Finding an Experiment, Discovering a Place[PM to enter]

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako sat extremely frustrated with her current situation. The chair in the waiting area was uncomfortable, the paperwork the attendant needed was tedious, and her dominate hand currently maintained a small, consistent throb to it. She sighed as she flipped a page in the magazine beside her with her good hand. Just what had led the frizzy-haired academy student to the waiting room of Kumogakure’s prestigious hospital? Simple! It was stupidity.

She spent every moment after class for the past few days trying to improve her meager knowledge in taijutsu. It wasn’t going well. Usually, she would be able to catch herself last minute. Today, however, (after a particularly interesting kick-flip involving a tree, an angry fox, a large rock in the snow, and a kunai) she landed awkwardly on her dominate hand and a small cut marred her face.

So here she was… sitting in uncomfortable furniture and trying to read one of the magazines left lying on the chair next to her. She was inwardly frustrated at the entire ordeal. She hadn’t been able to get in a class that focused on anything particularly related to combat, and she felt like she was falling behind compared to her peers. Many of them either had years of experience under their belts, or parents to train them. In addition to that, her training with Satou had yet to begin. It made her feel… inferior. It was like she was going nowhere, fast.

She sighed for what could have been the fifteenth time that day. Another glance at her angry wrist told her it had to be seen. ‘Hopefully the doctor won’t recognize the bite marks,’ Kahako thought. She flipped the page in her magazine, waiting for a mednin or nurse to call her name. She truly hoped the hospital could repair her wrist and let her be on her way. Every moment she spent waiting to heal was another moment she wasted. She needed to catch up to her fellow students somehow.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

The nurse knocked on Kitsune’s office door and entered ”You’ve got a new patient doctor” she said to Kitsune who was in the middle of stretching out. ”Just place the papers on my desk and I’ll get to it within the minute.” Kitsune said and twisted her upper body so a few audible cracks were heard from her spine. ”Ahhh… That helped.
At the sound of the spine going crack, the nurse left the room again after having placed the papers on the table, and Kitsune looked them over while wiping herself off with a towel. ”An academy student, huh…?” she mused.

Kitsune slipped out of her training clothes, and into a fresh set of clothes, her usual attire would do, with the addition of a lab coat thrown over her shoulders, so her arms didn’t go through the sleeves. ”Lets go practice some medicine…” Kitsune said to herself with a grin before she walked out of the door, towards the waiting area.

Upon reaching the waiting area, she cleared her throat and clearly said ”I’m looking for a Higa Kahako.” and looked around at the patients there until her eyes saw an academy student, who fit the description on the papers she had been given. ”If you’ll follow me please.” she said, and lead the way to her office. Fortunately she had remembered to open the windows and remove her training clothes before she walked out, so the air in there would be fresh by now.

”I can see from the papers, that you were injured during some form of training?” she said and looked at Kahako ”From what I can see, you’re gonna need a bit of healing, and not much else. If it wasn’t for that bite you had gotten.” she added and looked straight at the bite marks ”Have you had your shots? And if not, I’ll have you give you said shots, and keep you here overnight for observation. To make sure you didn’t catch anything.”

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Just as she flipped to an article titled Kumo’s Finest, Kahako’s ears perked up at sound of her name. Standing by the door leading further into the hospital stood a woman in light-colored attire. Realizing this was her new doctor, Kahako stood quickly and followed her down the halls of the Aesculapium. Her doctor didn't say much in the way of conversation, so Kahako humored herself with making observations of the area around her until they reached her office. The breeze that came in from the open window was brisk, but the chill didn't bother her much.

Kahako made a quick observation of the room around her as well as the woman before her. Aside from the desk, nothing in particular stood out to the small girl to signify what type of woman her new doctor was. However, based on a lack of introduction, Kahako figured she was a ‘business only’ type of person, and this didn't bother the girl in the least. Maybe she could be treated quickly and released with enough time to get a few more hours of training in before night fell. That hope crumbled quickly as she listened to her doctor’s diagnosis.

