It's 3 AM here and I am neglecting responsibility in the spirit of taking the inspiration when it finds me. Much writes, many tireds. Such enjoyment.
The Kumogakure shinobi clearly expected them all to go after each other. By the end of the first night, Team Honey had encountered no other shinobi and no traps. They found a wide niche in the wall that gave way to a small chamber where they set up camp. It would be easily missed from the main tunnel as long as they didn't use a light. The three huddled close together to share the blanket, Daiske and Beki on the outsides and Ren in the middle. They agreed to sleep in shifts with Beki on first watch.
Within minutes the other two were fast asleep. Beki watched as they slowly shifted in their sleep until they were a pile of bodies. Ren had her head on Beki's lap and Daiske's head was on Ren's stomach. God help me if someone comes in here, Beki thought. I'm pinned.
It was comforting to be back with her team again in spite of the nerve wracking circumstances. As much as Beki had come to appreciate and understand the Konoha ninja her age she had less trouble communicating with Ren and Daiske. Just like she had told Hinata, they had fallen back into their old patterns. They didn't question each other, they acted and reacted as a unit. For the first time since they entered the caves, Beki smiled to herself. There was a chance they would make it out of this okay after all.
The rest of the night went uneventfully. Daiske said while he was on watch he had heard a team move by quickly, clearly unaware of their presence. He also reported they sounded distressed.
"Must've been a 'food' team," Ren yawned. "I know that would be my first priority- get some water. Speaking of which," She took a swig.
"I hope these mushrooms are all through the caves," Daiske pointed at a cluster of phosphorescent mushrooms that cast a soft green glow through the tunnel. "This is bright enough we can see with it."
"That would be nice," Beki agreed. "We should get going, thought. The more time we're moving the faster we get out of here."
"The more likely we are to run into competition," Ren sighed. "I really hope we don't run into anyone in here."
"I don't mind 'anyone'," Beki said. "I'm worried we'll run into Team Hunter."
Ren gave her a confused look. "But Yuu said its better if both teams make it out."
"Isn't that what you would tell a team you want to take down?" Daiske asked. "I'm worried about Bo especially. That bastard bleeds into the background in broad daylight. It's like a freaking playground for him in here. He could be right behind me juggling and no one would notice."]
Beki sighed and nodded. "Let's get going."
…
After a few moments of hesitation, Team Honey entered a wide cavern full of stalagmites and stalactites. They had heard no movement for several minutes so they decided it was safe to proceed. They kept to the sides of the cavern but after a few feet Daiske yelled "BOMB" and put up a terra wall jutsu. Beki and Ren ducked as the wall of earth absorbed most of the blast, raining bits of earth around their heads.
"They're coming," Ren whispered with a hiss. "I'm going to find a position."
Beki nodded and extended her claws. She scraped them together so the metal sang, covering Ren's movements.
"Look what we caught in our little trap," It was one of the Iwa shinobi from their group in the first portion of the exam. Beki could hear Daiske gritting his teeth.
"They're Iwa, Beki," He whispered. "My earth jutsu is garbage next to theirs. They could collapse this whole damned room on us if they wanted."
"Shh," Beki held up her hand. "Counter them as best you can. I'm going full Maiden."
Daiske gave her an unsure look but nodded.
Beki stepped forward and Daiske followed her hesitantly. Anxiety and adrenaline intermixed, sending chills down Beki's arms and up her neck, making her feel simultaneously alive but in fear of her life. In the darkness, Beki's transformation was unnoticed by the Iwa shinobi.
"Hey, it's those cute little Getsu ninja from before," The shortest one called out. He was maybe two years older than them. "Its funny, seeing a team of two girls and a boy. Then again, this one looks like she might have balls bigger than his." He said as he jerked a thumb at Daiske. His teammates laughed.
"So where's your baby?" The girl called out. "The tiny one with the bad haircut? Did da wittuw won get scawed and wun away?"
She ambled up to Beki, calling out with exaggeration. "Baby? Oh baby? Come on out. Maybe if you asshats hand over your water we'll leave you to dehydrate in here."
