The hot Kaze no Kuni sun beat down outside Nagisa International Airport. Inside the air conditioned super-building two pairs of pale eyes scanned above the crowds looking for a sign that said 'The Beach House'. One dainty hand gripped the strap of a simple black backpack littered with graffiti in all colors that hung over one of the girl's narrow shoulders and the other held a dull purple duffle bag. Everyone within the airport was rushing from here to there and it felt so easy for the short sixteen-year-old girl to get lost in the horde. She walked on the tiptoes of her black combat boots hoping to see over the crowd; it was a fruitless effort and despite the coolness of the airport a small bead of sweat trickled down her nose.

A head of very long raven black hair was the only thing passersby would see if they gave her the time of day. She felt very self-conscious about her appearance compared to most of the people around her; their skin was sun-kissed where hers was ghostly pale, they dressed like it was already summer while she was still dressed for spring in Hi no Kuni, and almost everyone was a giant; what did they feed the people here: Miraclegrow? A soft sigh escaped her thin pink lips and she seriously considered giving up. She didn't want to be here anyways; this hadn't been her choice. Her stomach knotted so tightly that she felt a wave of nausea hit her as she remembered why she was here.

She sat in the back row of her history class pretending she wasn't paying attention and didn't want to be there; the truth was that Naoma Hyuga, her mother, expected her to make something of herself someday and the teen was determined not to let her mother down. Yes the girl acted rebellious, hence why she was pretending not to care, but deep down she was still the good girl who lived solely for her mother; it had always been just the two of them.

A knock on the classroom door interrupted her teacher, Anko Mitarashi, midsentence. The wildly-beautiful young teacher's lips pursed and she sat down the piece of chalk she had been using to write on the board. "Copy down what I've wrote on the board so far and start planning how you will do your oral report on the First World War. I'll know if you guys start slacking off," she told them as her narrowed light-brown eyes made a sweep of the classroom.

The moment Ms. Mitarashi's spikey violet hair was out of sight and the door was closed a low rumble of voices filled the classroom. Right in front of the Hyuga teen sat a blond who always wore her hair in a ponytail and another girl with chin length pink hair. The blond, Ino Yamanaka, and the pinkette, Sakura Haruno, had only recently started getting along again so it was still something the Hyuga was adjusting to; they had been fighting for so long that seeing them together really messed with your senses.

The scratching of the girl's pencil on her paper wasn't even audible over the noise of the classroom's gossiping. "So I heard that Kiba's having a party on Saturday night. His family is going out of town," the pinkette stated with a smug smirk on her face. The Hyuga's brows furrowed as she tried her best to ignore their gossiping. Kiba Inuzuka was the Konoha High School's heartthrob and always threw wild parties when his mother and sister were away on business.

"Yeah I heard that too," Ino exclaimed in a hushed voice; they were trying not to draw their frightening teacher's attention back to the room. "Hey, Shikamaru, are you going to go," the blond asked as she looked to the boy sitting beside the Hyuga.

Shikamaru's mouth was open and his dark eyes were closed. He was leaning his spikey brown ponytail against the wall behind him and the Hyuga was sure it would be flat when he sat up. Ino poked him with her pencil and his dark eyes opened but his eyelids were still droopy. He was staring at the blond and pinkette in front of him but it was like he was looking through them. "What do you want, Ino," he drawled out lowly. To the Hyuga's amusement his hair still looked like a pineapple.

"Kiba's having a party on Saturday. Are you coming," Sakura asked with her jade green eyes locked on the Nara's and a warm smile on her face. Both girls in front of the Hyuga and Nara were beautiful; you would have to be blind not to see that. The problem lay within their attitudes. Both believed they were the best thing since sliced bread and that they could get any guy they wanted except one: Kiba Inuzuka.

Shikamaru glanced in the direction of the Hyuga. That was her cue to speak up. "He's got a date on Saturday," The Hyuga told them slowly in a bored tone. This was an unspoken agreement between them: sometimes guys would ask the Hyuga out and Shikamaru would get her out of saying 'no' to them. The Hyuga did the same thing for him when it came to social events with way too many people. The rumor had been that the two of them were dating long before he rescued her from an awkward rejection for poor Rock Lee.

"You both could come," Ino exclaimed with a bright smile.

The Hyuga shrugged lazily and glanced at Shikamaru. His eyes glazed over slightly and she knew he was thinking; he was a genius really and not just with books. He'd get them both out of this and it'd be fine and dandy. The Hyuga grabbed his hand before flashing the duo in front of them a shy smile while she waited for his excuse. The Nara slipped his fingers between her thin digits and shook his head. "No can do. It's a big night for us," he told them with a smirk.

