Kisame took a step back, sending up a broad splash of murky yellow water beneath his feet.
Frowning, he warily looked toward the direction the log had come from.
His gaze traveled up past the wooden lattice window of the teahouse, now sporting a gaping hole.
Up to the roof of the Dango Shop next door.
The sun had just peeked out from behind the clouds, making the blue-green roof tiles gleam.
Sen sat cross-legged on the roof ridge.
He held a Coarse Ceramic Tea Cup, steam still rising from its rim.
A ring of old black tea stains lingered around the bottom of the cup, but he paid it no mind.
"Slurp."
Sen leisurely sipped his hot tea and smacked his lips.
"Fighting in the river first thing in the morning."
He set down his cup and flicked a sesame seed from the dango he had just eaten off his clothes.
"Can't a guy drink his tea in peace?"
Having narrowly escaped death, Asuma and Kurenai were breathing hard, their chests heaving.
They stood in ankle-deep river water, gasping for breath.
At the sound of that infuriatingly familiar, lazy voice.
The weight hanging over their hearts finally dropped away with a thud.
"Sen... what are you doing here, kid?"
Holding a waterlogged cigarette between his fingers, Asuma rather pathetically wiped the cold sweat from his face.
"Me?"
Sen rolled his eyes, stood up on the roof, and stretched luxuriously.
His bones gave two crisp pops.
"I was going to find somewhere to buy some watermelon seeds."
"Just happened to pass by and thought I'd have some dango and tea."
He pointed at the still-bubbling river below and the people who had made a complete mess of the teahouse.
"Who knew you'd be having some kind of gang brawl here?"