Chapter 8

The next morning, Hinata texted everyone that she knew for sure was coming in one big group chat with the address to her family's beach house.

'The last time I was there was last summer when Mom was still alive.'

It was a tradition for the two Hyuuga sisters to take a short trip with their mother every year in July, but that didn't happen this time for obvious reasons. Tenten, who joined them during the last two trips, was well aware of how visiting such a place might affect Hinata, so she was being hyper-positive and not allowing the girl to be alone with her thoughts.

"I'm so excited to finally get some sun. This is the palest I've been during the summer in years!"

The brunette's hair was in a high ponytail instead of its usual twin buns. She wore an orange bikini top with yellow bottoms, a sheer light blue dress covering the set so her skin wasn't bare while they stocked the cooler with ice and drinks to bring along.

On the other hand, Hinata wore a simple lavender bikini. Her best friend had to persuade her for many days not to wear a one-piece. She had a blue button-up shirt over it, closed all the way so no one could see her skin. She also wore simple tan shorts, sandals, and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun out of her sensitive eyes.

"I took the liberty of packing an extra bag with spare clothes for both of us, just in case. It can't hurt to be prepared."

Hinata smiled softly, knowing well that Tenten was only being so talkative for her sake. She was grateful but also didn't feel like it was necessary. Since school started, the Hyuuga girl's successfully kept her mind off of her late mother. Today shouldn't be any different.

"Alright! Neji's gonna ride with you guys, and you're picking up Konan, too, right?" Hinata nodded at Deidara, who was acting as the trip planner since the whole thing was his idea. "Great! The rest of us are either riding with Yahiko or Hidan's friend. We'll meet you guys there!"

Neji silently grabbed one handle of the cooler since it was finished being prepared, and Tenten held the other, the two following Hinata out to her car, where they placed it in the trunk and strapped it down so it wouldn't fall over during travel. After verifying they had all they needed, towels, money, spare clothes, and sunscreen, the trio set off to pick up the blue-haired girl from school.

"I'm surprised you chose to join everyone. You said you usually hate big gatherings, didn't you?" Tenten turned in the passenger seat to ask the always-silent Neji. Hinata half-listened, pretending not to so the pair wouldn't feel awkward. She hadn't been aware that Neji talked to Tenten, much less at all.

"I'm only going to keep an eye on things. Master Hiashi requested I keep the lady of the house out of trouble."

Hinata's face warmed, "U-Um, you don't have to call me that. Please, be less formal. No one will tell him."

Tenten shot her a discreet warning look, confusing the poor girl.

"If that's what you prefer, then okay," Neji responded, though his tone was just as professional as before.

'I'll have to ask her what that was all about….'

When Hinata pulled up to the address Konan gave her, she was surprised to see it was actually a bus stop and not a home. Tenten exited the passenger seat and joined Neji in the back, likely not wanting Konan to feel awkward sitting beside such a stoic guy.

The blue-haired girl smirked, "Thanks for the ride." She wore jean shorts and a black bikini top, her hair in a pretty bun with a flower accessory pinning her bangs back. A bag was slung over her shoulder, likely containing a change of clothes.

Hinata smiled, pulling away from the curb and finally getting on track to the beach, "We could've met you at your house."

Konan waved a nonchalant hand, "My place is kind of hard to find. It was just easier to meet there."

Though she wasn't sure why, the Hyuuga sensed her friend didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she dropped the subject and focused on the road.

Just under two hours later, around one in the afternoon, they pulled into the driveway of a secluded beach house that looked nice enough to be a hotel. It sat at the top of a small hill. Beneath it was a private beach with pale sand. Half its large perimeter was jagged rock, with a few shallow caves decorating it. The rest simply extended out to the long driveway.

Four cars were already parked, meaning Hinata's was the last to arrive. The moment she parked, Deidara came sprinting toward them from the house. The blonde nearly tackled Hinata when he reached her, his hands grasping her shoulders tightly.

She grabbed his arms to steady them both, staring at his serious expression, "What happened?"

