[attr="class","addy2body"]A war zone was no place for socialization, and Naoko had not done more than learn her teammate's names before they were forced to set off across a plain of agony and desperation. It of course felt surreal to have been given such an important position - not the leader, something more - when her skills felt woefully inadequate. So yes, desperation. It clutched at her heart as she stared down at the body laid prostrate in the cart, her own self crouched protectively nearby. They had managed to pull this one from the carnage but dirt and blood made it difficult to pinpoint recognizable features if there were any.
Analytical purple eyes had studied enough of the patient to know that a vast majority of the fresh blood was coming from the abdominal area, and most of the rest was starting to dry. This meant that there was a wound, but perhaps there had been a fight that the person won because this blood belonged to others. Before the chuunin could continue her work, Ryota's voice echoed a sharp warning that made her head snap up. Pupils dilated. "Handle them!" She barked back, uneasy with the notion that these strangers had not just her own life in their hands but countless others.
She could not stand by to watch the fighting that might take place, even though her senses were on high alert for her own safety. Dark hair was quickly pushed back into an efficient bun, and then the patient's shirt was pulled open where it was soaked the most in blood - after checking to be sure it hadn't stuck into a wound. As expected, it was not dire but certainly unpleasant: a blade wound that crossed in a shallow, horizontal line from the left of the navel to the right. This person may have fainted from exhaustion, pain, or both.. but they would not die if she could help it.
A few handseals later, green wisps of chakra engulfed thin hands, which placed strategically on either side of the wound. She had to focus, channeling the energy into the wound, stimulating cells to speed up the process of regeneration. Her team would have to do their level best, because this required utmost concentration; even the sounds of battle faded out in her mind.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Naoko focused on taking many deep, calming breaths despite the sensation of her heart pumping - no, squirting really - blood out of a hole in her arm. Even the pulse was louder in her ears than the movements Shoichi made as he prepared to assist her. Her grip was like a vice on her arm, acting as a tourniquet of its own, albeit a rudimentary one born of pure instinct. His idea to treat the wound was not a bad one, though the cloth was already started to soak crimson and her head was getting lighter by the moment.
"Ah," she mumbled, staring at the floor; longing for it, really. It would have felt good to lie down and sleep. Somehow the calm, rational tone of the Jounin managed to pierce these thoughts, and purple eyes snapped up to his face again. Eyes were wide, pupils contracted. Instead of wasting time with a response, her hands shook while forming the needed handseals. It hurt just to move that arm, so it was lucky that she could instead channel all of that chakra into the uninjured hand.
The bandage was tugged off and tossed aside, revealing the gore in its entirety, a veritable chunk ripped from the flesh and...? It had disappeared, somewhere. Hopefully not to reappear unexpectedly when some hapless genin was training in the room. Naoko carefully worked to target her chakra into the wound while struggling to keep a hold of her thoughts and consciousness, although everything came back in stark clarity when the edges of the wound finally melded together. A relieved sigh. What was once a fairly thin scar was now a knotted mess in the crook of her elbow.
Tongue flicked out, slowly moistening dried lips. "Careless, for you," the kunoichi practically hissed between her teeth. There was a wave of cold anger that she struggled to clamp down on. How dare he do this to her with no thought? "I would have expected you to realize that some form of medical knowledge would be essential - in combination with the sealing - to attempt this. Knowing the theory does not give you the experience needed to change someone's very cellular structure."
Mid-sentence, with no hesitation, the chakra still lingering on her fingers solidified and she flicked the hand at his forearm. It would feel like nothing at all, at first, because of how cleanly the scalpel sliced through the top layers of flesh. Shallow and calculated, but betrayed a bit by the way her eyes narrowed. However, not an attack. She brought back her fingers which were now coated in some of his blood and, after quickly wiping away remnants of her own, began to draw a seal over the new scar.
Pause. One variation was made to the seal he had chosen earlier, though she did not comment upon her artistic choice. Most of the blood was now transferred; she licked the rest of it from her finger, glancing up at him. "I'll try it. Further blood loss will be dangerous, but from an aesthetic standpoint, I have nothing to lose. To be frank, I believe I can at least do it better than you have." There was no fear in the way she said it, though she doubted he would be able to save her if this went poorly yet again.