"Or we could be even nicer and just slit your throats?" The leader smiled cruelly. "Death has got to be better than being a shinobi of the Moon. Are you three the best they had to send?" He laughed.
The girl got within spitting distance of Beki.
"Cover your ears, Daiske," Beki said under her breath. He backed up and put his hands over his ears like earmuffs with a look of uncertainty. She also caught sight of Ren moving around on the stalagtites behind the leader. All Beki would need to do was to take these two down; Ren would be able to pick off the leader the second Beki lit the place up.
"Well," Beki said low to the girl. "You're right. There are some things that are worse than death,"
"What's she saying?" The short one scooched closer until he, too was in range.
"She's trying to be all scary," The girl smirked. "She says some things are worse than death."
"Oh," the short one walked up until he was next to his teammate, spinning a kunai threateningly. "So what's worse than death, Moonie?"
"Me." Beki lit the blue fire in her hands, knowing the soft eerie blue light it cast would make her Drowned Maiden appearance more horrifying. The color drained right from the Iwa ninja's faces as Beki gave them a big, terrible grin, her milky white corpse eyes following Ren as she knocked her bow.
Beki let out an ear piercing shriek that reverberated in the cavern, forcing the two Iwa shinobi in front of her to cover their ears and retreat. It also covered the soft thwap of Ren's arrow piercing their captain through his heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.
All at once, the ambush had gone terribly wrong. The remaining Iwa shinobi caught sight of their dead captain and looked up to see Ren scrambling through the stalagtites out of sight, like a monkey through the trees. The girl immediately began forming hand signs. Daiske recognized the jutsu she was about to use and began to form the hand signs to counter it.
The Iwa kunoichi's attempt to skewer Beki came in the form of stalagtites falling from the ceiling. Daiske's stalagmites arched and crisscrossed over Team Honey's heads, forming a tent that absorbed the blows of the falling rocks. As the kunoichi and Daiske exchanged jutsu, the shorter boy was trying to revive his fallen teammate.
"He's dead, Aki," The girl screamed at him in fear and anger. "Just leave him. We have to go!"
"We can't just leave him!" Aki yelled back, his eyes filling with tears. "We can't leave him down here!"
Beki walked towards them with her claws extended. Aki tried to hoist their leader over his back but he struggled with the awkward dead weight. The girl was clearly panicking and waffled between helping the medic and fleeing. Beki scraped her claws together again and the Iwa kunoichi kicked over the medic and fled for the door. There was no shriek to cover the wet thwack as Ren's arrow found its mark and another Iwa shinobi fell down dead. Beki stood over the medic as he cowered, his back pressed up against a stalagmite.
"Your team is dead," Beki leaned down so he could see her face clearly. "You have two choices right now."
Ren was pulling the arrow out of the kunoichi. The Iwa ninja let out a little whimper and closed his eyes. Beki slapped him. "I want you to look at me."
He opened his eyes and looked up at her, pure terror filling his eyes with tears.
"You can hand over your team's resources and fire your flare, or," Beki held up the gauntlets so the claws glimmered in the soft light. "I can send you off to follow your friends."
"N-no," He cried. "T-t-take it. Take the food. Just, just give me the flare. I'll, I'll fire the flare."
He pointed at the kunoichi. "Mizu had it…"
Ren reached into Mizu's kunai pouch and pulled out the flare. She tossed it in the darkness and Daiske caught it. He held it out for the Iwa ninja to take it. He closed his eyes and sobbed quietly as he fired off the flare. Beki wanted to watch its arc, to see how tall the cavern was, but she didn't dare take her eyes off him. That was how shinobi got killed, allowing themselves to be distracted and let their guard down when they thought they had won. It must have been high, though, because it went up for a while before it popped and the whole room lit up like a festival. It was blinding. Beki kept the claws of one gauntlet pressed to his jugular until the light faded. She reached into her kunai pouch and tied up his hands behind him.
"Th-thank you. Thank you," He whimpered softly.
"Do you have the food?" Beki asked Daiske. He nodded. She retracted the claws and popped the Iwa shinobi over the head with the back of her gauntlet, knocking him out instantly. She let out a heavy sigh.
