Who are you?

Part 3

She was sitting in the room once again. It was early morning. The patient showed signs of gaining consciousness soon. So she made sure everything was ready. A cup with some medicine, a bowl of porridge, and some personal documents to prove her identity. She put them all in a tray neatly.

He wasn't the first person she saved. They all acted similarly when they gained consciousness the first time, so after a while, she knew how to prepare for it.

As expected, her patient has been awake for the past 15 minutes but is still pretending to be asleep. She just sat at a respectable distance, pretending to read her book. The first time she was doing this, she was just staring at the book, and after 30 minutes, the guy asked if she was going to turn the page.

She was so embarrassed, but she lived, and she learned. That was why she was now sure to keep her eyes on the book, scanning the lines slowly and turning the pages at an average speed.

It seemed like he was one of the impatient ones since he started pretending to wake up. She closed the book to observe him.

The guy checked himself and the area around them and then zeroed in on her. They just stared at each other.

She decided to break the silence and their little contest. "You are in a farmhouse outside Kiezu village. I found you unconscious in the forest. I brought you here for treatment. Yes, I am young. Yes, I am a trained medic. I will give you the documents in a second, and before you even mention it, no, I didn't take off your mask; I don't care about your identity. I don't want anything from you. I was doing my job as a medic."

"A simple thank you will be appreciated. I will give you a check to sign and give to your Hokage so I can get my payment later. You can do whatever you want, but as the medic, I have to tell you. You shouldn't leave the bed for the next two days, but if you allow me to heal you further, you can be on your way by the end of the week."

"You still have to take things slow, but I know how you shinobi are about listening to medical advice. Here is a cup of medicine. It is going to help your body fight the infection. This is some porridge. It may taste strange due to some of the herbs and spices, but it is to help you heal faster."

"You can eat them or not. It's your choice. If I wanted to kill you, I could have just let you die or killed you when you were unconscious. It's up to you to decide what to do. Now, any questions?" She said in a single go as she pushed the tray toward him.

He looked dumbfounded for a second. He decided to take the documents from the tray. It was her medical license signed by Tsunade and the list of her expertise. Then, there was a recognition document signed by the Hokage with an official stamp and signature.

The document was a medical permit signed by the Hokage. Traveling medics were not that rare across the nations. Usually, each village had a few civilian doctors and sometimes nurses, but a medic who could use chakra was rare.

Most of these kinds of medics worked directly in shinobi villages and capitals, but there were those who would choose the job of traveling medics. Traveling medics could visit different villages and even nations and offer their services to heal patients.

But to do so, they needed to pass a standard test from the shinobi village of that nation to get the permit. A part of the permit stated what procedures they were allowed to do and how they would receive their payment.

There was more to being a traveling medic. They were to treat all shinobi under their care equally regardless of their background and situation. They were only to do their job and help their patients. In return, the shinobi generally avoided confrontations with them and wouldn't try to pry about their other patients.

There was more to what they should do in peculiar situations, but usually, the general rules of their actions regarding neutrality were defined in a document kept in the Iron Country. If a nation were to break the rules, the traveling medics would be informed, and they were to avoid the offending party, or they would lose their license.

There was also a general license for treating civilians that could be received from the exam in Iron Country. She passed the exam a while ago and could heal civilians of any nation.

So far, she only had her permit from Konoha. She could work across fire country, but she planned on going to Suna to get her next permit. As part of her agreement with Konoha, if she came across their shinobi, she was to assist them and then send a check to the village. She would receive the total amount owed to her when she visits Konoha.

She wasn't in dire need of money. She had just finished helping a village with a contagious skin rash that was bothering them. They paid her a good amount since she managed to identify the source as a new type of plant that was imported from a foreign country and grown for profit. They weren't aware that the plant was poisonous and that the residue from touching it could spread the problem.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the man handed the documents back to her. He started eating his food, although suspiciously. She was glad he wasn't one of the stubborn ones.