Night
Kyūsei walked beside Sarutobi Hiruzen through the empty streets of Konoha.
It was already late. Even roads that were usually lively had fallen quiet.
As for the Hyūga Hinata who had popped out of nowhere earlier, Kyūsei honestly didn't feel much about it.
That version of Hinata felt… off. Like a spoiled rich kid who'd never been disciplined.
Moonlight spilled over the two of them, casting a tranquil, almost gentle atmosphere.
Then Hiruzen suddenly stopped.
Kyūsei, following closely behind, walked straight into his back.
"Ow—what was that, Grandpa Hokage?"
Caught off guard, Kyūsei nearly fell over.
"Is something hu on your mind, Kyūsei?"
Hiruzen turned around and looked at him.
"You've been unusually quiet the whole way."
Normally this brat was noisy enough to give people headaches. Tonight, he hadn't said a word.
"Huh?"
Kyūsei curled his lip.
"You get dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, and your house gets half blown up."
"Who'd be in a good mood after that?"
Hiruzen looked at the sulking ten-year-old and couldn't help but chuckle.
Fair enough.
No matter how sharp he was, he was still just a kid.
"Um…"
Kyūsei tugged lightly at Hiruzen's sleeve.
"What is it?" Hiruzen asked, a little surprised.
"About Nao—"
"No, Nightingale," Kyūsei corrected himself.
"Can she… keep staying with me in the future?"
Hiruzen's eyes flickered slightly.
The word Kyūsei had used was stay with.
Not monitor.
"Do you like having Nightingale around?"
Hiruzen asked casually.
Nightingale had spent barely more than a day with the boy—and had almost beaten him up in the process.
By all logic, there shouldn't have been any attachment at all.
Unless…
This kid had some strange masochistic tendencies?
"Not exactly like that," Kyūsei said, scratching his head.
"She's just… different."
"She talks to me. She actually argues with me."
"Not like the other ANBU, squatting around all day like wooden posts."
Behind them, Seiran's face twitched beneath his mask.
…So I'm a wooden post now?
"Hahaha," Hiruzen laughed.
"I see. That's my oversight, then."
Before this, every ANBU assigned to Kyūsei had kept a strict distance, treating him like something untouchable.
The one ANBU who'd dared to act normally—who even bought him cigarettes—had been kicked out by Hiruzen himself.
Nightingale was different.
Her status as a Hyūga main family member, combined with her own strength, gave her the confidence to speak to Kyūsei as an equal—even if she was wary of the Nine-Tails.
That confidence was also why she'd dared to hit him when she lost her temper.
And ironically, that was exactly why Kyūsei felt she was different from everyone else.
"So…"
Kyūsei looked up hopefully.
"Is it okay?"
"Of course," Hiruzen said, smiling as he patted Kyūsei's head.
"Nightingale will continue staying by your side."
If the Hyūga clan were offered the chance to maintain long-term contact with the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki…
They would absolutely refuse—
unless it came directly from the Hokage.
The Hyūga were a disciplined clan. Unlike the Uchiha, they weren't radical.
They didn't care who the Hokage was—only that there was one.
And most importantly—
The Byakugan cannot control tailed beasts.
That was the real reason Hiruzen trusted the Hyūga.
"Old man Hokage!"
Kyūsei grinned.
"You're seriously cool!"
Hiruzen laughed warmly.
He'd spent so long trying to arrange bonds for this child—
and in the end, Hyūga Shiori had stumbled into creating one by accident.
Still, he had no intention of pulling Namikaze Kaoru away.
He'd seen Kyūsei's recent interactions with her.
He was no longer ignoring her like before.
Bonds, after all, were better the more you had.
"Let me go!"
"You bastards!"
"When I get out, I'll make you all regret this!"
"Every last one of you!"
"Just wait!"
By the time Hyūga Shiori hurried to the Konoha prison with a confused Hyūga Hiashi, Hinata's furious shouting was echoing through the corridors.
Hiashi frowned slightly and glanced at Nao, as if asking:
This is the intruder you mentioned?
Why is she this arrogant?
Nao didn't respond.
Her mind was occupied with one thing only—
how to clean up this disaster.
After registering with the guards, she led Hiashi to Hinata's cell.
"Full of energy, aren't you,"
Nao said coldly, eyes filled with disgust.
As the Hyūga clan's eldest daughter, Nao had been drilled in etiquette since childhood.
Even if she was lively in private, in public she was the picture of refinement.
The girl in front of her, on the other hand, looked nothing like a proper Hyūga.
Even the notoriously arrogant Uchiha wouldn't scream like this in a Konoha prison.
Hiashi studied Hinata, then glanced back at Nao, unease creeping into his eyes.
…She really does look a lot like Nao.
Hinata, meanwhile, was completely frozen.
She stared at the man in front of her—
a Hyūga Hiashi who looked barely fifteen or sixteen, standing in the prime of youth.
"…Wait," she said slowly.
"Handsome guy… who are you?"
"This,"
Nao said flatly,
"is the 'old fossil' you were yelling for."
Hyūga Hiashi.
"No way…"
Hinata shook her head in disbelief.
"I must still be asleep."
"I'll just go back to sleep—don't wake me."
"This is definitely a dream…"
She muttered to herself, completely shattered.
"Enough playing dumb," Nao snapped impatiently.
"Tell me your objective."
"Why did you break into the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki's residence?"
"If you don't talk, the interrogation unit is waiting."
"And if you survive that, the Yamanaka clan will have a turn."
"Even if you die, we'll pry everything out of your brain."
Nao's tone was icy.
Strictly speaking, Hiruzen could've interrogated Hinata directly.
Allowing Nao to question her was already a concession to the Hyūga clan.
"…W-what?"
"Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?"
Hinata froze.
"Isn't the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki… Menma?"