The Tale of the Three Maidens

by ponchoninjax3

While Naruto is away training with Jiraiya, Hinata befriends a kunoichi from a faraway village who has taken up residence in Konoha. After many adventures, Naruto will soon return to Konoha. Can their friendship survive when Hinata's one true love returns? Or does the dark nature of the shinobi world spell out ruin for them all?

113. Embers and Ashes

Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait. As I expressed in previous chapters, the Fourth Shinobi World War sections are taking longer for me to put out for several reasons. Due to the heavy canon content, they involve a lot of research and development to take my characters and insert my plot appropriately. This layout also demands that I work on multiple chapters at a time so I can move events around and make sure everything lines up. Also, these chapters are far longer by comparison, so instead of one chapter every two to three weeks you can expect them every five to six weeks until we're through the FSWW segment. That being said I really appreciate your patience and those of you who have reviewed and PM'd in the meantime. I'm always happy to hear from you and answer any questions that you have. That being said, I'm really looking forward to hearing what you all think about this next chapter!

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A lone figure stood poised in the center of the path. The clearing was broad with plenty of space on either side, making their stand seem a pointless overture. Yet, a certain gravity was given to their presence by the line of bodies all felled along a nearly perfect invisible line in the dirt on either side. When the shinobi of the Third entered the clearing, the figure stamped their naginata in the ground. With a regal gesture, it spoke with a deep, commanding voice:

"Turn back."

The group hesitated, gun shy thanks to their previous encounters with strange lone figures.

"Yuki?" Kakashi gave her a questioning look and she nodded grimly.

"Tsukimori Haruka, the First Burned Maiden."

The Burned Maiden was impressive in both stature and appearance. She was broad shouldered and tall, just under two meters, and dressed in pristine white priestess robes. Her blonde hair hung behind her in a long braid that reached nearly to her ankles. Her face, however, was completely obscured by an intimidating iron mask. It had a series of slits, like the bars of a cage, with enough space that her voice wasn't muffled but her face was still completely concealed. The exposed skin of her hands and throat were entirely covered with burn scars.

Yuki stepped forward cautiously. The other Maidens had sensed Yuki was one of their own; she figured the Burned Maiden would as well.

"Tsukimori Haruka," Yuki said, half greeting and half question.

The Burned Maiden was motionless. "Daughter of the Asou. It seems Ouse's attempts to recruit you were unsuccessful."

There was an ominous air about her, seeping into the entire clearing. Perhaps it was the slightly smoking bodies, or just how out of place this ancient priestess looked in contrast to the modern shinobi. Either way, Yuki had to consciously control her movements. No matter how much her hands wanted to tremble Yuki willed them to remain still.

Yuki cleared her throat and continued. "You sent her?"

"The Mother sent us. We each have our roles. It seems as though Ouse and Ruri failed in theirs." The Burned Maiden's tone was emotionless, as if reflecting on her disappointment that her friends couldn't attend a party. It was jarring, compared to the affection Yuki had witnessed between the Drowned and the Hanged Maidens. She had always had this perception that the three had been close friends.

"Why didn't you try to help them?" Yuki couldn't help but ask. "Wouldn't the three of you have been better off moving as a group?"

Kakashi elbowed her hard but Yuki ignored him. This was beyond them, beyond the war. Yuki had to know and for whatever reason, the Burned Maiden was humoring her. "It is the duty of the Tsukimori to hold the line. I will stop anyone who attempts to interfere with our Mother's work."

With that, the Burned Maiden raised her naginata and pointed it at Yuki accusingly. "This is your last chance, blood traitor. Take your shinobi and turn back."

Yuki dropped her voice and glanced around her before catching Kakashi's eye. "We can't take another direct assault. A tactical retreat isn't a bad idea- "

"No." The voice surprised them. The pair looked up and watched as Beki carefully dismounted from Gai's back. She still looked a little groggy. "Look at how many people she's killed. We can't just leave her out here to do as she pleases."

Good, Yuki thought. She's sounding like her old self again.

Kakashi was sizing up the Burned Maiden. "It's a hard call."

"Look at her," Beki gestured at the Maiden. "She's weaker than me on my worst day. Her clothes haven't even burned away yet. I'll just melt her like I did the last one."

"Beki, I don't know if you should keep throwing yourself into fights like that," Yuki put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You collapsed last time."

Beki shook her head. "I was just tired." The adults looked down at Beki. Even Gai looked somewhat doubtful. Beki was lying and they weren't dumb enough to fall for her bluff. Then again, they were in a desperate situation. Beki had learned that in dire times, people would sometimes take unnecessary risks, and right now, trusting Beki was exactly the risk they had to take. "I'm feeling much better now. I can do this, mom. Everyone just needs to be ready with water jutsu to keep things from spreading and we should be okay."

Yuki heaved a sigh and shook her head. "I mean, out of all of us you're the least likely to get hurt if she does start burning things up."

Kakashi nodded in agreement and Gai gave her a thumbs up.

"Put that youthful passion to good use!"

Beki returned the thumbs up and a grin as she stepped out into the clearing. The Burned Maiden dropped her chin, staring daggers at Beki with unseen eyes.

"So, um," Beki was suddenly crippled by self-consciousness. This was the woman Beki had been named for. Haruka Tsukimori was the greatest of all the Maidens in all of history. The story said that when the other Maidens and attendants fled the attack, Haruka had stood her ground. A gifted taijutsu user before her transformation, the first Burned Maiden had killed several of the attackers before they finally overwhelmed her. The story also said that she didn't even scream when they burned her; she had prayed. The Mother heard her pleas and after the last embers died, raised the Three from the dead. Haruka's sacrifice had been greatest, her death the most painful, and so she was entrusted with the most devastating gift of the Three. The First Burned Maiden, the leader of the Three, head priestess, and protector of Kami to Akuma.

