Hi Everyone! Okay, just so you know its like 2 AM and I'm at that delirious point where I start giggling about things no one should laugh at. That being said, I should really come up with my titles ahead of time when I do late night writing sessions, because at this stage of exhaustion these were some of the other titles I considered for this chapter: Rejected by a pig, Of Combs and Fish (Which Tallman vetoed as it was far to majestic), and A Fish By Any Other Name (Which I realized I had already used that for a previous chapter). Thank you for all your feedback thus far, and please know I really appreciate the extra time you take to write me a little something. It helps me improve as a writer and brings some joy into my day. So please, if there's anything you especially like about a chapter let me know in the reviews. Also, feel free to PM me with any questions you may have. Thank you and goodnight.

Beki inched her way along the festival crowds toward the end of the side street. After the line of stalls ended, the crowd formed small pools of people she had to push her way past to get to freedom. After that though, she was free. Immediately it the air was cooler and it became easier to breathe. As she approached the bridge over the canal the smells of rich food and body odor gave way to leaves and water.

Normally she would have hoisted herself up on the side of the bridge and enjoyed the scenery. Today her movement was limited by her yukata and her geta so all she could do was lean against the railing. As she let the anxiety brought on by the festival melt away Beki began to people watch the fringe festival goers. Families who had been at the festival too long were taking this route to take their crying children home to rest. Beki saw a lone father carrying his daughter up on his shoulders and Beki was reminded of Seiichiro. As recently as two years ago he had carried her on his shoulder like a parakeet in spite of the fact she was practically a grown woman because her feet had been sore. Anyone else would have made her walk but Seiichiro had a tendency of spoiling her like that. When she was around him, Beki felt like she could be irresponsible and reckless in the way that only a young child under the protective watch of their parent could be. She didn't think about being careful how she walked or how she dressed. If it was too cold, he gave her his coat. If she was tired, he carried her.

Konoha was in no way dangerous but in moments like this Beki began to feel homesick. Not so much for her village, but for her father. He was her safety and security; he was home. As nice as they were and as much as they said they cared, no one here would ever love her the way her father did. She went through life day by day like she was balancing on top of a glass ball. If she planted herself too hard in any direction it would shatter or toss her into the abyss.

The patter of little feet caught her attention. Tonton was heading toward the festival in the company of two strange dogs. One of them was wearing sunglasses and the other was wearing a little coat. Beki smiled at the pig.

"Tonton, I'm so happy to see you right now. I could really use a cuddle."

Beki reached out and went to scoop up Tonton the way she always did, but the pig squealed in surprise and chomped down on her arm hard. She dropped him and watched as he ran away, looking over his shoulder and shooting Beki dirty looks like he had narrowly avoided being abducted by a butcher. Not even the pig recognizes me, Beki thought. He doesn't even recognize my smell.

All of the hurt she had been repressing all day bubbled to the surface. She was lonely, homesick, and felt unloved. The tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to hold them back. She bit her lip and looked up at the sky while taking deep breaths. It was no use. The tears spilled forth and with them came the first sob. Once she had started it was impossible to stop. It didn't make a difference who saw. No one recognized her anyway so it wasn't like people would make a big deal about Beki crying. She was just some random girl who probably dropped her cotton candy or something.

"Are you alright, miss?" A gentle voice caught her attention.

Beki looked up and blinked away the tears. She gave a little smile.

"I never thought I would be saying this but I'm really happy to see you, Ebisu sensei."

He blinked at her in confusion.

"I'm sorry, have we met?"

Beki's eyes grew wide and instantly the joy was replaced with bone shattering rage. She picked him up by his shirt and threw him bodily over the railing of the bridge into the water below.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed after him. He surfaced and fixed his sunglasses.

"Beki? Beki, is that you? No. It can't be."

Her lower eyelid began to twitch and she shook her head. Not today.

…

"Are you sure it was around here?" Hinata bobbed her head as she searched the crowd. "I don't see her anywhere."

Neji sighed. "And the rest of the team hasn't seen her either. Lady Hinata, why don't you go rejoin the others? I'll find Beki and then we'll all meet up at the theater."

Hinata frowned. "I hope you find her soon. The play is supposed to be really good this year. Are you sure you don't want my help?"

"No, you've missed enough of the festival,' Neji gave her a gentle push. "Go have fun with the others."

Hinata walked back towards the main thoroughfare but kept stealing worried glances back at Neji. Once she was out of sight he turned his attention back to the side street and sighed. Beki had been acting peculiarly. She put on a good show but he was fairly certain nobody recognizing her in her festival outfit upset her. Some of it may have been due to Hanabi's incessant remarks about how brutish and ugly Beki was. Then again, the fact that she was at a festival in another town without any family to enjoy it with could also be contributing to her melancholy. Regardless of the cause of her behavior, Neji's priority was to find her and then not let her out of his sight. He couldn't guarantee she would have a good time but at least he could ensure she wouldn't spend the day alone.

