NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: The Passion
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Hinata glanced around the room, her voice calm as she dropped a bombshell:
"A kissing scene."
"..."
"..."
For a moment, the air inside the Uchiha mansion froze into an eerie silence—then—
"EEEEEEEHHHHH?!?!?~!!!!!"
The collective scream that followed nearly blew the roof off. Even the birds on the trees outside panicked and scattered in all directions.
"A kissing scene, hmm~ It's the most direct and sincere way to show emotions between characters. Personally, I think it's a great transition into the second act."
The only one still calm was Shino, who even had the leisure to analyze it further. Meanwhile, Shikamaru looked like he had completely lost his composure.
"Oi, oi, oi—are you serious?! The male lead being Sasuke, fine. But the female lead is Naruto!!"
"Ah, I know. But when Naruto transforms into the female lead, he is a woman. The audience will accept it."
"YOU'RE FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THING!! WAIT—DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE ACTUALLY A DENSE IDIOT?!"
Shikamaru's eyes practically popped out of his skull. He had just uncovered Shino's hidden trait. No wonder this sunglasses-wearing guy always seemed a bit... detached.
Choji, who had just dropped his bag of chips in shock, shouted too:
"Exactly! Even if Naruto becomes the female lead in the story, he's still Naruto! If there's a kissing scene, that means Sasuke and Naruto have to kiss?!"
"EEEK! STOP TALKING ABOUT IT! SASUKE-KUN JUST THREW UP!! IS HE OKAY?! "
"NARUTO TOO! AAHH, THIS IS DISGUSTING!"
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Amid the overwhelming stench of vomit, Hinata pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly exasperated.
"I thought you guys would be used to this by now. And it's just a kiss scene—it's not like I'm asking you to sleep together."
Before she could finish, Sasuke let out a violent cough. Poor guy had barely eaten anything that morning, and now he was dry heaving, practically throwing up bile.
"S-STOP TALKING, HINATA! SASUKE-KUN IS GONNA DIE AT THIS RATE!!"
A panicked Sakura, her face ghostly pale, begged her to stop. Meanwhile, Choji, still patting Naruto's back, sighed.
"Yeah, Naruto looks like he's barely hanging on too..."
"I don't see what I said wrong. They should be used to this by now."
Hinata mumbled in annoyance, but before she could say anything else, Ino quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.
"I'm begging you, Hinata—please, just be quiet for now."
Finally, after about five minutes—once Sakura and Ino had cleaned up the mess—the meeting continued.
But the situation was bad. Sasuke and Naruto, both pale as sheets, were sprawled out on their cushions like corpses. Every now and then, their throats twitched, as if they were about to dry heave again from the sheer trauma of the idea.
"...Yeah, this isn't happening. No matter how you look at it, having Naruto and Sasuke do a kissing scene—"
Before Shikamaru could even finish his sentence, Sasuke and Naruto gagged in perfect sync.
"CHOOSE YOUR WORDS MORE CAREFULLY!!" Ino roared.
"Alright, alright... My point is—it's impossible."
Waving his hand in surrender, Shikamaru looked at Hinata, completely exhausted.
"You see what I mean now?"
"But if we rewrite the script now, it'll mess up the entire story. Not to mention, the readers who have been waiting for the third version will be disappointed."
Surprisingly, Shino remained firm despite the overwhelming opposition. "And according to the story's direction, even if we—"
Shino paused for a moment, adjusting his sunglasses before glancing at the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto. It was clear he was choosing his words carefully before continuing.
"...Hmm, following up on what I just said, even if we remove this current 'oral contact scene,' there will always be more 'oral contact scenes' in the future, or even... 'indoor action scenes.' After all, this is a romance drama—these kinds of scenes are necessary."
"You really put in the effort, huh? Calling a kiss scene 'oral contact scene' like that."
