The lights glitter around her as she stands, hidden away in a corner, pearl eyes and dark hair mixing and balancing the shadows. All around her the music throbs a continuous beat, making her shiver at its dangerous warning. She can't seem to think clearly in this heady atmosphere of lights and lust; one more dangerous than the other.
Yet her friends are out there. The bright blond head, moving with a brunette one, while, off to one side, like her, is the pale rose. They all move gracefully, all relaxed yet tensed; she wonders how they do it.
And a part of her wants to join them. A part of her wants to strip off the mask and leap in, dancing away all of her troubles, drinking deep down into her soul. They don't have a clan to contain, to control. She must be cool, considerate at all times.
But still…
Sometimes—most of the time, says a treacherous little voice—she just wants to run away from it all, to give it all to someone else. Like a costume that she'd outgrown, a slightly ripped kimono; let someone else take this burden. But it would be selfish, disrespectful.
They all taught her things. The men, Naruto especially, taught her to be strong. Ino taught her power, Tenten relaxation and a cool head in battle. And Sakura…she couldn't really define what that girl—woman, now—had let her learn without even realizing it. Compassion. Emotion. Loyalty.
And never to forget. They had all let her know that; if she ever forgot any of this, let her then die. And so she could not forget the rules, the expectations of the Hyuuga House for one second.
…But she could maybe, just maybe, let them leave her mind for just a few moments, enough time to slide out of the shy little girl and into the real Hinata, the one that she longed to be.
But she couldn't. Not now. Perhaps some other time, when things weren't as difficult to understand, weren't as complicated as they were now. Maybe when she knew how to dance, she would dance. Maybe when she knew how much to drink, she would drink. But now? She was simply contented to wait.
Waiting is sometimes the best way to go. She knew that. So she did.