Hi everyone! We're finally going to get to some action in this one! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I had fun writing it. I appreciate it when you guys take the time to leave reviews for these chapters, especially in these arc based ones. Its helpful to know what you like and it is fun to hear your thoughts and predictions. Keep em coming!

The trail split in two. Beki surveyed the site where both Team Gai and Team Kakashi had come to full stop. She counted ten sets of footprints, eight of which she recognized as the treads of her friends' shoes. The two additional sets were on the larger side, one of the two much larger and deeper than the other. It was safe to assume that they were men, and judging by how her friends had moved around them, these men weren't on their side.

A scuffle had ensued and the teams split, each following one of the two assailants. Beki narrowed her eyes and looked off in each direction. What I wouldn't give for a Byakugan right now, she thought. There was no way of knowing which team went where or which set of people could use her assistance the most.

"In the choose your own adventure books, I always died if I picked right," Beki pondered aloud. "So, left it is."

The treads in the mud were fresh. Beki's heart pounded in her ears, adrenaline from both fear and excitement coursing through her veins. It took all her discipline to reign herself in. Not since the chunin exams had Beki gotten to feel the thrill of the fight, to put her skills to the ultimate test. Regardless, a shinobi had to keep a clear head going into a fight or they wouldn't live to see the end of it.

After a short run, Beki began to hear voices and she dropped down into a crouch before sneaking closer. She halted as soon as Team Gai came into view. Neji, Lee, and Tenten were all trapped in water prisons and Might Gai was posturing to fight. His opponent was a hulk of a man, around the same size as Seiichiro, carrying a sword nearly as tall as he was. His skin was pale blue and looked shiny from a distance. That and his spiky blue hair contrasted against the black cloak with red clouds that covered almost all his body. It's Kisame, Beki clutched her fists as she crept closer. Akatsuki really is behind all of this.

Three of Kisame's clones were holding her friends hostage, while the original was fixated on Gai-sensei. Beki took the opening and snuck up to the water prisons. Neji's prison was the closest, so Beki slipped into the water prison using her kekke genkai. Her skin instantly paled on contact with the icy water and her hair blackened until it floated in the orb like spilled ink. It came loose from the braid and unfurled, fanning out around the entire perimeter of the prison. The hair didn't completely obscure its contents, but the constant movement of the strands would veil any activity inside.

At the sight of the ink-like hair, Neji turned his head, his eyes widening in terror at the sight of her. After a moment, the fear subsided into shock, and soon after his eyebrows furrowed in anger. Beki gave him a ghoulish grin, vividly imagining all his chastisements in her head. Neji's face pulled in confusion as Beki laced her fingers through his hair and pulled him close. She pressed her lips to Neji's and he froze, clamping his jaw shut and ogling her in horror. She pulled away from him, narrowed her eyes, and let out a large bubble. As it floated towards the surface of the water prison, Beki pointed at the pocket of air and then at Neji. His expression relaxed and he nodded in understanding. Beki reached out once more and took Neji's face in her hands, pressing her mouth to his. This time his lips parted willingly. Neji tasted like sea salt from the water he was encased in and the warmth of his skin was a pleasant buffer against the chill. Not knowing what else to do with them, Neji had put his hands on Beki's hips to stabilize her as she breathed a fresh supply of air into his mouth. Beki pulled away and Neji looked at her, a slight flush to his cheeks, then jerked his head in Tenten's direction. Tenten was covering her mouth and had balled herself up inside the water prison. It was clear she wouldn't be able to hold on much longer. Beki nodded at Neji and passed out of the confines of the water prison, landing soundlessly and placing Neji between herself and Kisame. Her hair slowly came away with her, receding as gently and gradually as it had come.

