5 Beach

The weather had been considerably hot for the last few weeks. Trying to complete missions became more of a task in the heat. My team and I had been back from our last mission about two days when Ino burst into my apartment door shouting beach at me. So the next day this is where we were. The Konoha 11 plus Sai. I had never been one to wear a bikini so it was hidden under a tank top and shorts. I sat under an umbrella out of the sun with my feet digging in the cool sand. I preferred to sit and watch, especially after the amount of missions I had just completed.

I wasn't alone though. Neji was sat with me under the umbrella reading a book on ancient fighting styles. He never stopped training, even when we relaxed. As I looked out into the ocean, Ino, Sakura, Lee and Shikamaru were swimming about and splashing each other, Hinata and Naruto were building a sand castle big enough to live in and Choji was sat eating away. Kiba and Akamaru were playing catch with a Frisbee and occasionally Akamaru went in the ocean and made a bigger splash than Lee. Ino wasn't impressed when Akamaru sent a wave over her body. Shino was the last one left. He was sat under his own umbrella with his bugs playing in the sand.

"Why don't you go and have fun with the others?" Neji had spoken up, but didn't take his eyes off his book.

"Why don't you stop training for one day and have fun?" I joked back at him.

"Fair point." He had put his book down. "Come on, let's get out in the sun."

"No, I'm fine under here." I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs.

"No, you need to get out and have some fun. You are moaning at me, so now it's my turn."

I sat there, motioning that I wasn't going to budge. As I sat there staring out onto the sand, I suddenly felt some hands grab my waist and lift me up. I was now lumped over Neji's shoulder and being dragged into the sun.

"Neji put me down." I kept kicking and screaming and he never said anything. He just kept walking. After a few seconds of being a dead weight, my body crashed into the cold water of the ocean. Shock ran through my face from the coldness. I screamed out Neji's name and everyone turned around to see a drenched me. I lashed up out of the ocean and chased after Neji. I managed to catch him up and jump on his back. He lost his balance and we both fell into the shallow ocean. Now we had started something. Neji and I continued to splash each other with water and bit by bit more people joined in. Eventually, all of us were in the ocean dousing ourselves in water to the point where my hair was falling out of its buns. I pulled out the pony tails and allowed my soaking hair to fall down. The term 'I could let my hair down' totally described today.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky was turning a shade of red. My clothes were still wet and I had taken my tank top and shorts off about an hour ago to try and dry off before we headed home. I still felt so awkward just being in my bikini and all I did was wrap my arms around my legs to cover myself up. I was sat by myself on the beach waiting for the rest of the group to return with some food. I volunteered to save our spot and Neji did ask if I wanted him to stay and keep me company but I said I was fine. Just being sat by myself in the bikini was embarrassing enough. After another five minutes everyone returned and Hinata leant down to hand me a packet of freshly cooked chips. She sat to the left of me and we both started tucking into our food. A few seconds later I felt something warm cover up my shoulders. I looked round and saw Neji had placed his shirt around me. I put my chips down and buttoned up the shirt. Finally I felt normal again. I gave Neji the biggest smile and continued munching on my food.

When everyone had settled, the usual conversation began to flow. Naruto challenge Choji to a competition to see who could eat their food the quickest, well you can guess who won that. Choji finished his plate before Naruto could even say start. Naruto went into a sulk and Hinata tried to cheer him up. I couldn't help but think how adorable it was the way Hinata tried to convey her emotions towards Naruto. Maybe one day I might be like that, but then again, I doubt any man would show any interest in a girl like me. I was a tomboy and I loved my weapons, I'm not exactly your typical girl.

We all sat until the sun had completely set before going home. I was still wearing Neji's shirt all the way home. I offered to give it him back, but when he picked up my clothes he said they were still slightly damp. It took about twenty minutes to walk back to my apartment.

"I can give you back your shirt Neji. Just give me a few minutes to change and you can have it back." I told him.

"It's fine. Keep it. I shall see you soon for some more training." He waved me goodbye and started walking home. He handed back my clothes and I realised that they were dry. When I went to look up and get Neji's attention, he was gone. Many thoughts started flowing through my mind, but the one that stuck out was 'why did he let me keep his shirt?'

I don't understand Neji sometimes.