| [Feb. 8th, 2017|03:42 am] |
It took Genma more mental effort than it should have to switch gears from handling Kimiko’s crisis to answering Raidou’s question. “We should all still have several rat bars,” he said. He found the pack at his waist without looking, and ran practiced fingers over the crimped foil ridges. “I’ve got enough for two days here. And a backup scroll with two weeks of travel rations.”
Time was starting to move in that funny, elastic way it did, when too many hours had passed without sleep. It had been more than 48 hours for most of them, and Genma’s two short catnaps had been more for chakra recovery after working extensive medical jutsu than for actual rest. The soldier pills he and Ryouma had taken boosted their chakra and provided strong stimulants, but ultimately the human body needed sleep. There was a real risk that if they didn’t keep moving while they waited for Kimiko to nurse her baby, they’d nod off without meaning to.
Food would help.
He stifled a yawn and took a deep breath, trying to shake clarity back into his thoughts. “When’s the last time anyone ate?”
No one answered at first. Ryouma stared mutely at the sand, kicking at a partly buried stick so that it vibrated.
Without opening his eyes, Kakashi asked, “What day is it?”
“Back in the caves, I think,” Raidou said at last. “You?”
Had it been that long? “I must have eaten since then, or I’d have one more bar— no, wait, I gave Kimiko-san one…” He met Raidou’s eyes. “It was the caves for me, too. We should eat.” He pulled one of the remaining bars from his pack and inspected the label. Apricot-oat — inoffensive and palatable; he offered it to Raidou.
Raidou accepted it, added two more from his own pockets, and sat down in the sand next to his scrolls. Before he tore the wrapper off the first bar, he flipped open a metal case and thumbed back a soldier pill, swallowing it with a swig from his canteen.
Genma pulled out another pair of bars, dropped one on Kakashi’s chest, and held the other in front of Ryouma’s downturned face. “You too, Hound, Tousaki.”
Ryouma swallowed, and accepted the bar without meeting Genma’s eyes. “Sorry, Lieutenant.”
It had been a dangerous mistake. But Ryouma looked nearly gutted, as if he’d let Kakashi’s name slip in the heart of Kirigakure with enemy ninja surrounding them.
“It’s a good reminder to be extra careful,” Genma said slowly. “We’re all exhausted. It’s easy to make mistakes.”
Ryouma’s head bobbed, and he said, “Understood, Lieutenant.” But he sounded just as despondent as he had when he’d apologized. |
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