Beki paused a moment and listened to confirm she hadn't been spotted. The clone watching Neji looked a little concerned, but Neji covered for her by making a show of securing his hair in a hair tie. Gai and the shark man were still posturing, so Beki slunk along behind Tenten's prison, took a deep breath, and slipped inside. She repeated the process, her hair surrounding them in a moving optical illusion. Beki was full Drowned Maiden, so it was no surprise that at the sight of her Tenten blurted out her last bubble of air in shock. Before the panic set in, Beki grabbed ahold of Tenten and pressed her mouth on hers. Tenten hadn't had time to close her mouth before she was blitzed, so she flailed against Beki for a moment until she realized Beki's intent. Tenten went still and turned beet red. Beki tried not to smile at her embarrassment. If they survived this, she would never let Tenten or Neji live this down. Beki gave Tenten's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. She tugged on Tenten's buns and she nodded in understanding. She took out her buns and shook her hair out to take up as much space in the water as possible, so as Beki made her exit the gradual removal of her hair could be attributed to Tenten's long unruly locks.

At last, Beki made her way to Lee. When the hair encased his water prison, the Kisame's clones sensed foul play. Instead of suspecting Lee, however, their attention turned to Neji and Tenten. As they inspected the other two water prisons, Lee turned to face Beki. He accepted her presence immediately and did not object to Beki sharing air with him. In fact, he sucked the air from Beki's lungs so forcefully she pulled away coughing. Lee furrowed his brow in determination and gave Beki a thumbs up. She returned the gesture weakly and dropped out of the prison.

Right as Beki's feet hit the ground she saw Kisame forming hand signs. Beki smiled. She recognized those hand signs, and they meant she had an opening.

…

Kisame was doubled over, spewing water onto the ground between him and Might Gai. Gai watched him carefully, focusing on keeping his stance perfectly neutral so he could attack or defend as needed. There was a strange stirring in the water below Kisame's spout and the shark man's eyes narrowed in confusion. Before he could react, a woman launched herself out of the water fist first, clocking the Akatsuki member square in the jaw. The blow took him by surprise and knocked him backward.

Kisame glared at the figure before him as the water fell away and the woman's form was revealed. She was young, but the girl looked like a corpse freshly pulled from the riverbank. Her lips were a sickening bluish purple and her milky white eyes bored into him from the recesses of their blackened lids. Her obsidian hair, which had initially looked like part of the water, clung to her face and body like an arcane shroud. The wicked grin she cast would have shaken other men, but Kisame merely composed himself and prepared for another opponent.

"I've got your back, Gai sensei," Beki flashed her terrifying smile in his direction. "It's been ages since I got to go toe to toe with another water shinobi."

Gai considered her for only a moment before giving her a nod of acceptance. "Give it all the passion of your youth, Tsukimori!" Gai cried out enthusiastically.

The shark man narrowed his eyes at Beki, as if searching for something familiar.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"I think I would recognize a giant blue shark man," Beki clutched her pale fists.

"No," Kisame straightened. The face wasn't quite right, he remembered it being softer, more feminine behind all the terrible trappings of the kekke genkai. "I've seen you somewhere before."

"Do you see what I mean?" Gai sensei sighed. "It's right on the tip of my tongue. I know you from somewhere, you know her from somewhere. It must be something in the water." Kisame scoffed and readied himself for the oncoming assault.

Beki let herself melt into the water, her hair fanning out under the surface like black blood. Gai sensei didn't hesitate to move in with Taijutsu, his nunchakus blazing. Kisame dodged the attacks effortlessly. Beki hovered in the water beneath him looking for an opening. Gai took a more powerful jab at Kisame and the shark man put more weight on his left foot as he leaned out of the way of the attack. Beki reached up and took ahold of his left foot, giving it a hard tug down into the water. Kisame stumbled and Gai connected a blow before Kisame blocked the next with his sword. Gai went to land a heavy blow to Kisame using a drop kick, but teeth suddenly jutted out of the wrappings on the blade.

