Hospital lessons (Solo)

A whimper pierced the silence of the room, the darkness of the room hid the shifting body on the bed. The figure rolled over, blankets tangling with legs as the sleeping person jerked in reaction to whatever their subconscious had envisioned. Tears rolled down a face scrunched up in distress, disappearing into the rumpled pillow.
 
Aya Hiyashi rarely had nightmares, rarer still was one to draw out such a response. In her minds eye, her family was writhing on the ground, many were moaning and screaming, crying and begging for help -or to just end the pain- but Aya remained completely unaffected to whatever was ailing them. She couldn't help them either, didn't know how to remove whatever poison that had to be flowing through their blood, she couldn't even move. Many were crying for her, begging for her help, but no matter what she tried, nothing helped, nothing worked, she couldn't get anywhere and she couldn't feel her chakra. Frustration and panic flashed through her system like molten fire. Hot tears pooled in her eyes and burned down her face, and sorrow and guilt tore at her insides. She couldn't breathe, she was gasping for air but she still felt like she was suffocating.
 
A scream tore through her throat as Aya shot into a sitting position, her tears and blind panic making it impossible to see. She struggled against her bonds, only to roll off whatever platform she had been on and crashed onto the warm wood floor. The air left her lungs, and cut off her screaming, as the shock of her landing winded her and made her freeze. Adrenalin still flooded her veins as her heartbeat continued to hammer in her ears at an impossible speed. Immediately she looked for her chakra, and finding it readily and easily accessible caused relief to mix with the adrenalin. The redhead sent out her chakra, still unable to see a single thing, and found several familiar chakra signatures rushing towards her.
 
Oxygen finally returned to her, and Aya heaved deeply as tears continued to spill over and sink vanish into her hairline. Her lungs burned and her throat was dry and scratchy, it hurt and made her cough even as she sobbed through the mess that was her mind.
 
The door flew open, and slammed against the wall causing her to jump and blindly reach for a weapon. Feet shuffled against the floor and someone fell to their knees next to her, she struggled for only a moment before she was enveloped in a hug. The familiar warmth of her mother encompassed her like a blanket, her chakra familiar and soothing, immediately made her freeze. Only to grasp at her mothers nightshirt and gasp out sobs and whimpers as the last throes of panic, fear and adrenalin wracked her body before leaving her entirely.
 
"Sh, shh... it's okay, I'm here, I'm here baby" her mother soothed, rocking her back and forth and running her fingers through her daughters hair to try and sooth her. Eventually, Aya's cries turned into nothing but sniffles and her body went limp. She felt completely spend, couldn't begin to try and pull away, not that she wanted to. Slowly, she lifted her head and found her room full of her family -alive, unhurt, safe- looking at her in worry even if some looked thoroughly annoyed at being woken in the middle of the night.
 
"Nightmare..." she said quietly, muffled slightly from where her head was still pressed to her mothers shoulder. Some relaxed a bit, but others just became more concerned. Particularly the ones who were shinobi, or retired shinobi in some cases, and her mother was included amongst those.
 
"Do you want to talk about it?" the question was soft, gentle, but also imploring. Her mother wanted to know what had scared her so badly, and so did most of everyone else. She nodded slowly and allowed her mother to help her stand and move down to the kitchen to get her some warm cinnamon milk. They were out of camomile tea again.
 
For the next hour or so, Aya explained her nightmare and gratefully accepted the comfort offered by her family, even the ever-so-stoic ones offered their hands for support in her state. Many of the (ex)ninja's of her family recounted similar situations, gave her advice on how to deal with such dreams after one wakes from them, and even gave little tips on how to make her feel safer. Like putting weapon all over her room so there's always something with immediate reach. Then they diverted her attention with stories of their younger years, and soon everybody was laughing and smiling.
 
Before they knew it, dawn had arrived and it was time to fire up the forge from it's nightly smouldering. The forges here never truly went out, as a principle. What would happen if there was an emergency? The time it takes for a forge to reach the appropriate heat to work metal takes too long when there's enemies to fight or people to help. So they all began to putter about getting breakfast ready, and while this one was a little more sedated than their usual rambunctious meals, it was still lively and made Aya feel better, more safe and secure in the notion that no, her family was not in any danger.
 
Yet.
 
The teen helped out with cleaning up, before going up to her room and cleaning up. Her room was a bit of a mess, though that was mostly because of the blankets thrown everywhere, and had a shower before changing into her usual outfit and heading out. No one questioned her, or tried to stop her, but instead gave encouraging smiles and pats on the shoulder or back. It made her smile and whatever tension she had previously coiled up in her body bleed out by the time she reached the door. Truly, what would she do without her family?
 
