Unsealed: Posted to General Missive Network

[sound_council]

Perhaps this is a bit forward of me, but my experiences over the last few months have indicated that there is a near-criminal lack of basic medical knowledge among the ninja and civilian population.

As such I, Dr. Yakushi of the Sound, will happily answer any medical questions you might have, no matter your village affiliation, from the hours of 3pm to 6pm, Mondays through Fridays. Yes, even the questions your parents or teachers are unwilling to answer. Yes, even things that might make you uncomfortable or embarrassed. There is an anonymous messaging option for that very reason. Yes, I can speak to most complications arising from Bloodline Talents (though depending on how unusual your abilities, it might be best to speak to your personal doctor or teacher, should your talents be considered a village secret.) It would be my pleasure, and duty, to answer your questions and decrease the number of preventable injuries within our communities.

So.

Ask away.

Some common questions to start us off - 

Is scar tissue stronger than regular skin?
It is. However, each cell of your body can only replicate so many times. I would encourage you not to intentionally scar yourself for any reason. 

How useful is medical jutsu outside the ninja world?
Very. Most humans possess at least a base-line amount of chakra which can be induced to speed healing. Furthermore, basic medical knowledge includes traditional as well as ninjutsu based healing. I would encourage everyone to learn at least a bit of the former. It can save lives. If you are interested, I can post information on the basics of CPR, Chakra Healing and first Aid as taught by the Sound. 

Do ninja's have to eat more than regular people?
Using ninjutsu uses energy similar to that of regular exercise. The more you exercise, the more you need to eat. Similarly, the more you practice ninjutsu, the more calories you will need to consume. This is equally applicable to both male and female ninja. Starving yourself for any reason is idiotic and can lead to health complications which can negatively effect ones abilities. I recommend eating a balanced but varied diet, to ensure that you are receiving the appropriate amounts of micro-nutrients as well as calories.

Are condoms uncomfortable?
No. If your significant other uses this as an excuse to not wear them, they are lying and should be dealt with accordingly. Alternatively, if your find your preferred method of protection uncomfortable, it is likely that you are using the incorrect size. Please be safe when engaging in intercourse. The Sound already has too many orphans.

And because this is distressingly common - 
I cut off my finger/hand/arm/head. Is it possible to reattach it?
Please do not do this. While an experienced medical professional can reattach and ocassionally regrow limbs, every surgery has its dangers. At the moment, I have a jar on my desk full of glass eyes and an entire sewing kit of sutures specifically for re-attaching fingertips. If you are a teacher or parent of a young ninja, for the love of all things holywatch your children while they are training. Just because doctors can reattach limbs, doesn't mean we should be asked to do so on a daily basis!

Comments

[senseiofthesea]

While not a question, I would like to tell you how much I appreciate you pointing out those last two points where people can see it.

It's frustratingly common for children to believe that anything can be put back on with jutsu.

[sound_council]

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one irritated by this. I hope my honesty might do some good, and prevent further problems, if only a few.

May I ask if you are a medic as well? It sounds as if you speak from experience.

[senseiofthesea]

Not a medic, a teacher. Any medical knowledge I've picked up was learned the unfortunate way I'm afraid, with a few general knowledge lessons thrown in.

I do read a lot though, so that helps in that area, which is probably why a few of my less intelligent students haven't lost any fingers.

[sound_council]

In my experience, a good teacher can do far more to prevent injury than a medic ever could. It sounds as if you are living up to that.

But if you would be interested in some extra training...well, I would be happy to add to your store of basic medical knowledge. Though I haven't had many students of my own, it does seem that there are some very common injuries whose fixes you might find useful.

[senseiofthesea]

I do my best. If you have training to offer, in this medium of course, I have no reason to reject it.

There's nothing wrong with learning whatever one can while maintaining their duties I think.

[sound_council]

In that case, I would be happy to experiment with teaching across the seal-network. While it certainly won't be as useful as hands-on practice, there are many techniques that I can at least explain. Do you have any specifics I could help you on?

I could also make a point of showing you the jutsus in person the next time I visit your village. As a medic, I frequently travel, and it would be no trouble to stop off where-ever you are for a few hours.