Having been born under the same conditions (a full moon in the fall, right around midnight) Beki had been given the name of her ancestor. Ever since, Beki had been living in that legendary shadow. In person the woman was even more intimidating. Beki had heard people say to never meet your heroes. The implication was that they would never live up to the expectations, that through the process of becoming a legend they would swell beyond what they were. Just based on appearances, the Burned Maiden was an exception to that rule. Unlike the Drowned and especially the Hanged, the Burned Maiden was imperial, demanding respect and admiration. The fear generated solely by her presence stemmed from her solemnity. It created a strange gravity in the shared space, making each of Beki's footfalls harder and harder to take. Apprehensively, Beki slowed her approach. Not happy to cave into her nerves, Beki surveyed the Burned Maiden more closely. Her clothes were completely intact. She felt no heat coming off her, even as she closed the gap between them. Those contradictory facts pinballed around in her skull. How could she be the greatest Burned Maiden in history if she wasn't even hot enough to sear linen?

"Do you move to stand with me kinsman or is this your sad attempt at a challenge?" The Burned Maiden's head cocked ever so slightly, silvery eyes flashing through the bars.

"We can't just stand by and let you keep killing people." Beki gestured to the bodies. "Nothing noble comes with this kind of a body count."

The Burned Maiden didn't spare the fallen a glance. "Cannon fodder. Chattel. Blind, deaf fools, the lot of them. They were fortunate I gave them a valiant end." Beki could feel the Maiden's piercing gaze hot on her flesh. "You seem to be amongst them. It's no surprise really, abomination that you are."

The sudden harshness in the Maiden's tone caught Beki off guard. She had been so civil up to this point. The biting words of the Drowned Maiden had been downright kind by comparison. "Abomination?"

"I can smell it on you," The Burned Maiden seethed. "The stench of heresy and sin. Alas, the burden of guilt isn't upon your poor, wretched soul. That honor goes to the whore and the bastard that sired you. They broke Mother's covenant, usurped her will with their own base desires."

Beki's heart was racing. It was hard to think with her heartbeat pounding in her ear. That voice from earlier was gone, but in its place was a fog. Beki didn't really remember killing the Hanged Maiden. She remembered sitting against the tree and hearing that alluring voice, the sweet heat of combusting, and then everything went white. It was a searing bright light that erased all sound and color from her memory. There were flashes here and there. Beki could feel teeth on her neck, the sounds of bones breaking, something soft bubbling in her hands till it turned to liquid, then ash.

Her sluggish brain was reducing her processing speed. As the Burned Maiden spoke, Beki found herself staring through her. She repeated the Maiden's zealous words to herself over and over. Abomination. Cannon fodder. Valiant deaths. After a few rounds, the malintent was enough to pull Beki through her uncertainty. The Burned Maiden was dangerous and had to be stopped at any cost.

Going into this fight, Beki had a theory based on what she remembered of her interactions with the previous Maidens: they had been incredibly strong for their time. Through the generations, the powers had slowly changed, hence Yuki's ice powers and Beki's ability to harbor two lines at once. She couldn't speak for the Tsukiyama clan: Ren had only transformed into the Hanged Maiden a handful of times and Beki wasn't sure if Reika could even become the Hanged Maiden. That was hardly enough to make any judgements on ability. Regardless, Beki suspected that the previous Burned Maiden wouldn't be on her level. Beki couldn't even smell the Burned Maiden's clothes smoking. Beki took a deep breath, focused on the sting of the Burned and Drowned Maiden's words, and let the fires claim her.

Beki's skin blossomed into a fiery sunset. The combustion erupted into a heatwave that tore across the clearing. She watched as it set the Burned Maiden's robes flapping and her hair dancing erratically around her mask. Beki continued her charge her at full speed and dropped low at the last second for a grapple. At the moment before contact, the Burned Maiden side-stepped Beki effortlessly. As she soared past her mark, Beki felt a tug on her arm. She looked to see what strike the Maiden had landed only to be left staring in shock. Beki's bracer was unfastening itself from her arm. The limb jerked forward involuntarily and the bracer flew off. Beki watched in horror as the bracer landed on the Burned Maiden's outstretched arm.

"I suppose some thanks are in order," The Burned Maiden watched as the bracer stretched and molded to her limb. "You did bring me my armor, aberration."

"What are you-" Beki's other arm vaulted forward, the straps snapping painfully in the bracer's eager retreat. It landed on the Burned Maiden's other arm with a soft plop. Beki, speechless and confused, charged the Burned Maiden again. This time, Beki delivered a solid kick to the Burned Maiden's legs. Her momentum stopped dead. Instead of doing damage, Beki was only robbed of her greaves.

Beki stumbled backward, barefoot. It was then that the Burned Maiden brought down the naginata. Beki barely evaded a swipe that would have spilled the contents of her belly gushing onto the grass. Beki shook off the shock of being disarmored and focused her attention on the blade. Yuki had spent many a painful session drilling unarmed combat into Beki. The best part of going in barehanded was that the odds were in Beki's favor to swipe the naginata and use it against her opponent.