They jumped back to put space between them and Beki positioned herself in the middle beneath the surface. Gai and Kisame began running parallel to one another, searching for an opening. Kisame cast a clone behind Gai to test him, which Gai promptly dispatched with his nunchakus. Beki formed hand signs and cast Watery Grave, sending ghastly arms reaching up out of the water to trip the Akatsuki member. He evaded their grasp and tossed his sword in the air. He formed hand signs and cast a giant water shark right at Might Gai. While he held off the attack, Kisame formed different hand signs and sent five sharks careening through the water towards Beki. The sharks honed in on her with frightening speed. Beki was forced to surface, barely evading the attack as they slammed into the spot she had just vacated.
Kisame had already caught his sword and was landing a jump strike on Gai, who was barely holding it off with his nunchakus. Before Beki could move in to help, Kisame socked Gai sensei so hard he was sent plummeting into the depths.

I can buy him time to recover, Beki thought. If this guy is too strong for Gai sensei, the best I can do is to be an annoyance.

Beki circled Kisame, whom clearly didn't regard her as much of a threat. He came at her with his sword and brought it down with incredible speed. Beki slammed her gauntlets into the blade sideways as hard as she could, canceling some of its momentum and deflecting the blow enough to give her some space to move. Kisame's eyes fell on the gauntlets and flickered with interest. Faster than Beki could track, Kisame had closed the space between them. He snatched her right wrist and held up the gauntlet into the light.

"These," He shook her wrist. "Where did you get these? Did you steal them?"

Beki swung her left arm at him to clip him with the other set of blades. Kisame casually deflected the blow and snatched up her other wrist, so Beki was suspended in the air. Beki's stint of resupplying Team Gai with air and going in guns blazing against the Akatsuki shinobi were taking their toll. Normally when Beki used Drowned Maiden it was just a scare tactic. Her lack of sleep over the last few days and the jutsu she had used in this fight left her feeling tapped out. She watched in horror as the hair in her face dried and lifted away from her skin, brightening rapidly as her reserves ran dry. The hands trapped in his grasp washed with color to a healthier hue. Kisame watched the transformation with what seemed like amusement.

"You are related to her then," he let out a raspy noise, which Beki could only interpret as his form of laughter. "I never pictured that woman as the 'settling down' type."

Kisame raised Beki up until they were eye level with as much effort as anyone else would lift a cereal box. Beki was grateful he was holding her by the gauntlets, otherwise the delicate bones in wrists would have been crushed in the vicelike grip.

"I wonder if putting you down would warrant her attention," he smirked. "It was always hard to tell what would set her off."

The water around them began to hum and ripple. Powerful chakra rose from the deep, drawing both of their attention. Beki recovered, realizing the energy must be from Gai sensei, and kangaroo kicked Kisame as hard as she could. It caught him off guard enough that his grip broke and she stumbled away to safety. A whirlpool formed under Kisame's feet with Might Gai glowing with power in the eye of the swirling waves. Kisame surveyed the situation and destroyed the three clones holding Team Gai in place.

"I can't afford to babysit you three and fight him at this level," Kisame said half to himself.

Beki scrambled over to them with little regard for her pride. She had bitten off more than she could chew in that fight and was grateful Gai sensei was there to clean it up.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked as she collapsed down beside them.

"Yes," Lee gave her a somber thumbs up. "Thanks to you and Gai sensei."

Neji grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up until they were face to face. "What are you doing here?!"

"Clearly, I'm here to save you guys," Beki smiled sheepishly and Neji stared her down, unwavering. "Hey, that's my story. I'm sticking to it."

Neji's eyes widened with dread. "You didn't drag Lady Hinata along, did you?!"

Beki shook her head. "No, I…uh, well, I made sure she couldn't follow along after me."

Neji narrowed his eyes suspiciously and then released her. "Now isn't the time to discuss this."

Beki and Team Gai watched in awe as Gai sensei absolutely wasted Kisame. Gai moved so quickly it was hard to keep track of his movement. The flurry of blows Gai unleashed were so devastating the Akatsuki shinobi couldn't block a single strike, let alone return fire. Kisame landed in the water and his features began to transform. It was no longer the blue shark man, but some average shinobi without any identification.

"That wasn't the real thing?" Beki shook her head. "Damn, it was strong."

"It was a distraction," Gai sighed as he came down from releasing the gates. "It was meant to keep us off his comrade's trail while he made off with the Kazekage."

