Hi everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. Things are going a little slow for me on the writing side so thank you for your patience. I've liked hearing from everyone about their thoughts on the last few chapters and I look forward to your feedback on this one. I know it takes extra time on your part, but hearing how I do in terms of character development and what you like/don't like helps me grow as a writer. Enjoy the story!

"So what are we gonna do when we get to the beach?" Beki looked back and forth from Hinata to Tenten. "Are you guys more 'sit-read-tan' kind of people or is there…rough housing?"

Tenten heaved a sigh as she watched Rock Lee bounce back and forth between Neji, Gai, Shino, and Kiba. He was like a pinball that had broken free of the machine and would just ricochet for all eternity.

"They're definitely the rough housing types," Tenten patted her duffel bag. "I would love to just get a chance to sit, relax, and read all the issues of Weapons Monthly I've fallen behind on."

Beki kept herself from commenting. Tenten was definitely sweet but was undoubtedly a weapon otaku. The way she saw it, a person could sit and read and tan on any old roof or by any community pool. Time spent at the beach was sacred and should be spent in an exhausting whirl of sugary drinks, fattening snacks, swimming, and downright shenanigans. "How about you Hinata?"

"I brought some books I would like to read," She looked away shyly. "I wouldn't mind joining in if we all did something together, however."

"Like, chicken fighting, volleyball, king of the rock?" Beki asked hopefully but all she got were blank stares.

"I've heard of beach volleyball but that all sounds kind of…barbaric," Tenten smiled awkwardly. "I mean, what is king of the rock?"

Beki's eyes grew wide. "You mean you've never…?" She turned her attention to the boys. "HEY MORONS!"

All of the boys stopped dead and turned to look over their shoulders at her. "Yes?" Lee smiled and Neji face palmed. Of course Lee had grown accustomed to responding to "moron".

"Are you telling me none of you has ever played 'king of the rock'?" More blank stares. "King of the Mountain? God of the Sea…the lake…the pool?"

Kiba leaned over and whispered to Shino. "Is she speaking in tongues?" Shino shook his head. "She'll probably explain in a moment."

"So at the beach or the lake or whatever there's usually some type of rock outcropping or sandbar, right?" Beki watched all of their eyes for a spark of recognition only to be disappointed again. "So one person becomes 'King of the Rock', and everyone else tries to steal the title. The point is to get the 'king' into the water and then to secure the throne for yourself."

Lee's eyes grew wide and sparkled. "That sounds AMAZING!"

Gai sensei closed his eyes and nodded with his chin in his hand. "That sounds like an excellent way to combine the youthful joviality of the beach with fantastic unarmed combat training!"

"I refuse." Shino folded his arms.

"Why?" Kiba balked and Akamaru whimpered. He leaned in and said under his breath. "She's a water ninja, Shino. We'll need every man we can get!"

Shino shot him a sharp look. "I am not going to drown any of my bugs for some stupid beach game."

"You heard the man," Beki folded her arms. "He doesn't want to get his hair wet."

Shino started walking again and without looking back said: "You can goad me all you want Tsukimori, I don't care what you think. I've made up my mind."

Beki watched him go and the others soon took up stride after him. "Damn. That guy has some serious resolve."

…

Kiba, Shino, Neji, and Tenten started setting up the tents on the shore. Beki picked up some tent spikes and smiled "So where do I set up?"

"Beki, I mean this with all seriousness and this is in no way our attempt to discredit your ability to pitch a tent," Neji stood up and clapped sand off his hands. "But could you please babysit Lee?"

Beki watched as Lee raced Gai sensei back and forth along the shoreline first on foot, then on their hands, then crawling like crabs. "No, I totally get what you mean. Do you have something shiny I can distract them with if they get bored with racing?"

Tenten shrugged. "Just challenge them to a game of 'Shinobi says' or 'Red light Green light'. That's what we do in a pinch."

"Aight, sounds good," Beki started skipping down to the waterline.

"So do you have a plan to deal with her?" Kiba asked as he tethered a line. "You know she's going to pull another stunt like she did on that capture exercise in the woods."

"We'll just have to work as a team," Neji folded his arms. "That's how she eliminated us all last time. She separated us from the pack and then singled us out one by one. So long as we coordinate and rush her together we're bound to be successful."

"She's going to find a way to cheat, I just know it," Kiba clenched his fist and Akamaru yipped in agreement.

"Look," Tenten pointed. "Gai sensei is motioning us all over."