As the mednin before her scanned a file and subsequently glanced over her body to confirm what was written, hope of getting out quickly fell at the mednin’s words. “Aside from the general shots all children should have, it’s been a few years since I've had any additional ones,” she admitted honestly. Her face fell momentarily at the thought of another day she could have used for training wasted. “Please, Oisha-san, if you have to keep me, is there any way we can speed observations? I need to get back to training as soon as possible.”

She looked at her doctor, disappointment making way for determination. She needed to train harder. She had to find her niche; something she could even remotely be decent at. Sitting on a hospital bed, twiddling her thumbs wasn't going to get her any closer to being a shinobi. She held up her wrist and moved it a little in a meager attempt to appear better off than she was. A weak smile rose to her face. “It’s not broken, as I can still move it, and the animal that bit me was more startled than hostile. My only worry would have to be rabies, right?“

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”So that’d be a no.” Kitsune said and nodded ”Well, seeing as you’ll be here for a while, we might as well get acquainted. I’m Kitsune.” she finished and looked at the student for a bit before turning around and getting a few vials and placing them on the desk. The vials themselves had no identifying labels but the differently colored liquids inside them was enough for Kitsune to identify them. ”Observations can’t be rushed. They need the amount of time allocated to accurately show if there’s any anomalies.” Kitsune said sternly, not appreciating Kahako’s rush to get out and back to training.

Kitsune raises an eyebrow and then said ”There are other kinds of training than just the physical kind. I for instance am training myself right now” and gestured towards her eyes that were formed into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan she possessed. ”These eyes of mine strain my body, and by using them as much as possible, I can lessen the strain, then there’s of course also the acquisition of knowledge, practice in forming hand seals, and so on. Plenty of things to do that aren’t physical in nature.”

”It could be broken still. I once broke my hand and I didn’t notice it until the day after when I smacked it against a wall by accident. Now that hurt like you wouldn’t believe it.” Kitsune said and shuddered a bit. ”Now then. Time to take a look at that bite, and disinfect it.” she smirked and grabbed a flask with a clear liquid in it from her cabinet, poured a little onto a piece of cloth and then she dabbed the bite wound so it’d be sterilized. So far so good. Kitsune looked a bit closer at the wound, assisted by her super-powered eyes. ”Hmm… It doesn’t look too bad, but as I said, shots are needed to prevent rabies and the like.”

She then stood up, and swiftly grabbed a syringe, and the vials on the table, and in a matter of seconds she had extracted a bit of liquid from each vial. ”Et voilà. Medicine.” she said grinning. ”Now sit completely still.” Kitsune sterilized a patch of Kahako’s skin on her arm before inserting the needle in it. Once the needle was in, Kitsune would slowly press down, injecting the medicine into Kahako’s bloodstream to make sure that her body would be resistant to pretty much anything that could’ve gotten in through the bite.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

The academy student felt a little embarrassed to be admonished by the med-nin, but she didn’t say much in regards to it. Instead, she did as she always done at home and listened to Kitsune’s words. She didn’t have anything special like Kitsune did, her mother was fairly certain of that. But the thought of training in another way… where could she even begin?

Kahako listened as Kitsune moved around her office, watching her gather the different colored vials. After a quick swipe and stick, the shot was over with only a small scrunch of her face. Once the shot was removed, she moved her arm a little to remove the needle’s phantom feeling. Her mind turned on what Kitsune told her. Another small sigh escaped her lips. “But where could I even start? There are so many topics I could learn about, and too much information out there for one person a gather.”

She began to play with the charm at her neck with her good hand. “I had hoped that maybe I could focus on my taijutsu enough to stand out in my genin exams.” Worry plagued Kahako’s face. “If I don’t find out what makes me qualified to be a ninja, then why should I be one at all? Kumogakure does not need failures.” She said with unusual seriousness. She kept her bad arm available in case Kitsune needed to inspect it more.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune smiled at the student-nin and then said ”There’ll always be something you will be special at.” she nodded a bit before continuing ”Me, for instance, I’m a med-nin, that means I’ve got the knowledge to perform surgeries, heal the wounded, cure the sick and a ton of other stuff. I’d consider that pretty darn special. My eyes are just a bonus.”