Neji had activated the Byakugan and was examining the body. "I've never seen anything like this."

"What is it?" Tenten asked.

"This is a completely different person," Neji shook his head in amazement. "His proportions, bone structure, everything is completely different from Kisame."

"Then how was he able to fight like the shark guy?" Beki asked. "And who is he?"

Neji shrugged. "Who knows. This is all just so strange."

Gai sensei nodded. "We need to keep our focus on recovering the Kazekage. Let's get moving."

…

The five of them were off, heading after their original targets. The group was silent in their pursuit but Neji kept throwing frustrated looks at Beki. After a short time, he couldn't take it anymore and dropped back to match her pace so they were running side by side.

"Beki, what are you really doing here?" Neji asked. "You weren't assigned on this mission. This is technically espionage against the Leaf and the Sand, what you're doing right now."

Beki shrugged. "Look, Neji, I'm going to have to take over for my dad someday, right? I need to start acting like an ambassador. I can tell you right now if my dad were in the same position he would be right where I am."

"You mean chasing after the Kazekage?" Neji asked. "Or your boyfriend?"

Beki stared ahead, careful not to make a face. "He isn't my boyfriend."

An awkward silence passed between them. Neji knew he went too far and opened his mouth to apologize.

"The Kazekage is an important leader. He's progressive and wants a more peaceful and united shinobi world. If he dies, God only knows who would take his place." Beki explained. "As a representative for Getsugakure, I have to do what I can to maintain stability here on the mainland. Problems in the Big Five villages tend to trickle down and make life a living hell for us smaller shinobi villages. That's why I'm here."

Neji shut his mouth. He wasn't sure if he had hurt her or just pissed her off, but either way it was better to let the issue lie for now. Beki had never promoted that she was dating the Kazekage, but she never spoke of him in so formal of a manner. She had always referred to him as Gaara in conversation. The explanation she had given was diplomatic and dry, as though she had never met the man personally. Something had gone wrong between them and yet here Beki was, ready to risk her life to save him. Neji was left wondering whether Beki still had feelings for the Kazekage or if she was just doing what she said, protecting the stability of the ninja world.

"Why did Kisame act like he knew you?" Tenten asked over her shoulder. "I'm sorry to pry, but it's really been eating at me."

Bless your timing, Tenten, Neji thought to himself, grateful for the change of subject.

"I don't know," Beki shook her head. "He was going on about my gauntlets and kept using pronouns for days. 'Her, her, her,' he kept saying. I can only assume he meant my mother."

"What would your mom have to do with a member of the Akatsuki?" Tenten furrowed her brow.

Beki shrugged. "Search me. The more I learn about my mom the less I know her, and the less I want to know."

"Hey guys!" The familiar voice called out to them from up ahead. Team Kakashi had been pursuing the same trail and the teams had finally crossed paths. Naruto waved them down. "We got held up by Uchiha Itachi, but it wasn't Itachi. It was some different guy who had looked just like Itachi and then when he died he was somebody else." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, it's really confusing."

"We ran into the same issue while fighting Hoshigaki Kisame," Neji explained.

"Hopefully we're not too late," Kakashi sighed. "They held us up quite a while. They might have already extracted the shukaku."

Beki clenched her fists. You can't be dead, Beki clenched her eyes shut and directed her thoughts to Gaara, hoping somehow that their connection would allow her to reach him. It was a desperate and baseless hope that she could talk to him psychically, but she had to try. Gaara, we're coming to save you. You have to hold on. You need to stay alive.

"That looks like their hideout up ahead," Gai pointed. "But there's some kind of barrier on it."

"You four will need to remove four seals to take this barrier down," Kakashi explained. "We'll stay here so as soon as the barrier is broken we can go inside."

Great, one more stalling technique. Beki fumed. These Akatsuki assholes!

Team Gai ran off to remove the seals, leaving Beki with an unfamiliar old woman, Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto.

"Who is this?" The old woman asked, eyeing Beki over. "You're a long way from Getsu, young lady."

