Here it is at last, the tale of the Three Maidens itself. In truth, this is just the surface of the story. More will be developed later, but I figured it was about time you all knew what you were in for. For those of you who have been catching the references in here, I just wanted to mention that there is a larger, more subtle set of references I keep making. It may or may not have to do with a series of famous Japanese horror games. That's the only clue I'm giving you. Let's see if you can figure it out :B. I wanted to get at least two updates this weekend, so this one is short but sweet. Look forward to another update later this weekend, me hearties. PS: feel free to PM me with questions or comments, and as always, reviews are very much appreciated.

Beki didn't go back to Hinata's house. She wandered out one of the less guarded side gates of Konoha and trudged off into the woods so she could wind down. Beki had her mother's kekke genkai, but she had no idea how to control it. She never remembered her mother using it, and because she had been taken from them when Beki was five, she had never been taught what it was or how to use it. Her father did the best he could to explain it. When she was in distress, such as if she came under attack, it would activate as part of her fight or flight response. A series of physical changes would go under way to give Beki a more frightening and threatening appearance.

There was a quiet spot where a small river ran through a copse of trees. Birds chirped languidly, their song combined with the bubbling of the water to create a soothing melody. Beki stripped off her shoes and stuck her feet in the icy water. The cold focused her mind and slowly she felt herself returning to normal. Beki stayed there for a while enjoying the peace of the woods. She felt balanced again at last and headed back into town. In spite of her less disturbed state, the last thing she wanted to do was go back to Hinata's. She felt displaced and vulnerable, so she wandered around town until she stumbled across Konohamaru squared off with a couple of kids several years older than him. It didn't look good, and even though the fight hadn't started yet Beki could practically taste how bad Konohamaru was going to get his ass kicked. She snuck up behind the two older boys as stealthily as she could. In the low and quiet voice her father always used to scare off bandits, she spoke just behind their ears:

"How about you two just go?"

They turned to look at her with the usual preteen arrogance but the cockiness melted off their faces as soon as they laid eyes on her. They booked it back down the alley without looking back. Beki blinked a few times. She must have still had "corpse eyes", the milky whiteness her irises assumed whenever the kekke was triggered. Her hair turned first, and so it was the first to return to normal. She must have really whacked her head if her eyes had turned. Beki held her eyes shut for a minute and focused hard, on what she wasn't sure, but she hoped the act of focusing would make it fade. Beki opened her eyes and looked at Konohamaru.

"Onee-san, I had that under control!" He barked at her. The boy reminded her of an aggressive little dog.

She bopped him gently on top of the head.

"Don't pick fights you can't win."

"But they were teasing my friends!" He stomped his foot.

"Don't let them know it bothers you," She shrugged.

"But-" he began, but she cut him off:

"Kid," she sighed. "Your heart was in the right place, but if you start a fight with every jerk who looks at you funny no one will take you seriously."

Beki leaned toward him a little, as if she was sharing a juicy secret.

"Do you know what they call my father?"

Konohamaru shook his head.

"They call him 'the Reaper,'" Beki practically whispered. "Do you think you get a nickname like that starting fights with everyone?"

"Yea, and winning them all!" Konohamaru punched the air.

"No," Beki shook her head. "He got a name like that by training very hard, and then surprising people in fights by leaving them absolutely devastated. That's the other lame thing about picking fights all the time: everyone knows your moves."

He thought about this for a minute, his face twisted into a childlike exaggeration of reflection.

"I guess that makes sense," He turned and started to run away. "Thanks, onee-san."

Beki looked up at the setting sun and decided she should actually go home now. When she got in the gates, Hanabi cornered her.

"You are late for dinner," She spat accusingly. "You are in a lot of trouble."

"I hit my head during practice and got all foggy," Beki shrugged. "Cut me some slack."

Beki took a second to look at her and saw Hanabi was wearing a pair of Beki's shorts. As Hanabi went to walk away, Beki swatted her behind. Hanabi looked at her in shock and horror.

"You wear my shorts; I get to swat em." Beki folded her arms.

Hanabi stormed off in a huff and Beki went into the dining room. Hinata, Hiashi, and Neji were all sitting around the dining room waiting for her. They had all apparently eaten already. Upon her entry, Hiashi signaled for food to be brought to her. She took a seat at her spot and waited for the lecture she knew she was going to get.

"Where have you been young lady?" Hiashi asked, his voice calm and steady, as if he had asked her what the weather was like outside.

"I was sidetracked on my way home," Beki bowed respectfully. "Sorry for my lateness."

"Would it have anything to do with the incident at the training yard?" His tone was still as level as ever.

Beki bit her lip. They had snitched on her.

"No, sir."

"Would you like to tell me what happened there?" Hiashi stared her down. "I invited you into my house unaware of your possession of a kekke genkai."

"My kekke genkai is no threat to anyone," Beki stared at the floor. "As I tried to explain to my friends earlier, it's a self-defense mechanism."

"And what exactly does this self-defense mechanism entail?" He pressed.

"I don't know exactly how it works," Beki shut her eyes in a childish hope that if she couldn't see it, the situation would disappear. "When I am in danger or under large amounts of stress my body tries to make itself more intimidating. There are physical changes, like my hair color and eye color change, and my skin gets very pale."

"How are you unaware of how your own powers work?" There was suspicion in his voice.

