Chapter Text
Hinata tried not to let the disappointment show on her face as she stared into the mirror. Glitter sparkled in the light as she shifted. She was sure the silk and tulle would make someone else very happy.
But she hated it.
She hated the dress, but this was the last fitting. There was no changing it now.
She would have been happy with a kimono and a small ceremony, but between her sister, who insisted on the dress, and her soon-to-be mother-in-law, who initiated the big lavish wedding, she was getting the furthest thing from what she wanted.
“You look great.” Naruto peaked his head out from behind the curtain, straightening his suit. She was sure she did. The dress fit her body, just not how she wanted to see her body. “It’s strange to see you in something that fits.” He tilted his head in the mirror. “I like it.”
The pit in her stomach grew as she shoved the comment down because she was sure he didn’t mean how she took it.
Hanabi squealed from the other room, where she was putting on her bridesmaid dress.
At least someone was happy.
Naruto fought with his tie and wandered away to find someone to put it on for him. Hinata almost stopped him to help, but her stomach was in a knot, and she feared it would keep in on the train of thought he was one.
The sound of another set of new dress shoes brought her eyes up to meet one of Naruto’s groomsmen.
Shikamaru took a long look at her. “I liked the flowy flower one better.”
She slid her hands down the dress. She did, too.
“This is bordering on being disgraceful,” Hiashi said under his breath.
Hinata pressed her lips in a line. She wasn’t going to tell him that most of this was Hanabi’s planning. She was sure he wouldn’t believe her. She stood tall, walking through the venue as it was being set up. The only reason her father was even looking was because it was being held in a venue he owned, and he wanted to know just how much of a hit to his personal reputation this wedding would be.
“You would have done better to have something traditional.” Hiashi continued to complain.
Hinata hated when she agreed with her father because she knew they got there entirely differently, even if they came to the same conclusion. She liked the routine, the tradition, the simplicity, and the respect that was put into a traditional wedding. Her father just liked doing things his way.
Hiashi turned his head away from all the preparations like it was making him sick. “I have a contract I need you to look over. Come to my office before the end of tomorrow.”
“We have rehearsal…” Hinata tried.
Hiashi cut her off with a stern look. “Then you should come earlier in the day.”
Hinata’s mouth snapped shut. Hiashi gave her a final disappointed look before leaving.
Hinata sighed at the wedding preparations. Hopefully, it would be one stressful day, and then she would be married. Then she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.
Kushina squealed, holding the sides of Hinata’s face and squishing her with excitement. “Oh, you are going to be such a pretty bride.”
Hinata tried to smile, but she wasn’t sure if it was showing with the disfigurement of her face. She hoped that one day, her mother-in-law would learn that she wasn’t a fan of her particular aggressive brand of affection. Now was not the time to push back on it.
Grin and bear it. Deal with it after the wedding.
Kushina released her face and moved onto the next thing. “Everything turned out so wonderful.” Hanabi nodded in agreement. Hinata kept her mouth shut. “We should do a spa day tomorrow morning before the rehearsal dinner.”
“I can’t,” Hinata explained. “My father needs me in the office.”
“Oh.” Kushina’s face fell for only a moment before she came up with a solution. “Well, we will go get started, and if you have the time, then you can join us.”
Hinata nodded, feeling like it was silly to have a bridal spa day without the bride, but it wasn’t even something she was interested in. The last thing that she wanted before a day of high stress was people she didn’t know touching her.
Grin and bear it. It would be over soon.
Hinata tried to keep the concern off her face, but she could feel her brows knitting together as she looked at the contract. “I… I can’t sign off on this.” Hiashi’s face hardened. “This isn’t legal.” She explained.
“It’s a sound contract. I was on the board that wrote it.” Hinata felt her heart sink as he positioned himself at the head of this, which meant that she was going against him directly by turning it down.
“This isn’t legal.” She repeated. Hiashi didn’t flinch to even act like he heard what she said. “I can’t risk my license on this.”
“The license I paid for?” Hiashi raised an eyebrow. Was her father asking her to risk her whole law career on this single contract? Her mouth fell open. She didn’t even know what to say to that. She worked hard to do as he asked. She worked long nights reworking barely legal contracts to benefit the family company. She ripped her heart out, scaring off smaller businesses that had good legal standing to sue them. Was he trying to throw her away as an asset altogether in one last awful act? “Besides your tomorrow, you will no longer be a Hyuga.”
Oh.
Now she understood.
He knew he was washing his hands of her from the moment she got engaged. This was his opportunity to remove her from the company. Sign a bad contract and fire her when it went badly. Blame her for it, then watch as all the things she worked so hard for crumbled. All the things he made her work for.
“I won’t sign off on this.” Hinata shook her head. “I can’t.”
