Blonding

Chapter 30 : Hiashi Hyuuga

Hiashi and Hoheto had been running through the emerald-tipped forests for what seemed like ages, heading in a zigzag pattern that loosely ended at the coast of Fire Country. Hiashi had insisted that in order for their mission to be successful, they were going to need to cover a lot of ground – and fast… that much was obvious by how much he was pushing the poor child to his breaking point.

After an excruciatingly long amount of time, Hiashi finally slowed to normal walking speed, and directed them to a large tree with roots that stood several feet from the ground, cocooning a small area of the forest in a defensible shroud.

"Let us stop and rest," the Hyuuga head said. "You are nearly out of chakra, Hoheto."

"I…" The boy gulped down air, bending over to rest his hands on his knees while he tried to recover enough to form a full sentence. "I know."

"I do apologize; the distance we must travel is far too great, and our target far too fast to warrant an easy journey," Hiashi replied, pulling a small sealing scroll from his bag and seating himself comfortably in the nook the tree provided. "This is an espionage mission… a task we the Hyuuga pride ourselves over above almost everything else." He passed a small current of chakra through the seal's release, and a pair of water bottles and ration bars manifested themselves in his lap. "To be an effective shinobi in our clan, you are going to have to be up to tasks such as these at a moment's notice… such as what just happened."

"Yeah," Hoheto breathed, throwing himself down beside the other root, across from Hiashi. "Yeah, I know. I'll be fine, I promise, Hiashi-sama."

A bottle of water and food suddenly sat in his lap. "Eat that," the jounin said coolly, nodding at the rations. "It will help considerably."

His eyes flickered in what Hoheto could only assume was amusement, but the expression was gone as fast as it had come. "Although… the taste leaves quite a lot to be desired."

Hoheto shrugged, breaking a decent chunk of the bar off into his mouth and chewing ravenously.

Then, he blanched; freezing mid-chew.

This time, Hiashi's smile was completely unhidden, as his genin student quickly began to chase the awful-tasting substance down his throat with the majority of the contents of his water bottle.

"I told you. Regardless, it will help you build strength." As if to prove his point, Hiashi took a sizeable, yet dignified bite out of his own ration bar, grimacing slightly before swallowing it.

They sat in silence for a few moments, each simply enjoying the peace and the rest. After what Hoheto felt was a respectable length of time, he perked his head up and asked the question that had been egging at the back of his mind since they had veered off course earlier in the day.

"Um… where are we, exactly, Hiashi-sama?"

Hiashi nodded, looking down at the boy. "Currently, we are 10 miles away from a small fishing village on the coast."

"Is that where we are heading?" Hoheto asked.

"Indeed it is," Hiashi nodded. "They are most likely undersupplied, and in need of transportation to the Hidden Mist village." He frowned. "If that is truly where they are headed."

"Oh, I see." Hoheto turned back to his unfinished ration bar, satisfied with his answer.

Apparently, the Hyuuga man took that as a sign of preparedness, because he raised to his full height and began to reseal his canteen and the packaging of his rations.