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Wings

Chapter Three: A Little Weird, but Mostly Awesome

Before the official reception can begin, all the clan heads are required to give their new Hokage and his wife a gift. And though Hinabi has recently been proclaimed the next head of the Hyuga household, both Hinata and Hinabi will present the gift; it was something that Hinata had insisted on. Back then, before the actual ceremony, she had thought that this was a good idea.

Now, she is not so sure.

Naruto and Sakura sit on the platform on large silk cushions, lounging like gypsies. They are bedecked in flowers: the lilies in their hair symbolize majesty and honor, the red roses pinned to their garments are for love, and stalks of stephanotis twined into garlands around their necks stand for marital happiness. Hinata wonders if anyone will understand the symbolism of the light-blue flowers twined in her own hair. No, she supposes, they probably will not. Her cold hand plays with the baby-blue-eyes blossoms in her locks as she and Hinabi wait in line.

"Healing broken bonds," she mutters, as if to herself; for that is what the baby-blue-eyes in her hair symbolize.

"What was that, oneesan?"

"Hm? Nothing." She does not realize that she had spoken aloud.

"You don't have to do this, Hinata." Hinabi eyes her curiously.

"I want to do this," Hinata lies. "Come. Give me the box. It's almost our t-turn."

"Tch. Fine. Just don't stutter when you offer the gift. It will bring shame to our family." Hinabi places a hand on her hip, but then softens once she takes in Hinata's countenance. "Or…forget it. You won't bring shame to our family, let's just get this over with. You'll be fine," Hinabi mutters as she pushes her older sister forward. It is their turn.

"Oi! Hinata-chan!"

"Thanks so much for your gift," Sakura murmurs demurely, taking the box from Hinata's shaking fingers.

"It is our honor, Hokage-sama, Sakura-s-sama," she replies; she only stutters once, but it is one time too many. Her face flushes a dark pink before she gives a low bow; she hopes the movement hides her shame. She is supposed to say more, something official-sounding, but she cannot get her mouth to work.

Hinabi smoothes down her blood-red kimono, her perfectly manicured nails glinting in the lantern light, before she takes over. "The Hyuga clan wishes you a long marriage filled with happiness. We hope you will accept our humble gift," her sister states coolly, her face a perfect, serene mask.

Hinata envies Hinabi then, envies her for her perfect voice, her perfect face; for being, in general, the perfect personification of the Hyuga clan. It is yet another clear example why Hinabi is the new heir, and Hinata is not. Hinata's face burns again, and not even her pale white concealer can hide her blush.

Sakura, who has already undone the wrapping paper, pops the lid off of the white box. The gift is anything but humble. "Oh, they are lovely," Sakura offers, genuinely smiling as she pulls out a matching pair of armbands. They are made of beaten gold and studded with lapis lazuli, rhodochrosite, and moonstones, spiraling in the whirlpool symbol.

Naruto makes a great show of putting on the handsome piece of jewelry while Sakura does the same. Meanwhile, Hinata is feeling quite sick; she is sure her magenta blush has faded, and that her face instead is turning a sickly green. "Thanks so much Hinata-chan—er, I mean, Hyuga-sama, and—um—Hyuga-sama!" Naruto chimes at the Hyuga sisters.

Hinata and Hinabi bow in unison. "It is our honor," they state simultaneously. At least Hinata remembered to say her line; however, she is quite frozen in place after she gives her bow. Hinabi exhales sharply as she takes Hinata by the crook of her elbow, away from the dais. Hinata's free hand flies up to trace the curve of her smile to make sure it is still there; her face has gone numb, and she can no longer feel her lips.

"You did fine," Hinabi whispers. "Stop shaking."

"Oh." That is all Hinata mutters before Hinabi shoots her an exasperated look. Her sister finds her date—Konohamaru, the shoo-in for the next Hokage after Naruto—and leaves Hinata standing by the side of the stage.

Hinata's feet seem to be glued to the ground. All around her, wedding guests circle like a school of brightly colored fish; she is dizzy from their whirling. She feels her smile falter, but she must not, must not let it fall; she must prop it up even though it is crumbling faster than a ratty roof on rotten rafters. She wants to shake her head at that imagery, to chase it out of her mind, but she can't, and then it seems like her mouth is full of cavities, that her teeth are turning black and falling out of her mouth, like she is trapped in a genjutsu and she can't get out, oh gods I—

"Hinata?" It is Shino. She does not know when he appeared; she smiles weakly. "Hinata-chan, are you…?"

