Hi everyone! I know its been a while. Tallman and I were out of town for a bit and I've been working on some summer courses. Thank you to everyone who has been PMing and reviewing in the meantime. Like I said, even when I'm between chapters I try to respond to you guys within 24 hours. This next part of the story is going to be pretty heavy on the Maidens lore. I know many of you are curious about the Maidens and have sent questions about them. If there is anything you are curious about, feel free to ask and I will be sure to include the answers in the next few chapters. This isn't necessarily an arc, per se, but I've got some fun stuff in store as we lead up to the next bit. All that being said, please enjoy this next chapter! I look forward to hearing what you think.
Hinata held Beki's chin in her hand as she surveyed the damage to her face. Beki in turn watched the way Hinata's brow furrowed and her lips pulled back in a frown of concern.
"Before you ask, yes, it looks as bad as it feels." Beki gave her an unconvincing half smile.
Hinata shook her head and let go of Beki's face. "It looks like your mother went a little rough on your first day."
Beki shrugged. "I've had worse. At least she's doing this to help me. Usually when I'm beaten like this, it's by someone who wants me dead."
Hinata turned and put the kettle on the stove. As the water heated, she reached into the medicine cabinet and took out the Hyuga herbal ointment. Beki eyed it with a look of disgust. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Beki," Hinata put her hands on her hips. "Are you really going to make me chase you down or will you put this on yourself?"
"I think that would make an interesting scene for your fiancé to walk in on," Beki grinned at the look of horror on Hinata's face as she imagined Naruto walking in on them wrestling. A soft knock on the door drew both their attention and a small gasp of pain from Beki.
"What's wrong?" Hinata cast her another concerned expression as she crossed over to the door.
"Tried to turn my head," Beki panted as the pain radiated up her neck and into the darkest recesses of her brain. It seared all the way through to the inside of her eyeballs, enveloping her whole world in white hot pain for a few seconds. "Very bad idea."
"Hello," Neji called through the door and Hinata opened it for him. "Beki, Gai sensei wanted to know if you would like to join us for…" His voice trailed off. Beki was face down on the table, whimpering softly with her hand on her neck. "What happened to her?"
"Beki went to train with her mother today," Hinata explained as she walked over to Beki. "You can see the results yourself." She reached under the pool of Beki's hair and lifted her face by the chin, turning it towards Neji.
"Did she come at you with a meat cleaver?" Neji gasped at the sight of her swollen face.
"I took a boot to the head." Beki grumbled through her forcibly clenched jaw. "Yukihana is fast. I couldn't even react fast enough to protect my face."
Neji walked over and gingerly ran his thumb against the strained muscles of her neck. "There might be internal damage." Hinata nodded and they activated their Byakugans simultaneously.
"What did she do to you?" Hinata winced. "Beki, the flow of your tenketsu is barely flowing at several points."
"A normal person wouldn't be able to walk home with this much damage," Neji sighed and shook his head.
Hinata surveyed the damage. "This is more threatening than your external wounds. We'll have to get your tenketsu flowing."
"Will that make the room stop spinning?" Beki's voice was weak.
Neji and Hinata shared a worried look. "Probably," They said in unison.
Hinata took Beki's head in her hands and twisted it to the left. Beki's neck let out four pops and she cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain.
"Your legs are a mess," Neji cringed at the sight of Beki's black and blue shins. "You've got every shade of the rainbow here but no broken bones."
"Yuki is gifted like that," Beki sighed. "Maximum pain, minimum damage."
"I wouldn't call that minimum," Hinata said as she kneaded Beki's shoulders.
"Do your feet hurt?" Neji asked and Beki nodded. She rotated in the barstool and extended her legs towards him. He took ahold of her feet and began to massage them and the parts of her shins and calves that weren't bruised.
"Thanks you guys," Beki smiled. "I'm starting to feel better already."
"Hey Hinata?" Naruto called down from upstairs. "Can you come up here for a while?"
"Coming!" Hinata let go of Beki's shoulders and bolted up the stairs. Suddenly, Beki and Neji were alone. Neji became acutely aware of the intimacy of the situation they were left in. The warmth of Beki's legs in Neji's hands, the scent of her skin, and the soft moans she was letting out as he kneaded her began to stir a physical reaction. He gulped and concentrated on his breathing to repress the reaction. Neji knew he shouldn't be enjoying the situation as much as he was. Beki was in pain and he was supposed to be helping her but he loved having an excuse to touch her.