[senseiofthesea]

That would be appreciated. Diagnostic jutsu are something I'm woefully without knowledge of. Could we start there?

Something in person is definitely a thought to consider for later.

[lostmarauder]

[Sealed to Kabuto personally. Peter knew that handwriting rather well after all.]

I'm surprised you've gotten bored enough to do something like this.

What finally set you off?

Peter

[locked to Peter]

[sound_council]

'Boredom' might not be the right word.

I returned from my sabbatical to find half a dozen cases waiting for me exactly like those I've been healing for the last few months out in the Rice. I thought I had trained the students to know better...but my journey proved that it wasn't only civilians who are lacking in basic knowledge, but also our supposed 'allies'. If I have another meeting interupted because someone can't take care of their own children... And if our village still struggles with such basic concepts, can you imagine how poorly educated other villages must be?

Plus, I'm worried that there has been increasing suspicion cast on the Sound. As yet we are an unknown, but that will not last, and it is imperative that those in the five major villages do not see us as a threat while we stabilize our hold on the Rice. And it will be difficult to expand our...efforts into neighboring lands without their tacit approval of our 'charitable' works. Healers are welcome everywhere, and if that is all they think of us...well, we can capitalize on that.

[lostmarauder]

Considering how long Oto has been working on stabilizing, I think there's no need to worry that it will be uprooted. After all, it's not as though even our allies know where the village is, and even the rare civilian is made sure to not be able to tell.

Still, I can't blame your frustration with the incoming students, or the spoiled children who think they know what they're doing without bothering to listen to the people who know better than them.

Have you considered locking up the people who cause the difficulties for a while? It might do some good to freak them out so they knock it off.

Peter

[sound_council]

Peter, you may be too trusting. No matter how well we've hidden, no matter how clever we've been...it is always possible that a spy or new jutsu will lay our plans to waste. Especially should one the larger villages decide that we have something they desire. Think how quickly the Uzushio was destroyed, and they with strong allies. I do not wish for that to happen to our home. And would it not be all the worse to lose it from negligence when we had finally considered ourselves safe?

No, I will not allow that to happen. And if my help assists a few of our enemies in decreasing their own casualties? So be it. Who knows, we might even gain a few new allies or new recruits.

As for our own fools - one cannot blame the students for the poor education in their villages. It is the fault of their instructors if we have failed to instill in them respect for the field of medicine.

But those who intentionally flout basic sense and waste our resources on their errors...well, I have better punishment details than simply locking them up. The carnivorous plants always need tending, after all.

[lostmarauder]

It's no excuse. A poor student is a poor student. I had no formal teachers before coming to Otogakure and I knew not to be such an idiot by the age of the civilian kids we've been picking up, and the shinobi brats from other villages have even less excuses.

Then again, our village tends to have much higher standards.

You might want to run by feeding people to her plants by the Lady in question though or she might take exception to any damages caused to them.

[sound_council]

I, too, had no formal teachers early in my training. But being in the field and using one's skills is far better training than anything that the supposed 'achademys' provide. In fact, its impressive the amount that our 'brats' have to unlearn. The methods of teaching that are considered normal are idiotic, especially when dealing with the different talents and skill levels of new students.

If there is one thing I wish I could instill in every child, in our village or elsewhere, is common sense. That alone would be enough to fix half our problems.

Still, I think our current crop of students is picking things up rather quickly. They may be hampered by their education, but hopefully they'll turn into shinobi's that the Sound can be proud of.

I assure you, I would not enter Her garden without explict permision. But apparently victims - ah - 'attendants' are quite good at exercising the plants as well as feeding them. You should join us some time - its great fun watching the first time a new student is given the task.

Anonymous message

[noboatbigenough]

[There's no name or mark to determine who is sending the question, but the writing is sharp and crisp, written with slashing strokes and a kind of violent elegance.]

I've always wondered about drowning. What can you tell me about that manner of death?

[sound_council]

Well, that would depend on what you wish to know.

The basics: Drowning is when one's lungs fill with liquid and prevent them from taking in air. This can happen with any kind of liquid, from both internal and external sources, though the latter is generally what we think of. Yet plenty of ninjas have drowned on their own blood due to internal hemorrhaging. And there are stories of ingenious seals or jutsus that directly transfer liquid to the lungs...but I'm getting off topic.

