Steam carrying the aroma of noodles wafted out of Ichiraku Ramen.
Hanabi ducked inside first, sniffing hard with her little nose.
Then she spotted the table farther inside, where Naruto was shoveling a huge bowl of miso ramen with chashu into his mouth, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's.
Sasuke sat beside him, holding a cup of tea.
Sakura propped her chin on her hand, watching Naruto eat with a helpless expression.
Kakashi leaned back in the innermost seat, an orange paperback in his hand, without even looking up.
"Hey, what a coincidence."
Genya's voice came from the doorway.
Naruto jerked his head up with his mouth still full of noodles and nearly choked.
"Genya! Hinata! And little Hanabi!"
He swallowed the noodles hard and nearly choked again.
Sasuke set down his teacup, glanced over, and nodded in greeting.
Sakura smiled and waved.
Kakashi finally tore his attention away from the tempting orange paperback and looked up, his dead-fish eyes curving slightly.
Genya led Hinata and Hanabi to the empty seats beside them. Hanabi sat next to him, her little legs swinging beneath her stool.
"So, just finished a mission?"
That opened the floodgates, and Naruto's complaints came pouring out.
"They're all easy missions! Finding cats, pulling weeds, hauling bricks! I'm going to be Hokage! If I keep doing these low-level missions every day, when am I ever going to show what I can do?"
Genya leaned back in his chair and spoke unhurriedly.
"You're a Genin. What kind of mission were you expecting? Conquering the Shinobi World?"
Naruto was stumped. He opened his mouth but couldn't get a word out for a long while.
Sasuke gave a cold snort beside him.
"Idiot."
Naruto glared at him, but Sasuke couldn't even be bothered to look his way.
Hanabi covered her