Hinata rubbed her temples in frustration before straightening up. Her tone suddenly turned sharp. "What do you all take our work for? A kids' game? Let me remind you—we are an organization now, and not just any organization. We are the most promising and ambitious independent production team in the Land of Fire!"
"Have you ever counted how much you get paid per episode? 100,000 ryo. That's the maximum reward for a C-rank mission! And you don't have to hand it over to the village, nor split it with your teammates. In other words—"
Hinata's pale eyes scanned the room coldly, making Sakura and the others squirm under her gaze. "Before even graduating from the Academy, you're already earning what elite chuunin risk their lives to make! And now, you want me to alter an essential part of the script over some insignificant excuses?!"
She slammed her palm down onto the tatami beside her, her voice laced with disdain. "Tell me—when you become ninja, will you also pick and choose which missions you feel like taking?!"
The room fell silent. Even the pale-faced Sasuke and Naruto gritted their teeth and forced themselves to sit up. As harsh as Hinata's words were, they were undeniably true. Money wasn't easy to earn. If they were enjoying high rewards, they had no right to complain.
"Now, now, Hinata-sama, don't be too harsh," Kakashi spoke up, the only adult present, naturally taking on the role of mediator. "After all, everyone here is still a student. Some flexibility is needed."
That being said, Kakashi actually agreed with Hinata.
100,000 ryo per episode—that was the kind of pay that could make countless shinobi green with envy. No life-threatening battles, no worrying about writing a will before every mission, and the workload? At most, cleaning up the set and using Henge no Jutsu to play a few roles.
The actual filming time didn't even exceed a few hours per episode. Then, when the pay came in, they could all split the money and go have fun. Even Kakashi himself found this job tempting.
And as a guest member of the production team, the best part was that his earnings didn't need to be reported to the village. The 100,000 ryo per episode went straight into his personal savings. Asuma had already half-jokingly expressed his jealousy over Kakashi's side gig.
So, for both personal and professional reasons, Kakashi had to step in as the peacekeeper.
"In my opinion~~ the kissing scene is necessary, but~ it doesn't have to be Sasuke and Naruto doing it."
Smiling at the group of kids before him, Kakashi scratched the back of his head and spoke in a mysterious tone. "You know, it's totally fine to use a stunt double, right?"
Everyone in the room suddenly exchanged glances.
That's right!
In a world where even five-year-olds could use Henge no Jutsu, why were they worrying about casting problems?! This was like looking for a horse while riding one!
"That's amazing!! That means we can just push Naruto aside and have a cute girl play the heroine instead! If it's a real girl, Sasuke-kun would definitely be okay with it, right?!"
Ino clenched her fist excitedly, her face turning suspiciously red. Her voice was dripping with a greedy sort of excitement. "So, Hinata, what do you think about me? I played a princess in a school play before! I'd be perfect for the heroine role!"
"Ino-pig, don't even think about it!! I know exactly what you're up to!"
Before Hinata could respond, Sakura instantly exploded. The flames of rage behind her made her look like a pink-haired Super Saiyan as she lunged at her rival. "If anyone's playing the heroine, it's me! Sasuke-kun's first kiss belongs to me!!"
"Forehead-girl!! There's no way I'm letting you have this chance! This is my golden opportunity to win over Sasuke-kun during filming!!"
As the two girls grabbed each other's hair and started wrestling, Hinata turned to Kakashi with a deadpan expression.
"This… is your brilliant idea?"
"Uh... well~~ we can still reconsider the casting, right?"
Cold sweat dripped down Kakashi's face as he watched Sakura and Ino claw at each other. Clearly, his suggestion had only made things worse.
"Tch. What a pain," Shikamaru muttered, yawning as he lazily glanced at Shino. "You already know who the best choice is, right?"
"Hmm. Originally, either Sakura or Ino could've done it. But now… well, they seem a bit preoccupied. And aside from Naruto, the only ones left are you, Chouji, our dear cameraman, and myself. But since we're all guys, we obviously can't be the stand-in for the kiss scene."