"I'm fine," she feigns, mastering her facial expression and taking his proffered hand. "I just…need a drink." In truth, Hinata has never drunk much of anything before, but she feels like I need a drink is the proper thing to say in a situation like this.

Shino looks at her quizzically—to an outsider, he looks as impassive as ever, but Hinata can read Shino even without her Byakugan. He finally assents with a nod of his head. "Where is your date?" Hinata ventures as they near the open bar.

He jerks his head towards the band, who are readying their instruments. There is Akemi, being plied with drinks by a couple of Jonin; she looks like she is having fun. Hinata is glad someone is…

"Tamaki and Nuri owed me some favors," Shino mutters cryptically as he hands Hinata a beverage. She sips it delicately; when it is clear that the drink won't bite her, she takes another sip.

"I shouldn't keep you from your date—f-forgive me," Hinata mumbles, playing with the ends of her sleeve. She should go, she really should, but she doesn't want to be alone right now.

"Believe me. You're doing me a favor." Shino looks so disgruntled as he says that, Hinata cannot help but laugh. But the laughter is nervous and short lived; soon, she is staring into her glass of sake and wondering just how much more alcohol she will need to forget. "Lethe," she mutters aloud.

"You want me to leave?"

"Oh. N-no," Hinata replies, alarmed by Shino's hurt expression. "Lethe. It's the name of a river—that's what Tsunade told me. She said that anyone who drinks out of that river forgets… I was just thinking about the sake." Hinata shakes her head; she is not thinking clearly.

But when she looks up at Shino, he seems to understand. "I don't blame you for wanting to forget something that is unpleasant. Why? For I, too, have things I would rather forget; though I do not say that to make light of your feelings." He clinks his glass with hers, then takes a long, steady drink until he drains his glass completely. Hinata thinks that this is what one is supposed to do with sake, and downs hers as well, even though it burns her throat and makes her cough afterwards.

"Shino," she sputters after she regains the ability to speak, "is there something…?"

Shino merely shrugs and refills their glasses. He gestures with his glass towards a quieter part of the celebratory field. Hinata blinks and realizes that the dancing has started, and that they are about to be trampled if they stay standing here much longer. With a surreptitious glance over her shoulder, she follows Shino to a tree strung with paper lanterns. The multicolored light throws half of Shino's face in blue, and the other half in pink, like a strange chiaroscuro; it makes her giggle.

"What's so funny?" Shino inquires innocently.

"Huh? Oh. I d-dunno." She can't tell him it is because half of his face is pink and she thinks that it is adorable. She leans back against the tree and looks over at the celebratory dancers; her smile fades when she sees Sakura and Naruto hefted up on the crowd's shoulders.

"What an unruly party," Shino mutters. "Why? Because our clans are traditional, and would never allow for such unruly behavior."

"Hm." Hinata's cheeks flush as she sips more on her sake. "Shino-kun? When I'm old and alone and living like a miserable c-cat lady—" She takes a deep breath before continuing, "You'll come visit me, r-right?"

Shino looks at her like she's grown a second head; and even though she rarely stutters around Shino, who's basically been her best-friend-teammate-surrogate-brother for as long as she's been on Team Eight, she loses all ability to form words coherently. "Y-you k-know, c-cause w-w-we've a-always b-been f-f-friends a-and a-and a-and…" Hinata takes a deep breath; she feels tears threatening to spill, but just before they can, Shino speaks up.

"Hinata. What you ask is a moot point."

"M-m-moot?"

"Exactly. Moot. Why? Because you will not end up old and alone in a house full of cats. Why? Because you are kind, and smart, and brave, and beautiful; Naruto is a fool."

Hinata blinks. Shino has never been the effusive type, and she reckons that he is holding his alcohol as well as she is; which is to say, not well at all. Hinata swears that Shino is blushing, but it's hard to tell in the soft blue-pink lantern light.

"No I'm n-not," Hinata blurts out. She is sure she is blushing furiously, though she hopes Shino will chalk it up to the effects of alcohol.

"I…" The silence draws between them.

Hinata looks at him askance. "What?"

"Well. Even if no one else does… I think you are."

