TheDarkestShinobi: This is not a KasumixRyu. It's somewhat somber and I don't know what I am doing with it yet. It is a good stand alone so I may leave it at that. Maybe I will add a single chapter to it. Either way I have not decided yet.
Sadly, of all my stories this one strikes me as the realest.
Please review with your thoughts.
Story start
The kunoichi sat on the couch in her friend's house and re-wrapped the bandage around her wrist. She had long cooper hair that was tied in a high ponytail and wore a white ninja garb. The only reason she wore this one would be because of the long slash in her favorite one which Ryu's lovely wife Irene was currently stitching up. She had left this one with them in case of an emergency. She sat with her feet tucked underneath her and waited while Ryu made some tea in the kitchen. She didn't mind waiting here alone. It was simple and peaceful.
It was a nice and welcome change.
She looked up at him when he walked back into the room. He was not clad in the tight leather that she usually witnessed him but in a simple green kimono. It set off his green eyes and undoubtedly Irene had picked it out for that purpose. She smiled in thanks as he silently handed her a cup of tea. She blew on it before taking a cautious sip, but it was warmed to the perfect temperature. She lowered her cup turning towards her friend.
"I see you have developed other skills since you retired from the Shinobi life Ryu san." He smiled at that and looked towards her.
"You could say that. One finds he has much time after not having to constantly train."
"Maybe I'll find out someday." She laughed but he just looked away.
She was a traitor and hunted every day. She'd never find out, it was a comfort she could not have.
"How's my brother?" She ventured after a moment of silence.
"Well. He has arranged most of the wedding already."
"Wedding!" Kasumi gasped out and Ryu looked down. He had forgotten she would not know. She hadn't seen him in over three year and hadn't spoken to Hayate since before DOATEC was destroyed.
She probably wouldn't know about Ayane's child either.
Or her mother's death.
"Hai, he has found the woman of his dreams, quite literally." She giggled remembering him telling her of this beautiful girl he would dream about as a child. She took another sip of her tea and heard the woman upstairs start to sing. Ryu followed her gaze to the stairs and smiled when he later detected her song.
"It's nice to be in love isn't it?"
"It's wonderful." He answered honestly as she looked down into her tea.
"Maybe I'll find that out too."
It was another thing she could never have.
She smiled sadly and he held his tongue waiting for her to speak. She simply shook her head and he wondered if she was about to cry. He had always seen her close to it but she would never let the first tear fall. It was odd. Of all the woman he knew he would have mistakenly pegged her as the weakest. She was clearly the strongest, even Ayane had cried in his arms when she feared that she had lost her child.
The girl looked up to him and he could only mirror her sad smile. He then looked up and rested his arm on the back of the couch. Kasumi held the question on the tip of her tongue but dared not to ask it. She didn't know if she wanted the answer, she also didn't know what he'd think of her for asking it.
"It's horrible, being chased I mean." She nodded and set her tea on the table in front of her.
"Thank goodness you'll never find out."
She stood and Ryu wondered why but then he heard his wife's footsteps upstairs. He mentally was surprised, his heightened senses were first to go but he still was better than most ninja he knew, she however seems to be even better than he was at his prime. She had nothing to live for but the fight he supposed. He stood and Irene smiled at the both of them before handing Kasumi her outfit.
"Try it on."
"Thank you Irene san." Irene waved her off and Kasumi excused herself. Irene then turned to her husband to see her husband looking at the girl with what looked like pity.
"Don't pity her." Was all she said as she walked towards the kitchen to pour herself some tea.
"I don't." he said. He didn't. He just wished that her life was different. She had been the purest of them all.
"I actually respect her." He said to himself wondering if Kasumi could hear it. He shook his head. She deserved better.
Irene didn't want Ryu to pity her because she already did. The girl was an angel and she was forced to kill and run in order to live. She shook her head and sipped the cooling cup. The workings of Kami were too complex for her to understand but she would never even begin to fathom why this was necessary. She felt a jolt and her hand rested on her stomach. She smiled down at it.
She was deemed infertile but she was carrying a baby somehow. Ryu didn't know yet but he would soon enough. Kasumi had whispered congratulations in her ear before so she knew that Kasumi knew. She couldn't wait to tell him. Her smile shifted. Everyone had what they wanted except for her. Irene was no saint, she had done many things she was not proud of and yet she was still happy but Kasumi received nothing.
Nothing except for wounds and bruises.
Ryu watched as she walked in with what seemed to be a new outfit. She placed her white one on the table and bowed to Ryu before turning.
"Kasumi chan." She looked over her shoulder towards the woman in the doorway.
"Stay for dinner won't you? It might be another four years before we see you again." She was about to decline using an excuse about having to stay on the move but Ryu's look made her simply utter a 'hai.'
She had been uncomfortable staying in one place for more than a few hours and she had already been here for three. However she knew it could very well be another four years before she entered this part of Japan again so she put a smile on her face and sat down again.
Irene made up an excuse to leave. She knew that Kasumi and Ryu were close, and that made Ryu the only person Kasumi really had. She wanted them to spend as much time as they could together before she left because there was also the possibility she would never come back. It was something she dreaded.
Kasumi and Ryu had sat in silence for a while before Ryu asked how she had been. She looked at him in curiosity and shrugged.
"What do you want me to say Ryu?"
"The truth."
"It's horrible. Some days I don't even want to fight back but I can't stop, my body moves on its own." She shifted and he could see an old woman and the little girl he used to know. "I'm always on alert. I'm living, but I'm not living." She looked down and he watched her eyes get misty and wet. She shook her head and shook out of her revere.
"I have a question to ask you."
He nodded though she wouldn't see and she began though he didn't answer.
"What's it…." He waited and she started again.
"Ryu, what's it like to die?"
He looked away from her not even wanting to think about the reason that she asked that. He almost left her right there. He wanted to yell at her for even thinking about giving up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Ryu?"
"It's nothing." He said honestly remembering when he died many years ago. He was cut down and slain in his own village. Miraculously he was brought back to life afterwards.
"It's like a long peaceful sleep."
"I'm afraid I don't even know what that feels like anymore."
Silenced reigned for a few moments.
"Was it an end to all the pain?"
He didn't answer. He didn't want to. She asked again and he just looked at her. He didn't want to say the answer because it was a yes. He didn't want her looking for death as a way to end all the pain. He simply looked forward and she looked towards him. She thought to herself and remembered an idea she had once years ago. It's an end to the pain. That would make it worth it.
"Souka. Arigato Ryu san." She stood and he grabbed her arm.
"Kasumi." His voice was low and in a warning tone and she looked at him unfazed. She knew he would not, could not harm her in their current states.
"Nani?" she asked and he knew why she had reverted back to Japanese instead of English. She knew Irene was listening and she didn't want her to know what was going on.
"You could stay here." He said and she pulled her hand away from him.
"Iie." She paused "Thank you. Both of you, for everything, I could never repay this dept."
"Kasumi. Don't do anything stupid."
"I'm going home." She said. "It will be worth it."
"They kill you!"
The outburst came from the woman who had been lurking in the doorway. Kasumi turned to her and for the first time she smiled happily.
"I know, but I'll get to see Hayate and his lovely bride, and Ayane, and my dear parents." And Ryu's slightly hitched breath her smile faded. "Or whoever is still left." She then looked down. "And then the pain will end."
Ryu had tried to grab her but before he reached her she was gone, all that was left was a small glimmer of light and beautiful cherry blossoms.
And the memory of the strongest woman he had ever known.