Hi everyone, its been a while. I know I said I would be doing longer chapters for these next few segments but we're running into issues with appropriate ending points. A 10k chapter is okay, a 15k chapter is excessive. I think we might end up with a mix of 5-6k chapters and 9-10k. I understand this is a busy time for many of you (as it is for me) this time of year but I reaaaaallllllyyyyy appreciate feedback on these chapters. I have gotten lots of feedback from everyone on my romance writing (nudge NUDGE) but I feel there's a bit more radio silence on these horror/action type scenes. These are much harder to write (read as take twice as long to conceptualize, write, and edit) for me and input would be greatly appreciated. If you don't have any feedback but you have questions, those are welcome as well. Often if you're thinking something, someone else is thinking it too. It helps me find gaps in my writing or reminds me to put notes in on the next chapter for review of previous canon. Hearing from you guys makes this a much more enjoyable experience for me. I don't feel like I'm just screaming into the void here. So thank you in advance, I hope you enjoy, and I can't wait to hear from you. XO, ponchoninjax3. (PS I know tallman said he would update like, two months ago. He had finals and although that excuse shouldn't carry him this far, he's working on it. Look forward to a chapter soon. Even if I have to beat it out of him.)

Yuki's mind was racing in seamless rhythm with her feet. As the pair bolted through the woods, Yuki poured over everything she ever learned at the shrine. Most of her ceremonial knowledge was useless here: she couldn't exorcise something that was still technically alive. If the Maidens had been vengeful spirits this would have been quick work for Yuki. Next was all her knowledge of the Maidens' lore. Did they have weaknesses? Fatal flaws like jealousy or greed that could be exploited? Instead of her own thoughts and memories, the words of Ouse kept swimming through her head. Yuki couldn't shake the feeling that she had made a mistake. The Maidens were more dangerous dead than alive and Yuki very well may have given them a chance to come back twice as powerful.

Or was that what Ouse wanted Yuki to think? Was it a double bluff, trying to get Yuki to spare the Maidens so they could wreak havoc later? Yuki wiped away sweat as it dripped down from her forehead into her eyes. She had opted to wear the "shinobi" headband as an armband and was now regretting that decision. Yuki wasn't sure whether the sweat was from exertion or nerves. Given her excellent physical condition, she was inclined to believe the latter. Yuki was faced with impossible question after question. How many times could a person feasibly be brought back from the dead, deity or not? From the lore Yuki could remember, the Maidens were described as having lost some of their humanity in the process. It was possible they could be brought back again, but at what cost? Would their Mother bestow on them more power but claim more of their logic and reason? Would they be bumbling, destructive animals with no ability to communicate?

"Did you say something?"

Beki's voice rocked Yuki back into the present, snapping her head to the side to face her daughter. "What?"

Beki furrowed her brow in confusion. "I asked if you said something?"

Yuki thought for a moment and shook her head. "No. You must be imagining things."

Beki chuffed. "I mean, who could blame me after what we've seen today." Under her voice, just above Yuki's ability to hear, she heard Beki mutter: "I swore I heard someone."

The two nearly collided with a group of shinobi, barely stopping before they plowed into them. All parties involved had weapons drawn and were ready to scrap before they recognized each other.

"Yuki," Kakashi sighed, lowering his knife. "You two sure took your sweet time coming back."

Yuki's eyes widened in realization and she swore. "Great. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

"Deserting, are you?" Kakashi cocked his head. "That's rather unsportsmanlike-"

"No," Yuki sighed and raised her hands in warning. "We are all in terrible danger."

Gai grinned, his teeth sparkling valiantly in the moonlight. "If you're afraid, Yuki, it must be a worthy challenge."

"I was hoping we could run into a patrol. Be strategic about this," Yuki watched over her shoulder at the deathly still forest. It almost looked like a painting with how picturesque the scenery was. But if it was a painting, it would have to have been hung in a haunted house. Even if Yuki hadn't been aware of the monster hunting them within, she would have felt an ominous presence hidden in those woods. Watching. Waiting. "This many people...it's just going to be a bloodbath."

"How about you start with what we're up against?" Kakashi folded his arms. "Instead of this pronoun game you're playing."

"I'm a descendant of the Three Maidens, so is Beki. You guys have seen what we can do." Yuki gestured to the woods. "Turns out that the original Three Maidens are running around out there killing shinobi."

"So, they were resurrected as well," Kakashi furrowed his brow. "Can you go over what the Three were, again?"

