Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your feedback so far. As I've said before, I'm out of bulk publish material so you can expect slower production on my end. I've really enjoyed hearing all your thoughts on the last few chapters and I can't wait to hear what you all think of this. Enjoy!

After the little surprise party, Beki and Neji headed upstairs to her room. Once the door was closed, Beki let out a frustrated groan.

"What's wrong?" Neji put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's just so much so fast," Beki pressed her palms to her eyes.

Neji hesitated for a moment, then chastised himself. He started to rub her shoulders to relieve some of the stress. "You're pretty tense."

Beki sighed and bowed her head. "This helps a lot, thank you." After a few moments, she stepped away and started to pull off her shirt. She tossed it to the side and then unhooked her bra. Neji's hands hovered unsurely, his eyes on her bare back.

"That good?"

Beki laughed as she backed up to him. "No. The clothes were in the way."

Neji chuckled and went back to work on her shoulders, savoring the warmth of her skin. Neji dug in deep with his thumbs, then his elbows and Beki hissed. "Okay, too hard. Too hard!"

"You have a knot," Neji held fast to her left shoulder as he worked on the knot on her right side with his elbow. "I don't even need the Byakugan to see this, Beki."

Beki let out tiny yelps and tried to dance away. His grip was too strong so she quickly conceded defeat, soldiering through the pain with closed eyes and ragged breaths. Once he was satisfied with his progress, Neji released her. "Did that help?"

Beki cocked her head hard to the left and it popped four times. She rolled her shoulders and nodded. "I feel like a different person!" Her eyes widened. "Wait, I can ask you for backrubs whenever I want now, can't I?"

Neji nodded. "Just so you're aware, my fee is one kiss."

Beki grinned and kissed him. Neji couldn't help but smile at the feeling of her body as she leaned against him for the kiss. He embraced her and kissed the top of Beki's head after she had pulled away. "So, Neji, what would a foot rub cost me?"

Neji reached down and clutched ahold of her rear, a cheek in each hand and she yelped. Beki shot him a searing look and he laughed, gave her bottom one more squeeze and let her go. "Go sit down."

Beki grumbled something, covering her butt with her hands protectively as she scurried over to the bed. A foot or two away, Beki leapt up on top of it so she landed closer to the far side. She rolled over so she faced Neji and held up her foot expectantly.

"You have cute feet," Neji said as he took ahold of it.

Beki furrowed her brow. "How are my feet cute? They're huge!"

Neji shrugged. "They're proportional to the rest of your body. If they were smaller, it would look weird. I mean, come on. These long model legs and then baby feet?"

"I guess you have a point." Beki sighed and laid back on the bed. She closed her eyes as Neji worked the tightness out of the muscles in her feet. "Can you believe two weeks ago I was still dating Gaara, set in my job, on my way to a promising career at court in Getsu?"

Neji put her foot down and picked up its mate. "Is that a bad thing?"

Beki shook her head. "No. I feel like a lot of that was me just getting carried along by the current. It was the easy path, it took no work. I was sort of thrown into all those positions by circumstance."

"So how is this different?" Neji asked.

Beki was quiet for a moment. "I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere I want to go. So far I've had the chance to make decisions for myself for once and for the first time it seems like my life is going to be better for it."

When Neji finished with her other foot, Beki hopped off the bed and finished stripping down until she was just in her underwear. Neji watched her gratefully. It was a fine show until she reached into her drawer and started to pull on a nightgown. "You don't need that!" He protested.

Beki stuck out her tongue at him. "It gets cold at night!"

Neji shook his head as he pulled off his own shirt and ran over to her. "I'll keep you warm!"

Beki squealed and struggled half heartedly against Neji as he wrestled her nightgown back off. He tossed it on the floor, wrapped his arms around her, and threw himself backwards onto the bed. Beki tried to wiggle away but he held her tightly. "At least let me put the covers on!" Beki grabbed at the blanekts.

"No," Neji smirked.