The sensation of touching her skin combined with the soft moans of pleasure from Beki slowly got the better of Neji and his thoughts quickly traveled south. His hands worked their way up to her thighs and he felt a bead of sweat drip down his neck. He dared not travel further, but the firm tension in her legs made his imagination soar. He applied more pressure trying to focus on his hands, but the soft meowing moans from Beki's lips made it impossible. He felt his pants grow tighter and tighter until his mind was consumed of thoughts of Beki's bare flesh. To try to regain some control, Neji let go of her legs and stepped around to the other side of the island. With his back to her, Neji put the kettle on the stove.
"I'm going to make some tea. That should help bring down the swelling," He said as casually as possible.
"For who, you or me?" Beki snapped back.
A chill crept down Neji's spine but he didn't dare turn around.
"Did you think I wasn't going to notice?" Beki laughed. "You look like you're smuggling produce!"
"Beki," Neji began but she kept going.
"Attention security, we have a cucumber thief in aisle 4," Beki laughed again then winced.
"Keep it down," Neji shot a concerned towards the stairs. "They might hear us."
Beki scoffed. "Those two? They won't be around for a couple of hours."
"Hours?" Neji shook his head. "It just sounded like he needed her help with something."
"I forget you don't live here," Beki rolled her shoulders tentatively. "Innocuous stuff like that is code for 'don't wait up for us'."
Neji kept his attention on the tea kettle, his embarrassment slowly replacing his arousal.
"Hey, I'm teasing you. Don't worry about it." Beki leaned on the counter. "I was raised by a single dad, remember? I know that happens all the time for no reason."
"Let's just put this whole conversation behind us," Neji sighed as he ran the hot water over the tea leaves.
"That helped a lot," Beki flexed her legs. "I didn't even realize how messed up I was."
"I was happy to help," Neji said as he handed her a teacup. Every fiber of his man-being screamed at him to throw her down and make her start moaning again. The sounds he had heard escape her mouth would keep him up for hours that night. Even more so because her scent had permeated his hands. Beki smiled at him and tucked some stray hair behind her ear before she took a sip of her tea. Maybe in the next life, Neji consoled himself.
….
Yuki sat on the hill overlooking the village. The sky was a sea of endless blue without a cloud in sight and the crispness in the wind made a sweater necessary. The long grass twisted and swayed in the soft breeze but Yuki took no notice. She was deep in meditation, reestablishing her connection to both nature and its spirits. As keenly as Yuki had taken to being a shinobi, she had been a priestess first. So much of her life was spent spiritually training that Yuki had never truly fallen out of her habits. In her quiet time, she would practice her calligraphy, study the classics, recite prayers, and dance. Not the trampy seductive routines she flounced at the strip club, but the old dances. They were ritualistic and deep rooted in the mythos of the Maidens.
In her youth, Yukihana had felt connected to her ancestry and had almost obsessively memorized the family histories of the three lines. There was a whole notebook shoved in the hollow of a tree in the woods near the shrine fully of Yuki's notes about her predecessors and commentaries regarding the other lines. At the moment, Yuki was struggling to parcel all of this out to her daughter. Having tested Beki's abilities in combat and found them lacking, Yuki was certain the girl would be spiritually deprived as well. Her philosophy for the future was that first the girl would have to be able to survive physically then she could start her instruction in the old ways.
A small smile pulled at the corner of Yuki's mouth. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
"Hey," Beki panted as she jogged up the hill. "I've been looking for you."
"I'm not usually that hard to find," Yuki looked up at her daughter, a gleam of mischief in her eyes. "There's typically a trail of bodies leading right to me."
"Ha ha," Beki put her hands on her hips. "You can stop with the 'I'm a hardened badass act' right now."
Yuki shrugged. "I am what I am." She surveyed her daughter's face. "You're healing well."
"The Hyuga have some special traditional medicine they like to force on me. It's as effective as it is foul." Beki explained.
"That's good," Yuki bit at her knuckle pensively. "Have they taught you how to make it?"
Beki shook her head. "No. I've lived with them but I'm not one of them. I don't want to overstep."
Yuki patted the grass beside her and Beki sat down cross legged. "I see you wore your armor today."
"Ishida just sent word he's on his way. When he gets here there will be a small ceremony to formally promote me." Beki tipped her head back, the breeze cooling the sweat on her brow.