"Should we stick around until the Kumo ninja get here?" Daiske asked as he handed the food over to Beki and Ren.
Ren shook her head. "After that scream Beki did and the bright light, we'll attract a lot more than the proctors."
"Shit," Beki groaned. "I wasn't thinking. Let's get the hell out of here."
"I can't believe we got through that," Daiske shook his head.
Beki slapped him on the back. "That was some good work you did back there. You beat rock ninja at rock jutsu."
He shrugged. "You scared the hell out of them. I think putting them off their game that much secured us the win."
"Excuse me, no one is talking about the amazing f**king shots I got off in the dark, hanging from stalagmites with my climbing gear like a damned opossum." Ren swore.
"You know you're amazing," Beki grinned. "You don't need us to tell you you're the best sniper Getsu's ever seen."
"I would prefer if you referred to me as the best damned sniper in a generation," Ren shot back with a look of pompous confidence.
"That's debatable," the sound of Yuu's voice out of the tunnel ahead forced them all to skid to a stop. In the half light of the mushrooms, they could see she had lined dolls up all along the width of the tunnel. It was wide there, about ten feet, but still too close of quarters for Beki's liking. It was so tight here she was just as likely to clip a teammate as she was to land a hit on Yuu.
Beki didn't need to turn around to know that Shinichi had stepped out of the darkness behind them. That only left Bo, the master of stealth, unaccounted for. The hair raised on her left arm in warning and she shot out her gauntlet behind Daiske, deflecting the knife blow that Bo would have ended his life with. Bo instantly retreated into the shadows and was gone.
Ren drew her bow and knocked an arrow only for Bo to swoop out of the darkness and cut the bowstring. The three were forced to stand back to back, a triangle of desperation and hopelessness.
"What do we do?" Daiske whispered. "Ren's bow's busted, my chains are no good in here, and with Bo and Yuu loose we're at a serious disadvantage."
"Put up walls, now," Beki hissed and Daiske threw up a ring of earth around them to the ceiling.
"That buys us a little time," Ren panted. "So what do we do now?"
"Run like hell," Beki sighed. "I'll use my flames in here so we get used to the light, Daiske will drop the walls, and the sudden change with blind them. We just have to rush Yuu. One good earth wall wave should scatter her enough for me to follow with a good assault. You two can run down the tunnel and I'll catch up once I've incapped her."
Ren and Daiske nodded. They closed their eyes and Beki used the illumination jutsu. The opened their eyes and she increased the intensity of the glow until it was as bright as daylight in their little room of earth.
"Can we hurry?" Ren panted. "That's using up all the air in here."
Beki nodded. "It's good. Drop the walls."
Daiske formed the hand signs and the walls dropped to the floor, flooding the tunnel with the blinding bright light. They immediately went to rush Yuu, only to find twice the dolls that had been there before. One sprang up in front of Ren, it's head tipped back and arms spread wide like an opened iron maiden. Unable to stop her momentum, Ren slid into the hollow of the doll and the arms snapped shut around her. Beki and Daiske watched in horror as the head snapped down over Ren, sealing her inside the Kokeshi doll sarcophagus.
"She's got about two minutes of air in there," Yuu sauntered out into the middle of the tunnel with a pair of sunglasses on. Beki and Daiske looked around in a panic, their weapons out. "Oh, looking for Bo and Shinichi?"
Yuu shook her head and smiled. "It's just us, babies. Just us and the dolls."
The fire of Beki's illumination jutsu was weakening. Beki clutched her fist, putting it out and plunging them all in darkness. She silently rushed Yuu, her footsteps masked further by the desperate pounding of Ren in the doll. She raised her fist to strike but was deflected by a knife from the darkness. Beki was kneed in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She was spun around and thrown into the wall of the tunnel. Beki landed between two of Yuu's creepy kokeshi dolls, both standing about three feet tall. As Beki struggled to get up, the dolls turned and faced each other. One shot out a net around her and the other doll caught it, trapping Beki in a cocoon of wire mesh.