The Hyuga's face was flaming red with embarrassment as the other two girls' jaws dropped. She had not expected him to declare something like that! They had kissed maybe two times their whole friendship, yet here he was implying they were going to go all the way. Her mouth was opening and closing repeatedly and she knew she looked like a fish on 2 hooks (because she had snake-bite hoops in her bottom lip) trying to breathe in the open air while Shikamaru was staring at her smirking.

The Hyuga didn't have to say anything because the door opened and Ms. Mitarashi stepped back into the classroom. The woman's face was pale and she looked highly uncomfortable as her eyes skimmed the room. "Miss Hyuga," she called out gently. It was a weird occurrence because nothing about Anko Mitarashi was warm and fuzzy. The Hyuga immediately knew something was wrong, especially since nothing was said about the class clearly not following directions. "The dean needs to see you in her office now," she told her before going back to the chalkboard. Ms. Mitarashi's hand was shaky as she attempted to write on the board.

A knot formed in the pit of the Hyuga's stomach and she stood up but kept holding Shikamaru's hand for a moment longer. To the class around them it seemed like a girlfriend hating to leave her boyfriend because she got in trouble. The thing was that the girl hadn't done anything lately to warrant a trip to the dean so she was trying to pull strength from her best friend to ease the shaking in her knees. Their eyes met and she could see the worry in his dark orbs clear as crystal. She leaned down after she gathered her books and pressed her lips softly to his; holding his hand just hadn't done it for her in the strength department. She heard gasps and the chalk in Miss Mitarashi's hand snap; they had clearly been watching. Now they had kissed three times their entire friendship. "I'll call you later," she told him softly.

"Troublesome woman," he muttered while trying to fight back a blush.

"I love you too. See ya," she teased. Her face was crimson red when she finally stepped out of the classroom. It was always fun to embarrass Shikamaru like that but she never came out of it unscathed.

"Ren," a female called from behind her, successfully interrupting her memory. On instinct the Hyuga turned to see the person she was supposed to be meeting: her step-sister. The shop was full of beach wear that was supposed to make tourists feel like locals. There were flip-flops, swimsuit cover-ups, beach bags, towels, sunblock, sunglasses… you name it. The store was just as overwhelming for the shy girl as the rest of the airport.

She quickly cut through the crowd, even though it meant going against traffic, and into the shop. She was pushed and bumped but finally made it to stand in front of her step-sister; she was even more beautiful in person than in the photograph Ren had seen. "Hello, TenTen," Ren nearly whispered as she stared down at their feet. TenTen wore a pair of pink flip-flops and had her toenails painted a sea foam green; Ren's were covered by her ugly combat boots.

"Finally! I've been here for ages waiting for you," TenTen said with a chuckle.

Ren's eyes glanced up to the sun-kissed face of her step-sister and stared directly into her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. "I'm so sorry," she told her meekly before her eyes darting back down.

"Hey don't worry about it. I was just giving you a hard time," TenTen told her as she patted the top of her head. They were awkwardly silent for a moment and Ren felt TenTen's eyes scrutinizing her. "Please tell me the rest of your clothes aren't like that," she muttered finally.

Ren's face was suddenly flaming hot. "Ah, well, yeah… kind of? It was still cool back home and I don't really have shorts," the shy girl replied softly while wringing her knuckles together. She took in her sister's clothing: TenTen was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt that hugged her nicely developed chest and was loose around her abdomen without making her look fat. A pair of light brown, mid-thigh length shorts rested perfectly on her hips. TenTen looked every bit like she lived on the beach; even her long brown hair was up in two buns to allow maximum sunshine to her skin and minimal salt water to her hair.

TenTen gently tugged at Ren's black, long-sleeve shirt with skull hands that looked like they were gripping her average breasts. "We need to get you a new wardrobe. Do you wear anything but black," she asked as she examined Ren's black, holey skinny jeans.

Ren bit one of the silver hoops in her bottom lip and shrugged. Her cheeks were so red with embarrassment, she was sure of that. "I haven't worn color in a long time," she responded without meeting TenTen's gaze.

"Mom and Dad are going to freak out when they see you. Are those lip rings," TenTen inquired. This conversation was feeling highly inappropriate yet they were having it in a cramped store in a crowded airport. Pale eyes darted up to look into brown ones. "Oh-Em-Gee! You have a nose ring too? Are you pierced anywhere else?"

Another sigh escaped Ren's thin lips and she nodded. This was beyond embarrassing at this point. "I'll show you later. Hideki can shove it for all I care. I've dressed this way for three years so I'm not gonna stop now," Ren told her flatly. It wasn't like Ren to shout so instead it came through as indifference.

"I really like you already. You are so my new best friend," TenTen said with a chuckle. "C'mon! We'll head home and you can meet everyone. Then we'll head off to the mall and get you some appropriate clothes. If you aren't too attached to your sleeves maybe we could cut those off and that'd be one thing from home you could wear here. It's brutally hot here and summer's still a month away."

"Alright," Ren muttered as TenTen took her duffle bag and lead the way out of the airport.