#shindosatsuki

How long has it been since she’s left home? How much time has passed since she wasn’t able to return home to her mother and father? What would it take for them to allow her to return? Her reason for leaving was a simple one; to take revenge for her brother’s crippled state. Perhaps she could have done it in a more orderly manner, but she was the daughter of the head family. What would convince her parents to allow her such freedom? 

Raidou wasn’t a man to be taken lightly and there was plenty of evidence to show of that. Yet Kasumi felt confident in her abilities to take him down...and that she did.

There was no time for memories; she needed to focus. 

The forest used to flourish with life but from the pitter-patter of feet, it must have drove them all away. Kasumi could only hear her own footsteps now. Did the others back away to plan a new attack? Or were they giving up their chase? It seemed far too easy if it was the latter but it would give her time to catch her breath. 

Kasumi slowed her pace, making sure to keep her guard up simultaneously. Truthfully, if she wasn’t running, it would allow her to hear the footsteps of any oncoming enemies.

Dwellers from her home village---enemies. It felt venomous to consider them her enemies but they were after her life. She couldn’t go easy on them no matter what; they wouldn’t for her.

Almost immediately, the side of her stomach began to burn. It was quick and swift, but the pain lingered longer than she anticipated. Her fingers moved to find out the source for her to realize it was as she feared; blood. One of the shurikens must have gotten her as she ran, and now with her adrenaline slowing down, her body was more vulnerable to the pain.

This meant that stopping was a terrible idea.

Her ears picked up on a few more careful steps, coupled with more sounds of thrown shuriken. They were fairly easy to track but it must be obvious they had something else planned. Regardless of such a possibility, Kasumi took out her sword to deflect the remaining ones flying in her direction.

Yet as she continued, she felt herself becoming more and more exhausted. Why? This wasn’t difficult to do; she’s evaded the Ninja far too easily at other instances. Then what was the problem?

A sharp pain immediately made its way up from the back of her calf to her thigh. A shuriken caught her leg, causing the pain to travel throughout. Kasumi cried out in surprise, and pain, but forced her body to stand straight. Her arms began to feel heavy.

Her fingers held a firm grip on her sword but it flew out of her hand the moment she felt someone’s weight against her side, shoving her against a nearby tree. That obviously didn’t aide how her body felt but at least now, she could hear someone’s voice. They breathed against her face, their wrist pressing against her throat. 

“...finally caught you, traitor.”

The voice didn’t sound familiar at all. 

Kasumi kept her lips pressed together tightly, pondering on who this person was and how they were able to capture her so easily. It was obvious the Ninja was a woman but the hatred she felt nearly reminded her of Ayane.

“Not so tough when you have something to slow you down, huh?” The woman spoke harshly, dishing out her own sword, Kasumi managing to catch the brief glimpse of blood among it. The gash on her side was long enough to fit, so it must be this woman that managed to sneak up to her and deal such a blow.

From touching it earlier, it didn’t feel all that deep, but it burned fiercely. Based on her statement, her weapon must be coated in something that slows down movements. Not poison, but some form of narcotic. Normally Kasumi would know the answer but as her brain continued to become dull, so did her knowledge. 

“What? Got nothing to say?”

The woman must have gotten a little impatient with her silence but Kasumi found no reason to speak. She wouldn’t beg for her life, she wouldn’t allow this woman that satisfaction, and she knew explaining anything to her wouldn’t get them anywhere. And so, Kasumi kept her mouth closed as a result. But it didn’t seem to calm the woman down at all.

“You know she’s not going to explain herself to you, Miyuki.” Now that was a familiar voice.

Ayane walked towards the two with fellow Ninja tailing behind her. Ah, of course, her sister; she was tasked to follow and kill correct? It was from the headmaster of the village, her family---her father and brother. She did all of this for them and yet...she was sentenced to death.

“I’ve never seen you like this before,” Ayane smirked, “...but it’s something I don’t mind witnessing more often.” 

Why was she angry at her? Is it due to their odd blood relation with each other? It had to be. But even after Kasumi found out, she wouldn’t want to harm or treat Ayane any different. Did Ayane’s jealousy and anger cloud her judgement that much?

