"You realize calling someone your friend doesn't actually make them your friend, right?" Kind of like how calling someone a brother didn't change your blood. Ginta had used both now; Asuma had to wonder if he was desperate for people in his life, or if he just liked flinging around endearments and seeing where they fell.

Knowing Ginta--not that he did, really--it could be either.

Of course, that wasn't going to stop him earning a punch in the face if he didn't quit dragging Asuma's dad into the conversation. And adding insult to insult with freakin' lectures. Or thinking Asuma was dumb enough to get all fluffy-feeling over a compliment.

Even if Asuma had started it.

Disgruntled and slightly wrong-footed, aware he was wearing more on his face than he liked to, Asuma stepped around Ginta and took a side-trip to the nearest stall. Behind hanging pouches of fragrant dried tobacco, a man built mostly out of biceps directed a seller's grin at him. "Something for you?"

Asuma cast a glance over the neatly organized wares, trying to spot the scarlet and gold packaging of his own brand. "Got any Red Sun?"

"Good choice." Tanned, weather-beaten hands darted to the right, extracting cartons from the middle of a tall stack. "Ten or twenty?"

"Three twenties." Asuma hooked up a return grin along with a handful of cash, slightly sharp edged. Then he tossed two cartons into his rucksack, kept the third in his hands, and left the salesman holding his change. "Thanks, man."

He turned to find Ginta at his elbow, eyeing the merchandise with bright, curious eyes and just a little tension around his mouth. The guy moved like a cat.

Asuma pulled a cigarette from the pack, reversed it and stuck it back in to make it lucky, then lit himself a second one. "Concept of personal space beyond you, too?" He dropped a hand on Ginta's head, ruffled blond hair roughly, completely failed to care about the tiny not-quite-flinch that got, and carried on before Ginta could respond. "So where's this breakfast place? Because I think we're about to run out of village."