As always, Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.


With the hullabaloo of the party over, the clan had calmed down again. Rumors spread through the branch family, each one insinuating a different suitor had managed to catch Hinata's favor. Many were dismissed as wishful thinking of over-excited parents, but a few grew beyond murmurings into questions lingering in the air. Questions Hinata didn't want to answer yet, so she hid away at her garden. She kept the garden tended so there wasn't much to do, but the area was quiet and few came to disturb her. With her current reading material, it was best to stay out of the way.

Kakashi managed to acquire instructional scrolls from the Sealing Unit for her to begin preparation on physical seals. His schedule left only sporadic occasions when he could directly teach her, so Hinata did her best to be fully versed in all the materials he gave her in the interim. Sealing a person's physical body was different from the chakra sealing she was more familiar with and the weaponized seals he'd already shown her. Hinata found it fascinating, but it was all just the foundation. Once she had a thorough understanding of those, Kakashi said they'd move up to various countering seals. Those would be more useful to her final goal of changing the seal, since it focused on altering construction or purpose. Kakashi continued to insist her best chance was to rewrite the seal entirely, but she found herself running into similar problems on that path as well. There was simply too much chakra.

A high-pitched voice broke Hinata's quiet retreat. "Hinata!"

Tenten, dressed in a pale pink shirt and pants combo more casual than her usual mission gear, waved upon her approach. Being part of Neji's team, she could enter the compound without an escort. Behind her followed Sakura and Ino, and like Tenten, they had chosen more casual outfit, though for Ino it was more a change of color than formality. She did look good in red.

Hinata rolled the scroll back up and got up to meet the three girls. "What are you all doing here? We didn't have anything planned today, did we?"

It wasn't often they all got together without their teams, but since they were all the only females on their teams—except Hinata who had Kurenai, but she didn't quite count being an instructor—it was good to get away for a girl's night every once in a while.

Ino smirked and winked at Hinata in a beautifully arrogant fashion that seemed second nature to the confident young woman. "It wouldn't be a surprise party if we planned it."

"Party?" Hinata's eyes flashed between them nervously. She'd had her fill of parties for quite a while.

Sakura grinned next to her best friend. "We can't let the first one of us to get married go without a proper bachelorette party."

"A bachelorette party?" Shock was obvious on Hinata's face. "I won't be marrying for more than a year at least. I don't think I need a bachelorette party yet."

Ino waved off Hinata's concerns. "It's an excuse for us to both congratulate you and do something different for a change. Now, come on, go get changed into something fun."

"I don't think I own anything you'd consider fun." Formal Hinata had plenty of, but most of her casual wear was appropriate for a night out with the family. That probably wasn't the evening Ino had in mind.

"I think I can help with that," Tenten said. "Follow me."

Hinata could have refused, but it had been a while since she'd had a night of fun. The introduction party may have been a night for the clan to relax and indulge, but it had left Hinata drained. An evening out with friends might be what she needed. Tucking the scroll into her jacket pocket, Hinata fell in line behind the others as Tenten led them out of the compound towards the commercial district.

Tenten entered a modest storefront that had two mannequins dressed in immaculate kimonos with matching gold embroidery. Inside, Ino and Sakura took in the dozens of dresses and kimonos on display, each one a work of art draped over frozen silhouettes. Like Tenten, Hinata was less amazed by the beauty of their surroundings. She'd been here before.

A petite woman in a red and gold kimono that shimmered in the light came out from the back room at the sound of the door. "How can I—" She paused at the sight of the girls and a bright smile youthened her already too young appearance. "Tenten! I'm sorry, Lee's with Gai right now."

"That's okay, Miki-san, I'm actually here to see you."

"You know I always enjoy your visits. You should see the yukatas I've been working on for you and Neji. Matching, of course, but don't worry, I've made them a lovely deep forest green so that you'll be close enough to Lee's jumpsuit he won't notice anything's amiss. I've stitched them with a lighter hue for a brilliant but simple contrast. I know how Neji dislikes too much decoration."

