This is the chapter where the "humor" portion of the "humor/romance" genre label comes into play. At least, I think this chapter is funny. From here on in, other characters from the series are going to start making regular appearances. I didn't directly do an encounter between Beki and Team 8; I thought the scene was funnier without it. I thought that having a run in with Gai and Lee would be one of those dangers a newbie to town would have to deal with, and so this scene happened. I also brought up some of the kinds of situations roommates would have to deal with. Tell me what you guys think via PM or review. Commentary/questions are much appreciated.

Beki rose earlier than the day before. She was groggy and irritable, but she was starting to adjust to the early schedule s of the Hyuga. She brushed and braided her hair in the vanity mirror and splashed her face with cold water. She was pale as death right after waking up, as usual. She put on black leggings and a gray tunic and headed downstairs barefoot.

Hinata had started the pot of coffee and was making rice porridge.

"Good morning Beki," Hinata called over her shoulder.

"Morning Hinata," Beki replied as she took her seat at the table.

"I forgot to ask you, what kind of food do you typically eat for breakfast and lunch?" Hinata had been worrying about what she had been feeding her guest. Hinata typically made food she had grown up eating in Konoha; she needed to make sure that there wasn't something she was being culturally insensitive about.

"Oh, anything is fine really. I'm not picky," Beki smiled slightly, the weight of the morning keeping her friendliness in check. "I'll eat whatever is put in front of me."

"I was just thinking if there was anything specific you would like the kitchen to stock, I could let them know." Hinata explained. "You know, any favorite fruits or vegetables, that sort of thing."

"Okay, if I think of anything I'll tell you," Beki said as cracked open her textbook.

"You've been studying hard," Hinata commented. Ever since Neji had put the book in her hand, Hinata hadn't seen Beki without it. Anytime there was a spare minute, she had her nose buried in it.

"Things are just so different here," Beki said. "I'd like to stop making such an ass of myself all the time. Knowing about Konoha's history will hopefully help with that. I wish I'd had one of these for every major village I've been to. Would have saved my dad a lot of heartache."

"I'm glad you are taking the initiative. People will notice the effort," Hinata said as she doled out the coffee and porridge. "Regardless, people here are pretty friendly. So long as you make a point of being friendly to them, they'll return the favor."

A thought had been nagging at Hinata for a while. Several times Hinata had slipped and brought up Naruto. Beki never seemed phased, but Hinata was worried that she was just being polite.

"Beki, do you have a boyfriend?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"No," Beki said matter-of-factly. "It's kind of hard maintaining relationships with the whole hopping around from village to village thing."

"Not even with someone from the village you grew up in?" Hinata asked.

"There weren't really any boys there that liked me," Beki adjusted in her seat. "On the one hand, my dad is scary as hell, so that's strike one. Strike two is that there aren't a lot of people my age in the village. Pickings are slim, and compared to the other girls my age I'm not a popular choice."

"Why do you think that?" Hinata thought Beki was pretty enough. Her hair was a very lovely color and she kept it in complicated braids. Then again, Hinata didn't know what the other girls in Beki's village looked like. Maybe they all had hair that color.

"Probably my temper?" Beki looked up at the ceiling as she thought about it. "Oh. Or the fact that I don't want to get married at like, 17, and have seven kids and never see anything beyond my village."

"Oh," Was all Hinata could reply with. "That sounds sad."

"Remember how I said there are only 5 clans left in my village? Well, they all come from the same three lines. There are three offshoot clans now, but essentially we're all distantly related, right?" Beki thought for a moment about whether or not she should continue. She shrugged and kept talking. "So that means of the four boys around my age from Kami to Akuma, three of them are my first cousins."

"That definitely puts a damper on things," Hinata took a bite of her porridge. "So, do you all meet your spouses in Getsugakure?"

"Sometimes," Beki eyed her carefully, as if surveying whether or not Hinata could handle the next part. "See, my clan, and at least two of the other clans, think it's totally okay to marry a second cousin."

