A typical day (Open)

HOLEMAN MEDICAL CLINIC & FORTUNE TELLING

Back in the desert of a new land... Holeman didn't mind. Sabakugakure. The family had even managed to find a large enough living complex, made up of a combination of a house and a building, for all of them to live in. There was space for a medical lab, there was family living space, and there was space for his grandmother's fortune telling and palm reading parlor.

Many of the kids were running around; brothers, sisters, cousins. Holeman had a big family, having expanded since leaving Yokuchi. His sisters and even his mother had had 2 more kids. His mother was pregnant again, as was his oldest sister; his mother being 6 months along, and his sister being 8. Holeman was losing count of how many siblings were popping out. He wasn't looking forward to when one of them went into labor again, because he was the best medic of them all - even though he was only 10 years old - having stated "he didn't want to have to look at their no no spots again."

Holeman had went flying around the desert on one of his trademark storm clouds, gathering ingredients for another one of his poisons. His little brother and sister begged him to take them along. Both of them seemed to be coming along even faster than he did, and did well in finding some of the ingredients for the poison. Today was a typical day of sitting upstairs in the air conditioning, mixing poisons and other potions, and eavesdropping on many conversations going on around the village...

It had been over a year since her brother had saved her from the compound she had been forced to call home: enduring some of the most vicious punishments for the smallest of offenses. She was a lot calmer, and far more level headed than she had been during those first few weeks of freedom and it was because of this that she had decided it was perhaps time to have some of these marks that marred her flesh removed: if they could be. Kouten had absolutely no interest in going to Sabaku's hospital; they would ask questions and demand answers when she refused to give them which would then end up in her file. No, what she had been looking for was a place a little more discreet than that.

She had found such a place, the Holeman Clinic, the other day when she had gone to the market to grab some fresh fruit for breakfast. She hadn't had the nerve to stop that day, though she had spent at least five minutes standing outside of the building and trying to force herself to go in. Today, however, she was feeling a bit braver and figured she would give it a try. She still wasn't comfortable with too many people touching her, but she figured she would simply grin and bare it – she dealt with it during Taijutsu training and even more so during sparring sessions, so she would treat it as if it were no BFD (big fucking deal).

Kouten was dressed as she always was; black shoulder length hair thrown back into a messy bun, with no make-up in sight: her village hitai-ate wrapped around her right thigh. Covering her top half was a white top that covered her chest but left her mid-drift bare; the top having white straps that were roughly an inch thick and which went over her shoulders and then crisscrossed each other in an X at the back before attaching to the back of her top. Her bottom half was covered with a pair of black capri-styled shorts that were loose fitting, and her feet were covered in black open toed shinobi sandals. It was her usual attire she could normally be found in; perfect for on the spot training and comfortable: even if it did show various scars and injuries along her back, shoulders, and arms: some new thanks to the sparring she had done the other day.

As Kouten approached the door to the clinic she found herself wondering if anyone would care how she was dressed; along with if the clinic was used to shinobi coming to them. She squared her shoulders as she ignored the urge to just turn and walk away, lifted her right hand as she curled it into a light fist, and knocked on the door...

"COME ON IN!"

Assuming that she did, the female would find herself in an air conditioned front room that resembled a lobby. There was a counter, and behind it shelves that had medicines and bandages and things of the like. there was a door behind the counter that had a curtain over it; the sound of children and others could be heard back there. Near the main entrance and around the room were comfortable chairs and tables that had magazines on them. To the right of the entrance was another door that lead over into the palm reading store.

A female who looked to be in her late teens came from behind the curtain. All Holemans were technically blind, so all of them wore something different over their useless eyes. This female was walking strange because she was pregnant, obvious by her large stomach. She had on a pair of wielding goggles with the eyes painted over. The female was followed by a smaller Holeman that had on a cowboy hat that went down to his nose.

"Hi! How are you?" the girl said with a smile. The smaller Holeman tried several times to pull himself up onto the counter to "see" the visitor, successful on his third try. Both of them were grinning at Kouten. "Welcome to the Holeman Medical Clinic, how can I help you today?"

