Disclaimer: All rights belong to Kishimoto. All OCs are mine.

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Mini Recap:

After letting my speech sink in, I nodded in farewell and said, "I can walk to my room myself. Have a good day, Bee-san."

I backed up a couple of steps, then moved forward and around him to walk towards my room. However, shortly after doing so, I was suddenly stopped.

ooo

Chapter 12

Coming to a sudden stop, I saw that I was now facing Bee and held immobile again. He was holding me by the shoulders, was slightly leaning down again, and had pulled me even closer than we'd been earlier.

"Ever heard of personal space? I respected yours earlier!" I exclaimed. Maybe he thought I didn't though? He never gave verbal permission to remove his sunglasses, so this could be him using the standard I had unknowingly set. That's when I realized I still held his sunglasses.

"Here are your sunglasses back. I really didn't know I still had them until just now, so let me go!" I blurted out while trying to shove the sunglasses in his face.

"I heard your doubts. / Now you're gonna hear me out," Bee rapped and completely ignored my comment about personal space.

"Those weren't doubts, but firm beliefs," I clarified.

"I have never lied or pretended with you. / I came to get you because I wanted to know if what I knew, still held true," Bee rapped.

"What are you talking about?" I interrupted.

"You know about me, / but have never tried to flee. / Even now, your body is relaxed, / despite being attached. / Most importantly, / I wanted to see / if you had changed over time / from our encounter that onetime," Bee rapped and this time he held my gaze before continuing.

"And I've found today, / that you haven't changed a day. / You aren't afraid of me, / but of something else entirely," Bee rapped softly.

I had pretty much stopped breathing at that point. Part of me furiously wanted to deny everything he said, while the other had no idea on how to respond. I was also scared that he knew I was scared and could read me like that. I was afraid, but I didn't want others to know since it felt like an invasion of privacy.

What was I supposed to do in this situation?

"What is going on here?!"

Breathing again, I looked over my shoulder behind me. It was Kimiko-san. I never thought I'd feel this way, but I was very glad to see her. I desperately didn't want to continue our conversation anymore.

Bee released his hold on me and I stepped away to turn towards her. Now that there was outside interference, I was starting to calm down.

"Kimiko-san, what brings you here?" I asked.

"You were taking too long. Care to explain what you were doing here with that thing?" Kimiko-san demanded. Her facial expression looked so pompous and her belittling tone just fueled my temper (which had been on the verge of dissipating).

"Don't ever call a person a thing. It's rude," I said then answered her question with, "And no, I will not explain anything to you." Then I turned around again to walk toward my room and kept going without a backward glance.

I could hear her spluttering behind me.

As much as that satisfied my anger, as I kept walking, my temper cooled. My emotions had been all over the place back there and that caused me to respond with what I would normally only say in my head. My natural response had been the wrong thing to do though. I just kept messing everything up. Who knows what that woman would say or do about my apparent slowness!

Now I'd have to wait and see what repercussions I'd reaped. Waiting seemed to be a theme for my life in this world and I was slowly getting sick of it.

ooo

When I ate breakfast in my suite, it had been alone. Apparently Kimiko-san was "too distressed to eat in company." At least that's what her servant told me when they came to deliver the message. It was standard protocol to do that in this situation, so Kimiko-san was supposedly being polite and courteous. I personally think she was scheming about me. I'm pretty sure my reputation as being slow is kaput.

At the moment, it was time to begin the journey to Kaminari no Kuni. I was standing outside near the right side of the palace gates in my yukata since those were less formal and perfect for travel by noble standards in the summer. Due to the day's heat, I was even carrying a cute umbrella to shade my skin from the sun that shone down unhindered by the clouds. There were also numerous attendants flitting about taking care of last minute preparations.

Kimiko-san was still "distressed" and had already gotten into her own palanquin. I was waiting on mine, which Hi no Kuni's daimyo was gifting me personally. I actually liked him because he gifted it to me and not my family, so it was technically the only thing I actually owned by myself. I don't care if he does get intimidated by Danzō, he's now my favorite of all the daimyo. It was actually a big deal since I was unmarried and not of age. Hi no Kuni's daimyo was certainly eccentric to just give me such an extravagant gift out of the blue. Maybe he felt bad I was kidnapped on the way to his country? If it was a PR stunt, I was sold.

Regarding this trip, I didn't expect anything to go wrong because we were traveling with Ay and Bee. Speaking of whom, I had pushed my encounter with Bee to the back of my mind since I simply didn't want to think about it.

One of the attendants was passing relatively near me, so I asked them, "Do you know how long the journey to Kumogakure is going to take?" It wouldn't do for me to shout in public.

"One moment Ojou-sama," the attendant said and bowed before leaving to find out about my inquiry.

