Hi everyone! So Tallman0029 finally got that chapter posted he's been poking at since like, April, and introduced some of you to my story. Just so you know this fanfiction takes place during the time skip Tallman mentions in his post script. When he posts the next chapter, it will be post time skip but the events of this story will be considered canon and may be called upon in his story. I plan on continuing my story in tandem with his. Think of this as the Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth to Tallman's Love, Hinata. I have really appreciated all of the reviews you have been sending my way. This is my first story and so it is really encouraging and helpful to hear from you. That being said, please enjoy this next chapter and if you have the time, let me know what you think! It makes my day, really. And also, Tallman. It makes him happy, too.

"Your biggest problem," Seiichiro clapped the dust off of his hands. "Is that you've become a one trick pony."

Beki had been knocked flat on her back by her father's open handed strike. Spindly tree roots jabbed at her back through her shirt and tore at the flesh of her arms. Beki dug her hands into the topsoil and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Frankly, she was surprised her father hadn't kicked her while she was down. He was off on a tangent now, something about ponies. She couldn't really hear him over the ringing in her ears.

"I give you the gauntlets and all you practice is the gauntlets," Her father paced. "I give you the kanabo and you forget about the gauntlets and just use the kanabo. Do you know what that's doing?"

"Letting me focus?" Beki shrugged.

Her father shook his head. "No. You act like you're studying to pass a test. You cram on one skill until the next one comes along, then you abandon it. You never achieve mastery."

Beki spread her arms wide in a gesture of "what are you going to do?" and instantly felt a stab between her shoulder blades. There was a warm wet feeling trickling down her back. Dammit, she thought. I get to soak blood out of my shirt again. "Dad, I only have two months until the chunin exams. There's no way in hell I'm going to master anything in that amount of time."

"I know," Her father began rolling up his sleeves and Beki swallowed nervously. Her father only rolled up his sleeves when he was going to seriously beat someone, like physically in a bar fight or verbally in a negotiation. "So we're forced to follow your half assed methodology all the way."

Beki blinked in confusion. "So what does that mean we're going to be working on?"

Her father formed hand signs and parted his palms to reveal his familiar flickering blue flame. "You're going to be learning fire jutsu."

"How does that make any sense?!" Beki shook her gauntlets at him. "Instead of polishing up something I can do, let's get me passable at something I can't?"

"Look at it this way, Beki, by now word has spread across the whole damned continent that you are the Drowned Maiden. That will have people on their guard; they will be well prepared to go against water jutsu," He smiled. "But fire," he chuckled. "Fire they won't see coming from you."

Beki stalked off toward the other end of the clearing in frustration and turned on her heel with a huff. "Dad, you KNOW I can't use fire jutsu. You have been trying to teach me that stupid little…flame poof no jutsu crap since I was like, seven."

"And you couldn't use your kekke genkai then," Her father's eyes bored deep inside Beki, beyond her young adult façade right down to the frightened little girl hidden inside her bedroom closet. His voice dropped low and he spoke gently to her to lure her out of her mental closet of safety. "You are developing as a shinobi, Beki. You have been faced with life or death situations that forced you to change and adapt on the spot. Compared to rising from the dead, learning a few fire jutsu should be a child's play."

Beki watched him long and hard while she weighed his words. She began to unstrap the gauntlets from her forearms. Her father looked at her with a hint of concern. "Here's the deal," She shook a gauntlet at him. "If I don't even have a spark by dinner time, we're done."

Seiichiro nodded. "Fair enough."

Beki knew her father desperately wanted her to learn fire jutsu. As firm and intimidating Seiichiro had always been as an ambassador, he had been equally as soft spoken and easy going as a parent. He had constantly encouraged her to keep trying what she failed at and reminded her she had all the time in the world. It had been one of the things that made Beki feel so safe; her father never yanked the training wheels out from under her too soon. But when he tried to teach her fire jutsu, there was always this small sparkle of desperation in his eyes as if he was trying to find some sign of something great in her. Perhaps it was the same need every parent had to see their child share a talent or an interest with them. In her heart, though, Beki was fairly certain it had something to do with the Burned Maiden.

The truth was, although the Asou line had died with her mother, every child born into the Asou family had either been a Drowned Maiden or had carried the gene for it. The same was true for the Tsukiyama clan. They almost exclusively produced girls and every single one of them was a Hanged Maiden. The Tsukimori clan, however, had been dwindling for generations. The last confirmed Burned Maiden was her father's grandmother. After that the only person who had been even able to use fire jutsu was her father. Usually that would be a pretty good indicator that Beki should carry the gene as well but she felt nothing. The Drowned Maiden had been lurking in Beki's subconscious for as long as she could remember. It was that thing you imagined lurking in the darkness of your room, skulking in the closet or waiting for you under the bed. It was a passive ability she never really had to think about.

Beki had always had an easy time with water jutsu for that reason. Water was usually passive but when it hit an obstacle it changed. Taking on the form of the Drowned Maiden was the same way. It made Beki in no way more powerful, it just opened options to her. Fire is an active force; it consumes, it rages, it devours. It was direct like her father. It was angry like him too. Beki was not an angry person. Life had taught her to be patient and forgiving, which meant this was never going to work. It just wasn't her nature.

