Hinata's White Moonlight

"From now on, you will address him as Young Master Menma. When I'm not around, Menma will be in charge of everything here!"

In the courtyard, following the orders of "that person," Gato had kept only two servants and was now having Menma lecture them.

"Yes, Master Gato, Young Master Menma!" The two servants were both women. They respectfully bowed to Gato and Menma on the veranda.

They were ordinary people from Konoha with no talent for ninjutsu, usually making their living through odd jobs.

Gato paid them twice the average wage because they were locals of Konoha, so they treasured this job dearly.

Having finally left the Orphanage and escaped White Zetsu's surveillance, Menma was in a fine mood. He sat comfortably on the veranda, savoring the scent of freedom.

Sunlight filtered through the cherry tree's branches and leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow over the veranda and Menma.

Gato soon established a branch company in Konoha. After leaving behind a manager, he departed Konoha and continued doing business throughout the nations of the Shinobi World, earning funds for the organization while gathering intelligence from every country.

With Kakuzu, assigned by Menma, protecting him, even an Elite Jonin would have struggled to pose a threat to Gato. Kakuzu could even help Gato wreak havoc on his competitors' turf.

Gato had the money, and Kakuzu was happy to earn it.

Meanwhile, Menma began enjoying the life of a young master in Konoha.

Every morning, he trained his chakra control. In the afternoons, he studied combinations of different chakra natures. At dusk, he created Nine Masked Fox Cubs and developed Nine Mask Svāhā. During his free time, he wandered around the village, familiarizing himself with it and buying sweets for Mini-Kurama.

The days passed like that, one after another.

The weather gradually turned colder. Winter was approaching.

"Hey, Menma." Mini-Kurama poked her head out from Menma's fluffy scarf, nibbling on a small piece of marshmallow he had handed her.

Gato had left Menma a large sum of money, and the Konoha branch's revenue was also at his disposal. As a result, Menma's quality of life improved greatly, and he had changed into some new clothes.

"Let's open a dessert shop too." Mini-Kurama was only palm-sized, yet she took a huge bite out of the marshmallow, which was bigger than her head.

As Mini-Kurama spoke, her fluffy tail brushed against Menma's neck, making it itch.

"I think you just want more sweets to eat." Menma saw through Mini-Kurama's "plot."

Then he added, "Eat too many sweets, and you'll get fat."

"I'm a Tailed Beast! I won't get fat!" Mini-Kurama retorted, but suddenly her fox ears perked up.

"Menma, Big Sister Hinata seems to be in trouble." Mini-Kurama looked into the distance.

Menma saw it too.

In a park swept by bleak autumn winds, a little girl was surrounded by three boys.

As he drew closer, Menma could hear the various taunts from the three little boys.

"Ha! Look, her eyes are white!"

"Whoa, is she some Byakugan monster?"

"That's disgusting!"

People said children spoke without malice, but in truth, when children said such things, they often did not even realize how deeply their cruel words could hurt.

Young Hinata had never heard such vicious words before. Tears welled up in her Byakugan eyes, and she crouched down and began to cry.

Seeing the little girl from the Hyuga clan crying, the three boys laughed even more recklessly.

They completely failed to notice the shadow closing in behind them.

"Strange. I remember this scene happening on a snowy day." Menma slowly walked up behind the three boys, raised his right hand, curled his index finger over his middle finger, and flicked each of them on the forehead.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three crisp flicks abruptly cut off their laughter.

"That hurts!"

"Ow, it hurts!"

"Ah! Who was that?!"

Menma had controlled his strength, but he still left the three of them dizzy. They staggered back several steps.

"I mean, you three are actually bullying a girl." Menma shook out his right hand and glanced at Hinata, who was crouched on the ground and secretly peeking at him.

So it was shy Little Hinata.

If it had been Big Sister Hinata, she would have beaten these three until they cried for their parents long ago.

"You bastard!" The tallest child in the group clutched the back of his head and shouted fiercely, "Looks like we need to teach you a lesson! Let you punk know who calls the shots in this park!"

"Damn it! You actually attacked us from behind!" Another chubby boy waved his fists.

"Damn you! Just watch how I deal with you!" The short boy scratched his head, then clenched both fists and grinned, revealing the gap where he was missing a tooth.

All three of them were a head taller than Menma and Hinata. They looked to be around five or six years old.

And it was three against one. The advantage was ours!

To children, having more people and being bigger was a very straightforward measure of fighting strength.

Watching the three brats act so arrogantly, Menma resisted the urge to use ninjutsu. He simply stepped forward sharply, punched the tall brat in the face, then swept the chubby boy's legs out from under him, sending him sprawling onto his back.

In just an instant, two of the three brats had gone down. Only the short boy with the missing tooth remained, looking around in panic, unable to understand how his companions had been beaten so quickly.

"Wah! That hurts!"

"Waaah, Mommy!"

The two brats on the ground burst into loud tears.

The short boy was so frightened that tears streamed down his face too.

Menma reached out and pressed a hand onto the short boy's head. Leaning close, his narrowed blue eyes gleamed with mischievous light as he grinned. "From now on, I'm the boss here!"

"Wah! Boss, don't hit me!!" The short boy burst into tears from fright.

What am I even doing? Menma looked at the three brats he had reduced to sobbing and mocked himself inwardly. Playing king of the kids with a bunch of little brats?

After Menma taught them a lesson, the three children fled in a panic.

"Here, let's get acquainted. My name is Menma." As Menma turned around and held out his hand, Hinata hurriedly wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

"H-Hello... My name is Hinata..." Little Hinata's face reddened slightly, and her cool fingers trembled like startled fledglings.

After Menma pulled her to her feet, Hinata lowered her head and placed both hands over her chest. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "Am... am I... really useless...?"

"If it were Sister..." Hinata could not help thinking of the fiery-tempered "sister" inside her. What would she have done?

She probably would have knocked those three boys flat.

Hinata's words reminded Menma of one winter when he was three or four years old in the Limited Tsukuyomi World. After being mocked by three little brats in a park, he had gotten into a scuffle with them.

Since he had not begun formal training or refined chakra yet, the three boys had beaten him rather badly.

At the critical moment, Big Sister Hinata stepped forward and beat the three boys into tears in just a few moves.

Perhaps it was fate.

From then on, Big Sister Hinata and Menma in the Limited Tsukuyomi World grew ever closer, eventually becoming lovers during the Chunin Exams of that world.

"Gentleness has never been a weakness. Your gentleness makes people feel like they're basking in a spring breeze. A Hinata like that is especially adorable!" Menma raised a hand, placed it on Little Hinata's head, and ruffled her short hair.

"Adorable..." Menma's praise made Little Hinata's face flush all at once, steam practically rising from her like a locomotive.

Restricted by all kinds of family rules since childhood, Little Hinata had been held to high expectations because of the existence of her "sister." In the eyes of her father, Hyuga Hiashi, and the elders of the Main House, her gentle personality was far too weak.

As a result, Hinata had never received much praise.

Grrr~

A hungry cry came from Hinata's stomach.

It made Hinata, whose face was already red, flush completely crimson.

"Come on, I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen!" Remembering Hinata's appetite, Menma guessed that she had probably never eaten her fill even as a child. He grabbed Hinata's hand and ran toward Ichiraku Ramen.

Ginkgo leaves drifted through the park. As she was led along, Hinata looked at the figure ahead of her, tears shimmering in her pale eyes.