"They aren't undead," Yuki buried her face in her hands. "Somehow they're still alive after a couple hundred years. Sealed away or something; the specifics don't matter. I killed the Drowned Maiden but Hanged Maiden is right on our tail. Or at least, she was right on our tail. As for the Burned Maiden...who knows. I'm sure we'd see smoke if she was nearby." Yuki recalled the thick choking smoke that had blanketed the shrine. There had seemed no origin, no fire attached to it. Yuki hoped that would prove to be a sort of early warning system: sourceless smoke=Burned Maiden.

"You killed the Drowned Maiden by yourself?" Kakashi raised his eyebrows. "Well then, why are we so worried about the other two?"

Yuki ran her hands nervously through her hair. "She coated herself in water! All I had to do was freeze her solid and give her a good kick! The Hanged Maiden isn't going to be so easy. She's got these ropes that move of their own free will," She felt at the raw band around her neck, remembered the jagged sensation of the rope burning, biting. "Witch almost strangled me."

As the adults talked strategy, Beki wandered off to the side. She leaned against a tree and sank down its length until she was sitting on its exposed roots. The wood dug into her flesh but she didn't pay it any mind. Her knees were weak and her head was swimming. After a few moments, Lee noticed her behavior and approached his friend. "Beki, are you alright?"

Beki's head was hanging between her knees. It took a few moments for her to raise her head and respond. When her eyes met his, Beki seemed to be looking past him.

"Beki?" Lee crouched down so he was level with her, focusing her gaze on his face.

Beki came around at the sound of her name. "What was that, Lee?"

"You don't look so good," Lee furrowed his brow and frowned with concern.

"No," Beki shook her head and gave him a strange, off-putting smile. "I'm...I'm not feeling so good, Lee."

Lee opened his mouth to respond but overheard Gai sensei talking. When he looked back at her, Beki's head had drooped again. She was breathing steadily. Maybe she just needed some rest. Lee nodded in agreement with himself and rejoined the group.

"So how are we going to do this?" Gai folded his arms. "Should we break into small teams and try to hunt her that way?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I disagree. It sounds like the Hanged Maiden is more dangerous in small numbers. Those ropes don't sound like they could tackle multiple opponents at a time. A shinobi like that is more of a hitman. We should stick together as a group and surround her when she comes to us. We'll overwhelm her with our numbers."

Yuki was too exhausted to argue. In fact, she was so tired she wasn't sure if she should be arguing. There was a nagging sense at the back of her mind telling her to send everyone away. This was a Three Maidens matter and really it should be Yuki and Beki dealing with it. Then again, Yuki had almost had her ass kicked. So instead of disputing, Yuki simply nodded as Kakashi called in the rest of the group and explained the situation.

"Does that cover everything, Yuki?" Kakashi glanced at her after he'd finished speaking.

"Just as a heads up," Yuki looked at the group. "I know you guys may have seen some unsettling shit in your time but this woman is verifiable nightmare fodder. She looks like she should be some slow shambling zombie thing but she's fast, she's angry, and she's very much alive."

Off somewhere in the woods was the telltale blood curdling shriek of the Hanged Maiden. Yuki watched as several of the shinobi stood bolt upright, the fear catching their breath in their throats and their eyes widening to the size of saucers. It sounded close but it was hard to tell what direction it was coming from. It seemed like it came from everywhere at once, echoing off the trees.

"There she is," Yuki took a deep breath and shook out her hands.

"That's the last time I ask you for a favor," Kakashi gave a dark chuckle. "I send you out to drop off some wounded and you bring vengeful priestesses back with you."

"I only brought one," Yuki protested. "It's not like I meant for her to follow me home, either!"

There was a scream behind them. By the time they had turned their heads, all they could see was a shinobi being bodily thrown through the air and slammed against a tree. There was a sickening crack as their spine broke. The rope that had been coiled around their ankle wrapped itself around the tree branch, hoisting the lifeless, mangled body in the air upside down. Ropes of varying sizes and thicknesses snaked along the ground and around the trees, tentacles searching for prey. The shinobi hacked at the ropes and leapt clear of their reach. Then, like a curse materializing, the Hanged Maiden staggered into view.

Yuki heard at least three people scream and couldn't help but let a gasp escape her own throat. She thought it would be easier seeing her the second time, that the Hanged Maiden's form would be less startling now that it was somewhat familiar. Yuki was wrong.

