Hi everyone! I'm trying to make up for the big gap in postings, so here's another installment of ToTM. I have been loving the feedback on the last few chapters, so keep em coming. I appreciate the time you all take to let me know how you feel about different parts of the story and it helps me a lot. So thank you again!

The third portion of the chunin exams would begin in three days. Beki had spent most of her break resting as planned. She had gone to the café at Gaara's hotel, and although the Kazekage had been too busy to see her since she had enjoyed spending time with the waitress, Miki. As promised, she had stopped by to visit with Uncle A and Uncle Bee again during the break. She had shown off her dance moves and been a backup dancer for Uncle Bee, which she had hoped earned her back some street cred with the Raikage's staff. None of them had laughed at her, at least. Maybe they didn't dare in case they offended Bee.

The Konoha ninja had rallied around their entrants and had been helping them prepare, meaning Beki had only seen them when they turned in for the night and when they got up in the morning. It was strange for her to spend so little time with them. Hinata did her best to stay up a little longer and talk with Beki, which helped, but Beki felt guilty keeping her up so late.

Team Hunter had been scarce around the hotel, which both delighted and terrified Beki. When shinobi from another village made it to the finals in large numbers, the initial lineup would usually pit them against one another. Often villages would only have one or two combatants make it to the finals, so a village with more than that had the deck stacked in their favor towards winning the tournament overall. This kept more villages' representatives in the games longer, which encouraged tourists to stick around to support their teams. It also prevented one village from dominating all the others in front of potential clients. Beki understood all this from a business standpoint, however it meant a much harder fight. She had grown up, trained with, and fought beside Team Hunter for many years. They were all so familiar with one another's skills and techniques that every fight would be a difficult one.

It also added a psychological component Beki was not looking forward to dealing with. For example, Daiske and Beki had both always been a little uncomfortable around Bo, they both had a bone to pick with Yuu, and then Beki had her whole situation to deal with Shinichi. Fighting strangers was a picnic by comparison: it was impersonal, you could take them by surprise, and so on.

Beki was back on the roof of her hotel pouring over the history of the chunin exams in Kumogakure booklet again. There was a whole page and a half describing the exam her parents had fought in. It gave facts such as the starting number of entrants, total casualties, and the name of the winner: Tsukimori Seiichiro. The only information it listed about her mother was the number of casualties linked to her specifically, which was a disturbingly high percentage of that total. A few pages of pictures followed. Seeing as her mother killed 95% of the participants, a good number of the pictures were of Yukihana and Seiichiro.

Once again Beki was faced with how unnaturally gorgeous her mother had been. The quality of the pictures wasn't fantastic and they were in the godawful sepia tone typical of the era, but Yukihana had a presence that even two dimensional photographs couldn't suppress. She radiated grace and beauty, even when surrounded by a pile of frozen corpses. She looked so peaceful and so joyful that you would think she had been cut out of a vacation photo and pasted into these macabre scenes. Beki spent a lot of her break staring at those photos trying to figure out the woman that had been her mother.

It was strange seeing her father so young in those photos. Seiichiro had a knack for avoiding the camera more than Yukihana. Most of the pictures of him were side shots or where he was mostly obscured but Beki could make out most of his defining features. He had looked so much more alive then, especially in the photos he shared with her mother. He had been less bulky, less tired, and clean shaven back then. Beki caught herself wondering how much she was like them, how much of each of her parents had made up her personality, her body, and her skills. Her father was unfortunately tight lipped on the subject and her mother was long gone.

She took out a small folding mirror from her kunai bag and looked at her face. Her dad told her she had her mother's mouth all the time, which she had always thought was a weird compliment but she could see what he meant now. Beki had the Tsukimori eyes, and the color and texture of their hair. In fact, the more Beki searched for her mother in her face, the more of her father she saw. She didn't have her mother's freckles, the slight cat-like slant of her eyes, or her soft feminine jaw. Beki sighed in frustration and put the mirror away, instantly ashamed of herself for being jealous of a dead woman. Then again, how much easier would things be if she was as pretty as her mom had been?

"Hey sport," Her uncle's voice cut through the distracting fog of her thoughts.

"Hey Yasahiro," Beki closed the magazine. "What's up?"

"Remember how I told you I was going to help you out with the whole Asou thing?" He held out a garment box to her. "It's ready."

Beki gave him a confused look as she accepted the box. "What's this?"

