Hatake Sakumo

Although Minato's actions were a little amusing, his words were completely sincere.

He seemed to have an inexplicable charisma, something innate, that made people feel drawn to him.

Ye Ning composed himself and nodded seriously.

Of course, he would do everything he could to heal the scars in Tsunade's heart.

"Hey, what are you and Minato talking about?"

After several drinks, Kushina had a pronounced buzz. She slurred her words as she turned her attention to Ye Ning.

"Everyone else is drinking. Why aren't you?"

"Yeah, why aren't you drinking?"

Tsunade seemed to be putting on an act, spurred on by the alcohol. She slapped the table and loudly demanded an answer.

Of the three, only Uchiha Mikoto stayed quiet, though she looked just as curious as the others.

As a member of the Uchiha Clan, she couldn't help but give Ye Ning's identity some thought.

Anyone who could share a table with Tsunade and speak so familiarly with her clearly wasn't an ordinary person in Konoha. And yet she had no impression of Ye Ning at all. That was highly unusual.

Seeing this, Ye Ning couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Tsunade alone was already more than he could handle. Now he had Kushina, a complete boozehound, to deal with as well.

Ye Ning shot Minato Namikaze a displeased look.

This fiery girl is yours. Can't you do something about her?

But Minato clearly couldn't do anything with Uzumaki Kushina in this state. He could only give Ye Ning an apologetic look.

With no other choice, Ye Ning answered them himself.

"My name is Ye Ning."

"Ye Ning?"

Uzumaki Kushina thought about it briefly, then shook her head. "Never heard of you... Why aren't you drinking?"

"I'm underage. I can't drink."

"We're underage too, but we're drinking, aren't we?"

With the air of someone completely drunk, Uzumaki Kushina sprang to her feet, a full cup of wine in hand. She drained it in one go, then set the empty cup in front of Ye Ning, looking as if she were daring him.

What does your drinking have to do with me?

Ye Ning's expression said it all: exasperation.

It was hard to imagine that among the last few things Kushina told Naruto, she'd included a warning not to drink too much and to wait until he was twenty before drinking.

You're like this yourself, and you still have the nerve to tell your son that?

But Ye Ning really didn't dare touch alcohol.

Last time, Tsunade had only gotten two mouthfuls into him, and his head had already started spinning. He'd fallen asleep and not woken up until morning. If he drank as much as they did, he couldn't even guarantee what he might do while drunk.

"Forget it. If he won't drink, we will!"

Tsunade pursed her lips, pulled Kushina back into her seat, and started drinking again.

Before long, Kushina was completely drunk. With a thud, she slumped over the table.

Mikoto, who had been drinking straight from the bottle, was still clear-eyed and showed few signs of drunkenness.

Minato hurriedly apologized, then struggled to help Kushina out of the restaurant.

Once the three of them were gone, the place felt much quieter without Kushina's loud, carefree voice.

By then, Ye Ning had finally figured it out.

So those three had come here to freeload?

They hadn't spent a penny. They'd gotten a free meal of grilled meat, free drinks, and then simply walked away?

Whatever. It wasn't his money anyway.

Tsunade was paying. What did he have to worry about?

Tsunade, completely unaware that Kushina had just taken advantage of her, kept drinking as if nothing had happened. She had no idea she'd been made the sucker.

As it happened, just after Kushina and the others left, a middle-aged man with silver hair walked in.

He looked around the restaurant, spotted his target, and headed straight over.

Who's this guy...?

"Sakumo, you're late."

The moment the middle-aged man sat down beside Ye Ning, Tsunade spoke.

Tsunade no longer showed the slightest trace of the drunkenness she'd displayed earlier.

Her bright eyes were clearer than ever as they settled on the man.

Could this be... Hatake Sakumo?

From his appearance alone, Ye Ning couldn't tell that the man before him was the famed White Fang of the Leaf, renowned throughout the Shinobi World. His presence seemed completely ordinary, utterly restrained.

But on closer inspection, Ye Ning could sense an unusual quality radiating from him, as if it came from deep within. It was a strange feeling.

Hatake Sakumo looked apologetic as he spoke softly.

"Sorry. Making a bento for Kakashi took longer than I expected."

Listening to them, Ye Ning belatedly realized that the person Tsunade had said they were waiting for was Hatake Sakumo!

No wonder Tsunade had said he was connected to Ye Ning somehow.

"Sakumo, about what happened a while back... I'm sorry. I was at home the whole time. I had no idea."

"It's fine."

Hatake Sakumo shook his head, then turned to Ye Ning. Genuine gratitude appeared on his face. "Your Highness Ye Ning, thank you."

!?

Thank me?

Ye Ning was confused.

He could understand why the White Fang was thanking him. He had, after all, saved Sakumo's life and kept him from killing himself because of the rumors.

What he couldn't understand was how the White Fang knew that he had spoken up for him.

"I told him."

Tsunade took a sip of wine and said, unconcerned, "Sakumo was involved in what happened, after all. He deserves to know."

That made sense, but could she explain when she'd told the White Fang?

After she'd discussed it with Tsunade, she'd either been drinking or asleep. And yet she'd still remembered to inform the White Fang?

"Sakumo, how are you feeling now?"

Tsunade tossed him a bottle of wine. Her expression was unusually calm, giving nothing away about what she was thinking.

At her question, Sakumo gave a bitter smile.

"I'm a little disappointed, I suppose. But I don't think I did anything wrong. To me, my comrades matter far more than some cold, impersonal mission."

Ye Ning nodded to himself.

It was a good way of thinking.

Unfortunately, instead of being praised, this admirable act had been seized on by certain people, who turned it into ammunition to attack him.

If the ninja whom the White Fang had saved—with Danzo's backing—had publicly accused him of abandoning the mission, would he still have felt the same way?

Perhaps that ninja's accusations were the real reason the White Fang had killed himself.

A ninja as powerful as the White Fang must have been strong-willed.

The rumors in the village might have troubled him, but they could never have driven someone like him to take his own life. Perhaps it was the condemnation of a comrade that had been the final straw, plunging him into deep self-doubt and ultimately leading to the White Fang's suicide.

A powerful ninja who hadn't died on the battlefield or at the hands of a foreign ninja, but instead died because of his own people. How tragic.