Drowning can happen in any body of water that covers the mouth and nose. The body's instinctive reaction is to struggle for air, but when unconscious this instinct does not activate. Push an unconscious man face-first into a puddle, and he will die just as surely as if you dumped him in the ocean.

When deprived of oxygen, the body can take as few as ten seconds to fall unconscious, so drowning can happen quite suddenly. Victims, preoccupied with nothing more than keeping their head above water, rarely flail, and are unable to call for help. Generally they do not float, even when unconscious, though obviously someone face-down in the water will quickly drown.

According to accounts, it is a terrifying way to die, as the body and mind panic but are unable to reach out for aid, and desperation only kills the body quicker. A struggle to breath and remain conscious, but then failure and the certain knowledge that the loss of consciousness will result in death.

But all that is rather morbid. What interests me, personally, is the effects of cold water drowning, and the rare instance where the body can be put into a kind of hibernation if the water is at just the right temperature. Fascinating!

Was there anything more specific you would like to know?

[noboatbigenough]

I admit, I've always wondered about the different causes for death and how they compare to each other. The ways a Water Release might be worse, or perhaps even better, for the target than another kind of justu, for example. The end is the same, either way, but there's that old saying about the journey being the important part.

Cold water drowning is an interesting thing, but I can't say I've got personal experience on either side of that.

[sound_council]

I suspect that a simple death is preferable to the many ways a genjutsu can toy with one's mind and incorporate torture in with something as simple as drowning. It rather depends upon the purpose of the death - to make someone suffer, to kill them quickly or silently, or to discover information. Drowning does not easily fit in many of these categories, partially because ninjas have protections that civilians do not, and can save themselves easier. But apparently it is quite useful for ninjas involved in interrogation. Even the civilians have a name for it; water-boarding. Though I daresay the various villages have come up with some interesting additions to the simple threat of drowning.

I've undergone a simulate drowning experience a few times, and I must admit cold-water drowning is...peaceful, surprisingly. The body is too cold to really panic, after the first few seconds of immersion, and as a result the senses are heightened yet calm. Not nearly as terrifying as being immersed repeatedly for information.

[noboatbigenough]

Water has a versatility that some other elements lack, and I am well aware of its uses in interrogation. It was in the heat of battle that I was most interested in discovering more of.

You are a brave man to let someone else get that close to killing you more than once, but I find myself agreeing to the idea of submersion being peaceful.

[sound_council]

Hmm. For your purposes, drowning might not be the best option. Unless you have a way of summoning water, or luring enemies into water-traps, of course. In most circumstances, fully filling a person's lungs with water simply takes too long and relies too much on circumstance. If you've imobilized someone so much that they drown, in most cases the fight is already over.

As a doctor, it is important to understand the experiences a patient has gone through. Of course, I was in no real danger at the time, so perhaps that helped me relax. Once the fear is gone...one can truely realize how calming water can be. [translation: Kabuto cannot, in good concious, expect a subject to go through a procedure he has not tested. After all, he's more likely to survive.]

[sensethis]

This might seem like a weird question, but how would you handle feeling like you're drowning around certain people?

[sound_council]

Hmm. That would depend on the kind of "feeling". But if you are coughing up water or blood after meeting with these people, or find yourself lethargic after speaking to them for any length of time, I would consider if there may be a justu of some kind involved, whether a blood-line talent that may suck the life or air from someone, or something that could deposit liquid into your lungs or bloodstream. Alternatively, they could be restricting blood flow to your brain, which could cause both light-headedness or feeling unable to breath. I would suggest monitoring your vital signs immediately before speaking with this person or people, and then again afterward.

Alternatively, you may have some latent sensing talents, and be picking up on a mental jutsu of some kind, whether directed at you or person you are dealing with. Feeling an oppressive weight on your chest, a general feeling of malaise or unexpected sharp panic can all be signs of a genjutsu at work.

Unfortunately, I cannot help with the final possibility, that of an entirely emotional response to the person or people. Though a doctor, I specialize in physical rather than mental health, and interpersonal relationships are far from my area of expertise. All I can say is that some people are charismatic and can make one feel overwhelmed, and others seem to drain one's breath or joy away by their mere presence.

