"Why are you wearing that hat? Are you hiding from the paparazzi?" Sasuke asked, dodging the wide brim of her sunhat, not for the first time.

"I burn easily." Hinata spoke under large black sunglasses.

He wasn't sure if she was being truthful. Her skin was light, but honey colored, and he couldn't stop himself from thinking of her in his mind as gorgeously bronzed.

"Sure." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Which is probably why we should get a gazebo."

He could see her roll her eyes even through the blacked out lenses. They had already had the conversation several times since he suggested they come to the beach. Her only request had been that she just wanted to go to the public beach, not the privatized area that you had to pay to get into.

Instead of cabanas, drinks with umbrellas in them and little appetizers with as many fresh towels as they wanted to request, Hinata packed a cooler with bottles of water and some sandwiches, a camping chair and a striped multi color beach towel.

"Whatever you want Princess." Sasuke sighed, watching for her frown from the corner of her eyes. He hid his smile by dragging out another pair of their revenge keys from his pocket, swinging them around his fingers.

"The beach is nice enough. You don't need all that pretentious stuff to enjoy-" She stopped mid sentence, staring straight ahead.

Sasuke followed her line of sight.

Out on the public beach, after scanning through a few unfamiliar faces, he stopped at the cropping of bright blonde hair and deep tan skin. He paused, looking back at Hinata. Her face hadn't changed to give anything away, but he could see the stiffness of her back. The tightness of her jaw.

He looked back to see if Naruto had even noticed them, which of course, he hadn't. All of Naruto's attention seemed to be focused on a strawberry blonde. Sakura.

He wanted to ask Hinata if she was alright, but of course he didn't. He couldn't have her thinking he actually cared about her. That this all wasn't some kind of dumb game to him, a bored rich kid. Luckily it wasn't he who broke the silence.

"I think I changed my mind." She spoke, her voice soft but firm.

"On?"

"I'd like to get a cabana." She stated.

He smiled at the back of her straw hat as she turned on her flip flop heels and marched over to the entrance of the private beach.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A young blonde in khaki shorts and a royal blue polo embroidered with the company logo on the front pocket stood at the entrance behind a podium.

Hinata removed her sunglasses, smiling. "Hi, I was wondering if we could rent one of your gazebos?"

The blonde glanced up at Sasuke and practically beamed before returning to look at Hinata. "I'm sorry but we're booked today for the public." She spoke to her like Hinata was a six year old who had wandered up to the podium unattended.

"Oh, I'm actually a club member." Hinata corrected politely, unphased by the catty attitude.

"Again, I am so sorry. We are completely booked." The blonde replied, her tone losing the customer service altogether.

"I totally understand." Hinata nodded. "Is there any way I could have a word with your supervisor real quickly?"

Sasuke could see the contempt simmering in the blonde, not even trying to hide it.

"Of course." She bit out before stomping away.

As soon as she was gone, Hinata started digging through her massive tote bag. "Shut up." She muttered.

Sasuke couldn't have hid his smile even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. "I didn't say anything."

She wrestled her wallet out of the bag before glaring at him. "Don't." She warned. "I know what you're doing."

He laughed lightly. "What am I doing?"

She leveled him with a stare that nearly knocked the smile off his face. Under the wide brim of her beach hat, her chin tilted up in a challenge. Her mouth was set, puffing up her pretty pink lips. Her beautiful, gray eyes narrowed, fanning her thick black lashes. He swallowed hard, looking away quickly.

He still saw Naruto and Sakura in the same spot. He bit the inside of his cheek, twirling the key in his hands, trying to ground himself. He didn't even notice when the blonde and who he assumed to be the manager returned until he heard Hinata's voice.

"Yes, I completely understand. Making a reservation just slipped my mind. I was just wondering if there was anything you could do?" Hinata smiled sweetly, handing over her membership card.

The man nodded, giving her a tight smile. "Yes, it gets booked pretty quickly." He grabbed her card, giving it a quick glance, humoring her. "Especially this time of year. I would suggest calling and checking the reservation list about a week ahead of time, Ms…." He paused reading her name.

