Enviously eyeing him, I suddenly overcame the urge to light up—back in my old life, I smoked for a decade before health issues arose. But I'm not starting here either.
"As for me, let those who already have the knack handle it, not rookies like me who are used to spending all their working hours operating on the wounded," I grumbled, pulling a bar of chocolate from my pocket, brought in at exorbitant cost from Kumo, and fiercely biting into it.
Early in my hospital career, I noticed that sweets calm the nerves very well, especially after piecing almost corpses back together. That's what got me through initially, and then it just became a habit.
"But what can we do if there's still a shortage of staff even now, when part of the field hospital from Suna has returned?" shrugged my colleague. "Considering that all the iryo-nin from the main western camp on the front lines against Iwagakure fell first, there will now be an even greater shortage of qualified medics. How many more of us will die before the end of hostilities?"
Yeah, among the support shinobi on the battlefield, iryo-nin are the first to be taken out.
"Well, kunoichis are fine, just don't hang ordinary civilians—if they do, I'll quit for sure!" I sighed wearily. "And let Hishi-san dance around with her tambourine all she wants, I won't change my mind! I've practically developed a moral trauma from such experiences!"
"Oh, you youngsters! Who will work then if everyone's nerves start acting up at any pretext?" chuckled my senior comrade.
"But all my experience is geared towards wounds, not delivering babies!" I protested sincerely. "I won't be able to chase after women for a week now, I'll be remembering it all day!"
At this statement, the iryo-nin choked on smoke, coughed, and started laughing indecently. Angrily eyeing him, I suppressed the urge to smack him on the head. Here I am in distress, and this unpleasant person is mocking me. Garo laughed and seemed about to say something, but then the door to the room opened, and a nurse brought out a swaddled, piercingly crying baby.
"I wonder where the happy father is?" I asked, following the girl with my eyes.
"If he's not in the grave, then he's at war," replied my colleague. "That's usually the case these days. After that, mothers are forced to leave the service and raise their children on a meager allowance or even put them in an orphanage."
Yeah, at least a third of shinobi children end up in orphanages after their mothers are discharged. Specifically, this applies to non-clan shinobi. The reason is simple—parents (if both are even alive) don't have the time or means to raise a child. During war, the village's budget only allocates a fixed rate to those fighting on the front lines, sometimes not even covering the costs of the simplest missions. It's like protecting the house should be done for free. Yeah.
"Alright, Garo-senpai, I'm going to my maimed, fractured, and slashed, and don't call me here anymore," I sighed.
I have something in my office that's just right for calming down, and it won't involve drinking—strictly for medical purposes. And age has nothing to do with it.
"And don't count on it—if there's a difficult case and there aren't enough hands, you'll be the one filling in, as someone with experience," the iryo-nin called cheerfully after me.
At that, I just hunched over and hurried on, maneuvering between the bustling hospital staff—no way am I getting involved. By the way, even though I praised chakra for allowing the fetus to develop without deformities in almost all cases, the same can't be said for a laboring kunoichi. Chakra is drawn out of her by the growing child! And if it's not a big deal for women with decent reserves, it can lead to quite unpleasant consequences for weaker or younger mothers, up to severe exhaustion or even death in childbirth.
Not to mention the need to reopen all poorly healed wounds and injuries. The oversight of a good medical-nin throughout the entire pregnancy can mitigate or completely eliminate the consequences, but who will figure out to do that? Unfortunately, medical education in Konoha leaves much to be desired, and people only go to the hospital for serious injuries or life-threatening situations.
So then poor Garo has to bring in extra hands to save the mother's life (by the way, a guy from a side branch of the Uchiha who went into medicine!). This time, the kunoichi will be able to return to duty in a couple of months. In other cases, the term is three times longer. Usually, the result is not so optimistic—serious damage to the chakra vein marks the end of further career.
Well, forget all these gloomy thoughts, it's time to improve my nerve health with a stack of liquor! Strictly for medical purposes, as I declare as a doctor!
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