The Hanged Maiden moved unnaturally. She shambled and stumbled towards them, her arms still trapped within the confines of her seemingly much looser bindings. Then there was the too long neck, the grim rope bruise fully visible on the gray flesh of her throat. The Maiden's head lolled like a ragdoll with her uneven movements, tossing the tufts of black hair that poked through her face bandages dancing. The bandages looked looser, too, since the last Yuki had seen her. Beady black eyes shimmered cruelly in the moonlight, cold as an animal's. There were splatters on the bandages and rope now, black in the dim light, but by the pattern of the spray Yuki knew it was blood.

She had been hunting.

The Hanged Maiden shambled right into their midst, allowing the shinobi to completely surround her and barrage the monster with weapons and ninjutsu. After several moments, when the dust and smoke cleared, the Hanged Maiden was a mess of torn flesh, burns, and looked like a porcupine with all the knives sticking out of her. She had collapsed where she stood. The ropes were still.

Yuki was panting. Could it really be so simple? Were the Maidens all this weak? In their first encounter, Yuki had been so afraid. This monster had seemed like it was going to be the end of her, the end of them all. And yet here she was, felled in a single wave of attacks. Maybe due to the isolation of the early Getsu shinobi, the Maidens had seemed legendary. Compared to modern, worldly ninja, maybe the ancient power of the Three Maidens would be startlingly underwhelming.

The first knife hit the ground. It fell out of the Maiden's skin, landing in the dirt with a soft plop. At first Yuki just attributed it to a shallow wound, but then the next knife fell out. Then the next. The clearing sounded like a jar of change being shaken as the knives clattered to the ground. Slowly, the Hanged Maiden rose back up onto her feet. She was still doubled over, her long neck dangling in front of her. Hunks of skin flapped around her as she rose, exposing pink muscle. The weeping burns and cuts dripped fluids down her body in rivers. The shinobi were left to watch in horror as the Hanged Maiden finally raised her head and the rope bindings that had kept her arms trapped fell free. The split wounds knit within seconds. The burned flesh smoothed and paled back to its original color. It was as if nothing had happened and they had thrown everything they had at her. Beneath the bandages around her face, Yuki saw her smiling.

Beki rested her head against the tree bark. It was cold; the lack of clothes beneath her armor was beginning to get to her. She shivered as she watched the ropes dance like a sea of snakes in the clearing. The Hanged Maiden looked pleased with how terrified everyone was with her. Pleased with herself. The Drowned Maiden had been that way, too, smirking at the sight of her lake full of dead. They were smug about their handiwork. Superior.

Like Ebisu. Like Hidiki. Like Shinichi.

All so damned proud of themselves, at the works they had built. Their pride filled Beki with a rage that turned her stomach, fumed inside her, seethed like a living, breathing thing. She hated them all. Beki tasted bile in her throat and felt her muscles clench involuntarily. The clicking in the background barely registered in her thoughts but it was too close to completely ignore.

Burn them.

The voice was strange. It was a woman's voice, deep and sonorous like the song of a siren; as persuasive as it was seductive. It wasn't hers, though. The way that Beki knew deep down that the voice of the Drowned Maiden had been her, had come from inside her like a twisted conscience, this new voie was a stranger's. A familiar stranger. Someone she had met in a dream and didn't remember. Beki slowly rose to her feet. One of the ropes had found its way around Yukihana's throat. She had formed an ice shelf to prop herself up on, clawing at her neck to disentangle herself. The Hanged Maiden saw and gave her a hard kick, swinging Yuki like a ragdoll. Life was so fragile. All Yuki's hard work, her training, all her knowledge, and she was going to die the way Seiichiro did. Their experience gone in an instant, their legacies crumbling behind them. But that was the thing, wasn't it? When the fires came through the forest, they purged all the dead, crumbling things. It made space for new life, new growth, new legacies to take root. It was the cycle of life, a cleansing.

Burn them, the voice repeated. Burn them all.

As Beki took her first steps forward, the voice repeated itself, inviting Beki to join in.

Yuki had reached up and grabbed ahold of the rope, climbing it slightly to gain herself some much-needed slack. She used the fingers of one hand to work at the knot. Once she had enough space, Yuki could form the ice knives and cut herself free. She glanced up and noticed Beki approaching. Had she been outside the fray this whole time?