"She's the Kazekage's-" Naruto began and Beki elbowed him hard. He gave her a wounded look as she gave the old woman a polite bow.

"I'm Tsukimori Haruka, the ambassador in training for Getsugakure. You can call me Beki," Beki explained. "I couldn't stand by and do nothing when I heard the Kazekage was in trouble. We're friends."

"Friends?" Naruto gave her a surprised look. "I thought you guys were-"

Beki turned her head so only Naruto could see her face. Her eyes were milky white and her skin was pale and lifeless. "Zip it."

Naruto shrank instantly at the terrifying face and clamped his mouth shut.

"This is Granny Chiyo," Sakura introduced her. "She's going to help us rescue Gaara."

I don't know how, Beki thought. She doesn't look like she can help much.

Kakashi was staring Beki down. It felt like because he had one eye covered, the intensity of his exposed eye was intensified. "I take it you're here of your own accord?" Kakashi asked carefully. "No one sent you?"

Beki sighed. "I took the initiative. If there had been time to ask for permission, I swear I would have done so. I didn't exactly have time to sit outside an office and wait for clearance."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll discuss this later, then."

The minutes ticked by and Beki wondered if Team Gai was okay. At last the barrier wavered and then broke, allowing Team Kakashi entrance into the cave.

"Miss Tsukimori," Kakashi held out an arm, barring her entrance into the cave. "You'll understand if I ask you to stay outside. We don't need two diplomats in danger."

"But-" Beki started but the way his stare bored into her stopped her in place. He gave a slight shake of his head, indicating there would be no discussion. "Yes, sir," Beki stepped aside and let them pass on inside without her. She knew when she had been beaten, and Beki didn't want to be on Kakashi's bad side. He acted all happy go lucky but anyone could tell he could bring on the hurt if he wanted.

Beki stared into the cavernous void before her, straining her eyes and her ears for any source of life. Faint sounds could be detected, but nothing that clearly indicated what was going on. The hair on her arms and neck stood up as an immense chakra suddenly manifested inside. A chill crept down her spine. Whatever it was that was making that chakra was bad news. Beki backed up from the cave and braced herself to face it in the light of day.

Suddenly, a great bird flew out of the top of the entrance. Beki watched the bird flying away, and saw that there was a man on top of its back and it held something in its talons. That terrible chakra came towards her out of the cave and she turned her attention to the entrance. Kakashi and Naruto emerged, his body surrounded by a fox like orange chakra armor. They blazed right past her in pursuit of the bird.

"Why didn't you say we were chasing it?!" Beki cried out as she ran after them.

"Stay back!" Kakashi yelled over his shoulder.

"To hell with that!" Beki yelled back. "That asshole has Gaara, doesn't he?! LET'S KICK HIS ASS!"

"I'm going to do a lot worse than kick his ass," Naruto gritted his teeth. "I'm going to kill him!"

Beki watched Naruto as they ran. Naruto was not the violent type. He never aimed to kill people. The look on his face, the dark power he was encased in, it all made sense.

Gaara is dead, Beki looked up at the body in the talons of the bird. Its arms and legs dangled lifelessly beneath it. They killed him. He was fine, he was in my arms and he was fine just a few days ago. He was smiling and laughing, his body was warm and he smelled like sunshine and sandalwood.

Pure grief and desolation washed over her with the realization the Kazekage was no more. Tears burned Beki's eyes and she blinked them away, swallowing hard at the lump forming in her throat. "Yeah," Beki's voice was weak. "We're going to kill him."

Kakashi had pulled up his headband, revealing his scarred eye. Beki had never seen it before, and its red iris and strange pupil were intriguing but frightening looking. She would have to remember to ask Naruto about it later, if there was a later.

Kakashi was concentrating hard on the man on the bird. Beki watched as it looked like the space around him warped, and all of a sudden his arm was separated from his body. Beki looked back at Kakashi's eye. Did he do that with his eye?!

"Damn," Kakashi gritted his teeth. "I was going for his head. This thing is so hard to aim."

