Wounded Pride {Requesting Isaki Kushin}

[Suzuki Setsu]

“No, I won’t! Please, Kimiki-nee, I’ll do anything else. Go help the people in the square, do your chores, anything! Just don’t make me do this.”

“Sorry Tama, mother’s word is final, and besides this is so funny to watch!”

Tama, escorted by her elder sister, was marched into the general lobby of the Aesculapium. This was the last name on the list, the final apology, and the one which she was dreading the most. The man she had acted so rudely to on the day of her escapade in Dawnbringer Plaza, Isaki Kushin, had turned out to be the medical sennin of Kumogakure. As such, her mother had demanded that she apologize and tasked Kimiki to make sure it was done.

“Excuse me,” Kimiki began, grabbing the attention of the attendant at the front desk, “my sister here needs to speak with the Medical Sennin.”

The attendant looked up from the schedules and other forms neatly arranged on the desk to stare inquisitively at the two kunoichi who stood before him. “Very well, I’ll mark it down, although I don’t know when he’ll be available just yet.” He wondered what business these two seemingly insignificant shinobi had with the Sennin, they weren’t even medical shinobi. But who was he to question them, all he had to do was send a note down to the Sennin, and then the matter was out of his hand.

“Thank you, we’ll just wait here until he’s free. He can meet us at his earliest convenience,” Kimiki responded cheerfully. She then walked back to where Tama stood sulking. “Now it’s done, you will apologize, and offer to do something to make up for your transgressions. But my part is finished, I will be waiting outside for you.”

“I hate you nee-san…,” Tama muttered quietly.

“Don’t blame me for your punishment, blame yourself. I wasn’t the one who caused significant property damage in Dawnbringer Plaza, I wasn’t the one who insulted the head of the medical branch who was offering his help to me. Though I doubt even he could have healed your pride after the beating that took. Damn, I wish I could have seen you. But enough of this, you are waiting here for the sennin, I don’t care if it takes one hour or five for him to show up, but you are not leaving this building until you apologize. Have I made myself clear?” Kimiki inquired sternly.

“Yes, mom…,” Tama sullenly replied as Kimiki turned and left the building. Tama wondered if there was another way out of the building, some way she could escape this torture her family was forcing her to go through. She shouldn’t have to apologize, to anyone, ever. Was this how a star was treated? People should have complemented her on her audacity, showed concern for her injury, and applauded her bravado and willpower as she rose. Instead, she had received snide comments from the sennin, anger and scorn from the people in the plaza, and a general sense that her feat would have been commonplace even if she had landed it without a hitch. Not to mention, that one girl who had tried to profit off of Tama’s misfortune, and the wimpy kid who had the gall to block Tama’s escape route with and offer of help and he didn’t even do anything. And now because of that, she was being forced to apologize and commit to reparations for the damages she had caused. It infuriated her greatly.

Dwelling on the matter didn’t help matters much for Tama, serving only to incense her further. Too angry to simply sit and wait for the sennin to appear, Tama started pacing around the lobby. As time went on she pondered what sort of tricks she could perform using the lobby furniture and architecture. But any thought of actually going through with her ideas was stopped by the twinges of pain from her sore legs. They had healed for the most part, but were still pretty sore. Tama had also been forbidden from performing with the troupe until a medical official had proclaimed Tama well enough to work.

It was this that made Tama the most upset. Not only did she have to apologize to him, offer to do something as reparation, but she had to ask him a favor as well. She had no cards to play and everything was entirely in the sennin’s favor. And there was nothing Tama could do but wait for the man himself.

 

[Junan]

The shinobi had died as they'd worked on him. There was no real need for any more Uchiha parts, but hey, they just seemed to continue dying! What was with that. Did their emoness make them less likely to survive if mortally wounded? He knew a member of his own bloodline's pride would be more mortally wounded by dying from such wounds. Pathetic. His coat was covered in blood from the accidental squirts he'd caused. Removing the mask he turned and threw it and the gloves into the bin Harvest the eyes, preserve them and place them in my office for the sealing process. Take whatever else is in good condition, perhaps those parts will allow us to save the next near dead Uchiha which comes through those doors. His team knew how much he hated the weakness of certain bloodlines, in particular those which were not of Cloud origin, so they nodded and began the task they'd been ordained.