He panted for breath, blinking his blue eyes quickly, "It's Itachi and Sasuke. They're gonna fight if someone doesn't stop them! We've all tried, but-" Hinata grabbed the boy's hand and hurried up the hill and the steps leading to the large, wooden deck.

When she laid eyes on the Uchihas, her mouth fell open in surprise. Naruto and Sakura were behind Sasuke, who looked angrier than the Hyuuga girl ever remembers seeing him. The blonde gripped one of his dark-haired friend's arms, appearing to be the only thing holding him back. Sakura simply had a worried hand in a fist at her mouth, green eyes wide with concern. Everyone else was behind Itachi, but no one was holding him back. He simply stood and fixed Sasuke with a glare.

"I told you what would happen if I saw you outside school."

Itachi didn't respond to the statement, simply continuing to stare.

'I knew they were related, but I didn't know they hated each other!'

Sasuke ripped his arm from Naruto's grasp, stepping closer as though he was about to start a physical fight, "Say something!"

Hinata's body moved on its own as she tried to rush in between them, but Sasori and Hidan both grabbed her arms to stop her. She still spoke, though, "Stop it, you guys! Why're you arguing?"

Itachi turned to look at her, his irritation softening if only a bit. As she searched his face for some kind of answer to her question, he simply nodded, sparing the other Uchiha boy one last look before visually relaxing next to an incredibly tall man that Hinata didn't recognize.

So, the Hyuuga girl turned her gaze onto Sasuke, stepping forward because the two boys released her. The danger had passed since Itachi made it clear he wouldn't participate.

"Sasuke?"

His dark eyes fell onto her, still in a glare, but he said nothing. She held a hand out to him, her face warming slightly, "Let's not fight today, alright? We all came to relax. Just ignore him if you can't get along." The dark-haired boy glanced behind her, likely at Itachi, before meeting her eye again and nodding once, placing his hand in hers. She smiled before turning to pull him along as she approached the door of the house, digging the key out of her pocket.

The tension slowly disappeared as everyone headed inside to drop off their bags. Almost everybody immediately hurried to the beach, leaving Hinata with Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. The blonde boy looked between the two darker-haired teens before blindly reaching out to search for the pink-haired girl's arm, sharing a knowing look when he found it and pulling her toward the door.

Hinata's stomach churned as she saw his hand on Sakura's arm, leaving her disappointed. This was the second time that it at least appeared that Naruto thought she liked his stoic friend.

"Sorry."

The girl jumped slightly because she'd gotten lost in her thoughts and forgot he was standing there. A hand to her chest, her lips tugged into a slight grin, "You don't have to tell me what's going on between you two, but please promise you won't start a fight today."

He was wearing dark blue swimming trunks with a baggy black shirt with the sides ripped out, so his skin was bare. Sasuke gave her a slightly confused look before hesitantly asking, "You do know who he is, right?"

Hinata wasn't sure what he meant, so she simply waited for him to elaborate.

His brow furrowed before he averted his gaze, voice lowering, "He's my older brother."

Hinata recalled the memory when she realized she used to know Sasuke as a child. She'd been holding hands with two boys, him and his brother. Her mouth fell open in shock, staying that way for a moment before finally collecting her thoughts, "What happened? You two were inseparable when we were kids."

Sasuke explained that, according to his father, Itachi joined a gang of sorts when he was fourteen. He missed school, got into fights, and even got arrested for stealing once. That was when Fugaku Uchiha decided it best to send Itachi to a reform school, and he stayed there until a few months ago. He was still in school because his credits didn't transfer, so he's making them up with one last year to get his diploma.

"Okay, I get that that's what your dad told you, but why are you personally mad at him?"

'He wouldn't be ready to fight just because of something like that.'

Sasuke sighed, walking toward the door. Hinata followed.

"Because he started hanging out with some of his friends from before, from the gang. When I tried to talk to him about it, he-" The Hyuuga looked over at his face as they descended the steps and began walking casually toward the beach. His eyes were on the ground, and his jaw flexed, "Let's just say he made it clear he doesn't see us as family anymore."

