Hi everyone! I'm excited to bring you the building action to the Kumogakure chunin exams where we will meet all the key players for this arc. I'm interested to hear your thoughts/reactions. I would also like to thank everyone who has been sending reviews and feedback my way. This is what happens when someone reviews/pms me: し(*・∀・)／ ＼(・∀・*) /. You are high fiving me virtually, and I think high fives are totally righteous and they make my day. When you're done reading this chapter, go high five someone. Pets are allowed. It is way too damn early in the morning for me to form coherent thoughts anymore, so enjoy the chapter. Ilu.

A tall slender young woman stood before them, her skin so flawless and fair it could have been made of porcelain. Her hair was as white as fresh fallen snow and her vulpine jet black eyes pierced everyone with a knowing gaze. She was beautiful but unsettling, like a predator in a playroom. The girl offered them a friendly smile but it just as easily could have been mocking. The young man that was with her was so nondescript he made Shino look flamboyant. He wore a black beanie pulled low over his eyes, which wisps of black hair further obscured from view. His skin had a grayish, sickly hue. The rest of his clothes were black as well: a turtleneck, cargo pants, and a black jacket with the metal plate from his Getsu headband sewn into the left sleeve. He stood there as motionless and silent as a statue.

Daiske smiled at the girl. "Hey Yuu, how's it going?" Yuu's smile grew but it almost looked like she was baring her teeth at Daiske. "Daiske, honey. Where's the rest of the team?"

"They're, uh, they're around," Daiske tried to keep his face neutral.

"That's funny, because I swear I just heard Ren…" Yuu looked sideways at the center of the group where Beki and Ren were hiding. "I'm sure Haruka isn't far, either." Yuu looked up at the sky and sighed. "Shinichi isn't here, Haruka. He's having words with your uncle."

Beki sighed and pat Ren on the shoulder. "The jig is up." They stood and worked their way to the edge of the group.

"Yuu, Bo," Beki nodded at them and then folded her arms. "How are things?"

Yuu rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to do better than that. Introduce us to your friends."

"I don't see why she needs to. It's not like you're going to have anything to do with them," Ren folded her arms and leered at Yuu.

Yuu made a point of looking next to Beki then down at Ren. "Oh, Ren, I didn't even see you down there."

"Har har har, I'm short, yeah, we got it," Ren cocked her head. "Go ahead. Give me a reason. I've been wanting to exorcise your spooky ass for years."

"Calm down, Ren," Daiske gripped her shoulder. "We're all in the same hotel. We should just make nice."

"I don't have to make nice with anyone!" Ren stamped her foot. "I come from a long line of grouchy priestesses and I'll be damned if I have to play nice with someone who still plays with dolls!"

Daiske sighed and picked Ren up, tossing her over his shoulder fireman style. "Go ahead Beki. I'll go take her over there to calm down."

"NO ONE PUTS ME IN A CORNER!" Ren pounded on his back as Daiske led her away.

Beki cleared her throat, faced the Konoha ninja, and then pointed to the girl and the boy. "This is Yuu and Borei." She then began pointing to each of the Konoha shinobi in turn. "So this is Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, Neji, Gai sensei, Tenten, and Lee."

Yuu's eyes lit up at the sight of Rock Lee. "You are just absolutely adorable." She reached over and cupped his chin in her hand. "That hair makes you look just like one of my dolls…"

"Oookay and that's enough touching," Beki took Yuu's hand off of Lee's face. "So now that the introductions are done I have to get going before Shinichi shows up."

"Don't be such a baby about it, Haruka." Yuu pat Beki's face. "Shinichi's just trying to do right by his family."

"Can we not air my dirty laundry in front of my friends, please?" Beki swatted her hand away. "And stop calling me Haruka."

"You mean to tell me you've been with these people for a year but you haven't told them anything about us?" Yuu shook her head. "You surprise me, Haruka. One would almost think you were embarrassed," Yuu tipped her head back and smiled at Beki down her nose. "Or guilty."