"Wait," Ino said, stepping up to join a conversation she wasn't invited to. "You mean she's Lee's mother? And Lee doesn't know you're dating Neji? And Lee's mother is a seamstress who lets him walk around in a green one piece?"

Brash as it was, Hinata had come to see Ino's unwavering confidence as a trait worth having. She valued herself and her own opinion, something Hinata had struggled to achieve. She admired Ino's natural self-assured strength. She was a little jealous of it even.

"It makes him look like Gai-sensei," Tenten said, a smirk playing on her lips as her gaze returned to the woman in front of her.

"And what a man he is." Miki bit her lower lip and shook her head, reminding Hinata of Neji's team's dinner at the compound. It seemed Lee's mother still enjoyed men with eyebrows.

Tenten waved any further comments from Ino off. "Miki-san understands Neji and I aren't ready for them to know. No one else would know if you hadn't blabbed to everyone."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Neji shouldn't have come to my shop if you didn't want people to know."

"An action we both regret."

"Ah, to be young and in love," Miki said with a sigh. Given her deceptive appearance, the comment felt more like an older sister teasing than a mother reminiscing. Either way, Tenten's cheeks flushed the same pink as her outfit.

"We're here for Hinata," the embarrassed girl reminded them. "We wanted to go out for an early bachelorette party, but she doesn't have anything fun to wear. I was hoping she could borrow something."

"I can pay for it," Hinata insisted. She didn't want to take advantage of Miki's kindness, and having money was one perk of being main family.

"Nonsense, I let Tenten borrow clothes for her dates all the time." Miki grinned and Tenten turned a shade darker. "Besides, the Hyuugas are paying me more than enough for your wedding kimono. You're welcome to borrow anything you want for the night, provided it comes back unsoiled."

"They've already commissioned the wedding kimono?" A thick knot formed like a punch to the gut, and Hinata instinctually shifted an arm to cover her abdomen.

The resemblance with Lee was startling obvious as Miki's expression illuminated the entire shop with eager excitement. "Of course! Such things shouldn't be rushed. I've only just started, but it will take the better part of the year to complete the entire outfit and the reception kimono.

Hinata's chest tightened and her throat felt as dry as Suna's deserts. Did they need to talk about the wedding right now? All she wanted was a night out with the girls to have fun and forget things like weddings and husbands and the clan.

Sakura and Ino exchanged a glance. It wasn't much, and only a friend or a Hyuuga would have caught its meaning. Hinata was both. They'd been far more interested in boys during their adolescence than either Tenten or Hinata, and the childish dream of marriage . . . no, of the wedding, of being a bride, still survived beneath years of hard training and harsh realities.

"Can we see it?" Sakura said. The girls' grins matched the sparkle in Miki's eyes. Hinata felt her face get hot.

"I've only started on the outer layer, but . . ." Miki disappeared into the back of the shop, light-footed and bubbling with anticipation.

Tenten edged closer to Hinata and offered a consolatory smile. Being around Neji gave her an eye for more subtle cues. "Miki-san loves to show off her work. It won't take long."

Hinata forced a smile while her fingers twisted into her lavender jacket in a hollow attempt to steady herself. The shop was suddenly much too small, the walls looming around her like an enemy ambush she couldn't escape.

It won't take long, she repeated to herself. She'd learned how to control her anxiety and self-doubt before, so why did her body feel ready to jump and run away at any moment. It was only a kimono. Cloth and thread. Nothing more.

Miki returned to the shop front, her torso and head blocked by the thick white silk folded neatly in her arms. Hinata would be expected to wear a full, traditional wedding kimono. Two layers plus the obi and the headdress were going to be hot and heavy to walk with, and she'd have none of the giddy excitement a bride should to make it more bearable. With excessive care, Miki set the bundle onto a clean table lined with a blue and purple runner to ensure the fabric didn't catch on the corners. Her hands now free, she lifted up the topmost fold for the girls to see, a corner hem, most likely from the bottom front of the kimono, which would hang open over the other layers.

