Hi all, time for weekend update number two. If the spirit compels me, I might get another chapter up some time tomorrow. Anyway, some notes on this chapter. Hinata's least favorite foods are crab and eel. In case you're wondering, yes. I do look these things up. I chuckle whenever I find I have something in common with one of the Naruto characters, and then I laugh even harder when I picture Kishimoto san actually coming up with all of this super specific stuff about every one of his characters. He decided all of their birthdays, their blood types, their favorite vs least favorite foods. I don't think even George R R Martin has that level of dedication. Then again, I could be wrong. Back to the notes: a kanabo is a long wooden club that in mythology is used by the Japanese grim reaper. It is usually made of a sturdy wood, like oak, and is sometimes studded or has nail like protrusions sticking out of it. It makes a baseball bat look like a kiddie toy.

Now that the notes are done, I'd like to thank you for reading my story and encourage you to check out my work on deviantart (same username as here). I also appreciate any questions, comments, or reviews I receive. I'm new, so that sort of stuff is really helpful to me. See you later, cowboys.

Beki's father returned to Konoha with a heavy bag and a heavy heart. The hour was late but word had been sent ahead to the inn he would be arriving. He was glad to see the innkeeper was waiting for him. She took him to his room and bid him goodnight. He had ridden hard for a week and a half to get to Konoha, but it was too late to call on his daughter. He sighed morosely and opened up his bag. He had letters for her from the Miko Reika, Yukihana's old friend and Beki's unofficial aunt, and Reika's younger sister, Beki's friend Ren. They had sent along good luck charms and some sweets Ren made herself. Seiichiro was pleased to see he had been careful enough on his ride that none of them had been damaged. Beki had forgotten her swimsuit and her favorite sweater, so he had brought those from home, as well as the family's only copy of his and Yukihana's wedding portrait. He hoped it would bring her some comfort, even though it made him nervous to let it go.

While he was on the road he had worried about how Beki was eating. She had always been a hungry girl, but he had never brought her out this far west. What if she hadn't liked the food there? What if it didn't agree with her stomach? He had swallowed his pride while he was in Getsu and visited his older brother Yasahiro (the one that didn't hate him so much). He had of course expressed displeasure Seiichiro had left his niece in the Land of Fire, but relented when he heard it was on the behest of the king. They had spent one evening together as a family, Seiichiro, Yasahiro, and Yasahiro's wife Umeko. They wrote down every traditional recipe they could think of. Umeko had also insisted he bring Beki one of her hairpins for good luck. It had been surprisingly cathartic, seeing his older brother again. It made Seiichiro feel like maybe at the end of all this they could try to be a family again. He didn't have the same hopes for his oldest brother, Ichiro. That bridge was burned.

This whole experience was putting things in perspective for Seiichiro. He had his job since Beki was a young girl, and although she had many opportunities to see different walks of life, he had neglected their roots. Their bonds with his family were weak at best and dysfunctional at worst. Seiichiro had always had Beki with him, and not having her around to talk to or to take care of her was making him lose his mind. He had no one he could talk to about these feelings. Most of the people he knew were political figures he wouldn't even trust with his middle name. Clearing the air with Yasahiro straightened that out for him. He could talk to his brother about all these personal feelings, and Beki could benefit from having a relative at a stable address she could write to.

The last thing he brought her was the hardest to part with. It was Yukihana's modified gauntlets. They had metal plates mounted on sturdy leather with adjustable buckle straps on the underside. The hand portion was held in place by a thin leather wrapped metal band that ran across the palm. The Asou family crest, a crescent moon hovering above crashing waves, was etched into the metal plate on the back of the hand. When activated by chakra, twin blades came out of the top of the gauntlets. They were short and gently curved, like the claws of a cat. He had kept them in a box under his bed for all these years. On the night they were attacked by Orochimaru's men, they had fled so quickly Yukihana had forgotten to take them. When they realized they would be unable to outrun their pursuers, Seiichiro and Yukihana had argued about who should stay and fight. Seiichiro insisted he do it, he was the man and it was his job to protect his family. Yukihana had looked at her bare hands, and told him she was better at unarmed combat. The look on her face when she told him to take Beki and run still haunted his nightmares. She was so afraid but she looked ready. He imagined that's the look she wore to her grave.