A fatigued gasp and two fingers pressed to the seal activated it, his blood illuminating. Her eyes narrowed. More chakra surged in; teeth grit. And then it simply disappeared, scar and all.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Naoko locked her gaze on his face as he spoke, though her thoughts were half with him and half racing through the possibilities of this new theory. It was a shame that her own sealing proficiency was next to nothing, mere conjecture at this point, yet suddenly given such an importance on her list of goals. There were so many applications she could come up with just off the top of her head, ways to heal and ways to hurt, that she felt her heart beating faster in excitement. Lashes fluttered and then she refocused on Shoichi, who seemed so much closer than before. Her breath caught in her throat.
Finger, skin. Blood, seal. The Jounin's chakra started to infuse that localized area, but there was something wrong. This sense of impending doom flooded her breast, constricting it. Running on pure instinct and adrenaline the chuunin hit him in the center of the chest with her free hand, the force of the blow coming at the ball of her palm - sending all of her strength into a localized point that would surely send him sprawling backward unless he braced himself. Simultaneously, a new scream of pain wrenched itself from her lips and she staggered back, now gripping the arm over where he had written the seal. A grimace etched her face, paler than normal - wide eyes moving to stare at the spot.
At first, there was nothing outwardly different, at least to Shoichi if he had collected himself or protected himself quickly enough to look in that moment. Yet her lips remained parted, shocked, grip tightening until the knuckles went white. Blood peaked out from where her palm met the flesh of her arm, started to drip down her fingers and onto the floor. It was clear even to the untrained that her grip was holding back something much worse than this deluge. Naoko made no immediate move to fix whatever was wrong, too stunned to do more than take a gasping breath.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Ahh. Yes - her mistake, she had forgotten how his clan presented. To be fair, it was merely a case study when she was doing her apprenticeship, not something that had been discussed at length. Purple eyes locked on his face again but she felt more comfortable letting his platitude about Suna go unmentioned, internally filing it away as his attempt at kindness. She would not have been surprised if his assignment to their platoon was intentional, but no one had communicated said intention to her. Was she even strong enough to help him? That concerned her.
"I think that you and I are more alike than I thought at first introduction," she mused out loud, flashing him a small smile. "I have a lot of experience with pain and I don't feel it as easily either. Yes, it can be a blessing in combat, but I don't think it's entirely so. There were a few times when I was training as a genin that I received a wound and didn't realize until it was infected, which - training around medics - was not a big deal here. On the battlefield it's a different story entirely. Like I've told Higa, it's important for us to know our weaknesses. Perhaps more than our strengths."
Naoko slowly unwound from her chair, uncoiling like a cat and stretching. The drowsiness was wearing off, replaced by a sudden hunger that the snacks here would not sate. "I'll be in contact soon to go over your training regimen," she promised, giving him a half-wave before leisurely making her way out of the shop.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Her eyebrows lifted as he spoke about the Kage, waiting patiently for a break in his speech to respond. She was listening intently to his words, studying his posture, attitude, expression - a very different Itaru from the one displayed earlier. This was the one she wished to foster.
"I have never met the Kage in person, at least not one-on-one, but I owe him my life as well. You may not know this, my father and I were from Sunagakure," she cringed a little, leaving some things left unspoken. It was better that way. "I don't know why he accepted my father's request to join this village, but I'm glad he did." His words, 'to become a weapon,' gave her some pause. Was it healthy? Perhaps not, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
Head tipped down so that her gaze could linger on the table, the pad of her index finger drawing circles and squiggles, mentally taking notes. "Being the shield for your teammates is noble. I have to admit, I wouldn't have expected you to go for anything related to hand-to-hand combat. Your eyes do put you at a significant disadvantage for retaliation, and given your interest in genjutsu I expected you to be more inclined toward the backlines. Of course, no one says genjutsu strictly has to be long-ranged." the kunoichi hummed. "Taijutsu is one of the things I am studying. My abilities tend to lean toward agility rather than strength, but jiujitsu is far more tactical than the average punch. I should be well suited to help you get closer to that goal."
