Ino's eyes narrowed. The blonde tilted her head, paused briefly, then gave a straightforward answer.
"Hinata, you're overthinking it. Lots of things can cause sleepwalking—excessive fatigue and mental overwork being chief among them. Especially for kids our age. Someone like you, single-handedly planning and managing an entire production crew? I'd be more surprised if you didn't sleepwalk."
She stood up and placed both hands on Hinata's shoulders, her tone deliberately light and reassuring. "So how about we talk about cosmetics instead? Or hey—didn't you say you wanted to add tons of flower arrangements to the next production set? We could discuss that. Sounds fun, right?"
"..."
Hinata frowned instinctively. The reason was simple: she couldn't tell whether Ino was telling the truth or not.
Ino might only be an eleven-year-old girl, but she was a ninja-clan child—and one from a clan specializing in psychic techniques, at that. Her analytical mind and psychological defenses far exceeded those of any ordinary girl her age. With Sakura, Hinata was confident she could read the pink-haired girl's emotional shifts. But Ino, smiling breezily like this? Hinata couldn't get a read.
"No... it's late. We can plan things out when the crew assembles tomorrow. You're right—I should probably just get a proper night's sleep."
Expression cool, Hinata removed Ino's hands from her shoulders and glanced down at Naruto. "Heal this one until he can walk on his own. I'm leaving."
"Okay, see you tomorrow, Hinata!"
Watching Hinata walk away, Ino dropped the smile. She shook her head wearily. "Honestly... how am I supposed to say something like that when I'm not even sure? And you're the Hyuga clan heiress—using psychic jutsu on you without permission would just be asking for trouble. Forget it. I'll just pretend I don't know anything about this. Mm."
Nobody was truly stupid—at most, they had blind spots in certain areas. Ino's combat ability might not be exceptional, and her intellect didn't match Shikamaru's, but that didn't make her easy to fool.
Psychic-type jutsu had always been the most delicate category of ninjutsu. It could directly alter a person's mind, or infiltrate their psyche to plant hidden suggestions and modifications—methods so subtle they were nearly impossible to detect. This made them fundamentally inhumane techniques.
Therefore, without explicit permission, psychic jutsu was forbidden from being used on allies or enemies alike. Hinata was this generation's eldest daughter of the Hyuga clan. Even if the clan had written her off for lack of talent, her bloodline alone was a marker no one dared disrespect.
But outright refusing Hinata wasn't an option either—especially now that Hinata was effectively Ino's boss. Ino might be boy-crazy, but she wasn't brainless. As inheritor of her clan's secret mind-techniques, she understood intimately the taboos surrounding them.
So deflecting with a caring platitude was the safest play.
As for what happened next? Well, who could say?
The moon set and the sun rose. Whatever Hinata and Ino were privately thinking, time marched on regardless. On the appointed day, the crew gathered once more inside the Uchiha compound. This time, Kakashi—in his disguise as their cameraman—was also present.
Reclining against a cushion, Hinata propped her chin on one pale hand and surveyed her current roster.
First: the lead actors, Sasuke and Naruto. Both in good shape. Naruto had been beaten unconscious by her the night before, but blunt-force trauma did minimal lasting damage, and between his jinchūriki recovery factor and Ino's healing, the blond idiot was back to full form—currently radiating energy and making eyes at Sasuke across the room.
Next: crew accountant Shikamaru, and crew voice actor Shino. The outfit's two brains. Any tedious task she couldn't be bothered with could safely be delegated to them.
Then: the support team—Ino, Sakura, and Choji. The first two handled cleanup, set decoration, and could fill in as supporting characters when needed. The last one was their muscle for heavy labor. Not much else to say.
Mm, quite solid overall. Something still felt missing, but that could be addressed gradually.
"I'll skip the pleasantries. Our last installment looks set to break records again, but all of that was prologue. Starting this installment, we enter the main storyline of Fox Tales. I expect everyone's full commitment."
Sitting upright, Hinata opened the meeting. Below her, the crew members sat in two rows—some attentive, some casual—and gave a collective "hai," signaling the session had officially begun.
"You know, our work really is popular! Hey, did you guys notice? I even saw some girls in our year buying copies!"