"But I'm cold!" Beki's skin started to heat up rapidly, a soft glow filling the room. Where she was in contact with Neji's bare skin, he began to sweat.

"Ew," He rolled her to the side and gave a frustrated groan as he released her.

Beki playfully stuck out her tongue and pulled the blankets up to her ears. "Ah, much better."

Neji cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why bother with blankets at all if you can just Burned Maiden your way through the night?"

"Because it ruins my sheets." Beki frowned. "Don't think I haven't tried that already."

Neji shook his head and pulled her close. He put an arm around her and caressed the curve of her waist and the top of her hip. Beki snuggled into him, her head against his chest and a smile on her face. The sight of her grin made Neji's heart throb happily, pulling a smile out of him as well. He leaned down and kissed her brow affectionately. The day had been as confusing for him as it had Beki. Just a short time ago, his love was unrequited and his world was without hope. Now, not only had he found out Beki returned his feelings, but the two had been promised to be married. It was incredible how quickly their dynamic had changed, from friends, to lovers, to partners-in-the-making. Neji's mind and heart were constantly battling. It was a struggle sorting through all the conflicting emotions: confusion, joy, anxiety, hope. It was reassuring to know that they had time to work out all the kinks, though. It gave Neji the excuse to concentrate on all the happy aspects of their impending wedding. He reached up and ran his thumb over the breadth of her forehead, the curve of her cheek, the line of her jaw. He broke contact only to run his finger down her nose and over her lips. Beki screwed up her face at him and laughed. "What are you doing, weirdo?"

Neji shook his head. "I was just imagining what our kids would look like."

"Kids?!" Beki balked. "You're jumping quite a bit ahead, Neji. Give me a couple years at least."

"So, you do want kids?" Neji asked.

Beki nodded. "Yeah. I grew up without much of a family. I'd love to have a happy little house full of boogery little back-talkers."

"Sounds like you want more than one," Neji rested on his elbow.

"You don't?" Beki blinked. "You grew up alone, just like me. Wasn't being an only child crappy for you?"

Neji shrugged. "You forget I didn't exactly like other people when I was younger. I was sort of full of myself."

"So Tenten tells me," Beki shot him a shifty look. "If you had a brother or sister taking care of you or for you to take care of though, don't you think you might have had a better temperament faster?"

Neji thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I suppose so. Then again it could have just made my competitive nature worse if they had been my rival."

"I was always alone. If I had someone to talk to, to play with, to help me…I think I would have figured out a lot of my problems much faster," Beki sighed. "I can't tell you how much of a difference having my mom added to the picture has made."

"I'm not against the idea," Neji said. "You do understand what life will be like for them, right? They'll be my kids, so they'll be branch family members."

"Meaning the seals," Beki bit her lip. "What if they take after my family more? No Byakugan or anything?"

Neji tapped his fingers on his leg. "That's a good question. Maybe the seal wouldn't take if there were no eyes to attach it to."

Beki shook her head. "We'll deal with that when we get there, right?"

"You know, if we got you pregnant it would speed up the whole getting married process, right?" Neji feigned an innocent look but there was mischief in his eyes. "Ishida would have no choice to push through your requests so you wouldn't dishonor your village as ambassador-"

Beki smacked him with a pillow. "You letcher! You're just looking for an excuse to get laid again!"

Neji protected his face, laughing, taking blind shots at Beki with his free hand. It finally connected with an arm and Neji yanked Beki toward him, throwing her off balance. Neji turned her as she fell, so Beki's back was pressed against his torso. "Alright, that's enough rough housing."

"You getting on me about my bedtime, dad?" Beki's verbal protest in no way matched the way her body settled into his. She relaxed into his embrace, hugging his arms as he held her. Soon, Beki was snoring softly. Neji smiled to himself. Everything about her was cute. The snoring, the cuddling, the rough housing; he loved it all. As sleep slowly crept in on him, Neji wondered if things would always be this way. Would they always love each other like this? Would they still be so playful when they were in their forties? Or would they slowly sober, their passion simmering in the face of adult responsibilities and parenting? Either way, Neji was enjoying the process immensely. It nothing else, these memories would be the ones to keep him warm when he was old and gray. Neji just hoped they would still love each other enough that at that point, a wrinkled Beki would be sitting in the chair beside him holding his hand.

