Tenten found Hinata nestled into the corner of a brightly-lit restaurant, her pale hands clasped around a steaming cup of tea. Her long, blue-tinted hair fell around her face and pooled on her forearms and the tabletop as she slouched in her seat, not the posture of an heiress. Her eyes were like those of a ghost, the already haunting pearls - usually so beautiful - surrounded in a dark shadow, the bags beneath her eyes puffy and bruised.
Tenten made her way inside, her long brown hair falling limp around her as she hadn't had the energy to put it up in her signature buns, let alone wash it. She met Hinata with a silent, half-hearted wave, slipping into the chair to her left. She stared at her for a long while, watching as she seemed to study her tea, immobile. With a deep sigh, Tenten leaned back in her chair, hailing a nearby waitress.
"Two beers, please," she requested, "and a pitcher as well."
That seemed to break Hinata's near-dissociative state, her tired eyes turning to look up at Tenten, who shrugged and smiled softly.
"You seem like you could use a drink," she said.
"I don't really drink," Hinata replied, noting that Tenten didn't look much better than she did, a darkness having fallen over her usually bright self.
"Yeah, well," Tenten said, shrugging, "I don't like to drink alone."
Hinata nodded, sipping from her tea before realizing that it had grown cold. Pushing it aside, Hinata watched the waitress make her way toward their table, a pitcher and two tall glasses seated atop a serving tray.
"Well," she said, reaching for a glass as soon as the waitress left, "I wouldn't want you to have to drink alone."
They exchanged a small smile, clinking glasses before drinking. Tenten was quick to empty her glass, gulping down the amber liquid while Hinata took a single sip and promptly sputtered.
"Oh," she exclaimed, setting the glass down and making a disgusted face. "That's disgusting!"
Tenten found herself overcome with laughter, a hand falling to her mouth to try and settle herself. Hinata watched her, a gentle laugh slowly replacing the overwhelming embarrassment that she'd felt just a second before.
"You have to gulp it," Tenten advised as her laughter slowed down. "Beer isn't made to taste good."
Hinata laughed again, making her second attempt at the drink and reaching for her cold tea to chase it down. Tenten nodded, giggling at Hinata's perseverance. She found herself watching her again and again, constantly refilling both of their drinks until their waitress set down a third pitcher. She watched as Hinata's cheeks grew pink, listened as her voice grew stronger the more she drank.
"I miss him," she said out of the blue, her fourth beer in hand.
Tenten looked away then, suddenly ashamed. At Neji's funeral she'd seen, through her own tears, the way Hinata and the other Hyuga's mourned. She had stumbled onto Hinata more than once on her way to visit his gravestone, her small body bent in on itself, trying desperately to contain her deep, deep sadness.
It was alienating, really, to see her team and her friends so openly in pain. Personally, Tenten found it easier to bury it deep, allowing herself to cry at the funeral but nowhere else. Instead, she often found herself buried under blankets on her couch or travelling from bar to bar until she was too drunk to find her way home.
Hinata, being the empathetic person that she was, seemed to read all of this on Tenten's face, and slowly, nervously, she reached a hand over to hers. Tenten seemed shocked for a second, her other hand tightening around her half-empty glass. She was unused to the contact, but softened for Hinata, their fingers intertwining.
"I miss him, too," Tenten admitted, her voice cracking slightly.
Hinata rolled her thumb over Tenten's callused hand, and noted with surprise that no tears were springing up, and the warmth she felt in her cheeks didn't seem to come from the alcohol. She looked up at Tenten, and watched as she recollected herself after a moment of grief. Tenten let out a heavy sigh, the drinks in her system making her bold.
Looking up to meet Hinata's gaze, Tenten asked, "Wanna have a sleepover?"
Hinata laughed, slightly confused. "A sleepover? I haven't had a sleepover since I was in the Academy."
"Me neither!" Tenten said. "But it's getting late, and we're both pretty tipsy. I figure the Hyuga Elders may not want their heiress stumbling back home with a blood-alcohol level high enough to kill a horse."
"I'm not that drunk!" Hinata defended, laughing.
"Whatever you say," Tenten chuckled, standing up and pulling out her wallet. Hinata immediately noticed the chill that came over her hand, the warmth of Tenten's hand in her own sorely missed.
Hinata didn't argue over the bill. She walked close to Tenten's slightly taller frame as they made their way to an apartment complex laid out close to the training fields. Tenten guided her down a half-flight of stairs, leading her into her sparsely-furnished basement apartment. Tenten went immediately to the kitchen, opening up her freezer and pulling out a bottle of chilled vodka.
"Weren't you just making fun of my drinking?" Hinata teased, although she was rather excited by the prospect of drinking more, as the walk to the apartment had sobered her up quite a bit.
Tenten laughed, grabbing two shot glasses from one of her cabinets.
"That's fair, I guess," Tenten said, pouring and giving a shot glass to Hinata. Hinata hesitated, staring at the clear liquid. "Don't worry! It's chilled so it basically tastes like water."
Hinata looked at Tenten, trying to gauge whether or not she was trying to trick her and burn her throat. She was right, however, and Hinata was able to down it without her throat feeling burned.
"See?" Tenten grinned, making quick work of her own shot. "Now, I'm thinking I'll make some popcorn, we grab every blanket in my apartment, and we watch some shitty movies?"
Hinata found herself grinning, and noticed once again how the weight on her shoulder seemed so much lighter that night. As she helped carry armfuls of blankets and pillows to the couch, she found herself blushing like a child, realizing just how much Tenten had helped her in the span of a couple hours. Granted, they were both slurring their words and walking with a wobble as they set up a movie in between swigs straight from the vodka bottle. But still, she felt as though she was seeing Tenten for the first time. Hinata was struck with the sudden thought that this feeling she was having for Tenten was maybe the way she'd tried for years to feel for Naruto, and that thought scared her just as much as it excited her.
"You okay, Hinata?" Tenten asked, a massive bowl of popcorn in her hand and the vodka bottle in the other. "You're being really quiet."
"Oh," Hinata started, blushing. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Tenten watched her for a moment, surprised but endlessly happy to see Hinata fold herself up on her couch, a blanket draped over shoulders.
"I'll be fine," she said again, smiling.