"Sorry, I lied about Bo," Yuu smiled. "He's protective like that. Now I promised Shinichi I wouldn't finish you off, but your friends are fair game."
"I CAN'T BREATHE IN HERE," Ren's voice was desperate. The girl was to the point of tears. Beki's heart was pounding in her ears. Yuu was going to make Beki sit here and watch as she murdered Beki's teammates.
Daiske lost his composure and ran for the sarcophagus doll, only to be forced away when Bo materialized and lashed out at him. Daiske then made a run for Beki, only for one of the other dolls to turn its head and shoot out a stream of fire.
"I don't know why everyone always went on about you two," Yuu sighed. "Growing up in the same village as you was hard, you know? All anyone cared about was Beki and Ren, the last of the lines of the Three Maidens. Would you grow up to become Maidens yourselves? Had anyone seen any signs that you would? Oh my god, how they went on and on."
"Nobody liked me, Yuu, you were there," Beki growled. "It's not like I was popular or something."
"True, everyone hated your ugly guts, but they still watched you. They talked about you. They took the time to notice you existed. The same thing with that tiny worm of a friend of yours. She doesn't even look like she hit puberty but because she was born into a clan that was important two hundred years ago, people remembered her name," Yuu shook her head. "It's stupid. So today I end the Hanged Maiden line, and once you marry Shinichi all that will be left is the Burned Maiden line. And we all know that it's dead in the water anyway."
Daiske was doing a fair job of avoiding the doll traps and Bo's blitz attacks but it was clear his resolve was waning. Ren was slowly suffocating in a doll and Beki was completely immobilized. It was clear from the look on his face he knew it was only a matter of time, like watching a deer cornered by a pack of wolves. Beki tried setting fire to the dolls holding her captive but Yuu had treated them with some flame retardant substance. She tried slashing at the mesh with her claws but they were made of the same treated steel. Beki was trapped.
Bo caught Daiske unawares after a doll had clipped his leg when it shot a kunai out of its mouth. His first strike staggered Daiske and left a gash across his chest. Almost instantly he had blinked back into sight to deliver another across Daiske's back.
He let out a cry of pain and formed hand signs. His terra wall hadn't even risen above his knees when Bo socked him across the face, knocking Daiske to the ground. Daiske's eyes met Beki and she saw defeat.
"Daiske, come on," Beki growled as she struggled against the mesh. "Daiske!"
His eyes drifted up to Bo, who hovered over him as black and terrible as a shinigami. Daiske began to form hand signs again. Rumbling near Beki's position brought a smile to her face. Daiske had thought of a way to free her. Instead of some spike coming out of the ground to crush a doll, a small wall rose from the ground in front of her, blocking her view of the fray.
"No," Beki cried out. Daiske couldn't save her, he couldn't save himself, so he would spare her the sight of his death. "DAMMIT!" Beki struggled helplessly against her binds.
She heard Yuu mutter something to Bo and Beki realized that the pounding had stopped. Ren was dead and Daiske was about to die. It felt like someone had poured ice water over her. This couldn't be real. Her friends couldn't be dying. This was just the chunin exams, but then she remembered how her team had just killed to Iwa ninja. This is the real world, Beki, the Maiden's voice said in her head. Get used to it.
But then there was a slamming noise, like a hammer on wood. Beki heard Yuu jump and then murmur something to Bo again. The next slamming noise came immediately after, and then another, and another, until Beki heard wood splintering. The terra wall fell down and to Beki's relief Daiske appeared to have just passed out. Bo and Yuu's attention was now on the doll sarcophagus where a split had formed between the arms. Yuu approached it angrily just as the doors burst open and Yuu screamed.
Ren's skin was blue even in the dim light of the tunnel. Her eyes were wide and crazed and her breath was raspy and desperate. Her clothes were covered in blood, which led Beki to notice the arms laying uselessly at her sides. One was broken at the humerus, and the other was broken at the forearm, one of the delicate forearm bones was jutting out of her skin.