Within seconds the man's eyes shot back up, wide, then down at the card again. He did that a few times while sputtering. "Ms. Hyuuga?"

Hinata gave him a small, forgiving smile.

"What a surprise. We weren't expecting a visit from one of our Platinum Members." He smiled, his voice sounding like he had sucked a whole helium balloon, shooting a quick glare at the blonde, who looked like she was about to throw up. "Let me check again, we always have something open because of scheduling." He laughed nervously.

Hinata nodded again. "That would be lovely, thank you."

"Is there any spot you had in mind, Ms. Hyuuga?" The manager hip-checked the blonde out of his way, taking her spot at the podium and scrolled on the iPad they had sitting there.

"If it's available, could we have a cabana on the left hand side?"

The manager looked up, confused. "Are you sure you don't want one further up the beach?"

Sasuke was sure they didn't get many Platinum Members requesting cabanas closest to, and in sight of, the public beach.

"Anything on the left side would be perfect, thank you." She didn't budge.

Sasuke had to hand it to her, this was probably the most respectful Karen moment he had ever witnessed. Being groomed by Hiashi Hyuuga had inlaid a spine of steel under all the shy eye flutters and sweet smiles.

"Of course, we'll get one of those ready for you straight away Ms. Hyuuga." The manager just gave one glance to the blonde that sent her running off. "Is there anything we can get you and your guest?"

Sasuke wondered if he would've been recognized if he didn't have his Oakley's on, and was glad that he did.

"We're fine, thank you." She gestured to her tote bag. "But if you are having to move a guest for us, can you please put their bill on my tab?"

"Oh, Ms. Hyuuga, that won't be necessary."

"I insist. Please. It's the least I can do as a thanks for being so accommodating." She smiled.

The blonde walked back up to the podium, giving her manager a nod.

He looked at the employee with narrowed eyes, silently promising that the situation was not over before he turned back smiling. "Alright, Ms. Hyuuga, if you'll please follow me."

Sasuke waited a moment before following Hinata. He wasn't sure how he felt about her clearly desperate attempt to make her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend jealous. He was sure that he liked her newfound pizzaz. It was interesting. He had always found her intriguing, but this had opened a new door in her previously closed off personality. He liked the peak inside.

He also liked the peak of her ass as he followed behind.

"If this one is not to your liking-"

"It's perfect. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for all the trouble. I'll make sure to reserve one ahead next time." She smiled.

"It was no problem." He shook his head adamitely. "Are you sure we can't get you anything Ms. Hyuuga?"

She nodded. "Yes, we're fine, thank you." She set her bag on the closest chair to her. "Oh, before you go, I just wanted to say, the girl at the front was extremely helpful. I can tell you're a great manager."

The mans face turned as red as the Kool-Aid Man's, sputtering like he had been completely struck dumb by the compliment. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I found this key on the ground back there." He tossed the pair at the guy, watching him fumble to catch them against his chest. He pushed past him into the cabana, grabbing the sheer white curtain, pulling it closed behind him.

He flopped down on the chair next to her, watching her rummage through her bag. She pulled out water bottles and sandwiches, setting them on the table between them.

"Mine's PB and J. Yours is a club." She pointed out the obvious difference between the two sandwiches. "Extra tomato." She added that tidbit without even looking at him.

She… remembered his lunch order from school?

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, looking away, over at Naruto and Sakura who hadn't noticed him yet. "Thanks."

"Do you need sunscreen?" She asked.

The 'no' was on the tip of his lips before the little idea bulb in his brain turned on with a ding.

"Yeah, come here." He stood up, walking to the left side of the cabana.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

He turned back to her. "You wanted to make them jealous, right?"

She looked down at the bottle of organic sunscreen. "I don't usually act like this." She admitted, so contrite it sounded like she was in a confessional.

He ignored her statement. He already knew that about her.

"Let's make them jealous." He backend her closer with a nod of his head.