"When can I go home?" Beki asked, her eyes still closed in concentration.

"When we're done here." Seiichiro didn't skip a beat. He kept his eyes fixed on her hands for any signs of a spark.

"I don't mean the Hyugas, I mean Getsu," Beki corrected. "When are these talks going to be over with?"

Seiichiro sighed. "You know I hate talking about work."

Beki rolled her eyes behind her lids. "Too bad. I'm doing this for you, you do that for me."

"There have been some complications due to…recent events." The pause told Beki all she needed to know. If it had been anything stupid or insignificant, like some smalltime land baron refusing to cooperate with terms or a tariff loophole, he would have told her. Keeping it to himself meant that something big was in the works.

"Okay, but if there's any danger I'll come home, right?" Beki opened her eyes, unable to maintain her focus on the jutsu. "You wouldn't leave me across the world if there was going to be like, a coup d'état or something, right?"

Seiichiro huffed dismissively. "Listen to you, sixteen years old, acting like coups are things you can just casually discuss out in the open."

"It was an example!" Beki shouted in frustration. "Look, Dad, everyone is super nice to me and everything but I am a shinobi of Getsugakure and I want to serve my village, with my teammates, you know, actually doing something with my life!"

"Look, honey," Her father never called her "honey". It pissed her off but she held her tongue. "You are going to be participating in the chunin exams, in the Cloud Village, with your teammates. You are going to do a great job and make Getsu look good in front of the Big Five. You will show them that coming from one of the small villages doesn't make a shinobi any less powerful or capable than a ninja from the Cloud, the Stone, the Leaf, the Mist, or the Sand. That's more than anyone can hope to do for their village. Make us proud."

Beki bottled up her frustration. Her dad was right, if she did a good job at the chunin exams that would make Getsu pretty popular with clients and would bring some well-needed business to the island. Then again it felt like just another cop out. Her whole life Seiichiro had chocked all the struggles they had to go through as a family as a necessity for King and Country. Beki was sick of King and Country. She would never be respected by her peers, they would never thing she earned it when she took her father's place; hell, she could never even make it into the Bingo Book at this rate. And that was if she did well in the chunin exams. If she sucked…they would all hate her more.

A knot formed in her chest and she felt the heat of tears welling in her eyes. She pinched her eyelids shut and bit her lips to keep the tears at bay. Then, so quickly and so suddenly it was over before she even registered what had happened, there was a small pulse. It felt like her heart had throbbed but somehow it felt like it had come from somewhere deeper down inside and she heard a small pop. Her father let out a cry of what she thought was joy and she opened her eyes. His gaze was fixed on her hands and his mouth was twisted in a grin comprised of pride and relief. She turned her attention down to her hands just as there was another tiny pop. This time it took, and with a steady hiss, a tiny blue flame no bigger than a baby's fist burned in her palms.

"You did it, Beki," Her father smiled. "You did it."

…

"Okay, let's go over some ground rules," Tsunade assumed her best Hokage pose, which looked suspiciously to the teens like a "mom" pose. "You will all stay together as much as possible. That includes you, Miss Tsukimori. I'm sending you to the chunin exams so Konoha is responsible for you."

Beki bowed. "Thank you Tsunade sama. I'll be on my best behavior."

Tsunade looked at the two teams she was sending to compete in the chunin exams and their senseis. "Best of luck to you all. I'm certain you will perform with dignity and honor in accordance with your representation of our village."

They all nodded and bowed and agreed.

"Team Gai, you will be responsible for protecting the group as a whole," Tsunade explained. "And Team 8 will be in charge of protecting Tsukimori Beki, but will also support Team Gai in protecting the group as a whole."

After a few more minutes of Tsunade going back and forth between threatening them and encouraging them, she sent the large group on their way. The two teams would represent the Leaf in the exams were made up of capable looking kids, Beki thought. They were still a little green and smelled of the Academy, but they didn't have that haphazard attitude new genin sometimes had. They all looked serious and ready, however their nerves showed in how they clung to their senseis. Team Gai led the expedition, something Beki thought was foolish. Letting Gai and Lee pace the group meant they would all show up in the Cloud achy and tired. Team 8 covered the group's six on their journey. Beki let the Konoha representatives have their space. She would have to cream them in the exam, after all. No use letting them get all cozy with her.

"So how long has it been since you've seen your teammates, Beki?" Kiba stretched atop his mount. Akamaru looked happy to be out and exploring. Beki found herself wishing she had a giant pet to ride on. She supposed if she did get a pet, it would have to be water based. Like a manatee. A majestic oversized manatee.

She shook her head and thought about the matter at hand. "Well, I've been in Konoha for a little over a year. I didn't see them for about a month before that, so maybe thirteen to fourteen months."

Kiba laughed. "How the hell do you think that your team is going to stand a chance if you haven't worked together for more than a year?"

Beki shrugged and smiled mysteriously. "You'll see."

Kiba glared at her. "You're gonna cheat, aren't you? Like in the forest that one time."

