So Long, and Thanks for All the Treatment

[Jinan B]

The hospital of Iwagakure was fine enough in Kinsue’s estimation. Clean, efficient, quiet; all of it served to dampen his impatience that had quickly been forming since he had woken up the previous day. He had never had much of a taste for these periods of recovery. Not when he had taken wounds as a boy, not after either of his two Chuunin Exams, not when he had nearly died in Water Country’s Kazuka Province, and certainly not now.

As harrowing as it had been to wake up here, the allies of his home had done a more-than-fine job of getting him back to health. The blade wound that he had taken still stung, of course, and he would still need a couple days of bed rest before he could do anything strenuous; but it would heal well. Till the end of his days, the Karagata knew he would owe a debt to the shinobi who had found him out in the field. He hoped that one day he’d be able to repay that favour.

More importantly, his time at the hospital had almost come to an end. A good thing too; there wasn’t much of a view to be had in the underground facility.

All that was left for him was a simple assessment, or so he had been told. A couple questions and an examination from one of the village’s doctors. After that, decision-makers here had been kind enough to provide him with temporary housing until he was well enough to travel back home.

He couldn’t imagine that it would be very long until he walked out the door. Unlikely too that what happened before that would be anything worth remembering.

[Kanade]

Enkouten, Kanade walked quickly through the halls, moving fluidly out of the way of a crash cart on its way back from a room where someone had coded and been resuscitated by a chuunin’s careful hand just a half hour ago. She had heard about it from the gossip around the hall, which was technically not allowed but in a hospital there was rarely anything that happened that didn’t get around between the staff. Of course, for those visiting the hospital, either for an injury or for a friend in need, the stress usually kept the chatter from the hospital staff to a dull buzz in the background and they couldn’t pick out the specific details of their daily lives and the daily grind of saving lives.

Today, however, she was given a chart and told that she was on ‘recuperative duty’ by the chief of medicine, who grinned at her and watched her walk away a bit too blatantly, much to Kanade’s chagrin. She had a good body, and worked daily to keep it that way, as it was what Tandala would have wanted with her previous body.

Walking down the halls, she let her mind wander back to the incidents that had brought her here, that she had been a patient in this hospital only a month ago, and that she had yet to actually earn her Brand band, a symbol that she was formally inducted and accepted into the Enkouten clan.

She pushed into a room, dimly lit because it was still only early morning. The patient had insisted that he was fine, was a healthy young shinobi, and had wanted to recover outside of the hospital. He had apparently been read and given the pamphlet on wounds of the blade variety, and being stabbed, he wasn’t allowed to strain himself with training for at least another two weeks. She nodded at all of this and looked up at him, her glowing orange eyes and dimly glowing orange and black hair met his gaze.

“Karagata, Kinsue I presume?” She checked the file, then looked at him, “Either that or the picture on this patient chart is wrong.” She raised an eyebrow, giving him a once over before shrugging her doctor’s coat back up onto her shoulders into a more comfortable place. The damn thing was always slipping off of her shoulders. She had used a simple Enkouten jutsu to keep the coat from burning from her hair.

"I am doctor Enkouten, Kanade. I hear you want to get out of here?"

Kanade Hair and Eyes lookShow

[Jinan B]

Kinsue raised his head as the appointed attendant opened the ward’s door. The woman revealed behind it was quite the sight to behold; bright glowing eyes and hair that came down to her waist. There were also the handful of butterflies that flitted around her. Somehow, she was the second doctor he'd met here who showed the signs of swarm control.

She had a medical file for him, and he simply nodded when she confirmed his identity against it. At her next words, he would smile. ”I’d be glad to, Doctor. I’m afraid I’m something of a restless soul,” he said to Kanade. ”What needs to happen before you let me go?” The man was not entirely used to Iwagakure’s medical protocols. The pamphlets had certainly been quaint; not something he recalled being given out in his native system.

He sat up in his bed -- ignoring the jolt of pain that shuddered through his abdomen -- and took a closer look at the woman. That she was an Enkouten was clear at a glance, yet she was unlike any that Kinsue had known before. In the slight confines of the medical room, he could feel the slightest touch of heat emanating from her hair. Even more striking were her movements, showing a power in her that was apparent to his eye. He knew that experienced shinobi staffed the hospital, but the talent of medics didn’t exactly lie in their physical prowess. While how much exactly wasn’t apparent, Kanade held far more than was reasonable for someone in her profession.