The Burned Maiden swooped in for follow up attack. Instead of slicing at her again, the Burned Maiden tossed the shaft at her. Startled, Beki threw up her hands and caught the lacquered wood with both hands. The Maiden closed the gap between them and shoved a knee deep in Beki's gut, practically making her bellybutton kiss her spine. The armor absorbed part of the blow but before the Maiden had retracted her knee, Beki felt her faulds sliding off her hips and transferring to the Burned Maiden. Before Beki could recover, the Burned Maiden had hoisted Beki up by the wrists.

Beki screamed. In the past, while in Burned Maiden mode, Beki had walked through all sorts of fire. With her own skin ablaze, chemical fires, regular fires, and electrical fires had all merely felt warm on her skin. It wasn't unlike walking by the exhaust vent from a clothes dryer. The sensation had never been any warmer than tepid bathwater. The moment the first Burned Maiden took her wrists, Beki felt like someone had pressed her arms into a deep fryer. She heard her flesh sizzle and the world swam, white with pain. In the sea of agony, it was only through Beki's sense of equilibrium that she could tell her body had been thrown through the air. Beki slammed into the ground and cradled her wrists to her chest protectively, whimpering with pain.

Slowly, gently, the Burned Maiden crossed over to Beki and outstretched a hand over her descendant. Almost as if it were alive, Beki's breastplate and backplate tore viciously off her torso, taking her pauldrons with them. The last of the armor pieces had returned to their original owner and formed to her shape, leaving Beki completely stripped.

Beki stared down at her naked body for a moment. The wind whipped slightly at the sweat glistening down her neck and along her now bare breasts. Beki quickly covered her breasts with one arm and stuck the other between her legs, trying to cover as much skin as possible. She mentally scoffed at her own shame. She had been nude in public so many times before, but it had always been the result of her power. She could own it. This time, her nudity was the result of an overwhelming defeat, of her own weakness. She had been exposed and now she was completely vulnerable. Even her father's armor had turned away from her.

Beki knew she had made things worse by covering her body. It only made her look even weaker. Beki looked up at the Burned Maiden with as much contempt as she could muster. The Maiden just met her glare with a smirk. "And here I was thinking you might have been a boy. Good to see that at least some of our traditions are being respected."

Beki clutched at her breasts even tighter to hide them from the Burned Maiden's scornful gaze. She felt weak. She felt vulnerable. She felt... pathetic.

"Did you think I was weaker than you?" The Burned Maiden laughed. "You think that because my clothes hadn't burned off, your fire was brighter than mine? Foolish girl. You aren't overpowering your opponents with your flames. The fires consume you and spread unchecked, claiming everything around you as collateral damage. Your lack of discipline and restraint has proven to be your downfall."

Beki glanced up through tear-filled eyes at the source of the hateful voice. The Burned Maiden's clothes were still in perfect condition. Her braid hadn't even come loose. She reached down to take Beki's face in her hands when an ice blade whizzed past them. The moment it entered Beki's sphere of heat, however, it petered out into mist. The Burned Maiden turned her attention to Yuki, who was desperately forming and discharging ice blades in a futile attempt to save her daughter. She was staggering towards them with eyes ringed with black bags. Yuki attempted to form another set of ice blades. The crystalline daggers began to form but petered out, falling gently like snow around her. Yuki stopped her advance and concentrated solely on her blades. Her arms were shaking as she held them out at her sides. The blades formed and Yuki threw her arms forward. The ice blades propelled towards the Burned Maiden, who waved her hand dismissively and they all evaporated instantly. Yuki's entire body was trembling as she pressed forward. After a few feet, Yuki stumbled onto her knees. She propped herself up onto one foot and stood. Or at least, she tried to, but her leg gave out. Yuki collapsed onto the ground. She struggled again to get up but a couple of the other shinobi ran over and dragged her back behind the line of Third Division shinobi. No one else stepped forward. In Burned Maiden mode, Beki let off such intense heat it would be dangerous for anyone to approach. Only a mother would risk that damage, and Beki's mother had fallen.

The Burned Maiden's face fell solemn and she turned back towards Beki and held up her hands, palms up, over Beki. "I will pray for you, Little one. May you be forgiven and pass on into the next life with no regrets or ill will."

I'm going to die.

The realization gripped at Beki's spine and froze her in place. It was a familiar, yet foreign sensation. Since becoming the Burned Maiden, Beki had forgotten what it felt like to be truly afraid. Beki had answered every challenge, threat, and attempt on her life with a burning rage. She had felt angry all the time. Beki had been filled with a self-righteous fury that blinded her to risk and danger. Now she was powerless and literally naked as she faced the woman who would end her. The woman she was named for.

In the face of her own mortality, Beki's anger had vanished. The Burned Maiden was so much more powerful than she was. It was obvious that she didn't have a chance against her. Death was certain. But now, she was just terribly, horribly afraid of dying. She had gone to war knowing it was possible, yes, but no one really thinks it's going to happen to them. Death comes for the old, the slow, and the weak. Not a girl who can spontaneously combust away her problem. Yet, here death was, standing over her patiently waiting to collect its charge.

Beki's eyes glossed over and her flames started to peter out. Her mind drifted back to the events she had left behind in the village. She was going to get married. There was going to be a big party with all her friends and family. There would be a pretty, once in a lifetime, gold-embroidered white kimono and the biggest cake Beki had ever seen covered in buttercream roses. All that would be missing was the bride. Beki wasn't going to be there. She wasn't going to be anywhere else ever again. She was going to become a pile of ashes scattered to the winds in this dark, nameless forest.

Beki had never thought about what came after death. Would she go to heaven? Hell? Or was there nothingness? It was that part that scared her the most. Beki was certain she was going to die but there was no telling what would come next. She was terrified of the unknown.