Seiichiro had never told anyone, but he went back to the spot where they were separated the night after. It was the middle of spring, but the whole clearing had been covered in snow and ice. Crimson blood stained the snow and splattered the trees. Yuki had put up a hell of a fight, but she was nowhere to be found. His wife had been taken, dead or alive, by Orochimaru. Seiichiro had cried that night. Over the years that followed, he had spent a lot more time than he was willing to admit crying over his wife.

Subconsciously he had summoned the little blue flame. It flickered comfortingly in his hand, casting a soft powdery glow over the room.

"I love you Yuki," He said.

"I love you too," He imagined her replying.

He snuffed her out and fell into a dark fitful sleep.

…

Beki was making omelets when she heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it," she called out.

"Seiichiro," Her father replied softly.

Beki tossed her spatula aside and ran for the door. She yanked it open and jumped up to hug her father. His arms were full so she dragged him down until her feet were back on the floor. He set down his bags and picked her up in his arms.

"I missed you Beki," He smiled.

"I missed you too, dad," She beamed back.

Hinata had gone out for the day, so Beki split up her omelet with her dad and put on a pot of coffee. He gave her each of her treats, saving the gauntlets for last.

"So will you be writing your uncle and aunt?" He asked as she looked over the recipe cards and toyed with the hairpin.

"Of course I will," Beki said. "This hairpin is to die for."

It was. It was formed to look like the branch of a plum tree in full bloom, each pink blossom a tiny work of art.

"I have something that I should have given you a long time ago," He sighed as he took the gauntlets from the bag. They were wrapped in an icy blue cloth patterned with white snowflakes and snow blossoms.

Beki unwrapped the bundle very carefully. Her eyes bulged when she saw them.

"Are you sure?" She touched the metal as gingerly as if it would melt on contact.

"Yes," Seiichiro said. "She would have wanted you to have them."

"Beki, I wanted to talk to you about your training," he said. "I don't want to go into details, but...the world isn't getting any better. I haven't pushed you to be combat ready. Your situational awareness and responses to situations are fantastic for someone your age, but…"

"You don't think I could fight my way out of wet sack," She frowned.

"No," He shook his head. "Sadly, I don't."

That statement hung in the air like a nasty smell.

"Get dressed for training," He stood. "From now on, when I'm in town, we train. I plan on discussing some training options for you during my absences with the Hokage."

Beki got up from the table wordlessly and went upstairs. She didn't have special training clothes. If she was being switched back to active duty, she should probably get some. She made a note to herself to talk to Hinata for some suggestions on where to get good gear.

She came downstairs and he led her off into the woods. It was surprising to Beki how the Konoha residents seemed to pay her no mind anymore; she supposed after a few weeks she had become a familiar face. Beki was wearing her mother's gauntlets and spent the duration of the walk getting the hang of channeling her chakra into the blades to extend them, then cutting off the flow to retract them. It took minimal effort after a short time and required a negligible amount of energy. The weight on her arms was awkward, and it would be difficult to use projectiles with the gauntlets. She sighed with frustration. After the embarrassment she suffered training with Team 8 using techniques she was familiar with, Beki was sure she'd make an even bigger ass of herself if she tried to fight them with the gauntlets on.

They reached a secluded portion of the woods and Seiichiro assumed a ready stance with his kanabo in hand.

"Wait, you're using the kanabo?" She balked.

He swung at her, full force.

Beki barely managed to escape its range. The force of the club rushing by tugged at her clothes and sent her loose hairs dancing. Seiichiro took a quick step and swung again. All those years wielding the same kanabo had made him lightning fast and silky smooth with his movements. He struck so often and in such variety, it felt like fighting five men instead of one.