To pass the time, I counted everyone traveling with me. There was Ay, Bee, Darui (hadn't expected to see him), and several attendants from Kimiko-san. I guess with such powerful shinobi among us, anymore would look suspicious in a foreign country.

At about that time, the attendant came back and said, "The journey will take about two and a half weeks Ojou-sama."

"Very well," I said nicely in dismissal. I never got used to speaking to people like they were less than me. It went against my American mentality, so I tried to say that stuff as nicely as possible.

My palanquin had arrived and was a lovely blue with gold accents. I was so glad it didn't have any symbols on it (especially the Fukui clan symbol, which would have annoyed me).

"Excuse me Ojou-sama, but your palanquin is now ready for you," a different attendant from earlier informed me.

I quickly made my way inside the palanquin with the help of another attendant and waited for the long journey to begin. It made sense that the journey would take that long since we'd be traveling at a civilian pace.

ooo

Near the Palace Gates (Opposite from Noriko):

"Do you want to tell me what has you so quiet Bee?" Ay asked in concern while leaning casually against the gate itself. Bee was standing a few paces from him, but had been looking at the sky.

Bee looked from the sky to Ay and rapped, "It ain't nothin' to worry about. / I'm just thinkin' about how some things played out."

Ay sighed before saying, "I did tell you that people change Bee." He hoped Bee wasn't too disappointed.

"Good guess, / but that's not what I'm thinking of I must confess," was Bee's response.

"Then what is it?" Ay asked inquisitively.

"I want to think about it more, / before I tell you anything for sure," Bee rapped and then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Ay just shook his head and ardently wished for better luck on this journey to Kumogakure.

ooo

Seven Hours into the Trip to Kumogakure:

I was so bored. Inside the palanquin there were thirty gold filigree designs, soft silk blue cushions in nine different shades, and three hundred and forty-two small wooden panels that I could see amidst all the decorations.

There was nothing that I wanted to plan or think about at the moment and I couldn't look outside at the scenery because I wanted to avoid seeing Bee. I would have requested some books to read, but I hadn't on the very slim off chance I was being paranoid that Kimiko-san was plotting against me. Therefore, to maintain appearances, I had forgone any reading entertainment. It was times like these that I missed modern technology the most. I couldn't even play solitaire because card games were considered gambling, which was only allowed if you were a man or a married woman whose husband let her gamble.

At least we were traveling at a decent pace with regular eating breaks.

My palanquin then came to a halt. We better be stopping for the night and it better be at an inn. I'd had enough of the wilderness.

"We have arrived at the inn Ojou-sama," an attendant from outside informed me.

At last! I could eat and bathe. Leaving the palanquin, I was helped down by an attendant. Getting in the palanquin was much easier than getting out of it because my clothes were so bulky that it was hard to see the ground nearest to my feet.

Seeing the modest inn, I was in a hurry to get inside, but I had to wait for Kimiko-san since she was my chaperone. Glancing around, I found that she was waiting for me at the inn's door.

Once I was next to her, we walked into the inn and up to our rooms. As we strolled into the suite, Kimiko-san interrupted the silence with, "I've ordered some tea since I thought it'd be good to have a tea ceremony lesson while we're here. Your manners could do with a touch up before we reach our homeland. I'm only trying to look after you since you've been gone for eleven years."

Glancing at me with a sympathetic look, she said, "I do hope you like the selection I've prepared. I even added honey to the menu since I heard you don't like bitter foods or drinks."

Behind us, our attendants, which were technically in Kimiko-san's employ, began giggling.

Kimiko-san interrupted them saying, "Don't you two have duties to attend to?"

Chastened, the attendants quickly left the room.

Now, I know I said I was bored, but I did not want to do a tea ceremony after traveling for seven hours. This confirmed that Kimiko-san was definitely not an ally of mine.

ooo

At the Fukui Estate:

"Yuki-sama, we have received word concerning Noriko-sama," said an attendant holding a message scroll.

Regally sitting at his desk, Yuki-sama merely inclined his head in indication for the message to be brought forward.

The attendant drew near and passed the message to an aide, who then gave it to Yuki-sama.

Yuki-sama opened the message and began reading. His facial expression changed slightly, but it was too swiftly cleared away to know for sure what it had been.

"Bring me some ink and paper as quickly as you can. The daimyo needs to be informed of this immediately," Yuki-sama stated.

The attendant scurried out of the room.

"The rest of you, please leave me alone for a moment," Yuki-sama said to his personal aides and other attendants in the room. Everyone left, but with a lot of curiosity.

It was only when he was alone that Yuki-sama allowed himself to change his formal pose and fold his hands together under his chin and smile.

"So, it seems that things are finally going my way," Yuki-sama said quietly in satisfaction.

ooo

A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I had to smooth out some rough edges, but it's thankfully done now. I wouldn't mind any reviews telling me I missed something though *hint hint*. :)