Where Did This Little Maid Come From?

"Kushina... what's wrong...?"

Inside the luxurious residence, in a spacious bedroom lit by dim yellow light.

An elderly woman lay on the large bed, her face withered yet kind.

"Grandma Mito, sob..."

The emotions Kushina had been holding back quickly collapsed at her gentle voice.

She knelt beside Mito Uzumaki's bed and buried herself against it, crying bitterly. "My confession failed, sob..."

Mito Uzumaki struggled to raise a hand and gently stroked her head. "The boy you like... doesn't like you?"

Kushina shook her head hard, choking back sobs. "No... he... he likes me..."

"Then why did your confession fail?" Mito Uzumaki asked in confusion.

Kushina raised her head, her eyes blurred with tears. "He... he..."

She choked up for a long while before finally saying, "He only likes ambiguous relationships. He doesn't want to make it official, sob..."

Even at Mito Uzumaki's age, with one foot already in the grave, her mind went blank for a moment upon hearing that.

"He only likes ambiguous relationships?"

She was silent for a long time before slowly speaking. "Kushina, what is the name of the boy you like?"

"He..." Kushina was about to answer when she suddenly stopped, worry appearing on her face. "Grandma Mito, please don't take it out on him."

Mito Uzumaki slowly shook her head, her cracked lips curling into a smile. "Why would Grandma hurt the boy you like?"

"Oh..." Kushina relaxed. "His name is Hyuga Wuye."

"Hyuga... Wuye? The Hyuga Clan?"

Mito Uzumaki's gaze suddenly deepened. "I see."

Kushina rubbed the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. "Grandma, do you know something?"

"Kushina," Mito Uzumaki said, stroking her head, "the Nine-Tails jinchuriki is the village's strategic weapon. Hiruzen will not allow a jinchuriki to become too deeply involved with a great clan like the Hyuga Clan. Compared with Hyuga Wuye, perhaps he would rather you liked a gifted civilian ninja."

"But I like him!"

Kushina cried out instinctively, then suddenly froze. "You mean Wuye didn't break up with me willingly? It was Third Grandpa's order?"

Mito Uzumaki nodded. "There's a very good chance."

Color visibly returned to Kushina's little face. "I... I'm going to find him!"

She had just stood and turned around when Mito Uzumaki grabbed her hand.

Kushina turned back in confusion. "Grandma Mito?"

Mito Uzumaki smiled kindly. "It's already very late. Are you sure you want to go find him now?"

"Ah?"

Kushina's cheeks flushed.

Looking at her, Mito Uzumaki seemed to see her younger self.

Such burning affection had been the only memory worth cherishing in those war-torn years.

"Kushina, have you truly decided that he is the one for the rest of your life? Even if Hiruzen opposes it?" she asked softly.

"For the rest of my life?" Kushina blinked her sparkling eyes. "I haven't thought that far ahead..."

Mito Uzumaki pulled her down to sit beside the bed and stroked her delicate hand. "In three days, you will become the next Nine-Tails jinchuriki. At that time, the village will keep you protected, and you will no longer have the freedom you do now..."

Kushina's eyes reddened as she tightly grasped her aged hand. "Grandma Mito, you... you're leaving me too?"

Looking at her frail little body, Mito Uzumaki seemed to see the lonely, desolate days that awaited her. A trace of sorrow appeared in her clouded eyes.

"Kushina..."

She spoke in a low voice. "A jinchuriki's heart will develop a void. You must find something to fill it. Only then can you find happiness."

"A void in my heart... happiness..."

Kushina held a hand to her chest. Whenever she thought of her future as a jinchuriki, it felt as if a huge stone were pressing down on her heart, leaving her unable to breathe.

"Grandma, what... what should I do..." she asked helplessly.

In Mito Uzumaki's clouded eyes, the figure of the First Hokage seemed to be reflected. "Kushina... find the person who makes you feel at peace... He will help fill the void in your heart..."

Kushina was flustered, her thoughts drifting.

Wuye, will you be that person...? I'm so scared...

The following evening.

After Ninja Academy let out, Hyuga Wuye walked through the streets as usual, carrying the vegetables he had just bought as he returned alone to the clan compound.

As Konoha's second-largest clan, the Hyuga Clan occupied an enormous area.

Naturally, a clansman like him who lacked the Byakugan had been assigned to the very edge of the clan grounds, with no connection to the core district.

He did not particularly care.

The Hyuga Clan treated him neither well nor badly. They did not deny him as a clansman, but neither could they stop the strange looks from the others.

"After all, among this clan full of cataracts, I'm the only normal person. It's only natural they'd envy, hate, and resent me."

He often comforted himself that way.

"Creak."

Pushing open the courtyard gate, Hyuga Wuye entered the familiar little yard.

Even the houses at the edge occupied over a hundred square meters. Such was the bearing of a great clan.

Though Hyuga Wuye often found it too empty.

Living in such a house alone was lonely.

"I'm home... Hm?"

He had just been about to welcome himself home when the girl standing before the entry hall caught his attention.

Dressed in a snow-white kimono, she knelt on the wooden corridor with a gentle expression and said softly, "Welcome home, Young Master."

Hyuga Wuye: "..."

He turned and looked back at the courtyard gate. "Did I forget to lock it?"

He quickly cast aside that ridiculous doubt.

In a world where ninjas leaped around everywhere, were locks even useful?

"Young Master, the clan elders sent me to take care of you," the girl said respectfully with her head lowered.

Hyuga Wuye looked her up and down. "Oh? From the time I was weaned until I turned six, my mother was away year-round as a branch family guard. Other than delivering three meals a day, the clan never cared for me. Now that I can take care of myself, they've sent me a maid?"

The girl's body trembled. She raised her head, surprise on her face. "No one ever took care of you?"

Hyuga Wuye looked at her curiously, especially at every move she had made since arriving.

Slowly, an amused smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Get up," he said with a smile. "What can you do?"

The girl climbed up from the floor, her pretty face bright. "I can cook for Young Master, wash dishes, mop the floor, and clean the house."

"Fine. Go stew this fish first."

Hyuga Wuye handed her the bag in his hand.

Wearing wooden clogs, the girl pattered over in tiny steps and took the bag from him.

"Smack."

Suddenly, the fish's tail slapped against the bag with a soft sound.

"A-alive fish?"

Her hand trembled, and she nearly threw the bag away.

Hyuga Wuye remained expressionless. "It's fish for soup. Of course it's fresh and alive."

"Oh..."

Her troubled expression made him laugh inwardly.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, feigning confusion.

"N-no, Young Master. Please wait a moment. It'll be ready soon."

Watching her run into the kitchen in a panic with the bag, Hyuga Wuye shook his head with a smile. He slowly changed into wooden clogs and ambled over to the kitchen door.

"Hey? Wait, wait!"

After one look, he could not help speaking up. "Are you planning to throw the live fish straight into the pot and boil it?"