...

It was late at night, well past a decent calling hour when Yuki heard a knock at her door. Her visitors were always few and far between, meaning that unless she was about to be attacked, the person at the door could only be one of two people. Yuki rose from her armchair and opened the door casually, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"Hey, Kakashi," Yuki grinned wickedly. "Couldn't sleep without me?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not going to sleep at all tonight."

Yuki furrowed her brow as she let him inside. "That doesn't sound as sexy as it should."

"I'm being sent to the Five Kage Summit," Kakashi explained. "Things sound like they're escalating."

Yuki set her jaw. "You'll be deployed a while, then." Yuki blinked. "Wait, do you mean you're leaving tonight?"

Kakashi bowed his head. "I know that you understand how this all works but it doesn't make the worrying go away."

Yuki laughed. "You think I'll lose sleep over this?" She looked Kakashi over, a haughty look on her face. "Do you think I'm going to be biting my nails, worrying about you the whole time you're gone?"

Kakashi shrugged. "That's usually how these things go."

"Well you misunderstood me," Yuki stepped forward and poked his chest accusingly. "Because I wouldn't be dating you if I thought you were some half baked amateur. I'm with you because I know you're so damned good I can be confident you'll be coming home."

After a moment, Yuki dropped her head to his chest and hugged him tight. "That's what I'll tell myself, anyway."

Kakashi rested his head on top of hers, planting a kiss on her crown. He breathed in the smell of her hair and closed his eyes. Knowing that a moment like this wouldn't come again soon, Kakashi concentrated on memorizing every detail of it, from the silky hair against his cheek to the rhythm of Yuki's breathing. "I'll miss you, Yuki."

Yuki groaned in frustration and pulled away. "Hold on." Kakashi watched her with mild concern on his face as she marched into the kitchen. There were some drawers opening and closing, cursing, and several more groans before Yuki returned. "I have something for you."

Kakashi gave a soft laugh, then reached up and held her face in his hand. "Are you going to give me a lock of your hair for good luck?"

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Who the hell do you think I am? As if I would ruin my haircut for you," She scoffed as she presented the item. "I'm much more practical than that."

"The key to your heart then," Kakashi chuckled as he took the small gold key.

"No, it's a key to my apartment." Yuki folded her arms. "Its…its my way of saying we're official. That way, if you get back in the middle of the night or something you can just let yourself in."

"You expect me to head straight here? I don't even get to go home first?" Kakashi asked.

Yuki furrowed her brows. "What could you possibly have to do that it couldn't wait until you saw me first?"

"I guess you have me there." Kakashi reached out and embraced her again, this time squeezing her tight. Yuki returned the hug, practically smothering herself against his chest.

"If something happens to you, Kakashi, I will cause a blizzard the likes of which humankind has never seen." Yuki glared up at him. "So when all those innocent souls that freeze to death meet you up in heaven, they'll have you to blame for it."

"Can you not threaten mass homicide?" Kakashi sighed. "I'd much rather you go back to being a priestess or something."

Yuki's expression soured.

"You know I can't promise nothing will happen," Kakashi rubbed her shoulders. "The only thing I can guarantee is that I love you."

Yuki pouted. "I love you, too."

"On the bright side, I won't hear about any of the plans you make for your daughter's wedding," Kakashi grinned. "So after everyone else is sick to death of hearing about it, you can absolutely drown me in all the details about napkin colors and fights you have with the florist."

"I guess that's true." Yuki relaxed back into his arms. "But you have to lay me twice for every week you were gone first."

Kakashi blinked. "Yuki, we could be looking at a month here."