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise, to which Beki rolled hers.

"Come on. By the look of your entire clan, tell me that no one around here has married a cousin."

Hinata thought about it and had to admit that she could think of at least three marriages that had happened between cousins in her family, but they were usually at least third or fourth cousins. She stammered for a moment in frustration at Beki's satisfied smirk before she finally said:

"They aren't so closely related."

"Well, regardless of my dad's position as a third son making my prospects few to none, he didn't want me stuck there," Beki continued, as if they hadn't just discussed the ethics of marrying cousins. "Unfortunately, likely at some point he's going to have to use me as a bargaining chip and broker me into a marriage that would profit Getsu."

Hinata looked down at her plate. There was a very good chance that if she hadn't become engaged to Naruto, she would have been facing a similar fate. He had rescued her from her position as a bargaining chip. Their indiscretion had guaranteed her a lifetime full of love and happiness. When she was younger, Hinata would have never thought that doing something wrong and getting in trouble could lead to such good fortune. Maybe Beki had been put under her care so she could get her in the same kind of trouble.

"You might meet someone here," Hinata offered. "There are a lot of boys here our age. Almost all of them are single and they're generally nice people."

"I don't know, Hinata," Beki tapped her thumb on the table. "I don't know how long I'll be here, and as much as I would like to meet someone... Maybe if the right person comes along it'll be worth the work."

"That's the right attitude!" Hinata clapped her hands.

"Why did you ask though?" Beki asked. "Is it because you're engaged?"

"Well, yes." Hinata blushed. "I wanted to make sure you weren't in some complicated situation and I was making you uncomfortable bringing it up all the time."

"No, of course not," Beki shook her head. "Tell me more about him."

Hinata lit up like a string of lights. She talked about how brave and strong Naruto was, what good work ethic he had, his lofty goals of becoming Hokage, and how cute he was when he smiled. That is, until she noticed she had talked for twenty minutes straight and Beki was leaning back in her chair with a smug expression.

"You liiiiiike him," Beki teased.

"I should, I'm marrying him aren't I?" Hinata flushed with exasperation.

"This goes beyond an arranged marriage," Beki poked. "You liiiiiiike him."

"I have to admit, I have always admired him," Hinata's face was growing redder by the minute.

Beki paused to think and the wicked smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"How is he in bed?" Beki asked.

Hinata froze solid and turned scarlet from head to toe. She could feel sweat dripping down the back of her neck.

"Oh, okay, you're shy about that," Beki waved her hands apologetically, but the smile didn't fade. "Sorry I asked."

Am I that easy to read? Hinata thought.

"I think I'm going to try to run some errands today. I have to stock up on letter paper and such now that I know I'm not heading home any time soon," Beki rose and put her dishes in the sink. "I've got important ambassadoress-in-training communication to conduct. See you later Hina-chan."

Hinata watched Beki skip out the front door and wondered if they really were friends. Hinata had always wanted a girlfriend, but she thought it would be like the other relationships she'd built with her teammates. There would be a buildup of hanging out briefly over lunch, then running errands together, and then the whole secret confessions of the soul could happen. She had only known Beki three days and she was asking her how Naruto was in bed. Was that rude? Beki now lived in the Hyuga compound, her every moment spent in a fishbowl where her only solitude was in Hinata's house. Hinata was privy to all the things Beki did and said that other people didn't see or hear. Did that make her entitled to know some of Hinata's secrets, too? If Hinata asked Beki a very personal question like that, would Beki feel so uncomfortable?

Hinata finished her coffee as she mulled it over. Beki had been a little straightforward with that question, but she may have meant it jokingly. It was Hinata's own fault for opening that door when she spent five minutes talking about Naruto's rippling pectorals. Hinata decided when Beki got back later she would talk to her about it. Communication about feelings was very important, or at least that's what Hinata read in the relationship books she stole peeks at in the bookshops and the library.