Hinata couldn't believe what she was hearing, but there had to be some iota of truth behind the story because the older Uchiha brother honestly looked angry when she first arrived. Over the past few weeks of being in his presence, she realized it takes quite a lot to get a rise out of him. Her pale eyes danced up to the subject of her thoughts. Itachi was sitting on a towel under one of the massive umbrellas next to the same man as before.

'I should hear his side of the story before making any judgments.'

The brothers were best friends as children; she remembers how excited Sasuke would get when his brother would compliment him and how calm and patient Itachi was with both of them.

Hinata frowned but reassured the boy walking at her side, "Thank you for telling me. I'll keep it to myself."

"Hinata, come on! We're gonna play volleyball!"

Tenten rushed over, grabbing her pale friend's hand and dragging her over to her towel, where she picked up a bottle of sunscreen and squeezed some of the product onto her hands, "Take your clothes off so I can put this on."

Hinata's face immediately turned cherry red, and she froze where she knelt to place her sandals near the towel so they wouldn't get lost, "Actually, I was thinking of keeping them on."

Her best friend's eyes sparkled mischievously, and she leaned closer to hiss so no one else would hear, "If you don't take them off, I'll tell everyone how you lost your first kiss to Hidan."

Naturally, Hinata began unbuttoning her shirt, a betrayed glare on her blushing face, "Th-That's the last time I confide in you!"

When she was only in her bikini, she felt naked and held her arms around her middle while Tenten applied the sunscreen to her back and shoulders. To her surprise, Itachi spoke from where he sat nearby, "I'm sorry about earlier. I'll do what I can to keep the peace."

The brunette quickly finished applying Hinata's sunscreen, so the Hyuuga girl was free to approach the older Uchiha brother, coming down to squat in front of him, "It's okay."

Pale eyes glanced over at his silent companion, who was quite intimidating upon closer inspection. His skin was pale, his hair and eyes were dark blue, and his build was akin to a bodybuilder's. Add to that his incredible height, and Hinata felt a little uneasy, especially after Sasuke told her Itachi had friends in a gang.

"This is Kisame."

The Hyuuga girl jolted slightly, blushing and looking down at the sand as she realized she'd been staring, "S-Sorry. It's nice to meet you. My name is Hinata."

The man grinned wolfishly, his canines sharper than the average person's but not so much that it seemed like he'd intentionally made them that way, "Relax, gorgeous. I may look like this, but I'm not all that scary." Hinata's blush heightened, eyes widening in surprise at his casual flirting.

"Hey, can you come with me for a sec?"

Glad for the distraction, Hinata accepted Konan's hand when she suddenly appeared and offered it, politely excusing herself from the two men she'd been speaking with. She was led over to where Tenten was waiting, eyes on the group of men working on setting up a volleyball net.

The brunette smiled widely upon their arrival, "Konan here has a crush. Care to guess which of these goons is the lucky fella?"

When Hinata glanced at the girl in question, she didn't even blush. Instead, she just smirked, tilting her head amusedly. Since the blunette didn't appear to mind, she turned her attention to the seven oblivious men before them. It was Naruto, Sasuke, Hidan, Sasori, Deidara, Yahiko, and another stranger in the form of a tall, tan man with long brown hair pulled back into a bun and tattoos upon his skin that made it appear as though he'd been sewn together.

Immediately, Hinata ruled out Sasori and Deidara. While they're both attractive, Konan gets annoyed with them way too quickly. For some reason, she also believed it wasn't Naruto or Sasuke. That left Hidan, Yahiko, and the stranger. The man with the sewn tattoos was attractive; that wasn't the question. It was that he was clearly at least four or five years older than the rest of them.

In the back of her mind, Hinata mused, 'This is obviously the man Hidan invited, but how did they even meet since he's older? Are they maybe related?'

Tentatively, she ruled him out. Then her eyes turned onto Hidan, only to widen when a negative feeling began to brew in the pit of her stomach. He was currently holding down one of the spikes meant to go into the ground, yelling and cursing up a storm at Deidara because he'd dropped a piece they needed into the sand and was frantically searching for it. For some reason, she felt sick.