Shino adjusted his sunglasses, and as they glinted in the light, he slowly raised his right hand and pointed to the person sitting at the head of the group.
"That leaves only one suitable candidate—Hinata."
"Eh?!!"
Ino and Sakura, still pulling at each other's hair, both froze. The entire room fell into an awkward silence. Meanwhile, Sasuke just let out a small scoff, turned his head, and closed his eyes—clearly refusing to give his opinion on the matter.
"Exactly~ Instead of letting Sakura and Ino fight until they both lose, why not just have Hinata play the heroine? That way, there's nothing left to argue about, right?"
Shikamaru yawned lazily, rubbing his eyes. Lately, he felt like he'd been talking way too much. His throat was even starting to feel dry.
"Hmm~ Looking at it logically, Hinata-sama is indeed the best choice left."
Kakashi chuckled awkwardly as he scratched his head. Judging by the way Sakura and Ino looked completely devastated, they definitely didn't have the guts to fight the queen of the group for the role. So… problem solved?
"Heh..."
With everyone's eyes now on her, Hinata let out a soft chuckle. The Hyuga girl leaned back against the cushion behind her, arms crossed, before she spoke—firm and decisive.
"I refuse."
"Wha—?!"
Her response shook the entire room. While everyone stared at her in shock, Hinata slowly twirled a strand of her hair between her fingers, then calmly explained.
"Don't get me wrong—I don't have any personal issues with this. It's just that I don't accept people who are weaker than me. That's all. So, you all can continue discussing who the right choice should be."
Blowing gently on her nails, Hinata's sharp gaze shifted to Shikamaru and Shino.
"You two. Since you're the brains of this team, I believe this is your responsibility to handle. I'll give you one hour. When that hour is up, I want to see this new episode being filmed. That's all."
"...Tch. This is ridiculous."
Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead before muttering under his breath, "Looking at you… I can already imagine the Hokage ordering me around like this in the future..."
Alright, let's sum up the situation—
The kissing scene has to happen. But since neither the male lead, Sasuke, nor the female lead, Naruto, can accept such an… intense scene in broad daylight, they both refuse to cooperate.
Then, the backup female leads, Sakura and Ino, both insisted that only one of them could be the heroine—but neither of them would accept the other playing the role.
Hinata actually supported letting them fight it out and letting the winner take the role, but considering how evenly matched they were, the fight would take too long. And if they ended up knocking each other out, it'd be a complete waste of time.
Finally, the only person no one dared to challenge—Hinata—flat-out rejected Sasuke, saying he was too weak for her.
So now, we're back to square one. Aside from Sakura, Ino, and Hinata, everyone else left in the group… was male. And Sasuke refused to accept that.
"...Ugh, this is such a pain… I knew I shouldn't have listened to my mom and come here to drop off food that day."
Resting his chin in his hand, Shikamaru looked completely drained, like a deflated balloon. But regret was useless. Since he was already stuck working under Hinata's production team, he had no choice but to follow orders.
Not to mention… Hinata still had that one photo of him in a dress.
Rebellion? Yeah, no. That wasn't an option.
"Hmm... This is a total mess. We've already listed all the possible choices, but none of them work."
Shino sat beside Shikamaru on the porch, drawing names in the dirt with a stick. Sasuke's name was in the center, surrounded by everyone else's.
Naruto and Hinata's names had already been crossed out, leaving only a bunch of unsuitable choices.
"We're out of options… Ugh, this is exactly why I hate using my brain..."
Realizing that ten minutes had already passed, Shikamaru sat up, pressed his hands together, and closed his eyes—a stance he only took when he was seriously thinking.
A few seconds later, the pineapple-headed boy suddenly opened his eyes wide.
"No choice! We'll have to do it this way! Shino, come here—I'll explain the plan."
Shino adjusted his sunglasses as he listened, then gave a small nod.
"I see… That makes sense. Alright, let's do it."
