Pop—
Hinata had long since grown accustomed to that sound. She plucked another kernel from the bag beside her and spoke without turning around. "You're telling me an Akatsuki member personally took the commission I had you place?"
They were on the training hilltop where she practiced. Sai knelt behind her, blank smile in place, posture exactly as composed as always—a degree of professional courtesy that already put Naruto and the others to shame.
"Yes. The two individuals are named Kakuzu and Hidan. They are members of a rogue organization called the Akatsuki—the broker confirmed them as having the highest task completion rate in recent years."
That answer drew a quiet, satisfied tilt at the corner of Hinata's lips. This was one of the rare occasions she felt genuinely pleased.
Kakuzu and Hidan. She knew them well. The Immortal Pair—not the most prominent Akatsuki members in terms of screen time in the original story, but between their unusual capabilities and sheer resilience, they stood among the most distinctive forces in the entire shinobi world.
And when it came to the fragility of mortal life—what quality held more value than immortality?
One million ryō to secure the services of MVPs of that caliber. Hinata was very satisfied.
"Since reliable contractors are already on the job, your immediate assignment is complete. I've spent the money—now I just need to wait."
Hinata turned her head, and the mischief in her pale eyes surfaced without warning. "But since Danzō assigned you to accompany me—I'd feel bad making you sleep rough outdoors indefinitely. How about this: disguise yourself as my maidservant."
"...Excuse me?"
Sai maintained the smile, but he was beginning to quietly wonder if the pale-eyed young lady had made some kind of mistake.
"It can't be helped. I'm the Hyuga heiress. Having a boy constantly at my side would look thoroughly undignified. So—put this on."
She tossed a paper bag at his feet. Her tone was entirely matter-of-fact. After watching Naruto and Shikamaru spend time in female disguise, she had long since lost any psychological resistance to the concept.
"...Understood."
Sai's smile held, but his movements carried a slight hesitation—though Danzō's relentless conditioning meant the instinct to obey ultimately won out. He picked up the bag and slipped behind a nearby clump of trees. A rustling of fabric followed.
He emerged shortly after.
The black-and-white maid's uniform, paired with black tights, had transformed him entirely. His naturally slender frame and ice-pale complexion worked perfectly in the outfit's favor—the combination of the uniform and his androgynous features pushed the result all the way into cool, distinctly feminine territory. No cosmetics. No accessories. On appearance alone, he would have outperformed Sakura without effort.
No wonder the original story had given him the most flamboyant design of any male character in the cast.
"This outfit... takes some getting used to..."
For all his professed lack of feeling, Sai still found his scalp prickling faintly. But Hinata only gave an appreciative nod. "Very good. Start growing your hair out from today. A convincing girl needs decent hair. And I don't need to walk you through voice work—you can handle that yourself, can't you?"
"Yes..."
Sai cleared his throat, adjusted his voice—a trivially basic application of transformation technique, barely worthy of being called a standalone jutsu in the ninja world—and spoke again. His voice had shifted completely: clear and soft and warm, unmistakably feminine. "What are your orders, then, my lady?"
"Ha ha ha ha~ No need to rush. Just maintain the role of a harmless girl—I'll deploy you when there's something to do. One other thing: as my maidservant, you're expected to carry yourself with proper decorum. The—belly-dancer midriff situation from before? That does not happen again."
She delivered the dig at Sai's previous outfit with complete casualness, then stood. "Now—we're going to the crew. I need to introduce you to everyone."
The organization had taken real shape. Every member had settled into at least a basic sense of belonging—even the notoriously late Shikamaru showed up on time now. So when they saw the unfamiliar face at Hinata's side, the group held their reactions in check and waited for her to speak.
"Thank you all for your efforts. Based on our market data, we are the undisputed top-ranked serial in the Land of Fire right now—and that is entirely due to everyone's hard work."
Hinata opened with practiced formality, let her gaze sweep the assembled crew, and gave a small, easy nod. "Sai—introduce yourself."
"My name is Sai. I am Lady Hinata's maidservant. I hope we all get along."