"This was my mother's kekke," Beki said. "We lost her when I was five."

Hiashi considered the facts and then turned to Hinata.

"Daughter, you saw this power with your own eyes. Was she in control and posed no threat?"

Hinata looked at Beki and then her father.

"Yes, father."

"Then I see no reason to continue on the matter," Hiashi waved his hand dismissively. "If there are any further unexpected developments in this matter, I will be inclined to inform the hokage."

Beki bowed, glad that this was not going to escalate any further.

"Thank you sir." She said, her nose almost to the floor.

"Enjoy your meal," He rose. "I have business I must attend to,"

Hiashi departed, and the silence between the remaining three could be cut with a knife.

Neji broke it with the force of a hammer on glass.

"I was there, Beki," He spat. "I saw your transformation. You looked like a monster."

"Monster' is a subjective term," She said evasively as she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat her dinner. Bless the cooks, she thought. They had kept it hot for her.

"Why are you keeping secrets from us?" Neji pounded a fist on the floor. "We invited you into our home-"

"Because it's not anyone's business," Beki growled, her voice taking a dangerous tone. "My kekke genkai is useless from a combat standpoint. It's just scare tactics."

"If you don't understand how it works, how can you say that for sure?" Neji prodded. Beki was getting a headache. She was emotionally and physically drained from her day, and the last thing she wanted to do was rub salt in the wounds she'd carried on her heart for a lifetime.

"Because my mom used it trying to fight off Orochimaru and it didn't work," She wanted to scream but she forced herself to stay calm. Her composure wasn't complete. Before she could stop herself, she spat:

"And he was a Leaf nin. Maybe I should be more worried about what all of you are capable of."

Silence prevailed again. Beki instantly regretted her words, especially after she promised to be open minded. It was so hard to be rational when people attacked you for no good reason. She put down her chopsticks and stood.

"I've lost my appetite. Excuse me," She said with a curt bow and walked out.

Everyone would know about that fight in an hour or so. Beki heaved a sigh of frustration and went into Hinata's house. She went up to her room and opened the window, climbed out over the sill and up onto the roof. Then, she laid on her back and stared up at the dusky sky. All she was looking for was something familiar up above, some celestial anchor to reorient herself, but she was too far west. All her stars were too far away to offer her comfort. Beki stared up at that strange sky for a long time. When he returned from Getsu, she was going to ask her father to take her home. She had no gift for politics like her father. She couldn't stand being all smiles and observed all the time, like a rabbit in a kennel, walking alone beneath the shadows of strangers in a land where not even the stars were the same.

Hinata peeked her head over the edge of the roof.

"Beki?" She asked hesitantly

"Yes, Hinata?" Beki replied flatly.

"Are you okay?" Hinata's voice was small and unobtrusive. You could miss it if you weren't listening for it.

"No, I'm not. But I will be," Beki grumbled cryptically.

Hinata climbed up onto the roof and sat next to her.

"Aren't you cold up here?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," Beki said matter of factly.

"Are you going to come inside?" Hinata asked.

"No," Beki barked.

They sat quietly for a while.

"Why are you so sensitive about your kekke, Beki?" Hinata asked cautiously.

Beki was quiet for a long time:

"Because it's brought my family nothing but grief."

She sat up a little and looked at Hinata. Her face was open and free of judgement, so she continued.

"On our side of the world there are rumors about the families that tend to the shrine in our village. The oldest one is that long ago a spirit with the power to grant wishes was wounded and taken in by the priestesses of the shrine. Bad men heard of this wish granting spirit and went to the shrine. They demanded to see this spirit, but the three priestesses sensed the wickedness in their hearts and barred their entry. The bad men overpowered the priestesses and killed them one by one," Beki explained. "The first they drowned in the lake. The second they hung from the sacred tree. The third put up the most fight, having been the head priestess. She held them off long enough for the other Miko and attendants to escape. When they finally overpowered her they gave her the most painful fate. They burned her alive."

Hinata was shocked to silence.

"The spirit was so saddened by their deaths and impressed by their loyalty that he resurrected them. Once they had arisen, he placed a blessing on them that they might not suffer the same fate twice," Beki continued. "The Tsukimori and the Asou, my mother's family, are some of their descendants."

"Most of my mother's family were hunted down and killed for their ferocity and the strength of their water jutsu," Beki picked at her nails self-consciously. "Through the generations my father's family's powers have waned to non-existence. My father is the first in three generations to demonstrate some of the traits of the burned maiden. Word of their union and the birth of their child must have interested Orochimaru. Their rumored ability to be invulnerable to two modes of death, I suppose. He and his men came for us and we fled. They were closing in on us, so my mother sacrificed herself so we could escape. She fought like hell but the bad guys won. That kekke genkai was legendary, but that's all it was: words and air against knives."

Hinata sat there quietly for some time. Beki's thoughts had begun to wander when at last, the heiress said:

"I'm sorry."

"It's no one's fault. It's just how the world works," Beki shrugged. "The part that sucks is that I carry around this kekke genkai that got my mother killed and may one day be the reason some crazy S-rank ninja comes after me to do experiments."

"Not as long as you're here," Hinata put a hand on her arm. "We'll protect you."

"That's sweet Hinata, and I really hope that's true," Beki looked back up at the stars. "I really truly do."