The fear inched its way down her spine and creeped across her skin. The searing pain from the first Burned Maiden's attack on her wrist ebbed. The flames that had been crackling across her skin and hair had almost completely gone out.

There you are.

The familiar voice almost made Beki jump. How long had it been since she'd heard it? Months? Years?

Fear and dread filled Beki's consciousness like water filling a bucket. She had no control over it. The fear came into her like waves of the ocean. She felt tears start to pour down her face and fill the back of her throat.

The Drowned Maiden rose from the dark waters in Beki's mind. Her hair was ink black and clumped to her wet skin like glue. Beki felt like she was choking on it, drowning almost. She could barely stand the fear gripping her heart. It made her want to curl up in a ball and die.

Do you see the way she moves? Hear the way she talks? The Drowned Maiden within Beki sneered. This woman knows no fear. They say she didn't even scream as they burned her on the stake.

Water continued to fill Beki's mouth and nose. She couldn't hold her breath any longer. She clawed at her throat, desperately trying to hold back the breath that threatened to drown her.

The Burned Maiden looked down at Beki, writhing beneath her. The girl was practically rolling on the ground. Her flames had been fading for a moment, but now they were sizzling again. Steam began to rise from Beki's trembling body.

Beki's body arched in pain as she broke down and breathed in. The water rushed inside her, crashing into her lungs. She could feel her whole body revolt against it, but she couldn't stop gasping for air. The water was endless and her lungs filled with the burning sensation of drowning. The burning spread throughout her body until it pierced her skin. Boiling water burst from her flesh and fell off her in waves.

We will teach her what it means to be afraid.

Beki's gasping continued. She arched her back, kicking her legs desperately. Her primal instincts had switched on. Her body was swimming to a surface that didn't exist; the flood was coming from within. The kicking slowed and the writhing ceased.

"What in seven hells are you?!" The Burned Maiden watched as the girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head. Beki's body was still, but only for a heartbeat. Her corpse eyes locked onto the Burned Maiden and her lips curled back into a chilling smile. "I'm an abomination."

Stunned, the Burned Maiden stumbled backwards as Beki rose to her feet. The water from the Drowned Maiden poured from Beki's entire body. Her platinum hair cooled to a smoky gold. Her skin, previously bright with red hot flames, was doused with water turning it into a crackled, black coating. There were small wisps of black smoke trailing off her body and when she moved, the blackened skin would split, letting bits of heat and a sunset of color escape from beneath.

"Enough of this nonsense!" The Burned Maiden bellowed. She threw out her arms and exploded with such force the shinobi of the Third were blown backwards several feet. Fire surged from the body of the Burned Maiden like molten rain, incinerating the bodies at her feet and most of the clearing. The world around them became a blistering inferno. The heat was so intense the closest group of shinobi, who were still quite a distance away, had their clothing spontaneously catch fire. The entire ensemble of spectating troops took another massive jump back to avoid similar fates.

Even with the increased distance, the fire burned their throats and stung at their eyes like daggers. After what seemed an eternity, the cyclone of flames died down. It had eaten through all the fuel in the clearing, leaving nothing but piles of fine ash in its wake. The air was think with the grey clumps of ash. It was like a sudden snowstorm of charred, shapeless remains.

The only visible object in the swirling of dust and embers was the glowing visage of The Burned Maiden. Her iron mask was ablaze with heat and glowed red hot as she stood triumphantly in the middle of her wasteland. Like the Beki of old, her clothes had finally been consumed by her show of force. Her shoes and priestess robes were gone, showing a fair bit of her skin between the layers of armor. The years of patina and age on her armor had burned away in the intense blaze, revealing its original palette of gold on black. The patterns on the breast and backplate had previously been too decrepit to make out, but they now shone bright like tongues of flame beneath the moonlight.

There was another figure flickering in and out of view as the smoke pillars billowed in the wind. It was Beki, her skin blinking between red and black, completely unaffected by the firestorm. She had become living coal, walking embers. There was no part of her the Burned Maiden could sear. In fact, the intense heat seemed to have thickened her black, bark-like scales.

The Burned Maiden's entire posture changed. No more was the Maiden a picture of composed elegance. She was hunched forward in rage, her naginata outstretched accusingly towards Beki.

"Look at you, so proud of your sacrilegious tricks!" The Burned Maiden spewed, her spit sizzling on her lips. "You think you are worthy? You lack the raw natural power of the true Three. You are neither fire nor water. You, girl, are nothing but spent ash and dying embers."

Beki watched her silently. Her lambent corpse eyes were emotionless, as if the Burned Maiden's words were in some unknown tongue. To the shinobi on the sidelines, the pair appeared to be demon warlords squaring off in the bowels of hell. Tiny fires still chewed on bits of grass and the charred remains of the Burned Maiden's previous victims were yet billowing foul-smelling smoke. The ash and smoke discolored the scene, casting the world in a sickly yellow glow. The Burned Maiden, clearly incensed, charged at Beki with her naginata aimed right at the girl's chest. Beki made no move to evade the incoming assault. The Burned Maiden closed the distance between them and thrust her blade forward. The strike hit its mark but stopped dead, the cancelled momentum jolting the Maiden back. She staggered backward, examining both the blade and the point of attack. The blade was slightly bent and chipped, but far from unusable. However, there was a similar chip in Beki's chest as bits of the black scale where she was struck crumbled away, exposing the swirling sunset of her skin beneath. The Maiden smiled to herself. The trick had been exposed. All she had to do was break away enough of the coating to impale the little heathen where she stood.