As she grew closer, Yuki noticed the faraway look in her daughter's eyes. Beki's lips were moving. It was hard to tell what she was saying; it almost looked like she was praying. Small tendrils of flame sprouted from her flesh and disappeared like micro solar flares. Sparks flew from her mouth as she mumbled. Yuki smelled burning sugar and warm cotton. As she watched, Yuki's eyes widened in terror as she noticed a noose lower itself silently from the tree tops. It was like a spider descending from its web to ensnare Beki. Yuki cried out but Beki didn't hear her. In her panic to warn her daughter, Yuki lost her grip and dropped, her neck jerking painfully. She clamored back up the rope, her fingers less sure this time as they negotiated with the knots. Yuki stole a glance at her daughter. Instead of being pulled into the air like Yuki, Beki had kept pressing forward, pulling against the rope and choking herself on the noose. She was struggling to breathe, but the strangling made her message audible:

"Burn them," Beki gasped. "Burn them. Burn them all."

The clicking grew more insistent, drowning out Beki's words. The sparks rained from her mouth like a welder's torch and the tongue-like flames coming off her skin licked at the ropes. When the rope was completely taught, Beki's struggles persisted. She pulled forward like a dog on a leash that spotted a squirrel. Then, all at once, when her breathing was reduced to nothing more than strained gasps, Beki ignited. The force of the blast sent the shinobi around them flying. Yuki was forced to abandon her attempts to free herself in order to stay up on the rope, clinging on for dear life. The eruption's force bodily swung Yuki, spinning her in place and flipping her stomach. She swallowed vomit and clenched her eyes shut until the pendulum ceased. When Yuki opened her eyes, Beki had thrown herself on the Hanged Maiden.

Ropes wrapped around Beki's arms, her legs, and torso. The single strands of rope would catch fire on contact with her skin and retract as if injured. The smug smile on the Hanged Maiden's face twisted into disdain as she sent more ropes after Beki. The clusters slowed her but just as before, Beki continued to press forward, choking and straining against the binds. One by one they snapped, the rope remnants incinerating against her skin. The last few broke so suddenly that the Hanged Maiden was forced to throw up her hands to defend herself from Beki's rush. For someone who moments ago had seemed physically unstable, the Maiden proved a sound grappler in the way she grabbed Beki redirected her momentum. Beki tumbled, losing her balance. Ropes slithered up to her, entangling her body to keep her pinned. Just like the others, they burned in moments and Beki was back on her feet.

Satisfied her daughter wasn't in immediate danger, Yuki returned to the task of saving her own life. Her hands were stinging, bruised, torn, and tired from supporting her weight. She extended the claws on her gauntlets and formed ice blades. Or at least, she tried to. The crystalline structures would begin to form and then fizzle out, dribbling cool water back down her arms. Yuki's eyes widened. Beki had raised the surrounding temperature so high that Yuki was completely nerfed. That realization threw Yuki back into a panic. She hacked at the rope with her bare blades but they were cleaving, not sawing. They did little more than fray the outermost portions of rope. She pulled back her arm to get more momentum but it was to no avail. The swing offset her balance and Yuki slipped, sliding precious inches down the rope. She clung on with her other hand. Yuki's mind was racing in rhythm with the pounding pain in her hands. As she watched the battle rage before her, she realized she had run out of options. Yuki was going to strangle to death because all Hanged Maiden's screaming would cover Yuki's cries. And who would notice Yuki's writhing body when there was a literal dancing rope and fire show going on?

There was the crack of bones breaking. The Hanged Maiden had tried to smash Beki into a tree but the latter had ducked out of her grasp at the last second. The Maiden had been poised to strike with such force that her forearm broke on contact, bone protruding from the skin and her hand dangling at an unnatural angle. Without skipping a beat, she was back on Beki's tail, stabbing at her viciously with the exposed bone.

Yuki's arms were failing her. They were shaking, straining under her weight. Yuki cursed her own stubbornness for never carrying tools, for relaying so exclusively on her ice powers to rescue her. One arm gave out, putting all her weight on the other. Yuki cried out and clenched the rope against her chest with her one good arm. If only she had managed to get enough slack to have a foot hold. Instead, here she was, literal inches away from death. Yuki closed her eyes and began to pray; she needed divine intervention to get out of this. At least if this last ditch effort didn't work, she could make peace with her god. There was a bright light above her. The world went blue for a moment and her hair stood on end as electricity danced across her skin. It sent her heart pounding in her chest. At almost the exact same instant, an arm wrapped around her waist and the pair landed softly on the ground. When her vision cleared, Yuki saw that Kakashi had been her savior.