However, instead of going to the training grounds, Aya went to the library. It was the only place where she could think would hold any hint in helping her improve. As it was obvious she needed to, she had to get better, learn and master more. While she knew she needed to learn more than the basics, and at the moment medical jutsu was at the forefront of her mind. As she entered the large building, she nodded politely to the woman at the desk.
 
The woman nodded back, and when she caught sight of the insignia on her obi was pointed wordlessly towards the upper-levels where the techniques were located. And Aya didn't need her ninja senses to know that it was being heavily guarded by dozens of ninja, probably Chunin at least. And it struck her again how she was a Chunin, but she shook her head at the thought and -after looking through the directory attached to the wall by the stairs- went into the isle that held medical jutsu.
 
There... wasn't much. Granted there was tones of information, various training tips and the like, but actual jutsu... it seemed a little lacking when compared to the other isles that surrounded it. Even basic taijutsu techniques had more than this, all the techniques had at least two isles, while the medical jutsu's only seemed to have a few shelves. Shaking her head, Aya started sifting through the scrolls, ignoring the ranks altogether, and exploring what there was.
 
Chakra Scalpel looked interesting, and definitely handy, but she wasn't looking for anything offensive at this moment. So she sorted that back where it belongs, and then moved on to something else.
 
The word 'Illness' caught her eye and her hand immediately shot towards it. Pulling the scroll out, she read the title and allowed a victorious grin to bloom on her face. This was exactly what she was looking for. Going over to a desk, she sat in the comfy chair and opened the scroll.
 
Delicate Illness Extraction Technique was everything she had hoped. Taking away poisons, pathogens, or toxins from the body. Delaying the symptoms and given the affected person a better chance to actually live or outright stopping the poison entirely. The red haired ninja dove into the words, and studied everything she could. Going back and finding pointers and tips for learning the technique, as well as some basic poisons likely to be used in battle and how best to extract certain poisons.
 
By the time she left the library, it was well past noon, and after a quick pit-stop to go and buy some dumplings and water, Aya went to the only place she could imagine learning a medical technique. The hospital.
 
As it turned out, they gave lessons. Which is exactly what she needed, otherwise she would have resorted to giving herself a numbing agent and trying her luck with herself, and she doubted that would have gone well. After being directed to a floor and room, Aya found herself sitting at a desk surrounded by strangers and aspiring doctors, and many of them gave her odd looks. She was just in time for the lesson to begin, but she had a feeling that not many of these people would be anything more than medics.

"Good afternoon" a man dressed in the typical hospital garb -lab coat, scrubs etc.- addressed the class, and immediately went into the lesson. "Today we'll be learning about poison and toxins, or more specifically, how to remove them. Here" he gestured to the tray on his desk "is an assortment of poisons, your will each pick out one and study it, identify it, and then grab a fish to practice the jutsu on, now has everyone practiced?" Aya was the only one not to give a affirmation, which made the doctor zero in on her. She felt the faintest brush of foreign chakra on the edges of her senses, and sent her on probing wave in retaliation.

She was surprised by just how much chakra he had, and she could feel by the buzzing -that was the only way she could think to describe- of energy that radiated off him that it was restrained. Just how much did he have, when his compacted amount is well over twice her at full strength.

"Ah, a newcomer. Come here" he commanded, a sharp gleam in his eyes. The redhead stood wordlessly and walked over to him, stopping at a safe distance -though she doubts it would help- and stood in a relaxed but ready manner.

"Do you know the lesson here?" he asked dully, and Aya immediately straitened her spine and stood at attention.

"Delicate Illness Extraction, and foreign substance identification, apparently" the teen said readily, and the doctor raised a brow but nodded, and then he asked what she knew about it.

"Delicate Illness Extraction is a B-rank medical technique where, after identifying the poison, toxin, bacteria or other potentially harmful substance, the poison is removed via inserting medical fluid into an incision near the source. The medical fluid must first be saturated with chakra, and once inserted into the patients body the chakra is used to draw out the substance attacking the affected area into the distilled liquid and then to be placed into a basin or container of some sort so that an antidote can be formed. This process is repeated until the substance comes out clear or the patient is dead. If the latter scenario does occur then an antidote should still be found so there is a better chance of survival for the next victim that may be subjected in the possible future"

Nobody spoke, and everyone stared. The redheaded teenage ninja kept her face indifferent, but it wasn't hard to tell she was just a little bit smug, a little bit self-satisfied at the surprised look everyone -including the doctor- sent her way.