Yuki glared up at him. "I know."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Kakashi chucked her chin. "I have to get going soon."

Yuki nodded and reached up towards his face. Kakashi let her gingerly pull down the mask. He leaned in close and Yuki kissed him. It was a deep kiss, the pull of it full of longing and desire. Yuki was trying a little to hard, holding him too close. "You're trying to make this hard for me."

"Damn right I am," Yuki glowered. "I need to give you a reason to get home as fast as you can."

"I already do," Kakashi kissed her again and pulled up his mask. Yuki watched him expectantly, her ears ready for whatever endearment he had in store. "The next Icha Icha movie is supposed to come out soon."

Yuki let out one of her pterodactyl sounds and pounded on his back as he scurried out the door. She clutched ahold of his flak jacket for a moment. "Seriously, though. Come home safe."

"I'll do my best," Kakashi reached up and brushed some hair out of her face. Yuki let go of the vest as he headed down the stairs, watching long after he had gone out of sight. Yuki pouted as she closed the door. In their time together, Kakashi had been deployed several times, but not for anything that sounded this serious. It left her wondering if the ripples were big enough to reach Getsu, and if so, how that would affect Beki's plans to resign.

…

Since the engagement, things had settled down in Hinata's house. Naruto had to leave to meet Tsunade at the summit for reasons he was not allowed to share. Hinata had taken it upon herself to serve as the new couple's mentor in the week that followed. Most of her instruction went Beki's way. Many of the essential housewife skills were in place, so Hinata spent their time together teaching her advanced tactics: how to get grass stains out of light colored clothes, scrubbing out tough stains, and how to optimize efficiency when multitasking chores. Neji insisted that he be present for any cooking lessons. Despite all her training as a shinobi, Neji always got nervous when he saw Beki brandishing kitchen knives. It was Beki's fourth test: a deceptively difficult karage lesson.

Neji hovered reassuringly by Beki's side as she struggled through the subtle technical process of coating the chicken in corn starch and panko bread crumbs. Hinata had taken a hands off approach; she sipped some tea while reading a book at the kitchen table.

"No, Beki, don't put the chicken in the pan to fry one at a time," Neji explained as he grabbed another plate out of the cabinet. "It all has to go in at once so it gets cooked evenly."

Beki glowered up at him, her hands covered in the stomach wrenching (at least for her) combination of raw chicken juice, cornstarch, and breadcrumbs. She rubbed her fingers over the plate of raw chicken, globs of the grainy mixture falling off onto the plate. "Blech," She stuck out her tongue. "Can we just agree to never eat this?"

Neji rolled his eyes. "You're willing to eliminate an entire category of entrees because you don't like frying meat?"

"I don't like this!" Beki waved her gummy fingers in front of his face. "I'm sure it'll taste great when it's done-"

"We aren't going to be able to go out to eat all the time," Neji wrapped an arm around her waist as he held the plate for her to put the chicken on after she had coated it. "If we can learn a few good recipes like this, we can save a lot of time in the long run. The leftovers can be lunches-"

Beki rolled her eyes. "Neji, I can cook. You know, enough. Hinata's taught me a bunch but what I'm having a problem with is I don't like handling goopy meat."

"Okay," Neji kissed the top of her head. "In the future, I'll do the raw meat part, okay? You'll just have to fry."

"Fine," Beki groaned. "I just don't understand how a person could do this without making an absolute godforsaken mess of it!"

Quietly, Hinata rose from the table and walked into the kitchen. She reached passed Beki, taking a pair of chopsticks out of a holder on the counter, and in a serious of quick beautiful strokes had coated the chicken and placed it gingerly in the oil. Beki stood silently and watched as Hinata turned the chicken, a serene look on her face. She removed the steaming piece of beautifully crisp meat, blew on the top, and held it out for Beki. Beki leaned in, took a tentative nibble, the chicken crunching tantalizingly between her teeth. Hinata's face was expressionless but Beki's immediately soured. She chewed the meat with a furious look on her face. "I hate you."