He looked down at her, completely unimpressed with himself. "You okay?"

Yuki realized that she was clutching onto his flak jacket with a vicelike grip. After a few heartbeats, her breathing steadied and she nodded, retracting her claws. At her silence, Kakashi's brow furrowed. "What, no snarky remark about wanting to put you back up there because you had it handled all on your own?"

"No," Yuki shook her head and let out a nervous laugh. "I was going to die."

Kakashi helped her back onto her feet with a complete lack of urgency. Beki was doing such a good job distracting the Hanged Maiden that all her ropes were focused on Beki. The only thing keeping the shinobi from interfering on her behalf was the immense heat Beki was radiating. All they could do was stand on the sidelines and wait to pick up the pieces of whoever lost.

Beki let out a frustrated cry, annoyed with all the dancing she was forced to do. Ropes wrapped around her arm but this time, Beki pulled. She yanked the Hanged Maiden towards her. The Hanged Maiden accepted the momentum and thrusted with her bone shiv. Beki dodged and twisted it out of the way with the Maiden's own ropes. Beki turned the Maiden around and wrapped an arm under her chin, dodging blind swings from the Maiden's free arm and tucking away from her biting teeth. With her other hand, Beki took a firm grip on the Hanged Maiden's head.

The smell of burning, rotten flesh and smoking hair filled their nostrils. If Yuki wasn't so familiar with it the scent would have turned her stomach. She was feeling ill, however, but it was mostly out of a mother's nagging concern. Beki looked different in this fight. In the past, Yuki had noticed a sort of aloofness in her daughter's eyes when she was in Maiden mode. She had always just chalked it up to the tunnel vision of battle, something a lot of shinobi had. There was anger, too, but it had always seemed appropriately channeled. But the pure, mindless, primal hatred twisting her daughter's features was unsettling. It was almost as if Beki had checked out and someone, no, something else was at the wheel. Malice was dancing in her daughter's eyes as Beki jerked her arms, snapping the Hanged Maiden's too-long neck with a sickening crunch. She fell motionlessly to the ground with a soft thud. Errant ropes still draped around Beki's armor in places she hadn't been hot enough to completely sear them. Beki's arms hung limply at her sides and her shoulders slumped with the weight of her actions. She looked up, searching the crowd. Her eyes finally fell on her mother and recognition clicked. The light from Beki's skin was dimming and she took a step towards her mother with the ghost of an accomplished smile on her lips.

One of the shinobi screamed just as a hand clutched ahold of Beki's hair. The Hanged Maiden's head came into sight, clamping teeth into Beki's neck. Beki screamed, igniting instantly back into the Burned Maiden. She grabbed ahold of the Hanged Maiden's head. The action seared the Maiden's flesh and Beki desperately tugged to get the Maiden to let go. After a moment of struggling, the Hanged Maiden's jaw gave out and Beki was able to pull away. Instead of putting distance between them, she turned around and took ahold of the Hanged Maiden's face.

Beki was screaming. It was a gutteral, deep growl of a thing. She burned brighter and hotter than she ever had before. Her light was so intense they couldn't look directly at her, forcing the shinobi to cover their eyes retreat further from the fray. At a safer distance, the Third watched the Hanged Maiden slashing at Beki's arms, beating at her hands, writhing under her grasp. Beki's hair danced, the clumps floating and moving like blonde tongues of flame. The smells of boiled blood, burned flesh, and seared hair intensified along with the sound of Beki's bellows. After what seemed like an eternity, the Hanged Maiden fell still. Her bones collapsed and her body caved in. Beki fell on her hands and knees, keeping her hands on what was left, sifting through it with her blazing fingers. Soot and the Maiden's ashes danced with the white smoke of her evaporated fat and flesh. The screaming stopped. Beki's heaving form still hovered there, hot and bright, on her haunches above the remains. Yuki immediately moved in to help her but Kakashi grabbed ahold of her arm.

"Are you crazy?!"

Yuki yanked her arm away. "What are you talking about?"

Kakashi pointed at the pile of ashes. "Did you not just see the same thing I did?!"

"She's," Yuki looked over her shoulder. The shinobi all shuffled uncomfortably, shifting awkwardly around her. The fear they had been carrying for the Hanged Maiden had changed targets. They were all afraid of Beki. Yuki knew she should be afraid, too, after what she had just seen. Never had Yuki lost herself in her powers; it was always Yuki driving the Yukionna. But what she had just seen was not Beki. Despite her better judgement, Yuki was undeterred. A mother's intuition didn't always make sense.