"With all due respect sir" she stated, breaking the shocked silence "I don't do things by halves, not when lives are potentially involved, but unfortunately practicing a technique like this... well, I can't practice on someone else and using myself as a test subject isn't exactly logical" she said smoothly, though with a certain amount of sly sarcasm.

The doctor smirked "Doctor Takamaru. Pick your poison" he gestured with a wave of his hand to the myriad of concoctions on the table, and with a polite nod that was somehow turned into a slight bow, the teen walked over and observed the various colours and other qualities she vaguely recognised. There weren't many she recognised, but a familiar yellow coloured venom caught her eye.

Ten minutes, a microscope, testing fluids, a fish, and a tray of distilled water later found Aya staring at her first attempt. Taking a deep breath, Aya injected a small portion of the venom into the muscle system of the fish she was experimenting on, and immediately pulled chakra to her hand and placed it over the surface of the liquid she was using. Closing her eyes in a moment of concentration, she formed a bubble around a suitable portion of distilled liquid to suit the size of the fish, and lifted her hand.

A small orb of water was remained attached to her palm and fingers, she was kind of surprised it was so easy to do that. It seemed her control had improved more than she realised. Taking a deep breath, the redheaded soon-to-be medic turned back to her 'patient' and, seeing the venom begin to take effect, made an incision near the point of entry for the venom using a scalpel with her spare hand. Placing the small blade to the side, she held down the fish before setting the orb of liquid above the squirming water-living animals cut, and began the procedure.

Her eyes were closed as she slowly began to filter the water into the tiny wound, and immediately found herself struggling to keep the liquid in her control. The blood flow of the fish threatened to sweep the liquid away, and as she struggled to recollect what she lost, she noticed with no small amount of ire that she had also picked up some of the blood. Next step was to draw out the poison, but when she tried to soak the area affected by the venom she lost more control. The liquid slipping away and becoming virtually useless as it mixed with muscle, blood and even the venom. She hissed as she tried to pull it out, but all she got was a mix of blood and venom -and she was pretty sure there was a piece of flesh swirling around- bobbing from her fingertips. Barely the size of her palm.

The fish convulsed a few more times before its movements ceased entirely. Dead. Glaring at her failure, the redhead placed what she had in a spare bowl and pushed it aside. Picking up her dead 'patient' she threw it into one of the many convenient buckets for unsuccessful attempts. She didn't even wait before she picked up the next fish and tried again.

This one went little better. Instead of losing the liquid, she put to much chakra into the cut she had made before putting the liquid in the wound, and the fish had a mini explosion. A small, messy hole was now present in its side, just behind its find. Given it a small mercy, she stabbed in in the head for a quick death before throwing it into the bucket.

The next two didn't go much better, and Aya finally huffed out a frustrated sigh before forcing herself to step back from her 'operation table' and calm down before she flipped the table. She forced herself to take deep breaths, forced herself to reflect on her attempts, forced herself to think.

'Come on, you're good at thinking, planning, adapting. What are you doing wrong?' She asked herself seriously, calmly.

'I don't know! From what I know I'm not doing anything wrong!' another part of her shouted back, frustrated and near tears.

'Then why isn't it working?'



'I don't know!'



Well think!



About what!? All I can see is that my attempts are not successful!



And how did you go about these attempts? What did you do?



What I'm meant to! What the instructions say!



But what did you do! Explain it step by step!

"I injected the venom, from the common desert cobra found in Suna" she began, muttering to herself as she grabbed her right elbow with her left hand. Her right hand lightly pinching her chin with her thumb and forefinger as she spoke to herself. "Then I used my chakra to collect the distilled liquid, held its shape and once the symptoms began I pushed the liquid into the insertion I made shortly after injecting the venom. After that I usually struggle with keeping the liquid under control, losing much of it in the process of directing it to the affected area, and then I lose most of it -of not all- while I attempt to daw out the substance. That's what I do, and yet I still fail to draw out the poison, let alone the distilled liquid"

'You're missing a piece' her mind said 'think through what you did, and the instructions from the scroll you studied'

And Aya thought. The step by step instructions, the examples, descriptions and even the near-useless references she looked up. It had to be something she did before inserting the water, but all she did was collect the water!

What do the instructions say?



