"S-Sasuke?!"
The pair playing Zuo Lin and the Fox Immortal froze as if struck by lightning. A beat later, realization hit them both at once. They sprang apart like they'd been electrocuted, eyes wide with mutual horror. "Who are you?!"
"Uh—"
Nearby, Shikamaru gave an involuntary gulp. He was already inching toward his escape route when a slender hand seized him by the back of his collar and hoisted him clean off the ground. Hinata held the pineapple-head by the scruff without a trace of expression, wagging her index finger. "Shikamaru. I don't mind a guy pulling a few tricks. But you should at least have the courage and responsibility to face the consequences."
"Hey, hey, hey—I did it for the crew, didn't I?"
Shikamaru broke out in a cold sweat, scrambling for a defense. But inside the hall, the two imposters had already dispelled their Transformation Techniques. As the smoke cleared, the two people staring at each other in stunned silence were none other than Sakura and Ino.
"Billboard Brow?!"
"Ino Pig?!"
Both girls had gone deathly pale. There was no denying it—that full-on, no-holds-barred kiss had cost each of them her first kiss at the other's expense.
"Damn it... my first kiss... I was saving that for Sasuke..."
Sakura's eyes brimmed with tears, her fists clenched white-knuckle tight, teeth grinding as she glared at Ino. And Ino was faring no better—equally misty-eyed, the blonde stared at Shikamaru dangling from Hinata's grip with veins bulging at her temples. "I don't know exactly what happened... but I know exactly who to blame!"
"Very good, ladies. But please—don't leave any marks on him. He's our highest earner. I fully support non-violent disciplinary measures."
Holding Shikamaru by the scruff, Hinata handed him over to the two girls without a shred of guilt. Shikamaru had earned this. Scheming for the crew's benefit was one thing, but turning that scheming brain on your own teammates was asking for a beating.
"You're dead, Shikamaru! Don't worry—we've both been studying medical ninjutsu. We won't leave a scratch!"
The fully unhinged Sakura and Ino, flushed with shame and fury, abandoned all rational thought. They snatched Shikamaru from Hinata's hand and dragged the sweating boy into the tatami room—clearly intent on administering some off-the-record punishment behind closed doors.
Here was how it had played out: First, Shikamaru lured the key piece of bait—Sasuke—away from the set, claiming the shoot needed an umbrella and sending him off to buy one. Then Shino informed Sakura that the Fox Immortal role was hers.
When Ino lost her advantage, her analytical mind had sensed something was off—but her competitive drive won out. At that point, Naruto transformed into Sasuke's likeness and told Ino they needed to do a gender-swap test: she would play the male role while "Sasuke" played the female role. If "Sasuke" proved he could handle the woman's part, Sakura's female lead would be scrapped.
And so Ino, dizzy with the thrill of snatching victory from defeat, dropped her last shred of caution—and walked straight into a passionate, cross-disguised kiss with Sakura, who had been starry-eyed from the start.
"That was a dirty trick, I'll give him that. But the footage is genuinely excellent—the emotional commitment, the depth in their eyes, all absolutely flawless."
Watching the playback, Hinata stroked her chin in satisfaction. The pale-eyed girl even allowed herself a rare bout of triumphant laughter. "Just as I predicted! Our enterprise is unstoppable across the entire shinobi world! Ahahahahaha!"
After laughing alone for a good while, Hinata abruptly cut herself off and slapped the tatami beside her, simultaneously firing a glare at the crew members sitting on either side. Kakashi and Naruto flinched instinctively, grasped her meaning at once, and promptly joined in the laughter.
"Ahahahaha! That's right. Accountant—give me the current market outlook."
Nodding with satisfaction, Hinata turned to Shikamaru. Her tone was crisp. "I need to decide based on actual market conditions whether to push ahead with bonus episodes, or take a hiatus to build anticipation."
"Right... by my calculations, our potential and our sales are both miles ahead of the competition..."
Shikamaru sat on his cushion with a bandage on his face, teeth bared in a sour grimace—no doubt forced into signing several unfavorable treaties by Sakura and Ino. "Most of the other titles in the same release window got crushed under Fox Tales' momentum. So..."
"Ah, perfect. In other words, we'll take a one-week hiatus and give our competitors a little breathing room."
Cutting Shikamaru off decisively, Hinata gave a crisp nod. "But since this will be an expanded edition following a one-week break, I'm going to enrich both the content and the episode count. That means—in two weeks, we'll shoot a deluxe special! Ino, Sakura, Shikamaru—you all have new roles debuting. I expect you to have every line and character detail mastered within the next two weeks. Everyone else: get your heads right. I want peak condition for the next shoot. Dismissed!"