"The fabric itself I've kept a bright white. Put this out on a sunny day and it will blind you. So, to give it a bit of elegance without my usual flair—don't worry, your reception outfit will be quite colorful—I'm embroidering the designs in various shades of white. As you walk, the light will catch different pieces, making the entire kimono seem to shimmer and move." Miki ran her fingers along the barely noticeable trail of delicate stitching along the bottom. The thread had a slight brownish tint, but so faint it faded out of sight depending on how she shifted to see. "This is called bone white. I'll combine it with ivory and antique to create the noshi ribbon base at the hems. Further up will be cranes of ghost white and white smoke, with little accents of cream and eggshell. Oh, listen to me going on about thread. I'm sure you girls don't care to hear about that."

The others chuckled and reassured Miki she wasn't boring them. Ino and Sakura seemed interested enough, perhaps not in the nitty-gritty details of color names and shade variations, but they pawed gently at the smooth silk and eyed it greedily. Sakura grabbed Hinata's hand, now clammy from the fist she'd been making, and ushered her to a small corner. Much too small and lined with mirrors that reflected back three other Hinatas who fidgeted and glanced around with a terror she thought she'd hidden better. It was good enough the others didn't seem to notice, but four pairs of Hyuuga eyes saw the truth.

"Can we see it on her, Miki-san?" Sakura asked.

A trill of delight from the woman sounded muffled. Everything did. It sounded like someone stuffed cotton in Hinata's ears. The world seemed to be disappearing around her, falling away to an empty blackness beneath her feet so that she teetered on a single point. The smallest motion and she would tip into that abyss.

A weight settled softly on her shoulders. In that moment before she toppled off her perch, the second where the foot hasn't slipped but the fall can't be stopped, Hinata's eyes focused on the white cloth surrounding her. Miki held one sleeve out straight while Sakura did the same for the other. They were all smiling. Happy, laughing faces demanding Hinata be happy, too.

Hinata knocked the kimono from her shoulders and scrambled out of the corner, knocking over a purple and blue clad mannequin in her escape. She couldn't breathe. Her heart filled her chest, beating so fast and thick nothing else had room to enter, not even air. She needed to get out of the tiny shop. Away. Anywhere away. She needed to run. And hide. Escape. She needed away from the wedding.

Hands grabbed her, then chakra filtered through her back into her lungs, opening them and calming her heart. Slowly the ground returned beneath her feet—dirt, not floor—and sound to her ears—gentle and soothing voices murmuring words of comfort. The shop was gone, replaced by the dirty brick walls of an alleyway. Tenten and Ino were crouched beside her, each held a hand between their own. Sakura stood behind. She was the source of the chakra tethering her back to the real world.

"I think she's calming down," Ino said, edging over so that Hinata was forced to look at her. "What's wrong, Hinata?"

"I don't want to marry!" she blurt out. Sakura might have been calming her body, but the panic that had started everything still clung raw in her throat. The words tumbled in a manic terror she'd buried deep down to keep everyone else from seeing. "I don't even know who I'm marrying yet? There are plans and dates and a wedding dress being made before I have a fiancé! This isn't the way it's supposed to be. I'm not ready."

Tears blurred her vision, but she did nothing to stop them. Moving would mean separating from the physical support the three girls offered. She'd hidden her displeasure before, and Kurenai was working with her to learn to express that in a healthy way, but this was different. This was her choice, one no one wanted her to make. She couldn't let her family realize how her heart would race whenever the wedding was mentioned or how her silent acceptance was more often to hide the terror that might make her voice shake. They already resisted her decision, if they knew they'd never stop harassing her until she changed her mind.