Kouten heard someone say to come on in so she reached for the handle and opened the door despite the urge to just go back home and forget about why she was here. She closed the door softly behind herself and then looked around: the room was cool and comfortable with what looked to be comfortable looking chairs and tables that had magazines on them. There was a counter and behind it shelves that looked to hold a variety of medicines as well as bandages and other medical equipment. The place was exactly how she would expect a clinic to be; minus the sound of children and other people that she could hear coming from behind a curtain.

A female came out from behind the curtain followed by a little kid. The female had her eyes covered, and the kid was wearing a hat that likewise covered his eyes; making Kouten to assume that both were likely blind. They were both grinning though, and seemed friendly enough, which helped to ease some of her over-all tension quite a bit.

”Uh yeah... I've got some injuries I need looked at.”, she'd respond to the question. ”Some older than others...”, she added on as an after thought.

A fight and argument broke out somewhere in the back. Young kids were screaming back and fourth at each other. "MAKE ME HAVE TO COME BACK THERE AND YOU WILL NOT LIKE ME! WHATEVER IT IS CUT IT OUT THIS INSTANT!!" Roared the pregnant female, and the violence in the back died out into minor chirps. The enraged look on her face turned back into a cheerful one as she turned back to Kouten. "Alright, let's have a look at you then, can you step around this way please?"

If she chose to, she'd be lead into a back area behind the curtain. One of the doorways in the hall beyond lead into the house area, and at the end of the hall was a stairway. There were several other doors in this hall too, leading to closets and other rooms. Other children with different things covering their eyes could be seen playing in the hall, some turning to "look" at Kouten.

To the left, a doorway with 2 way plastic doors lead into an examination room. The walls and the floor were white. A black leather bed was in the back. There were glass cabinets with more medical supplies and equipment within them. An older Holeman came in, with what looked like a lampshade covering the top half of her head down to her nose. She had blood red hair that was beginning to turn grey. She wore a large dress that looked hot, but actually kept her cool in the scorching heat of the desert. When she spoke, her voice was deep and froggish.

"Hmmm," she grunted, looking over Kouten. "So pretty and young, with such scars." The woman went into one of the closets, shuffling around in there for something.

The younger Holeman with the wielding goggles began to look Kouten over, running her hands along her shoulders and arms. "My name is Nona," she said. "This here is my son Bailey." He was the child with the cowboy hat, and waved to Kouten with a grin. Nona pointed to the older Holeman. "That's my grandmother. She runs the palm reading shop next door... So, what exact injuries do you have besides these scars?... If I had to guess, you look like a physical fighter. My brother is into Taijutsu really heavily too."

Kouten heard what sounded like a fight between young kids break out coming from somewhere in the back, but it didn't last long before the pregnant woman put a stop to it; causing the noise to lessen greatly. Kouten followed the female back behind the curtain and into the hall where she could see more children playing; all whose eyes were covered as well.

Once in the examination room she glanced around curiously; it was pretty much exactly what she had expected. Her attention was grabbed, however, by a woman who entered with what looked like a lampshade over her head with blood red hair that was beginning to turn gray. The woman made a comment about her being pretty and young to have such scars to which Kouten simply stared at the floor: she hated her scars because they were reminders of her past. The woman began to look through one of her closets and so Kouten focused her attention back onto the other female who began to look her over.

Kouten stood completely still as stone; she didn't like being touched but knew her wounds had to be checked. ”My name is Kouten, and yeah I use Taijutsu.”, she responded.

”Some of my previous... injuries... never healed properly. I'm pretty sure the ones on my feet are infected.” Kouten would then sit on the examination table, removing her sandals gingerly, as if the process hurt which it did. With the shoes off the wounds on the bottom would be revealed; created by a tool that was a cross between a whip and a cane: a thin bendable wooden rod – the same as the ones on her back though those had healed and scarred. The wounds on her feet, despite having happened over a year ago, had never healed properly and were indeed infected.