A tense silence fell between Beki and Yuu. The intensity mounted as each moment passed. Yuu leaned in closer to Beki, challenging her, and Beki responded by clenching her fists. Bo moved for the first time since his arrival by unfolding his arms. The Konoha shinobi watched intently and wondered if and when they should step in. Might Gai opened his mouth to call them out when a hand appeared on Yuu's shoulder.

"Alright then, I think that's enough posturing for today," the man said. "Shinichi is waiting for you two in your room." Yuu took a look at the man and sighed.

As she walked for the door with Bo, she patted Lee's face. Once they were out of earshot, Kiba shuddered. "She was one tall glass of creep." Lee was holding his face with an uncomfortable pout. "No one calls Rock Lee adorable."

The man gave Lee a warm smile. "Rub some salt on it. It'll feel better."

"Finally a face I want to see," Beki turned to the group. "This is my uncle, Tsukimori Yasahiro."

"I'm her dad's older brother. I'll be responsible for her and the rest of Team Honey and Team Hunter during this competition."

Yasahiro was tall but almost a full head shorter than Seiichiro. He was slimmer overall in his face and body and was clearly more of a scholar type. He had kind silver eyes and the same dirty blonde hair as Seiichiro but worn in a much tidier and more modern haircut.

"By the way, what's with those names? Hunter? Honey?" Neji asked.

"Each month has a special name for its full moon," Yasahiro explained. "Honey moon, Hunter's moon, Strawberry moon, Harvest moon, Crow moon, Winter moon, and so on."

"Team Blood is an all medic squad," Daiske said as he returned with a less inflated looking Ren.

"So now it's time for the next round of introductions," Yasahiro smiled at Beki. "Go ahead, Beks."

As Beki went around the group introducing everyone to her uncle, he smiled warmly and made a point of memorizing their names. He made a point of being especially polite and thankful to Hinata and Neji for watching over her.

"I can't tell you enough how grateful we are for you taking in our ragamuffin," Yasahiro smiled at them. "I know she's a handful but you all do so well with her. So are you two, what, twins?"

Neji shook his head. "No, Lady Hinata is my cousin."

"So Beks, their clan is old and convoluted like ours with an internal hierarchy, then?" Yasahiro nudged her.

"Yeah, but they aren't as backwards as we are." Beki sighed.

"That's good to hear." Yasahiro sighed. "So we're going to have to find a place big enough for all of us to eat in at once."

"We'll be okay," Beki took a step toward the Konoha shinobi. "If you keep Team Hunter off us we're happy to just hang out with the Konoha shinobi."

"We are?" Daiske blurted and Ren elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"You want to sit next to Bo while we eat? Or what about Yuu?" Ren hissed.

"Good point. Yeah, I'm good with the kid with the bowl cut." Daiske yanked Lee over to him.

"Does this mean we're friends?" Lee smiled at him.

"Uh, sure?" Daiske shrugged and Neji shook his head. Maybe this meant that Lee wouldn't spontaneously toss Neji around for once.

Yasahiro sighed. "Alright Beki, if you say so. I'll see you first thing in the morning. Try not to get into any trouble tonight. Your dad will skin me if you cause an incident here."

"I think the Raikage will skin me first," Beki smiled to her uncle's confusion.

…

"So what's your specialty?" Tenten asked Ren as spooned up some ramen broth.

"I am a sniper, through and through," Ren smiled and pulled out an arrowhead from her kunai bag. "This puppy is an explosive tip. If you connect on center body or one of the limbs, it's guaranteed to take them out of commission. You go for the head and they won't have much to send home to mom."

"Ren!" Daiske called from the table behind them. "We're eating!"

"STOP LISTENING THEN!" Ren turned her attention back to Tenten. "Egghead back there is our set up. He uses earth based ninjutsu to create protective barriers, control enemy movement, and create diversions and escape opportunities."