Kushin left the operating room and someone arrived immediately You've been requested at the tower for a conference to do with an update on how the vault is going. Kushin nodded as he continued walking, the only acknowledgement of what was being said There are papers on your desk, letters of complaint mainly. A few applications have been filled in for Hyuuga and Uchiha eyes. Oh, and there's a pair of young girls in the lobby waiting for you. At the last he stopped, why would a pair of young... mednin trainee wannabes. Fair enough. Lets give them a shock he thought.

I'll go see the pair first. Wait for me by my office he said, the mednin pealed away leaving the bloodied sennin to stroll towards the lobby.

When he arrived there he turned to the receptionist and raised an eyebrow, the man at the counter pointed them out and Kushin looked in their direction. I was wrong. Why is she here? he frowned for a moment concidering what could be going on. It was too late to go and change now though so he walked through the busy area covered in another shinobi's blood. Hello there. He nodded towards Tama's sister politely then looked at Tama What do you want? he asked. His lack of personal skills didn't tell him that would sound rude, but then again even if it did would he have changed it? Probably.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Kimiki bowed respectfully as the sennin approached, Tama made a face and defiantly stood her ground. Kimiki then reached around the young acrobat’s head and forced her to bow. The sennin’s polite greeting to Kimiki and the curt “What do you want?” to Tama, sent her off the edge.

Jerking upright, she loudly proclaimed, “What’s with this?! What does she have that I don’t?! Why does she get the nice greeting?! This is discrimination, you’re the sennin of the medical branch, doesn’t that mean you’re required to be all nice and stuff? Why am I the only one being singled out here. Just because I responded to you once with a less-than-respectful attitude, I get viewed with disgust?! I even came here to apol--,” Kimiki interrupted Tama’s rant with a quick fist to the back of the head.

“Don’t forget why you are here,” Kimiki growled menacingly under her breath to Tama. Tama blanched, then grim-facedly looked down at her feet.

Kimiki turned to Isaki saying, “Well I’m only here as her chaperone, sometimes Tama gets herself into a lot of trouble, but this is something she needs to talk with you about. My presence is unnecessary here, so I’ll excuse myself. It was nice to meet you Isaki-sama. I’ll be waiting over there,” Kimiki pointed to the benches on the far side of the lobby, “So if I’m not needed anymore…,” Kimiki bowed once again to the sennin, then gave Tama a pointed glare before turning and heading over to the benches, where she sat and began reading the magazines, all the while keeping an eye on Tama, to make sure there were no more outbursts from the impudent young girl.

Tama couldn’t bring herself to look the man in the face and she quietly muttered, “I…I’m sorry.” She could almost feel her sister’s stare boring into her almost as if saying, Look him in the face when you apologize! She forced herself to look up and she repeated, slowly and monotonously, “I’m sorry for my disrespect to you the other day, it was my wounded pride speaking and not me.” I still think that you should apologize for your snarky attitude too! That’s not the kind of attitude you should be approaching a possibly injured person with! She thought this while she spoke, her eyes betraying the insincerity of her apology. They still smoldered with resentment from the injury her pride had taken during that whole escapade.

Knowing she still had to continue, despite the snarky comments she knew she would receive from the sennin, she thought about what she should say. This was even harder than the apology; she now had to offer to do something as reparation for her wrongdoing. “If there’s anything I can do to…to…,” she took a breath and quickly mumbled the rest, “to make up for my actions towards you, I would like to do it.” Ugh, he’s probably gonna force me to do all sorts of crap, just because I mouthed off at him a teensy little bit. Stupid sennins, being all-important and such. I should be the important one.

And finally, the favor. This burned Tama most of all. “If you could, look at my legs, you see, my family…won’t let me perform unless I get a medical professional to look at them…and make sure they isn’t anything wrong with them. So you should look at them, as an apology for what you said earlier too!” she finished. Then she stopped and said, “No, um…if you would look at them I would greatly…a-a-appreciate it,” she finished. Pride utterly crushed, she stood there waiting for the sennin’s answer.

To the on-looking crowd, this might have appeared to be a humorous situation, the young girl who had just moments ago been yelling at the medical sennin, was now staring at her feet, with a beet-red face. Some might have thought the girl to be confessing to the sennin and was blushing from romantic embarrassment, but the sennin would be able to tell that Tama’s face was flushed with complete humiliation at having not only to apologize to, but ask a favor of her antagonist.

Meanwhile, Kimiki, from her position on the benches, smiled. It was enjoyable watching Tama having to take responsibility for her misdemeanors. Their father let her get away with too much, she needed to get taken down a peg every once in awhile.