A few hours later, Hinata heard Beki coming through the front door. Hinata was in the study writing a letter to Naruto about her new roommate, the adventures they'd already shared, and just how much she missed her fiancé.

"Hinataaaa," Beki cried from the kitchen.

"What is it Be-chan?" Hinata had decided that because Beki already had started calling her Hina-chan, she would give Beki a nickname, too.

"I think I accidentally joined a gang," Beki said as she walked into the study.

Hinata looked up to see Beki in a skin tight green spandex suit that left nothing to the imagination. Beki had a fairly large chest, and the spandex clung to the point of indecency. It was so tight around her legs and rear that Hinata was sure if Beki was wearing underwear, she would be able to see it. Hinata had seen several men wearing that suit, unfortunately including Naruto, which was awkward enough. Seeing it on a girl was downright vulgar. Beki read the trepidation on Hinata's face and shrugged.

"I know, you can see like every ripple and fold everywhere," Beki shuffled. "I think I'm going to have to ask if I can wear a leotard over it or something."

Hinata shook her head and refocused:

"So you met Rock Lee then? Or Might Gai?"

"Both?" Beki shrugged. "They aren't related, right? Even though they look like weird aged gapped twins?"

"That's right. Gai is Lee's sensei. He's also Neji's sensei," Hinata averted her eyes.

"Gai is Neji's sensei?" Beki jumped a little in surprise, jiggling. "No wonder he looks so grumpy all the time."

There was a knock at the door and Hinata called out:

"Who is it?"

"It's Neji, Lady Hinata."

"Speak of the devil," Beki folded her arms, for which Hinata was silently grateful.

"We're in the study," Hinata called out.

Neji walked in, saw Beki, and stopped dead. Color rose in his cheeks and his face twitched before he composed himself enough to speak:

"So, you met Lee,"

"I think I joined his gang," Beki offered.

Neji shook his head and averted his eyes, suddenly aware of how revealing the green jumpsuit was on a girl.

"So what do you have to do to be a part of Lee's…gang?" Hinata asked.

"There was a whole lot of talk about being youthful and dashing and I don't know," Beki plopped down on the loveseat. "I they were so excited about it all, and it made me feel bad to rain on their parade, so I just kind of got swept along in the current."

"Beki, you need to learn how to say 'no' to people here. I know you are new and you're nervous about being accepted but no one will hate you if you turn down something. Especially something this ridiculous," Neji gestured at the jumpsuit. "Please, rain on their parade. Hail on their parade so it gets cancelled."

"Is there a way for you to get out of his gang?" Hinata asked.

"I don't think so," Beki said. "Wait, I think he said something about a gang could only survive if it could count on its leader to always be there for them. So maybe if I like, I don't know, needed him to help me with something and it fell through I could get out."

"You might want to make that happen soon," Neji suggested.

"I'm supposed to go train with him later," Beki added.

Hinata opened her mouth to speak but Neji shushed her gently.

"Let her learn this one on her own." Neji patted her shoulder. "I'll be there, too. If things get too out of hand, I'll put a stop to it."

"If you're sure," Hinata shrugged.

…

Neji had to carry Beki home on his back at first, but her arms were so weak she couldn't even hold on to his neck. He threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, an arrangement which neither was happy about.

"Could you not, like…. bounce so much…" Beki groaned.

"This is what you get for agreeing to train with someone you don't know," Neji chastised.

"Just leave me here to diiiiiie," Beki moaned.

"Do you think I want to be carrying a sweaty girl in a jumpsuit tight enough to bounce a coin off through the village? No. No I don't," Neji grumbled. "Make this a little less unpleasant for me by not complaining so much."

"Thank you Neji," Beki whimpered.

He brought her through the gates of the compound, his face the image of composure in spite of his awkward cargo. Hiashi observed the two making their way to Hinata's house and shook his head. The Tsukimori girl certainly brought her own brand of strangeness into the Hyuga compound.

Neji brought her inside Hinata's kitchen and announced them:

"Hinata, we're back."

