Up to His Elbows in it

Mission:

Hibiki’s studies into medical jutsu had been progressing well and he had more recently been attending the medical centre to watch and practice with other medical nin and doctors when not on missions. Amaya had been the one to recommend Hibiki begin studies as a medical nin though he was not entirely certain why. Amaya advised him that learning about the body and its functionalities would allow him to create more realistic puppets with greater skill and would be vital in his journey to become a true puppet master. Whenever Amaya referred to true puppet masters it seemed to mean something slightly different from a regular puppet master though Hibiki was not quite sure why. At first Hibiki had been resistant to learn, Amaya had taught him the basics and under his watchful eye and strict tutelage had learned to be moderately skilled with medical techniques. Hibiki was unaware of quite how good he had become as Amaya’s praise was few and far between and he was rarely satisfied with acceptable, instead pushing Hibiki to aim for perfect and settle for exceptional.

The knowledge of medical techniques in fact became useful in learning Skilful Achievement with a Human Body resulting in a technique that seemed to work much more effectively (not to mention safely) with a strong knowledge of the human body. Amaya had reminded Hibiki that puppets were incapable of feeling pain and their simple joints were easy to manipulate and could maintain harsh forced and replicate movements easily on command. If a movement was too rigorous for the puppets joint it might break but this could be easily fixed. The same principal applied to human puppetry techniques as well and Hibiki would need to know not to push the limits the joints as well as understand the limits of the body to ensure that no undue damage was caused by mistake. Only after his studies did Hibiki appreciate the subtly of the human body including its strength and limitations. At a certain point in his training Amaya sent him to train and volunteer at the Ichigo Sato Institute of Medicine or ISIM for short.

Hibiki’s attendance was questioned heavily at first until it became apparent that he was actually quite skilled and a quick learner though it was quickly identified that he was more suitable to a hands on approach. The teachers were impressed with his knowledge of the body and doubly so when he revealed he was capable of creating and using a chakra scalpel with precision and skill. To Hibiki the human body was much like a gooey, smelly version of puppets. Sure it was a lot more complex but both puppets and humans shared internal structures and workings and the organs worked much in the same way as mechanisms. He considered that the mechanisms of the body were more complex and dependent on each other rather than the isolationist nature of puppet mechanisms. Hibiki had progressed well and his anatomical knowledge and skill in potion and poison making lent itself well to investigating causes of death or assisting pathologists with diagnosis and synthesising antidotes. He was still working on healing but for some reason had not quite developed the skill reliably enough to be useful so he continued to work on the areas and skills that he was good at.

Most recently he had been assisting on autopsies and making notes as well as studying various functions of the organs in the body. Once the investigation had been completed, he would then assist on tidying up the body and re-stitching the wounds and preparing the body for burial. Hibiki had thus far not informed his family of this particular area of study in his ninja career and hoped it would be a few years before they learned. It was bad enough that they were not entirely supportive of their choice but he could not imagine what his mother would say if she knew he was digging round in bodies and sewing up cadavers. Hibiki found the work fulfilling and enlightening and he learned far more about the body through his work as an assistant than reading about in books. For Hibiki it was easier to learn by seeing and holding the parts in his handy, tracing the arteries and capillaries with his fingers and eyes rather simply reading about them in some book. His studies had been progressing well but even so, he was surprised when contacting by the mission office to attend ISIM and carry out a full autopsy and pathology report on some unfortunate whose body had been discovered just outside of the village gates along on of the main roads to nearby villages. It would be a test of everything Hibiki had learned and he had no doubt that he would be monitored closely and he was sure his findings would be checked over before the results were archived or made known to any next of kin. Still the fact he was asked to carry out the investigation was a sign of trust in his competence and he found himself growing increasingly nervous as he made his way to ISIM.

Upon arrival he headed to the autopsy rooms and was met by one of the senior assistants that directed him to the correct station. The first stage was to change into the scrubs provided at ISIM and place on a  mask, glove, apron and goggles to prevent as much contamination to the body as possible. It was not unknown for an assistant or medical nin to retain traces of poisons or antidotes on their skin following other work and such traces could potentially contaminate a test preventing an accurate diagnosis. Once Hibiki and his assistance was suitably dressed they carried out a strict and thorough inventory of the equipment, noting down on a  checklist everything they would need from scalpels and sample trays to Petri dishes and glass slides. Hibiki also ensured they had a toxology kit that would allow them to take samples to be sent off for further investigations if required.  