"Okay everyone, while I run into town and gather us some food and drinks for the campfire tonight, you can train with Beki." He gave them all a very serious face. "Now try your hardest out there and make me proud with the fire of your youth!"

Beki stood smiling innocently behind Gai sensei on the rocky sandbar that stretched out into the crashing waves. To everyone's surprise she kept up the façade until Gai sensei was long gone. The smile slid off her face and an expression disturbingly similar to her terrible father darkened her face.

"Listen up, bitches," Beki planted her feet firmly in the sand and pounded her chest. "I'm King of the Rock. So come at me!"

"Remember, stick together," Neji cautioned. "We outnumber her six to one-"

Neji's sentence was cut off by a wave of water sweeping them off the sandbar into the ocean with such sudden force and intensity they all came up sputtering. Beki watched them all tread water twenty feet from her perch and began to laugh maniacally. Her hair turned black and her skin paled to ash. "The only person to ever dethrone me has been my father. Good luck getting past my water ninjutsu."

"Using ninjutsu is cheating!" Kiba cried out.

Beki shrugged. "The only rule is I have to be unarmed. Do I look armed to you?" She tapped her chin with her finger. "Well, I mean, I do have some EXTRA arms just hanging out."

Tenten shook her head. "What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, just these," Beki formed handsigns and then cried out. "GRASP OF THE WATERY GRAVE!"

Hands made of water formed and erupted from the surface of the water, reaching and grasping at the Konoha ninja.

"Get to the shore!" Neji called out and they all swam against the pull of the ocean and Beki's ninjutsu.

Once they were all safely out of harm's way and far enough away from the shore they gathered to plan. Beki watched them huddle and chuckled softly. They had the numbers on her but Beki had the home court advantage. Her success in the woods had merely been due to the massive amounts of planning and preparation she had before the actual event. Out here, however, she didn't need to try very hard to be top dog. As much as they tried to include her, Beki was always aware that she didn't quite belong and that she was a stranger amongst the Konoha ninja. She normally played nice but every once in a while it was good to remind them all that she was a shinobi in her own right and someone to be taken seriously.

The Leaflings were breaking into groups. Tenten and Kiba/Akamaru rushed her while the others hung back. Beki used the water wave jutsu to knock them off the pathway again. Behind her wall of water and out of her sight, Neji and Hinata both used Rotation to launch Rock Lee in the air towards Beki like a bullet. Beki caught sight of him just as he began his whirlwind. She quickly formed the handsigns and sprayed water out of her mouth at him with the power of a firehose. It knocked him out of his kick and harmlessly back into the water. Lee, Tenten, and Kiba/Akamaru swam back to shore glaring at her. They formed back up and Beki yawned. "Come on, I can do this all day! You have to WANT IT."

The next twenty minutes were spent with the Konoha shinobi launching several attacks and diversion maneuvers against Beki. Few got past the halfway point on the sandbar and their fatigue was beginning to show. She could also sense that their irritation was slowly growing into frustration and anger.

"Guys, this is so easy. All you have to do is dethrone me. Is that so hard?" Beki sighed. "My reign is uncontested, it seems."

"Then I guess this makes me 'King of the Rock'."

Beki's head jerked in the direction of the voice hovering just over her shoulder but the ground beneath her feet started shifting. As she struggled to maintain her footing, the sand beneath her formed into a hand. Before she could react, it launched her through the air like a catapult. She was airborne for a full five seconds before she hit the water with a painful smack. Her skin stung and for a moment she was too shocked to move, but soon she regained her faculties and started to swim for the sandbar. Beki climbed back up and stared the Kazekage down.

"Gaara, what are you doing here?!"

The Kazekage looked over at the beach. "Notice that you all have the place to yourselves?"

Beki looked over her shoulder at the abandoned shoreline. "It was moderately busy when we got here."

"We received reports that there was some sort of sea monster terrorizing the shore," Gaara looked Beki over in her Drowned Maiden form. "I can only assume they were referring to you."

Beki brushed some of her hair out of her face. "I mean, I can see how a layperson would think that, but we were just playing a game. No harm done."

"Especially now that the game is over," Gaara nodded at the Konoha shinobi, who began dispersing to set up the bonfire. Beki put her hands on her hips.

"No, it's not over. You just knocked me down once. I have a right to reclaim my throne."

Sand began to spill out of Gaara's gourd. "Do you really believe it's a good idea to challenge me on the beach."

