"No… impossible…"
Hyuga Hinata shook her head hard, her short bluish-purple hair whipping around her face.
"How could Father… how could the Hyuga clan…"
The surge of fear and rejection made her instinctively refuse to accept any of it.
She squeezed her eyes shut, flicked her wrist, and flung the black notebook away. "What 'life simulator'? It's fake! All of it is fake!"
It's fake. It has to be fake!
She covered her ears and kept her eyes closed, repeating it to herself over and over in her heart. As if that alone could convince her that this was just some horrible story she'd imagined because of stress.
"I'm not thinking about it! I can't think about it anymore!"
Her voice was almost breaking as she muttered to herself. She crouched down, her trembling fingers about to touch the notebook—then jerked back like she'd been burned.
In the end, she still picked it up, planning to throw it straight into the trash. But as she passed the window, a clear, crystalline snowflake drifted down and landed lightly on the back of her hand.
Hinata froze.
She slowly turned toward the window. Her pure white eyes opened wide, reflecting the countless snowflakes dancing through the sky.
"It's… snowing."
…
"It's snowing, huh."
Hyuga Kiyonari turned his head to look at the swirling snow outside the window. "Right about now, she's probably desperately telling herself that the 'life simulator' is fake."
Hyuga Hinata's underlying personality at this age was cowardly. When she ran into problems she couldn't solve or didn't want to face, her first instinct was always to run.
When the other kids bullied her, she chose to run. When she noticed there might be a spy outside the compound wall, she still chose to run. So when she saw what was written in the "life simulator," of course she would refuse to believe it.
But Hinata also had a very tough side. Even though she'd never once gotten a kind look from Hiashi, she still trained hard day after day. Even after Hanabi was born, she never truly gave up on herself.
So she would come around. She would try to verify whether the "life simulator" was real or not. She just needed a little time.
Well then—the actress is in position. Time for the curtain to rise.
…
New Year's Day arrived. The streets of Konoha were already coated in pristine white snow. Soft drifts piled up along the roads to just the right height—the perfect thickness for rolling a round, solid snowball.
The news that Kumogakure had decided to end the war reached Konoha, throwing the whole village into a strange mood.
You could say people were happy, but not exactly overjoyed. After all, the Third Great Ninja War had basically ended before the Fourth Hokage took office.
Kumogakure was like that delinquent who keeps yelling he's going to jump you after school, but by the time school lets out, he's nowhere to be seen. Still, when you go to class the next day, you can't help worrying about what'll happen after school—because hey, he's a thug; nothing he does would be surprising.
They'd been shouting for years, and only today did they finally say, "We're done." The moment that happened, the whole village loosened up. There were even noticeably more drunks passed out in front of the izakayas. Fortunately, the Uchiha Police Force was extremely diligent, so the streets stayed as clean as ever.
Hyuga Kiyonari had also gotten to work early. Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to tail Hinata herself.
Instead, his targets were three carefully selected little punks.
For all that Konoha produced talented people, it also had a thriving bullying culture. Even so, there weren't many kids bold enough to scream "Byakugan freak" at the main family's young lady of the Hyuga clan. These three were the cream of that crop—and they already made a habit out of bullying others for fun. Basically, they were completely out of control.
Heh. In a bit, I'll show you what a "black hand" really is.
Kiyonari watched their backs with the corner of his eye when suddenly, a blond brat shot out from a nearby shop and slammed straight into him. Caught off guard, the two of them toppled together into the soft snow, sending a puff of powder into the air.
"You damned demon fox! How many times have I told you not to touch my stuff?!"
The shopkeeper clutched a bright red fox mask as he charged out the door, shouting viciously, "Get lost, you monster fox!"
Kiyonari pushed Uzumaki Naruto off his chest and stuck his head up out of the snow, quickly scanning the street. Where did those three bastards go?
Naruto, finally recovering, scrambled up in a panic and reached down to haul Kiyonari out of the snow pit. "Um… I'm sorry!"
"Haaah—"
Kiyonari took a long breath, then turned his head to look at the still-ranting shopkeeper.
"If you don't need your eyes, you can donate them."
Only then did the man really take in Kiyonari's appearance. His arrogance shrank by half on the spot. The kid might still be young, but those eyes alone made it clear he'd be a ninja someday.
"Honored young ninja, I… I didn't mean—"
Kiyonari ignored his excuses. He just slowly raised his hand toward the man, fingers spread.
The shopkeeper blinked, not understanding. "W-what… what does that mean?"
"Compensation," Kiyonari said. "If 'sorry' worked, what would we need a police force for?"
The man froze for a moment, then hurriedly said, "How much… do you think is fair?"
"Five thous—" Kiyonari's eyes landed on the item in his hand, and he smoothly changed course. "No, four thousand ryo… plus that mask you're holding."
The shopkeeper's face stiffened. Before he could protest, Kiyonari casually straightened his clothes, making sure the embroidered Hyuga crest on them was clearly visible.
"If you're unwilling, the Uchiha Police Department is right over there. I can also invite some elders from my clan to have a look."
Cold sweat broke out on the man's forehead. He was clearly in the wrong to begin with, so all he could do was quickly hand over the money and the mask.
Kiyonari accepted his spoils. His slender fingers flicked lightly through the bills, counted out a thousand ryo, and stuffed that along with the bright fox mask into Naruto's arms.
"This is your share."
His tone was flat as he slipped the remaining three thousand into his own pocket.
If he'd asked for five thousand, he'd probably have given Naruto half, knowing his own personality. Under the current setup, Naruto still got the mask he wanted, Kiyonari got five hundred more ryo than he otherwise would have, and the shopkeeper paid a bit less. Win-win-win.
Naruto stared at the sudden windfall, his eyes going comically wide. "Eh? F-for me? N-no, I can't take this!"
Seeing the boy shrinking in on himself like that, Kiyonari's gaze suddenly turned sharp. "Was it him who threw you out?"
Naruto flinched under the force of that gaze, pulled his neck in, and nodded softly. "Yeah."
"Then doesn't he owe you money?"
"I… guess he does…"
"Then take it."
Kiyonari turned to leave. It was already fully dark, and he didn't have much time to waste here. Just then, he felt someone tug his sleeve.
Seriously, man—what do you want now?
"This is compensation from someone else. I really can't take it…" Naruto clutched the mask to his chest like it was some priceless treasure. "Just having the mask is enough."
Kiyonari almost laughed out of sheer exasperation.
So this is the future savior who's supposed to rescue the entire ninja world?
Just how badly have they messed with this kid's head?
He grabbed Naruto by the collar and yanked him closer, staring straight into his eyes. All he saw in there was crushed self-worth—no trace of a lion.
"Look me in the eyes and answer me."
"He's got one head and two eyes. You've got one head and two eyes. What gives him the right to throw you out whenever he wants, and you don't even dare accept money from him? Or do you think I'm doing this to 'stand up for you' out of charity?"
"Have you seriously not been treating yourself as a human being at all?!"