"So, what you're saying is I can't mess up the pretty for a while." Yuki cocked her head.
"The what?" Beki shot her a confused look.
Yuki held her hand in front of her face and made a circular gesture. "Your face. You don't want me to mess up your face."
"I would appreciate it if we didn't." Beki nodded. "Or massive repetitive injuries to any place. My shins look like I was in a train wreck."
Yuki scoffed. "You can walk. I didn't break any bones." Out of the corner of her eye, Yuki observed how the armor. It looked so small now. Seiichiro had been a looming oni in it, nearly twice the size of other men in terms of height and width. Now it looked like the once massive torso would barely fit Seiichiro's leg. Its sudden reduction in size reduced the sheer intimidation power of the ancestral armor. It looked almost decorative on Beki.
The sweat on Beki's brow was also of concern. Seiichiro had moved in the armor as if he had been born in it, as quietly and gracefully as a cat. Beki had come lumbering up the hill like a cart was strapped to her back. The weight of her entire suit was barely what Seiichiro's breastplate would have been. Yuki bit at her cuticles. How could she effectively use the next week for training without doing damage to Beki physically?
Beki collapsed back on the grass and Yuki smiled, the answer coming to her at last. "We're going to work on improving your reaction time."
"How?" Beki asked at the same moment a snowball hit her square in the face. "What the hell?!"
Yuki stood with such ease and grace Beki felt even more like an uncoordinated toddler. "You're just going to go about your day like it's any other. I'm going to attack you. There will be no rhyme or reason for when and where I strike. You just have to be ready."
Beki furrowed her brow. "Okay?"
"Okay," Yuki smiled and clapped her hands excitedly. "I'll be seeing you."
"Yeah, same to you," Beki called out as Yuki skipped down the hill.
"No, you won't!" Yuki sang.
What have I gotten into? Beki shook her head and pulled herself back up into a sitting position. At least they were getting along now. Getting pegged with a snowball was also a lot less painful than taking a kick to the face.
…
Beki walked back into town wondering what she could do with herself. She had anticipated Yukihana putting her though the kind of intensive training she had before. She considered going for a run or doing some plyometrics to make up for the lack of physical activity she was going to have.
"Beki nee san!" Beki felt Konohamaru's arms lock around her before he spoke.
"Hey, what's up?" Beki ruffled his hair.
"I just got finished training. What are you up to right now?" He looked up at her hopefully.
"I'm open right now. Do you want to do something?" Beki grinned.
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could-" Konohamaru began but a flurry of snowballs rained down on Beki. They seemed to come from everywhere at once. She threw up her hands trying to deflect them but they were too fast.
"Ow!" Beki cried, holding the side of her head. She rubbed the tender spot and glared out into the nothingness. "There was a rock in that one!"
Konohamaru blinked in confusion. "Beki…what just happened?"
Beki shook her head. "This is my mom's way of helping me develop faster reaction time."
Konohamaru gave her a concerned look. "That was pretty bad."
Beki looked at the genin and lowered her face in embarrassment, a light flush coming into her face. "Yeah, you're right. That was pretty lame."
"Maybe you should keep training then," Konohamaru sensed that she was flustered and looked away. "We can hang out later."
"Yeah, see you around buddy." Beki watched in shame as Konohamaru ran off. One thing Beki had learned over the years was that children were brutally honest. If Konohamaru told her she needed more practice, Beki's performance must have been pathetic.
She took a deep breath and centered herself. She called out to her mother, wherever she was. "Okay, that was the first one. I know what we're doing now. This is when I get serious!"
There was no answer but Beki felt that there was a quiet understanding between them.
…
Yuki fell on her side, her hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Beki had flailed as uselessly as a squid out of water at the onslaught of snowballs. The armor and her hair were caked with powder and her hair was sopping wet. The embarrassment and shock on Beki's face had been priceless. This probably wasn't the most effective way to improve Beki's reaction time, but by God it was the most entertaining. Yuki couldn't wait to see the next moment she could ruin for her daughter.
…
Beki had walked around town for twenty minutes but her mother hadn't struck again. Did she forget or get distracted? Beki wondered. Or is it all a mind game? She rested against the railing of the river bridge and sighed. This was the worst training she had ever had. With her father, Beki expected grueling tests of strength and willpower. Ebisu had focused on endurance and back home with Kobiyashi sensei, their focus had been on teamwork. So far, Yuki had beaten her senseless and now she was attacking her with snowballs. Not only was this "nontraditional" in methodology but at times Beki was forced to wonder if this really was training. Perhaps her mother just wanted to play with her and was too socially stunted from being in ice to know how to express it productively.
