Chapter Twelve
My stomach continued to do backflips, as it had been doing for the past week. At one point yesterday morning, I did get sick, which seemed to help with the overall nausea from the nerves and jitters that racked my body. Plus, I think I've been going through a sort of withdraw lately; I haven't seen my fiancé for a little over a week. After we had planned everything for the wedding - the date, time, location, color scheme, etcetera - Sakura took me under her wing, while Sasuke kidnapped Naruto from me. Their excuse had been, "there's some guy stuff Naruto has to do, and some girl stuff I had to do." While I wasn't very happy about being torn away from my dear lover, I let it go after a small argument with my maid of honor.
I hadn't seen him, hadn't heard his voice, hadn't made sweet, passionate love with him in eight days. In all honesty, I felt as if I was going to explode into a thousand tiny Hinata pieces and scatter everywhere.
But I only had a short while left until I could see his beautiful face. Today was the day, and the clock was ticking loud in my ears.
I hadn't gotten very much sleep last night, and it showed on my face. Dark circles were stained under my eyes, and my skin looked dead. Sitting in front of the vanity mirror in Sakura's house didn't do what little confidence I had any good. My fingertips brushed against my face, and I couldn't help but think about how unworthy I would look today, standing on the altar with Naruto.
Unconsciously, I took in a deep breath and held it for all of five seconds before blowing it out of my lips, stretching my cheeks out as I did. I looked like I got hit by a train...
Sakura marched into the room with a large pink box that was probably filled with hundreds of dollars of makeup. Due to her having to change later on in the day, she sported a T-shirt and athletic shorts, and her hair was tied back at the top of her head. Taking one look at me, she slapped her forehead and sighed.
"What happened to that beauty sleep you were going to get?" she asked me, and I shrugged, my eyes flickering to her reflection in the mirror. I was just wondering the same thing. It wasn't that I didn't sleep, rather, it was that my sleep wasn't very full. It was rather light, and I would wake up at every creak.
"I don't know," I murmured, ashamed that I had let my best friend down after she had been working so hard to make this day completely perfect for me.
"No matter," she said, turning back to her rose box and flipping open the clasps, which clicked as they popped up. With her fingers, she tossed up the lid, exposing rows and rows of assorted makeup products that I had never seen before. I didn't even know such colors existed. "You'll be surprised at what makeup can do."
Out of a plastic container, Sakura pulled out two slices of cucumbers and danced over to me, reclining the chair that I had been sitting on backwards. My heart jumped, as I had not been expecting the sudden jolt of movement. But I laid back, and my eyebrows furrowed as Sakura placed the vegetable slices on the vanity counter and pulled something out of nowhere. She handed me a purple iPod nano, and grinned at my confusion.
"It's a wedding gift for you from Itachi," she said. "I loaded some of your favorite songs onto it already, so all you need to do is pop in the buds and jam out. Leave the rest to me."
"Oh..." I licked my bottom lip, not really knowing what to say. Clearly, I hadn't been expecting anything like this, and it was so nice that he had thought about me. "That was nice of him," I murmured, plugging the tiny earphones into my ears and turning on the expensive little device. "I'll have to thank him later." Not really wanting to hold Sakura up, I simply clicked play, and the music began filling my ears. With a grin, Sakura leaned me backwards and covered my eyes with the cucumbers, sending me into a world of complete and total relaxation.
My senses seemed to be intensified as my maid of honor ran her fingers through my hair, probably deciding what the easiest thing to do with it was. My locks had grown so long, it would probably take a little while to actually do something with it. Her touch left for a moment, only to be replaced by the strokes of the pins on a hairbrush. The nerves on my head tingled, causing goosebumps to arise on the surface of my skin, and I had to fight a small shiver that slithered its way up and down my spine. I'm not sure how long she had been working through my hair with the brush, but the song I had been listening to ended, and it automatically switched to another, which just so happened to be one of my favorite songs: Hidamari no Gate.
