Thank you infinitely to all the people who found it in their hearts to send me a review and make me a favorite story and other happy stuff. It really makes my day when I have about 10 emails waiting for me, saying that my story is loved.

Dakara, domo arigatou gozaimasu! -bows-

Oh, and a disclaimer to the lovely Kishimoto Masashi, for being the brains behind the whole Naruto thing we love so much. It's not me and these aren't my characters, although I truly wish it was otherwise...

Anata wa ikkyou arimasu!

The plan was flawless. It was just the execution that would be riddled with problems. Operation: Naruto is amazing all relied on Hinata. She could make or break it. If he could get Sasuke to be with Hinata, he would be out of the picture to Sakura, giving himself a chance to swoop in. Provided that Sakura found that she liked him, and that Hinata would like Sasuke.

The more he thought about it, the more difficult it sounded. What if Hinata didn't like Sasuke? What if Sakura would still like Sasuke even if he were spoken for? What if Kiba somehow got into the mix?

So, all that he could do now was to impress Sakura the most he could. But if Sasuke were in the water, Sakura wouldn't pay him any heed.

"Oi teme, just sit and read your book." Naruto muttered to Sasuke who shot him an indignant glare.

He is such a hypocrite. Sasuke thought, though not about to argue. He chanced a glance at Hinata who was talking to Sakura, both of them on the chair. Her hair was so pretty, he noticed, just catching any hint of wind and going with it.

Accidentally locking eyes with Sakura, he looked away quickly, not wanting to lead her on. Maybe Sakura's attraction for him was as fleeting and flighty as he hoped Hinata's was to Naruto. If it was just a little fancy of Hinata's, then perhaps he had a chance. And with Naruto pressuring him to pursue her, this was looking up for the first time since he started to become entranced by her. Naruto was actually on his team, for if Sasuke were taken, Sakura wouldn't be so smitten.

"Hinata, is that your car?" Sakura asked incredulously, looking over at the red convertible.

"Uh, yeah actually."

Sakura got starry eyed. "Oh my god, can I got for a ride in it sometime?"

Hinata chuckled lightly. "Watch out Sakura, or I'll start thinking you like me for my toys…"

"You know I don't, but Hinata! That thing is beautiful! The color though… did you pick that out for yourself? I wouldn't think bright red is exactly your color…"

"Otousan got it for me. I've had it for half a year actually. I was going to return it—"

"You were going to return that piece of love?" Sakura interjected, craning her neck to look at it.

"—and then I drove it and thought better of my decision. I didn't drive it to school because people would… you know…"

Sakura knew. She didn't need to say a word. Some people at school kissed up to Hinata and Neji to get to Hinata, because she was rich and kind. She wasn't stupid though, she knew her friends, the ones who would never try to swarm up to her for a personal gain other than having her for a friend.

They sat together in silence for a second, thinking about their separate thoughts.

"It's hot, you should get in the water…" Hinata mumbled, looking up at the sun.

Sakura had been getting hot. It was nice being off the scalding sand, but she wanted to cool down. "Why don't you come in too?"

"Because I can't. Someone might start drowning—"

"Alright then, how long are you working?"

Hinata stopped and thought for a moment. She just barely remembered that morning that she had a job; let alone when she would get off. "I…I think all day, until the beach closes…"

"Ugh, that sucks." She said, starting to climb down the tall chair. "Well, when you get a break come hang out with us…"

"Who else would I hang out with?"

As soon as Sakura reached the water's edge, Naruto intercepted her and grabbed her waist, lifting her off the ground. She screamed and kicked happily for him to let her down but he just draped her over his shoulder and proceeded to walk out into the water. After a few moments of "Do you dare me to?" from Naruto to Sakura's screams he dumped her in the water.

Laughing when Sakura popped back up Kiba snuck behind him and completely pantsed him right in Sakura's view. Hinata quickly blushed and covered her eyes, though sneaking a glimpse of his butt through her fingers.

Then came the coup de grace. Kiba pushed Naruto over, successfully knocking him off his feet and in that few moments of no balance, Kiba stole his trunks.

Sasuke, who hadn't been paying attention to anything, looked up as Kiba ran past him, getting sand everywhere. He took one look at Naruto cowering in the water, a red Sakura laughing her head off and then glanced at Hinata who was reaching for the megaphone that was always at the chair. It was pretty funny, he would admit.

"Kiba you asshole! Give 'em back!" Naruto shouted from where he was, going deeper and deeper in the water.

Kiba fell over from laughing so hard. He was still clutching Naruto's orange swimsuit. Now people were starting to notice and laugh at the naked blond.

The thing was that Hinata wasn't so sure what to do. She clicked the megaphone on and off repetitively, wondering what her next move should be. As a lifeguard she should stop it, but as a friend, she knew Kiba would give them back eventually. Finally she clicked it on and turned up the volume, flinching at what she had to do.

"Uh… s-sir?" she squeaked, trying to get Kiba's attention without revealing that she was chums with him.

Kiba turned around, grinning at her. "Eh?"