Hinata walked into the kitchen and saw the sorry state Beki was in.

"Oh you poor thing!" Hinata gasped.

"I hurt in places I didn't know I could hurt," Beki cried pitifully. "My whole body is on fire."

"Can you bring her upstairs?" Hinata was already clamoring at the medicine cabinet.

Neji heaved a sigh and headed up the stairs, Beki crying out a little with every step.

"Just set her on the bed," Hinata said as she came in. "I'll take care of her from here. Thank you Neji."

"Did we learn our lesson?" Neji asked Beki as he set her on the bed.

"Yes," She pouted.

"What do we say when spandex clad ninja asks us to train with them?" Neji asked.

"Not today," Beki squeaked.

"No," Neji bopped her on the nose with his finger.

"No," Beki repeated.

"Good," Neji left the room and closed the door.

Hinata looked over her incapacitated friend.

"Can you move on your own?" She frowned.

"Barely," Beki whimpered.

"A hot soak would probably help," Hinata walked into the bathroom and started the water.

"Hinata, if I ever agree to do something like this again, slap me," Beki whined.

"Alright, come on," Hinata held out her hands as she walked over to her. "I'll help you get to the tub."

"You're a good friend, Hinata," Beki mewed as Hinata hoisted her up.

Beki leaned on Hinata's shoulder all the way into the bathroom. Hinata peeled her out of the spandex while Beki leaned on the wall for support. Hinata's suspicions about Beki not wearing underthings was confirmed. She looked away from the breasts hovering in front of her face as she pulled the legs off one by one. Beki shimmied out of the last of the suit and stumbled for the tub. Hinata grabbed her arm to steady her and helped her get into the hot water. Beki's breasts floated to the top. I have that same problem, Hinata thought and then quickly pushed it from her mind. Her breasts weren't as large as Hinata's, but they would have most of the girls their age turning green with envy. Hinata shook her head. She shouldn't be so casual about assessing another person's body.

"You're okay?" Hinata finally brought herself to speak. "You won't drown if I walk away?"

"No, I don't think so," Beki sighed. "I will need your help getting back out. Of that I'm sure."

"I'm going to go make you some herbal tea. It'll keep the swelling down." Hinata said as she walked out.

"You're an angel, Hinata," Beki hollered after her.

Hinata brewed the tea and brought it upstairs. Beki had her head leaning against the back of the tub while she soaked the soreness away. Hinata sat on the corner of the tub and handed her the tea. Beki sipped on it weakly.

"I might not be able to get out of bed tomorrow." Beki said grimly.

"If you can't, I'll come up here and keep you company," Hinata offered.

"We'll make Neji be our butler," Beki gave her a mischievous look.

Hinata chuckled.

"He would probably do it, too."

The girls chatted for a while until Beki started to feel baked. Hinata helped her get out of the tub and gingerly wrapped her with the towel, trying not to accidentally grope anything. Beki waddled awkwardly over to the bed, dropped the towel, and collapsed.

"Aren't you going to put on your pajamas?" Hinata asked.

"Too much work," Beki groaned.

"So you are just going to sleep." Hinata said.

"Yes. Good night, Hinata." Beki's voice was muffled by the pillow she had planted her face in. "And thanks for the help."

Hinata walked over to pull the covers over her friend before she left. Beki was lying face down. Hinata tried not to look, but curiosity got the best of her. Beki's butt was a little larger and shapelier than her own. Hinata felt a small pang of jealousy as she pulled the sheet over Beki's curves, red as a pomegranate the whole time.

She walked down the hallway to her own room and got ready for bed. She hoped Beki would feel better the next day. Overdoing it with training was a miserable risk that went with being a shinobi. It had been odd for Hinata to help Beki get cleaned up, but there was no way her friend could have done it on her own. The only other available help had been Neji, who would have been an even worse choice. Hinata took Beki's lead by not letting it bother her much. As she climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep, she caught herself hoping they would have many more (but less awkward) adventures in the near future.