Vacations always seemed to end before anyone noticed. This year, Hinata Hyuga and Hyuga Kamizuki were both five, and Kamizuki would soon be going back to school for his second year.
His grades at the Konoha Ninja School the previous year had been excellent. His final exam results had fallen only a tiny bit short of Hatake Kakashi's, the best in the school's history.
The Hyuga Main House was also about to face a major event. Nearly four years after Hyuga Huayan gave birth to Hinata Hyuga and Hyuga Kamizuki, Hiashi's nightly efforts had finally paid off, and Huayan had become pregnant again. Her due date was just around the corner.
On March 27, Kamizuki felt restless all day. He had a nagging feeling something was going to happen, and his right eyelid kept twitching.
So the moment school let out that afternoon, Kamizuki hurried home. If something really was going to happen, the person most likely to be in danger was his mother.
As soon as he got home, he rushed toward his mother's courtyard. He was truly worried about the mother who loved him so dearly. Remembering how she cared for him every day, and all the little moments they had shared, only made him more anxious. He quickened his pace as he headed for her courtyard.
The moment Kamizuki entered his mother's courtyard, he saw that it was in complete disarray. The household maids kept carrying basins of hot water in and out of his mother's room, rushing about in a frantic bustle.
Kamizuki stopped a young maid carrying a basin of hot water as she hurried outside and asked anxiously, "What's wrong with Madam? What are you all doing?"
The young maid answered with a worried look, "To answer the young master, Madam is about to give birth. We're bringing hot water to help the midwife."
After answering Kamizuki, the maid paid him no further attention and went back to her work.
After hearing the maid's answer, Kamizuki worried first about his mother's safety. He also worried about what would happen if she gave birth to a little brother.
Why was Kamizuki worried that his mother might give birth to a little brother?
Because Kamizuki was a transmigrator who knew the story. He was afraid that if his mother gave birth to a boy, then things would no longer be following the plot he knew. That would prove—
That the little butterfly who had come to the world of Naruto for some unknown reason had gently fluttered its wings without meaning to, causing a butterfly effect and changing the course of history.
If things followed AB's (Kishimoto's) usual pattern, then the next child should be a girl named Hyuga Hanabi.
If she didn't give birth to a girl this time, or if the girl wasn't named Hyuga Hanabi, then history would have veered off its original course, and Kamizuki would no longer have the advantage of knowing what was coming.
But Kamizuki didn't realize that the moment he was reborn in the world of Naruto, the wheels of history had already shifted. The only difference was how far they had moved.
Just as Kamizuki was daydreaming about all sorts of nonsense, a loud newborn's cry came from his mother Huayan's room, pulling him back to reality.
Kamizuki was about to go forward and check whether his mother was safe when he noticed someone standing outside her room.
After walking closer, Kamizuki saw that the person outside his mother's room was none other than his "good-for-nothing dad," Hyuga Hiashi.
Hiashi looked just as worried and anxious. He paced back and forth, unable to stay still.
Kamizuki had just walked over to Hiashi, intending to offer him a few words of comfort, when the door to his mother's room suddenly opened from within.
The person who came out was a woman around fifty or sixty years old. She held the newborn in her arms. The baby seemed to have cried herself tired and had fallen asleep in the woman's embrace.
When Hiashi saw the midwife carrying the baby out, he quickly stepped forward to take the child from her. Once he had the baby in his arms, he could no longer wait.
He asked urgently, "How is Madam?"
The midwife answered with a bitter expression, "Madam was exhausted after giving birth to the young lady. She suffered a difficult labor... and has passed away."
When the midwife saw Hiashi's face turn terribly grim, she paused, then took the courage to say, "Please accept my condolences, Head of the House." After that, she didn't dare linger and took her leave.
After a brief silence, everyone present began to grieve. Some of the maids couldn't hold back their tears.
Hiashi didn't cry, and neither did Kamizuki. It wasn't that they weren't sad; they knew it wouldn't help. They were men.
Before long, Hiashi composed himself. He looked down at the newborn in his arms and fell into thought for a moment.
Then he said, "Huayan always loved fireworks in full bloom. In her honor, I will name this child Hanabi—Hyuga Hanabi."
After saying this, Hiashi handed Hanabi to his personal maid and ordered her to take the baby away and care for her well.
Once the maid had taken Hanabi away, Hiashi dismissed all the servants from the courtyard. He gave Kamizuki a brief glance without saying anything, then entered Huayan's room alone.
Kamizuki didn't know what to feel. His beloved mother had died, and he was heartbroken. He also wanted to follow Hiashi inside and see his mother one last time.
He had also heard that his mother had given birth to a little sister, and that his "good-for-nothing dad" had named her Hyuga Hanabi. He was relieved that the plot hadn't gone too far off course and glad that things were still unfolding as he knew they should.
After thinking it over, he decided to resist the urge to follow Hiashi in and see his mother one last time. He would let his father and mother have some time alone together.
Hinata only found out later that her mother had died giving birth to her little sister Hanabi. She cried at home for the entire day.
Today was the second day after Hyuga Huayan's funeral. Wearing a black mourning robe, Kamizuki walked alone along a street in the Hyuga Clan's residential district.
He was in a terrible mood. All he wanted was to find somewhere deserted and sit quietly by himself for a while.
He didn't know how long he had been walking, or how he had ended up here. He only felt that he probably hadn't left the Hyuga Clan's residential district.
He had arrived at a place that seemed to fit his needs perfectly. There was a beautiful lake here, and strangely, its water was entirely pink.
It was a captivating shade of pink, so romantic it made people lose themselves in it. The lake covered only about three to five square kilometers. A narrow strip of golden sand along the shore separated the blue-green grass from the pink water.
Before you continue