Beki's head sprang up from her bowl. "Daiske, did you remember your retainer?"

Daiske turned beet red as Kiba laughed at him. "Yes," He hissed.

"Because your mom will kill you if you lose it. You should probably just keep it in the room," Beki suggested as she picked up some noodles with her chopsticks.

This is absolute chaos, Neji thought as he watched all the tables sinking into disarray. Lee was trying to talk Daiske into a headbutt contest, Ren was telling some ghoulish story to Tenten, Gai sensei was trying to give life advice to Kiba and Shino, and the owner kept shooting them all dirty looks. The owner especially didn't seem to like Beki. The encounter with Team Hunter had put Beki in a bad mood and her hair had turned black. Twenty minutes later it had barely lightened at all.

"Beki, are you alright?" Hinata asked for the thirtieth time.

Beki sighed. "Yes, Hinata. I'm perfectly alright." She paused for a moment as she caught the disapproving gaze of the shop owner. "Is it just me or does that guy look at me like I burned his house down."

"Maybe you remind him of someone he doesn't like," Neji took a bite of his food. "Beki, I hate to pry, but why are you so desperate to avoid this Shinichi person?"

Beki gave him a look like she was about to tell him to mind his own business but then realization flashed over her eyes. Neji had just shared a deeply painful personal secret with her just an hour before. She sighed and looked at him and Hinata.

"Keep this between us. Ren and Daiske know but you two are the only other people in this crowd that could understand the situation," Beki pleaded. "His full name is Tsukimori Shinichi. His father is my dad's oldest brother and the head of the Tsukimori clan. Shinichi's dad was supposed to marry my mother, but she met my dad and fell in love with him and then they eloped. That caused a huge rift in the family and they would've disowned my dad if he hadn't landed a job for the King shortly after."

"So there's some bad blood between you?" Neji asked.

Beki shrugged. "It's complicated. He's a year younger than me and I've only ever been around him in the academy. He always lorded over me, saying he was the heir to the clan and I needed to do as he said. After we graduated he went on this big kick that we needed to get married to set a right the wrongs my parents committed."

"How would that fix things?" Hinata asked.

"He thinks that by marrying me it's the same as my mom having kept her promise and marrying his dad," Beki explained. "What I think is that arrangement was a bloodline thing. The Asou family kekke genkai was more consistently passed on and it maintained its strength through the generations. The Tsukimori, not so much."

"That's excessively complicated," Neji sighed.

"Tell me about it," Beki said through her noodles and Neji shot her a dirty look. She swallowed guiltily and continued. "The long and the short of it is my dad emasculated his dad and he wants payback. He's poisoned his son into thinking we have a superior attitude and that we're better than the clan. In a weird way, Yuu is right, Shinichi is just trying to fix his clan. And the only idea his deluded 15-year-old brain can come up with is to marry me."

"So what does Shinichi look like?" Hinata asked. "You know, so we can warn you if we see him coming."

Beki looked up from her bowl and her smile dropped off her face. She immediately turned her head away from the door and looked at the far wall. "The kid that just walked through the door. That's Shinichi."

Shinichi was fifteen but he was already as tall as his uncle Yasahiro. Just based on appearance he was strong and growing into his broad shoulders. His hair was darker than the other Tsukimori but his eyes were the same silver. He was handsome but his features were cold and cruel. His eyes immediately fell on Beki and his expression darkened.

"Are you going to keep avoiding me or are you going to come outside and talk like adults?" His voice was dangerously low and cut under the chatter in the restaurant.

Hinata put a hand on Beki's arm and Neji looked at her to see how she wanted to respond. Beki took a deep sigh, picked up her bowl of ramen and chugged down the broth. "Alright, Shinichi. Let's talk."

As she walked toward the door, Hinata gave her one more questioning look and Beki shook her head. I can't run forever, Beki thought. As soon as they were outside Hinata and Neji exchanged a look and both activated their Byakugans. Beki wasn't afraid of anyone and this guy had all but hunted her down.

