Chapter Text
“Another bad ending...?”
Sakura rubbed her tired eyes as she stared at her laptop screen. Across the display, large letters appeared:
“Sasuke Route Complete. Ending #12: ‘Solitude.’”
“There’s just no other way with him,” she muttered under her breath, thinking back on everything that had led to this outcome.
She covered her face with both hands and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
The visual novel *Under the Capital’s Blossoming Moon* had recently become wildly popular among university students—and plenty of others as well. Sakura had always been a fan of visual novels, but she'd also followed the artist who illustrated this game for years, so there was no way she could pass it up. The story centered around two male leads: Sasuke, the heir to the powerful Uchiha clan, and Naruto, a young prince and the Emperor’s youngest son.
The internet never stopped arguing over whose route was better. People made rankings, posted millions of TikTok videos, and debated endlessly.
Sakura, however, wasn't interested in either of them.
To her, they were just like every other love interest in an otome game.
Naruto was yet another prince who saved everyone and fell in love with the heroine at first sight. Sweet, but she'd seen that story hundreds of times before.
Sasuke was the cold, handsome genius who only opened his heart to the heroine.
A classic.
Almost too much of a classic.
Opening the character gallery, she scrolled past the two protagonists and the supporting cast before stopping on a single portrait: a young woman seated beneath a blooming cherry tree, holding a folding fan.
Hinata Hyuga.
The eldest princess of the Hyuga family.
She was considered the perfect bride for a political marriage. In Naruto's route, she served as the heroine's romantic rival, yet barely participated in the story. It was easy to miss her entirely during the early chapters of Naruto's route.
At first, Sakura had simply been drawn to Hinata's design.
That curiosity eventually led her to dig deeper into the character.
If you carefully read Hinata's diaries, poems, and letters, it became painfully clear how difficult her life truly was. Her mother had died when she was still young. Her father was a tyrant who didn't hesitate to strike her. And she carried an unbearable burden—to become the future wife in a marriage that had been decided the day she was born.
What moved Sakura most were Hinata's letters.
In them, she wrote about wanting to travel the world, to see with her own eyes the places she'd only ever read about in foreign novels.
Those words resonated with Sakura so deeply that she completed every single ending in the game just to uncover even the smallest new detail about Hinata.
She searched everywhere—fan forums, developer interviews, the game's official website—but it seemed even the creators themselves barely cared about her.
> “I've completed every route in the game. They're all good, but I can't stop thinking about Princess Hyuga. I feel like she deserves so much more than being the third wheel in Naruto's route. In my opinion, she's the best female character in the entire game.”
That was the message Sakura posted on the novel's discussion forum.
The response?
A flood of downvotes.
Within the fandom, many people disliked Hinata.
Some even hated her.
They complained that she got in the way of Naruto's romance with the heroine and dismissed her as a bland, lifeless character.
It infuriated Sakura.
Couldn't they see how tragic Hinata's story really was?
“If only the game would let me...” she whispered as she pushed herself away from her desk.
The desktop was a complete disaster.
Empty instant noodle cups, scraps of trash, textbooks, and notebooks were scattered everywhere.
It certainly wasn't the desk of a diligent medical student about to graduate.
But this visual novel had consumed her so completely that she'd forgotten about reality.
As depressing as it sounded, she needed to return to it.
While cleaning up, Sakura accidentally bumped her thermos with her elbow.
It tipped over.
Water poured directly onto her laptop.
The screen immediately began to flicker, while the keyboard started pressing random keys all by itself.
Panic washed over her.
What was happening?
The screen grew brighter.
Brighter.
Until its light became blinding.
She instinctively threw an arm over her face.
Her legs gave way beneath her.
And then—
Nothing.
The scent of incense filled her nose.
The rustle of fabric echoed behind her.
Birds sang somewhere nearby.
“Sakura...”
Someone gently touched her shoulder.
She opened her eyes.
A low writing desk stood before her, covered in neatly arranged papers.
A calligraphy brush rested in her hand, droplets of black ink falling from its tip.
She turned toward the familiar voice.
Her eyes widened.
It was Ino.
The heroine's closest friend from the visual novel.
How...?
She quickly looked around the room.
Everything was decorated in a traditional style.
Wooden floors.
Shelves lined with calligraphy scrolls.
A low table where she had been sitting.
Everything looked impossibly real.
She tightened her grip around the brush.
It was real.
Nothing like a dream.
“Are you okay?” Ino narrowed her eyes as she studied her friend. “We were talking, and then you suddenly stopped responding.”
She reached over and pinched Sakura's cheek.
“It's because you've been writing from morning till night.”
Before Sakura could answer, Ino grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her toward the door.
She didn't have time to say a word.
As they passed a bucket of water near the entrance, she caught a brief glimpse of her reflection.
Pink hair.
The heroine of the game had been raised as a shrine maiden at the Inari Temple.
Running through the temple grounds, Sakura only began to regain her composure once they reached the courtyard.
She remembered the story.
This was the very beginning.
The Cherry Blossom Viewing Festival.
The shrine maidens were about to travel to the Imperial Palace to perform a sacred ritual.
The heroine would meet Naruto.
And Sasuke.
Most importantly...
Hinata would be standing off in the distance, trying to admire the blooming cherry blossoms, only to have the crowd block her view.
“Well?” Ino asked again. “Why are you so quiet?”
“Ah... have they handed out the omamori yet?”
“Huh? Not yet. Were you even listening to Lady Tsunade? Are you feeling sick?” Ino frowned, folding her arms across her chest.
Sakura gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of her head.
Her hair...
It was much longer than it had been back in her own world.
Her world...
What had actually happened?
How had she ended up here?
And...
Would she ever be able to return?
Before she could sink further into those thoughts, the voice of an older woman interrupted her.
“So, you're finally here? Where is everyone else?”
Tsunade was the head priestess of Inari Temple and mentor to its shrine maidens.
Although she looked surprisingly young, she was already fifty years old.
According to Tsunade herself, her youthful appearance was thanks to the sacred rituals she performed.
Even the game's developers had confirmed as much.
No sooner had she spoken than the remaining shrine maidens hurried out of the temple, as though instinctively sensing the scolding waiting for them.
Shizune, Tsunade's closest assistant, stepped forward carrying several small lacquered boxes tied with decorative cords—one for each shrine maiden.
Inside each box was an omamori.
The sacred charms they were to present to the imperial princesses.
And the best part...
The omamori intended for Hinata had been entrusted to Sakura.
The very thread she intended to seize with both hands.