Beki had never seen Ren transform; she had never seen any of the Tsukiyama transform into the Hanged Maiden. All she remembered was how Reika, Ren's sister, described it. Of the three, the Drowned Maiden was the most versatile. It could be offensive or defensive. The Burned Maiden was the most defensive and the Hanged Maiden was the most aggressive. The lack of oxygen, she said, triggered a desperate need to eliminate the threat to the point that they ignored all pain and were willing to keep throwing themselves at the threat even if it caused them harm. It was like the way animals would gnaw of their own limbs to free themselves from a trap.
Seeing Ren standing there, a look of murderous rage and her limbs sticking out at odd angles, reinforced that idea. Yuu tried to grab for one of her dolls but Ren threw herself on Yuu. She buried her face into Yuu's neck as the doll master desperately clawed at her. Beki heard a ripping sound and Yuu scream. Bo's usual lack of expression shifted to something Beki assumed was concern. He pried Ren off of Yuu and threw her against the wall where Beki was. Ren's body crushed the doll holding the end of Beki's net, freeing her. Ren was already scrambling towards Yuu on her hands and knees.
Blood was spurting from Yuu's neck beneath her hand. Bo had taken a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it to the wound. He saw Ren's approach and kicked her aside so that she slammed into the opposite wall. Bo picked up Yuu and retreated into the tunnels as fast as he could.
Ren laid on the gravel at the bottom of the tunnel gasping for air. Beki finally managed to disentangle herself from the net and made her way over to Ren. The color was returning to her face and the blood flowed freely from her wounds.
"Beki," Ren panted with a look of terror on her face. "I'm in trouble."
"F**K," Beki muttered as she surveyed Ren's wounds. She had some basic medic training but Daiske knew more about it than her and he was out cold. He needed medical attention of his own. At this rate, Ren would either die of blood loss or from Beki's awkward attempts to set her bones. She reached into Daiske's bag and pulled out the flare gun.
"What are you doing?" Ren wheezed. "You can't call it quits."
"You're dying, stupid," Beki cocked the flare gun.
"Dying is part of living, Beki," Ren coughed. "And if you get Daiske out of here the two of you can move on and beat the living crap out of Team Hunter in the finals."
"What good does that do us if our friend is dead?" Beki held up the gun.
"Because you know I won't make it until one of the proctors shows up," Ren smiled weakly. "I've got three or four minutes, tops."
Beki stared down at her friend. Her heart was sinking into her stomach. This was all a bad dream, Beki thought. We're going to wake up in that hotel room and the chunin exams hadn't started yet.
"Listen," Ren smiled. "They're coming."
Beki perked up and heard cautious footsteps approaching them. She dropped the flare gun and extended the claws of her gauntlets. If it was Bo and Yuu looking for more, Beki was going to finish them once and for all. Instead, three strange bodies came into view. Beki braced herself for a fight.
"Wait," One of them called out. He stepped forward from the darkness. A Sand shinobi. "We aren't looking for a fight."
Beki sized him up. He was above average height and skinny. She could take him out with no effort whatsoever, but the way his teammates hung back made her nervous.
The Suna shinobi's eyes wandered to her friends and grew large. "That's serious."
Beki clenched her fists. "Yes. We just had a run in with some other nasty shinobi and my friend is bleeding out over there."
The Suna shinobi looked back at his teammates and then motioned for them to come forward. It was another boy and a girl, and they were both pretty messed up. The boy was supporting the girl and he had his arm in a makeshift sling. The girl had clearly sprained her ankle and was hobbling along with his support.
"My teammates are in bad shape too," The first boy said. "My name is Yo. I'm a medic; that's why I'm in such good shape. If you stand guard so my friends can get some rest, I'll help your friend."
Beki watched him closely. He had kind brown eyes. All of her shinobi instincts were telling her to turn them away, but her, the part of her that was Beki, was screaming that Ren was dying a few feet to her left. If this boy could do anything, even if it was to ease her suffering, it was worth the risk.
"He's cool, Beki," Ren's voice drifted up softly.
The claws retracted with a click. "Please. Do what you can."
Yo nodded and crouched down beside Ren. "Misa, can you help me staunch the blood?"