The girl's movement, although slow and intentional, drew the Maiden's attention. Beki was moving slowly toward the Burned Maiden. What began as a lazy jog picked up momentum and soon she was barreling at her ancestor on a collision course. The Burned Maiden was startled by the way Beki's speed had doubled once uninhibited by the physical armor. Her range of motion was fuller, more fluid as well. The Maiden swung her naginata to cancel Beki's momentum again. This time, instead of being caught by the strike, Beki bodily hopped over the arc of the blade and planted a kick square in the Burned Maiden's face. The Maiden rolled with the surprise strike and followed the momentum around to thrust her naginata again. Beki dropped low for a kick to sweep the Maiden's legs out from beneath her. Beki's shin met the staff of the naginata's counter strike.

And so it went: the Burned Maiden lashing out viciously with her weapon and Beki countering with agility and taijutsu. The Maiden's experience showed. For all her superior movement, the blade had met its mark enough time to leave wide tiger stripe bands of Beki's glowing flesh exposed. As the battle raged, Beki began to slow. Smoke and steam seeped from her vulnerable spots as her reactions grew sluggish. Beki felt nothing as she battled the Burned Maiden. Since the Drowned Maiden had reawakened, a strange peace had come over Beki. Death was still on the table, but it somehow seemed easier to accept. A necessary cost. A sacrifice for some greater power. The sensation was liberating albeit dissociative, like an out of body experience. It was as if Beki's life had been playing an arcade game; she had used her character for countless fights. She knew her strengths, her weaknesses, but was no longer at the controls. For this last ultimate battle, Beki was trusting the system to run the show. She was sitting back and watching as the HP bar slowly depleted on both sides as dispassionately as though a couple of quarters in her pocket could resolve the result.

She's overheating, the Maiden smiled to herself. This new trick, whatever it was, came at an obvious cost. From personal experience the Burned Maiden knew the dangers of her own gift. Initiating the form took an immense toll on the body, let alone the strain of sustaining it. The Tsukimori were bred in such a way that their internal organs and other delicate tissues, like their eyes, could survive the intense heat of their Maiden forms. Part of the Mother's brilliant design was that Burned Maidens constantly gave off the excessive, damaging heat instead of storing it. Like a teakettle spewing steam. The benefit of this phenomenon was the intense halo of superheated air that surrounded them at all times. For this little trickster, however, that would spell her demise. Her blackened flesh was acting as a shell, setting her insides in a fever pitch. At best, the girl would faint. If they kept up at this pace, however, all the Burned Maiden would need to do was draw the fight out until the girl suffered from total organ failure.

The Burned Maiden watched with a relaxed expression as Beki picked up into another charge. As Beki lumbered toward her, the Burned Maiden kept her naginata in a neutral position. The Maiden watched carefully as Beki raced towards her. The girl had put up enough tricks by this point that the Maiden knew better than to lower her guard.

Beki took a careless swing at the Maiden, her weight put entirely into a single punch. The Maiden swayed to the side with minimal effort and Beki's momentum carried her past her target and stumbling forward.

The Maiden smirked. All she had to do was keep side stepping the girl. Wild swings, overcorrecting movements, all of it would contribute to the girl overheating. Beki spun around after catching herself and charged at the Maiden again. Once more it proved fruitless as the Maiden dodged her effortlessly.

The heat spindles coming off Beki did not seem to intensify, though. Strange, the girl should have started to overheat by now... The Maiden watched closely as Beki went for a low kick aimed at her knees. She jumped up and backwards after watching the girl's movements. They were slow and fatigued, not desperate. The girl's fire wasn't burning her out.

The Maiden frowned, discarding her initial plan. If you can't burn a fire out, you just have to starve it out.

As Beki rushed the Maiden down again the Maiden made no move to evade her. Instead, she plunged her naginata into the ground and grappled with Beki as she approached. The girl was much smaller than the Maiden and far less experienced. It only took a swift kick at Beki's feet and a hard push onto her chest to knock her square on her back.

Instantly, the Maiden was at Beki's throat. Both of her hands circled around her windpipe and she squeezed. Beki's mouth snapped open in a violent struggle to breath.

"Fire cannot burn without oxygen, my child." The Maiden said coyly, as if she were speaking to an infant.

Beki's mind raced, trying to think of anything she could do to escape this predicament. She kept trying to pull air in, but the Maiden's grip was vicelike. Her mind started to fade as her lungs screamed out for air.

The Maiden laughed as Beki's expression contorted with fear and desperation. "What's wrong, little one? Forget how to breath? It's easy, just watch me." The Maiden taunted as she took long, mocking breaths right in front of Beki's face.

Beki's world was getting darker and her mind grew still. A single voice cut through the void:

Kill her.

Beki's body turned cold and she closed her mouth. A chill built up inside her as she looked up into the Maiden's smirking eyes. Beki's mind faded back to her first kill. It had been so traumatizing, but at the same time, it had been so... easy.

Beki smiled up at the Maiden, but it wasn't Beki's smile.

Ouse? The Maiden froze in place and leaned closer to Beki. She could have sworn her sister's face had just flashed in front of her eyes. It was the same clever, mischievous grin. All that had been missing was the scarlet lip lacquer.

Beki stifled a cough behind closed lips as she choked from the Maiden's grasp. There was another small cough, and then Beki opened her mouth and blew a thin stream of smoke up towards the Maiden.

The Maiden had already been in the act of breathing in to mock the girl, so the cloud of smoke flew directly into her mouth. The taste of smoke filled her mouth and the Maiden jumped back from Beki. The visage of her sister and now this? Was there no end to this girl's tricks?