And she couldn't tell her team, either. That's what had made it worse. She depended on her team to help her through the worst of the clan's demands on her. They were her retreat, her sanctuary when everything became too much. But as much as they wanted her to stay with them, Kiba and Shino loathed the marriage. They supported her as much as she needed, but if they knew the truth, she wondered if they wouldn't try to convince her it wasn't worth it.

Tenten stroked the back of Hinata's hand soothingly. "Why are you going through with it then? Can't you just choose not to?"

"The alternative's worse." Hinata nodded to herself, willing the certainty in that statement fight back the fear and panic. "This way I get to control the rest of my life. Uncle Hizashi, Grandpa, they no longer have a say in what I do. The clan's happy and I get my team all for the price of a marriage."

Saying it aloud calmed her mind the way Sakura's chakra calmed her body. This was what she'd decided months ago. No matter how much she hated the wedding, she'd be lost without Kiba, Shino, and Kurenai in her life. They'd always be close, even after they disbanded, but for now she needed to be away from the clan and they provided that. People she never had to prove herself to, because if she failed, they'd be there to catch her.

Hinata took a deep breath, easier thanks to Sakura's healing touch, and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I got overwhelmed by the kimono, but I'll be okay now. I can handle it. I still have more than a year to adjust to the idea."

Ino glanced up at Sakura, still behind Hinata, with a worried expression. "You shouldn't have to adjust to the idea of getting married. You should want it."

"Welcome to the main family," A wry grin warmed her tear-streaked face. Then seriously, Hinata said, "Please don't tell my team or Neji-niisan. Kiba-kun and Shino-kun feel bad enough they're the reason I'm doing this, and Neji-niisan is looking for a way to have it all called off. I'm willing to go through with it, I'm just not ready to think about it as real yet."

She felt the chakra recede from her back as Sakura came around to join the others. Her face was tight with disapproval, but Hinata could tell she'd accepted it. Tenten appeared similar, though a sliver a guilt kept her eyes low; keeping this from Neji meant more when he's your boyfriend, or whatever they'd decided to be.

Ino's pretty face was different. She had a scowl that could scare children and that haughty self-assurance raised her chin a few more inches. "If you want my silence, it'll cost you."

"Ino." Sakura tried to interrupt, but Ino stopped her.

"You think this is stupid. I think this is stupid. She thinks this is stupid and is going to do it anyway." Ino gestured to Hinata, who couldn't exactly argue the point. "Now, we can either ignore the idiocy of it all, or we can force her to have a little fun in a very un-Hyuuga like manner. God knows someone needs to see she does the wrong thing for once."

Hinata wiped the half-dried trail of tears from her face and stood up. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura repeated.

A cheeky, sultry smile that only Ino could manage smoldered with a future she wasn't about to reveal. Curling her finger to beckon them, Ino merely said, "Follow me."

This wasn't exactly turning out to be the girl's night Hinata had expected, and she wasn't sure she was up to being dragged off again. Calming down from one panic attack was more than enough for one night. Her emotions were still rather raw for whatever Ino had in mind, but if the others found out she was bottling up enough to break down from one look at her wedding kimono, it would only lead to more trouble. Obediently, Hinata and the others followed.

The shops and restaurants disappeared behind them, much to everyone's confusion. When the village gates came into view, Tenten eyed Ino skeptically. "Where are we going?"

"When you do something you shouldn't, you don't want to get caught." Ino winked. "Trust me."

Hinata wished she'd stayed at her garden and spent the night studying the intricacies of physical sealing. Being locked away where no one would find her sounded preferable to Ino's mystery plan.

The lights of the village faded away and the wood around it glowed in the pinks and oranges of the setting sun. They walked in silence. No one but Ino knew where they were going and Ino knew how to keep her own secrets very well. Hinata was beginning to think Ino should apply to the espionage unit.

The grin on Ino's face grew brighter as they left the shadowed canopy of the forest for the fading reflection of the sunlight off the lake's placid surface. "Here we are, ladies. Time to have fun."

