She had known that listening to Kiba would have been a bad idea.

"It'll be fun! There'll be all kinds of people there! It'll be a party where you'll fit right in- nothing like the bs I suffered through in high school!"

As Hinata had to force herself to not allow her face to twist up with the disgust she was currently attempting to ignore at the way all of the smells were colliding in her nose... she couldn't help but think that she really was as big an idiot as Hanabi had called her.

The flag pin on her blouse felt liked it weighed a ton as it pulled at the spot right above her left breast; it was supposed to be some kind of symbolic action to have all of their sexualities on full display, right on their hearts but... her poor blouse... well, in all truth, it was Hana's blouse that was suffering the treatment. It was also suffering due to having to stretch over a chest that Hana most certainly did not have.

Kiba had insisted she looked great, especially with the way the black on the blouse and her purple skirt combined with the flag pin. Shino had offered her an uncharacteristic compliment in the form of a nod of approval after she had stumbled through a twirl to display her 'party' outfit to her two best friends.

She didn't feel completely uncomfortable in the clothes... but the blouse, while soft, was silky soft. Its texture was different from what she was accustomed to.

At least her skirt and shoes were her own, though, and so she wasn't feeling overwhelmingly out of sorts... just slightly off.

"A queer party, Hina! Can you believe it? We'll finally be surrounded by our people!" Kiba had put a pointed emphasis on our, as if the people they had called their family and friends during their whole lives were something else simply because they were heterosexual.

Hinata understood Kiba's yearning for people that wouldn't make a big deal of his sexuality. If it wasn't for the fact that she had found kindred spirits in both Kiba and Shino, she knew that she would feel a thousand times more lonely than she did. But... their friends weren't any less their people because they didn't share this particular experience...

Or, at least, she didn't think so.

There were too many people.

Hinata tried her best to not allow her displeasure at how horrible the mixture of sweat, perfume, and too much alcohol smelled to her. She wasn't really able to stop herself from reacting to the pounding headache, though, seeing how her hand found its way to her temple before she had even noticed what it had been doing.

The kind individual with the long black hair, incredible fashion style, and aromantic and non-binary pins above their heart had been kind enough to give her directions towards the bathroom. She couldn't remember them anymore and found herself trapped in a hallway that was slowly being consumed by the smoke that was coming from below one door- the grassy, sickening smell she knew much too well as marijuana was beginning to make its way into the horrible concoction of smells that were only making her headache worse.

She could hear the faintest giggling coming from the door, along with a bump, a gasp, and then another fit of giggling. Admittedly, she could only barely make out the odd series of noises due to how loud the party's music boomed throughout the whole house. The very walls were vibrating from how loud the bass was.

There were so many doors.

In the endless, darkened hallway, she knew that she should find the bathroom... but she couldn't remember which door it was supposed to have been.

Tears began to sting at her eyes and she tried her best to will them away, but they just burned at her, demanding her to let them loose.

"Hey, you alright there?"

Hinata gasped at the muffled words, turning sharply at the sound of a voice she had never heard before.

Her eyes went wide when she found a person taller than anyone she had ever seen before in her life... so tall, even, that she had to look fully up to be able to get a good look at their face. Their skin was bronzed in a way she had never witnessed come naturally to anyone within her incredibly sheltered life; it was a skin tone she attributed to foreigners and lovers of fake tans on extraordinary television shows.

The kind smile that came over sharp and very handsome features did nothing to soothe Hinata's racing heart.

"Orochimaru had a hunch you may have gotten lost." the person shrugged their broad shoulders, the way they moved their head ever so slightly to the side made the long hair they had constricted into a ponytail dance. "My name's Hashirama and I'm your savior." their brown eyes were gentle, just like their smile. "The bathroom's right over there."

Hinata's brain struggled to understand the words in conjunction with the way they began to point somewhere behind her. But when she finally understood that they were pointing because they were showing her the way, she felt her face become hot. She jumped and hurried to look behind her, then finally saw that there was one darkened door that had been left somewhat ajar- it was the one this person was pointing to.

She squeaked out her gratitude, knew immediately that there was no way she had been any kind of coherent, and then ran off before she could make a greater fool of herself.

Ten minutes later, Hinata felt a lot better. Part of that was due to the fact that she had finally managed to find some time to herself, far away from anyone she did not know. Part of it was due to the fact that she had a plan.

She was going to leave.

Even within a party that was supposed to have been a safe place, she had been asked the same kind of questions she had heard from the few friends she had felt comfortable enough to come out to- how do you know you don't like sex if you haven't tried it yet? what if you just haven't found the right person? but are you sure?

From her friends, she didn't mind talking, explaining, and making them understand.

From complete strangers that were supposed to be as much part of the community as her... yeah. NO.

Hinata opened the door with her face set in a determined glare. She knew what she needed to do and how she would go about it.

Her first step would, of course, be to find Shino in the games room. Once she had pulled him away from the riveting game of chess he had fallen into with the green haired person with one of the brightest grins Hinata had ever seen, they would hunt Kiba down. They would pull him away from whatever misadventure he had wound up. And then, as the designated driver, she would drive them all to her favorite 24/7 breakfast house before returning to the apartment they shared.