 

[Junan]

A hint of amusement ran through his mind, and someone who could see a soul behind someone's eyes might have been able to spot it, but not a flicker of it showed otherwise. She was here to apologise huh? Curious. It was nice to meet you as well. He said nodding to the other girl who hadn't given her name. His attention moved back to Tama, the girl from the fountain. Her eyes searched the tiles for something, anything to hide under while she apologised. It was nice to watch people squirm underfoot, like a cockroach just before you place that final bit of pressure to crush the life from it. Or raise the foot and let it go. Neither result truely mattered to him, a cockroach alive didn't bother him any less than one dead would, it was the squirming which mattered most.

She looked up at him and she repeated her apology, though this time a deliberate monotony came about the tone of her voice, as though she was reading something someone else wrote. Her eyes telling him that that was exactly what was happening here. She continued, to his surprise to offer her services, and then above all else she then went and made a request asking for him to look at her injuries. Ah, but the truth was revealed, she thought he owed her an apology for how he'd behaved. The following line didn't really sound true or believable, she wouldn't give a damn if he performed the medical services she required or not, she felt he owed it to her, no appreciation needed.

There were a few people around, and he had to give that fact acknowledgement. For him to not suddenly be deemed some kind of monster by the general populace for not accepting a young girls humble request after she'd given him an apology, no matter how false it was, he had to accept it. He could tell that she felt like her honor was taking a hit here, but his natural reaction was having to be shafted as well. He wasn't able to do what he felt she so rightly deserved which was to have this apology shoved back in her face, denied and simply walk away, telling her to come back when she really was sorry. No... he had to accept this, and had to do so as well as he could.

Tama was it? He asked, his voice taking on a tinge of what he hoped would be conceived as kindness I accept your apology, and I do hope that you have truely learned your lesson. If you go jumping about public places you can get hurt, and no-one wants to see you get hurt. He wanted to give a smile to assure her of his sincerity, but he couldn't, smiling only happened when he was bringing pain, when there was blood around and not just sitting on his operating scrubs slowly drying. Please come with me and we'll see about your leg and ankle and we'll get it all sorted out for you. If your sister would like to come as well then she's more than welcome. He finished looking to the other girl earnestly.

He turned and headed towards the reception desk, quickly finding out which of the examination rooms were free for them to go to. Gesturing for them to follow him he headed down a corridor and into a room a few rooms down, holding the door open for one or both of the young girls to enter.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama would probably never know how close she was to having her apology thrown back in her face. Her little outburst in the lobby would have sealed her fate had there not been people around watching. But the sennin apparently was buying it so far, at least he was to Tama’s inexperienced self. He didn’t seem to care one way or the other though, that emotionless expression was beginning to unnerve Tama. Still, Tama could hear, or thought she heard a slight sting in his voice when he said, “I do hope you have truly learned your lesson.”

Believe me I’ve learned it, don’t mouth off to pompous people with power, she thought grimly to herself. She glumly followed the sennin as he led her down to an open examination room. She glanced towards her sister as she left, Kimiki merely waved and smiled and went back to perusing the magazines she had found near the benches. Figures she wouldn’t come with, she’s always looking for ways to make me uncomfortable, some family she is, she thought to herself.

She would end up alone with the sennin in the examination room; no one to back her up and no public to perform for, or act as her shield. Something about the situation made Tama feel extremely vulnerable, and she hated it. Even when she had fallen in the square she didn’t feel completely defenseless, there were a number of people around people she could respond and react to, people with emotions she could read and manipulate, to an extent. Here there was nothing she could rely on, not even herself it seemed.

As she entered the room she noticed the blood on the sennin’s clothing. While it was dry, it was freshly dried, What was he doing before he came to talk to us? She briefly wondered what exactly a medical sennin did, she never really spent time looking at what each branch’s responsibilities were. Tama had only understood the general aspects of each and even then probably had grossly misunderstood them. The man standing before her, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, scared her. He radiated none of the empathy and care one would usually expect to find in a medical official, rather he radiated nothing. Any emotion would have been preferable to this nothingness; it would have given Tama some indication of what this man was thinking.

As it was, all she could do was enter, sit, and wait for the sennin’s next move. Her overactive imagination was busy churning out the innumerable fates awaiting her, and none of them seemed to be working out in her favor. Her brave and prideful nature seemed to be just a mere façade here separated from anything that might help her. She tried to mask the growing fear in eyes with a stubborn expression, but when faced with the enigma that was the medical sennin her mask cracked and anyone could tell she was scared of the man and the situation. More than ever she wished her brother Tomo was there with her at this moment, but she was alone. This was the sennin’s territory, and he had every advantage.