It takes Hinata a few moments to digest what he has just said. After all, her brain feels very fuzzy, and it's awfully hard to think straight. She blinks slowly until the truth dawns on her: Shino thinks I'm beautiful? The kind-smart-brave part she could have guessed, coming from her trusty teammate, but beautiful? She sighs softly; Shino must just be trying to make her feel better. "T-thank you, Shino-kun. You have always been one of my dearest friends. Thank you for sitting with me when you would rather be with your date—"

"She's my second cousin, once removed," Shino breaks in hastily. "And I'd rather be here."

She smiles shyly and tries to take another sip of sake, but she realizes her glass is empty. These glasses are so big, Hinata thinks with effort. She is sure she has drunk more tonight than she has in her entire lifetime. Hinata frowns; she would like more alcohol, but she is not sure if her legs will support her weight if she tries to stand.

Thankfully, Shino seems to sense her quandary. With ninja acuity and stealth, he slinks off to the bar and comes back with an entire, unopened bottle of sake. Hinata titters at that. "See! This is why you're an ANBU captain!"

"Shhh," Shino whispers. "That's supposed to be classified."

"Oh!" Hinata covers her mouth with both hands, horrified at her slip. "S-sorry! That's why I'm not an ANBU c-captain," she whispers with chagrin.

"It's okay," he replies with a smile. "I think everyone is too drunk to hear us, anyway."

"Hmmm." Hinata holds out her glass for a refill. The sake sloshes up over the rim of her glass, sprinkling her fingers, but she hardly notices. "Shino-kun?" He steadies his own glass of sake and looks at her expectantly. "I'll be okay; you don't have to worry about me."

His brows furrow. "I know. But I'll worry anyway."

Hinata giggles again, though she is not sure why it is so funny. "You're a good teammate, Shino-kun. You always watch my back."

Shino smiles wryly and clinks his glass with hers. "I'll toast to that—"

"Oi! Team Eight par-tay! Why wasn't I invited!" Hinata blinks up at Kiba; she is not sure where he came from. Some scout she is; normally, she would have noticed Kiba coming from a mile away. She shakes her head from side to side to clear her thoughts, but it only makes the ground lurch.

"Of course you'rrrre invited Kiba," Hinata protests, slurring slightly. "Where's Tssssubaki?"

"Eh, dancing," Kiba mutters with a grunt, gesturing towards the writhing dance-floor some distance away; Hinata can barely hear the strains of music from where they are sitting, but from what she can hear, it sounds lively. "I was worried about you, Hinata-chan. You okay?"

"Why shouldn't I be okay?" Hinata blinks up at Kiba for a moment. "Oh yeah. That," she mutters, looking out at the celebration. "Hmmm. Well, I'm fine, thank you forrr assssking, Kiba-kun."

"Tch. How much has she had to drink, Shino? Have you been taking care of her? Is she—"

"Kiba-kun, I'm rrright here, and I'm fffine. Know why? 'Cause I've got the best teammates in the whole world." Hinata smiles as she says this, a warm, shit-eating grin splitting her face in two. "Cheerrrs?"

Kiba guffaws and grabs the bottle of sake, clinking it with Hinata and Shino's glasses. "Cheers!" he cries before drinking directly from the bottle.

"Cheers," Shino adds in a monotone, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in a grin. Hinata giggles; it's not often that the insect-tamer smiles.

Just as Kiba puts down the bottle and wipes the alcohol from his face with his suit sleeve, Tsubaki beckons him from the crowd. "Well, the little lady is calling for me. You know Shino, you should find your hot—er, I mean, honored cousin, before she's hauled off by that lecher, Genma."

"Let him have her," Shino deadpans. "I could care less. Besides, I have more important people to attend to."

Kiba rises, conflicting urges written clearly across his face: getting Shino together with his hot (honored) cousin at odds with the need to protect Hinata. He frowns. Then, suddenly, his whole face brightens, like a lightbulb has gone off in his head. "You should totally stay here with Hinata, Shino!" Kiba shouts at last, giving him a thumbs up. "Two birds, one stone. Heh, heh. Oh man, this is awesome. A little weird…but mostly awesome! Heh, heh. Okay, see you later!" And with that cryptic remark, he is gone.

Hinata blinks at Kiba's retreating figure. What on earth did that mean?

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