It was most intriguing, and as Kanade continued to speak and act the picture of just how powerful she was would come into focus. For now, Kinsue kept an even countenance as he listened to her answers. He had clearly been proven wrong in thinking that this wouldn’t be memorable.

[Kanade]

Kanade checked through the papers and shrugged, "I just need to ask you a few questions and show me where the bad person touched you." She smirked, the dark humor becoming the person that had previously inhabited this body. She could sometimes feel her there like a whisper, or a phantom that would push her to say things that Chiaki wouldn't normally say, but still weren't true to the essence of who Thabisa was before the change. It was hard getting used to a living body, especially one that wasn't in a sense, 'completely empty.' She looked at the young man and gave him a smile, turning up the lights the butterflies that she had around her flitted in the space between the two ninja, then a couple settled on the man as lightly as if they were smoke.

"Check in, check up, check out." It was something that Kanade had never said, but that Chiaki had said many times before. She hoped that she could keep ahold of the warm nature of Chiaki, but sometimes she felt a little too- spunky? Coarse? Petulant? Defiant? None of those. She just felt too alien.

She cleared her throat, "Questions are, how much does it hurt anymore? Do you feel any sensations of overall being cold? Have you experienced any night sweats or fatigue? Is it hard to breathe? How uncomfortable is it to do your daily activities?" She put the file and pen on the counter next to her and made ready to open her portable time and space personal realm to fetch the ingredients for one of her special dishes, dependent on his answer. It was the right thing to do, and not only that, but it allowed the body to heal on its own time, and it could be stopped if the patient wanted it to, unlike most Iijutsu. She waited for the answers, and to see the site of the previous wound.

[Jinan B]

The women had a strong bedside manner, to be sure. An ease and confidence that belied her experience in this field. Kinsue grinned at her quips, though he was sure it was a demeanour tailored more for civilians than experienced operatives. The ability to put a mind at ease was more than valued for those who had never known combat. She moved through a short set of expected questions, standard fare for the situation.

”The pain’s dulled pretty thoroughly, I think. No chills or sweats. Movement is still uncomfortable. Even sitting up. Guess I’ll be off training for a while, huh.” He resisted the urge to offer any sort of laugh, knowing that it likely wouldn’t be any help for the pain in his chest. Instead, he swivelled in his bed, letting his feet down to the ground and fully facing Kanade. She would be able to see his bare chest, unmarred except for this most recent and unsightly wound. Hopefully, the scarring on the entrance wound wouldn't obscure the brand across his back.

The picture of this woman continued to build in his mind as they spoke. There was experience and power there, but now added to it was a sense of discomfort. Her work seemed at once all too familiar and still foreign to her. So many questions collected within him, until he couldn’t contain his curiosity anymore. ”Forgive me, but… You seem overqualified for this. Is Iijutsu a secondary talent of yours?” It seemed unthinkable that her physical prowess didn’t come first. If her speciality was as a medic, then she would surely be one of the greatest ninjas in this village. The type to have her name and face memorised by anyone with an eye on the bingo book.

And Kinsue had never once heard of Enkouten, Kanade.

[Kanade]

“I mean, I could keep you here in the hospital for another week and just fix you now. It would leave you weak and drained for a good long week since the wound is still a grave one.” Kanade flicked her wrist, a tendril of teal healing crackling between her fingers, “But if it’s not a field-medic situation, it’s usually best to let the body heal on its own. Even Iijutsu has its limits, and it causes stress on the person that it’s healing as much as the person doing the healing.” Kanade winked, one blazing orange eye temporarily eclipsed by her dark eyelid “I am sure though that you can get back to training in a week if you keep to the strict rest regimen that you have, and the very small exercises and stretches that were outlined for you by your GP.”

She passed a hand over the wound, frowning at the edges which were red and hot to the touch, “Well, I should say that your body is recovering well for the nasty wound that you received, entrance and exit wounds look tidy so you should thank whoever stabbed you that they didn’t twist it or you might not be on this table at all.”