"Hey Beki," Naruto walked up to her with a bag of groceries in each arm. "Weren't you supposed to be training with your mom?"
"Yeah, I thought so," Beki rubbed the back of her head. "We're supposed to be working on my reaction time but I haven't seen her in a while."
"So Hinata and I were thinking a hot pot tonight, does that sound okay?" Naruto asked.
Beki grinned. "I haven't had hot pot in forever. That sounds awesome!"
Naruto looked down at his bags. "I got most of the stuff for it. Hinata's going to start working on the meat when I get home. When do you think you'll be finished with training?"
"Like I said, if mom doesn't turn up soon I'm going to- "
A snowball hit her square in the mouth at the speed of a major league baseball pitch. Beki sputtered violently and looked up only to see a hailstorm of snowballs heading for her at high speed. She threw up her hands and tried to deflect them but there were too many. Her vision blurred in the flurry of white. In her desperate attempt to defend herself, Beki lost her balance and fell over the railing of the bridge and into the river with a mighty splash.
Naruto looked over the bridge to see if she had surfaced. Beki burst from the water's surface, gasping for breath.
"We'll talk later," Naruto waved and walked away.
Beki began her awkward dog paddle to shore, the armor weighing her down in the water. "This is getting old," Beki grumbled as she dragged herself up on the bank. The mud coated her armor and squished into her boots. Beki grumbled as she thought about the hour she had ahead of her to properly clean her armor. She surveyed her surroundings and sensed nothing. The area around her was perfectly peaceful, not a leaf out of place. Beki sighed and started her trudge back to the Hyuga compound. She would hose it down in the yard, treat it, then shower. Maybe the hot water would refresh Beki's senses and save her from her mother's wrath.
…
Yuki had left Beki in peace as she cleaned and treated the armor. Beki wondered if Yukihana was unable to reach her within the walls of the Hyuga compound. "I guess I'm technically cheating right now," Beki shrugged as she oiled the metal. She left the armor on the covered patio to dry and walked inside the house. Naruto and Hinata were busily prepping for dinner but it wouldn't be ready for at least an hour. Beki ran upstairs, stripped off her soggy clothes, and hopped in the hot shower. The warm water brought her body back up to a normal temperature as Beki worked all the debris out of her hair. The looser pieces around her face had been the worst affected. When Beki got out, she braided her hair while it was soaking wet. When it dried, her hair would be as tightly woven as rope. She would have horrible crimps afterwards but if Yuki kept up her antics at least Beki wouldn't be stuck picking leaf bits out of her hair all night.
Beki threw on a t-shirt and some leggings and plodded down the stairs. She was comfortable now that she was out of the armor and more importantly she was warm.
"Hey Beki," Hinata called up to her. "Neji wants to join us for dinner tonight. He said he was going to bring up some more ingredients from the main house. Do you think you could go down there and help him?"
"Yeah, of course." Beki pulled on some shoes and walked out the door. She could see Neji walking towards them from the main house and headed out to meet him. As she got closer, Beki noticed he only had one bag in hand. "Hinata made it sound like you were going to have a lot."
Neji shook his head. "I was able to find a big enough bag to fit everything. I appreciate the company, though."
Beki laughed. "Sure, let me escort you the 27 meters to the house."
"So how was the training with your mother today?" Neji asked as he looked her over.
Beki waved dismissively. "We made a deal. No face shots or ugly bruises until after my promotion. They might take pictures and I don't want to look like I've been getting slapped around."
"Fair enough." Neji nodded. "What are you doing in the meantime, then?"
"Well, funny you should ask," Beki laughed uncomfortably. "So, we've been working on my reaction time- "
Beki heard a soft whoosh and threw up her hands to defend herself immediately. "I've got it this time!" Beki began to shout but before she could finish there was a snap. Instead of snowballs, Beki felt a bucketful of water dump over her as a giant water balloon broke over her head. She was left standing there on the lawn, soaked to the bone and stiff with shock. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SNOWBALLS?!" Beki cried at the sky.
