"How are you feeling today?"
During dinner that evening, Fugaku sat on the ground beside Gua, holding a bowl.
There was no helping it.
Everyone ate this way. Even Asuma, their leader, held a bowl as he sat with Inoichi Yamanaka and Shibi Aburame.
"Pretty good."
Gua ate the food in his bowl.
It had a bit of everything: vegetables, some unidentified meat, vermicelli that kept well, and some dried foods tossed in.
Given conditions in the shinobi world, Gua was surprised they still had meat to eat.
He just had no idea where the meat had come from.
He could not even tell what kind it was.
Maybe wild boar, maybe wolf, maybe even giant panda...
Whatever it was, it definitely had not come from Konoha's supply division.
"Eat plenty. The battlefield isn't like home."
Fugaku walked away with his bowl.
Those words had been meant for all three of them: Gua, Itachi, and Kabuto.
After all, they had spent so long living in Konoha that adjusting to the battlefield might take some time. But no matter what, getting enough to eat came first.
Kabuto was fine. He had grown up chewing tree bark, so having food from a communal pot was more than enough.
Gua might have been a little pampered, but he still wolfed down two big bowls.
Itachi did not fall behind, either.
The three ate until they were stuffed, then stopped and took a walk around camp together.
This was already their second day here.
They had gained a rough understanding of the camp's layout.
Beside the leader's tent were those of Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame, and some of the higher-ranking Konoha ninja. They formed the center of the camp.
The Medical Room stood in the ring around them.
Farther out were the mainstay forces.