Then he asked the question, the one that she had been hoping he wouldn’t ask. Sighing, Kanade pulled back from him, frowning, her eyes narrowing. “No, it’s actually my first talent, or at least, it was when I had a team.” She thought back to Mariya, to Kumogakure, to Maido, and to Shinjiro, she had been their medic. She had been one of the best there was, but now she was doing routine check-ups, trying to make sure she was mentally stable in her new body. Her own scar, mirroring his flared up with a remembered dull pain that made her massage the mark over her heart.

“So I am here, because my team is disbanded, until I am called again to service for the good of Iwagakure and Tatsuo-sama.” She nodded firmly, then shook her head, as if waking up from a transe. “Sorry, I’m just, a bit sensitive about that subject. I have made a breakthrough in some medicinal foods, and am also a smith and crafter.” She listed off the talents, “But mostly, I am a healer.” She would make good on that conviction, she was a healer, even though the world once knew her as a monster, a runaway, a kidnapper, a thief, and a treasonous witch.

[Jinan B]

Kinsue nodded at the doctor’s recommendation. As nice as it would have been to force the healing right away, what mattered most was his long-term condition. It wouldn’t do to allow any extra risk of complication, so the painful path would have to do. Funny, how often that turned out to be the case. ”I understand. Don’t mind my grumbling; it's my own fault I ended up this way.” Kanade’s hand moved towards the wound, passing over it lightly. Even so, Kinsue could barely avoid wincing as pain lanced through him on contact. The painful path, indeed.

”Lucky to have been found as well. If your medic Yoshiko hadn’t been in the area at the right time; I’m sure I would have bled out anyway.” The thought had crossed his mind more than once over the last day. He had been so careless, so complacent, and allowed his quarry to get the jump on him. Even though the Missing-nin he was after had proven more powerful than intel suggested, he should’ve known better than to fall into a trap. As far as he was concerned, the training he had undergone to get up to strength wasn’t enough. His mindset had suffered as well, too accustomed not to the finer things to treat his duties properly.

At least he had the chance to go home again and fix his flaws before the next challenge. He'd have to do better next time, or luck almost certainly wouldn't save him again.

Speaking of herself seemed to push Kanade into a state of particular unease. The telltale signs were all there, but why? Kinsue, unaware that the woman before her was a close confidant of his own cousin, was almost bursting with further questions. What team was she referring to, why had they disbanded, and above all why was she unknown to him? He took a breath, allowing a brief silence to fill the room between them, and used the time to retrain himself. He owed Kanade and had no right to probe further than he had already.

Instead, he pushed a smile out. ”You must be pre-eminently skilled. Perhaps, could I see some of your crafts before I leave?” An offering to move to something more comfortable, at least he hoped it would be. Kinsue looked out to the door of the hospital room. If trying to push the topic with Kanade was a bad idea, at least he’d be out in Iwagakure proper soon enough.

[Kanade]

Kanade watched as he moved about tenderly, she expected it, with a hole still in his chest, even though it had closed up mostly, any strenuous activity would tear it, it was much like her wound had been for the better part of a month. It was lucky that he was alive, rather than the semblance of life that she was. She still ate, drank, slept, laughed, and cried like any normal woman would, but beneath the surface, her essence was not in her head at all, but completely apart from herself, something akin to a soul jar held her essence. She wouldn't let herself forget it.

He asked to see her crafts and she instantly turned her thoughts from the macabre to the art that she had at her smithy, "Sure!" She beamed and scribbled her signature on his charts. She would just leave before they gave her more to do. There wasn't an MTP happening, no one on the floor was in imminent danger of crashing. She had set butterfly sentinels to monitor the patients for clinical progress, and they were to take her to the room in case of emergency.

"Why don't you get dressed and meet me outside in the hallway, then we can head on over to the smithy, where I keep the crafts that I make. I'll treat you to a meal, and then you can get settled into a hotel somewhere." She assumed that he would want other accommodations. She wasn't running an inn, after all, and she didn't want to invite him into bed, after all, he was her patient.

