The next morning.
Konoha Village was still bathed in gentle sunlight, and the Uchiha Clan's compound was no exception, embraced by the soft morning glow.
Izumi woke up from her sleep, with beads of sweat clinging to her temples.
She had spent far too long trapped in that Genjutsu World, leading to a night of endless nightmares. Each time she jolted awake, she was terrified that she was still in that illusion, forced to relive the massacre of her clan.
The torment had haunted her all night.
As she washed up, the mirror reflected a girl with faint dark circles under her eyes, the beauty mark beneath her eye only adding to her delicate charm.
When she reached the living room, she found a bowl of miso soup and rice balls waiting on the table, along with a note pressed beneath them.
[I'm off to work. Do your best today, Izumi!
Love, Mom]
Her fingers traced the words on the note, warmth flooding her heart and dispelling much of the lingering horror from last night's nightmares.
After breakfast, Izumi fastened her forehead protector, checked her gear, and headed out to meet up with her team for their assigned mission under their Jonin Instructor.
The Uchiha Clan's compound was peaceful and serene, with a few elderly clansmen still around greeting her warmly as she passed.
Yet, this very tranquility made her grip her ninja pouch tighter.
'Just what is that mysterious person planning?'
Once she left the clan's territory, Izumi couldn't help but recall the horrors she had experienced in the endless Night of the Massacre.
As a member of the Uchiha Clan, Izumi was naturally skilled in Genjutsu and had undergone training from her elders on how to wield the Sharingan.
But the Genjutsu she had learned, like the [Hell Viewing Technique], only affected an individual's senses, forcing them to confront their deepest fears.
But the mysterious man's Genjutsu last night had felt like an entire fabricated world.
No matter how many times she 'died' in that Genjutsu, she couldn't find any flaws in it. Izumi could only desperately convince herself that she was still trapped.
The Genjutsu world seemed confined to the Uchiha Clan's compound and the Military Police Force's headquarters. The moment she tried to leave, masked Konoha's Ninja would hunt her down.
Izumi had heard of these masked Ninjas said before… They were the Anbu, directly under the Hokage's command.
'But why would Anbu be sealing off the Uchiha Clan's compound?'
"Good morning, Izumi." A clear voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Izumi looked up to see Shisui, dressed in a black high-collared shirt and matching pants with brown shoulder armor, smiling warmly at her.
"Good morning, Shisui-nii." When Izumi and her mother had first moved back to the clan district, she had been unfamiliar with everything. Shisui had been the one to help her settle in.
Shisui's kindness extended to everyone, and he had treated her like a little sister from the start.
"You look a bit tired. Didn't sleep well?" Shisui fell into step beside her, his sharp eyes quickly noticing her pallor.
"It's nothing, just..." Izumi hesitated, unsure how to explain.
She remembered that during the [Night of the Massacre], she had seen Fugaku and his wife killed by Itachi at their home. At the Military Police Force's headquarters, she had also witnessed Yashiro, Tekka, and the others slaughtered by a mysterious masked man.
But now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Shisui anywhere in that Genjutsu World.
"If you're feeling too exhausted, maybe you should take a break." Shisui thought that Izumi had just graduated and became a Genin, and was not used to the intensity of the Ninja's missions.
Izumi opened her mouth but ultimately couldn't bring herself to say it.
How could she tell Shisui that in her Genjutsu, she had seen Itachi and a mysterious man slaughter their entire clan?
That outside the Uchiha Clan's compound, Konoha's Anbu had been sealing off the area and hunting down survivors?
"I'll adjust soon!" Izumi forced a smile in response.
"Don't push yourself too hard." Shisui stopped walking, as they had arrived at the Military Police Force's headquarters.
After parting ways, Izumi glanced back repeatedly at the building, watching Uchiha Clan's members come and go. It all felt surreal.
Even when she met up with her teammates and carried out low-ranking missions under their Jonin Instructor, like pulling weeds, clearing blocked rivers or catching runaway pets for noblewomen, Izumi remained distracted.
…
In the Hyuga Clan's compound, the morning scene is like a detailed ukiyo-e painting.
Hinata knelt on a zabuton cushion, her lacquered meal tray arranged like a delicate bonsai display. Two slices of salmon rested neatly beside a bowl of miso soup, a small portion of rice, and a dish of fruit… this was her breakfast.
"I'm full!" Hinata set down her chopsticks. Even though there was still about a quarter of the food left in it, she had been raised with strict clan etiquette, where every action followed rules.
"Don't push yourself too hard." Hinata's mother said with a gentle smile.
Her father, Hyuga Hiashi, was deep in thought, holding his bowl and paying no attention to his daughter's state.
Just as Hinata was about to speak, another voice echoed in her mind.
'You've never eaten your fill, have you?' Big Sis Hinata had taken control.
'Big Sis... don't do this...' In their shared mental space, Little Hinata panicked, afraid Big Sis Hinata might do something outrageous again.
But Big Sis Hinata said in a deep voice: 'Menma told me last time that you have a big appetite. I never noticed before, so… you've never been allowed to eat until you're full, right?'
'Big Sis…'
'I overlooked it. Leave the rest to me.' In the Limited Tsukuyomi World, Big Sis Hinata hadn't been a glutton, and over the past three years, she had mostly been dormant, never realizing how much Hinata actually needed to eat.
When her eyes opened again, Hinata's entire demeanor had shifted. The timid hesitation in her white eyes was gone, replaced by a fierce, confident aura.
Hinata's mother immediately noticed the change in her daughter.
She was well aware of her daughter's unique condition, but before she could ask, Hinata snapped, "Old man! You raising a hamster here or what?!"
Crack…
The bowl in Hiashi's hands cracked into spiderweb patterns.
A pair of white eyes raised very solemnly, locking onto Hinata.
If this had been any other Hyuga Clan's member, such a gaze from their clan's head would have made them shrink back in fear.
But Big Sis Hinata had long since lost patience with her father: "Bring me two more… no, five more servings!"
"You make me train like crazy every day but don't even let me eat enough?! Are you worried I'll bankrupt you?"
Big Sis Hinata's sharp tongue was like a barrage of kunai, each one striking Hiashi square in the chest.
This little 'cotton-padded jacket' wasn't just lined with black cotton… it was full of holes, leaking cold air everywhere. (T/N: Cotton-padded jacket here refers to daughters, who are often considerate and heartwarming.)
"Hinata, mind how you speak to your father." Hinata's mother chided softly.
She first instructed a servant to bring more food, then stood gracefully and walked over to Hinata, pulling her into a warm embrace: "Tell your mother if you have anything to say."
To her, whether it was the gentle Little Hinata or the fiery Big Sis Hinata, they were both her daughters.
In a way, it almost felt like raising two completely different girls… which was oddly amusing.
"Mom..." Feeling the warmth of her mother's embrace, Big Sis Hinata hesitated.
In this world, her mother was incredibly kind to her. And Hiashi, despite constantly being challenged and disrespected, still tolerated her outbursts.
But in that other world, she had parents too. A family.
For the first time, she understood what Menma meant when he kept muttering:
"It's all fake!"