The girl hobbled over and crouched down on the other side of Ren. The other boy walked over and stood guard at their backs. Beki stood in the middle of the tunnel. She didn't know how to describe the feelings she was experiencing but the fear, the sadness, the hatred, combined into an almost palpable rage.
"What, uh," The other Suna boy talked at Beki. "What are you going to do if we get attacked.
"I'm going to kill them all," Beki said in a voice she didn't recognize.
"Sorry," Yo looked up. "Would you happen to have any water? I need to clean her up."
Beki reached into her kunai bag and threw the flask at him. "Don't get any ideas."
Yo smiled up at her reassuringly. "I know you're worried about your friend. I won't lie, it's bad, but I'll get her stable."
She realized that she was being unreasonable. Beki couldn't help it. This whole situation made her feel helpless, which in turn made her feel angry. She silently swore to herself if they did anything funny she would bury all three of the Suna ninja in this tunnel. There was a heat building up inside her, a fire she knew was tied to this anger. The tunnel, which so far had been a refrigerator, was starting to feel uncomfortably hot. She stood there stewing, sweat pouring down her back and chest, for what seemed like an eternity. Every once in a while she would hear a little click. It was close, so she figured it was something Yo was doing with the medical jutsu. Finally, he called her over.
"Ren?" Beki reached out and took Ren's hand.
"Shit girl, you are hot," Ren chuckled. "I mean, you're always sexy but your hand is burning up. I could cook an egg on that shit."
Beki shot Yo a look and he smiled good naturedly. "I may have given her some painkillers."
"It's good shit, Beki," Ren giggled. "I mean, I still feel like my bone came out of my arm, but it's all good."
Beki sighed. "Thanks. Sorry about my manners. I'm Tsukimori Beki."
Yo and Misa smiled at her. "We get it. People are pretty intense here."
"Look, to make it up to you, once my lug head of a teammate comes to, we'll combine teams," Beki suggested. "We should be fairly close to the exit now, maybe a half a day away. That way we can all get out of here in one piece."
"Will she be okay for that long?" Misa asked Yo, gesturing to Ren.
Yo nodded. "Her bones are set and the bleeding has stopped. So long as we keep her hydrated and keep her clean she'll be okay that long."
Beki nodded. "You guys get some rest. I'll stay guard. Once Daiske wakes up he'll take over and then we'll go."
The Suna team all looked at each other. Beki watched them carefully. None of them seemed the type to knife someone in their sleep, especially after they stabilized Ren the way they did.
"Sure," Yo nodded. "Thank you Beki."
…
Fortunately, the group ran into no one as they made the last leg of their journey out of the caves. Fortunately for them, Beki thought. She felt a lot better after Ren was back to cracking jokes about Daiske's teeth that morning and after spending more time with the Suna ninja. It went against both her training and her shinobi instincts, but they needed her as much as she needed them. Daiske and Beki were strong and they were all wounded to some degree. Yo was a fairly good medic and as such was a valuable asset when a member of the team was as close to a medical emergency as Ren was.
When they left the caves at last, they were greeted by a medical team and a proctor. Ren and Yo's teammates, whose injuries were more serious than initially believed, were carted off immediately to the hospital. Yo, Daiske, and Beki were all immediately passed on to the third portion of the exams. They would have three weeks of rest and recuperation, which was the disqualifying factor for their teammates. There was no way Misa, Ren, or the other Suna boy to be healed in time.
Daiske stared out after the emergency team. "You think she'll be okay?"
Beki sighed. "It's Ren. She won't quit if there's a chance."
"Well, I guess I'll see you guys around?" Yo held out a hand.
Daiske shook it first. "Thanks for the help back there."
Yo shook his head as he shook Beki's hand. "What are medics for?"
"Seriously, thank you," Beki folded her arms. "But if they put me against you in the third portion I'm going to kick your ass."
Yo laughed good naturedly. "Of that I have no doubt."
He walked off down the mountain and Daiske looked at Beki. "So what's the plan now?"
"I need a shower and the biggest damn plate of ribs in this town." Beki gave a slight smile.
Daiske elbowed her. "Make that two plates."