Hinata offered the rest of the chicken to Neji, who munched on it appreciatively, then booped Beki on the nose with the back of her chopsticks. "It just takes practice, Beki. I've had a lot more time to prepare than you have."

Beki gave her an ugly, jealous look. "Did you start practicing when you were five, you little stalker?"

Hinata was unfazed. "Neji, spank her."

"Lady Hinata-" Neji balked.

"That's an order."

"Hey!" Beki protested but Neji had no choice but to obey. He closed his eyes tight and frowned as he pulled back his hand and swatted her bottom.

Hinata returned to the table, ignoring Beki's scathing looks as Neji whispered reassurances. The pair continued to fry the chicken, Beki doing her best to imitate Hinata's skill. Neji ran a hand over her back, his eyes drawn to her ringless fingers. "Any word from Ishida?"

Beki shook her head. "It's actually beginning to worry me. I know I sent him a parcel but he should have gotten it weeks ago. He would have sent a reply by bird and that would have taken no time at all. I don't know if he hadn't gotten to my first request yet when he received the resignation request. Maybe he's just tied up trying to work all of it out."

"What else could be the cause of the delay?" Neji furrowed his brow. "Does Getsu have storms this time of year or something?"

Beki shook her head. "The only thing I can figure is business at court. And that's never good news."

…

Neji and Beki left the house surprisingly satisfied. "That didn't go as poorly as I expected," Neji rubbed his chin thoughtfully and Beki swatted at him.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

Neji nudged her back playfully. They walked in silence for a little while. The further they moved from the Hyuga compound, the paler Neji grew. His eyes widened, his jaw tensed, and he clenched his fists. Beki watched the slow transformation and laughed. "Really? You're that worried about this?"

"You don't understand," Neji hissed. "The problem with these people is they are completely unpredictable. We could go to anyone else in the village and their reaction would go exactly one of three ways."

"Do you really think your team is going to act bonkers over this?" Beki furrowed her brow. "Its not like Lee is going to sock you in the face or something-"

"That's where you're wrong!" Neji threw up his hands. "He could be so excited he knocks me out! With joy!"

Beki shrugged. "Do you want to wear my armor just in case?"

Neji shook his head. "As if it would fit me, Beki."

"I could tape pillows to you," Beki tugged at his sleeve. "Maybe put a helmet on?"

Neji jerked his arm away. "Knock it off."

Beki continued to harass him all the way to the training field. It succeeded in keeping Neji from worrying, but he was completely irritated by the time they got there. Gai, Tenten, and Lee were all chatting but they stopped at the sight of the approaching pair.

"There you are," Gai's grin gleamed in the afternoon sun. Lee imitated his sensei's flawless smile and Tenten waved.

"So, what's the big occasion, calling us together for a meeting?" Tenten put her hands on her hips. She was doing her best to feign annoyance, but the ghost of a smile was on her face.

Neji took a deep breath. "I know that there have been some rumors floating around." He looked at Beki. "We figured you all should hear the truth directly from us." Neji reached out and took Beki's hand. "Beki and I are engaged."

Tenten gasped and leapt over to Beki, grabbing ahold of her hands. She let out an excited cry and started to jump up and down, an action which Beki mirrored. Neji watched the strange interaction, which seemed oddly coordinated for such a spontaneous show of excitement until Lee and Gai knocked him out of his thoughts with a tearful double embrace.

"NEJI!" Lee cried and Neji felt his tears soaking through his shirt.

"The two of you were in love?!" Gai cried. "How could you hide this from me?! The firey passion of your youth-"

"They didn't," Tenten rolled her eyes. "It was obvious they had a thing for each other."

Gai gave her a questioning look. "For how long?"

Tenten looked at Beki. "How long have you been here?"

Beki blinked. "Three ish years?"