Sakura gushed about her observations. Just as Hinata had anticipated, the second installment of Fox Tales had dropped its 18+ rating. As long as the content avoided explicit material, a bit of romance and flirtation wasn't enough to earn a mature classification.
The natural result of removing the restriction was a sales surge. Supply still couldn't quite keep up with demand, but Academy students with connections or deep pockets had already gotten their hands on the second volume—and showing it off at school had become something of a status symbol.
"Speaking of which, those publishers are real highway robbers... Volume Two is already up to fifteen hundred ryō per copy. Aren't they worried about a backlash?"
Shikamaru, chin propped on his fist, clicked his tongue in disapproval. Having a product he'd personally worked on become a local sensation gave him zero satisfaction—only a creeping sense that the headaches were multiplying.
"No, because the new installment is specifically labeled as a 'Platinum Edition.' See? They've even added a platinum watermark to the cover, and the paper quality is noticeably better."
Unlike the analytically inclined Shikamaru, Shino preferred to argue from evidence. The boy in sunglasses pushed a pristine copy of the album onto the tatami in front of him for everyone to see. "In other words, the five-hundred-ryō price increase is one readers will accept."
"Which means we get paid even more! More chips and barbecue for us!"
Choji crunched away at his bag of potato chips, thoroughly pleased. To him, money was simply a proxy for snacks and good food.
"Well, our prospects are looking very rosy indeed. These albums—I've heard they're selling briskly among active ninja, too."
Kakashi, playing his role as cameraman, chimed in casually. It wasn't a lie, either—ninja needed downtime entertainment, and since Fox Tales wasn't an 18+ product like Make-Out Paradise, it was far more accessible to the general ninja population.
"Of course! It's obviously because Sasuke's the leading man!"
Ino latched onto Sasuke's left arm with practiced speed. "That's why we're getting results like this!"
"Tch. You're loud."
Sasuke's response to Ino's flirting was a scowl and a grunt. Naruto, meanwhile, was immediately incensed. "I'm a lead too, you know?! People obviously prefer watching a gorgeous, sultry older beauty over some stone-faced ice block of a man!"
"Shut it, Naruto! You freak who keeps turning into women, stay out of this! And Sasuke is MINE, Ino-pig! Get off him!"
Ino's arm around Sasuke sent Sakura into instant meltdown. The demure facade she'd been maintaining evaporated on the spot.
Watching the meeting room devolve into a marketplace brawl, Kakashi couldn't help but smile. The sight put him at ease, just a little. This was who these kids really were. And he himself had once had companions like this—loud, quarrelsome, and fiercely alive.
"Yes, the prospects are bright. But what we should remember is that even the brightest prospects require hard work and cooperation. Case in point: our third act."
Hinata waited patiently for the free-for-all to subside before continuing. "What I'm about to announce is that the third scene is none other than..."
She scanned the room once, then dropped the bombshell with surgical calm. "A kiss scene."
"..."
"..."
The entire room froze in an extraordinary silence. And then—
"WHAAAAT?!"
The collective shriek nearly blew the roof off the Uchiha compound. Birds in the trees lining the street outside scattered in a panicked explosion of feathers.
"A kiss scene. Mm. The most direct and sincere expression of a character's emotions. I believe it serves as an excellent bridge from the second act."
The only person still composed was Shino—who even had the presence of mind to continue his analysis. Shikamaru, however, had lost all pretense of calm and was wide-eyed. "Hold on—you can't be serious? The male lead is Sasuke, fine, but the female lead is Naruto!"
"Oh, I'm aware. In the story, Naruto transforms into the female lead. The readers will accept it."
"You are completely missing the point! Are you actually a natural airhead? Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
Shikamaru's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Only now did he discover Shino's hidden side. No wonder the boy in sunglasses never fit in with anyone.
Choji—who'd been so shocked his chips fell to the floor—was equally horrified. "Exactly! Even if the in-story female lead is Naruto transformed, it's still Naruto underneath! A kiss scene would mean Sasuke and Naruto actually have to... KISS! _(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ"
"Ack—don't say it! Sasuke's throwing up! Are you okay?!"
"Naruto too! Oh god, so gross! ヽ(*.>Д<)o゜"
Ino and Sakura cried out simultaneously. Surveying the wreckage, Kakashi could only wince.
Yeah... this was going to be a tough one.