I thought of Naruto, and I couldn't help but be reminded of how much I missed him. We rarely spent time away from one another, because we were conjoined at the heart. I could spend everyday with him, and I would never grow sick of him. We had the chemistry.
Only five and a half more hours, Hinata, I told myself, and I think I may have grinned at the thought. I get to see him, and we're going to get married, we'll have our first dance together as Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki.
Actually, I never thought of it, but why did Naruto take the last name of his mother? Why wasn't his last name Namikaze, the name of his father's family? For some reason, this fact never occurred to me until now, and I was curious. I wonder if they would tell me if I asked.
Sakura wrapped a thick strand of hair in something and began rolling it towards my scalp. Suddenly, I felt the warmth of heat close to my cells, and she stopped rotating whatever it was, instead holding it still. Because I had complete trust in Sakura, I didn't open my mouth to speak up. While a part of me wanted to talk to her, the other part wanted to continue on in this state of relaxation and keep quiet.
So many songs passed, and I think I may have fallen asleep for a bit while my trusted maid of honor fiddled with the lengthy locks that fell from my head. The only reason I had come back into consciousness had been because she raised the back of the seat up to a sitting position. Sakura had readjusted the cucumber slices as they had begun to fall, and over the music in my ears, I heard her say, "Don't look!" I guess I'm not allowed to see until her masterpiece is complete. No matter. I was enjoying Itachi's gift too much to be bothered.
By the time I was allowed to look, Sakura removed the cucumbers - which had absorbed the puffiness from my eyes and melted away the dark circles. My jaw unhinged and it fell. For a moment, I was stunned by the beauty of my hair, and I was almost convinced that it wasn't mine.
My dark locks that were naturally straight and reached my lower back were now in these perfect curls. Some were pinned at the top of my head with bobby pins with shiny crystal flowers on their tips. My bangs were parted over my left eyebrow and scooped back, pinned down on the sides of my face, under the rest of my hair. Hanging down from the left side of my face was a single black curl that reached my breast. I could see where the veil was going to sit: right where my fringe met the rest of my hair.
Tugging the earbuds from my ears, I wanted to say something - anything - but I was in too much awe. There were literally no words to describe how thrilled I was with the results. My head belonged in a beauty museum.
"I'm going to take that face as a compliment," Sakura laughed and turned away, tossing the cucumbers in the trashcan by her bed.
"Isn't it going to fall down?" I asked, touching it and realizing that it was hardened.
"Not with a can and a half of hairspray on it," she mumbled as she nibbled on a pretzel while going through her box of beauty products. I turned around to face her, despite the fact that I could see her from within the mirror.
"What's next?" I asked, almost excited to have Sakura make me beautiful. If she could do this with my hair, I couldn't even begin to imagine what she could do with my face.
"Probably your nails, so they have plenty of time to dry before we get you in your dress," Sakura spoke with her back to me as she rummaged through the box, finding the perfect color. "Of course, we're not doing anything big with makeup at all, but a nice light pink on your nails will accent your hands nicely."
Pink. While it wasn't the color I had been thinking of, it would go with the wedding's color scheme. Naruto and I are having our wedding on the top of a hill surrounded by cherry blossoms that are in full bloom, so our colors for the wedding are pink and white. It will be beautiful.
Coming back over to me with a small kit, Sakura pulled up another chair and a small folding table, sitting it in front of her. Swiftly, she spun my chair around to face her, and to make her life easier, I placed my hands on the table. She went to work immediately, filing my nails in the shapes of perfect little rectangles.
"Don't worry, you can put the headphones back in," she said to me, and I bit my lip. "It'll keep you busy, and I'll get less distracted by conversation."
