Things As They Were (Naruto!Founders X Reader)

Prologue

        "Most severe wound is the stab wound three inches near the right coronary artery. Other than that, he only has mild injuries on his torso, ranging from a small gash to a third degree burn. He also has a contusion by his left latissimus dorsi reaching his deltoid muscle. Daito-san, use iryo-ninjutsu on the stab wound-- check if there's any debris in the wound first, then just apply the necessary salves and bandage the rest of his injuries in tent four."

"Don't waste chakra on that; that's just a shallow gash. Save your chakra for lethal injuries."

"Patient is unconscious. Has severe burns on both of his legs and right arm, maybe sporting a concussion-- we're going to have to amputate the burned appendages if we want to save him. However, with the severity of his injuries, he's going to be a liability. Hanako-san, euthanize him then place him by the crematorium. If he has any family left, inform them."

"Three broken ribs and a possible lung puncture based on the patient's difficulty in breathing. Take her to surgery in tent six. Inject her with 2.5 ml of morphine, followed by PRN doses starting at 0.5 ml every one hour, afterwards. For the rest of her injuries, use small amounts of chakra to encourage hemostasis. As soon as she's conscious, give her two chakra pills; we need more people in the front lines."

The latest battle just ended.

All medical staffs were in the state of disarray, panicking over who tends to what patient. The constant movements of silhouettes within lantern-lit tents were dizzying, accompanied by the coppery scent of blood and the suffocating smells of smoke, your medical mask useless in filtering the air for your sense of smell; you've learned to get used to it a long time ago. As for the screams of agony and barks of harsh orders, you've still yet to learn to tune them out.

You spent the entire day assessing every patient that entered your sector, then having to instruct your subordinates on how to treat said patients. Sleep was scarce, with your longest rest being an hour, and your longest active shift being five days straight. Too many were in-coming, and there's oh-so few of medical experts left to tend to them; majority being novices as they are students who would eventually be replacements for the iryo-nins that would inevitably perish. As the medical capital of your district, most of the heavily injured fall in your sector for treatment... or death.

All patients are categorized from Immediate Medical Attention to Low Priority-- from fatal wounds to small bruises (it's of an unspoken rule that those deemed Low Priority were never going to be tended to at all). You usually made it a point to prioritize jounin patients or at least anyone of high value in regards to their skill sets. Much to your self-loathing, you'd have to treat the rest as cannon fodders. Your sector simply can't save everyone-- either because you're too late to save a patient due to tending another, or you would have to save chakra.

Every resource has to be preserved for as long as possible, hence as the leader and Head Medic of the Resistance base district 7, sector five of the Shinobi division, the responsibility of having to choose who gets to live or die falls unto you.

Wanting a visual break from the roaming chaos, you glanced up. It's night, with the stars hidden from sight. The skies were never clear, ever since the first smog of war appeared-- the colors of orange, red, gray and yellow being the usual hues of the clouds. Unfortunately, the colors of the sky reflected the ground. Fire, ash, debris, blood, and death--

This is The Great Fourth Shinobi War.

It didn't last for days; it didn't last for months; it lasted for years-- almost a decade. It's been nine years, and yet there's no sign of the war stopping; not until every single one of you dropped dead.