…

The last time Beki had been alone with her cousin he had dislocated her arm. He had been off on one of his tangents, lecturing her, and she had tried to leave. He had grabbed her arm and yanked her back toward him. She still remembered the waves of electric pain that had exploded in her socket. He hadn't meant to do it, that's what she had told her dad over and over when he had threatened to go break his arms in retribution. He never apologized. It was like Shinichi thought that Beki was inferior to him and he had a right to injure her. Looking at him now made her shoulder throb. She put a hand over the joint and rotated it in its cuff.

"What do you want, Shinichi?" Beki tried to keep her tone measured but it still came out sharp.

"You never really were very good at small talk, Haruka." Shinichi cocked his head. "We'll work on that. It's a shame your time with your father hasn't prepared you for being a good matriarch."

"You're one to talk about small talk," Beki scoffed. "Right out of the gate you're starting off with that marriage bullshit."

"It isn't bullshit, it's your duty," Shinichi's tone was threatening. "Your father has shirked his duties to his clan and you've followed his example."

"Our duty is to our village first and then to our families," Beki corrected. "I guess someone who's never gone farther than their own backyard would have trouble with that kind of perspective."

Shinichi watched her silently as if considering striking her. "These exams serve as a proving grounds of not just skill but philosophies. We'll see if progressivism wins over tradition."

"Even if you win, I'm not going to marry you," Beki folded her arms. "So go ahead and get that idea out of your head before I knock it out."

Shinichi turned and began walking back to the hotel. About ten feet away he stopped and turned around, surveying her appearance. "Based on your black hair, I guess the rumors were true. I heard that you were able to unlock the secrets of your mother's kekke genkai," He said casually. "Do you know why the Asou went extinct, Haruka? Because they were overconfident and they didn't know how to be team players. Remember that on the battlefield."

…

When Beki came back inside she sat down at the table silently. Daiske and Ren exchanged looks with each other and then with Neji and Hinata.

"Beki-" Hinata put her hand on her arm and Beki shook it off.

"Not now," She said under her breath. Her hair was blacker than it was when she went outside and her skin had taken on a cold clammy appearance. Hinata knew that meant Beki was moments from going full Maiden. Beki's mood hung like a cloud over the room, hushing the conversations and killing the atmosphere. The shop owner looked downright uncomfortable now and kept looking at Beki like he was considering throwing her out.

"Beki you have to calm down," Hinata held her hand under the table. "Just take a couple breaths."

"You're right, some air sounds like a good idea," Beki stood up. "I'll meet you guys back at the hotel."

Hinata rose from her seat to follow her. "Wait, I'm coming, too."

"I don't need a damned entourage, Hinata," Beki snapped and then instantly regretted it. She looked around at the shocked and uncomfortable expressions of everyone around her and let out a groan of frustration. Embarrassed and angry with herself, Beki stalked out of the restaurant. Hinata went to follow her anyway but Neji grabbed her hand. "Let her have some space, Hinata."

It was hard to let her go but Neji was right. It had been over a year since Beki had seen these people. Issues she had never had a chance to resolve were all bubbling to the surface. When she came to Konoha, Beki had to adjust to the culture there, and here in Kumogakure she was rapidly having to readjust to her old culture. Hinata just wanted to comfort her and tell her she would be okay. Maybe on the way back to the hotel she could find a treat for Beki, Hinata thought. Something that would make her smile. Maybe Ren could help her.

…

Beki clenched her fists and bit her lip. If she cried in the middle of the street in Kumogakure she would never hear the end of it. How was she supposed to know this was the year her cousin would be here? That any of these people would be here? She knew that she had overreacted on Hinata but having to deal with Yuu and Shinichi on the same day made Beki feel like a sad little kid again. She remembered how Hinata had just been trying to help and how hurt she had looked when Beki barked at her. It was stupid and selfish and she had embarrassed herself in front of not only all the Konoha ninja but her teammates as well. That was a fine how do you do. Hey Daiske, hey Ren, I know I haven't seen you in a year but I'm just as emotionally unstable and immature as you remember!