As Kahako spoke, Kitsune listened closely, so she could offer up her own view on things, and perhaps give the young ninja a bit of guidance. ”Well. Start with the basics? You could start out with chakra, then move on to using your chakra to augment your taijutsu. Or using the right amount of chakra with your ninjutsu or genjutsu. And if that’s not enough, you could pick a field to study. And by that I mean a branch. There’s the ANBU which are like this village’s special forces unit, they save us when things get tough. Then there’s the main branch, which are practically everyone else, they’re the army and do everything from missions to administration, and then there’s us med-nin, we handle the hospitals, and sometimes we even get called out to bail out ANBU in trouble. Rare occasions those.”

She smiled before continuing her long speech ”So there’s plenty of things you can do. And seeing how eager you are to learn things, I’d say that you’re plenty qualified to be a ninja. While it’s true that Kumogakure doesn’t need failures, there’ll always be something you can do. Personally, I’d love to see more med-nin around. The civil war has taxed us pretty hard, and we could use some able bodies to teach the craft. So to speak.”

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako nodded, taking in the advice Kitsune offered to her. “I haven’t been working on my chakra control all that much.” She admitted sheepishly. The few classes she was in focused her more on matters of diplomacy and politics than physical training. A small smile mirrored the one Kitsune gave her. “You’re right, maybe I should focus on my chakra control more.” Kitsune’s faith in her calmed the girl. Maybe she was taking the coming genin exams too seriously. She didn’t even know when and where it was going to happen anyway. For all she knew it would be a full year before she could truly rank up.

She stayed quiet as she listened to Kitsune explain each branch. Looking down to her hands, she realized that she never really thought about where she wanted her career as a ninja to go… just that she wanted to be one. She knew once she graduated she would automatically start in Main branch, but… ‘Where will I to go from there?’ Could she go far if she stayed in main? Or would ANBU be a better fit for her? She knew that the members of ANBU kept most of their operations secret. She felt like she was too honest for such a branch. What about medical branch? She looked up to Kitsune.

Well… no time like the present to learn more about this branch, right? Curiosity filled her eyes. “What made you choose the medical branch, Kitsune-sensei?” She inquired.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune grinned at the student ”Well. You could always pick two, maybe three things to focus on at first, then branch out. That’s what I did at least.” she said and ran her hand through the blonde patch of her hair ”I focused on training my chakra control, and my eyes, and finally my knowledge of the human body.”
She let her arm fall back down to her side before she continued ”It all depends on where you want to go, whether it’s the Main Branch, the ANBU or the Medical branch. There’s plenty of opportunities in each branch.”

She’d look at the silent student while she was talking; trying to figure out what was going on inside her head, what big decisions were floating around in there. Eventually she decided to shake it off with a notion that whatever was inside Kahako’s head, it was probably about where to go after graduating.
”Well. I picked the medical branch because I wanted to help people. I wanted to make sure that kids, like yourself, didn’t lose their parents due to medical personnel not arriving in time to save people, like I lost mine...”

”That, and I like working with the human body. I specialize in surgery.” Kitsune would say and run a finger over the tiny anatomical model on her desk. ”Besides, it pays well. And it’s delightfully challenging. I think it’d suit you as well. From what I can see of your body structure, you’ve got a great build for medical work.”

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

She followed Kitsune’s fingers as the good doctor traced the figurine. Her eyes softened. Despite her issues with her father, Kahako knew she was lucky to still have both of her parents, especially with the civil war raging across the land. Preventing the same fate you yourself fell into was a good reason for the action Kitsune took in Kahako’s mind. The girl recalled the first time she met Satou; Kitsune’s own reason to study medicine triggering the memory.

The man was on the brink of death when she came across him. The memory of feeling helpless returned to her as she remembered her pitiful attempts to stop the stab wound from bleeding out. Her own hands quickly covered by his blood, and she ended up only bringing more trouble to the both of them than being helpful. If it wasn't for their contract forged that night, he might have died. And subsequently, she could have too.