Nona could tell that Kouten didn't like being touched. Perhaps, her past wasn't one full of roses and rainbows. Nona wasn't going to ask her about it. Kouten said some of her injuries didn't heal correctly. She sat on the table and took her sandals off. From the looks on her face, just doing that looked like it hurt, meaning the injuries and the infections had to be pretty bad. Nona wondered how the girl was standing and walking.

"Ohh, this is beyond my expertise unfortunately," Nona said, looking over her feet closely. "I'll have to go get my little brother, he's better at this than I am. HOLEMAN! WHERE ARE YOU! GET DOWN HERE WE HAVE A mumble mumble mumble..." she was yelling this while walking out into the hall, and soon she could still be heard yelling but her words couldn't be made out.

"Uncle Holeman can heal anything," said Bailey, adjusting his cowboy hat. "He's the best, the chosen one. He knows how to fight really good too."

Some time would pass before a small boy came into the examination room. Standing only 4 feet tall, the boy was wearing a standard dark blue Uchiha shirt, which had a big collar and a large clan symbol on the back of it. He wore red ankle length slacks and red sandals, with red fingerless gloves on his hands. Both of his forearms were wrapped with medical tape.

Like all of the Holemans, he too was covering the top of his head and his eyes with a red Du-rag. A pair of red headphones were on his ears, the top of them hanging by the back of his neck. His village headband was tied around his left arm. At first glance to normal eyes, the kid didn't look like anything special.

Holeman was grinning. "Hi," he said, waving as he walked over. "My name's Holeman... it's my clan's name, but they say i'm the chosen one so they named me after the clan..." Holeman had already began to scan her, noticing many injuries, scars and infections. "So yeah. Sis says you're pretty banged up, eh? She says it doesn't seem like you like hands on you either. It's none of my business what happened to ya, but i'll go easy and we'll have you as good as new in no time, heh?"

Nona said that Kouten's injuries were beyond her expertise, which caused her to feel a little worried: she didn't want to have to go to the hospital. Yet, she then added that she'd have to get her little brother because he was better at this kind of stuff then she which had Kouten relaxing again. Nona then began to call out to someone called Holeman, asking where he was, and telling him to get downstairs; she said some more but since she had already walked out of the room Kouten couldn't hear any of it.

The little boy with the cowboy hat, Bailey, then stated that his uncle could heal anything, and went on to say that he was the best and the chosen one. He also added that he could fight really good too, which had Kouten's curiosity up. Most people had one or the other profession: they were either a healer or a fighter, not both. It had her rather interested to meet this chosen one.

She waited a little bit before before a young man would would walk in, looking a few years younger than herself. He introduced himself as Holeman, saying that it was his clan name but also his name because they chose to call him that since he was the chosen one. He then went on to comment that his sister said Kouten was pretty banged up, and had also told him that it seemed like she didn't like having hands on her, to which Kouten responded with a nod. Holeman then went on to say that it was none of his business what happened to her, but that he'd go easy and have her good as new in no time.

”Sounds good... I know I probably should have got my injuries looked at sooner but hospitals ask too many questions; and take too many notes.” She was calming a bit more; getting used to the environment, and it helped that Holeman was near her age: she dealt better with younger people than adults. She didn't doubt his skill as a medic, despite his age: her own brother had single handedly rescued her from that hellish compound after all.

She had to imagine that her feet were the worst of all, followed by her back and calves as they had sustained similar treatment by the same weapon. The rest of her was just small bumps and bruises from normal wear and tear Taijutsu training.

Medical Eye:

Chakra: 875/900

Holeman had his arms folded, with his left hand rubbing the bottom of his chin. With his own special vision activated he'd began to look at Kouten in more detail. Her legs and feet were worse than anywhere else. Infection was running rampant. "Yeah, the hospital is pretty nosy," Holeman added. "They'd go tell the Kage and the ops and launch investigations and all that... troublesome in the end. We like to keep quiet... So, it looks to me like... someone's been beating on you with some kind of blunt object, a cane or something. The bones are growing back crooked, it's a wonder that you're even still walking. The infection in your feet is starting to move up your legs. It's a good thing you came here when you did; a week or so later and you'd have to consider amputation..."