He walked over to the stall Beki had been standing beside before she disappeared. There was no trace of her or any indication of where she may have headed. At this rate they would miss the play altogether so he may as well take his time tracking her down. As he scanned his surroundings the goods at a nearby stall caught his eye. There was an array of trinkets but their best items were a collection of decorative hair combs. Neji remembered how excited Beki had looked when she thought the goldfish he had caught was for her. Girls liked presents; maybe if he bought one for her it would cheer her up.

One of the combs had a little starfish and some seashells on it. It looked exactly like the sort of thing Beki would wear. Neji paid way too much for the comb but something told him it was worth it.

After another five minutes of searching he lost his patience and activated the Byakugan. He caught sight of Beki camped out by a taiyaki stall trying to be as small as possible. By the time he reached her Beki was halfway through her third fish shaped pastry. She looked at him with the shame of a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Hi Neji."

He sighed and crouched down in front of her.

"What's wrong?"

His tone was concerned but also exasperated, the way a parent or a sibling would talk to a child they found crying. Beki didn't want to go into how ugly and forgettable she felt, so she stuck to the guns she knew no one would roll their eyes at.

"I just really miss my dad," Beki wiped her nose with a hanky. "I used to always go to festivals with him. I guess I never realized how lonely you could feel in such a big group of people."

"You fit in so well around here I guess we all forget the situation you're in," Neji said. "Look, if there's ever something we're all doing as a group and you get uncomfortable, let Hinata or I know. We'll think of a way to get you out without causing you any embarrassment."

Beki finished swallowing a bite of taiyaki. "Thanks, Neji."

He eyed the remnants of her snack. "Have you had any actual food today?"

"Not since we left the house," Beki gathered her wrappers and put them in the trash.

"Come on, let's get you some food," Neji helped her to her feet. "You can eat it on the way to the theater."

…

"When I said 'let's get some food' I was no referring to buns," Neji gave her a frustrated side glance any parent would be proud of.

"Oh, come on. These at least have meat in them." Beki took a huge bite out of the fist sized bun.

Neji shook his head. "Could you take smaller bites? You're going to choke."

Beki's eyes narrowed and she looked around like someone had called her name.

"Dad? Wait…no, sorry Neji. Sometimes you talk and I swear I hear my father coming out of your mouth."

Neji sighed and watched Beki stuff the rest of the bun in her mouth. She may have been dressed up like a lady but Beki couldn't help but act like herself. Before he had found that an irritating quality but now Neji had come to appreciate the honesty of her behavior. He could always feel assured that whatever she said or did was genuine. It was also a relief to see her happy, even if her cheeks were stuffed like a squirrel's while she chewed the gargantuan wad of bun she had shoved in her face. Anything was better than seeing her how he had found her. Beki's cheeks had still been streaked by the tears and her cheeks had been red and puffy from crying. Her eyes were the worst part. They had reminded him of a sad and vulnerable child.

That train of thought had reminded him about the weight in his pocket. He pulled out the paper wrapped parcel and held it out to her. She had just finished wiping her greasy mouth with a handkerchief and took it from him with a look of confusion.

"What's this?" Beki asked.

"I won that earlier," Neji lied. "It's not something I would ever use and I think it would seem strange if I gave everything I won to Lady Hinata."

"What about Tenten?" Beki asked as she unwrapped it.

Neji shook his head. "This isn't her type of thing."

Beki beamed at the sight of the hair comb.

"It looks like something a mermaid would wear!"

Neji couldn't help but feel a swell of self-satisfaction at her reaction. He watched as she rushed over to a shop window so she could use its reflection while she put in the comb. Once she was happy with its placement, she faced him and smiled.

"Thank you, Neji. I love it."

He had seen Beki smile a hundred times but this smile was special. She wasn't just smiling at him, she was smiling because of him. Neji felt a strange mixture of emotions: joy for making her so happy and anxiety because her attention was completely on him. Her gaze was suddenly too much to bear. Neji looked away and felt the color rising in his cheeks.

"It was nothing, Beki. Really."

"Hey, aren't we going to miss that play?" Beki turned her attention to the road ahead and the tension in Neji's chest relaxed.

"You're right. We had better hurry."

…

They reached the doors just as they were closing them to the public. The attendants let Beki and Neji sneak in and closed the doors behind them.

"Crap, where are they?" Beki squinted in the darkness.

Neji activated the Byakugan. "They're over there."

He guided her down the steps and supported her as they crept past the already seated guests to their group. Hinata's face lit up at the sight of them.

"You found her!"