Beki stumbled over a tree root dodging his last strike and he adjusted his arc mid swing to bring the kanabo down right on top of her. She rolled out of the way and came up to strike him, blades out. He released one hand from the kanabo and caught her wrist, twisting it painfully. She clawed at him with the other hand. Before her strike could even connect, he spun and released her, the momentum carrying her right into a tree.

"Dad?!" She cried, pain radiating from her lower back and up her arm from her raw wrist.

He rested the kanabo on the ground and leaned on it.

"Do you see, Beki?" He cocked his head. "I have failed you as a father. If you can't handle my training, I would rather take you out of this world myself than see you torn apart by it."

Beki panted in silence. She was rattled. She had seen her father fight but had always been safely removed from it. Having been on the receiving end of what she hoped was his holding back, she now understood why men lived in fear and awe of him. He was the Reaper. If she could survive his brutal brand of training, she too would become an unstoppable force.

"I'm going to do the training," Beki said confidently. "It won't be easy, and I might end up in the hospital once a week, but let's do this."

"Good," He said as he returned to ready stance. "Again."

…

Beki came home bloody and busted up. She looked like she had been mugged in a dark alley by a pack of angry baseball bats. Her ribs and elbows were bruised, her back throbbed, and she was pretty sure she had a black eye coming on. Seiichiro had only smacked her eye with the back of his hand, he hadn't punched her outright, but it hurt like hell.

Hinata was pouring tea when Beki walked in. One look at her sent Hinata pouring hot liquid all over the table.

"Beki!" She cried out and rushed over to her friend.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Beki grumbled. "I was just training with my dad."

"Training? Do you mean being beaten?" Hinata asked as she started assessing her wounds.

"No, it's not like that," Beki shrugged. "His logic is he's been too soft on me. Which he has, truth be told, so now he's over compensating."

Hinata bit her lip to keep herself from commenting. Quickly the need to comment passed as she realized no major damage had been done. Seiichiro was an expert. He had hit Beki just hard enough for her to experience pain, but her injuries, as ugly as they were, were all surface wounds.

"Can I get a bag of frozen peas for my face?" Beki pointed at the aching eye.

Hinata wrapped the bag in a hand towel before handing them over.

"Ten minutes on, ten minutes off," Hinata cautioned.

"I got it I got it," Beki waved her off.

"Oh, there was something for you in the mail," Hinata said, handing Beki a crude handmade envelope.

Beki sat up and opened the envelope.

"Aw," She smiled.

"What does it say?" Hinata asked.

"You're super pretty and nice, your secret admirer," Beki lowered the peas as she read.

"Looks like you made an impression on someone." Hinata gingerly patted her head.

"Might be one of the kids in the kinder class," Beki winced, and Hinata retracted her hand.

"That's an awful lot of work for a kindergartener to find out your address," Hinata cocked her head.

"Iruka probably helped them," Beki sighed. "That chump is a hopeless romantic; you can tell just by looking at him. I did eavesdrop on him talking to one of the other teachers though, so you could say it's as good as confirmed."

"Really?" Hinata blinked. Even though she was an adult, it was hard to think of her old teachers as people. It was almost like they were immortal beings separate from mankind, bound to the school and devoid of personal lives.

"Yeah, he ships his students," Beki chuckled.

"You're kidding?!" Hinata slapped the table involuntarily.

"Nope. But he's super secretive about it," Beki leaned in conspiratorially. "I mean, I'd be a pretty safe choice to confide in given I don't know half of the people he could tell me about, but his lips are sealed."

Hinata burned to know who he shipped Naruto with, but she realized it would be very unlikely that Iruka sensei would divulge such a secret, especially if he didn't ship him with her.

"Don't think I haven't tried everything," Beki put the ice back on. "I asked him about all the other girls in your class to do process of elimination, but I'm telling you, that guy could safely hold all the village's secrets. The man is an iron wall."

Hinata gestured to the box of treats on the counter.

"Are those yours?"