"What's ampu--whatever, unc?" asked Bailey.

"It's when you gotta have your legs chopped off," Holeman answered.

"Chopped off? Why?"

"Cause when you get sores like these," Holeman said, moving closer to Kouten, carefully taking her legs and moving them up onto the bed. "And they don't heal right, they get filled up with germs. That's called an infection. The germs get real bad and start moving other places inside the body. If they get up to where your heart or your brain is, it could turn out real bad. So doctors usually cut the legs off to get rid of the infection."

"You gonna chop her legs off, Unc?"

Holeman chuckled some. "Nahhh... your Unc can take the germs outta there, watch close... This won't hurt a bit, Kouten, but i'll need you to sit still..." His hand began to glow a white color. He hovered them both above Kouten's thighs. While the chakra began to enter her legs, she would likely feel a cool sensation. The chakra immediately began to heal her legs and right her bones.

Holeman couldn't help but to wonder what had happened to this girl, but he wasn't in the business of asking too many questions. "So... you have any more family members or friends that may need healed or cleansed of diseases or germs or anything like that?" he asked. It was the least he could do.

”They're not anymore... beating me that is”, she responded to his comment about how it looked like someone had been beating her: though she didn't add the reasoning as to why they weren't any longer. ”He called it a whip cane; it was a thin bendable rod – hard like a cane but it would strike like a whip.” She wasn't quite sure why she was willing to give up this information: but, if it would help him to treat her then it was well worth it.

When Holeman said that the bones were growing back crooked and that it was a wonder she could even walk she simply shrugged her shoulders. ”I built up a high pain tolerance.

She then fell silent, listening to Holeman explain that the infection in her feet was starting to move up her legs and that it was a good thing she had come in when she did because another week or so and she would have likely been considering amputating her legs. The idea startled her so much that she didn't even react when Holeman carefully lifted her legs and moved them onto the bed. She listened as he explained to Bailey why the infection would have caused her to lose her legs, and was glad to hear that Holeman wasn't even considering cutting her legs off and that he could fix the issue.

”Okeydoke.”, she would respond to Holeman telling her she needed to sit still. She watched then as his hands began to glow white – what she knew to be healing chakra from her studies – and when the chakra began to enter her legs and heal her she felt a cool sensation.

At Holeman's question she shook her head no. ”Nah. If my twin brother was hurt I would've showed up here a while ago.”

Ailment Removal:

Chakra: 845/900

She said she'd build up a high tolerance to pain. It was only natural. She'd also said that "He'd" beaten on her with a whip cane. Holeman wondered who the "He" was. It was safe to assume that "He" was no longer breathing. Holeman wouldn't question this. She also said that she had a twin brother, and if he'd gotten hurt they would have showed up here a while ago. Holeman would have to listen out for him now. He couldn't have been the one beating on her, but Holeman planned on being a little nosy.

He put his left hand on her knees, while his right looked like it was pulling something out of her, which it was. From her feet would emerge the white chakra that he'd just injected, with something green and red inside of it that resembled salad. As Holeman pulled this out of her, Kouten would feel her wounds healing and disappearing. The chakra would have repaired her bones and set them back correctly so that she would feel no discomfort while walking, running and jumping.

"Coooool!" said Bailey.

Holeman was still grinning. This was his nephew's first time seeing something of the sort. "See that big jar over there on the counter? Grab it for me."

"Ok!" Bailey ran over to grab the jar which had a top. Holeman pulled all of the germs out of Kouten's legs, allowing them to hover above his right hand in a big glob of white chakra that looked like a bubble. Her legs would be as good as new now. Bailey unscrewed the top to the jar, and Holeman put the germs inside. Bailey screwed the top back on and shook the jar, "staring" at the germs inside.

Holeman rubbed his gloves hands together."Alright, now let's see what we can do about these scars. We'll have the guys lining up to chase after you in no time, heh?"

Kouten continued watch Holeman curiously; watching as he put his left hand on her knees while the right seemed to be pulling something out of her that was green and red: what she assumed was the infection within her feet. As Holeman did so Kouten could feel her wounds healing and disappearing completely: as if they were never there in the first place which brought a smile to her face.