"The lake?" Tenten said. "What are we doing here?"

"Something no proper, good girl Hyuuga heir would ever do." Ino walked backwards toward the lake, her fingers pulling off her form-fitted top to reveal pale skin warmed by the pink aurora. "We're going skinny dipping."

Sakura burst out laughing. "This was your big plan?"

"Look at her face," Ino said, pointing at Hinata. "She can't stand the idea."

Hinata unashamedly stared at Ino removing her bra in disbelief. She wanted Hinata to undress? Here? In a bath house was one thing, there were walls and changing rooms and towels. This was outside. Outside!

"What if someone see us?" she stuttered.

Ino held her arms out wide and shimmied a little to make her breasts sway. "Then they'll get a great view."

Sakura followed Ino's example and began undressing. "Why the hell not."

"Tenten?" Ino asked.

"All right, I'm in. Just give me a second." Tenten bent over and carefully undid her buns. Several senbon clattered to the ground as her brown tresses fell loose, the silver metal shimmering in the dim light.

"You keep weapons in your hair?" Sakura laughed.

Tenten tossed her hair back and finger-combed it out. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"With you? Never."

How could they be so at ease? Kurenai might have conditioned Hinata to accept modesty had a time and place, but as far as she was concerned outside and not being attacked was one of them.

"Come on, Hinata. You want me to keep my mouth shut, don't you?" Ino was completely naked and walked with confidence Hinata could only wish to match one day.

Sakura kicked her skirt over to the pile where her crumpled clothes lay. Despite being in the open and not having the same voluptuous figure Ino did, she made no move to get to the water quickly. "Ino, maybe we shouldn't force her."

"Of course we should." Ino's eyes focused on Hinata with the unwavering power she inherited as a Yamanaka. "I don't get your clan or the kind of control they seem to have over you, but you're as proper as they come because of it. So, if you're dead set to go through with this idiocy, then you deserve a little teenage rebellion. Take a little risk that someone might see you and have fun before you get trapped by the title of married clan head and don't get to do anything improper ever again." Ino turned away and headed for the water, motioning for Sakura and Tenten to join her.

Danger was never something Hinata learned to enjoy. She felt accomplishment in a successful mission, but not the excitement Kiba or Shino did at the inherent danger higher level missions offered. Part was a worry that someone she cared about would be hurt, but the rest she'd come to understand. She had trouble trusting herself. It was better in recent years, especially with Kurenai's guidance, but the core of it was still in her, whispering thoughts of doubt she had to constantly fight against. It reminded her of everything that could go wrong and made risk or danger unpalatable.

Right now it was telling her that being naked out in the open meant anyone could come by and see them. If that person were Hyuuga the news would get back to the clan and spread like fire straight to Hyobe's ears. If it weren't a Hyuuga, it could still be someone with a mouth as big as Ino's and being the Hokage's apprentice made Sakura very noticeable. Rumors could still spread and get back to the clan and thus Hyobe. All in all, Hyobe learning that she'd willingly exposed herself where someone could see was the worst case scenario.

But nothing had felt better than performing kaiten in front of him. A hundred things could have gone wrong in that fight against Neji, yet she trusted herself and enjoyed the danger. It was part of who she wanted to be, someone who had enough faith in herself to see the doubts for what they were and know the risk was worth it. The chakra seals, kaiten, choosing to wed, it was all, in her own way, teenage rebellion. Maybe that wasn't so bad to have.

Hinata looked out at the water, now dark save for shimmers of twilight dancing over the surface and the bare skin of the laughing girls breaking the tension. Modesty and propriety were values she cared about, but maybe, just maybe, it wasn't bad to do the wrong thing every once in a while. All she wanted was to have a bit of fun with her friends. No one was nearby and if they came . . . well, would it really be the end of the world?

Hinata unzipped her jacket and let it fall to the ground.

"Here's to teenage rebellion."