WC: 1018

Hibiki double then triple checked the equipment was all in order, satisfied, he turned to his assistant. “Please can you bring me any medical history we have including any tests that have already been carried out?” The assistant handed Hibiki a think folder which Hibiki placed on the desk and sat down, glancing into the sterile cold room separated by a pane of toughened glass. “Has their DNA been tested for genetic markers against known KKG bloodlines on record?” “Yes the tests all came back negative and no unusual proteins or sequencing was found either. The men that found them carried the body here on a cart so its uncertain whether there were signs of struggle or violent confrontation where the body was located.”

Hibiki shrugged and began reading through the report, commenting to his assistant any relevant information he found. “So female body found a short distance from main road approximately 3 miles from the village. Located head first with potentially broken or dislocated arm. Did not respond to calling or physical contact and was rolled over. Eyes open and unreactive. No identification and witnesses did not recognise the female. Name and affiliations unknown.” Hibiki read the report again and sighed. “Have any matching descriptions to the body been identified with the missing persons registry?” “I am not aware anything has been sent over, we tend to send it after the initial examination has been completed.” “Thank you. Okay I am ready to begin, can you bring the body in now please.” His assistant left and Hibiki moved to the work table at the centre of the room and waited for the body to be brought in and transferred to the worktable.

Another assistant entered with a scroll and took a seat nearby ready to record notes so that Hibiki and his assistant could proceed without interruption. “Post mortem examination, Sato Hibiki acting as lead examiner.” “Yuro Senji Assisting” “Kamyia Sango recording notes of examination.” Hibiki looked at the clock on the desk. “Examination beginning at zero nine twenty eight am. Proceeding first with measurements and photographs.” Hibiki measure the heigh of the body as well as the weight on the built in scales integrated into the table. “Height one hundred fifty three centimetres, weight forty eight kilograms, subject appears to be between 24 and 28 years old. Yuro please could you begin photographing the body. Brown hair approximately forty eight centimetres in length and brown eyes Hibiki worked thoroughly pointing out any marks or injuries discovered on the bodies surface before rolling the body to investigate the back and sides. “Noting small injuries to face and hands, likely from a fall. Colouration indicates that she was either alive or died within one minute prior to the fall, no sign of damage to right hand indicating she did not try to break her fall. Damage to left arm, appears to match blunt force potentially caused by falling onto it. No sign of other injuries or defensive wounds or bruising to suggest a violent physical attack was perpetrated.”

As Hibiki was about to move on he noticed a faint marking that was almost perfectly hidden located behind the left ear, hidden by her hairline. “Remains of surgical scar locate behind left ear, faint signs of scarring along hairline that stops at forehead. Matching scars on right side. Possible facial transplant with use of chakra scalpel to remove subdermal tissue. By colouration of the scars it appears to be less than a year old and likely by a skilled medical nin. Note to check records of any facial reconstruction or grafts in archives and pass note onto headquarters for search against secure archives.” Hibiki stepped back as Yuro recorded the images on the camera. Finally he moved to examine the eyes nose and mouth. “Dirt residue in both nostrils, sample taken for analysis but initially indicates she was breathing when her face hit the ground. Lips show signs of light orange staining, taking sample with swab.” Hibiki swabbed the lip and secured it in a vial. "Colour of swab not consistent with dirt residue, can you bring in her clothes please?” The clothes were brought in and Hibiki spent some time examining them away from the body and collecting some of the dirt and rubbing it between two halves of an alcohol soaked cloth to check the colour of the staining. “orange staining does not appear consistent with colouration of dirt collected from body or clothing.”

Hibiki opened the mouth, peering inside with the use of a light and examined mouth and teeth. “Identical orange staining to lips found on gums, tongue and continuing further into the oesophagus. Teeth shows signs of large scale work and reshaping, replacement enamel compound seems similar to substances used in fake teeth and appears to have very low amount of wear.” Hibiki took an imprint of the teeth and checked the specially treated paper under the light. “Appears several teeth do not match wear of opposite number. At least 13 teeth appear to have been wholly replaced. No signs of hidden compartments within fake teeth identified. Clear signs of very recent dental work, likely within last few days at most but will need to verify with appropriate experts.”