Beki rolled her eyes. "Do you think that the Cloud ninja are just going to let me sabotage the test? I get that you guys grew up in Konoha where the guards are pretty chill, but in the Cloud Village they don't mess around."

"You said that you were there when you were younger," Hinata finally spoke. "How long were you there?"

"Almost six months, when I was about seven. Back then my dad was pretty new to the ambassador digs so they kept him closer to home." Beki stretched. "The Raikage is hard as nails but he liked my dad. He knew he was raising me on his own, so the Raikage would let me play in the office while they talked or send me along with one of his assistants to run errands and stuff."

"What kage haven't you met?" Kiba scoffed. "You talk like you collect them or something."

Beki thought about it. "I've been in the Mist and I've seen the Mizukage up close, but I've never talked to her. I've never met the Tsuchikage, either."

Lee and Gai had gotten too overzealous with trying to beat the usual travel time between Konoha and Kumogakure and were now out of sight. Over their conversation, Team 8 and Beki could overhear Neji and Tenten desperately yelling "RED LIGHT" at the top of their lungs. "God, what was Tsunade thinking sending them along?" Kiba shook his head. "They're going to make idiots out of all of us."

Beki shrugged. "They're not so bad. At least you don't have to watch your back around them."

"Did you not get along with the other kids your age back home?" Hinata asked. Beki had always been dodgy about talking about her peers. Maybe if there was more of an audience she wouldn't want to seem evasive.

"Well, let's see," Beki fidgeted. "Oh, well, I mean, there's this one girl that's our age that's REALLY into dolls."

"I don't understand how that quantifies your previous statement," Beki had almost forgotten about Shino until he spoke.

"Okay, no, you know how the Kazekage's brother is a puppeteer? He uses them in battle and everything, right? She uses dolls." Beki explained. "The creepy kind. What's even worse, when we were in the academy, there were these kids that went missing. The last person they were seen with was the doll girl. Their bodies were never found, and then a few months later she debuted these two new dolls that looked just like the missing kids."

Team 8 gave off a collective groan. "So you're telling me that this girl murdered two of her classmates and made them into dolls and no one did anything about it?" Kiba asked in disbelief. "You're always shit talking us for how we take care of ronin, tell me how she didn't end up in a psych ward?"

Beki sighed in frustration. "No, she didn't murder them. Monsoon season is really bad where I live. Kids get washed off of mountain paths and caught in dry riverbeds and get swept off to god knows where. The thing that made this girl creepy is that she WANTS people to think she murdered them."

"That makes more sense," Shino nodded.

Team 8 dissolved into their own conversation and Beki occupied herself with watching the scenery. They had days of woods to cross through before they reached the border of the Land of Fire. Part of her was excited to finally be getting some action but at the same time that was exactly what concerned her. Like Kiba said, she hadn't trained with her teammates in months. They were close, but could they adapt to the Drowned Maiden quickly enough for the team to survive? What other teams had Getsu sent, or were they the only ones? She would have felt a lot better about everything if her dad were going to be there, but he said there was too much going on at work. That meant that in addition to representing Getsugakure, Beki would be representing Konoha while she ran around Kumogakure with no safety net in place. This was her first solo ambassador mission in addition to her first chunin exams. These thoughts kept Beki occupied for most of the journey.

When they reached the Cloud at last, Beki had almost worked herself up to a peptic ulcer. Even the thought of seeing her friends made her nervous. I've stayed in one place way too long, Beki thought. I got too comfortable.

Word was sent to the Raikage's office that the Konoha group had arrived. After waiting around the entrance of the village for a while, they were greeted by one of the Raikage's attendants.

"I am C," The young man said. "On behalf of the Raikage, welcome to Kumogakure. I will take you on a tour of the village and then bring you to your hotel."

Beki's heart started to race. From here on in, she had to be on her best ambassador's daughter behavior. As C led them through the town that hadn't really changed much since Beki's last visit. Beki weighed her options. She tried her best to pay attention as C told them where to go and what to do but she found herself fixated on what her dad would do in this situation.

"The Hokage sent word ahead and informed us of the situation with your ward," C explained when they reached the hotel. "We have arranged for the Getsugakure ninja to be accommodated at the same hotel."

As the group took turns thanking C, Beki stepped forward and bowed. "Sorry to inconvenience you, but would it be possible for me to thank the Raikage in person? I understand that my situation has complicated things."

C looked over at her as if noticing her for the first time. "I'm afraid the Raikage is a very busy person."

"It will only take a moment of his time," Beki kept herself in a bow. "My father is the ambassador for Getsugakure and he would skin me if he knew how much the Raikage went out of his way for me and I didn't thank him for it."

C nodded. "Alright then. You can accompany me back to his office. If he has a moment you can speak with him."

"Should I come with?" Hinata grabbed Beki's sleeve. Beki shook her head. "No, it's okay. I know my way around fairly well."

"But you stayed here when you were 8," Hinata furrowed her brow. "Are you sure?"

Beki smiled at her reassuringly. "Positive. Don't worry about it."

As Beki followed C through the streets of Kumogakure, she prayed that she had made the right choice, and that maybe by some chance the Raikage would remember her and not flay her for interrupting his business.