Beki smiled. "Let it be known if I'm ever missing, I'll be by a taiyaki stand."

The rest of the group waved at her in turn and then went back to watching the stage. Beki took the empty seat next to Hinata and Neji took the only other available seat beside her.

"So what's this about?" Beki whispered to Hinata, who promptly shushed her.

The lights came on and the curtain raised. Tsunade, Shizune, and several other high ranked shinobi Beki recognized were on the stage in strange costumes. Shizune was the narrator and began describing a story from the local folklore.

"I am so lost right now," Beki said under her breath. "Hinata-"

Hinata gave her a conflicted look. She wanted to help her but it went against Hinata's programming to break social conventions like not talking in the theater. Neji watched the dilemma unfold and sighed. He tapped Beki on the shoulder and motioned for her to lean towards him. He spent the rest of the show explaining a story every child in Konoha had learned before they were out of diapers.

After the show had ended, the group filed out of the theater at a snail's pace behind the crowd.

"So, how did that hold up against Getsu folklore?" Kiba grinned smugly. "Exciting enough for you?"

"No one was burned alive or came back from the dead hell bent on revenge," Beki mused. "I'd give it a solid 6 out of 10 on the exciting scale."

"What kind of children's stories do they tell you in Getsu?" Shino asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"The cautionary kind, I guess." Beki folded her arms. "I guess I've never really thought about it."

Hinata yawned. "I think that's enough festival for me."

"The lanterns have just come on though," Tenten put her hands on her hips. "You aren't married yet, Hinata. You can't act like some old matron just yet."

Beki elbowed her. "Tenten's got a point. We gotta tear the town up."

Hinata eyed Beki knowingly. "Really? So you're okay with wearing that get up for another couple of hours?"

Beki thought about it then sided with Hinata. "We're game to stay out if we can change."

"Forget it," Kiba shook his head. "By the time you two go, change, and get back everything will be all closed up."

"I guess we'll see you guys later then," Beki waved. "Light a trashcan fire for me, okay?"

Kiba and Tenten rolled their eyes and the group started heading for the festival. Neji stayed behind.

"I'll walk you two home."

"No," Hinata and Beki said in unison.

"You spent enough time today missing out on the action because of us," Beki explained.

"Please stay and have some fun, Neji," Hinata pleaded. "We'll be alright. We won't be alone."

Neji sighed. "Fine. Be careful."

The girls started walking towards the road to that would lead them home.

"Sure thing!" Beki called over her shoulder. "Bye, Dad!"

Neji grunted with frustration and watched them go. They had draped an arm around each other for support and looked like they were having a great conversation. He turned and began jogging to catch up to the group. It was hard for him to let the girls go alone but he knew they could handle themselves.

…

"So did you have a good time?" Hinata asked.

Beki thought about it. "Yeah, I'd say I had a pretty good day overall. Even though you abandoned me."

Hinata shrank and flushed. "I told you I was sorry. I can't…I can't do the social interaction thing, Beki."

Beki sighed and gave Hinata a reassuring squeeze. "You've got your own demons to deal with, I can't always expect you to be supporting me. Sometimes I need to support you."

Hinata smiled up at her friend. The moonlight caught the hair comb and its glint caught Hinata's attention.

"That's pretty. Where did you get it?"

Beki blinked and touched the hair comb. "Oh, this? I totally forgot I was wearing it. Neji won it and gave it to me."

Hinata smiled. "That was very nice of him. He won me a goldfish."

"I saw. What are we going to name it?" Beki asked.

"How about Naruko?" Hinata asked. "It's a girl goldfish."

Beki rolled her eyes. "Really? That's the best you can come up with? What are you going to name your kids?"

Hinata blinked at her innocently. "Naruko is a great name."

"I get that you're obsessed with the guy, Hinata, but there had to be something you liked before you met Naruto."

The blank look Hinata gave her was all Beki needed. She sighed and shook her head.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot you came out of the womb a stalker."

Hinata flushed and shrank away in embarrassment.

"I'm just giving you a hard time," Beki sighed. "You're lucky and so is Naruto. You both have such a sure thing. You know he loves you and he knows you love him. Everyone else is running around going 'what if he doesn't like me like, LIKE me like me' and/or 'what if she only sees me as a friend?'"

Hinata thought about it. "I guess we are pretty lucky. I hope you end up with a sure thing, too, Beki."

Beki smiled at Hinata. "I hope so too."

The girls got home, undid their hair, washed off their makeup, got into their pajamas, and promptly passed out with a baby name book between them. Before sleep claimed them, they held a coin toss on whether they should name the fish Naruko or Tomoe. In a moment of great triumph for Beki, Tomoe won. Hinata pretended to accept defeat but silently resolved to call the fish Naruko whenever Beki wasn't around.