As the girl staggered back up onto her feet, the Maiden felt an itching sensation in her lungs. She let out an involuntary cough, and then another. They were deep, violent attempts by her body to expel whatever the girl had pumped into her. The Maiden felt something warm and wet on her lips. She reached up and touched the spittle. A quick glance at her fingers widened her eyes in horror. Blood.

"What the hell did you do?!" She bellowed.

From the sidelines, the Third Division watched helplessly as the two titans battled it out. For most of the fight, it seemed pitched in the Burned Maiden's favor. Even in her new Embered form, Beki was no match for the Burned Maiden's experience. She was slowing down, weakening by the minute. Then, all of a sudden, while the Maiden had Beki pinned, she spit up gray smoke. The Burned Maiden jumped up and began coughing. It started as a few isolated hiccups, then it turned into a full out raging fit. The Burned Maiden was doubled over, holding her chest, spewing blood.

"What's going on with her," Kakashi tapped a nearby Hyuuga on the shoulder. "What did Beki do?"

The Hyuuga boy activated his Byakugan and honed in on the Burned Maiden. His stern expression quickly twisted into one of confusion and fear. "She's...drowning."

"What?" Kakashi glanced at the coughing Maiden and back at the Hyuuga. "What do you mean?"

"I-I don't know! Her lungs are filling with fluid..." The Hyuuga concentrated harder and focused his vision on the Maiden's lungs. "There are several lacerations all along both of her lungs. She is literally drowning in her own blood!"

Kakashi felt his stomach twist as he tried not to imagine what that must feel like. "Was it from the smoke?"

The Hyuuga boy shook his head. "Not smoke. It's more like... ash. It's made up of a bunch of tiny, solid fragments. They are nearly microscopic in size, small enough to be inhaled into the lungs." The Hyuuga averted his gaze as the Maiden coughed up another fit of blood. "They're piercing the inner arteries of her lungs, causing them to fill with blood."

The Burned Maiden staggered towards Beki, swinging her naginata wildly. Beki didn't bother to react. The Burned Maiden collapsed long before she reached Beki. She was on her knees, supporting herself on the staff as if her life depended on it.

"Curse...you," The Maiden gurgled, blood frothing from her lips. "Your...children..." She looked up at Beki with pure hatred in her eyes. "...Madness..."

Beki stood over her, wordlessly, still and unfeeling as a statue. She didn't feel like the eyes she was looking through were her own. During the fight, that strange woman's voice had been whispering to her, assuring Beki the Burned Maiden would fall. Subconsciously, Beki had slowed her movements to lure the Burned Maiden into creating an opening. Then, just as with her first transformation into both the Drowned and the Burned, her body knew what to do with the rest. Wisps of smoke still escaped Beki's lips as she held out her open palms above the dying Burned Maiden.

Sensing her impending death, the First Tsukimori's armor abandoned her. Piece by piece, the armor ripped away from the Burned Maiden's body and returned to Beki. The familiar weight and warmth of the metal on her skin was comforting, like a hug. Before, Beki could sense the Tsukimori who wore it before her. Now there was nothing. It was as if by wearing it, the first Burned Maiden had seared away their presence along with the age and wear. Beki was alone in there.

Alone with the voice. It was as loud as her conscience and so overwhelming Beki couldn't hear her own thoughts.

You have done well, my child.

The shinobi of the Third watched as Beki kneeled over in her newly minted armor and plucked the mask off the Burned Maiden's naked body. In death, the Maiden's form seemed smaller, almost feeble by comparison to her prior standing. Beki stared at the mask in her hands for several moments as if conflicted. Slowly, she brought the mask to her face.

"Way to go Beki!" Lee cried out excitedly, punching the air. "You're two for two- "

"Not Beki," Her voice was soft but it carried well in the staggering silence. She sounded vacant, an echo of a stronger voice. "Haruka."

For a moment, Kakashi relaxed. When the Burned Maiden died, although they were surrounded by destruction, the entire scene seemed to heave a sigh. Her malice departed with her ascending soul leaving the field as she had found it. As Beki leaned over and took her mask, however, his hackles were raised. A quick glance behind him confirmed Yukihana was still out cold, medics busily stabilizing her for transport. Without Yuki to talk Beki down, the Third would have to neutralize her themselves. Violently, if necessary. There would be no coming back from it, no way Yuki could ever forgive Kakashi for killing her child. He knew her well enough that it was certain Yuki would react poorly. She'd killed those who killed her husband. Kakashi, overseeing the division, would bear the brunt of her wrath even if he weren't the one to land the final blow on the young Tsukimori.

As the possibilities raced through his mind and he homed in on the best method of attack, a lone figure stepped forward from the crowd. In the smoke it was hard to see color; everything still had a washed out brown-gray hue to it. By the silhouette it was a tall broad-shouldered man. His movements were confident, as though he were approaching a child who needed help reaching something on a high shelf. There was no hint of fear, no hesitation as he closed in on the girl who could kill them with nothing more than a parting of her lips.

"You fought well," Might Gai smiled broadly in his disarming way. "I'm proud of you."

There was a flicker of recognition in Beki's eyes, a spark of intelligence at his voice, but it quickly departed. Her fists clenched apprehensively at his slow approach. Kakashi rose to join him but with a subtle wave of his hand behind his back, Gai discouraged the action. "You said you want to go by Haruka now?"

"She was Haruka," Beki explained. Her voice was still soft, distant, as if describing a dream. "So I couldn't be. Now she's dead. I killed her. I'm the only Haruka now."

"So you earned it," Gai nodded. "Like a title."