“Ayane,” Kasumi shook out, “...what are you doing?”

“What am I doing? Fulfilling my orders. What other reason would there be?”

Kasumi had no answer to that for it was the truth. It was the code of the shinobi, and so she couldn’t fault Ayane and the others for following it. And yet, the more she glanced between the two, there felt to be a stronger reason for their intense animosity towards her.

“Why even ask such an obvious question? You’re a nukenin, someone who shouldn’t even be allowed to speak. Actually, you should accept your death. But not quietly...” The young woman, now identified as Miyuki, said without much hesitation. 

Miyuki held her blade up once again, only for a few seconds, before sliding the blade against her abdomen, making a clean cut along her stomach. It wasn’t deep, but it was slow, allowing her to feel the blade clearly cutting her flesh.

It was an odd sensation, one she never thought she would feel, and desired to never feel again. Hearing her painful gasps must have been satisfying enough for the woman. She smirked, eventually dragging the blade against her arms. Kasumi pushed her weight against her, attempting to break the space between the two, but her strength was beginning to wane.

Instead, Miyuki shoved her to the ground, the cold dirt pressing against her back.

“Do you wish to test me, nukenin? I could make this much worse.” 

Miyuki held the blade vertical, aiming it right towards Kasumi’s stomach once again. She moved slowly this time, inching her way towards to merely poke Kasumi’s clothing. It was a terrible way of teasing her impending death but she couldn’t do much about it. 

As the pain began to play tricks on her mind, Kasumi thought of her brother. All she wanted to do was see him again; to see how he was doing after this accident. Raidou had left him nearly crippled, not to mention amnesiac, so she desired to see and speak with him again. It’s all she wanted. 

But to think that he was part of the reason that this was happening now made her feel a much worse pain. She would never blame Hayate for his actions, or even the Ninja sent to carry them out. It was their duty, and she knew her crime. Yet, why did it make her eyes burn to think about it?

Kasumi looked in Ayane’s direction, not being able to read her expression. Was she satisfied? Happy? It made her nearly reel from frustration that the two could never see eye to eye.

“Why do you hate me, Ayane?” Kasumi spoke in her direction, completely ignoring Miyuki. “Why do you wish to see me die so badly.”

Ayane scoffed.

“Because you broke the code--” “But that’s not all.” Kasumi cut in. “There’s more to it than that.” 

Ayane stayed silent then. 

“Is it because of our relation to each other? Is it due to how the others have treated you? I’m sorry you went through that, I really am...but I didn’t do anything like that to you. It’s not my fault---”

“Of course it’s your fault! You’re the one that everyone loved, despite the fact that we shared the same mother. The only difference was our fathers, and how my birth formed.”

“I-If I would have known, then I would have spent time with you. But I couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me---”

“I have no time for your excuses, nor do I need to explain my reasonings.”

Kasumi kept her mouth open, prepared to continue her defense, but only a pained yell escaped her as she felt Miyuki’s blade scrape against her even more. There were various cuts along her skin now, predominantly against her arms, legs and stomach. Even so, she forced herself to keep her sight straight on Ayane.

“Ayane, we used to play together. We were friends before this got out. We can easily go back...to that. And you know...how strong you are. You’re the leader of your own clan now. Look how far you’ve come.” 

Ayane said nothing but Kasumi didn’t expect her to. She didn’t think this would spare her life but she longed to say her thoughts towards her lost sister before it would all end.

“Shut up!” The outburst came from Miyuki, who instead hovered the sword’s blade over Kasumi’s chest, thrusting it down to strike her. Kasumi, however, raised her arms to catch the blade before it could make contact, allowing it to be a struggle between the two.

“Now you wish to resist?” Miyuki obviously had the most strength currently, due to Kasumi’s weakened body, but she put up a fight more than she may have expected. Kasumi assumed she would die here but came to realize that it wasn’t in her to give up so easily. 

Miyuki raised her free hand, striking Kasumi in the face with her fist. It caused Kasumi to bite her cheek, the blood free flowing and coating her tongue. But Kasumi didn’t let go.

Miyuki continued her assault, her knuckles hitting against her lips and cheek the most. This was her life now and she needed to protect it until the end.

