"No!" Hinata shouted in embarrassment. "I'm not wearing it."
"Come on, please?" Temari held up the piece of lace. "I got it for you!"
"You can keep it for your wedding!" Hinata offered with a pout.
"It would be too big for me," Temari commented. "Your thighs are bigger than mine."
"I'll fix it for you then. I'm not doing it." Hinata told her firmly.
"Fine." Temari tossed it on the vanity.
A knock on the door interrupted them. "Hinata?"
Hinata smiled, opening her arms as Hanabi peaked in the door. Temari pulled her hair out of the way so that she could hug her.
"Maybe you can convince her to wear it." Temari started.
"No," Hinata told her firmly.
"Fine… Fine…" Temari went back tediously, braiding the longer strands of the chain into her hair.
"What's this?" Hanabi touched the chains that dangled on her forehead gently.
"It's a wedding headpiece that takes the place of a veil or a traditional drape vale," Hinata explained.
"Odd, but pretty. What do you do if their hair is too short?" Hanabi fiddled with the front piece and turned it in the light, making the polished glass shine.
"Pin it in drapes or pull it back and hang it all in the back or down the sides." Temari filled. "But Hinata has this lovely long hair, perfect for weaving it in."
"I'm going to have fun getting it back out." Hinata giggled.
"I'll help," Temari told her.
"How's father?" Hinata asked.
"He doesn't seem pleased with the arrangements. He's already voiced he would have preferred a Hyuga-style wedding," Hanabi admitted.
"What's that like?" Temari asked with interest.
"Large layered wedding kimono, sheet-like veil, very formal, very practiced, very quiet, very ceremonial," Hinata answered.
"Oh, to hell with that." Temari scrunched her nose.
Hanabi laughed. "I like her. Maybe I'll marry Suna too."
"I'm taken," Temari faked a flip of her hair, which was all pinned up in a jeweled bun.
"Can you do that to my hair too?" Hanabi asked.
"I still have to finish this and her makeup," Temari explained.
"Sit down. I'll do it. I did Temari-chan's hair." Hinata patted her lap.
Hanabi happily plopped down on her knees, flatting her kimono. She laid her head back on her sister's lap, looking up with an adorable grin. Hinata couldn't resist. Temari gave her a comb and some accessories.
Sister time, Hinata thought with a hum.
"I do not believe I would have enjoyed one," Gaara explained. "And I do not believe her family would have appreciated the thought."
"But it's from their culture." Kankuro pouted.
"I certainly think the idea is degrading," Baki added.
"You're married." Kankuro defended. "You have to say that so your wife won't slap you."
"I agree. I do not believe 'stag night' is a good idea," Gaara ignored the laughing in his head.
"What is a stag?" Baki asked.
"Type of animal, known for living in wooded areas and are hunted for their meat," Gaara explained.
"Why do you know that?" Kankuro frowned.
"I had to ask Hinata," Gaara added.
"You told her?" Kankuro whined.
"She explained it months ago, around the same time she explained the bad luck of the groom seeing the bride the day of the wedding," Gaara explained. Baki scrunched his nose. "We're not practicing it. I don't understand it, and she isn't superstitious."
"Such odd customs," Baki mumbled.
Another knock came on the girl's door.
"The more, the merrier." Temari held out the piece of hair she was working on for Hinata to hold with her free hand. She opened the door. "Matsuri? Need something."
"I thought I would join you. Do you need help?" Matsuri asked, staring at the floor.
"Have you had your hair done?" Temari joked.
"Uh, no?" Matsuri touched the ends of her loose hair.
"Well, line up. Hinata's nearly done with Hanabi's, and she could do your next." Temari ushered her in.
"My hair's a little short," Matsuri mumbled bashfully.
"My hair used to be much shorter. I'll manage." Hinata put the last pin in her sister's hair. "You're done, Hanabi-chan." Hanabi popped up into her mirror, ecstatic, touching the pulled-back, twisted pieces carefully pinned. "Don't touch it."
Matsuri hesitantly sat at Hinata's knees. "Tell me if it hurts, okay?" Hinata told her as she gently combed back the sides. "Can you find me something to put in her hair, Hanabi-chan?"
"What about this?" Hanabi held up a large hairpiece. "You could pull it back and make it look like it comes into the flower."
"Not sure Matsuri-san would like something so flashy?" Hinata half replied half asked.
"No, no, thank you," Matsuri agreed.
"Something more delicate," Hinata pulled them back into one.
"What about that." Temari flicked her head with a mumble and pin between her teeth. "No, not that, the one to the left."
Hanabi held out what Temari pointed out. "Perfect." Hinata folded the ribbon and braided portions back in even spaces into one short ponytail she tucked to hide the ends back into the tie. "Hand me a pin, please."
Hinata pinned the ribbon and wrapped it down to make a simple bow at the bottom, letting the ribbon's ends hang. "Very classy," Temari told her.
"How am I supposed to put this on." Hanabi held up the pale sash the family at the wedding were all wearing.
"You could replace your obi since you're not wearing Suna garb." Hinata motioned toward her setting to work, helping her untie her obi and replace it.
"I like the color." Hanabi turned to see the knot when she had finished noting the golden sash.
"We had to go with a color that matched nearly everything. We weren't sure what you and your cousin would wear." Temari finished Hinata's elaborate braids.
"That's gorgeous." Hanabi's eyes glittered as she examined the finished product.
"Temari-chan used to weave." Hinata smiled proudly.
Matsuri got up and smiled in the mirror, running her finger over the tight braids and following back to her head. "Sorry, I can't do much more. I haven't done any weaving."
"No, I like it, thank you," Matsuri told her with a small nod and smile.
Kankuro leaned over her, being precise with her makeup.
"Put your tongue in your mouth before I make you bite it." Temari teased at his focused face.
"It's a thought focus thing, you would understand." Kankuro spat back. Temari rolled her eyes.
Hanabi laughed. "I should visit more often."
"It's never dull." Hinata smiled. "You know, the lighter paint looks good on you." Kankuro's usual heavy deep purple face paint was replaced with light-colored strokes only around his eyes.
"Don't talk if your lips aren't dry." Kankuro scolded. Hinata opened her mouth open like she was told.
Neji eventually fetched Hanabi but didn't come into the room. He was nervous about the whole wedding.
When Kankuro closed his set, Hinata looked in the mirror, glad to see neutral colors.
"I think it's lovely," Matsuri added with a smile of her own lightly painted lips.
"Where's your sash Matsuri-san?" Hinata noticed her dress robes didn't hold one of the sashes like Temari's, Kankuro's, or Hanabi's.
"Why would I have one?" Matsuri scrunched her nose. "I'm not in the wedding."
Hinata looked up at Temari in confusion. "You never said you wanted her in it."
"I thought it would be implicit. She's Gaara's apprentice and assistant. Baki's got one." Hinata frowned.
Matsuri's face scrunched, and she started to tear up. "Oh, no, no." Hinata waved her hands. "Don't do that. You'll ruin the nice makeup Kankuro-san did." Hinata held out her hands. Matsuri took them in a death grip as she sniffed.
"Not this stuff," Kankuro stated proudly.
"Do we have an extra family sash? I think she should be standing with us," Hinata thumbed over Matsuri's hands.
"I think we did in case of a wardrobe disaster. I'll go find it." Temari pat the teary girl on the shoulder before she headed out.