Beki nodded uncertainly. "She chose her," Beki glanced down at the lifeless body by her feet. "The Burned Maiden failed and I triumphed. I should...It's so important, isn't it? They have to be stopped..."

She mumbled a few things to herself, her expression twisting between the bars as though engaged in a conversation with an unseen partner. It was unsettling to say the least. A child bickering with an imaginary friend while holding a butcher knife. They were losing her. Fast.

"Are you tired?" Gai asked. He was almost within reach, well within the range of her lethal smoke. "I can carry you again if you need me to. I think of you as one of my students. Whatever help you need, I'm here for you."

"Gai...sensei..." Beki choked on her words as they fought their way to the surface. Bits of her charred outer coating were breaking off on their own. It revealed her still shimmering hot skin, the colors and patterns dancing faintly. She furrowed her brows, her teeth bared and her eyes clenched shut. "Shut UP."

Gai stopped dead in his tracks. Kakashi watched the way his muscles tensed in preparation. If Gai could strike before Beki was ready, perhaps they could take her down without bloodshed.

Beki blinked, raising her head with an almost pained expression. "I...Sorry." Beki shook her head and rolled her shoulders. The light was fading from her skin. Most of the hardened shell had disintegrated, blowing away with the smoke. Gone was the tense, almost possessed puppet movement of her body. Her head bobbed from side to side as she took in the destruction. "Dear God. Is everyone okay?"

Gai nodded. "Everyone was a safe distance back while you fought."

Beki let out a sigh of relief. "Okay. That's good. So that was what, three of three? No more Maidens they can throw at us?" A genuine smile tugged at her lips. She turned her head towards the Third and shouted. "Hey Mom!"

"She fainted," Gai reached out and put an arm around Beki's back. She was sounding like herself again. To unknowing observers, it was a friendly, familiar gesture. Its other purpose was putting Beki within instant knockout distance. Gai could have her down before Beki ever saw it coming.

Concern shadowed her face. She tried to break away from his grasp but he tugged her back. "She's okay. We're going to send her to the medic camp but the rest of us have to keep moving, okay?"

Dozens of eyes were on her. Beki could almost palpably feel their fear, their apprehension. What had she done? Beki could remember most of the fight, the return of the Drowned Maiden and the fusion of her inner Maidens. Her own fears crystalizing with her anger, clarifying the muddy sea of her thoughts into one solitary purpose: Defeat the Burned Maiden.

As the pair approached the rest of the Third, Gai gave Kakashi a reassuring nod. Beki glanced at the faces. Some looked familiar but nothing was sticking. That seductive voice still echoed in her ears.

Kill them all.

Beki shook her head again. Gai sensei had interrupted the voice, his words a beacon on a stormy sea. The voice hadn't liked that.

Kill him.

But it was Gai sensei. If any adult had treated Beki with respect and genuine affection in Konoha her whole stay there, it was him. Her presence was always a welcome. Although she had never been in a position to ask for his help, Beki knew in her heart the man would deny her nothing. No matter how alluring the voice was, it could never convince Beki to hurt him.

As the Third moved out, the other shinobi gave Beki a wide berth. The silence gave Beki a chance to focus her thoughts. The voice was wrong, she decided. It couldn't be trusted. But when the woman spoke, Beki was almost compelled to listen. To follow. To obey. There were many times Beki felt a slave to her impulses. In the Drowned Maiden form, part of her enjoyed the fear and terror she sewed in those who saw her terrible form. As a Burned Maiden, Beki relished somewhat in the destruction of her enemies, seeing them reduced to cinders. Beki talked herself through all this. Attached mental tethers on those terrible impulses, reminded herself that her forms were merely tools to accomplish a goal. But when this voice spoke, Beki had no control. There was no tethering, no checking back in to draw a line of conduct. It said jump and Beki's feet were off the ground. Vaguely, Beki remembered the Hanged Maiden writhing in her arms. The voice crying "burn her" in a frenzied pitch. She had been more than happy to comply, with the Hanged and the Burned. But then Gai sensei? And the rest of the Third? It had taken all of Beki's willpower to keep her hands at her sides. To clench her muscles tight and spare her loved ones. How much longer could she keep up if the voice kept compelling her?

Beki was increasingly troubled by the identity of her new voice. The only ideas that made any sense were that this was some sort of ninjutsu, like a Yamanaka hijack, or that Beki had gone certifiably insane and was now hearing voices. Neither possibility seemed a desirable one. Normally Beki would talk to Yuki about this, or Neji. Even Miki would have been helpful. Everyone left that she knew in the Third was too much of a risk to share with. Gai and Kakashi had been called ahead, leaving the rest of the Third to reach the Land of Lightning on their own. As for Lee and Tenten, talking to them would be of no use. Beki would only confuse or frighten them. Beki was alone in the largest gathering of shinobi in history, like a child lost in a crowd. Worse, since the first time Beki heard the singing, she couldn't shake the growing fear that something was coming. Something so terrible, on such a colossal scale that the world would never be the same again. All Beki could do was pray that she wouldn't end up being the disaster she so feared.

...

The shinobi of the Third Division raced for several hours until they rejoined the rest of the forces battling in the Land of Lightning to assist Naruto in his fight against the Ten Tails; a monstrous amalgamation of all the tailed beasts combined. They could see the behemoth miles away as they approached, its terrible shape silhouetted against the dying light of day. As the darkness descended Beki noticed the lack of moonlight. The day before, it had been bright enough to see even in moderately dense woods. Tonight, however, it was dim. When the last vestiges of day left them Beki noticed the odd pinkish glow and at last cast her eyes up to the sky. The moon was blood red and hovering so close Beki had to resist the urge to reach up and touch it. At the sight of it, something within Beki stirred. A whisper. A warning. Yuki was always the one looking for signs and omens, but even Beki couldn't deny this didn't bode well. It was ominous, threatening, like an all-seeing eye. The longer Beki looked at it, the harder it seemed to pull away her gaze.