Unless Itaru continued speaking, Naoko would allow silence to linger between them. For her it was a comfortable silence, but perhaps not for him. She continued to write something on the table, words visible only to her, capturing her full attention. It would drag on for minutes, until finally she sighed and sat back in her chair. "Is it too personal to ask what the Kage did for you?"
[attr="class","addy2body"]The green glow dissipated from her hands after the last patch had been fully healed. The skin was pink and new, but after a few moments of hemming and hawing as she inspected it, Naoko nodded to the server. "It shouldn't scar, but you will need to use a cream daily to keep the area moist. I would still keep it wrapped up as a protective measure until the wound has a bit of time to settle." He went to thank her for it, but she waved her hand to stop him and inclined her head. "It is the least I can do when my Jounin has caused so much trouble."
He stood and went back to his work, which she found admirable; Itaru's voice caught her attention immediately after. She turned to face him, posture a little more relaxed and generally less on guard now that it was just the two of them again. Shoichi always had a way of showing up when she was out in public, but the owner looked angry.. they probably had a safe haven here now from his eccentricities. With a yawn - maybe still sleepy from his genjutsu attempt, huh? - the chuunin slid into the seat she had been occupying across from him.
"Don't worry about it too much. Shoichi means well, he just expresses himself differently from us," she tried to explain as vaguely as words would allow, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. "If he sees potential in someone he will push them, and often that means outside of their comfort zone. I admit that I can't find fault with him. Part of being a shinobi is doing a lot of hard and dangerous things, so we do not have the luxury of saying 'I don't like that' or 'I can't do that'. There's some nuance, of course. Even he would tell us to run from an enemy we could not defeat - he isn't looking to have us killed. He wants us to flourish."
Funny. Naoko was not usually one to compliment someone, especially not out loud. Itaru was now being taken under her wing and she felt a sense of responsibility for his progress; unfortunately had realized in reflection that Shoichi's method was smart. His not being around to hear the words just made it easier to say.
"Enough about that though, I think both of us are exhausted. Tell me more about your goals, Tokoro. Genjutsu is obviously one of them, but there are so many things we are capable of. What excites you?"
[attr="class","addy2body"]"Sorry about my FACE?!" She squeaked at him, having forgotten that her cheek was actually rather swollen and bruised at this point. See, that was a downside to having muted pain receptors - it could sometimes trick the body into thinking it was not injured at all, thus preventing proper care. "Oh. Nevermind."
Truth be told, Higa's response made her very curious. There were some obvious paths that they could walk together, but he had not specified.. was it something unconventional? She hummed to herself while watching him walk away, puppet on his back looking like something from a horror movie. Cringe. Fingers gently caressed the cheek as it began to throb, and then she stooped to pick up her umbrella. It had been a funny way to start their little fight, a good prop even if it was ultimately useless.
The biggest takeaway for her, his ambitions aside, was a clear reminder that being hand-to-hand with an opponent simply wouldn't work with her fighting style. Ambush and surprise only could take her so far, until they began to retaliate, then.. l-o-s-e-r. If it wasn't her partner on the other end, that puppet could have killed her. Sobering thoughts. These remained on her mind as she walked away in the opposite direction, heading back home.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Truly, life afforded us such strange opportunities when we allowed it to. Naoko had never expected to be welcomed within the borders of another country, much less accepted into the midst of their very own shinobi village. One might say that luck had been used up once already when her father had begged asylum of Iwagakure and had it granted, yet she found herself strolling through the streets like a tourist. Many years ago her father mentioned in passing that Otogakure had been his first choice of home due to the freedom with which medical shinobi could practice, and now she suspected he was glad to have been forced into the second option. Rumor had it that the new Kage had no tolerance for it.
Purple eyes scanned her surroundings, settling upon ... what appeared to be a bear playing a board game? Her foot pressed to the ground and she paused, mid-stride, blinking until her brain caught up with processing what her vision actually took in. No, not a bear, just a man who could have passed for one comfortably. And not just a board game either, but shogi, a favorite of her father's. The kunoichi inhaled deeply and made up her mind in that instant, bolstered further by the fact that his opponent had taken his leave. Yes, it was time to meet the locals! (She supposed he might not be local, like herself, but it was just a turn of phrase.)