 

[Junan]

They entered the room, it was typical of an examination room. A desk to one corner, a bed unusually high in the opposite with a curtain pulled which could be closed around the bed if needed. A small set of steps beside the bed to help people get up to a level where they could get atop it. White sanitary, and uncomfortable, sheets adorned the bed, a blue pillow and a thin blue blanket lat atop those. A tray holding several utencils which a medical shinobi might need could be seen, as well as the standard arm band and pump to test for blood pressure. Nothing spectacular, nothing vile.

Except Kushin.

He turned to look at her, her could kill her here, but everyone would know. Indeed, although she was now away from all the support and people she still retained their defence. If someone were to go looking for her they would know where she'd gone, who the last person she'd been with was. His career, his life, would be over. He would be placed in the cells for a long long time. It wasn't worth it. Besides, the girl hadn't wronged him, and he could see her fear. Fear was useful.

Okay. Take a seat on the bed and tell me where it hurts. He said, calmly. No malice, for he felt none. Moving to the desk he placed down the clipboard and started scribbling down the basic notes. As she answered he'd note those down as well before he'd go and take a look. Despite his lack of bedside manner he was a good medical shinobi, else how would he have acheived such a role. Organization was more his specialty, thinking things ahead, answering problems before they became one. Those were how he'd become the Sennin.

This girl needed her ankle looked at, as well as the bone, she had options, and it depended on what she wanted as to what he would do. (OOC: Just assuming these are the places you're going to point out so we dun have to have constant posts getting no-where fast .)

You have two main options. The first option is to let your leg and ankle heal naturally. I'd place a cast on the ankle and you're young, it'd take a few weeks but you'd heal up fine. The second option is to perform detailed medical jutsu on the affected area. Why this isn't my first option is because of the affect medical jutsu actually has on the body. People think that medical jutsu has no downsides, there's no scarring, there's no issues. But they're ignorant, and either ignore the facts or don't know them. Medical jutsu do nothing more than use the own human bodies ability to regenerate, and accellerate this using chakra. This can wear down the body, it effectively ages the part being operated on. That is why you have these as your two main options. There are other options of course... but I wonder if you'll realise that based on the language I've used he thought, looking at the girl he wondered what she'd say.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

The sennin swiftly and succinctly laid out her options. This was not what Tama had expected at all. She had expected derision, gloating, threats, but not that the medical sennin would actually do his job. It caught Tama completely off-guard. When asked about her injuries, she pointed them out to the man meekly, still stunned at his professionalism. She was also surprised at the true nature of medical jutsu, she had always assumed it was simply 'poof' and you were healed. Having it described to her like this gave Tama a new perspective on healing in general. So according to the sennin she had two main options. Let her injuries heal naturally, or use medical jutsu to heal her injuries now. It seemed to be more of a choice between did she want to pay for her injuries now or later. If she let her injuries heal naturally, she would be stuck in a cast for a few weeks and still be unable to perform. But the thought of having prematurely aged parts of her body was equally as distasteful, as well as more frightening.

Wait, he said main options? she wondered to herself while giving a quizzical look at the sennin. While still fearful of the man, what he said felt odd to her. As if he was hinting at something. She didn't quite get it, the man's deadpan expression was extremely hard to read after all, but maybe he was saying there were other ways of healing? Tama wanted to be back on her feet as quickly as possible with as little repercussions as possible. Because of that desire, before now she would have simply asked for the medical jutsu and be on her way. But since the sennin had insinuated that there were consequences to the use of medical jutsu, long-term ones, Tama was a little unsure about whether or not medical jutsu was a good choice. But if the sennin was suggesting that there was another way, perhaps one with less consequences attached to it, that might warrant some investigation.

"What do you mean, 'main options?'" she asked with fearful curiosity. She was hesitant to push her luck with the sennin, she had been quite rude to him, and he was clearly much more powerful than she was, both in terms of actual strength and political strength. So asking him for any more favors might just be a bad idea, especially since they were not on the best of terms. Not that it mattered at this point, but hindsight was twenty-twenty after all. And Tama was beginning to regret ever poking this sleeping bear.

 

[Junan]

He could tell he hadn't sold her on the medical jutsu thing. What he'd said had been true, but it'd only truely become an issue if it were repeatedly used on the same body part. However this wasn't what interested him most, she'd picked up on there being other options. His narrowed in thought as he wondered about whether or not it was appropriate to give a girl of such an age the other options.