Beki ripped her eyes away from the scarlet moon. They had a mission and Beki wasn't going to let herself be distracted. The Ten Tails was in a rage, ferociously closing in on Gai, Kakashi, Naruto, and Killer B when the other Allied Shinobi forces arrived. In one beautifully coordinated fell swoop, they combined their strength and restrained the monster.

Up close, Beki got a better look at the beast. It was poised on all fours, its skin reminiscent of the gray-brown flesh of the shukaku. Each of its armored tails swayed independently. A spiky conch rose from its back like the proud dome of a church while its single blood red eye glared them down. Beki tried not to look at the rows of razor sharp teeth, each as tall as a child and glinting cruelly in the crimson light. She watched as it was bound and felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Something told her this was the enemy's trump card. The Akatsuki had been harvesting the Tailed Beasts and the logical conclusion was this was their final goal. They assembled this monster to wreak havoc on the shinobi world. Alone, the Tailed Beasts had proven fatal. She recalled hushed conversations of the devastation the Nine Tailed Fox levied on Konoha nearly two decades before. The size of this Ten Tails, the potential it carried, was nearly enough to make Beki weak in the knees. But through teamwork and perseverance, the shinobi had prevailed.

The ghost of a smile tugged at her lips but was instantly jerked away when the ground beneath them gave a violent lurch. The Ten Tails broke free, the earth quaking as it raised its head. Beki's jaw dropped at the sight of it. What had moments before been a somewhat shapeless, blobby torso and head was now a bony skeleton. Its skin was stretched too tight over protruding bones, its eye had split in two, and the beginnings of a nose nub protruded from its face. Tendrils like sprouts on an overripe potato exploded from its skull. It opened its horrible mouth and Beki felt the hair raise on her arms. Energy gathered to the creature like clouds gathering before a storm. A ball of burgundy light formed, writhing violently as it shaped itself into the head of a spear. The Ten Tails launched it off into the distance with a supersonic crack.

...

Yuki was yanked forcefully into awareness. Immediately, she knew she wasn't awake. The smoky, watery quality to the light was all Yuki needed to realize she was back in her old nightmare about the shrine. The whole world burned around her, the flames licking at the sky like tongues. Again she stood on the docks, the mysterious cat poised at the edge of the wood. The flames were kept at bay seemingly only by the influence of the animal, which Yuki wasn't even sure really was a cat. It flickered in and out in the corner of her eye, becoming far too large and see through to be the house cat it seemed to be. Its fur changed color and pattern, from an orange marmalade tabby, to a tuxedo, to a Bengal, to a tortoiseshell. It looked up at her and meowed soundlessly. It glanced toward the lake before them and Yuki followed its gaze. The figure that in the past had been floating up in the air off in the distance was now hovering over the water. The lake was glowing like a sun, illuminated by the flames around it. The figure was cast in shadow against it but Yuki could make out some of its soft, feminine features. The woman had long hair that glowed like a silvery halo. Her flowing white robes danced, swaying gently in the searing gusts. Her flesh was pale. In fact, all of her seemed blanched like a sun-bleached photograph. Then Yuki spotted her over florid lips, shimmering like an open wound.

In her dream driven state, Yuki's mouth opened. To her surprise, the voice that came out was young. "Mother?"

The woman gave a small frown.

"You were meant for so much."

The woman's lips didn't move but Yuki heard her strong sultry voice clearly.

"You rejected our ways. Our teachings," The woman's frown deepened, furrowing her pretty brow. "Instead you joined the filthy shinobi and engaged in their petty conflicts. You forgot who you were. You forgot me."

"Forgot you?" Yuki laughed. "You were never there. It was never your hand coming down from the sky that bailed me out. It was either my own two hands or the shinobi around me."

"Such a strong willed, disobedient child." The woman shook her head. The frown softened and her eyes glimmered. "It was fortunate that you had little influence on your daughter, however. Her father taught the girl to follow orders well. She's proven to be most promising."

Yuki froze. Even though she was in a dream, she could feel her muscles tensing. "You bitch," Yuki hissed. "It's you. You're the one who's been screwing around in her head."

"She's an excellent listener. And executioner." The woman smirked. "Once the last of her attachments to this world is broken, when no love for the shinobi remains within her, she will be my scourge upon this world."

"You keep your hands the hell off my daughter-" Yuki screamed, nearly throwing herself off the deck.

"Why, my child," The woman cocked her head slightly. "She's already mine."

Yuki sat bolt upright on her mat, knocking the medic beside her on his rear. She woke up screaming in fear, her heart racing in her chest and her hair standing on end. She looked around, still half delusional with sleep. "Beki?!" The medic reached out to restrain her but Yuki was already on her feet, stumbling out of the tent. During the fight with the Burned Maiden, Yuki had lost consciousness. She had no idea how the battle had turned out. If what that demon of a woman said was true, at least Yuki knew Beki was alive. She glanced around the medic camp to survey her surroundings. There was a terrible sound from above, pulling her gaze to the sky. Off in the distance she could make out a monstrous shape. Without it being spoken, Yuki knew that's where Beki would be. Yuki flew, her steps so quick and light they barely touched the ground. Where the terrain was smooth enough, Yuki formed the ice beneath her feet and skated towards her goal.