June 3rd, a Saturday.

Hinata looked at her calendar, scratching her chin. It was circled a few times with a giant red permanent marker. Why though? She thought to herself, tilting her head. That was today! There was something she probably had to do today that she couldn't remember.

Tossing aside her Hello Kitty collectible calendar, she started to walk around her room, raking her memory. Normally she was really good about remembering just about everything, but she failed to understand the screaming red message circling the date. Finally getting exasperated she plopped herself down on her bed stomach up.

The kitten she received from her nanny as a ridiculously belated 18th birthday gift hopped up on the dark purple spread and padded over to her. It stepped lightly onto her stomach before working it's way up to just below her breasts and settling down.

"Komatsu-chan, what did I forget?" she murmured, twirling her fingers in the kitten's long, gray-blue fur. Komatsu only mewed in response, flipping around so she was on her back.

Well, school has been out for a week, so it can't be anything scholastic… Maybe it's… Oh!

She sat up, rudely flinging a now tousled Komatsu off. Today was the day she was to start at her new job!

It was true that Hinata was very well off and that money wasn't a problem, but she just wanted a job just so she could have something to do with herself during the summer. So, she had applied for a summer job through her school and got a pretty good one.

"Hinata, why do you need a job? You're a fucking heiress!" Kiba questioned, leaning on her shoulder as he looked at the card she was given.

"Because, Kiba-kun, I wanted one." She answered with quiet authority. She never really stuttered around people she knew as well as Kiba. But when it came to others, especially a certain blond haired idiot, it was pretty bad.

"And you always get what you want don't you?"

Kiba was always making fun of her for being who she was, a Hyuga. Ever since they were in middle school he would joke about it. Being as gentle and even-tempered as she was, she just took it directly.

"Wow, nice one! Hyuga Hinata: Lifeguard. I'm going swimming every single day."

He was always hitting on her too.

"As long as you don't drown on purpose, I have no problem with that…" She muttered, shrugging him off her shoulder and picking up her bag to walk to her next class. "Come on, we'll be late…"

Lifeguard. Guarder of Lives. That was all she wanted to do anyway. She hated to see people hurt especially when she could have done something about it. And now she was in the perfect position for it.

She was due to report to the beach at noon, and it was 10, so she decided that she was going to get everything together, the red lifeguard suit, her first aid kit, towel, sunglasses, suntan lotion and finally her little red whistle they had given her when she got the lifeguard job.

Honestly, she hoped that nobody would drown or get hurt on her watch. It wasn't as if she couldn't save someone in that situation, it was more that she really didn't want to have to. I'm like Shikamaru, 'saving people is too troublesome…' She thought with a smile.

Finally at 11:30, she decided to put on the dreaded red swimsuit. Well, dreaded for her, most likely not for anyone else. The fact was that last year, when Ino applied for the lifeguard job, she basically has a piss fit when she figured out what she would be wearing. So she petitioned and somehow, through her father's connections, got the opportunity to design the new swimsuit.

So, instead of the normal screaming red one-piece with the first aid sign on the chest, it was now bordering on scandalous. But it really wasn't, Hinata just didn't like the idea of revealing so much skin.

The suit was now a two-piece bikini with the first aid insignia on the waist. If her father knew she would be sporting that suit for her job, she didn't even know what would happen. She was the kind of person who would always wear a one-piece, probably to her death.

It wasn't as though she didn't have a good frame, because she knew she did. She just didn't want people gawking at her and seeing her so exposed. Ino, why did you have to be so persuasive?

Putting it on with a grimace, she looked at herself. It did look good. Too good. With all the creepers and stalkers out there, covering up was one of the ultimate defenses—besides being ugly, of course. So instead of just wearing that, she fished out a cream-colored tunic and threw it on over the suit. After looking at it in the mirror for a few moments, one side slid down her shoulder showing half of the top. She sighed, shaking her head.

It took a few moments of digging around in her large, cherry red, leather handbag (that she rarely used) to locate her keys. Using her impeccable sense of touch she felt for the tiny stuffed Kyuubi key chain, and in doing so found her keys. Grabbing the ring in her teeth she once again dove into the perilous depths of her bag to fish out her iPhone to check the time. 11:47, 13 minutes left.