To saturate the liquid with chakra as you collect it, then insert the liquid into the insertion near the affected area.

To her credit, it only took two seconds before Aya slapped her hand to her forehead with the exclamation of "You idiot!" as realisation hit her and she was going for another fish. Picking it up and inserting the venom, and cutting a small line close to it, she grabbed another basin of medical fluid and did as she did before. Making a little bubble of chakra to keep it attached to her palm and allowing her move it about as she pleased, but this time she soaked her chakra through all the water. Immediately Aya noticed she was more aware of the orb of liquid in her hand, she felt the 'currents' of the liquid as it was jostled about by her hand as it moved smoothly to the cut. She took a deep breath, and made the plunge.

It was so different, so vastly different from her previous attempts. She was able to keep a hold on her chakra-soaked water, the blood simply flowed around it like how water flows smoothly around a rock in its path. And when she sifted the liquid into the affected flesh-

The mental imagery, and the sensory input was almost overwhelming. She flinched -a restrained jerk that would have ruined this so-far successful attempt- but kept a tight hold on her chakra control even as she experienced her first information-overload. She could 'see' the area where her chakra-water was integrated, and she could feel the blood flow, the pulse, every miniscule movement in the area. Aya had to take several deep, carefully controlled breaths to keep her control. 

The strangest part was that she could sense where the venom was, where it was attacking the body, and how the body was trying to fight it off. She focused on those parts especially, and focused on drawing out the poison. The sensation was a strange mix of when you suck on a straw from a thick milkshake, and a sponge absorbing a liquid. She shuddered at the feeling, and once she was sure she could take no more from that single bubble, she slowly began to pull it out of the flesh and blood and eventually out of the body.

It was like trying to take out a single thread from the middle of a piece of cloth, but not disturbing or unravelling its brethren. It was delicate and difficult, but she poured all her focus on this task, drew up her determination and no small amount of stubbornness to keep her going. She grit her teeth when her control wavered just the slightest, and centred herself. Refocused and refined her chakra and her control, making sure not a single drop escaped her hold, neither liquid nor venom was staying inside her patients body.

Finally, finally, every last drop of what she put in and the venom she collected was out of the body. Not a single drop of blood or any other form of bodily debris except for the yellow venom. She placed it in the empty basin held out to her, and dropped her hand. Her arm felt like led and her hand was prickling from pins and needles.

Aya didn't realise her eyes were open until she blinked, they were painfully dry and she closed the lids and rubbed her eyes with her left hand -the one that she hadn't used and therefor felt relatively okay- and waited until she was sure her eyes wouldn't shrivel up before opening them up again. Staring down at the gasping fish, she slowly picked up her still semi-good-feeling arm and put what chakra she had left in it and checked up on her patient. Looking in on her work, she found only the barest traces of the venom, and even then the body was doing fine in removing it. The fish would be fine, and with a relieved sigh Aya healed the cut and what minor damage the venom had done to the muscle before retracting her chakra.

Picking up the fish gently, she went over to the pool that had dozens of similar fish and gently placed it in the water. It just laid there, submerged, for a few moments before it's gills began filtering the water and then it was off like a kunai, darting into the deeper depths of the water. Standing up from her kneeling position, Aya turned and promptly froze.

Everyone was staring at her with wide eyes, all except Dr Takamaru. No, he was grinning like the Cheshire cat. There was a gleam in his eyes, and she had a feeling that she would be coming to many more lessons in the future. Slowly, he raised his hands and began clapping, the others joining in and the young medic-to-be blushed a slight shade of pink at the attention.

"Congrats, you beat the record of five fish" he announced when everyone had quieted "now this is a surprise. A young ninja coming out of the blue and blowing the competition out of the water, and you haven't even signed up have you?" he said, his dark red-brown hair falling into his eyes when he tilted his head curiously.

"Signed up for what?" Aya asked, and the doctor grinned another sharp grin.

"Signed up for an apprenticeship, and maybe even shifts at the hospital. Needless to say that's a no" he chuckled "Well, you may go home and rest up, but I want to see you tomorrow at around one in the afternoon. Just ask for me at the front desk, and we'll talk then" and with that she was lightly pushed from the classroom and was walking home in a bit of a daze. The white noise in her head muffled the sounds around her, and her body moved on autopilot.

It wasn't until she was sitting on her bed, and had been staring at the door for a good twenty minutes that his words registered.

'Wait, what?'

(Word count: 3944. That should be 15 stats, 39 jutsu points, and Delicate Illness Extraction technique learned)