Naoko was all dark hair, pale skin, and petite of stature. Some thought she looked like a child on a normal day, even though she was currently fully decked out in her village's combat outfit; next to the bear-man it was starker. Piercing gaze swept over him to note the details she could see, and did not appear startled by the fact his hands looked like mincemeat. What little could be seen of her arms displayed many scars of her own, after all.
She half-bowed to him and then slid into the seat, flashing a grin that showed her teeth. Feral, but not threatening: she was not intending it to be. "My father loves shogi," the Iwagakure girl greeted unceremoniously. "He showed me how to play, but I confess I never was very good. That said, I wouldn't mind a game with an interesting character such as yourself."
[attr="class","addy2body"]Color her surprised! In less than a blink he'd sliced open her arm, yet the kunoichi made no noise to indicate that it hurt. Perhaps if Higa were an observant person - he didn't strike her as one - he would see the varied scars that already ran up her arm. It was pretty rude of him to do that, but instead of yelling she supervised while he attempted to heal it.
Sorry, puppet man! Iryou ninjutsu is not as straightforward as taijutsu, and it was even more delicate than the control required to use his chakra strings. Her fingers twitched in discomfort as the cells started to replicate and stitch, both too slow and messy. The skin at the edges of the closing wound started to decay because he did not maintain the chakra upon them at the right level. After giving it a moment to see if he would adjust, she tugged her arm away and hurried to use her own mystic palm to properly seal the wound. His attempt was sloppy, but when she removed her hand from it at least it had not scarred like the others.
"It was a good try, but I am going to be honest with you, Higa. For one, I don't think you have the patience or the time to devote to medicine. It took me years of study under a Jounin to reach the level I am at now, which is honestly rudimentary healing compared to them. Two, I believe your skills are better put to use in other avenues, like your puppet. Why do you want to even learn medical jutsu? Is it something I can help you with? We are partners now, you know."
[attr="class","addy2body"]"Mmhmm," the kunoichi hummed, only half hearing Shoichi's words. A platitude, really. She would fill out all the necessary forms, but there was no way Higa would fight her over her choice in Genin. It would make his life miserable.
If she noticed how awkward the atmosphere had become now that their little scuffle was over - or noticed the eyes of other patrons darting toward their direction - Naoko gave no recognition. She was still peering at the many-eyed boy, who was now shyly looking away. With a short laugh, she stood up and gave him a little space. For now, the boy needed it, but she did not intend to let him stay so reserved forever. No, no. His potential was too great even if he was starting a little delayed from the rest of the pack.
"That's okay. You take some time to rest and restore those chakra reserves because the next time we train we shall go all out~ Safely, of course. Your new mentor is a medic and we can't have you dying!" She patted her chest once, to make sure he.. remembered she was talking about herself, I guess? She indeed planned to leave, even parting to lips to heckle Higa out of the building, until the server was noticed. Head tilted to the side and the chuunin stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
The bandages on his arm piqued her interest. "Oh my! That's right. You burned yourself earlier, huh? I should be able to heal that for you, if you give consent." The man stammered a little as if embarrassed to accept the request. "It's no trouble. Burns are a nasty thing to heal from naturally, I can at least speed up your discomfort.. a bit."
She held out her hand, waiting for his arm. After some additional hemming and hawing, he unwrapped it and held it out for her. Purple eyes narrowed slightly, a hiss pushing through her teeth while studying it. "Very unpleasant. Yet, fixable, with time." Naoko ushered the server into his own seat before going through the motions of two handseals, green chakra sparking to life around her hands. It gave her face an even more ghostly appearance, though she was at least attempting to give the man a reassuring smile. She placed her hands over one patch of the burns, the chakra flowing between them - beginning the process of repairing flesh.
[attr="class","addy2body"]Naoko's gaze followed him closely, every move he made, not bothering to hide her particular interest when he smeared some of her blood onto his finger. The scholar in her wanted to admonish him for doing so without gloves, because who knows what is in someone's body fluids, but.. lucky him. The pedantic tongue was held in favor of a demonstration. Another step taken in his direction allowed her to peer closer while he deftly drew a seal; this was practically another language to her, yet he was confident. Just a bit of chakra and the room tidied right in front of her eyes!