'It couldn't be him, either. They spend more time together than he and I do. If she liked him, she would've confessed already,' she thought. Then she paused to wonder why she was feeling almost hopeful. That left….

"Yahiko?"

Tenten sounded like a bell, "We have a winner!"

Hinata smiled and asked Konan, "Have you introduced yourself yet?" She shook her head, her orange eyes taking in the man's appearance as he stood with his arms crossed and watched the others argue, standing next to the tan stranger who was doing the same.

"He's pretty quiet. If you need some help, I can put in a good word. I think he doesn't hate me, at least," Tenten joked.

Konan's smirk turned into a smile as she shook her head, "Don't worry about me. I have a plan." Hinata and her best friend shared a surprised look but discussed the topic no further.

Once the net was installed correctly, everyone except Neji and Itachi joined, splitting into two teams of six. On Hinata's team was Sakura, the stranger man, Kisame, Sasuke, and Naruto. The other team was Tenten, Konan, Yahiko, Sasori, Deidara, and Hidan.

They were evenly matched for the most part. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto are athletic, so they carried the team, but their opponents had Tenten and Hidan, the former being the captain of the girl's volleyball team at school and the latter simply having some natural talent.

"Got it!" Sakura called as she dashed forward to bump the ball upright, Naruto jumping to spike it and score. The pair smiled at each other, pressing their forearms together before returning to their spots.

Hinata's mood was beginning to sag. It's not that she wasn't having a good time because she was. It was just that she was struggling not to remember her past visits to the beach house.

'Pay attention to the game. Keep yourself distracted, and you won't have time to think about it.'

Everywhere she looked was a memory, though. At the water's edge, she and Hanabi would have contests to see who could build the biggest sand castle. The cave on the furthest end of the cliffside was where the three of them huddled up when there was a sudden downpour, and they opted to wait it out rather than go to the house. Hinata's lips flattened into a stressed line as she lowered her gaze. That was four years ago. She'd gotten a cold because of that, and they had to go home a day early so she could rest.

"Hinata!" The girl snapped out of it, quickly fumbling to bump the ball that was coming her way and somehow managing it. Kisame followed up on it, but the other team kept the ball in play, and the game continued. Hinata shook her head, lightly patting her cheeks to keep her focused on what was before her.

When the time came for her to be in the front row, closer to the net, she frowned when she realized Hidan was in front of her, smiling widely, "Better stop zoning out, or you'll fuck up."

She blushed but didn't bother responding because the ball was rapidly being sent from one side of the net to the other. Only when the silver-haired man himself jumped to spike the ball and score did she snap out of her sad mood, at least for the moment, because his shirt lifted to reveal a toned stomach with surprisingly defined muscles.

'I suppose I shouldn't be shocked. His arms are nice, so, of course, the rest of his body would be, too. Don't let it affect you. Many guys are around here, and they haven't gotten to you.'

The game continued, her team scoring next, so she moved to stand before Hidan in the center of the front row. The ball began moving again, this time driving back and forth between teams for a long time. It became tense as everyone got more excited to see who'd score. Sasuke tried to spike the ball and score, but Tenten dove to save it and succeeded.

Hinata observed the ball carefully, ready to move if it came her way, only to be distracted by Hidan's teasing voice, "Nice suit, tits. Really living up to your name."

Her head snapped down so she could give him a mortified look, only for her to be shoved out of the way by the tan man. The girl lost her balance, falling onto her side before sitting up and turning to see what'd happened.

Naruto yelled at him, "What were you thinking? She could've gotten hurt. It was coming right at her face!"

Sakura offered Hinata her hands, pulling her upright with a sympathetic smile, "You okay?"

Hinata brushed the grains of sand that'd stuck to her thigh away, nodding with an embarrassed blush, "Y-Yeah, sorry."

Hidan just tossed his head back and laughed loudly, a hand to his stomach, "Come on, it's fucking funny!"