Hands folded neatly at her waist, Sai offered a composed bow—and the combination of a pleasant face and a polite opening immediately drew interest from all sides.
"Oh—what a cute girl~~"
Ino lit up first, inevitably. "How old are you? How did you come to work for Hinata?"
"Right?! I've only ever heard that daughters from great families had personal attendants—are you that kind? An actual proper maidservant?"
Sakura, equally enthusiastic, was also staring at Sai wide-eyed. The barely concealed envy in her tone confirmed she had been nursing certain princess-adjacent fantasies for some time.
"Heh heh—quite a charming girl, isn't she."
Kakashi added an agreeable comment from the side, but something nagged at his professional instincts: the Hyuga Clan was known above all for its bloodline exclusivity. The person attending Hinata directly should logically be a branch-house Hyuga. Why this girl, who showed no sign of Hyuga heritage?
"Please—working as Hinata's maid sounds like it must be exhausting."
Shikamaru, draped sideways across a chair, offered his unsolicited assessment. He was speaking from personal experience. Hinata's orbit had done considerable damage to his sense of direction in life.
"All right—introductions are done. Let's move to business."
Hinata stepped in before the gossip could spiral, picked up her script, and continued without particular emphasis. "Given that we'll all be graduating from the Academy next month, we need to get ahead of the gap. This month we're pushing for one additional chapter as a buffer. Everyone take their positions."
"We need to get Act Five done today."
The crew couldn't argue. Market realities agreed with her. They accepted the overtime without complaint—because after graduation, new squad assignments would demand adjustment time, and filming would have to pause. Now was the moment to build ahead.
Fox Tales, Act Five—"As If in a Dream."
The black spider lilies bloomed around Zuolin. The dark-clad woman who called herself Lady Higan appeared before him in this melancholy, otherworldly fashion—beautiful and fragile as a shadow given form.
"But I do not know you."
Zuolin said it into a silence he couldn't quite name. He was a man who had spent his years drifting through the pleasure quarters without a care—yet now, inexplicably, his usual composure had deserted him.
"In the presence of true feeling, everyone becomes a clumsy child."
Lady Higan said it quietly. She stepped toward him, pale bare feet moving one careful step at a time through the black spider lilies, until she stood directly before him.
"So it is not strange—to forget."
Her hands lifted and cupped his face. Her voice was soft, almost sweet.
"And so—I forgive you."
The spider lilies around them suddenly surged and unfurled. Countless roots and tendrils wound around Zuolin's arms and legs and torso, animate with some unknown will. He could not break free. In this black garden, he became dimly aware of memories rising from somewhere deep inside him—memories he had never known he carried.
In that black tide of flowers, Zuolin's eyes slowly closed. He could not tell if this was a dream.
Perhaps it had always been a dream.
"What?!"
In a stately house in Kyoto, a startled cry shattered the stillness.
She was a beautiful girl—golden-haired, with teal eyes clear as fine jade. She had been at her lacquered dressing table, brush in hand, midway through her morning preparations.
"Yes—Zuolin has not returned home for three days. All the attendants who accompanied him say that he was taken by kamikakushi."
Kneeling before her was a servant girl with cherry-blossom-pink hair, her voice low with barely concealed fear. "They say that morning, Zuolin-sama suddenly wished to look inside a flower shop along the road. But he never came back out. When the servants opened the door themselves, the shop was already an empty, abandoned building."
This was the kind of account that would unsettle anyone—even the golden-haired girl at the bronze mirror. But after a brief moment, the softness and fear on her face hardened into something rare: a quiet, deliberate resolve.
"Utter nonsense. Zuolin is my betrothed—Princess Qingji's betrothed—the man destined by heaven to inherit the seat of the daimyō! What manner of ignorant creature dares lay hands on him?! Sakura—help me get ready. I intend to call upon the foremost onmyōji in Kyoto and demand his help in subduing this contemptible monster!"
She sat straight and seized the pendant at her chest, holding it tight. Zuolin had given it to her when they were children. As his betrothed in this lifetime, she drew her strength from it now.