"Okay, so this is a long story," Yasahiro rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "But I basically took a bunch of old pictures of your mom where she was wearing her usual fighting outfit with the Asou family crest on the back and gave it to a local tailor with your measurements."

"How did you get my measurements?" Beki folded her arms self-consciously.

"I phoned your dad," Yasahiro smiled. "He just had that Tsukimori uniform made for your birthday, remember?"

That was a fair explanation but it still left Beki slightly weirded out. She cautiously lifted the lid and all she saw was white. "This doesn't seem practical."

Yasahiro shrugged. "Yukihana didn't care about being practical. She never got bloody."

Beki sighed. "I don't have ice to freeze people with. I'm going to walk out of there looking like a gory train wreck."

"Then just think of it as a canvas on which you will paint the blood of your enemies," Yasahiro extended his hands artistically and then shrugged at her irritated expression. "I know, that was pretty lame. Just trust me, okay? People will see you in that outfit and they'll get chills. You're the Asou's second coming, remember that."

She took out the top piece. It was a body suit that felt like it was made from the same material as a diving suit. It was several millimeters thick but breathable. Good, Beki thought. I won't freeze in Drowned Maiden form.

"Go on, try it on!" Yasahiro smiled. Beki gave him a hard look and then glanced at the door. "Oh. Sorry. I'll step out."

Beki undressed and stepped into the bodysuit. Right away she could tell it was designed to be worn commando. The idea of running around without a bra and underwear on during a fight made her uncomfortable, but at the same time the compression body suit gave her all the coverage and support she could need. She looked in the mirror to admire the tailoring. Whoever sewed this knew what they were doing. The suit had a high turtleneck like collar to protect her throat, the seams were sewn in such a way that they had a slimming effect, and the shoulders were very slightly padded to strengthen the suit's silhouette. On the back was an applique of her mother's family crest, a crescent moon and waves set within the crescent, an emblem she had seen on her mother's belongings many times. It had never looked as fresh and alive as it did on Beki's back. It was a strange feeling to be representing a family she had never known, and frankly it made her feel like an imposter.

With a sigh of resignation, she took out the pants and was shocked to find they were the complete opposite of the bodysuit. They were made of finely woven snow white linen and reminded her of the traditional pants the priestesses wore. The only major difference aside from the color was that they gathered at a cuff midway up the the calf. The openings at the sides of the pants were also a little deeper, revealing the skin of the outsides of Beki's thighs.

"Did you get stuck or something?" Yasahiro called out from the hall.

Beki sighed. "Come on in."

Yasahiro stepped in with a huge grin that instantly fell off his face.

"What? What is it?" Beki looked at him and then the mirror. "Did I put it on wrong?"

Yasahiro shook his head. "No. It's just as I thought. If you go Drowned Maiden in this, it's going to terrify people. You're a dead ringer for your mom."

"But I don't look anything like her. I look like dad with a wig," Beki looked in the mirror and watched as her hair turned black. Even partially transformed, all Beki saw in the mirror was Beki.

"You don't have her face, that's true," Yasahiro stood behind her as they faced the mirror and put his hands on her shoulders. "But you have the spirit of the Asou."

"What are you talking about?" Beki watched his face carefully. "You mean that one day I'm going to snap and go full psychopathic murderess?"

"First of all, you mother wasn't a psychopath, she was a sociopath," Yasahiro clapped her shoulders. "Second of all, I mean that your presence carries weight. It's already starting to happen. When you step into a room, when you walk into a fight, people notice you. They notice you and they become afraid. That will become one of your best assets as a shinobi."

Beki remembered how the Iwa shinobi reacted to her down in the caves. She was pretty sure Yasahiro was referring to the Drowned Maiden. That seemed to be what scared people.

"Well, go ahead and pack this back up. You want it nice and crisp for the finals, right?" Yasahiro walked out of the room.

Beki was left staring in the mirror, looking for something apparently everyone could see but her.

…

The whole situation with Yasahiro and the replica outfit put Beki in a mood. She was left stewing on bloodlines, public image, and how much easier it must be to be a civilian. After she had carefully stowed away the outfit, Beki made her way toward the café. Miki always did a good job of distracting Beki from her own issues. Not to mention a cup of coffee always put Beki in better spirits. The café staff had gotten used to Beki's visits at the same time of day so they let her in through the staff entrance. Beki stretched her arms above her head as she turned the corner to the back of the hotel. Usually there was a waiter or a bellboy smoking back there but the alley was vacant.