Bailey said it was cool, and she couldn't help but to agree. Holeman asked Bailey to get a jar which he did and Holeman put whatever he had pulled out of her inside of it. Bailey screwed the lid onto the jar and then shook it while he seemed to watch the germs inside even though Kouten still couldn't quite figure out how that was given his eyes were covered.

Her attention shifted then to Holeman when he mentioned seeing what he could do about her scars. At his next comment though her smile faltered a little but she didn't respond to it, instead she simply asked, ”You can get rid of my scars? Some of them are pretty old..” She didn't really doubt his ability; especially given what he had just done. Still though, it was hard to believe her scars could also be erased just like that: and it brought a bit of her excitement back.

Word Count: 1,930

"Holeman you're not in here copping yourself free feels on this young lady are you?" asked Nona as she walked back into the examination room, causing a froggish sounding laugh to emerge from the closet from grandmother Holeman.

Holeman showed no reaction and just kept grinning. It took a lot to make him mad. "Don't mind my sister," Holeman said. "She likes trying to embarrass us in front of company."

"I'm just saying, because I wouldn't blame you. Kouten IS quite attractive, and you're a growing boy, it's only natural..."

"I'm gonna remember this for the day you go into labor. Maybe i'll conveniently be gone that day, heh?"

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry, geez. Can you not take a joke?"

In response to Kouten's question Bailey said, "Yeah, didn't I tell ya Uncle Holeman can heal anything? He's the best." Bailey went to show the jar of germs to his mother.

Holeman put his hands on both of Kouten's arms. "This... might feel a little weird," he said. "It'll be over before you know it though. Stay still..."

There were no special effects or glows this time. Holeman simply channeled chakra through his arms down to his hands, and into Kouten's skin. The surface of her skin began to rearrange itself. To her, it would probably feel like something crawling around in her skin, but there would be no pain. At most, there would be an itching sensation everywhere that she had scars; her legs, her arms, her back.

Medical Transformation Technique:

Chakra: 825/900

When it was over, Kouten had no scars, no wounds. Her skin was clear. There would be no traces of anything left behind that would suggest that she had been beaten. She would just look like a normal girl. Holeman gave her a once over with his radar and nodded his head.

"Good as new," he said with his grin, giving her a thumbs-up sign. "Stand up and walk around, give yourself a test drive. Tell me if I missed anything, heh?" Bailey went over and closed one of the closet doors, on which there was a full length mirror, allowing Kouten to look at her reflection.

Nona returned, asking Holeman if he was trying to cop a free feel on Kouten; the question got a froggish laugh from their grandmother while Holeman just kept on grinning and seemed completely unfazed. Holeman simply responded to not mind her, and commented that she liked to try and embarrass them in front of company. Holeman and Nona went back and forth for a moment and Kouten could only smile at the pair.

Then her attention shifted to Bailey who answered her question to Holeman for him before going to show the jar of germs to his mother. Holeman, meanwhile, put his hands on both of her arms and gave her a warning that what he was about to do might feel weird. Kouten nodded in understanding and then remained as still as possible. What he was doing did feel weird, but it didn't hurt, if anything it felt a little itchy though she refrained from scratching or moving at all while he worked. She could only imagine that what he was doing was removing the scars that marred her back; erasing them as if they had never been there in the first place.

When he told her she was good at new she turned on the table so that her legs dangled down over the edge, carefully. She was so used to feeling pain that she was sure this was likely going to feel weird for the first few minutes, and because of this she was careful as she gingerly stepped down. Sure enough her legs felt weird supporting her, but they didn't hurt. The absence of pain made them feel light, and good, which caused her smile to slowly transform into a grin.

When Bailey revealed the mirror she walked over and looked at herself carefully. There wasn't a single scar left; not a single reminder of the darker days of her life. ”Wow... I feel so much better. There's no more pain, and there's not a single scar left on me. Thanks a bunch!”