"Yeah, but have as much as you want. My friend Ren made the cookies, and the wagashi are from my favorite shop in Getsu." Beki pointed at them respectively.

Hinata poured them both some tea after she cleaned up her earlier spill and split some of the treats with her. They were surprisingly good. They were less sweet than she was used to but more flavorful. The girls gossiped a little more about who they thought Iruka would ship when Beki opened up one of her scabs.

"That one looks like it's going to be a problem," Hinata rose and walked over to the cabinet she kept her first aid kit in. She took out the ointment her family was so famous for.

"I'm sure it's going to be just fine," Beki eyed the slash that ran diagonally from the back of her shoulder around to the front of her elbow. She had probably earned that one getting tossed into the tree like a ragdoll.

Hinata washed her hands and brought the container over to the table. She popped the lid and dipped her first two fingers into the ointment. Beki immediately backed her chair away from the table.

"Oh my god, what is that reek?!" Beki coughed. "It smells like old cat piss and moldy leaves."

"This is an ointment. It prevents infection and boosts healing," Hinata grabbed at her arm. Beki yanked it out of reach.

"Oh no, you are not putting that shit on me," Beki shook her head and stood up. "No sir. I'm going to go wash it with soap and water and you can put your skunk gel away."

Hinata was losing her patience. Beki was just as old as she was and she was acting like a child.

"Beki, that cut is going to keep opening up and you're going to get it infected," Hinata stood and cornered her. "Let me put this on so it can seal the wound."

"Screw that noise, I'm out," Beki ran for the kitchen door just as Neji opened it.

"Oh, excuse me Beki," Neji began to step out of her way.

"No, don't let her leave!" Hinata cried out before she could stop herself. Beki tried to dart by Neji but he grabbed ahold of her arms.

"Dude, let me go," Beki stared him down.

"Lady Hinata, what's going on?" Neji looked over at her with confusion in his eyes.

"She got hurt during training and won't let me put ointment on her cut," Hinata stomped over and stuck out her hand to apply the medicine.

"NO!" Beki, with the sudden boost of energy of a disobedient child, wriggled free of Neji and made a break for the courtyard.

"Hold this," Hinata tossed the container to Neji and took two leaping steps to catch up with Beki. With four quick strikes to pressure points on Beki's back, Hinata fully immobilized her. Beki dropped to the ground flat on her face, unable to raise her arms to break her fall.

"WHAT THE HELL HINATA," Beki's cursing was muffled by the ground. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS AND YOU'RE BLOCKING MY CHAKRA AND SHIT. DON'T YOU DO THIS. DON'T YOU DARE PUT THAT CRAP ON ME I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU HINATAAAAAAA."

"There," Hinata sighed with frustration as she took the container back from Neji. "You would think she was a child the way she acts about a little smell coming off of the medicine-"

"Lady Hinata, look," Neji interrupted, pointing at Beki's body.

Somehow, she had begun to crawl with just her arms, sheer willpower dragging her body away at a snail's pace.

"How are you moving?!" The Hyugas cried out in unison.

"I DON'T LIKE IT! I DON'T WANNA!" Beki cried as she dragged herself away with the willpower of a thousand disgruntled children trapped at a family reunion.

Neji shook his head and pinned Beki's arms behind her back as Hinata applied the ointment to her wound. Beki whined the whole time, her complaints dying down to small pathetic grumbling noises.

"Come on," Neji sighed as he threw Beki over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Let's put you to bed."

"I will get you for this Hinata," Beki's eyes burned with ridiculous, childlike rage. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day crab or eel are going to end up in your dinner and you will know it was me."

Hinata frowned at her. That was just the sort of impish revenge Beki would take on someone. Instead of acknowledging her, Hinata rolled her eyes and turned down the sheets. Neji tossed Beki on the bed unceremoniously and Hinata threw the sheets over her. The two walked out grumbling about how unreasonable she was. Beki was angry, but the exhaustion brought on by fighting through blocked pressure points put her to sleep in minutes.