Beki puffed up her chest. "I've got just as much advantage out her as you, and frankly-"

Sand hands grabbed her around the ankles and yanked her off of the sandbar into the water. Instantly she was scrambling back up the sandbar.

"Okay, that's it, you and me, one on one," Beki spat out sea water and shook the hair out of her face. "No jutsu, just hand to hand. First one in the water loses."

"Beki, I'm not going to wrestle you-"

Beki had launched herself at Gaara full force. He kept himself from reacting with the sand and instead put up his hands to catch hers. Beki was pushing him towards the edge of the sandbar with all her strength to little avail. She looked down to see if he was cheating with the sand but much to her surprise he was holding her back with his personal strength.

"How are you this strong?!" Beki cried in disbelief.

Gaara gave an exasperated sigh. "You thought I was a wimp, didn't you? That the only reason I'm the Kazekage is because I have the sand?" He leaned in closer. "How much do you think this gourd weighs?"

It was at least a hundred pounds and some change, Beki realized, and it made her falter just long enough for Gaara to push her back into the water. This time she surfaced much more slowly, with only her eyes breaking above the waterline. The pure rage in her eyes was like that of a toddler. It was pure emotion but held no threat. Gaara crouched down and held out a hand to her. "Are you ready to come out now?"

Beki tipped her chin up just enough to spit a steady stream of water into his face. Gaara formed a sand hand and blocked her onslaught with a sigh. "Alright then. I gave you plenty of chances."

A sand hand bodily ripped her out of the water and coiled around her until she was bound in a cocoon of sand. She hovered along beside Gaara as he walked to the beach from the sandbar. "This is excessive," Beki squirmed and swore she felt the sand coil tighter.

"I tried bringing you back civilly," Gaara said with the sort of cool confidence that only a winner dared to carry. "You can sit here in timeout until you calm down."

The sand cocoon planted itself in the beach and held its shape as Gaara walked towards the Leaf shinobi. Beki struggled against her restraints. "Keep that up and I'll make it worse for you," there was a hint of danger in his voice that Beki instantly recognized as a threat.

Is he playing with me or is he serious? Beki wondered. In spite of his warning, it was impossible for her to just sit still. Ever since she was a child Beki had been claustrophobic and had been absolutely terrified whenever her movement was restricted. Late at night, just after she had drifted off to sleep, sometimes she would jerk awake and find herself unable to move. Her mind and heart would race. She would lay there and wait for Orochimaru or some other terrifying boogeyman to appear and reveal that they had paralyzed her and were going to spirit her away.

She tried to keep calm and pay attention to how the sand was responding to her. It had molded to the shape of her body, but the sand was more loosely packed around her chest and stomach to allow for the expansion of her diaphragm as she breathed. If she could worm her arms and hands up into that cavity, she could form hand signs and cast ninjutsu. Gaara was now talking with the Leaf shinobi. Hopefully his attention was diverted enough for her to be successful.

…

"This was all Tsukimori's idea," Gaara phrased his question as a statement.

Lee saluted. "This was actually a training exercise!"

"That Tsukimori took too far." Without turning his head Gaara's gaze shifted in her direction.

"She was maybe a little over enthusiastic," Hinata offered. "But Beki didn't mean to do any harm or scare anyone."

"I believe that as well," Gaara nodded slightly. "Once again, she got carried away and used frightening ninjutsu around civilians."

Neji was getting uncomfortable. It seemed like the Kazekage intended to exact justice on Beki. The fact that he had already placed her in a sand coffin made him very nervous about what justice he intended to dispense on her.

"So will she get a stern talking to, or…?" Neji knew he was speaking out of turn by questioning the Kazekage in his own jurisdiction. However, he couldn't just stand by if Beki was in some sort of danger. Since Gai sensei was still not back to the beach, it was Neji's job as both the oldest and the highest ranked shinobi there to take responsibility for them all.

Gaara shook his head. "Tsukimori is a passionate person and is therefore prone to being emotional. However, after she cools off I'm certain she'll come to appreciate the situation she created and refrain from repeating the offense."

Neji almost heaved a sigh of relief on the spot. He didn't plan on squishing Beki in a sand coffin. "Speaking of which," Gaara turned and started to walk over to her without finishing his thought. The anxiety crept back into Neji's chest. He found himself stealing glances over to them as he helped assemble the bonfire.

