with."

She let the moment sit in silence before she slumped back into her chair, letting out a long sigh. "I am doing what I need to in order to get by." It wasn't entirely untrue. She simply didn't need the things that she used to in order to live, and even when her situation started to deteriorate, sleeping and eating didn't seem to make it any better anyway, so she stopped wasting her time on them. "You are one to talk though. You haven't always had that cough, and other than whatever it is you have built up in your lungs, you're been the pinnacle of health." She sat up and forward, looking at him more intently, "what about you? You can't just be having a bad chest cold, not with sputum that looked like... that." Suzume paused for a moment, realizing she actually used the correct term for once, before giving herself a muted chuckle of amusement.