"Could you please give his trunks back? T-there's other people at his beach besides you, you know…"

"Yes ma'am…" He shouted, giving her a salute and tossing Naruto's beloved shorts back at him.

As he struggled to put them back on, Sakura ran into the water again, having previously vacated it because of the rated R-ness. She was teasing him completely and paid for it when Naruto started chasing her around, pants on.

He likes her so much. There's no way. Hinata thought sadly, bracing her elbow on her thigh and holding her chin in her hand. No way he'll like me like that. It wasn't fair. She fell into despair as Naruto full out tackled Sakura in the water, coming up with him completely holding on to her
As the day passed, it lost none of its brutal heat, causing Hinata to debate taking off the shirt. Naruto and Sakura were lying out on their towels resting while Sasuke continued to read his book. Kiba was tossing a stick out in the water for Akamaru to go for, laughing at how much fun his canine friend was having. It was at that time, seemingly when no one was paying attention to her, that Hinata was approached by a beach go-er. It was a cocky college boy who walked up to her from his group of other cocky college boys.

"Hey,"

Hinata, having zoned out from sheer boredom, jumped slightly at being addressed. She looked the culprit up and down quickly, taking in his tanned beach body and dark hair cut semi-short.

"H-Hello."

"I've never seen you around here, are you new to lifeguarding?" He asked politely, though something annoyed her about him. Maybe it was the fact that he interrupted her Naruto-themed fantasies. But just because he annoyed her didn't mean she failed to stutter.

"Y-yes," She was reduced to short, one word answers. She talked as little as possible when speaking to a person she didn't know.

"Well, you fit the part well." He was gutsy; she'd give him that. But he wasn't Naruto. "Me and my friends think you're hot, but I was the only one brave enough to come up to you."

"Thank you." Whoops, that was 2 words, whatever. She was always polite, only saying 'thanks' when she was with good friends.

"Do you want to go out with me tonight?"

"Uh… n-no thank you." She muttered, slightly scared now. Never was she just asked out randomly, usually it was Sakura or Ino who were lucky enough to catch the male eye. Or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.

He pouted and leaned against the chair legs, implying that he wasn't leaving soon. "Aw, why not?"

"B-because I d-don't know you." She stated simply, trying to make him leave by being blunt. Then she moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to bodily settle the matter. Bad move on her part.

"Wow, you have really pretty eyes! I've never seen that color before, so pale…"

Hinata failed to respond to this. Couldn't he just leave?

"Well, it's settled, we're meant to be together!" He said, stretching in an attempt to show off. He was just as flirty as Kiba. But not nearly as handsome. She thought suddenly. It was true; this guy was just normal, grossly normal looking.

"H-how do you f-figure that?" Hinata was really uncomfortable now.

He just grinned. "Well, everybody has always told me that I have pretty eyes, so we have to be together!"

She looked at him for the first time since he first talked to her. They were just brown, kind of plain and bland. Tenten's eyes were a warm brown, and Shikamaru's were a really intelligent brown, but this guy's were just blah.

"I'm sorry, b-but I don't think it's a good idea…" Now she was taking the nice way out instead of just saying, "Fuck off," like Ino would if she didn't like the guy.

"I'll pay, I'll even buy you something nice! Please, give a guy a chance. I'm Simon by the way…" Simon begged, still persistent.

Hinata was getting a little scared now. What if he didn't leave? "I don't kn-know you."

"And yet you're not giving yourself the chance to get to know me better! Please?"

Her insides were just screaming for her to just spit out "NO!" but she couldn't do that. She was just too nice. I could always just go with him… she reasoned but thought better of it. That wouldn't get him to go at all.

Sasuke had been listening to the whole conversation from the start and he was starting to get angry. She turned him down, she was obviously scared and wanted him to go, but still he stayed! Such an asshole. It took all his self-control not to shout at the guy to leave her alone. I've never shouted at someone ever, what is she doing to me? He asked himself rhetorically.

"N-n-no."

She was stuttering badly now, a sure sign that she was distressed and scared. For him just to leave her alone was all he wanted. But he was not going to leave unless something or someone made him.

"If you don't want to go out with me, we could just fool around you know… I'm open to that."

Is he being serious?Hinata inwardly moaned. That was all he wanted from her! Maybe it would just be easier to give in, but she knew she couldn't do that. She glanced quickly over at Sakura and Naruto who were now joining Kiba in playing with Akamaru and back to the ever-so annoying Simon who was grinning now.

"Is this guy bothering you Nata-chan?"

She turned quickly to see Sasuke climbing up the chair. Nata-chan? What? Casually he took his seat next to her and snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her uncomfortably close.

"Who're you?" Simon asked, a flicker of anger crossing his features. He took a step back from the leg of the chair to look at him better.

"The boyfriend actually."

Hinata blushed insanely when Sasuke said that. At least someone came to her rescue! "Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked, catching onto the act quickly.

"So, you want to fool around with her, is that what I heard?" Sasuke asked coolly, pulling her more into his bare chest as he tried to get a better look at the perpetrator.