"She's my daughter, Kakashi." Yuki turned and continued her approach only for Kakashi to step in front of her. He firmly took ahold of her shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"You are the last person who should be trying to help right now. No offense, but you are the only person here who would be completely useless against her."

Yuki watched helplessly as a couple of medics approached her daughter. Before they reached Beki, she toppled over. The medics moved in and began to check her vitals. Kakashi kept his hold of Yuki's shoulders. Yuki tried to hold still but the urge to lean past him and watch was too great. After a few moments, the medics announced Beki was fine and had just collapsed from exhaustion. Yuki's muscles relaxed, so suddenly in fact her legs nearly gave out. Kakashi clenched her shoulders tighter, steadying Yuki.

"Did you two get any sleep?" He asked.

Yuki shrugged. "An hour? Maybe two?"

They watched as Gai fearlessly approached Beki and hoisted her up onto his back like a sleeping toddler.

"Only Gai could make carrying a man-sized girl in armor look easy," Yuki scoffed.

"If you're tired, I could-" Kakashi began as Yuki pulled out a cannister of Soldier pills and started popping them like candy. At his flabbergasted look, Yuki offered the cannister.

"Want some?"

"How many of those are you going to have?" Kakashi reached to take the cannister from her but Yuki pulled it away and took a few more. She handed him the nearly empty tin and swallowed them dry. He let out a disgusted scoff and held up his hands expectantly. "I'll just stand here and wait to catch your heart when it leaps out of your chest."

Yuki slapped her face a few times and bounced on her heels. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember how I told you they stopped telling us to eat those like mints after the last war?" Kakashi stuffed the cannister into his kunai pouch. "People were overdosing, Yuki."

"Well, maybe I'm not so eager to live in a world where my ancestors are crawling out of crypts to kill me," Yuki gave him a strained smile.

"You aren't usually so fatalistic," Kakashi frowned beneath the mask. "Is fighting the Maidens that conflicting for you?"

"I should be on their side, Kakashi," Yuki sighed. "I mean, think about it. I grew up on that shrine. I followed their teachings my whole life. I worshipped the deity that gave them all this horrible power."

Kakashi watched her cautiously. "What are you saying, Yuki?"

Yuki pressed her palms into her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to find the words. "I'm taking everything I've ever believed in, everything I ever stood for, and I'm throwing it all away."

"Why are you helping us, then?" Kakashi folded his arms. "If this really is so difficult for you, what tipped the scales in our favor? It seems to me like the Maidens would be doing everything in their power to get you and Beki on their side."

Yuki bit her tongue before she spoke. The last thing she needed to share with Kakashi was Ouse's warning about Beki's madness. At first, Yuki had dismissed it as the same old superstitious nonsense she'd been fed as a girl about mixing the lines. But seeing Beki fight the Hanged Maiden raised doubts. Maybe it was proximity to the Maidens, or to "mother" that it was all bubbling to the surface. Yuki had to trust her

motherly instincts, though. She knew her daughter. Beki might be struggling but she was sane. Beki was a good person. To be honest, that's why Yuki was turning away from it all. Being a mother and protecting her daughter felt more righteous than siding with the Maidens who wanted her dead.

"What kind of mother would I be to let my daughter be used like that," Yuki scoffed. "She may have gotten carried away just now but in their hands she would be a real monster. Beki is too good a soul for that." She gave him a playful sock in the shoulder. "Plus, I kind of like you and they would make me kill you."

"You, kill me?" Kakashi gave a small laugh as they followed the rest of the group. "I don't think so, Miss One Trick Pony."

"I keep all my other tricks in the bedroom." Yuki teased halfheartedly. Kakashi gave her a squeeze around the shoulders.

"Save that for when we're rested and not being hunted by the dead."

"Fair enough." Yuki sighed.

Kakashi turned his attention to Beki resting on Gai's back, an all too familiar position for him. "Hard to think that moments ago she was just screeching like a banshee and burning someone into oblivion." He squinted in the dim light. "Is she drooling?"

Yuki shrugged. "She always drools in her sleep."

Kakashi sighed. "Must be nice to be so relaxed."

"If you could burn things into oblivion, I think you'd sleep peacefully anywhere, too." Yuki grinned.