A serious face replaced the contemplative one. She never wanted to be in a situation like that again, where the life of another was in danger of disappearing because of her own lack of knowledge. It was horrible to know there was nothing one could do but hope for a miracle. In Kahako’s short time in this world she learned the lesson that life continued based more on your own abilities to survive and only a little on luck. Miracles, overall, were for fairytales.

“I know it is still too soon for me to decide on a branch, but is there any way I could start learning what it takes to becoming a mednin?” She asked outright. She looked down, a little embarrassed and unused to her forcefulness. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not for the money.” She explained, realizing that it might have sounded that way. “On my first night in Kumogakure, a man nearly died in my presence because I didn’t even know simple first aid,” She said quietly. Her grip on the fabric she wore tightened. “I don’t want that to happen again,” she said more to herself than to the other woman in the room. Kitsune was right. Kahako wasn’t a powerhouse like Satou, nor was she confident in her skills and ingenuity like Zaku. But maybe she could help in another way.

Eagerness returned to her demeanor. She made her decision. She would still train with Satou in her taijutsu, she needes battle experience to survive missions. But if it were possible, she felt like she could be beneficial to Kumo’s forces in the realm of medicine. At least…. She hoped she would.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune twisted her upper body to make her spine crack from top to bottom. ”Ahh… Lovely.” she sighed gently and grinned. She looked at Kahako as she had her flashback. She wondered what was running through her mind, and when her facial expression changed, Kitsune had an inkling about what it was. ”It’s never too soon to learn things.” Kitsune said and smiled at the young ninja. ”And hey, don’t get me wrong either. I’m not doing it for the money either. It’s just a nice bonus.”

She listened to Kahako’s explanation and nodded ”I can see how that would motivate you to learn all you can about first aid.” she said and sat down next to Kahako. ”Well, you can always be my student. I can train you in the arts of medicine, and you can become an official mednin in training when you’ve passed your genin exam.”

Kitsune grinned and ran her right hand through Kahako’s hair. ”Don’t worry. I’ll make you the best mednin the town has seen. Well, maybe except for Karubin. But hey, he’s a moving hospital. Hard to surpass that.” she said and laughed a bit.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

“Really? Thank you!” She said with a genuine smile. After Kitsune sat down, Kahako turned to face the doctor, curling her legs under her in the process. Now she had two sensei! One to teach her how to destroy things with her bare hands, the other to use those same limbs to heal and maybe even one day save. It was funny in its own way.

Kitsune grabbed Kahako’s attention again when she lifted a strand of her new student’s hair. Kahako smile widened, “I’ll hold you to that promise, Kitsune-sensei” She said with a small grin. She thought it odd that Kitsune would play with her hair, but she ignored the attention either way. Her curiosity in her future began to take priority in her brain. The more she spoke to Kitsune, the more Kahako began to open up. “Who’s Karubin? How is he a moving hospital?” After receiving her answer, she fiddled with her necklace again, allowing for a small pause. “Do you think we could start training now?” she asked. A serious expression was on her face, but the child-like curiosity that she had yet to shake shown through her eyes.

But her face turned to one of pain when she moved her wrist along her neck chain just right. A small protest emitted from her lips as she quickly dropped her arm. In her excitement, she forgot about her twisted wrist, and it decided that it didn't want to be ignored anymore.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune smiled at Kahako’s eagerness to learn and become a better ninja. Exactly that attitude would get her far in this village. As would, of course, having a good teacher. In her mind, Kitsune was already formulating training plans for Kahako, but all of them could be tweaked. After all Kitsune hadn’t seen Kahako’s skills yet. And as such, she didn’t really know what Kahako could or couldn’t do.
Ideally, Kahako would be able to handle anything that Kitsune would throw at her, but something told Kitsune that it wasn’t going to be that easy. Kahako was just a student so far. But! That’d just have to change.

”Oh, don’t you worry. But! The training will be hard. In addition, likely highly straining. I have a technique I’ve been ‘dying’ to test out for training. But so far I haven’t found someone willing to try it.” Kitsune said and grinned ”And Karubin earned that nickname because during the Demon War, where he was just that. A moving hospital. No one has done as much for the medical branch as he has. He’s even been given the title of Sennin before. Buuuut during the recent reshuffle of ranks and personnel, he’s been bumped back down to Chief. Though, knowing him, he doesn’t really care about ranks and all that. Oh, and, another thing that just proves his worth… He’s got a wing here at the hospital named after him. An entire wing!”