Simon turned his angry face smoothly into a sly grin. "Only when you're through with her I suppose."

Oh, he had some nerve. Sasuke had thought when he had initiated the Save Hinata plan that the guy would just back off but no!

"Do me a favor and fuck off."

Hinata was surprised by the venom in his voice and at the bluntness of the request. To her great surprise, Simon just left and rejoined his friends, shooting one glance back.

"T-they're leaving." She whispered, peaking in their direction to watch them packing up. "P-please don't leave j-just yet, I don't want them to c-come back…"

She said that for two reasons, and one of them was the one she said. But the other, less pure one was that she enjoyed his warmth. And he smelled really nice.

"Hn," Sasuke just nodded, hoping she didn't notice his heart beating unhealthily fast.

But she did. "A-are you okay? You… your heart is going crazy."

He sweat-dropped, trying to hide the small blush that was collecting on his cheeks. Since when did he blush, ever? Despite having caught him, or rather his heart, she definitely failed to notice why he would be anxious around her.

"Do you want to some water?" She held up a bottle that was at the bottom of her chair by her feet. All he did was look down; casting his hair in front of his face to hide is oh-so obvious feelings.

"No, I'm fine. They're gone now…" he mumbled, retracting his arm speedily. He wanted to get away but at the same time was desperate to be by her. Even if she didn't know him or trust him well enough to quell her stutter…

Why? Why does she still stutter around me? He asked himself, starting to climb down the chair. Because I don't talk to her like Kiba and Sakura do… Now he was going bipolar! All because of her!

Sasuke was about halfway back to his spot when Hinata called after him. "S-Sasuke-san?"

Suddenly dreaming that she was calling him back to confess her new, budding love for him and that there was a hidden reason behind her calling only him by such a title, he was completely mistaken for she only muttered, "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm sure you'd do the same thing if I was getting attacked by an annoying college boy…" He muttered, facing her with his trademark smirk. The 'I'm cooler than you so be happy I'm talking to you' one.

She just smiled a real smile and put her sunglasses back on. It made his heart melt. That was how completely smitten he was.

It was 5ish when Hinata took a break. She noticed that Kiba and Naruto had driven somewhere, but had left their belongings, implying they were to be returning. Sakura could have been just relaxing or sleeping, she couldn't see well through the sunglasses. Sasuke was nearing the end of his book too, the part he liked the most.

Something about the fact that everything in the whole play up to the climax led beautifully to an explosion of realization made him love to read that part. The emotional catharsis was a good purge from the rising tide of angst and tragedy.

Humming a small tune to herself, Hinata walked over to them, but stopped about 5 feet away, noticing that Sakura was either unconscious or not in the mood to talk to her. Sasuke was the only one there. He looked absorbed in the book and she would have just sat down quietly had she not glimpsed the title.

"You're reading Romeo and Juliet?" She asked softly, standing next to him in the sand, smiling down. "I like that book."

He just grunted. "Hn,"Since when does she fail to stutter when she talks to me? Maybe it's a one on one thing… or maybe it's the book! We have a shared interest!

Pretending to read, Sasuke tried to figure out what was going on. It was probably that Sakura was out for the count and Naruto and Kiba was off getting food. So Hinata found she had to talk to him. Or that's what he thought.

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She cooed softly, reciting from memory, as he wasn't on that page. That was a bold and daring move from her end, to start that whole part.

It was incredible how happy that made him. She was a Shakespeare lover obviously; otherwise she wouldn't have been able to recite that. He was impressed that she not only knew the classic "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" that everybody did, but also the last three lines of her little speech.

He even knew the next line without looking. "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"

Hinata giggled and sat down on the sand next to him, her dark curtain of hair flying about. "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, not arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without the title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for thy name, which is no part of thee, take all myself."

"I take thee at they word. Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."

"You two are solame!" Sakura called, taking off her sunglasses groggily as she stared at the pair of them.

Immediately Hinata let loose a little "Eep!" and blushed furiously where Sasuke just closed his book at glared at his friend.

"I mean, Sasuke-kun I get, 'cause he likes English, but Hinata, I have NO idea where that came from."

She started pushing the pads of her fingers together in her anxiety of being put on the spot, especially after being caught talking like that. "Um… I—"

"WHO WANTS CHICKEN?" Kiba called to them, drawing attention to the fact that he, Akamaru and Naruto had returned from their food-search. Naruto raised a huge box of chicken in the air as Kiba said that, grinning ear to ear.

Smiling vaguely at Kiba, Hinata deliberately looked anywhere but at Sasuke and Sakura, and since looking at Naruto would just be a no-no, Kiba was her ticket out.

"Alright guys, lets eat!" Naruto called, plopping down and dishing out the napkins to the girls and Sasuke. Hinata took a wing delicately, gasping lightly as her fingers brushed Naruto's in the handoff.

Noticing this, Sasuke frowned. It'll take more than reciting Shakespeare to make her forget Naruto…

It would indeed.