Her uncle was outside the hotel smoking when he noticed her approach. Instantly he dropped the butt and put it out with the sole of his shoe. "What's wrong, Beks?" She tried to push past him but he caught her sleeve. "You ran into Shinichi, didn't you?"

Beki looked him in the eye and his look of concern was too much for her. The first wave of tears spilled over her lids and she sniffed hard. "Oh Beks, no. Don't cry." Yasahiro looked around and put an arm around her. "Come on."

He led her to his room and sat her down on one of the futons. "Just sit her a minute. I'll get us some tea."

After he was gone, Beki let out a few good sobs. She had gotten pretty good and getting it all out quickly. She just needed a few minutes of a solid cry and she could get over it. By the time her uncle came in with the tea she was drying her eyes on the hem of her shirt and deep breathing through the last of the sobs. He handed her the tea and she gave him a nod of thanks. She took a swig and the hot bitter liquid choked down the last of the lump in her throat.

"So let's talk strategy here," Yasahiro sat down on the futon next to her. "Shinichi's got in his head you're going to marry him."

"Yes," Beki took another sip. "And like hell that's ever going to happen."

"Right," Yasahiro sighed and thought for a moment. "So I'm guessing your dad hasn't told you a whole hell of a lot about how the band broke up, huh?"

"The band?" Beki gave him a strange look. "Do you mean the fight between him and uncle Daichiro?"

"Yeah, about that," Yasahiro inhaled sharply. "Your mom and dad didn't just elope, sweetheart. Your dad set out to break up the betrothal because Daichiro pissed him off. It just so happened your mother was a spiteful person and was totally game. So Daichiro challenges your dad to a duel for her hand, right? So your dad breaks back into the main house and steals the family armor from our dad's armor cabinet and shows up to the fight in it. Daichiro had been training with a kanabo since he was like, 3, so he thought he had it in the bag. Nope. Your dad disarmed him and beat him with his own weapon. He left Daichiro bleeding there and marched off into the sunset with his woman, his armor, and his kanabo."

Beki stared at him wide eyed. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not Beks," Yasahiro looked at her earnestly. "Your father should have been disowned a thousand times over. The shame of it almost killed our dad. Do you know why no one did anything about it, though? Because no one could stop him. Your father was the strongest, so by family law what he took became his."

Beki stared at her half full cup and watched the rippling in the liquid as the heater blew air across the surface in silence. Her dad hadn't told her any of that. She supposed everyone grew up thinking their parents were perfect. It was hard to accept that her father had been young once, and frankly it sounded like he was kind of a jerk.

"I know what you're thinking," Yasahiro chuckled. "But I'll tell you what, Daichiro had an it a long time coming. He was pompous, self-righteous, and he acted like your father and I were his minions because we were second and third born. Your dad quietly rebelled for years and probably would have kept undermining Daichiro in the little things if he hadn't met Yukihana."

"Was mom really that pretty?" Beki had seen pictures of her mom, and she was plenty pretty, but for them to fight over her like that she had to be something special.

Yasahiro looked away and started to say something then stopped. After a moment of reconsidering, he said. "Yes, she was very pretty. I'm starting to think maybe your father hasn't told you a lot about her either, but that's a story for another day." He tapped Beki on the nose and smiled. "The moral of this story is that if you want Shinichi to back down and stop bothering you, you're going to have to beat the shit out of him. Publicly. Wipe the damned arena with him. I hate to say it, but the one thing this family responds to is force."

Beki blinked. "This is not the advice I was expecting from you."

"What did you expect me to say?" Yasahiro laughed. "Make peace with him because you're his cousin? No, he's an asshole and he needs to go down."

Beki smiled. "That sounds like something I can do."