Hiashi gave her a stern look the usually worked on her, but maybe it was because she was too overwhelmed with everything else that she was going numb because she just got up and grabbed her bag. “I need to go. I have to be at the rehearsal.”
Her father didn’t so much as call after as she walked out, but she knew that he was staring daggers at her back. She could feel it.
Hinata blinked her eyes again. She only got a few hours of sleep before her wedding party woke her up. She was made up to her mother-in-law’s standards, dressed to her sister’s standards, and posed to the wedding photographer’s standards.
The only thing helping her through was Naruto sitting beside her, being corrected by his mother. At least she wasn’t the only one they had their energy on. He was more used to it than she was. He just smiled and did what he was told, with the occasional comment that made her snap at him, but he just laughed.
Would she have a relationship with her mother-in-law one day? She couldn’t even imagine it.
“We forgot something.” Hanabi brought in a small box with a smile holding it up.
Hinata’s heart dropped into her stomach as she revealed the lace of a garter. “I told you no.”
Hanabi pouted. “But it’s so much fun. You need to loosen up.”
“I am not doing it,” Hinata repeated, but her sister was already pulling it out of the box, ignoring her.
“Come on.” Hanabi pestered.
“No.” Hinata felt her temper rising. This was a low blow trying to do this right before they had the wedding. This was not the time to change things on her. Especially one of the few things she had put her foot down on that made her uncomfortable.
Hanabi looked at Naruto for help, and Hinata’s heart twisted up as he shrugged. “I think it’s fun.”
Hinata got up. She needed to get out of her before she actually snapped at her sister. “I’m not doing it.” She repeated as she headed for the door.
Behind her, she could hear Hanabi whimper. “She is no fun. It’s not that hard to do something that I want for once.”
Hinata felt her face get hot with rage as she twisted her fist in the dress’s tulle.
What hadn’t she done that she wanted?
All the rage left her at once as she thought about Naruto’s response. He didn’t want to defend her? She had already had a conversation with him about how it made her uncomfortable. He wanted everyone to be happy. Maybe he was just trying to keep the peace.
But shouldn’t she be the priority? Especially today?
Hinata came back after taking a moment to breathe. She paused in the doorway, hoping that her sister had gone onto pester someone else, and she had, but she found something worse.
Sakura’s smile glittered as she gestured down at her dress, one of the bridesmaid dresses that were picked out because the color matched Hanabi’s and Sakura’s skin tones. Hinata didn’t even want her as a bridesmaid, but that wasn’t a decision she was allowed to make either because if she had her pick, she would have had Shino and Kiba up there with her, but Hanabi insisted that she be a bridesmaid and that she needed another female friend to fill the other spot.
Sakura was too happy to walk with Sasuke down the aisle.
And the look in Naruto’s eyes while Sakura spoke made her blood run cold. That was the look he was meant to give her when she came down the aisle, and she knew that she wasn’t going to get it.
Hinata lifted her eyes to the ceiling as she felt them sting with tears. Her mother-in-law would kill her if she messed up her makeup. She shouldn’t even be getting upset about this, right? He was marrying her… she was the one he chose… right?
A handkerchief was held in front of her face. She took it and scrambled to blot her eyes until she could see enough to look at the person who gave it to her.
Shikamaru leaned against the door frame she was hiding in, with his head rolled to the side and his eyebrows raised. He was almost too perspective. It always felt like no matter how hard she hid something, he would know and judge her for it. That’s what the long, blank stares were, right, him silently judging her? “Are you okay with marrying a man who doesn’t love you as much as someone else?”
Hinata felt her pride well up hearing what she was constantly asking herself from someone else. “He’s chosen me. That means…”
“It means you were a better choice.” Shikamaru interrupted her. “Not that you were the choice he wanted.”
Hinata’s mouth fell open. “Why are you doing this?” Was it really the time and place of her wedding day to really prod a hot iron right into her biggest insecurity?
“It’s just a warning.” Shikamaru shrugged. “Do you really want to spend the rest of your life as number two?” She already was. “Even to your husband?”
That sat like a rock on her heart.
No, she didn’t, but she always wondered if she deserved better. She had always been number two in her life. No matter how much she tried, her sister was better, Sakura was prettier, and Sasuke was smarter. Even Neji wasn’t able to make it to her wedding.
She felt tears well up again and felt her face twist up against her will.
“Is there anything about this wedding you wanted?” No. “Even when you smile for the camera, it looks like you are forcing it.” She was. “If you’re not happy now, what makes you think you are going to be happy after you say ‘I do.’”
“It’s all I have to look forward to.” Hinata couldn’t believe that it came out of her mouth. This was the one thing that she had wanted for years: marrying the man she loved. That should be enough to make her happy.
Why wasn’t she happy?