There were no regrets to what she’s done, she didn’t regret killing Raidou for he deserved it. Something about injuring her fellow Ninja who were merely doing as they were told didn’t sit well with her. Kasumi desired a reasonable outcome to this but it was obvious that wouldn’t come.

The final punch knocked Kasumi’s hands free, letting them fall into the dirt beside her. Miyuki spoke nothing and thrusted the blade towards her chest again but stopped halfway.

“...stop. That’s enough. You’re getting out of hand now.” Ayane spoke quietly, holding Miyuki’s had to prevent her from ending Kasumi right then and there.

“Out of hand? Do you realize what her absence does to us? She’s a viable threat.”

“I know this, obviously much better than you do. But what you’re doing is reckless. You’re allowing your emotions to get the best of you in order to perform sloppy work.”

“You’re supposed to be fine with this. You want to see her die just as badly as I do!”

“That may be true, but I have no time for a Ninja to lose control far too easily. You’d be one of the first casualties in a war.”

Miyuki grimaced. It was obvious to Kasumi that she didn’t like what Ayane was saying. To be honest, Kasumi didn’t like to hear Ayane admit that she wished to see her dead so easily. Perhaps those childhood moments meant nothing to her.

Miyuki didn’t move, keeping her position overtop Kasumi before she swung the sword. Not in her direction, however, but in Ayane’s. The blade entered her body from the side, suddenly and unexpectedly, which caused Ayane to grunt out in pain. Normally she would see that coming and avoid it, but perhaps due to how close they were and how quick Miyuki reacted, Ayane had no time to avoid. 

Ayane moved back, her hand hovering over the wound before Miyuki immediately turned back towards Kasumi. Her attempts at killing were futile once again, but her sense of care seemed to cease from her body.

Kasumi pressed her hand against the blade, ignoring the fact that it was digging into her palm, before flipping it around. Using as much strength that she had left over, Kasumi pushed herself against Miyuki, along with the sword, until she could feel herself shoulder to shoulder with the woman.

She kept the sword still, gripping the hilt tightly as she closed her eyes. Kasumi wished she could ignore the gasps instead.

As they finally stopped, Kasumi pushed the young woman down to lay beside her. Miyuki didn’t move and merely lies there, eyes open as if she could still see. She was dead; and the sword stuck in her chest was proof of that. 

She killed one of her own. But she had no choice in the matter...right? She snapped out of her thoughts, glancing around to see that Ayane and the other Ninja had left already. Would Ayane be okay with that wound? Was she serious hurt at all?

Actually, they were more than likely heading back to the village and she would be treated there. But Kasumi felt nauseated---no idea if it was due to her wounds or because of her murder. 

It was self-defense and yet...something within her churned with guilt. It’s not something she wanted to do, or ever again.

“I’m sorry, Kasumi.” Hitomi’s voice rang in her ears, pulling her away from the memory. 

“I didn’t mean to bring up anything you didn’t want to talk about.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry. It’s my way of thanking you for your help. I’m sure I would have died if I stayed out there for too long.” 

Hitomi nodded with a somber smile. She’s done this quite a few times; first with Hayate and now with her. It almost seemed as if she was being drawn to the Ninja without her say.

The young Karate master sat across from her as she replaced some of the bandages covering her hand. Her wounds had mainly healed by now but her mind still wandered to that day. She had no idea why it affected her so much but it woke her up constantly.

Hitomi offered to help bury Miyuki, not sure if she could mark her grave or not. Kasumi was tempted to say ‘No’ but didn’t say ‘Yes’ either. And so, Hitomi took it as a silent plea to leave it alone. But from time to time, whenever Kasumi passed by that part in the forest, she noticed small little trinkets there. 

She had no idea why Hitomi would even do it, after all Miyuki was attempting to kill her. But maybe, despite all that, Kasumi didn’t hold a grudge against her. No matter how much she was in the wrong, or technically both of them, Kasumi didn’t believe she deserved to die.

Perhaps Hitomi could see that.

All she remembered that night was the moon, cascading it’s milky white light onto the both of them.

It was comforting, yet somber.