If it'll be easier for Sakura, then okay. I slipped the small headphones back into my ears, where they sat perfectly and filled my brain with the musical talent of others. While I listened to all of the music that Sakura had already loaded onto the device, I watched her work on my hands, swiftly and skillfully shaping them. Out of her little case that she had brought over, she yanked out a small bottle of lotion and squeezed some onto a single hand. Rubbing her hands together first, she took hold of my hands, massaging the nourishment into my skin. The way her fingers pressed into the muscles in my hand made me tremble a bit, her touch reaching deep into the core of my hands. It felt nice, and I almost didn't want her to stop, but I knew that our time was limited and she wanted enough time to do everything perfectly. Sakura would accept nothing less than perfection.
After massaging my hands, she wiped the lotion off of her own hands with a towel and picked up a bottle of light pink nail polish and began shaking it rapidly. Uncapping it, she began working on the first coat, painting my nails with quick precision. I was almost surprised at how nice it looked, despite the fact that it seemed as if she took no time at all. Sakura was very skilled. While the left hand dried, she moved onto the right, doing the same thing without missing a beat.
After the second coat of polish, Sakura reached into a small jar and pinched something, then sprinkled it onto the wet polish. Sparkles glittered on the bases of my nails and shimmered when the light hit them. I was almost mesmerized by them that I didn't even notice Sakura toss the table to the side and move to my feet. The only reason why I did take notice to the transition was because her initial touch of my feet tickled, and I had to use every muscle in my legs to prevent kicking her. Although, after shaping the nails on my toes, the massage with the lotion felt heavenly. Her thumbs pressed into my arch, and it cracked loudly; both of us couldn't help but to laugh a little.
Sakura did the same thing with my toes: two coats of pink polish. The sparkles, she only used to pepper the base of my big toes. When she finished, she shoved some kind of foam divider in between my toes to prevent them touching one another and smearing her artwork.
It was amazing at how quickly she packed her belongings up, and she disappeared inside of her bathroom to wash her hands. Next was my face.
Upon returning to the room, Sakura shoved her face into the pink box of wonder and yanked out a little circular glass jar and what looked like one of those super small paint brushes. Coming over to me, she placed both of the cosmetic pieces on her vanity counter and returned to her pink box, pulling out another glass bottle, this one with a very light rose color inside.
"You've got a pretty face already," she said, talking loud enough to where I could hear her over my music. "We don't want to cover it up with a bunch of makeup. We want to enhance your beauty by bringing out those pretty gray eyes of yours."
I blushed at her compliment, and she snickered at me.
"Yeah, we don't want to cover up that little reaction of yours," she laughed and went to work, uncapping the smaller container, which exposed black gel. After dipping the small brush inside the tiny jar, Sakura began painting the black on my eyes, first on the tops, outlining the round shape of my eyes. The small bristles tickled my lid, and I was afraid that I may have twitched, but Sakura said nothing, so I don't think I messed her up.
After the tops of my eyes came my waterline, and while she did so, I had to look up as far as I possibly could to prevent myself from blinking and jerking away. The fear of being poked in the eye was overwhelming, and it caused my heart to pound inside of my chest. But I trust Sakura. I focused on nothing but the sound of music in my ears, sending myself to my place of relaxation.
I think Sakura could feel my tension, and so she moved as quickly as she possibly could without losing precision. Her strokes were steady, fluid motions that flew past my eye, leaving behind its blackest black line in its path.
"Done with that," she said, and I breathed a sigh of relief, blinking a few times to restore the moisture to my eyes. Turning back to the box on her bed, Sakura thought for a moment before getting up and dragging her feet over to it. She glanced into the box and reached out, grabbing another bottle from it and a contraption that I recognized from prom. Mascara and an eyelash curler. "Close your eyes," she commanded me, and I obeyed without a second thought. Sakura pressed the device to my eye and clamped my long lashes within it, forcing them into a arch. She held it for ten seconds, then moved to the other eye. Mascara followed this procedure, and she painted my lashes with the stiff, round ring of bristles. This process wasn't bad, and it was over before I knew it.
