When they reached the Hokage Building, Junlin smiled and said goodbye to Yanbai before returning to his post.
Izuna silently followed at Yanbai's side.
He stayed there until Junlin left.
Only after Junlin's figure had vanished completely, turning back every few steps as he went, did Izuna speak. "I saw how kindly you treated the child."
Yanbai: "..."
Izuna sighed. "I'm sorry. I got too emotional last night."
Yanbai lowered his eyes. "It's all right. When I first found out about the children, I wasn't much calmer. After all, when you suddenly discover you have a biological son without ever knowing about him, your first reaction is that something is seriously wrong."
That last remark struck a chord with Izuna. "That's true. I really was upset yesterday."
Yanbai glanced at Izuna. "You accepted it much faster than I did. After all, you only encountered one child. I had three..."
Izuna fell silent, his gaze full of pity as he looked at Yanbai.
After all, Izuna had already struggled to accept meeting Junlin alone. Yanbai had it even worse: three children had suddenly appeared, and they didn't even have the same father.
Just thinking about it was distressing.
Still, Yanbai treated Junlin very kindly.
Seeing how Junlin was now, Izuna felt that Yanbai had already done a great deal. He had no right to criticize Yanbai, so he had apologized for his harsh words yesterday.
Finally, Izuna sighed. "I'll stay in the village with the child for a few more days, then go take a look at the moon for you."
"I haven't gone looking for the passage to the moon yet," Yanbai said hesitantly.
Izuna narrowed his eyes. "I'll help you find it. You told us its approximate location before, but Konoha wasn't strong enough back then. Even if we'd