Kitsune took a deep breath to relax her vocal cords, and then, upon hearing Kahako ask if training could begin right away, she grinned. ”Well. That all depends. Are you willing to try something experimental? Or should we stick to the tried and true methods?” she asked, knowing full well that the experimental technique would exhaust Kahako in a matter of seconds. Seconds that would feel like three days to be more exact. Three days where her wrist wouldn’t hurt. Three days where Kahako would have all training needed to at least be a student with more knowledge of medical techniques than her contemporaries.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

As Kitsune continued to speak, Kahako took interest in what the mednin said about Karubin. “The Demon War? I’ve heard a little about it before. He must have been an inspiration....” She trailed off. There was little information about the Demon Wars that was readily available to the people of Kumo. And due to her recent activities, Kahako wanted to know more about it, for curiosity's sake. She placed the information in the back of her mind for later. Maybe one day during her time here she would have the chance to meet the Chief and learn about that time. Kahako filed away the information for later. Now, she had a decision to make.

She looked back at the figurine on Kitsune’s desk. A feeling of glee washed over her. The idea of becoming a mednin one day made her feel… complete. She wanted it as fast as possible. She smiled. “What’s is the technique, Kitsune-sensei? If you think I can handle it, I would be willing to try.” She looked back to her teacher. “And if it’s faster than the other methods, then I would really like go through it.” She shrugged. “Besides, if I’m going to be here all night, it wouldn’t hurt to test it out anyway. I have nothing else to do today. What are all the hazards to your experiment, anyway?” As she grew more excited about this new way of training, the speed of what she said picked up pace. Finally, the hesitation that she usually had when meeting someone new broke away. Her curiosity breaking through her usual reserved persona.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded at hearing Kahako speak. ”Indeed he was. And still is.” she said and grinned ”I hope to be as much an inspiration as him some day.”
She stretched a bit before picking up a book from her desk. ”I’m entrusting this book of basic medical knowledge in your hands.” Kitsune said and handed the book to Kahako. ”In it you’ll find most of the knowledge you’ll need to be well on your way to be a good med-nin.”

”Well. About the technique… It’d put you under my genjutsu, for only a few seconds. But… those seconds would feel like a full three days. The technique I’m talking about is one only unique to Uchihas. It is, of course, the Tsukiyomi I’m speaking about. It allows me to put someone under my spell for three days. Or. It’ll feel like three days, as I said. Physical and mental torture. Or, if this works out, training in the arts of medicine.”

Kitsune smiled at Kahako ”However, if it doesn’t work properly, you’d be subject to mental strain. So. It’s only if you’re fully willing to try it that I’ll do it. Can’t have my prospective pupil hurt against her will after all.” she said and grinned.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako took the book with excitement. She wasn’t an avid reader, but the prospect of learning something new…something useful, made her perfectly okay with the tome she was handed. She examined the book; finger tracing the hard cover before opening the first few pages to glance at them. The writing was neat, along with the first few diagrams of the human body. Here was the first key to her future. Once she graduated from the Academy, she would apply to become a mednin in training and from there she would continue to learn her new trade. Kahako closed the book and returned her attention to Kitsune, listening about the process and what could possibly happen should it go wrong.

Tsukiyomi. Kahako didn’t know much about the powers of an Uchiha, but their line was infamous even outside the world of the shinobi. She heard stories of how the Tsukiyomi would pull a person’s mind into a world of torture; some men never fully freed themselves from what they saw within the world the creator used. The thought of having Tsukiyomi used on her was a little frightening, especially with Kitsune’s warning. However… three days of training in a matter of seconds? She looked to her new sensei, her eyes brightening with determination. Even with the risks, it was an offer she couldn't resist.