"I got bored!" Yuki's voice sounded far away, so far in fact Beki was left wondering how she had managed to snipe her with a water balloon that size. True to form, the water inside the balloon was as cold as a frozen river.
"This…this is how you've been training?" Neji's was striving to keep his gaze somewhere decent. Beki's shirt was completely drenched and clinging to every curve of her body. The water must have been incredibly cold judging by the way Beki's chest was responding. Neji could see every slope and peak of her breasts. The more he looked, the harder it was to avert his gaze.
"I know," Beki grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. "The one time I wear a cotton bralette. Are you done for the day?!"
"Fine!" Yuki called out. "We'll start again tomorrow."
"Can you maybe not, you know, do this to me again?!" Beki gestured to her clothes. "This is the second time I've had to change today."
"Get good!" Yuki was getting further away. Beki shook her head.
"Can you believe this?!" She gestured at her sodden body. "Have you ever heard of training like this before?!"
Neji shook his head, his eyes still glued to her chest. "Can't say I have."
"Well hot pot sounds darn good right now," Beki grumbled as she stormed up towards the house. "You can tell them what happened while I change."
Neji let her walk off ahead of him. He had a theory that the shirt would cling just as tightly behind as it had in the front. He smirked guiltily as his suspicions were confirmed and he followed her inside.
…
While Beki had been cleaning her armor, Yukihana had gone to the store and bought the colossal water balloon. She had knocked on the door of the Hyuga gate and her schemes had almost been thwarted. The gatekeeper had been concerned by the strange woman asking to come inside but a young Hyuga had wandered by at that moment.
"Who are you?" the girl had asked.
"I'm Beki's mother, Yukihana," She explained.
"What's that in your hand?" The girl eyed Yuki's hands suspiciously.
"I wanted to throw this giant water balloon at her," Yuki held up the empty vessel.
The girl's eyes flashed wickedly. "Is that so? Let her in!"
The girl had led Yuki over to the garden hose and had helped her fill it up.
"How are you going to hit her with this without getting close?" The girl sized Yuki up as she spoke. "You don't look strong enough to throw it that far."
"You hammer throw it," Yuki grinned. "Believe me, I used to do stuff like this all the time. It's not so hard as long as your aim is true and you don't stress the balloon too much."
"Why are you going to hit her with this, anyway?" The girl crinkled her nose.
Yuki shrugged. "For funzies?"
"Can I watch?" She asked.
Yuki nodded. "What fun would it be if no one saw her get humiliated?"
The Hyuga girl activated her freaky eye jutsu and stared off towards Hinata's house. "She's coming. Get ready."
"Where's my target?" Yuki asked as she began to spin.
"She'll be at your eleven o'clock in three…two…one…fire!" The girl cried.
Yuki released the balloon at the peak of its momentum. It soared through the air in a beautiful arc, landing directly on its target with a satisfying crack.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SNOWBALLS?!" Beki cried out, looking around for Yuki.
"I got bored!" Yuki said as she ducked further behind a shed. She looked at the Hyuga girl, who was still staring at the pair. "Is Neji laughing at her at least?"
The girl shook her head. "No. Ogling her boobs."
Yuki let out a gasp of realization. "So, its Beki he likes!"
"Duh," The girl rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows Neji likes Beki."
"Isn't he like, your brother…or you clone?" Yuki looked closely at the girl. It was hard to tell the Hyuga apart from one another, let alone how they all related.
"He's my cousin," The girl scoffed. "I'm Hiashi's daughter."
"Oh," Yuki nodded as she sized the girl up. "So, you're Hinata's little sister."
"My name is Hanabi," she said, narrowing her eyes at Yuki. "And I don't like how you said that."
"Don't worry," Yuki patted Hanabi on the shoulder. "If you believe, I'm sure they'll come in someday."
Hanabi scowled at her and opened her mouth to speak but Yuki held up a hand.
"Are you done for the day?!" Beki's voice was full of frustration. Yuki could practically taste the girl's embarrassment and couldn't help but smile.
"Fine!" Yuki called out. "We'll start again tomorrow."
"Can you maybe not, you know, do this to me again?!" Beki gestured to her clothes. "This is the second time I've had to change today."
"Get good!" Yuki had begun to walk towards the gate. She gave Hanabi a wink. "I'll let you know if I plan on pranking her again."
"Maybe I'll help you. Maybe I won't." Hanabi folded her arms.
"Good enough for me." Yuki smiled.