Goten stood up, walked to the stairs, and called down.
"Dad! Another extra-large bowl of chashu ramen! Double the chashu!"
Teuchi's voice rose from downstairs.
"Didn't you just eat three bowls?"
"Those three were breakfast. This one's my overtime meal."
Temari pressed a hand to her forehead. What kind of stomach did this man have?
Anko sat cross-legged on the bed in Goten's black training clothes. The neckline was absurdly wide, leaving a stretch of fair shoulder exposed.
"Are you going or not? Didn't you just say you were going to back them up?"
"What's the rush? The show's only just started."
Goten leaned against the window frame, tapping his right index finger rhythmically on the sill.
With his left hand, he took the Chip Fragment from his pocket and casually set it on the window ledge.
The fragment's blue light blinked, a little brighter than it had been that morning.
His Ki-sensing net spread out, passing beyond Konoha's walls and through the endless sea of trees. On Tenchi Bridge, dozens of kilometers away, four familiar life energies registered clearly.
"They've taken their positions."
Goten lifted his chin and gestured southeast with his lips.
"Yamato's set up a Wood Release defensive line at twelve o'clock up front. Sakura's standing by behind him to his right, and Naruto's on the left flank..."
He paused there.
"That kid Sai's pulled back to the perimeter."
Temari walked to the window.
"The perimeter? Shouldn't he be fighting alongside them?"
"That's what normal people do."
Goten rubbed his chin and said no more.
But he made a note of that detail.
Anko shifted off the bed, tugged at the hem of Goten's clothes, and edged half a step behind him.
There was nothing left on the back of her neck, but conditioned reflexes didn't listen