Word Count: 339 + 1,930 = 2,269

"Excellent, now that will be 1,500 ryo please," said Holeman as he held out a hand, but Granny Holeman came out of the closet then to smack Holeman upside the head while headed into the house, producing laughs from Bailey and Nona. The grin still didn't falter from Holeman's face while rubbing the back of his head. "Heh, i'm joking. No charge, happy to get the practice in. If you have any more problems just come back here, yeah? If one of my sisters or somebody can't heal you and i'm not down here i'm probably upstairs or out in the desert gathering herbs for my poisons."

A couple of Holeman's other siblings came running into the Examination room. A girl and a boy, the girl had a bunny hat on her head that came down over her eyes complete with a pair of floppy ears, making her look silly. The boy had a skull cap colored black pulled down to his nose. They started to attack Holeman with punches and kicks that he began to block and dodge with his back turned.

"Sand style!" said the boy.

"You are no match for my flying lotus kung fu," added the girl; both of them sounding like characters from some crappy karate flick. The moves they executed came with sound effects from their mouths. They looked as if they would hurt were they to land, and someone seasoned in Taijutsu could see that both of the kids looked as if someone had been training them. Holeman kept the grin on his face as he blocked and dodged both of them at the same time with what looked to be very little effort.

"You guys are retards," He said. Bailey looked like he knew a little as well. Holeman returned fire by tickling both of them, and they were both soon lying in the clean white floor laughing.

"Boooo! You're too good, bro!" said Holeman's little brother.

"Bleh. I just got lucky. The two of you'r gonna be kickin my butt around here in a minute..."

Holeman responded that she owed him 1,500 ryo and held out his hand, to which his grandmother came out of the closet and smacked him upside the head. Nona and Bailey laughed, and the grin never faltered from Holeman's face. He said then that he was joking, there was no charge, and that he was happy to get the practice in. He then said that she should come back if she had anymore problems, and that if one of his sisters or somebody couldn't heal her that he would probably be upstairs or in the desert grabbing more herbs for poisons to which Kouten nodded. ”Alright, sounds good.”

Her attention then shifted to the boy and girl who came in next. The girl had on a silly bunny hair complete with ears and the boy was wearing a black skull cap – both of which covered their eyes. They both started to attack Holeman who dodged their attacks and blocked them even with his back turned to them. The kids made sound effects as they kept attacking him which caused Kouten to giggle: it reminded her of when her and her brother were younger and they would sneak attack their father.

However, even with as silly as the two kids seemed to be she could tell that were the moves they were using to land they would hurt: someone had definitely been teaching them a thing or two about Taijutsu and she wondered if it was Holeman who'd been doing so. Holeman just kept blocking and dodging their attacks until he struck back by tickling the pair until they were laying on the floor.

”Reminds me of when my twin and I used to surprise attack our father; we never could seem to win: he'd just tickle us into submission until my brother or I tapped out. Hm... speaking of which, I should probably get going. My brother's probably worried about me – I didn't tell anyone where I was taking off to this morning.” Since it wasn't like Kouten to just up and disappear without at least leaving a note – which she hadn't done – she could only assume that by now her brother was looking for her.

Word Count: 377 + 2,269 = 2,646

"Take it easy, Kouten," said Holeman while waving and grinning. His siblings and grandmother all told her goodbye as well.

"Bring your twin next time!" said Nona.

"Yeah," added Bart.

Holeman walked out of the the lab and down the hall to the stairs. Back to his room, which also looked somewhat like a lab, he continued his work on his newest poison. it was looking good so far, but he knew he would need more ingredients, which would mean back to the desert...

[Exit]

Kouten would nod to Holeman with a grin. ”Thanks again!”, she would said before she would turn and walk back the way she came. She took careful and slow steps as she went; it was still a bit weird feeling to not be dealing with constant pain in her legs – let alone having her bones healed properly after so long being wrong. Still, it was much better than being in pain.

As Kouten stepped outside of the clinic she glanced around, wondering where her brother might have gotten and figuring he was likely worried about her. Deciding that heading through the market was the quickest path she turned and started moving quicker than she had before...

Exit

Word Count: 119 + 2,646 = 2,765