While the genius duo worked on their strategy, everyone else was busy with the set. Since this episode had a higher production value, setting everything up was taking way longer than usual.
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
The set design started with a massive collection of flowers. To highlight the unusual love story between Sasuke and the fox spirit, as well as the deep, reincarnation-spanning emotions between them, Hinata had chosen the Manjushage—the red spider lily, also known as the "flower of the other shore." If Ino's family didn't run a flower shop, gathering 999 of these flowers would've been nearly impossible.
At the moment, Sakura and Ino were carefully arranging the lilies inside, while Choji and the others handled the outdoor flower decorations.
"Forehead Girl! Let me make this clear—I'm not giving up this time! Even if you cry, I won't back down!"
Ino's tone was firm as she carefully placed a white spider lily on the windowsill. Her determination was crystal clear.
"Ino Pig! That's exactly what I was going to say! I don't care about fighting with you over anything else, but when it comes to Sasuke-kun, I won't lose!"
Sakura adjusted a carpet on the floor, just as stubbornly arguing back. The two girls huffed in sync, turned around angrily, locked eyes for a second—then scoffed at each other and looked away.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the hall, Shino checked the room's setup before clearing his throat.
"Sakura, come out for a moment. We need to discuss the matter of replacing the female lead."
"Huh?!! Yes!!! I got it!!!"
Sakura froze for a split second—then her face lit up with excitement. Smirking triumphantly at Ino, she flashed a victory sign before dashing out of the hall, leaving the blonde completely dumbfounded.
"Wait… what just…?"
Ino took a step back in shock, accidentally knocking over the flowerpot she had just placed. Below the window, a startled voice called out:
"Whoa—Ino, are you okay?"
It was Shikamaru. He had just arrived under the window when the flowerpot started falling. Luckily, his reflexes were fast enough to catch it before it smashed to pieces.
"Shikamaru!!! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Seeing him, Ino immediately found a target to vent her frustration on. With a fierce leap, she jumped straight out of the window, grabbed his collar, and yanked him up.
"We're supposed to be friends, right?! Then why did you give the lead role to that damn Forehead?!"
"Whoa—listen to me! Agh, stop shaking me already!"
Shikamaru, now lifted off the ground, was actually getting annoyed for once.
"That's why I came to talk to you!"
"Huh?! Speak! Sasuke-kun's first kiss has to be mine!"
Ino finally let go, fuming. "If not, then we're done being friends!"
"Alright, alright—geez, what a pain. Look, Shino's one of Hinata's direct subordinates. If he insisted on choosing Sakura, I couldn't do anything about it."
Shikamaru rubbed his sore neck, setting the flowerpot back on the windowsill. "But don't worry—I convinced Hinata to allow a test shoot. You get what that means, right? We'll do a practice filming session first, to see who fits better as Sasuke's partner—you or Sakura."
"Huh? Really? You're not messing with me, are you?"
Ino narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Something felt off. Hinata had never done test shoots before.
"Agh~ if you don't believe me, then forget it. No need to bother—Sakura can just go straight to filming."
Shikamaru stretched lazily, acting like he was about to leave. But before he could take another step, Ino grabbed the back of his ponytail, her eyes burning with determination.
"Wait!!! Fine! I'll do it!"
"Ow, ow, ow! Let go already, you crazy flower freak—ugh!"
Before they knew it, an hour had flown by. The clock hands reached the exact time Hinata had set.
"Time's up~"
Sitting up from her lounge seat, Hinata picked up her matcha tea, took a slow sip, then let out a deep breath.
"So~ tell me. Is everything ready for filming, my dear team members?"
"Yes~ there were a few bumps along the way, but everything's prepared."
Kneeling on one knee, Shino gave a formal ninja-style report. Right now, the sunglasses-wearing boy seemed to be fully enjoying this dramatic leader-subordinate roleplay.
"Now, please proceed to the filming area, Hinata-sama."