Author note: Sorry but I don't have time to upload anymore chapters between December and January. SORRY :P
Hinata slumped against the wall and sank down onto the floor. She was exhausted. The shopping, cleaning, running around and preparations for the party has taken its toll, Hinata was paler than usual, her hair was wild as a bird's nest and she had dark bags under her eyes. Her clothes were rumpled and messy as she has been sleeping in them since she didn't even have time to go to bed but had to snatch an occasional catnap in the most awkward positions.
The party has just begun and the guests were gradually arriving, Hinata still had to change into her maid uniform and was expected to serve the guests with all the h'or devours she has prepared just that morning. Hinata groaned inwardly and choked back a sob. 'No self pity.' She reminded herself. 'Remember, you promised mum and dad to look after your sisters when they died'. Hinata's head slumped down onto her knees, weeping quietly Hinata cried herself to sleep.
"You know, I feel really bad." Naruto complained to Gaara and Neji as they walked towards Sakura and Ino's mansion.
"You did try to help Hinata with all her chores but it wasn't your fault that her sisters stopped you at the door and made her skip school so you couldn't see her." Gaara pointed out practically.
"Still… I could have, you know, snuck in and helped her or maybe cheer her up." Naruto protested weakly as he pictured Hinata slaving away under her sister's orders.
"Don't worry, you are going to see her this evening." Neji patted Naruto on the back comfortingly.
"I hope so." Naruto replied glumly as he continued to think of Hinata.
Gaara breathed in the clear night air with a feeling of relief, the balcony he stood on was secluded and quiet. He felt better away from the noise, the crowd and the heavy smell of perfume and alcohol mixed together. Looking back inside at the small blanket covered bundle he turned back and considered what to do next.
When Naruto, Neji and him got inside the door, they tried to avoid Sakura, Ino and Temari at all costs but it was incredibly difficult to avoid the three girls who zoomed around the room like sparkly flies. Gaara got separated from Naruto and Neji in the crowd so he decided to go upstairs where it seemed all dark and quiet. After turning through a couple of corridors Gaara almost tripped over Hinata who was still asleep. Taking off his jacket, Gaara covered Hinata to keep her warm and then he stepped to the balcony to take a breather.
'Should I get Naruto.' Gaara considered silently. 'He'll probably make a scene when he realized how badly Hinata has been treated. (Gaara noticed how terrible Hinata looked) He'll then beat himself up for not taking care of Hinata and probably sink into depression for the next few weeks.' No, Gaara decided, getting Naruto involved is not a smart idea. Just as Gaara decided to let Hinata sleep for a little longer a string of curses at the bottom of the balcony startled him. Craning his neck to peer down at the darkness below him Gaara couldn't see a thing.
"Shut up." A voice hissed at the bottom of the stairs.
"It wasn't you that knocked into the barbed wire fence." Another voice snapped back. The same voice again let out a fountain of swearwords that even impressed Gaara.
"Come on." The first voice whispered. "You can go first."
"Alright." The other voice replied crossly.
The tree that stood next to the balcony began shaking as movement came from several of the lower branches.
"Is this tree weaker than the last time we climbed it." The person climbing the tree inquired.
"No, you're just getting fatter." The other person replied. Crack. A branch broke off.
"Ow." The person at the bottom of the tree shouted.
"Sorry." The voice apologized smugly.
"Of course you're sorry." The voice at the bottom growled.
Gaara decided to move back into the shadows as he continued to observe the two figures climbing up the tree. Each carried a backpack and both figures were dressed completely in black. Suddenly, the first figure swung on a branch and leapt onto the balcony with a thud. Peering closer at the figure's face…
"Yukiko!" Gaara gasped. Suddenly he felt a cold hand at the back of his neck. Gaara could feel pressure on his neck and he drew in a shocked breath
"Oh, Gaara!" Yukiko looked equally shocked. Quickly dropping her hand from his neck she frowned crossly. "I could have knocked you out you know."
That drew a laugh from Gaara. "You? Knock me out?"
"Don't underestimate us." A voice behind Gaara purred menacingly.
"Ten-ten?" Gaara asked turning around.
"Ouch." Gaara complained as Yukiko smacked him on the head from behind.
"Too bad our entrance wasn't as unnoticeable as we planned." Ten-ten gave a look at Gaara. "I told you to be careful, you're too clumsy and noisy." Ten-ten shook her head at Yukiko.
"Shut up." Yukiko replied glaring.
Both girls turned around to walk into the corridor when they both noticed Hinata lying there at the same time. Before Gaara could even blink both girls were on their knees next to Hinata.
"She fell asleep right?" Ten-ten asked without turning around.
"Yeah." Gaara nodded.
"Her sisters worked her too hard this time." Yukiko patted Hinata gently.
"They'll have hell to pay." Ten-ten said quietly as she felt Hinata's forehead. "I don't think she's sick."
"That's good." Yukiko replied.
"That's your jacket right Gaara?" Yukiko asked as she turned around to face Gaara. "Thanks." Yukiko smiled at Gaara. "We don't know how many times she caught a cold sleeping without a blanket."
"Hinata shouldn't suffer like this." Ten-ten continued in her quiet voice.
"Relax." Yukiko laid a hand on Ten-ten's tense shoulders.
"We are going to do something about this tonight." Yukiko continued as she fixed a steady gaze on Ten-ten's face.
"Yeah, you're right." Ten-ten bounced to her feet.
Quickly shaking her long black hair out of its bun Ten-ten tossed an extra backpack she carried to Gaara.
"Take care of that." Ten-ten warned.
"We need a little preparation to crash this party." Yukiko called out to Gaara as she disappeared into the bathroom near the balcony.