In any situation, you may wish to confer with others to ascertain whether the effect is only on you. Your doctor or therapist should be able to monitor any changes in your physical or mental behavior, and close friends can be quite observant of even small changes that a genjutsu or emotive response could produce.

But to give more specific advice, I would need more information.

[sensethis]

The feeling is typically just me, and you wouldn't be the first to suggest I'm a sensor of some kind. I'm not entirely sure how accurate that assessment is though.

And most people that it happens around I'm only just meeting for the first time, so I don't think an emotional response is accurate either. And it isn't all new people before you ask. I wish I had more specific information to give you, I've listened to enough consults at the hospital to know the importance of that.

[sound_council]

Most villages have standard tests that can help determine if one has a rare ability such as sensing. Of course they aren't always perfect, but it still might be useful to try one out. Alternatively, you could look into your family's history, and see if anyone else has mentioned feeling something similar.

Part of the purpose of a doctor is to help you by asking questions you might not have considered before. We try to help take vague feelings - such as shortness of breath, or feelings of dislocation - and turn them into concrete hypothesis. The information you've offered is quite interesting already!

So, lets divide that non-specific information down. What kinds of people generally trigger the drowning feeling? Do they have anything in common? Men, women, young, old, those from outside or inside your village? Are they from a specific clan or heritage? It might not be something obvious - perhaps a certain scent or sound is triggering the feeling. Could they be wearing bells or have all eaten at a certain restaurant? I'm sure if you thought, you could come up with similar questions that could help us suss out the cause of the feeling. Using your answers, you then can proceed to coming up with a profile for those who trigger the drowning feeling.

You could even conduct a semi-experiment. If there is someone you are familiar with that causes this feeling, ask them to participate with someone you know never triggers it. Ideally, if you have a team, work with them to set the experiment up. Not knowing the specifics of your village, I cannot presume your structure, but if you have a team, and if you know one of these 'catalysts' well enough to ask their help, you could use the visit of a diplomatic group or trade caravan to test your hypothesis. Find an outsider who triggers the response, then find out what they have in common with your own catalyst and what they do not have in common with your 'normal'. Then repeat as necessary, refining your definition of catalyst or expanding it to include different categories of catalyst.

I would be very interested in the results you have. Even if you are not a sensor-type, you appear to be picking something up, and now I am equally curious as to what it is.

[ooc: Good job, Karin, you gave Kabu a science puzzle, and now he's going to bother you until you figure it out.]

[sensethis]

I'm not entirely sure I want to take my villages test on the chance the result won't be accurate. And family history might be sort of difficult, for a number of reasons.

I know, I know. And I wouldn't have asked if it hadn't become an issue last month. I'm not particularly fond of feeling non-existent water close over my head and my throat nearly close in response. Dry drowning doesn't sound like it would be any kind of fun because my senses went haywire.

The feeling isn't gender or location specific. Happens with all ages too. Not clan specific either that I can tell, but definitely the strongest occurrence was with a Hoshigaki. Not sure that makes much of a difference, in the long run. And I highly doubt any of them were wearing bells, they're shinobi.

The experiment suggestion isn't a bad one. I might look into it. The trick is finding the participants needed that are closer to home. Though if I do it the search can only benefit me, so it should be considered an avenue worth looking into.

And if I do decide to conduct such an investigation I'll need help interpreting the results. I haven't done much in the way of research in this vein before.

[sound_council]

Generally the more information one has, the better. But if there is a reason you would wish to hide a potential ability from your village, I can understand your hesitance in taking the test.

I see. May I ask how often this happens? If there is some kind of regular schedual, it might be possible to link the feeling to a season or monthly cycle. And if the occurance is becoming more frequent, it would be important to discover the cause as quickly as possible.

The more you speak of this, the more it sounds like an external jutsu, perhaps designed to either keep you away from someone or a group of people, or to overtime corrupt your skills. Especially if it is uncommon to experience it within your village's walls and protections.

Not knowing your position, I cannot guess as to why it is targeted at you, however.

I would be happy to help with interpretation. This is far more interesting than putting on bandaids and healing bruises.