Characters: Tenten, Hinata
Summary: Tenten knows chains when she sees them. And she's not surprised to be seeing them there.
Pairings: None
Author's Note: Not much to say here. Feedback would be appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Tenten knows chains when she sees them. She works with them in her weapons and has dealt with them on a level far more personal than she would have liked, so the rattling is familiar and the shine is immediately recognizable.

The silk of the other girl's shirt rustles with every movement she makes and Tenten hears the rattling of the chains underneath.

Hinata smiles demurely, but Tenten sees the truth beneath all the shyness and the semblances of innocent.

No one could be less innocent to the cruelties of human life than Hyuuga Hinata. And it is there that she is, irrevocably, chained.

Neji's chains are so obvious that the most untrained of observers can see them, though they can't always determine where they come from. Hinata's are far more subtle, but they drag her closer and closer to the ground, bring her even closer to eating dirt than her cousin. Her back is bowed, her shoulders hunched, and no one sees anything but the shy smiles.

No one but Tenten.

This comes as no surprise to her. Tenten is well-familiar with the machinations of the Hyuuga clan. All of their get are chained in some way, bound to tradition, to the Branch House seal, to their own isolation. None of them are doing themselves any favors.

And Hinata is no different. She doesn't talk about her pain or even acknowledge it, but Tenten knows it's there. She's been trained to see.

Tenten sees everything, and is utterly unsurprised.

She's waiting for the moment when Hinata will fall to the ground, finally, or simply stand up, and walk straight-backed despite what pulls at her from every angle.

NO one said chains ever have to cripple the wearer.