"Three years, give or take an ish." Tenten grinned. "So Beki," Tenten wrapped an arm around her waist and casually began to guide her away from the group. "I hear that you'll be needing some bridesmaids and I want to explain why I would be a good candidate for the job…"

As the girls' voices faded, Gai heaved a deep sigh and clapped Neji hard on the back. "I always knew this day would come."

"That I would get engaged?" Neji asked.

Gai shook his head. "That you would become a man."

Neji gave him an exhausted look. "Gai sensei, I'm nineteen. I've been a 'man' for a while-"

Gai squeezed him so tight it cut Neji off, then released him. "I guess that since your parents passed away while you were young, this responsibility falls to me, your sensei."

Please don't ask to walk me down the aisle, Neji prayed. He could almost picture Gai in full drag, with a horrible wig and doll like makeup, crying daintily into a handkerchief by Neji's side.

"Someone needs to talk to you about the birds and the bees." Gai folded his arms, his face determined.

This is worse!

"Gai sensei, I already-" Neji began.

"The birds and the bees, sensei?!" Lee's eyes sparkled. "Is that some secret technique?!"

Gai sighed. "I guess you might as well hear about this too, Lee. You're going to be a man soon, too."

Lee stepped forward, a confused but eager look on his face. What secrets was Gai sensei about to impart on them about manhood?

"So when you get out in the real world and you see some action you would like to take a piece out of, I know your first instinct is going to be to just charge in, Dynamic Entry style, without hesitation!" Gai explained and Lee punched the air and cried enthusiastically. "That's how it's always been on this team but romance is a tricky foe. More so than any shinobi, it will tempt you to disregard your discipline and cave into the fiery passions of your youth! You should always purse those fiery passions, but you need to take precautions. If you don't, you could end up put out of commission through injury, illness, or obligation."

Neji buried his face in his hands but Lee was enthralled with his sensei.

"Protection, sensei? Like a helmet?"

Gai froze. "More like… a raincoat."

"I always wear my raincoat!" Lee cried. "And my rain boots!"

"That's…that's good Lee. If you just keep it up, you should be just fine." Gai looked at Neji, who was groaning into his hands. "What about you, Neji, do you always use protection?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Beki and Tenten had wandered back up and Neji's faith that there was a higher power was confirmed.

"We were talking about-" Gai started

"Nothing!" Neji leapt over and grabbed ahold of Beki's arm. "It was really nice seeing you all but we have a lot of preparations to make goodbye!"

As Neji ran away, dragging Beki in toe, Tenten looked at Gai with such intensity it could cut glass. "Gai sensei, did you say anything that could ruin my shot at being a bridesmaid?"

"I have obligations to you all as a sensei," Gai began. "Those duties transcend any temporary things like participation in a wedding-"

Tenten pulled out a weapon scroll and Lee and Gai took off running. Their screamed apologies mixed with the sounds of weapons swooshing through the air and colliding with trees and glancing off rocks.

…

"That didn't go so bad," Beki hip bumped Neji and he shook his head furiously.

"No. No. It was worse than I could have ever imagined." Neji cried. "I could crawl into a hole and die right now."

"What happened," Beki laughed. "Did Gai ask to marry us?"

"He gave me 'the talk', Beki," Neji looked at her, pure torment twisting his expression into one of mortal anguish. "Gai. Talked. To. Me. About. Sex."

Beki burst out laughing so hard she stopped walking. Her knees went weak and Beki sank down to the ground, holding onto Neji's arm for support. He glared down at her.

"I'm so glad my suffering brings you so much joy."

"Hold on-" Beki gasped. "Hold on, I can't, I can't breathe!"

Neji threw her arm off him so Beki collapsed on the ground. Instead of reacting, Beki curled up into a ball and continued her fit.

Did Lee get it?!" Beki grabbed his pant leg. "You have to tell me-"

"No," Neji shook her off his leg. "Lee thought we were talking about literal raincoats."

Beki reached the point of laughing where she had ceased making noise. She was lying in the road in the fetal position, exhaling silently, her face contorted in laughter. Neji took off his shirt and threw it over her. "You make me sick."