With Hinata's decree, the crew members filed out in twos and threes. Ino and the other two studied their new scripts with a mix of skepticism and curiosity—a one-week hiatus meant these next two weeks could almost feel like normal life again.
Sasuke and Naruto, however, didn't leave right away. For Sasuke, this was his house. For Naruto, he simply had nothing to do and nowhere to go.
"Ah, how wise of you to stay. As it happens, I have something to discuss with both of you."
Blowing on her fingernails, Hinata spoke first. "How do you rate your progress with the Sacred Fist?"
"I can punch a full inch into the iron sand now."
Sasuke's eyebrows rose with quiet confidence—clearly, he still preferred discussing matters of strength. "Savage Bite, R.E.D. Kick, and the other techniques—I've worked through all of them. I was going to ask if you had new moves."
"Ah, I can punch an inch into the iron sand too! As for the moves, uh—no problems here either."
Naruto, arms behind his head, jumped in right after Sasuke with obvious competitive pique. His confidence flagged noticeably on the second half, but Hinata just shook her head. No point nitpicking the dead-last—he'd get stronger eventually.
"Excellent. I've actually commissioned three pairs of specialized ninja tool gauntlets based on the Sacred Fist martial manual. They'll be finished in two weeks. The manual is very clear: if you can use those gauntlets, it means your Phase Two training has barely reached the pass mark. If you can't, it means more Phase Two grinding."
Hinata clenched both fists and rose to her feet. "So you'd better spend these two weeks perfecting your Phase Two training—unless you want to find out the hard way that you're not up to standard!"
"Tch! You don't have to tell me!"
"Yeah—I'm definitely passing Phase Two!"
Hinata had indeed ordered specialized gauntlets capable of absorbing chakra and manifesting its elemental nature. But she knew full well that ninja tools were supplementary at best. Without the underlying strength, even the finest equipment was worthless.
And so, with a two-week deadline agreed upon, the three young ninja threw themselves back into their respective iron-sand training. The training was brutal and monotonous, but for taijutsu, patience and persistence were precisely what mattered most.
The world, naturally, would not stand still for them. While they trained in isolation, changes were unfolding beyond their walls.
"Lord Hokage, here is the crew's latest work. Please review it."
Presenting an original copy of the newest Fox Tales to the Third Hokage, Kakashi's tone was impeccably professional. "Based on my ongoing observations, the children are simply producing a creative work. The content involves no leaks of Konoha intelligence or disrespect toward the previous Hokage. It's a perfectly normal—and commendable—exercise in teamwork."
"Mm, thank you for your hard work, Kakashi. So this is the new issue, before it hits the market? Hm?! What's this?! A kiss scene??"
The Third's voice turned sharply stern as he flipped through the episode. "Kakashi! You know they're still children! How can they be filming something this provocative?!"
"Please rest assured on that count, because..."
Kakashi glanced around, then leaned in close to the Third's ear and explained the truth: the boy named Shikamaru had used a scheme to trick the two girls into serving as each other's body doubles for the kiss scene.
"I see..."
The Third's expression relaxed, and he nodded approvingly. "Shikaku's son, all right. Quite a talent for improvisation."
Watching the satisfied Hokage, Kakashi hesitated for a moment before delivering his last piece of news. "However, the girl Hinata seems to have other things she needs to attend to. She's decided to go on a one-week hiatus."
"What?! Ahem—I mean, do you have any idea what she's planning?"
The Third had risen instinctively from his chair before catching himself, smoothing the outburst with a hasty cough. "You understand, don't you? The ones who truly need protection are Hinata and her two companions."
Shikamaru and the others came from families that existed within Konoha—clans of modest size. Targeting them wouldn't shift Konoha's political landscape or yield any worthwhile spoils.
But Hinata's trio was another matter entirely. First: with the Uchiha clan gone, Hinata's Hyuga clan was now the single most powerful family in Konoha. If Hinata were captured, the Hyuga clan's calculations might change dramatically.
Then there were Sasuke and Naruto. One carried the Sharingan bloodline of the Uchiha. The other harbored the shinobi world's most fearsome Tailed Beast—the Nine-Tails. Either one was worth risking an operation to seize.
"Rest assured—my Shadow Clones have been tailing those children around the clock. Nothing will slip past me."
Kakashi took his duties seriously. This was professional pride for an elite Jōnin.
"Good. Then I'll continue to rely on you, Kakashi. Until they graduate, I need you watching over them."
Raising his eyes to the portraits of every Hokage lining his office wall, the Third allowed a trace of anticipation to cross his wrinkled face.
"Whatever happens—if those three can truly unite, they may well become the brightest spark of a new era."