Just as Beki's hand wrapped around the doorknob the crunch of gravel gave her attacker away. She dropped into a squat just as the knife arced by where her throat had just been. The momentum of her squat carried her into a spinning drop kick they hopped away from just in time. As Beki looked up to identify them, they threw gravel in her eyes. Beki let out a cry of surprise and pain as the bits of rock set her eyes on fire. She backed away and flailed wildly, praying that she would deflect any incoming knife strikes.

The sound of her attacker's footsteps set her already racing heart on overdrive. I'm screwed, Beki thought. She had squeezed her eyes shut tight as the pain ebbed. She opened them again and caught the silhouette of her attacker as he brought down a blade. In one quick motion Beki brought her hands together, clapping the blade between them. Her eyes still stung. Tears streamed from both eyes, rendering her attacker a threatening blur. She could tell by their size and raw strength that it was a man. Beki was no pushover and it was taking all of her strength just to slow her attacker's blade.

Beki crouched a little to get better leverage of the blade. As quickly as she could, she let go of the blade and sidestepped while delivering a blow to the side of the attacker's arm. His knife went wide and missed it's target and he lost his balance a little. Beki's vision had cleared up enough that she could make out the general shape of his face. She delivered an upward elbow strike to his chin, staggering him. Seeing as he had lost the drop on her, the attacker turned to run. Before he could get around the corner he took a frying pan to the face. The man fell to the ground. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Beki, are you okay?" Miki stepped over the fallen assassin and ran over to her.

"I'm fine," Beki closed her eyes again and put her hands over her face. "I'm okay."

"I saw the fight going down from the window," Miki put an arm around her. "They called the cops. They'll be here any minute. Let's get those eyes washed out."

Miki brought Beki inside and kept her at a table in the staff area. There were always at least two or three staffers in there beside Miki to make sure there were no more attempts on Beki. No one dared to go out the back and tie up the assassin, so it was no surprise that when the cops got there he was long gone. They questioned Beki, took her report, and left. Miki offered to walk her back to the hotel.

"Sweetie, you shouldn't leave your hotel from now on," Miki kept her arm around Beki's shoulder's for support. "Do you have any idea who it was?"

Beki shook her head. "Like I told the cops, I didn't get a good look at him. He came out of nowhere. I would have thought it was Borei, but if it had been him I would be dead right now."

Miki looked at her feet. "Is there anyone who would want to keep you out of the finals?"

"Yes, but they wouldn't do something like this," Beki shook her head. "At least, I don't think so."

"Shit, Beki," Miki sighed. "This is pretty heavy stuff."

"That's being a kunoichi, Miki," Beki said. "No matter how happy you make your village and your clients, someone out there wants you dead."

"I'm serious, though, don't come back to the café," Miki turned Beki so she was forced to look her in the face. "I'll bring you coffee the next couple of days. And I'll come see you in the finals, okay? It's too risky for you to be out after this."

Beki nodded. "I hate being cooped up, though."

"It's fine, honey, just a few days." Miki patted her shoulders. "This is going to be personal, but I have to ask. Why did your hair turn black?'

Beki looked at her braid. It had gotten to the point she hardly noticed the physical changes that preceded Drowned Maiden mode. "It's my kekke genkai. It activates when I'm in danger."

Miki shook her head. "Kekke what?"

"Some shinobi families have gifts they're born with. Genetic abilities that are passed on through the generations. They're usually things people can't learn to do," Beki explained. "They can make people stronger, have better endurance, that kind of stuff."

Miki gave her a confused look. "So what kind is yours?"

"It's hard to explain," Beki waved dismissively. "If you see me in the finals I can guarantee you I'll end up using it."

"Ahuh," Miki shook her head and started walking away from the hotel doors. "This is too much for me for today. Stay safe, sweetie."

Beki waved at Miki and went inside. She hoped she could sneak into her room and then the bathroom to clean up. Her clothes were dirty, her hair was a mess, and she knew that her face would be puffed up and as red as an apple. The stairwells were empty and she made it up to her floor completely unnoticed, hopefully by staff as well as guests. She paused at the doorway. It sounded as if everyone was out training again. It is only about five oclock, Beki thought. They might be out getting dinner somewhere. She walked into her room. Ren was still in the hospital and it sounded like Hinata was out. With a sigh of relief Beki stripped down and threw her soiled clothes in a pile in the corner. She picked up her bag of toiletries and grabbed the knob for the bathroom. It was locked. Beki paused and pressed her ear to the door. From inside the bathroom, she heard the tiny sloshing noises of someone taking a bath.

