Hinata hurried home, her blue hair blowing in the icy wind. Her sandals left hollows in the snow, which crunched as she stepped. She pulled her hood over her head and shivered.

She pushed open the door, the wind slamming it shut behind her. Neji barely looked up from his book at his cousin before returning to his reading she scarcely nodded at him before skipping up the stairs to her room. This had become a routine.

Hinata shut the door to her room, bolting it closed. She slipped off her jacket, hesitantly staring out at the swirling flakes. She heard the ice on the lake crack, and she shivered in fear. But then she drew herself up, shaking off her fear like a coat on a summer day. She had to do this.

She slipped off her shirt, changing quickly into a sleeveless dress that reached to her knees. Hinata tied a sash around her waist unevenly at a slant. Just as her mom had taught her.

She slipped off her capris, tossing them away into a corner. She reached behind her neck and untied her headband, setting it on her dresser.

Hinata took the steps two at a time, then jumped down. She slipped on her sandals and pulled open the door. Before she could change her mind, she plunged into the world of white and shut the door.

The wind hit her full force, and she crossed her arms and lowered her head against the biting cold. Hinata stuck close to the buildings, blending into the crowd to get away unnoticed. She needed to be alone for this.

She looked right and left before vanishing down an alley, then into the trees. Her own feet had worn a trail here. It wound next to the lake that Hinata had seen so often in her dreams. She ducked under the branches, aware of her tracks. She hurried on into a clearing.

The snow was clean and undisturbed here. Hinata shivered and kicked off her sandals, feeling an icy burn on the soles of her feet.

She walked around to a perfectly square rock. Hinata tenderly wiped off the snow, kneeling down. She bowed her head for a second, then read the inscription carved in the stone.

"Hitani Skye Hyuga."

Hinata rocked onto her feet, then jumped up, landing perfectly in the middle of the clearing. She closed her eyes- and danced.

She waved her arms, twirling and leaping. She felt all her worries fall of her shoulders. She felt light as a feather without it all.

However, she also felt a pain in her heart. Bittersweet memories washed over her. A woman guiding her hands, her pearl eyes filled with laughter…At this spot exactly. She recalled the crack of the ice, the hands pushing her away, disappearing beneath the swirling blue water…never to be seen again.

"Mom…"

When her legs shook from cold and exhaustion, she stopped, opening her lavender eyes. She walked over to her sandals and put them on, going back to her house. However, the snow was so blinding that when she heard the ice crack, it was too late to turn back.

She fell through the ice, the bitter cold numbing her instantly. She tried to cling to something, anything, but everything was too far away, and she was too tired and shocked to scream. It all faded into darkness…

Hinata felt a strong hand on her wrist, and as she broke the surface, she gasped for air. When she opened her eyes, she was looking up at Naruto.

"Did you…"

"Follow you? Yes. Good thing I did, too."

Hinata closed her eyes.

"That's how my mom died."

Naruto was silent.

"I remember her by going there and dancing. Every day."

"What was that dance called?"

Hinata smiled, snowflakes on her eyelashes as they fluttered closed.

"My mother's true name."
"What?"

"Skydance."