We do have other methods, but they're more painful, more over the top. For something like this I don't think you need worry about them, especially not at your age. Finding the right bones for implanting which are the right age and size, it would really be more a pain than it would be useful. I do though give my patients all their options. The other one is really a reconstruction. Something which is better suited for more serious injuries. If you are worried about the time it would take to heal versus the aging process of medical jutsu you need to decide on if you need to use the limb sooner rather than later. That's really all it comes down to. The aging of medical jutsu isn't significant, you are young and I doubt you have had to have dozens of medical jutsu perfomed on the same spot, so chances are it wouldn't have a detrimental effect.

He waited for her responce. She was too young to have implants. Later in life if she were to continue to injur herself in the same place he might advise she receive a Kaguya bone implant. They seemed to last forever and their effect didn't seem to remain located in the bone, but in the calcium, which meant the tendons and such also received strengthening.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

"Painful?" Tama squeaked. And then quickly followed with, "I can handle a little pain, it's--OW!" She had felt another twinge of pain from her still sore legs. Tama stopped talking. In this situation, she was only making herself look more pathetic and feeble. And she couldn't do that, not in front of this person. Tama had yet to realize that the sennin had already seen through her act.

Tama still didn't fully understand the sennin's "other options" but the sennin seemed to say that she shouldn't need them now, as she was young and would heal quickly. Also, the sennin's more detailed explanation of the side effect of medical jutsu were enough to calm her fears about prematurely aging, although her general fear of the sennin still remained. "I-I just want to be able to peform again," she said quietly. "As-as soon as possible. So whatever would be faster, if you would." In an even quieter voice she said, "Please heal my legs sir."

The sennin would be able to see the sincerity of this request. It wasn't something Tama usually did, asking someone for something politely, without demands or justifications. She really just wanted to be able to run and jump around like she usually did, and if she had to she would beg for that chance. Just as long as there were no other people around to see, especially her family members.

 

[Junan]

He nodded to the request, it was fair enough. His hands formed the well practiced seals and his hands glowed with the healing jutsu's aura. Moving his hands to the ankle he let the chakra and the girls body begin the accellerated healing process. As he did so he kept his silence. Creating conversation wasn't a strong point unless it was needed. His ability around people and to make friends is what had put him on his path after all. It was only his capabilities as a shinobi which had allowed him to get this far.

After a few moments the pain would have subsided and the injury gone There you are. I hope that your next performance goes better than your last one. He was sincere, missing the potential sarcastic joke which it could be interpretted for. Standing he moved to the door, and opened it Perhaps we will meet again under better circumstances. It was his way of saying goodbye, though exactly what he meant by better cirumstances was questionable. He was a medical shinobi after all. Chances are these would be commonly thought of as the best circumstances as they were the least injury.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama felt little twinges of pain and itchiness as her wounds mended. But the process was over relatively quickly, and Tama was soon shown the door. The last remark of the sennin stung a bit, but Tama bit her tongue. The man had just healed her legs, for which she was immensely grateful (although she was trying hard not to show it), and she felt that starting another fight with him would probably not be the smartest of moves.

As she left the room, the sennin said something else, that he hoped they may meet again under better circumstances. "I still owe you, so yeah," she said quietly. And then in an extremely soft whisper, so soft that even Tama had trouble hearing herself say it, "Thank you."

Then Tama bolted away towards her sister and out of the hospital. She really hoped that the sennin would forget about the fact that she was technically indebted to him, as a punishment from her family. If he came with a task for her, she would be obligated to assist him, no matter what it was. Stupid family traditions.

The sennin was still scary and weird, but his actions confused Tama, why would he help her if he disliked her? This thought puzzled her and left her unusually quiet as Kimiki took her home.

[Topic Left]

OOC: Thanks for the fun RP Isaki! Let's do it again sometime!

 

[Junan]

He silently took the thanks and then as she left he did so too, and headed to his office. He was a medical shinobi, not everyone he healed would deserve his attentions, they certainly hadn't all deserved his abilities till now, and they wouldn't in the future. Yet that was his job. He'd have to go away and do some research on that girl and her family however. Acrobatic shinobi, performances (not the emotional wah wah kind), all led him to wonder more about them. That wasn't always a good thing for those he studied. After all, his mind thought little of most of the shinobi in this world, simply ant farms filled with communities of tiny insignificant creatures waiting to be examined.

Work needed doing, so he went to do it.

[topic left]