She approached him slowly, like she was approaching a wild animal. He could practically hear the universal chant of 'it's more scared of me than I am of it' going off in her brain. And if he were ever truly honest with himself, he'd admit that was true.

He moved so she could stand in front of him, her back to the public beach. Sasuke still had a perfect view of the two over her massive hat, considering she was five foot nothing. He reached back to grab the collar of his black T-shirt, and pulled it up over his, flexing his biceps. He tossed it back, roughly near where he thought his chair would be.

"Slather me up."

She frowned. "Are they even looking?"

Sasuke glanced up just in time for Naruto to look his way. He watched his friend gaze almost leave him until at the last second his eyes snagged. His head shot back, smiling on instinct until he saw who was in a giant straw hat.

Thankful that he kept his sunglasses on, to keep his own line of sight ambiguous.

Watching the smile drop off of his friends fast nearly erased every amount of joy Sasuke had previously received from watching Hinata be the most polite bitch he had ever seen. The open stare of disbelief and betrayal made his stomach curdle.

"He's looking."

Hinata looked down at her shoulder, almost like she was going to turn around herself but stopped. Instead she uncapped her sunblock and squirted a handful into one hand before handing off the bottle to him.

"Turn around."

He was only happy to oblige, not wanting to watch his friend's look of betrayal. It only took a moment for him to remind himself that Naruto had been sleeping with Hinata's best friend, behind her back, for three months to ease some of the ache off. That and Hinata's hands on his skin.

She started off up at his shoulders, the sunblock cold on his skin. He shivered, feeling her hands glide up near his neck, then down his spine.

"Sorry about my hands. I've been back at the gym lately with my sister." She apologized quietly.

Sasuke squinted his eyes shut, trying to listen to her words instead of feeling her palms glide across his ribs.

"Gymnastics, right?" He asked like he didn't watch her meets in high school.

"Mmmhmmm."

She stopped abruptly. "You can reach the rest."

She moved to walk past him before he grabbed her elbow. "What about you?"

She looked up at him, almost looking at him like one would a homeless man. Sasuke tilted his head in her ex's direction, half smiling at her. She still waited a moment before removing her gigantic hat. She set it down lightly on her bag before slipping off her dress. She hadn't worn a sexy, see through, swim cover up like most. She had worn a spaghetti strap dress that went past her knees in the material of a soft t-shirt. She wore a conservative black one-piece underneath, but it was more than enough to warm him back up from the coldness he got from seeing Naruto.

Sasuke turned around abruptly, suddenly not wanting Naruto to see her. And even though it defeated the purpose of his original proposal, she still grabbed her curtain of hair and tossed it over her shoulder, giving him her back.

He watched the long silky strands move almost in slow motion revealing the curve of her back. His mouth dried like she was stark naked in front of him. Her shoulders were so much more narrow than his own, her arms indecently slim and smooth. Quickly he squeezed some sunblock into his hands, trying to remember his task, which was only lost from his mind again as his hands touched her skin.

She was so soft and smooth as he watched the little baby hairs on her back mat down with the thick consistency of the cream.

He couldn't shake the image of leaning down and running his tongue along the tail he was making, feeling the down soft baby hairs with his lips as he kissed her.

He cleared his throat quickly, and in a desperate attempt to prevent himself from getting a full hard on in his swim trunks, he blurted "You have hair on your back."

She turned, looking at him like Itachi did when he was bothering him. "You know all mammals have hair on their bodies. Even marine mammals."

Quickly he threw himself down on his chair and grabbed the sandwich she had made for him, wrestling it from the ziplock bag before shoving half of it into his face. He chewed hard, like it was cardboard and not his favorite sandwich, with… extra tomato?

Fuck.

Not only was he desperately trying to not think about other places he could lick on her, but there was extra tomatoes???

"Is it okay?" She asked, peering over at him.

He kept his gaze set straight on the ocean, knowing there was no way he could meet her eyes now. "Fantastic." He huffed, breathing hard through his nose.