"Ohh~ That's handy~" she mused, before mouth snapped closed, letting him continue his speech. Head nodded once, twice. The long pause in his so-called compliment making her clutch her chest in mock distress, though she did not outwardly comment on it. "I see. 'If' chakra is applied, 'then' perform this action. Theoretically a simple task, but it sounds like the hard part will be conceptualizing it while creating the seal.." the kunoichi mused out loud, tapping one slender finger against her chin.
She turned away from him, instead focusing on the primer. With a few quick motions it was flipped to the table of contents and, scanning it, she found the topic that most interested her. Shoichi would be forced to wait in agonizing - she hoped - silence as the paragraph was consumed, memorized, considered. A quiet hum breathed from her lips. Deciding that this information was not sufficient, she drew her finger down the page and continued reading, eyelashes fluttering with every hesitant blink.
Then, finally: "I am not sure I fully understand this part, to be honest. The design of the seal seems to not actually matter, the intent infused with the chakra does. I suppose it makes sense.. it is not unlike any other jutsu we use. Still, even jutsu tend to have specific handseals used to channel said intent. How will a seal maintain its concept after time has passed? How does it maintain its concept before being used at all?"
The theory pained her. Perhaps it was just overthinking, though. "I shall try. You see, scar tissue and your normal skin are made of the exact same material. Mystic Palm can heal new marks that are would-be scars because we can control the way the tissue is growing, but once a scar is formed.. you are correct that it is beyond medical knowledge to heal it in that state. I mean, I suppose you could remove the offending skin and try a re-do, but that seems inefficient. The reason for scars is not in the material, but rather, how the material has oriented itself. The collagen of healthy skin is woven randomly; scars are woven in one direction."
With a sigh, Naoko untied the bandage around her left arm, letting it pool into a pile on the floor. Most of the arm appeared perfectly unmarked, except for a long - yet clean - scar along her inner elbow. It was cut along the crease, so not particularly noticeable until she extended said arm. Purple eyes studied the mark.
"I don't believe I could accomplish this yet. However, my theory is that you could use a seal on one part of your body to take some healthy collagen and relocate it to the scar tissue, mixing the two together? By randomizing the orientation of the tissue, it should blend back in to the skin around it."
[attr="class","addy2body"]The entirety of her attention narrowed onto Itaru, somewhat offended that this test was going to happen but mostly just intrigued. Yes, it turns out, this was worth it; her gaze darted to each eye on his arms in turn, taking stock, unreactive even when they flashed to a different color. A medical marvel, she had heard about this clan's terrible curse but had never seen it in action before, since this lovely genin was new to the platoon.
Although she was lost in her own musings, thoughts trailed away.. eyes locked to eyes.. swirling, relaxing. A sense of foreboding welled up in her chest but it was snuffed out by the sensation of calm. Just as soon as it started it ended, the Chuunin sitting up straighter in her chair, lips parting to exhale a hard puff of air. The boy was apologizing? Interesting that he had the control necessary to make this attempt even when at low chakra reserves, yet he could not fathom the effect his own efforts had.
"Conventional? Tokoro, don't be silly~ That was phenomenal for someone with no formal genjutsu training!" Naoko clapped her hands once in excitement, then practically jumped out of her chair and moved around to his side of the table. Shoichi and Higa could be dramatic, so very dramatic, how could they not see the talent in front of them? Or perhaps the Jounin did see it and that was why he was pushing the boy's limits this way. "Your eyes.. They're perfect. Absolutely, utterly. We must form a training regimen to help you take advantage of them.. preferably with supervision this time, huh? No more pushing yourself 'til you're about to pass out! None of the medics here can save you then."
The kunoichi crouched slightly, squinting at one of the eyes on his arm. Nose wrinkled slightly. She wanted to.. poke it.. no. Control. Studying only. "Yes, it's decided. I'll be your senpai. Higa can have others." Purple eyes shifted to stare at Shoichi questioningly.