"Shit!" The blonde Akatsuki shinobi held his bloody stump with his remaining hand. "That's it, I'm out!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Naruto sped up and leapt through the air, closing the distance between him and the strange bird. "YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE!"

The air around Naruto rushed into his hand and glowed. "RASENGAN!"

The glowing orb collided with the bird and it shattered, sending Gaara's body plummeting to the ground and forcing the injured Akatsuki shinobi to leap to safety. Kakashi and Naruto squared off with the blonde man and Beki ran over to Gaara's body. This isn't my fight, Beki thought to herself as she considered helping them take down the wounded shinobi. She hoisted Gaara up and put him over her shoulder. His body was starting to stiffen and it seemed like it weighed three hundred pounds. Beki struggled to move away from the fight as the sounds of rushing air, screaming, and explosions echoed behind her. Once she was sure there was enough distance between them, Beki set Gaara back down on the ground.

"You can't be dead," Beki said to him. "Come on Gaara, wake up. It's me. It's Beki," She shook him gently. The Kazekage didn't respond, so she put her hand up to his nose. She felt no breath escaping him, so she put her fingers to his neck. She probed for what seemed like a minute, trying to find a pulse. He was growing colder.

We just missed him, Beki realized. He was still alive a few minutes ago.

Beki sat there in shock, alone in a clearing with the body of the man she had loved. She knew she should be crying, but she couldn't believe that Gaara was dead. Any moment now he would wake up, having slipped into a coma or something from the trauma of having the shukaku removed. He'll wake up and I'll be here for him, Beki told herself. Sakura will get here and fix him up and we'll all go home.

Gaara's hair had gotten messed up during the chase. Beki reached out and brushed the strands out of his face. He looked peaceful. Good, Beki thought. He could use some sleep. She reached out and took his hand in hers and waited.

There was a loud boom back in the direction Beki had left Naruto and Kakashi. "Maybe it's over," Beki said to Gaara. "They should be here any minute."

A few moments later, Team Kakashi and Team Gai appeared. They all looked exhausted. Sakura was covered with bruises, Team Gai looked like they had been run through a car wash, and Kakashi looked like he was moments away from collapsing. They hovered around Gaara's body for a moment, no one knowing what to say.

"Is he really…?" Sakura finally asked Beki.

Beki looked up at her and tried to speak but no words came out. It was as if her voice had been stolen from her. Tears streamed down her face freely yet still she couldn't make a sound. Beki felt helpless, feeling the cold stiff hand in hers and knowing that she couldn't save him. They all worked so hard and it hadn't been enough.

"Let's get him home," Naruto said as he hoisted Gaara up off the ground and over his shoulder.

Naruto began walking back towards Suna, and the group fell in line behind him. Beki was left sitting on the ground. She had grown so numb she couldn't have stood if she wanted to. Her legs and arms were rubber and remembering how to breathe took effort. A set of hands wrapped around each of her arms and Beki looked up to see Tenten on one side and Neji on the other.

"Come on," Tenten said gently as they hoisted her to her feet. "Can you walk?"

Beki's voice was still elsewhere, so she nodded. Her feet were made of lead and it took considerable effort to drag them along. The rest of the group was tired and they were trudging along slowly, but Beki couldn't even keep up with their limping gait. It was all for nothing, she realized. She had spent two years getting to know the Kazekage, learning all these tiny intimate details about him, like the way his eyelashes caught the light in the afternoon sun, and now he was gone. She clutched at the sand filled pendant he gave her and remembered the way he smiled when he saw her wearing it. Gaara was powerful and intimidating, yet he had always been gentle and kind to her.

The first sob caught her by surprise and Beki clamped her hands over her mouth in shock. Her voice had come back along with all those memories. Beki had held those moments dear, but each one that came bubbling to the surface was a dagger plunging into her heart. She was surrounded by people but Beki had never felt so alone.

Beki was glad that she was trailing behind everyone else. Even if they could hear her cry, at least she wasn't forced to see the pity on their face.