“Alright, Kitsune-sensei, I want to try it. Despite the risks, I have nowhere else to go,” she said. She raised he arms and gestured in the air casually, “Besides, there’s nowhere else in Kumo that would safer than inside the best hospital in the country, right?” she said with a smile. Kahako was willing to take the risks required to gain more knowledge. Despite only just meeting Kitsune, something told her that she could trust in the mednin not to kill her in this process. Would it be extremely exhausting? Probably, but her new teacher warned her of this side effect. Kahako was ready to accept it. She wanted to protect the friends she met recently and the ones she had yet to meet. She wanted to become a shinobi her mother would be proud of. And the faster she could learn how, the better.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune grinned. ”Once you pass your genin exam, I will begin teaching you for real. But for now, let’s just stick to the basics” she said and smiled ”That, for now, means me showing you a lot of gore filled images, and telling you about them before showing you one of the basic medical jutsu.”
She grinned on the inside, as she took out a large book filled to the brim with nasty images of scabs and wounds, showing just a bit of what disease and wounds could do to your body if not treated.

She held the book out to Kahako and said ”I’ll warn you, it gets pretty nasty. But you’ll need to learn what can happen, and how to prevent it all.” Hopefully the young ninja wouldn’t be scared of a few nasty pictures, and would jump at the opportunity to suck up more knowledge.
Kitsune thought back to when she was in Kahako’s place. She relished in learning more from her mentor. Best part was then she was taught the Healing Hand technique, it really made her life a whole lot easier. And now, where she had grown more powerful, and more skilled in her field, she was able to dismember a corpse in a mere minute and sort the organs after which contained kekkei genkai for either her private collection, or The Vault, and which were going to the organ donor freezer.

”Now then. Let me know when you’ve flipped the book through. Might as well study now that you can’t go train physically.” Kitsune said and grinned. As Kahako looked through the book, Kitsune decided to sit down behind her desk, and work on a thesis of hers, regarding putting as many various kekkei genkai organs into one body, and then via chakra enhancing medication, force the body to accept them, eventually turning you into a walking arsenal of powerful techniques.

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

[Kahako is currently 13 in this post, despite her age jump in all other posts]​

Kahako set her small book aside in order to take the larger one from Kitsune-sensei. The tome was thick and there appeared to the tabs sticking out of it, possibly separating each chapter or each wound. Either way, Kahako placed the book in her lap, listening to Kitsune-sensei’s instructions. As her teacher warned her about the length of the gore-filled images, Kahako flipped it open to the first page. It wasn’t too bad. Just a jagged flesh wound rendered from ninja wire. However, the wire broke and embedded itself in the skin, and the image made Kahako’s stomach shift slightly….

But this was why the book was here, wasn’t it? To get future students like herself used to the harsh realities of the medical world. To ensure that, when the time comes, she would be prepared to perform a life-saving surgery without pause. “Are there a lot of books on topics like this, Kitsune-sensei? Would I be able to find them in the library?” She asked. She stared at the picture in order to memorize what the image looked like. Intrigue filled her mind as she flipped the page. Her face paled a little more. Apparently, these series of pictures were a test to see what would happen if ninja wire was not removed from the body properly. The skin was a puffy red around the wire, looking as if it were trying to heal over it.

“Ew.” Kahako said quietly, as she looked up to Kitsune who was returning to her desk, flipping the page nonchalantly. “Is it common for shinobi to pretend like their wounds aren’t as serious as they really are?” Kahako asked, crossing her legs and allowing the book to lay open between them. It was far from a proper position of a lady, but this was comfortable to her. She would often read scrolls in this manner late at night, despite her father’s disapproval.

Looking back down at the next picture, Kahako’s eyes dilated a bit. “Umm…. Kitsune-sensei… what happened to this person’s leg?” Kahako said, clearly disturbed. The picture showed dark red flesh encased over the wire which was barely visible due to swelling. It was disturbing to see white puss that laced the wound. However, what bothered Kahako the most was the unusual darkness of the individual’s veins. It trailed both up and down the leg, spidery in pattern. Kahako had never seen anything like that before, and the image was, quite frankly disgusting.

[Marked for Training: 397 words]

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

[Topic left due to inactivity]​