Shit, Beki thought. Hinata's taking a bath in there.

As silently as she had come in, Beki redressed in clean clothes and stole a makeup wipe out of Ren's bag, pausing periodically to make sure she hadn't been detected. Once she figured she was passable, Beki slipped back out of the room. Maybe I can get some peace on the roof, she thought. Just before she reached the stairwell, a hand took her by the shoulder.

"Beki, what happened," Neji's voice was calm as he turned her around.

She sighed. "Would it make you feel better to say 'I told you so'?"

…

"I still can't believe you were assaulted in broad daylight," Neji stared off the side of the roof. "Do the police have any leads?"

Beki shrugged. "This is a shinobi village that's being overrun with god knows who right now. That guy down there could be a tourist or the uncle of one of the kids I killed in the exam. No way to know who they're dealing with or what they're capable of."

"Do you think your cousin was behind it?" There was a slight edge to Neji's voice, almost as if he was hoping she would say "yes".

Beki shook her head. "I don't think so. He's an underhanded bastard, but if he was going to send someone to kill me it would have been Bo."

"So what disqualifies them then?" Neji folded his arms and stole a look at her.

"Borei is the best stealth specialist in Getsugakure," Beki explained. "If he was sent to kill me, they might find my body in a barrel somewhere. In twenty years."

Neji watched Beki as she cleaned under her fingernails with a kunai. Someone had tried to kill her today and she acted as casually as if she'd almost had her purse snatched. It terrified him how little she valued her life, or worse yet, how little danger she realized she was in.

"Beki, you can't do this again," Neji did his best to keep his voice level. "This is…It's our job to keep you safe. If something happens to you, it will have a ripple effect across the entire shinobi world. Konoha and Kumogakure and Getsugakure-it'll be war, Beki. Like you said, when dealing with shinobi, you can never really know who is behind an assassination and why."

"Are you this upset because of what happened to your family?" Beki asked.

Neji shot her a dirty look. "What happened to you that this doesn't upset you at all?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do, Neji? Live in a bubble?" Beki slapped her hands on the railing in frustration and sighed. "Did what happened today shake me? Yes. Only because I wasn't expecting it. Unfortunately, I'm a shinobi on a mission right now and death is part of the job description. I can try to avoid it but it'll catch up with me eventually."

Neji narrowed his eyes. "You really need to take stock of the people you're important to."

"What do you mean?" Beki asked.

"You carry on with your life as if you're some lone soul and if you get snuffed out, it won't matter," Neji explained. "But it will matter, Beki. If you die, especially in some senseless preventable way, you will be hurting the people who love you. Is that what you want?"

Beki stared off towards the mountains while she considered his response.

"Think about Hinata. I've watched her struggle to make friends her whole life," Neji continued. "How do you think she'll handle your death? Do you think she would be okay after that?"

"Do I really mean that much to you?" Beki's words cut through Neji's like a knife. He had been on a roll, completely absorbed by his own argument. Now he had been knocked off his guard and was left completely unsure of what to say. He took a moment to regain his composure and then spoke:"

"Yes, Beki. You're my friend. I worry about all my friends, but it just so happens you give me the most to worry about."

Beki shrugged. "I guess that's true. Don't worry about it, though. I won't leave the hotel again until the finals. I'm going to go to bed."

Neji nodded and watched her walk away. It's none of your business, he thought. She's a grown woman and you have no right telling her what to do. Then again, he couldn't help but feel responsible for her. He had come into Kumo afraid about Hinata, but it turned out that it was Beki who was in the most danger here. Neji decided from now on he wouldn't let her out of his sight. Even though the Konoha competitors needed the help training, Tenten, Gai, and Lee could handle it without him. Hopefully so long as she wasn't alone, Beki's would be assassins would hold off. He sighed in frustration and looked off at the misty mountain range. Other people would have found it beautiful, but all Neji saw was obstacles. He decided he could use some rest as well. As he walked back into the stairwell all he could think was how he could not wait to get the hell out of Kumogakure.

…

Beki stumbled into the hotel room right after Hinata had finished changing.

"Oh, hi Beki-" Hinata stopped dead and stared at her wide eyed. "Beki, are you alright? What happened?!"

Without a word, Beki stepped forward and gave Hinata a hug and buried her face in Hinata's shoulder. "I had a bad day."