Sakura took a step backwards and looked me over, examining every detail of my face with an artistic eye. Her mouth pressed to the left side of her face as she contemplated.
"Something's missing," she said.
"What's in the pink tube, then?" I asked, and her eyes didn't leave mine. They didn't need to to know what I was referring to.
"That's a bit of gloss," she said. "But I'm talking about your eyes. Something is missing." With a light bulb glowing above her head, she snapped her fingers and returned to the box sitting alone and abandoned on the bed. She picked out a container that looked like the eyeliner, only it had a larger diameter. "You need a bit of smoke around the outside of your eye," she said, returning to me with swift steps shuffling on her hardwood floor.
If I recall correctly, that was the term she used for the style of makeup that she did on my eyes for prom. That was a little showy, wasn't it? I mean, for prom that was okay, but for my wedding?
"Don't worry, it won't be like prom," she said, reading my mind with such accuracy that it scared me. "Nothing close. It'll be a light dust of charcoal on your lid."
"I trust you," I told her, and I sat up straight in the chair, closing my eyes and allowing Sakura to unleash her magic on me. I didn't even try to look in the mirror, because she always wanted me to wait until she was finished before I snuck a peak. I felt it difficult not to turn ninety degrees and glance in the mirror next to me.
The tickle of a brush caused my eyebrow to jump, and before I could even feel what she was doing, she had already moved to the other eye.
"'Kay," she said, and tossed the eyeshadow aside. Her sights were set on the pink gloss on the surface of the table, and she took it into her grasp, unscrewing the cap and turning to me. "Now for the finishing touch." She pressed the soft tip of the gloss applicator to my lips and swept over them with a gentle touch. When she pulled away and began gathering the things she had thrown on the table, I raised an eyebrow.
"Can I look now?" I asked her, and she nodded, giving me her okay. Turning to the mirror was like turning to the face of an angel. Normally, I thought that I was neither pretty nor ugly. I was plain. But now, I looked stunning. The makeup wasn't heavy, so it gave a more natural look than prom.
"You're gonna be the prettiest girl there, Hina," Sakura told me, and my eyes flickered to her reflection. She packed her belongings away, but left the box on her bed. "I would bet my life on that."
With a slow turn, I watched her through my thick lashes, and she glanced at her cell phone.
"What time is it?" I asked her, and she tossed her phone onto the bed and moved to her closet, where both her maid of honor dress and my wedding dress hung.
"About one o'clock," she told me, and my eyes widened, along with my glossy smile. I get to see Naruto in an hour and a half. It took all of my willpower to contain my bubbling happiness. I'll be seeing him on the altar. Or, at least, the closest thing to an altar that we could get in the path of the cherry blossoms. "Kushina, Neji and Tenten are going to be here in a half hour," she warned me as I turned off my iPod and ripped out my headphones with caution. "We should probably get you in your dress now so I have time to change."
"Right," I said, standing up. Thinking about it now, I understand why Sakura wanted me to wear nothing but a bra and shorts; we wouldn't dare try to get a T-shirt off over my head. Not when my hair and face were this perfect. With my dress, I couldn't wear a bra, or else it would be seen through the corset back.
Sakura stood on her tiptoes, reaching for the hanger that hung on the door of her closet, and she tugged my dress off the wood carefully. With such care and caution, she laid it across her sheets and unzipped the bag, exposing the pure white material.
I slipped out of my shorts and tossed them into my dear friend's clothes basket in the corner of her room. There I stood, wearing nothing but my bra and underwear while Sakura gingerly removed my dress from its hanger. Instead of bringing it over, she left it lay on her bed and she bent over to grab a small plastic bag at the foot of her bed.
"Put these on," she told me and tossed me the bag. With a frown, I tore the tops of the bag open and glanced inside, blushing at the contents. I shoved my hand in the bag and constricted my fingers around the lacy material, tugging it out and into the open.