Nimbly opening the door that led to the garage, she took the keys from her mouth and pressed a button, grinning as she heard her car start with just the touch. In the garage she sidestepped around her father's shiny, black Mercedes Benz, her cousins silver, little and yet powerful Saab, and various other spectacular cars belonging to other people who lived in the Hyuga manor.

Before her stood her crown jewel, the gift received from her father for her 18th birthday that she was almost too humble to accept. Almost. Hinata was actually thinking about returning it and giving the money away until… well… she drove it.

The surge of adrenaline that coursed through her veins when she first tested the acceleration, the feel of the cool, black leather on her hands as she grasped the steering wheel, and how the shiny red exterior reflected the sun just called to her. She could NOT give this up. Though not one for cars and flashy things, she allowed herself to indulge in just a little Porsche. Just one, though, I mean, she wasn't excessive.

Ahem.

It was a red convertible Porsche Boxster S with it's top up, for now. Not her style at all, but she loved it. Kiba was ecstatic about it and she new Shino liked it too, from knowing him so well to understand when he liked something. Both Shino and Kiba had been her best friends ever since 8th grade, when they were assigned to work together on a yearlong project. At first none of them particularly liked the situation, but soon realized that they worked well together with Kiba the loudest, Shino the quietest and Hinata somewhere in the middle.

Hiashi-sama did not know that she had two boys for best friends, one of which was a notorious flirt. Hinata was good about keeping things on the down low, and was also good about sneaking them around the house whenever they were there. Ninja tactics at their finest.

Getting in her car that was already running from the ignition button on the key, she switched her large, vintage sunglasses from the top of her head to her nose, running her fingers through her hair to fix it. Right when she was about to put the car into drive, her phone rang loudly, buzzing noisily on the leather interior of the passenger seat. Sighing as she reached for it, she frowned when she saw the picture id of Sakura in a victory pose. What does she want to talk about? We just hung out last night… She thought, biting her lip before answering the call.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan." Hinata said lightly, using her usual polite morning greeting.

"Hinata-chan? It's not still morning is it? Oh, well, I guess technically…" Sakura said sounding slightly flustered.

"Eh?" She said, taking the phone away from her ear to look at the time on the screen. 11:58, shit. "Sakura, I'm kinda late for work, but never mind that. What's going on?"

"I've been calling people all day, since 8 this morning. Ino and Naruto managed to have a skulls session and decided that the party we had at the end of the school year wasn't enough. And since last year was senior year, 'it's all the more necessary'!" Sakura said, and Hinata could visualize her rolling her eyes.

"So, they got you to invite people?"

"Yeah, I owe Ino, so I'm 'helping', and by helping, I of course mean doing all the work. She called me at 7:30… during summer… on a Saturday. That's like, a double negative…"

Hinata chuckled; drumming her neat, self-done French manicured nails on the wheel. "A positive then… so, I'm invited?"

"Of course you are… It's on Tuesday the 6th at Ino's house. At… uh, 8. Going from 8 to whenever I think… Yeah, that's it."

"Ano, who's all going?" Hinata muttered, picking at a spot on her chin while looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror. That was a question she hated asking, because it sounded like she was judging if she was going or not solely off the company.

"Naruto's going, don't worry. He's the one to plan it after all…"

"Oh! R-right…"

She totally forgot he was the co-planner. Trust Sakura to know exactly whom she was asking for.

"It's going to be all of us, but I need you to invite Neji, Lee and Tenten since you're related to one of them."

"And you don't want to talk to Lee, right?"

Sakura moaned over the phone. "Uh huh, he's pestering me like mad. He really doesn't know when to give up!"

"Yeah, you know you like the attention…" Hinata shot, taking down the top of the convertible, having decided she wanted it down today.

"Shut up."

"Sorry, Sakura. I have to be getting to the beach." She said, knowing that their conversation had gotten out of the 'necessary' stage and moved into the 'idle talk' realm of wordplay.

"The beach? Why?" Sakura asked, honestly curious. Hinata knew she loved going to the beach.

"I'm working as a lifeguard this summer."