Walking out of the room, closing the door behind her, she walked up to the charge nurse and handed in the paperwork, "I am going to escort him out of the hospital personally to ensure that he doesn't take off across the rooftops, you know how we shinobi are." Her eyes flashed open in silent challenge as her eyebrow raised, daring the nurse to say something to her face akin to the thing that she had overheard at the water cooler when she was talking to another one of the nurses, a male nurse that she was trying to impress. Instead of repeating that Shinobi were really only there to give the illusion of security in the building, both through their jutsu and through their prowess, but that they did about as much as the statue outside, she instead just nodded her head, avoiding Kanade's eyes.

When had Chiaki become so cold to the other staff? She wondered as she wandered back over to the room and leaned against the wall, careful not to rest her magmatic hair against the flammable paint. She drummed her fingers on her bicep waiting for him to come out, excited to show him her latest works, already running through them in her head.

[477/???? NANOWRIMO]

[Jinan B]

Kanade seemed mightily eager to show off her arts, and Kinsue was more than happy to oblige her. It wouldn’t do to have the doctor more excited about leaving the hospital than the patient, now would it? With a nod, he allowed her to back out of the room before he shifted his attention to his clothes. Not a pretty sight - what with the gaping slash through both sides of his shirt - but at least they had been cleaned during his visit. A shame he didn’t have anything better than mission wear for his first foray into their allied Great Village. An occasion of such grandeur deserved better.

Getting ready as quickly as his wounds allowed, he would throw over his cloak and keep it wrapped around his damaged body as he took his leave of the chambers. The man couldn’t help but notice the eyes on him once he was in the hall. No doubt he stood out like a sore thumb, dressed like this. He would need to buy something new sooner rather than later. Hopefully, Iwagakure's fashions suited him.

Kanade at least must have seen stranger sights, with all her experience. Not that it kept him from feeling sheepish as he rejoined her. ”So, where to? I’d love to see some of the village while we went.” He caught himself before he said anymore, realising how poor a tourist a foreign shinobi would make. ”That is, as long as I’ll be permitted to.” Not pissing off the people you owe your life to was a basic enough principle to go by right now.

”Your family is renowned for their work, is that right? Did you start when you were young?” Kinsue wasn’t too familiar with smithing nor craftsmanship, the limits of his exposure being carrying the products between Rock and Water Country. Of all the competitors to the Muramusa’s product back home, Iwagakure was by far the greatest.

[Kanade]

Kanade nodded, “There, that’s better.” She nodded to the, now clothed, Kinsue. She tilted her head, “Except that slash, I suppose that I should get that sewn up, or we could go shopping.” She raised her bright eyes to his a question therein.

“Where to indeed, the open air market might be the best suited to a guest of Iwagakure rather than the underground one.” She shrugged, and gave him a looking over, “The problem is, most of the clothiers in the open air markets are shit, and are meant for tourists. They’re flashy enough, but if you plan on doing anything more strenuous than chopping wood, they tear easily and wear thin after only a short while.”

She hummed, “My restaurant is near the open air market.” She tilted her head back and forth weighing her options. With her escort he could go almost anywhere in the city, as long as she was willing to vouch for him. She decided to keep him away from the Enkouten Compound. There were enough rumors as it was circulating around her.

“The underground market it is.” She finally settled on a place and motioned him to follow. He asked her another question, this time about her family. She answered in the best way that she could, “The Vishvakarman is an Enkouten, so you could say that the clan is renowned for their work.” She was careful not to say anything that would indicate her ties to the clan, “I started forging actually when I was about-” She looked at Kinsue, and stopped herself, “About ten years ago.” She finally settled on, “Though my work was unusable until very recently when I started studying the works here, reverse engineering some of the more masterful pieces here.” She smiled and pointed at the door to the hospital, ushering him outside before she again led him, but this time she took his arm in a friendly manner, “It is wise to not get lost in the crowds up here, or you might lose your purse or something else of value.” She smiled, her white teeth showing.

“Where was I? Oh yes, the Visvakarman is said to be able to craft weapons and armor that are almost as renowned and sought after as the famed weapons and armor pieces.” She shrugged, “But I hope to gain his title soon.” She didn’t tell him that it would take a lot more investigation to even be able to see the Visvakarman, much less challenge him to a duel of hammers.