Hyūga Hinata was late to school today. This was her first time walking alone from the Hyūga compound to the Ninja Academy. In the past, she had always followed behind Neji like a "little tagalong."
When she reached the doorway of Iruka's classroom, Hinata clasped her hands in front of her chest and stood outside, uneasy and silent.
Seeing her like this, Iruka let out a faint sigh in his heart.
"Come in."
He didn't scold Hyūga Hinata for being late, because Iruka also knew what had happened in the Hyūga clan. But who could really be blamed? Most likely, only the adults of the Hyūga Main House.
Their actions had made them pay the price, and had left the few women and children of the Main House in an extremely passive situation.
As Hinata lowered her head and sat back at her seat, Yamanaka Ino suddenly stood up and raised her hand. "Iruka-sensei, can I sit next to Hyūga Hinata?"
Not far away, Haruno Sakura was startled. She lowered her voice to Ino: "Ino, what are you doing? Right now… it's better not to get involved with the Hyūga."
But Ino just shook her head slightly at Sakura and didn't say anything more.
"…Alright." Iruka thought for a moment, then nodded.
Yamanaka Ino moved her seat. She didn't keep listening to the lesson, but instead gently poked Hinata at her side.
That poke made Hinata's whole body tremble.
"Are you afraid?" Ino whispered so that only the two of them could hear.
"…Mm."
Hinata's ten fingers intertwined and separated again, repeating the motion over and over.
Perhaps it was because she heard the concern in Yamanaka Ino's tone, Hinata lowered some of her guard. Her voice was weak, lost, and confused as she muttered, "Father has been put in Konoha Prison, and some close elders of the Main House are also in Konoha Prison. At home, it's only me and my little sister now."
"Last night, I couldn't sleep… not for the whole night. I'm scared… I'm scared I'll be taken away too. I don't even really understand… why Father was put in prison."
"I only heard some of the Branch members say… Father treated the Branch badly, so he was arrested."
Her tone was halting, stammering, her voice so low that Ino almost couldn't make out what she was saying.
Still, Ino could tell that this Main House young lady's personality was extremely introverted.
Thinking it over, she said, "Have you done anything bad? For example, have you ever harmed a member of the Hyūga Branch?"
"I haven't!" Hinata shook her head furiously.
"Then you don't need to be afraid," Ino said. "Because that person's [Absolute Justice] only targets those who commit wrongdoing. Since you haven't done anything bad and you haven't hurt anyone, why be afraid of being taken?"
But what Hinata heard was another meaning: "So Father was arrested because he hurt others?"
"You really don't know?" Ino cast Hinata a doubtful glance.
How could someone be this naive? She was right in the middle of the storm, with even her own father arrested, yet she knew nothing.
If no one told her, she wouldn't try to find out through any other means — she only stayed passive.
This girl…
Was she really the Hyūga Main House young lady?
Hinata didn't dare meet her eyes. "No one is willing to tell me. Last night, Neji-nii only said some strange things and then left."
Still shaken, Ino steadied herself, recalling what her father had told her that morning about the "inside story" of the Hyūga clan.
She organized her thoughts and asked, "You should know about the Hyūga clan's Caged Bird, right? With your father Hyūga Hiashi at the head, the Hyūga Main House used the Caged Bird to control the Branch House shinobi, giving them power over the very life and death of the Branch."
"In other words, the adults of your Main House used the Caged Bird to treat the Branch House shinobi as slaves. Do you think your Hyūga Main House was right to do that?"
Hinata froze.
She suddenly remembered back when Uncle Hizashi was still alive — how he once clutched his head in agony, crying out in front of her.
Was that the Caged Bird curse mark? Was it Father who had caused Uncle Hizashi such pain?
Hinata found herself unable to speak.
"You only feel confused about this matter, not resentful toward [Absolute Justice]. That shows you are at least kindhearted," Yamanaka Ino said. "You can go ask Hyūga Neji. Ask him what the Caged Bird really is. Ask him what the Main House has done to the Branch. Ask him what Hyūga Hiashi, as clan head, has done for the Branch."
"In the past, he might have refused to deal with you for various reasons, but as someone devoted to [Absolute Justice], he will give you an answer. Once you have his reply, you will know the truth. Because that is the duty of justice."
Hinata murmured the phrase that kept appearing on Ino's lips.
"Absolute Justice…"
…
By noon, drifting in a daze, Hinata noticed many of the Ninja Academy students taking out their carefully prepared lunch boxes. Only then did she realize she should eat lunch too.
But when she reached out, her hands came up empty. She suddenly remembered that there was no one at home now who could make a lunch for her.