…

Beki had wiggled her hands up in front of her chest. Now all she had to do was have her hands find each other in the sand sifting all around her. Just before her fingers touched she felt some of the sand solidifying and brushing against her neck and her back. The sensation tickled and she tried to shrink away. To her horror she felt the top of her bikini being slid off. Her movement had become completely constricted as she felt the strings grazing her skin as they moved away from her.

Gaara had begun walking back towards her. Once he was out of earshot of the Konoha ninja, he said in a low voice: "You do understand that I can feel you moving in the sand?"

Beki said nothing in response and just watched him. All she could do was pray that the Kazekage was just playing with her.

"Do you think I wouldn't notice you trying to get your hands close enough to cast ninjutsu?" He sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

A wad of sand broke away from the coiled sand around her and she just knew it was a capsule containing her bikini top. It deposited itself in the gourd. He knew that she knew. The tiniest smug smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth and in spite of Beki's embarrassment, in spite of how utterly helpless she knew she was in this situation she couldn't help but react.

"The jokes on you if you think that the idea of running around topless would stop me from trying to escape," She said in the best "I'm not afraid of you" voice she could muster. Gaara blinked.

"Well, if that's the case," He looked her dead in the eye and she suddenly felt the same tickling sensation on her hips. The sudden shock overrode her desire to seem composed as her bikini bottoms slid away from her. Another capsule of sand popped out of the coil and landed inside the gourd. As much as she wanted to say something she was rendered speechless. She had been beaten. Gaara stood there expectantly. Once he realized she was out of things to say he began to walk away.

"I'll hold on to these for you. Just sit there and reflect on your behavior today."

…

Hinata had no idea what the Kazekage had said or done but she had watched Beki's entire demeanor change during the course of their interaction. They had been too far away to hear them. Based on Beki's body language initially, she had been either yelling or saying generally unpleasant things to Gaara. By the end of the conversation, however, she had turned beet red and Hinata hadn't seen her speak since. She was just sitting there in that sand pile, silently staring into the ground. Gai sensei had returned at last with all the food and drinks they could ever want. After they had explained the situation to Gai sensei, he merely nodded. "We have to watch that the blaze of our passion doesn't turn into a wildfire."

Beki was forced to sit and watch as they broke open the watermelon together and started up the fire. She was downwind of the smoke and couldn't even turn her head. It stung at her eyes. Normally she would have tried another scheme to get herself out of her situation but she had learned to never engage the Kazekage on the beach. Beki had always been supreme on battlefields with any sort of water. Out here, however, she might as well have been a ragdoll.

This was the second time she'd been put in her place when trying to stir up a little fun with the Leaflings. No one would say anything tonight but Beki knew she'd be hearing about this for months. It was almost enough to turn her off from shenanigans indefinitely.

Gaara had walked off towards the businesses on the far end of the beach, probably to reassure them that there was in fact no sea monster. Beki sighed. They probably wouldn't let her come to the beach after this. She still wasn't allowed to buy flour, now they could add that to the list of privileges she had lost.

"Hi Beki," Hinata's soft voice broke through Beki's mire of grouchy thoughts.

"Oh, hey Hinata," Beki sighed and rested her chin on the bottom of the opening in the sand for her head. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd come over and keep you company for a minute," Hinata used the Byakugan and seemed to look through Beki. "The Kazekage is deep in conversation with some people, so I figure I have a few minutes before we're noticed. Oh, speaking of which,"

Hinata held up a water bottle. "I figured you would be thirsty."

Beki hadn't even realized how thirsty she was until she saw that glistening cold bottle of water. "Please and thank you!"

Hinata poured the water into Beki's mouth in small spurts so she could swallow. After about three gulps Beki shook her head. "That's enough. Thanks."

"I brought this too," Hinata held up a smore so perfect it should have been used for advertising. It felt awkward for Beki to be hand fed by Hinata like a dog, but then again she imagined it was probably something all the Leaf ninja had dealt with working with Akamaru and Kiba.

"Thank you, Hinata," Beki said. "Seriously, thank you. And tell everyone I'm sorry. I made this awkward and uncomfortable for everyone and probably ruined their vacation."

Hinata shook her head. "No one's mad at you, Beki. That would be like getting mad at Lee for being, well, Lee. You just got a little competitive is all. That's something most of us have gotten in trouble for."

"But not you," Beki chuffed. "I don't think you have a competitive bone in your body."

