The air in front of the Ramen Shop counter could have caught fire.
Sakura sat on the left, Ino on the right. Between them sat a steaming bowl of ramen and Son Goten, who was wolfing down his food with his head lowered, pretending nothing had happened.
"I thought you were just a meal ticket. Who knew you worked night shifts too?"
Sakura held her teacup, her smile gentle yet cutting.
Ino slapped her chopsticks down on the counter.
"At least I don't have to get poisoned first to get someone to notice me, Forehead."
Behind the counter, Haku walked past carrying empty bowls without even pausing.
After spending so long working here, he had mastered one essential survival skill: hear nothing, see nothing, stay out of it.
The two women traded barbs, holding nothing back.
Goten kept his head down and slurped his noodles so fast they swirled around the bowl.
When he finished his fifth bowl, he stood up and held his chopsticks horizontally between them.
"All right, all right. We're all family. No friendship without a fight. Nothing a bowl of noodles can't fix."
Sakura and Ino turned to him at the same time, their coordination even better than their teamwork on the battlefield.
"Who's family with her?"
They spoke in unison, right down to the rhythm.
In the corner, Temari watched the farce over a cup of tea. The corners of her lips shifted slightly, but she said nothing.
Teuchi came out of the kitchen, flour dusting his apron.
He looked at the room full of women, then at his guilty-looking son in the middle, and silently added another bowl's worth of noodles to the stove.
"Goten, if you keep bringing people home, I'll have to remodel this shop."
"Don't worry, Dad. Once I make some