[attr="class","addy2body"]"Eh. I'll show you, I guess, but if you are actually interested in medical jutsu you should apply for an apprenticeship with more skilled medics than me."
Naoko flipped her hair over one shoulder, pushing it out of her face so she could better see his wound as she crouched next to him. Like she suspected, the cut itself was not serious, but his scratching had certainly tore it. The poison was doing what she had formulated it to do; perhaps a little stronger because of practice and proximity. He was lucky that it mostly was reacting to his skin rather than having seeped into his bloodstream, though if he kept scratching, it was likely to get there from under his nails. That was her favorite part of it! Like a bug bite, it made the victim be the own unwitting pawn in their continued destruction.
She stood up again, bringing her hands up in a relaxed preparation stance. "It is shousen jutsu, or mystic palm if you are less formal about it. In theory, it is just like every other ninjutsu technique - draw your chakra into your hands. Focus on the intent, which in this case is healing. However, the hard part is that you need to understand the fundamental concepts behind how to heal the human body."
It felt like a bit of a lecture, which she enjoyed. If she were wearing glasses that would be the moment to do the cliche push-up-the-bridge motion. "You need to understand how you plan to heal the body and how much chakra you need to expend to do so, otherwise, you could instruct the cells incorrectly or apply too much chakra. An overuse of chakra on a small wound is not that big of an issue, but on a larger wound could be fatal."
After making sure he was paying attention, she slooooooowly performed two handseals. "One, two. The exact seals will need to be changed depending on your intent, but ox and tiger work for cuts." As the handseal broke, chakra rushed into both hands, that familiar green glow coating them like a living fire - or a mist. Yes, mist was more accurate.
She allowed the left hand to extinguish and then applied her right to his wound. As the chakra flowed between them, the poison was leeched from his skin and the cut began to sew itself together. Both edges pulled to meet the other and then closed, leaving no mark behind whatsoever. Not a single hint that he'd even taken damage, other than the ripped shirt.
[attr="class","addy2body"]There was the briefest moment where purple eyes flashed cold as she stared at Higa's outstretched hand, but she extended hers and used his help to get up anyway. She carefully patted dust off her dress, pointedly ignoring the crowd as they scattered and also seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Well, until there was this.. grating.. noise. Nails on a chalkboard - or, more precisely, nails on open flesh. Her face scrunched up in displeasure.
"What, my face? That isn't even the PROBLEM here," she cried, motioning toward his bleeding wound, which had only gotten more ragged from his nails peeling at it. Watching filled her with a physical pain that was expressed on pale face much more readily than her own pain, she was practically squirming and cringing. "Stop that! God. Well, since you don't seem to realize it, my skills do not lie in combat. I was trained foremost as a medic with the intent to heal, not trade punches with people like you.. or that," gaze flicked momentarily toward the puppet.
"I will heal it for you, if you give consent." All prim and proper, following the script as it was taught to her over.. and over.. and over. Of course, consent was useless on the battlefield, but this was home turf. If her father caught her using iryou ninjutsu on an unwilling participant, he would probably blow a fuse. Not that she cared. There were simply too many eyes on them to risk it.
[attr="class","addy2body"]What sort of reaction was the purple-haired man looking to get from this encounter? Certainly, he would not expect the glossed lips slowly spreading into a Cheshire grin, purple eyes locked on his own, unperturbed by the blade that was now being held to her throat by an inanimate object. Well, was it really inanimate at this point? She gave a tentative tug of her wrists to see how much force he was exerting to keep them pinned down, then seemingly gave up.
"My, my, Higa.. I did not realize you were into this sort of thing." The grin disappeared, replaced by a feigned shock as eyebrows raised. "As fun as that sounds, you do know there are many people watching us right now~? I would not be surprised if Shoichi was stalking around too, as he is wont to do. You should probably get up now." Her voice lowered to a whisper - this was clearly a threat, though it was thinly veiled as a flirt. In truth, she was pissed off that he had the nerve to touch her at all and if they were in a more private location, she would have tried to injure him for real.
Oh! That wasn't even to mention that her cheek was starting to turn a bit purple where his fist collided, a little swollen. Honestly, how crude.