Hinata wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. After a moment of silence, she asked: "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe in a bit," Beki said as she let go. "I really need a shower."

"Okay," Hinata nodded. "I'll go get us some tea."

"Thanks, Hina chan," Beki sighed as she walked into the bathroom. After Beki heard Hinata leave, she climbed in the shower and turned on the water. Her arms hurt from holding off the assassin so long. Her eyes still burned when she blinked and there were little nicks on her face where the gravel had grazed her. Otherwise, Beki had escaped that attack unscathed. Her initial reaction was one of pride and accomplishment. She had singlehandedly held off a would be assassin. Now that she had some time to stew, however, Beki knew Neji was right. Even if Beki could hold her own, she needed to be more cautious. If something happened to her, it would start a war. Everyone would get drawn into it: her dad, Tsunade, Uncle A, even Gaara. Not to mention how much her teammates and her Konoha friends would miss her.

After she finished up, she got into her most comfortable pajamas. Hinata was waiting for her in the room with two cups of steaming hot tea. Beki sat down on the futon across from her and took the outstretched cup. It must have been something they put together special, because unlike when they ordered room service during the day, it was in those paper travel cups coffee shops would give you.

Beki took a cautious sip and shot Hinata an inquisitive look. "This is not hotel tea."

Hinata smiled warmly. "You said you had a bad day. I ran across the street and got some better tea from a shop."

"Thank you Hinata," Beki smiled. "This means a lot." The two sipped their tea in silence. It was rich and flowery, a lavender chamomile if Beki's guess was correct. The hot liquid was soothing and took off some of the edges on Beki's nerves.

"Okay, now are you ready to tell me what happened, or do you need some more time?" Hinata asked.

"Someone tried to kill me today," Beki kept her eyes on the floor. She already knew how Hinata would react.

"What?!" Hinata reached out and put her hand on Beki's knee. "Beki, are you okay?"

Beki nodded. "They weren't very good. I mean, they threw gravel in my eyes but other than that I was able to fend them off on my own."

"Did you talk to the police?" Hinata shook her head. "This is terrible. Do you think it has something to do with the finals?"
Beki sighed. "That's the only thing it could be. I won't go out again until the finals."

"No, you can't," Hinata shook her head. "And you shouldn't be left alone either. We'll tell the senseis tomorrow morning. We're supposed to be protecting you…"

Hinata gave her a worried look. "I'm really glad you're okay. I'm not going to leave you alone again."

"You don't have to do that, Hinata," Beki smiled. "I'm a big girl. Like I told you, I fought him off on my own. As long as I'm in the hotel, I should be okay."

"It's not worth the risk," Hinata said. Beki opened her mouth to protest again and Hinata held up a finger in warning. "I am going to protect you and if you try to stop me, so help me Beki I will block your tenketsu and you can just be a vegetable in this room until the finals."

Beki blinked and held up a hand in surrender. "Okay, okay, guard dog Hinata is on duty."

"Darn right she is," Hinata struggled through the first word as if saying the semi curse actually caused her physical pain.

Beki smiled. Hinata was a really good friend. It was a shame Ren couldn't be here with them. She would be eating this all up.

After they finished their tea the girls climbed into their futons. Beki stared up the ceiling certain sleep would never come. Reliving the experience three times, with the police, Neji, and with Hinata, had torn down the thing wall Beki had erected in her mind to shield herself from the trauma. Beki had been in plenty of life or death fights on missions, but the idea that someone specifically set out to kill her in broad daylight was disturbing. It meant that it was personal and that frightened her. Her dad was an ambassador, she got people targeting him. It was a reflection of his status as a politician. Beki, on the other hand, had always believed she was just a nobody. She didn't know who or why, but she was a threat to someone. Now all Beki could think about was finding out the who and why.

"Thinking about it will just make you feel worse," Hinata small voice was a welcome interruption. "Think happy thoughts, like puppies and flowers."

Beki didn't say anything. She knew that what Hinata really thought about when she was down was Naruto. He was her inspiration and her light in the darkness. Beki didn't have anyone like that. While she stewed on her situation, she heard a soft shuffling and then felt the warmth of another body press against her back. Hinata slung an arm around her waist.

"Please be more careful, Beki," Hinata gave her a squeeze. "You're my best friend."

Duh, Beki thought. I do have a person like that. I have Hinata.

"You're my best friend, too," Beki said in the darkness. "I promise I'll be more careful."

Within minutes, peaceful dreamless sleep found them both.