Gaara stared as Ten-ten began rummaging into her own backpack, a dress, some makeup, a hair straightener and a few pieces of jewelry were stuffed into there.
"Uh, what exactly are you planning to do?" Gaara asked.
"You'll see." Replied Ten-ten as she plugged the hair straightener into a power socket and began straightening her long black hair.
Suddenly loud swearing came from the bathroom Yukiko just entered.
"What did you do to my dress?" Yukiko screamed from the bathroom. Ten-ten smirked as she replied. "Let's just call it, a make over."
"Make-over? That is not anything like my dress." Yukiko shouted furiously from behind the closed doors.
"And what did you DO to my shoes?" Yukiko's voice rose to a scream again.
"Just put them on and come out." Ten-ten called back rolling her eyes.
Loud bangs came from the bathroom as Yukiko seem to have destroyed something in anger. After a few more banging and cracking sounds, the door eventually swung open as Yukiko stomped out.
Gaara suffered from violent nosebleeds when he saw Yukiko dressed in a simple black backless gown that went down to the floor. Ten-ten smirked when he saw Gaara and nudged him not so quietly.
"Better not bleed on the floor hey?" Ten-ten laughed as she elbowed Gaara. Luckily, Yukiko didn't notice that exchange because she was too busy trying to stay upright in her stilettos. Collapsing into a heap on the floor Yukiko began swearing at Ten-ten using explicit language involving words like 'little bitch', 'you whore' etc. Ten-ten, was acting smart and chose to ignore her as she disappeared into the bathroom.
When Ten-ten appeared out of the bathroom Gaara began grimacing and laughing at the same time. (How does that work??)
"Um, you know Neji is probably going to die when he sees you in that." Gaara pointed out when he saw Ten-ten's dress.
"I know." Ten-ten replied laughingly. She was wearing a truly tiny dress which someone only as petite as Ten-ten could fit into it. It was strapless and black with a hot pink bodice down the front with the black parts laced together with black ribbons. The bottom of the dress was similar to a bubble skirt as it puffed out slightly and Ten-ten as always made her own adjustment by adding a pink lace ribbon at the waist just below the bodice with a giant bow at the back of the dress. Ten-ten was wearing thigh high red boots on her feet while a hair band made from black lace held her straightened hair away from her face. However, just to be contrary to the preppy and cute impression she was making, Ten-ten added a pair of black skull earrings and Gothic necklace.
"We'll have to wake up Hinata now." Ten-ten walked over to Hinata.
"You know, she won't want to do this." Yukiko replied.
"It's for her own good, she'll have to learn to stand up to those three bitches sooner or later." Ten-ten frowned back at Yukiko.
"You are the one who's going to have to convince her." Yukiko shook her head.
"I am not going to bother with convincing, she's just going to have to do it." Ten-ten grinned wickedly.
"Wake up, Hinata." Ten-ten called and began gently shaking Hinata's shoulder.
"OMG," Hinata woke up with a start. "I am sorry I overslept, I will hurry now, don't worry I will be there in a sec" Hinata blabbed on worriedly as she looked around worriedly and bolted upright.
"It's OK Hinata." Yukiko patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"It's us." Ten-ten smiled encouragingly.
"Oh," Hinata blinked. "You know you guys aren't suppose to be here, if my sisters find out…" Hinata started to wring her hands together worriedly.
"Don't worry we aren't scared of your sisters." Yukiko snorted loudly.
"We are here to help you to get rid of good, little Hinata and bring out your evil side." Ten-ten laughed manically while Hinata and Yukiko exchanged glances.
"Come on. You've got to cooperate." Ten-ten urged. Grabbing the third backpack from Gaara Ten-ten pulled out a dress from the bag and tossing it to Hinata, Ten-ten then shoved her inside the bathroom and locked the door from the outside with her hairpin.
"I'm not going to let you out until you get into that dress." Ten-ten shouted while Hinata banged on the door desperately. After ten minutes a resigned Hinata walked out of the bathroom in the dress Ten-ten tossed her.
"Naruto is going to drown in his own nosebleed when he sees you in that." Gaara pointed out once again to Hinata getting the impression he was going to see a lot of blood that evening.
"She knows." Replied Ten-ten giggling once again.
Hinata was wearing a dark blue dress with a mother-of-pearl sheen to it. It had a sky blue bow at the neck with a dark purple ribbon which looped across her neck while the rest of the dress hang down in shimmering folds from the lavender blue ribbon at just below her collarbone. Hinata looked as if she was going to fly away in that light shimmering dress that hang around her like a cloud. (Well, that's what Naruto's going to think when he sees her, he's always had an overactive imagination) Ten-ten and Yukiko began working together on her hair and makeup once she appeared out of the bathroom before Hinata even could blink and protest against the makeover.
After the record time of two minutes, Hinata's hair and makeup was done to perfection, her fringe was straightened but the rest of her hair was curled in ringlets. Her make up was subtle yet effective; Ten-ten used a light pink blush and a slightly darker pink lipstick that gave Hinata a cherry blossom complexion enough to rival Sakura's. Her mascara was heavy to bring out her long curling eyelashes but her eyeliner was darker to avoid the heavy eyes clashing with her lighter and more innocent complexion. A light brown dusting of eye shadow matched the color of her eyes which brought them out. No eyebrow pencil was needed on Hinata as her eyebrows were already arched naturally to perfection.
Handing Hinata her silver stilettos Ten-ten and Yukiko pushed Hinata to the staircase so that the corridor just hid them from view.
"Go Hinata." Yukiko whispered.
"Show them what you're made of." Ten-ten cheered.
Before Hinata could even protest a shove in the back from Ten-ten sent her stumbling out to the landing before the set of marble stairs…