Hibiki proceeded with the examination, cutting down the torso using a chakra scalpel before operating the ribcage and systematically removing, weighing and then examining the organs. He began with the vital organs, first checking the heart and lungs before moving to the liver and kidneys. “Heart has normal shape and weight of 300 grams with no signs of damage or disease. Coronary arteries, myocardium and valvular apparatus appears normal. Signs of intense systemic congestion in other organs which suggests cardio pulmonary arrest. Heart appeared healthy with no risk factors or indicative signs of illness or weakness of the heart.”

Hibiki moved on to the brain and instructed Yuro to take more images of the face. Once Hibiki was satisfied he removed the facial tissue and removed the remaining skin from the skull before cutting through the bone carefully with his chakra scalpel. He severed the spinal cord and removed the brain before examining it in detail. “Further signs of intense systemic congestion, notably more severe than in the other organs, this demonstrates further evidence to support a probable cardio pulmonary arrest.” Samples were taken from each organ and labelled before being prepared to be sent away for further examination. Hibiki took further samples and tested each of them with the basic toxicology kit and each of them returned a negative result for foreign substances.

When Hibiki examined the oesophagus he discovered large amounts of orange staining and discovered an orange liquid in the stomach. “Further staining and orange liquid located in stomach. Approximately fifty millilitres of orange liquid recovered and collected for further testing. Liquid is not easily identifiable so suggests potential link to cause of death but has to be confirmed via further testing.” Hibiki continued testing and examining the body but was unable to locate anything of further significance. “Could you send all the samples to the lab for testing please, then store the organs in case we need further testing. I will start cleaning the body and preparing it for burial.”

Hibiki removed the viscera from the chest cavity and returned the sections of the skull, gluing them back into place before carefully retuning the flesh scalp and flesh over the skull and sewing it back into place, moving the hair to hide the new scarring in case they were able to identify the body and an open burial was requested. Hibiki cleaned the inside of the body before proceeding to return the section of the ribcage and stitching up the abdominal incision. The record keeper left the room briefly and Hibiki looked at the body sadly, wondering what choices this person had made to make them under go surgery to change their face and dental records. It occurred to him that they might well have been a heinous criminal or were perhaps running from one. Regardless of her past it was unlikely that Hibiki would ever find out or if thy would ever discover where she came from or if she had any next of kind. The best she was likely to get a burial in and unmarked grave or cremation and having her ashes scattered. It seemed sad that there might be no one to attend a funeral or offer prayers to Raijin and Fuujin in their name.

Yuro returned and Hibiki snapped out of his daze, once again entering the guise of a professional medical nin they would expect to see. “I have drained the blood and washed the inside of the body. Could you wash the outside whilst I prepare the embalming solutions and materials?” the assistant nodded and Hibiki left the room, stripping off the medical gear and disposing of it in the designated bins before slumping against he wall and catching his breath. Re whispered the mantra that usually got him through rough days at ISIM like this one. “Just break them down like puppets, outer shell, inner shell, framework, mechanisms and components. Outer shell, inner shell, framework, mechanisms and components.” Hibiki repeated it quietly several more times before deciding to go take a shower using the facilities provided, scrubbing at his hands and arms vigorously. He went to the canteen for lunch and ate slowly, barely tasting the food as he considered the findings he had made and leafing through several books splayed out in front of him but not really taking in the information. He struggled to find any poisons that left a bright orange residue and so switched to medications but likewise struggled to identify the mysterious orange liquid.

Hibiki considered that it could possibly be unrelated but his instincts told him there was a definitely a connection. His head was buzzing with thoughts and information and so he packed up his books and decided to go for a run, heading outside of ISIM he began running laps on the cliff face to work out the nervous energy and clear his head. After an hour or so he had put on his protective gear and re-entered the work room, finding the body had been cleaned. The chill air set goosebumps on his skin and he located a blanket to place over the naked body in order to provide some sense of dignity or decency. Not that they would matter much now and not in this place. One of the first things he learned was that they were not people but bodies, puppets made of meat, unreactive and unfeeling. Hibiki hoped that he did not entirely get used to the bodies. He didn’t want to be an adult just yet if it meant you stopped caring about people just because you didn’t know them.

Hibiki prepared the formalin and activated the apparatus that let them pump it into the body and carried out the rest of the embalming process alone. Once the body was embalmed he called Yuro back and they placed the body in a bag after ensuring the label was firmly attached to the right toe. Once the body had been returned Hibiki read through the notes that had been recorded again, checking they were accurate and that nothing was different from his recollections. A few hours later Hibiki was startled awake as Yuro returned. “Ah sorry, didn’t realise you were sleeping. Toxicology said the results should be ready soon if you want head over?” “Sure, lets see if they were able to find out if that liquid had something to do with her death.”