Although there was one Main House special jonin whom Hyūga Hiashi had instructed to look after Hinata, it was clear that person had no experience caring for children.
Hinata reached into her pocket and felt a few paper notes — her pocket money. Her stomach's hunger forced her to leave the academy to buy herself a lunch.
"Achoo—"
She sneezed, hunched her shoulders, and looked up at the rows of street trees, their leaves already half yellow.
'Looks like autumn has come… Father may have been strict with me, but in autumn he always reminded me to wear an extra layer so I wouldn't catch cold…'
Hinata muttered inwardly with a sense of loss.
As she walked, she found herself arriving at a place called "Ichiraku Ramen." Smelling the fragrance outside, Hinata swallowed hard and summoned her courage to step inside.
"E-Excuse me…"
Hinata was just about to speak to Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, when she suddenly caught sight of a tall figure. She recognized that familiar attire at once. Beside him was a fat orange cat, from behind looking just like a big orange drumstick.
The paper notes Hinata had just taken out of her pocket fluttered to the ground.
On her delicate face, visible fear appeared.
When she saw him slowly turn his head, when her eyes met those cold, indifferent ones, Hinata's fear reached its limit.
Her body instinctively staggered back, her large watery eyes filling with tears.
Frightened tears seemed ready to spill at any moment.
The strong unease and dread made Hinata tremble.
She had… come face to face with the man who had thrown her father into Konoha Prison!
Uchiha Keizumi's gaze shifted from Hyūga Hinata to the paper notes on the floor, their total value five thousand ryō.
He stepped forward, and just as Hinata was about to burst into tears, Uchiha Keizumi bent down and picked up the money.
He handed it back to her. Hinata, trembling, accepted it.
"Four bowls of the classic ramen, large size," Uchiha Keizumi said to Teuchi.
Teuchi was about to respond when Uchiha Keizumi interrupted himself: "Wait… make it nine bowls."
Tachibana Jirō glanced at Uchiha Keizumi, then at Hyūga Hinata, who stood frozen in fear behind him.
The cat hesitated, then asked doubtfully, "Keizumi-sama, isn't something off here? Usually it's two bowls for me and two for you. Meow, even if Keizumi-sama wanted to treat this Hyūga Main House kid to a bowl, that would only be five bowls, meow."
After a few seconds without getting a reply from Uchiha Keizumi, Tachibana Jirō gave an awkward cough.
Changing the subject, he spoke earnestly to the trembling Hinata: "Kid, there's no need to be so scared of Keizumi-sama. If Keizumi-sama wanted to catch you, he would've done it yesterday. Why would he leave you until now, meow?"
Twenty minutes later—
Tachibana Jirō had to take back everything he had just said.
His wide-eyed cat face stared in shock as Hyūga Hinata, all on her own, finished four bowls of ramen and was still eating. He couldn't help sizing up the kid's still-flat little belly, wearing an expression that openly questioned the meaning of his feline life.
"Looks like we'll need a few more bowls."
Already full, Uchiha Keizumi said it calmly, unsurprised.
Tachibana Jirō: "???"
He then watched helplessly as the seven-year-old Hinata ate another five large bowls of ramen, the empty bowls stacking higher and higher.
Only then did he hear the girl's trembling voice: "I'm full."
Feeling her stomach about seventy percent full, Hinata was dazed and bewildered. She didn't even know why she had sat down, why she had accepted a meal from this terrifying man, or why he had treated her to ramen at all.
Maybe it was because she didn't dare refuse. Under his gaze, she had no choice but to keep forcing ramen into her mouth, even drinking down the broth.
By accident, she had eaten herself seventy percent full.
Beside her, after several seconds of silence, Tachibana Jirō couldn't help asking: "Meow, is Hyūga Hiashi abusing you or something?"
Before, he would never have imagined a person could eat food greater in total volume than their own body!
Was this the reincarnation of a starving ghost? Or had she simply never been fed properly since childhood, meow?
His suspicion that Hyūga Hiashi was mistreating her—was only natural!
"…Huh?"
Hinata didn't understand.
At that moment, she heard the terrifying man beside her speak: "Hyūga Hinata, from now on you should leave the Hyūga clan."
Hinata was stunned.
Uchiha Keizumi said flatly, "With so many people in the Branch House, there will always be some deranged ones who hate you. After all, you are Hyūga Hiashi's eldest daughter, the heir of the Main House. Never underestimate the depths of human malice. If you don't want to die without knowing why, then don't stay there."
"I'll arrange a new place for you to live."
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