It was the lull before dinner, and Yakiniku Q wasn't very busy. Only a few tables had customers.
In the kitchen, Kiyonari stood at the counter, watching the staff prepare the wild boar meat he'd brought in.
He'd kept the choicest, fattiest cut for himself and sold the rest to Yakiniku Q. They were not only preparing it for him free of charge but had also paid him a generous sum. The Akimichi Clan really knew how to spend when it came to food.
To his surprise, Hinata Hyuga had tracked him down.
She stood outside the kitchen and waved. "Kiyonari, sorry to bother you."
Kiyonari stepped out of the kitchen. "Hinata, what's up?"
"There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
"Have you eaten yet?" Kiyonari asked suddenly, then added, "I brought a wild boar back from the Forest of Death and asked the staff to prepare it. If you haven't eaten, you can join me."
Wild boar meat?
Hinata Hyuga swallowed, then nodded.
They found a quiet corner to sit in. While they waited for the meat, she opened the conversation. "Do you know about Lady Tsunade?"
Kiyonari nodded. "A little. I saw her at the village entrance when I came back from the Forest of Death this afternoon."
"I asked my father about Lady Tsunade."
"What did Lord Hiashi say?"
Hinata then carefully repeated everything Hiashi had told her, starting with Tsunade's younger brother's death in the Second Shinobi World War and ending with the proposal that had still not been put into practice.
Kiyonari fell silent for a moment. Hiashi's response confirmed that his understanding of Tsunade's character from his previous life was spot-on. I got the script right.
"If Lord Hiashi has already given you a hint, doesn't that make things much easier?"
Hinata clenched her fists and glanced around before speaking quickly. "I'd more or less guessed it, but I didn't dare believe it. There's been no progress all these years, which can only mean that the village doesn't want to do it, not that it can't. I think... that's why Lady Tsunade left the village."
"That might not be enough," Kiyonari offered, disagreeing.
"As far as I know, Lady Tsunade left the village long before the Third Shinobi World War began. Maybe she'd already foreseen that her proposal would never be approved. I suspect that's the real reason she left. To put it more plainly, how could she have foreseen it? What made her think she could?"
Just then, an older server came over with a plate of prepared wild boar meat. The two of them naturally stopped talking.
Suddenly, Shizune pushed open the restaurant door and walked in.
Kiyonari's eyes flickered. He quickly pointed her out to Hinata. "I saw her at the village entrance this afternoon. She came back with Lady Tsunade."
The server setting down their plates added, "Her name's Shizune Katō. She's the niece of Dan Katō, Lady Tsunade's former lover."
He was an old hand from the Akimichi Clan. He knew a lot of people and a lot of things.
"Lady Tsunade's lover?" Hinata blurted out in surprise, barely remembering to keep her voice down.
"That's right." The server's voice held a note of regret. "Dan Katō died in the war, too. Lady Tsunade left Konoha after that. I remember Shizune was just a little girl back then, not much older than you two. And now, after all these years, she's come back as a lovely young woman."
"Welcome! What can I get for you?" A server went over to greet her.
"Hello. I'd like some raw meat to take home and grill myself." Shizune's voice had a youthful lilt to it. In the original story, she'd been over thirty when she returned to the village. She'd spent all the best years of her life wandering from place to place.
The server's eyes lit up, and he immediately made a recommendation. "You've come at just the right time! We've got a fresh batch of wild boar meat today. It's wonderfully firm and tender. We haven't seen such excellent meat in years."
"You came back with Lady Tsunade, didn't you? It's been so many years since we last saw her. Why not eat here? Our chef can grill it for you himself. I guarantee Lady Tsunade will be pleased!"
A troubled look crossed Shizune's face. "No, thank you. Lady Tsunade just had an argument with the Hokage, and she's in a terrible mood. Maybe next time."
"Lady Tsunade and the Hokage are still the same as ever, I see."
The server wasn't surprised. He only nodded with some regret and began preparing the meat for Shizune.
She hadn't spoken loudly, but in the relatively quiet restaurant, her words still carried clearly to Hinata and Kiyonari. They exchanged glances, both of them looking surprised.
Shizune waited by the counter, looking tired, a trace of worry at the corners of her eyes. The argument between Tsunade and the Hokage had clearly left her troubled, too.
That was how it went: when Tsunade was in a bad mood, all she needed was to drink herself into a stupor. But Shizune, who had to clean up afterward, had a lot more to worry about.
A few minutes later, the server handed Shizune the packaged meat.
"Besides the wild boar, there's some wagyu, too. After rounding down, that comes to six thousand ryo."
Shizune paid and prepared to leave.
Just then, Hinata spoke up. "Kiyonari... I want to follow her and meet Lady Tsunade."
"I'll go with you. We can leave the meat here for now."
Kiyonari went to find the server and gave him a casual excuse about having something urgent to do. He asked him to pack it up and said he'd come back for it later.
On the streets of Konoha, Shizune carried the bag of meat and walked along the main road toward the village's northwest side.
The good news was that the Hyuga Clan Grounds were in that direction, too. The two of them followed about twenty meters behind her without arousing any suspicion.
About ten minutes later, Shizune stopped in front of an old-fashioned mansion and knocked. Before long, the gate opened, revealing Tsunade.
"Shizune, you didn't even notice you were being followed. Why let your guard down just because you're back in the village?"
Shizune froze, then turned to look behind her. "I remembered the Hyuga Clan was in this direction, too. I thought the two kids were just heading home."
Tsunade sighed. Her gaze settled on the two figures behind a tree trunk, and she raised her voice. "Come on out, you two."
They'd been spotted in an instant...
"Let's go. There's no point hiding now that she's seen us," Kiyonari whispered to Hinata, stepping out from behind the tree first.
Tsunade's amber eyes swept over the two children. Her gaze first landed on Hinata's smooth, unmarked forehead, then shifted to Kiyonari, whose forehead was wrapped in a white cloth.
"What are your names?"
Hinata got so nervous that her old habit kicked in. She twirled her index fingers around each other and answered softly, "I... I'm Hinata Hyuga."
Kiyonari, by contrast, answered calmly. "I'm Hyuga Kiyonari."
So this was the boy.
Tsunade's interest was piqued, and her gaze lingered on Kiyonari for a few seconds.
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