Rather than feeling hurt, Hinata was just annoyed. Apparently, that's what she needed to play better because her performance improved substantially, leading to their team's victory. When Kisame scored the final point, the others cheered, Hinata included.

Her elation was interrupted when Naruto suddenly bent to wrap his arms around her legs, hoisting her over his shoulder and running toward the beach, "It's time to swim. Let's go!"

Hinata squeaked in surprise, hitting his back, "N-N-Naruto, put me down!" He only obliged when they were in the water, and she quickly popped back up to the surface, pushing her wet hair out of her face to give him a wide-eyed look of disbelief.

He grinned, chuckling, and the sight melted the girl. She smiled, shaking her head and splashing him. Everyone else joined them in the water, allowing it to cool their heated skin from playing volleyball.

Before long, while talking to Tenten about a show they both wanted to start watching, Hinata cried out in surprise when suddenly, someone was under her and rising so she was on their shoulders. She wobbled to catch her balance, a hand on their head. When her gaze lifted, she realized Sakura was on Sasuke, Konan was on Naruto, and Tenten was on Kisame.

"Chicken!"

Hinata lightly smacked the top of Hidan's head, which she finally realized was the one holding her, "P-Put me down! What do you think you're doing?" The young man only laughed and stepped forward, so she was forced to grasp Tenten's hands as the taller girl tried to knock her over.

She was so embarrassed that she was being held that she could hardly focus and seemed about to lose when Hidan barked, "Oh, come on! Where's the bitch that beat up Ino?"

Hinata huffed, annoyed that he kept pushing her buttons today, and shoved Tenten's hands away. She moved her legs from bending over his shoulders to crossing around his neck and let herself fall backward, taking him down with her.

When they both came back up, Hidan laughed, grabbing her arm and turning to pull her up onto his back, "Watch it, princess. You're on thin ice." Hinata tried to pull away, but he held her arm more tightly, so she had no choice but to accept the position because he was too much taller than her for her to walk comfortably like that.

She held onto his shoulders as he walked out of the water toward the little campfire Deidara and Sasori had built. A few others were already there, sitting on their towels, eating some packed food and drinks, like the previously mentioned duo, Itachi, Neji, Yahiko, and the stranger.

Only when they were close did Hidan allow Hinata to stand on her own feet. She walked over to sit beside Itachi, her face red with humiliation. It was almost dark already, the sun setting low in the cloudy sky.

"Looks like it might rain soon," Deidara mused, his blue eyes on the clouds.

Hinata pushed her wet bangs out of her face, frowning as she shook the water from her hands. She jumped when something ice-cold touched her bare thigh, looking over to see a cheesing Hidan coming down to sit beside her, the cold item being a red cup. She accepted it with a weak glare but didn't say anything. He knew how annoying he was. He was doing it on purpose, so there was no reason to complain out loud about it.

"Ha, look how fuckin' red Deidara is. What's the matter, bro, can't handle a little sun?"

The boy in question glared at Hidan, flipping him off from the other side of the fire, "Shut the hell up."

Hinata smiled, the pair arguing, making everything seem more normal. She took a drink, only to nearly choke, but managed not to and swallowed while looking down at the cup in her hand in disgust. Hidan laughed loudly. It was definitely soda, but the taste was bitter and off, meaning it was likely mixed with some kind of alcohol.

The stranger, who sat on the silver-haired boy's other side, commented, "I'm not babysitting a bunch of drunk high school kids, so don't expect it."

Hidan elbowed him in the ribs, "Oh, come on, old man. Have a little fun."

Hinata looked around and realized everyone had a cup that looked like hers, and the ones that'd been in the water were over by the cooler, likely getting some for themselves. She looked down into the cup with a worried frown.

'I've never drunk alcohol before, but Tenten said it's fun as long as you don't go overboard.'

Though she was concerned that this could be considered peer pressure, she also didn't feel all that worried because she fully intended to relax as much as possible after all the drama that's happened since school started. So long as her father doesn't find out, everything will be okay.