Pure white, lacy thong...
When I turned terrified and embarrassed eyes to Sakura, she had an excuse ready in her mind.
"Nobody's going to see it, besides your husband," she said. "For the honeymoon." With a wink, she turned back to my dress and used both hands to lift it up. While her back was turned, I rapidly switched underwear. From cotton boyshorts to lace thong... what a drastic change. What would Naruto say when he saw it?
Sakura carried my dress princess style over to me and placed the bottom down on the floor so that I could step into it without the risk of losing my balance and falling. Despite that, Sakura still held my hand as I lifted a single leg and pressed it down into the depths of the poofy dress, followed by the other one. Sakura dropped my hand and yanked up the top of my dress as I reached backwards and unhooked my bra with a single hand, tossing it over with my shorts in the basket. When my hands were free, I held the top of the dress tight against my breasts as Sakura came around to my back. Her fingers picked up the laces of the corset and she began heaving them shut, tightening the top of my dress. First, it constricted tight around my breasts, almost too tight, but she loosened it just a bit before continuing down my back. It was tight, but not tight enough to where I had trouble taking a deep breath.
"Don't look yet," Sakura scolded me as I went turn for the mirror. I should have known better. What was I thinking? From the other side of the room, Sakura grabbed the bust that held my jewelry and brought it over to me. Diamond necklace and matching earrings with pink centers that glistened in the light. A teardrop shape dropped from both the necklace and earrings, and the way it hit the extra light from the vanity caused me to suck in a breath. They were even more beautiful than I remembered them being.
Sakura gracefully draped the necklace over my clavicles and came around my back so that she could latch the clasp at the base of my neck. She was so careful not to catch any of my hair. I was grateful for that. As if I were a child who couldn't do anything, she snatched the earrings and stuck them through the tiny holes on my lobes.
"A princess shouldn't lift a finger," she told me, a smile playing upon her lips. Turning to where my back was facing the mirror, Sakura looked me up and down and bent over to take the foam from between my toes. "You need a bracelet."
"I don't have one," I admitted. I had some, just not for this occasion.
"You can borrow one of mine. I think I may have one that matches that set," she said and turned away, moving back to her closet and disappeared inside, making her way to her jewelry box. She reappeared within five seconds, a sparkling bracelet in her fingertips. "Sasuke will recognize this," she laughed. "He's always throwing jewelry at me." Wrapping it around my wrist and clasping it, I watched as the single pink diamond shone out over the rest of the whites.
Sakura spun around again and returned to her closet, bringing out the box that held my shoes. She tossed the lid onto her bed and pulled the gorgeous foot candy out of the box, which suffered the same fate as its head. The main body of the shoe was white lace with a lacy flower above the open toe. A strap would wrap over the front of my ankle to keep the shoe in place.
Very, very carefully, I sat down on my seat and lifted my foot for Sakura to play Cinderella and Prince Charming with me. She strapped them onto my feet and stood up, holding a hand out to me so that she could help me stand.
"Now, you may look."
Excited, I turned to the mirror and gasped. The dress looked even prettier now that it had a pretty face, curly hair, and accessories with it. With a traditional poofy bottom that swept the floor and created a bell-bottom base that dragged as I walked, it was perfect for the occasion of a cherry blossom wedding. The top was adorned with beaded lace that wrapped all the way around, quitting its escapade at the corset.
I glanced over when I saw something appear out of the corner of my eye, and in the doorway stood Neji, who looked rather spiffy in his tuxedo. With his hair down, he looked like the model, Fabio. His eyes scanned every detail of me, from my hair to my face to the jewelry that adorned me to the dress. When he didn't say anything, I became worried and pessimistic.
"So?" I asked nervously. "What do you think?"
Neji licked his lips as they parted and took in a breath to speak. Turning his eyes to mine, they locked, and we had one another's complete and total attention.
"There are no words for how beautiful you are."