"Oh, through the school program? I was thinking of doing that, but I decided fucking around this summer would be more fun…"

"Sakura, I'm late, if you want to talk, come to the beach, okay? I'll see you later!"

"Bye."

Laughing to herself, Hinata cancelled the call and tossed her phone back into her bag. She was a few minutes late, which was fine.

Ever since she started high school, she began to calm down and take things as they came. It was a great leap from her timid, nervous self when she was twelve. So, she knew she couldn't do anything about being any faster without breaking the law, and she wasn't going to hate herself or Sakura for talking too long. Taking things calmly was just what she did now.

Pressing the button to open the garage, she waited, smiling as the door opened up enough for the sun to get in her face. I'm so spoiled… She thought contentedly. She really wasn't that kind of girl; she was one of the people who take the small gift over the large one. She was one of those people who never took something unless she needed it, and sometimes not even then.

She was privileged, but never took advantage of it. Only this particular situation brought out how lucky she really was. Cruising through the sunny streets in a bright red convertible with the wind streaking through her long, perfectly straight hair, rushing off to a job she definitely did not need, Hinata just looked like an heiress. It was reminiscent of Paris Hilton; only the Hyuga was prettier and… well… not crazy.

Pulling up in a turn off near the beach, she looked and saw that there was no one in the towering, white wood lifeguards chair. She was the first one today, so that was to be expected. From what she could see, there were only a few people there this early, which was good. Once she waked up to the chair, she flipped the sign to say, "Lifeguard on Duty" and climbed her way up to her post.

The sun was merciless today, no clouds to speak of and no wind either. Hinata put on a mountain of sun block, focusing on her nose and the back of her neck, the places where she most prone to burn.

After a few hours, many more people started to spill in. This was the best beach in the city, and it was the hottest day in a while. She was tempted to take off the shirt she was wearing above her suit, but thought better of it, given the amount of people now at the beach.

Around two in the afternoon she saw a familiar car rolling down the street. A green Jeep Wrangler. It parked about 100 feet away, under a willow tree that was on the boulevard.

Kiba stepped out of the driver's seat, twirling his keys around his finger with a smug air, his dark aviator sunglasses resting on his nose. She smiled and waved, causing him to run his hand through his hair in an attempt to show off his chest and biceps. Akamaru jumped out of the back to join Kiba where he patted his great white dog on the head before starting to walk over to her.

Out of the front passengers seat came Sakura with wearing her hair up in a messy bun and a green bikini. She shook out her white boho skirt and took out a pair of small but still awesome sunglasses. She followed Kiba's gaze and gave Hinata a thumbs up, signaling that she took Hinata's invitation to come to the beach seriously.

To her horror, Naruto jumped out of the backseat of the open car, shaking his hair and laughing at something that someone said just a few moments before they parked. Hinata's breath caught, watching him in all his glory. He, like Kiba, wasn't wearing a shirt, which caused a pink tinge to grow in her cheeks. Oh my.

She didn't even notice Sasuke jumping out of the other back seat. He was the only boy there with a shirt on and a book in his hand, though unknown to her. Naruto always stole her gaze, even when he wasn't even paying her any attention.

"HINATA!" Sakura called, waving her sunglasses in the air from the street. As she did, Naruto, smiling his foxlike grin, undid the bow that held her top on, causing her to catch it before it revealed anything.

Hinata frowned, knowing that he would never do that to her. She glanced at Kiba and saw that he was laughing with Naruto and then saw Sasuke for the first time. Since when has he been here?

It took a second for Sakura to double-knot her tie before she smacked Naruto upside the head. Hinata's heart sank. Sakura flirted with him whether she knew it or not. She couldn't help it, they were friends, but there was a possibility of becoming more. Until Sakura realized that Sasuke would never be with her, she wouldn't be able to see past her infatuation. As soon as she opened her eyes more, she'd realize why Naruto was such a good catch.

And as soon as that happened, Naruto would be lost. Hinata knew that, and she was caught between being happy for her friend and being depressed on account of Naruto. It was basically a lose-lose situation unless she could somehow pluck up the courage to admit how she felt.

This was going to be a fun afternoon.