"Master, we're not staying here anymore?"
Some time later, Hinata suddenly noticed Uchiha Jie had taken out a number of scrolls and was starting to pack up their belongings from the hot spring inn.
"Come help, too. Sort your things into separate piles, and I'll seal them in a bit," Uchiha Jie instructed without looking up.
"Oh, okay." Hinata turned and went back to her room.
It had changed a lot since she'd first arrived.
The orchids and jasmine on the windowsill had been moved aside, making room for a large tatami mat. Hinata liked to imitate her master by sitting there in the sunlight, reading scrolls and meditating as she trained.
The flowers had been moved to the little courtyard, where they clustered together in white, pink, and yellow. Hinata wanted to take them along, too, but Uchiha Jie had told her that sealing scrolls couldn't hold living things.
She'd finished all the books on the little table. With her master explaining everything to her, she learned quickly, and the beginner textbooks for young ninja were quite simple anyway.
Most importantly, she no longer had to memorize that heavy volume, The Will of Fire.
Now her little desk held her flower arrangements. The blossoms, which should have gradually withered, seemed to have been kept fresh by a Ninjutsu her master had performed. They were still blooming and giving off a sweet fragrance.
She took the bouquet she liked best with her and left the rest behind. The next guest would surely like them, she thought.
Most of the bedding had been provided by the inn, but she had a few things of her own, too. A big white bear plushie lay quietly in the corner of the wardrobe. She'd stopped using the carp pillow, and now a big pink rabbit kept her company.
Then there were the other clothes in the wardrobe. She'd put away all the old clothes Uchiha Jie had brought along at the beginning, the ones that had belonged to Sister Yue.
They were almost all bright colors, and she felt a little embarrassed wearing them outside.
Her clothes now had all been bought later. They were pale purple, pale pink, and a few other colors, nearly all of them light shades that leaned toward white.
But there were far more styles than before. She now had everything from elaborate long dresses to plain shirts, though none of the thick coats and long pants she used to wear to cover herself up.
Some of them had been bought on trips to the shopping district with her master, and others she'd picked out herself.
But most of all, she had the outfits she wore for battle as a ninja.
There were chain-mail linings of different weights and thicknesses. One had a number of scratches on it from her first battle. Her master had lectured her for ages afterward, and she'd learned her lesson.
There were also neatly arranged open-toed boots, with leg wraps and forearm bandages piled beside them. Loose white and black tops sat on the rack, along with tight-fitting pants covered in straps and buckles, to which she could attach different gear depending on the mission.
She'd leave one outfit on and pack up the rest. She chose the lightest one to wear. According to her master, they were heading toward the sea.
The room also had all sorts of decorations. Some had been put there by Uchiha Jie at the start, while others were things she'd thought looked nice and bought to place around the room.
During her time with her master, she'd also earned quite a bit of pocket money. Whenever he sent her on missions to build her combat skills, he gave her a generous share of the spoils.
In a small cabinet beside the desk sat a number of gold and silver ornaments. There were all sorts of glittering treasures from top to bottom, from earrings and headbands to anklets and foot rings.
At first, she'd wanted to sell them, but her master had told her:
"Every girl should have a few sets of accessories. Keep them for now. If you want some later, you might not be able to find the same styles."
"That was a lesson Sister Yue learned the hard way. She once sold a string of pearls—a real rarity. I heard some noble later bought it for a fortune. Now, no matter how hard she looks, she can't find pearls that big."
But Hinata only ever wore a pair of emerald-green jade earrings, and sometimes put on a little nail polish. She didn't do anything else to adorn herself.
She looked at the other things in the cabinet. They were her ninja tools. They weren't as expensive as the jewelry, but they still cost a lot. She was frugal, and after every battle she cleaned up the battlefield, picking up all the Kunai and shuriken.
Her master had praised her for it, but only because cleaning up the battlefield could conceal their own information.
There were also some Ninjutsu scrolls in the cabinet. Most contained the Taijutsu and sword techniques Uchiha Jie had taught her, along with a few practical Ninjutsu. One tattered scroll stood out from the rest. It was her spoils from a mission.
On her last mission, a rogue ninja from Takigakure had been mixed in with a gang of vicious bandits. Fortunately, he was a Genin, and even by Konoha's standards, his combat ability barely qualified him as one.
But the rogue ninja had learned a Lightning Release Ninjutsu from this scroll. He'd caught her off guard and left her in a terrible state, but in the end she'd won by sheer luck and obtained the scroll as her spoils.
She still hadn't learned the technique, though.
Just as she began reliving that battle, Uchiha Jie called from outside the door. "Hurry up, hurry up! We have to check out before noon!"
She hurriedly took the storage scroll from the bottom drawer of the cabinet and began packing everything in the room, so full of memories, into separate piles.
That was right. She suddenly felt that more had happened during this time than in all the years from her birth until she left Konoha.
More importantly, her life was fuller and happier.
Perhaps it was because her father was no longer watching her every moment, and she no longer heard people behind her quietly judging her. Perhaps it was because she'd left the familiar Konoha and its familiar surroundings.
Or maybe it was because she'd found a goal?
Whatever the reason, it was time to set off. Her master seemed to be heading for the sea, and she realized she'd never seen it before.
"Wow, that's so expensive!" Hinata followed Uchiha Jie as he paid at the inn's front desk. They'd stayed there for a long time, and the total was astonishing.
Compared to what she'd earned from missions during that time, she figured she could only afford it if she sold all her jewelry.
From what she understood, ninja affiliated with a village couldn't simply keep all their jewelry, either. The village took a cut of their mission payments, and it also took a portion of the spoils they earned.
But Uchiha Jie paid without batting an eye. Once they were outside, they climbed into a luxurious carriage. Hinata asked in a small voice, "Master, how do you have so much money?"
"Just a little spending money. It costs more to raise you than that," Uchiha Jie replied with a grin.
Hinata's mouth fell open, and her cheeks turned bright red. Had she really eaten that much during this time?