Hinata shook her head. "No, I save my fighting for the important things. Oh, the Kazekage is starting to leave the shops. I should go."

"Thank you, Hinata," Beki called after her as she ran back to the campfire. She licked her lips self-consciously. Hinata's kindness would be betrayed if Beki had chocolate or marshmallow all over her face. She hoped the graham cracker crumbs would just blend in with the sand. She knew that Gaara was getting closer because the sand's structure was stabilizing. It had in no way been weak while he was away but his sand control was like other ninjutsu in that proximity to the source of chakra made it stronger.

"Look, I'm sorry for upsetting everyone," Beki said even though she couldn't see him. "It won't happen again."

"I'm not mad at you, Beki," Gaara stepped out in front of her. "I am the last person who should ever judge someone for getting a little out of hand. My goal was to get you calmed down. Based on what I've seen you begin to…change whenever you're in distress. What I saw out there was, what, your full form?"

"Ish," Beki tried to shrug but couldn't. "I think so."

"In any case, you were acting very aggressively," Gaara explained. "It was frightening people and it might have ended up getting someone hurt. That's why I intervened. I figured giving you some time to cool off was the best option."

"So you put me in time out?" Beki gave him a suspicious look.

"It was for your own good," Gaara folded his arms.

Beki rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Dad."

Gaara leaned in a little closer and stared her down. "How did you expect me to react to your escalating aggression? I may seem passive but I will not tolerate a challenge to my authority. I am the Kazekage before I am anything else and I represent my village. If I look weak, my village looks weak. You of all people should understand that."

"I guess it's a little harder for you to separate yourself from your job," Beki offered. "I'll just have to remember to behave myself in the future."

"Just while you're in the Land of Wind," Gaara missed the sharp tone in her voice completely. "It would make it less complicated for me."

A large wad of sand floated out of the gourd and joined with the sand coffin. Beki felt the sand pulling away from her until it had become a sort of narrow hut around her. The sand blob plopped in her hands and deposited her swimsuit. She immediately began to dress as he talked to her from the outside, clearly now having shifted from his role as the Kazekage to her friend.

"I wasn't expecting to run into you so soon," Gaara had turned away from the sand hut even though it was completely enclosed. "Did you get the flowers?"

"Yes, they were lovely," Beki tried to keep the hurt feelings out of her voice. She knew that he was in a difficult position as both the Kazekage and a teenage boy. "That was very sweet of you."

"I was thinking that after how our first dinner date went," Gaara explained. "The next time we go out you could pick where we go and what we do. You have been in Konoha for a while and would undoubtedly make better informed decisions than I would."

"Do I just walk out of here?" Beki waved her hand at him from the air hole.

"Oh," He said and the sand hut instantly collapse and receded into his gourd in a flurry. They were left facing each other on equal ground for the first time since the sandbar.

Beki knew she must have been a mess. Getting tossed in the water repeatedly and manhandled by the sand had unraveled large portions of her braid and messed up the hair around her face. When she had been in a rough housing mood earlier, she hadn't really noticed how exposed being a swimsuit left her. The same as with the difference in power on the beach, Beki's comparative lack of clothing made her feel unprotected. Then again, it could have just been the fact that being immobilized for that long would leave anyone feeling vulnerable. She subconsciously folded her arms over her chest and looked at her feet. The Kazekage picked up on the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them and took a step back to give her more space.

"I should return to Suna," He gave her a slight bow. "Until the next time we meet, Miss Tsukimori."

"Goodbye, Kazekage sama," Beki bowed in return and watched him take off. She heaved a sigh and wondered how she thought that getting involved with a kage would be any less complicated than being an ambassador's daughter.

Gaara knew something had gone wrong. In the beginning of their interaction, his main focus had been getting the situation under control. Beki had been challenging him, which he believed had been playful in nature, however he had found himself unable to ignore it. He had been trying to be playful in return, but now he realized there was a chance that instead it had come off as oppressive. If it had been anyone else, Gaara wouldn't have given a second thought to his actions. When he was with Beki, he realized that he had to exist as himself and not as the Kazekage. Here he had another opportunity to spend some time with Beki. Instead of taking advantage of that, he had found himself unable to separate himself from his job responsibilities and ruined their time together. Gaara cursed himself. He should have been helping her build sand castles or taking the time to have a good conversation with her instead of suppressing her like a threat. As he flew home, he wondered how many chances he had left with Beki before she agreed with the rest of the world that Gaara was unlovable.