They walked in silent to the labs where medical nin, scientists and doctors worked tirelessly testing, diagnosing and studying thousands of samples. Hibiki had spent a bit of time in the labs but had mostly been confined to the poisons and antidotes section and this was part of the reason he was so frustrated by the investigation, all of the poisons he was aware of that caused cardio pulmonary arrest never presented with such a strong arrange die and his toxicology kit had failed to identify any traces of particular toxins. Hibiki sat down and waited for the results and after a few minutes one of the lab technicians approached and provided a copy of the report. Hibiki fought the urge to simply snatch it from the technician’s hand. He scanned through the document and identified the issue, exclaiming in surprise at the results. “It was lidocaine, an local anaesthetic. Definitely wouldn’t have thought of that but this way too much and I haven’t heard of anyone ingesting it this way, usually it’s a small injection or inhaled as a low concentrated gas. I haven’t heard of it being drunk before or many deaths from it yet, its relatively new I believe. Apparently some dentists use it for numbing the gums so that might explain how she got it but I don’t know if we will ever know why she drank it. Can you pull up any records involving death from lidocaine?.” The lab tech spoke up after the request.

“Not many of those, what are you looking for?” Hibiki paused to consider the question, what was he hoping to find out? “If it can cause a cardio pulmonary arrest, but even then it doesn’t explain how they injured there arm or face, they would have had a chance to fall in a more safer position and likely would have put both arms out even reflexively.”

“Well that could have been caused by the seizures” another lab tech chimed in. Hibiki paused and considered the possibility, a sudden seizure might explain the injuries but he did not known they could be caused by lidocaine and had never come across it in its reading. “Does it cause seizures as well? I haven’t read that anywhere before but then I don’t know much about lidocaine other than basic uses.”

The lab tech shrugged. “I believe it has been seen a couple of times when tested on rats but only with exceptionally large doses, I don’t know if there has been any research on the affects in humans. Large enough does might do it though. Tricky to find without advanced facilities like our own, most doctors or clinics wouldn’t find it and simply diagnose failure of the heart.” Hibiki thanked the lab technician and returned to the work room in a rush, taking a copy of the report with him. When he arrived, he sat down and begun working on his formal report, collating the photographs and labelling them once they were finished developing in the red room. It was already getting dark by the time he was happy with the report and requested it be copied and sent to the head mortician for checking and approval before it was formerly passed on to headquarters and likely archived, never to see the light of day.

The genin removed his second lot of examination clothing and disposed of them in the laundry bins before heading home bleary eyed and exhausted. Physically he felt okay but mentally he was tired and felt as though his brain was trickling through his ears. He decided that he might avoid ISIM for a little while to regrow his brain cells. He certainly had no intention of reading a book or any writing for several days at least and made some rough plans to go hiking in the mountains, living of the land a few days would set his head straight.

Outside of his home he stopped and jumped up to the roof, looking up at the stars as they began to shine through. It had been a successful day really yet somehow Hibiki did not feel particularly proud or joyous as he usually would with a successful mission. But then not all missions would be fun.

WC: 2649 TWC: 3667

Claiming Mission Rewards:
18,000 Ryo (x2 from BP)
60 AP due to beloved presence. Max AP bonus converts at 50:1 - 3000 ryo

Claiming milestone:

Claiming 3667 WC - max stats training at 25% discount
- Medical Art: Bodily Restoration - 750 - 750/3667
- Master-at-Arms -1500 - 2250/3667
- Medical Art: Healing Hands - 750 - 3000/3667
- 667 wc towards (Incomplete) Sealing Art: Dark River Breaking Seal - 1442/1750 - 3667/3667

Sato Hibiki wrote:

WC: 2649 TWC: 3667

Claiming Mission Rewards:
18,000 Ryo (x2 from BP)
60 AP due to beloved presence. Max AP bonus converts at 50:1 - 3000 ryo

Claiming milestone:

Trust Me; I'm a Doctor: Complete a Professional mission.

Bonus: Specialist Tome

Claiming 3667 WC - max stats training at 25% discount
- Medical Art: Bodily Restoration - 750 - 750/3667
- Master-at-Arms -1500 - 2250/3667
- Medical Art: Healing Hands - 750 - 3000/3667
- 667 wc towards (Incomplete) Sealing Art: Dark River Breaking Seal - 1442/1750 - 3667/3667

Approved