With one final nod to herself, Hinata stepped into the darkened hallway, determined to see her plans through.

She was stopped before she had even taken ten steps when she found the person that had saved her from any further embarrassment leaning against the wall beside the bathroom door.

"And she's alive!" they pushed off with a grin; Hinata's eyes went wide and all of the fire she had managed to build up within herself immediately dissipated. "Feeling better?"

They... seemed... legitimately... interested?

Hinata blinked, incapable of making a sound, and simply nodded.

"First time at a college party?"

Once again, Hinata could only nod.

They chuckled softly as they glanced up at the roof, "Yeah, it can be real overwhelming, huh?" they then looked back at her, face soft and... wow. This person was beautiful. "If you're interested, I know a quiet place to unwind a little."

Immediately alarms began to sound off in her mind; her eyes widened against her own wishes and that made the person immediately raise their hands up, their own face filling up with alarm.

"Oh, shit, wait, no, I didn't mean it like that!" their left hand then pointed towards the flag pin on their denim jacket... an ace flag. Hinata felt all the breath leave her body when she saw it.

There... there was someone like her here?

"Oh, man, I sounded like a complete creep right now, didn't I?" they lifted one hand up to their face, resting it on his cheek as their face very clearly began to read of a form of distress that seemed... very genuine. "I'm so sorry."

They let out a few other apologies and, even as it dumb as it may have been... the more it made Hinata feel less unsafe.

She knew that this could be a great mistake... but... this person also seemed incredibly honest.

And they were ace too.

Maybe...

"What do- Hinata!"

She couldn't help but giggled softly at Kiba's horrified shout.

"Are you crazy!? That's how college girls get murdered!" he flew out of his chair, pointing one accusatory finger right at Hashirama's face. "And you- you absolute creep! What did you think you were doing harassing a first-year!? Aren't you old enough to be her father!?"

The chattering of their fellow restaurant goers clearly ceased once Kiba began on a ramble of how horrified he was to finally hear the story of how Hinata and Hashirama had first met- she knew better than to pay any attention to the stares that were being sent their way.

As Kiba raved about how lucky they were that Hashirama wasn't a serial killer, she felt the way her partner's body heat came closer to her. When she turned to look at him, it was to find that Hashirama had leaned slightly into her side to whisper, "You weren't exaggerating when you said it would be for the best to wait for this."

"Not at all." she whispered back, keeping her eyes on the way that Kiba began to pace in place.

Orochimaru's cool eyes glared after their privileged friend with benefit to allow him to blow off some of his incredulity before they cleared their throat. Kiba's erratic words and actions ceased almost instantly- a testament to the kind of relationship that had been built between them.

Hinata didn't claim to understand how a relationship between two incredibly sexually active aromantic individuals worked out. But, seeing how she didn't feel that it was any more or less believable than her own relationship, she felt that there really wasn't much of a need to worry about it. Kiba and Orochimaru both seemed happy enough, after all.

"Kiba, please sit down." Orochimaru coolly called out, then glanced over at her with the slyest of smirks. "So I served as an accidental matchmaker? I feel that a round of gratitude is is order, dearest Hashirama."

Kiba threw himself back into his seat with his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed. Hinata reached across the table to grab his hands with hers, squeezing tightly.

"That could have gone so bad, Nana." he whispered; he looked at her with eyes that swam with horror.

"I know." she admitted, once again squeezing his hands. "I promise to never do it again."

Her best friend was clearly still struggling with everything, but eventually he sighed softly and nodded.

As the silence formed between them, Hinata heard the way that the regular sounds of common restaurant occurrences started back up around them. People were already getting over Kiba's outburst.

Hashirama's arm slid over her shoulders to pull her against his side as he cleared his throat, "If it makes you feel any better, Kiba, it's not like Hinata's going to go to any other party in her life."

"That is true, pup." Orochimaru murmured, "She only seems to enjoy those I throw- and even those are simple gatherings with known friends."

"Only because you got tired of dealing with drunken strangers." Kiba muttered with no real heat to his words. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and finally opened his eyes to glare at both her and Hashirama with what she knew was determination, not anger. "I better get to be a bridesmaid at the eventual wedding. I almost just had a heart attack."

Even if he hadn't expressed it openly, that meant that Kiba approved.

Hinata smiled at him before giving his hands one final squeeze and pulling her hands back to her sides.

Orochimaru once again stated how they expected a thank you from Hashirama for having inadvertently set them up, which prompted Hashirama to complain about how they couldn't just steal the show like that when he had done so much work to eventually get to dating Hinata. This started a conversation over how much of a love-sick puppy he had become in the time that they had danced around one another after they had first met, which made Kiba eventually mention how it was adorable that they had gotten together so many years after becoming friends even though they had basically been dating for forever.

At this point, Hinata interjected to say that it wasn't her fault that her friendship with Hashirama had come so easily- it was just proof that they were both just the right kinds of people to get along.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in good cheer.

To be the first double-date she had ever gone on in her life... Hinata had no complaints.