All characters are property of their respective owners. I am NOT getting paid to do this, so please don't sue me.
~Faded~
A dark-clad shinobi desperately tried to crawl towards her while trying to stop the blood flow from his wounds that she had inflicted upon him. She knew that he was no longer going to harm her. He was on the edge of life and death. Trying to go further, the ninja suddenly stops and uttered his last breath.
It was heartbreaking. Their lives ended too quickly in order for her to live another day. Kasumi gawked as she stood among several broken trees and corpses of members from her former clan. She wished she could take back what she did but knew that she would never be able to do such a thing.
Kasumi dropped to her knees. She wrapped her arms around herself in disgust at what she had done. The pools of blood of the decease surround her. Never had she thought she would ever endure the pain of taking another's life. There was no escaping the life she was living. All she wanted was to return to the life she had before it had all faded away.
The one where she was happy with her older brother. The one where her parents watched her train and grow into the young woman they were grooming her to be. The one where she didn't have to face her half-sister in battle every time they met. The one where she would crush on her older brother's best friend from afar.
That was the life she wanted back. Everything that had happened to her, her family and friends made it seemed like that life never existed. That it had been all in her head. The lives she had taken made it seem that way.
It took several minutes before Kasumi was able to collect herself and continue forward. Staying in one place for too long would lure out more assassins. She was careful not to step on any blood or bodies. She didn't want to leave a trail. Kasumi turned her back towards a new path. She hesitated and looked back once more at the destruction she had left behind.
How many of those men did she know personally? Or how many were close to her brother or father? How many of them had a family back home anxiously awaiting their return?
"They needed not to die," she spoke, her voice softer than normal.
"What's done is done."
Kasumi sighed at the sound of his deep voice. She knew he had been following her. She looked over her shoulder to see him walking towards her.
"You pursue me yet again, Hayabusa." She said, not bothering to speak to him face to face.
Ryu Hayabusa had always been there. He had even witnessed the battle she had engaged herself in just moments before. It was sweet of him to be looking after her, but it was all at the request of her brother. The same one who had sent out the assassins she had just killed.
"Hayabusa, I wish to avoid causing any more problems for you. Please leave me alone."
Kasumi finally turned to the great shinobi she once admired. For years she had wished that he would look in her direction. That he would one day return her feelings. Now, that wish had diminished. It began to do so when she left to avenge her brother and family, but more so when she saw him socializing with another woman after he had saved her. It had shattered her inside. Nonetheless, it appeared that there was no time for romance, at least for her in this life.
Ryu had stood behind her with his arms crossed. His face was exposed with his long brown hair pulled back in a tie. He examined the scene, judging her work. Ryu though was finding himself staring at the former princess more often.
"You are no problem for me," he replied.
Kasumi looked down for a second. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to confront him. Kasumi was unable to speak her mind, finding herself entrance by his emerald eyes. Whatever she had felt for him was returning, but she didn't want it to. Kasumi took another deep breath and instead of speaking to him, she proceeded to walk past him.
The moment she had passed by, she felt him grasp her wrist. Kasumi frowned to the black-clad ninja.
"Let me go. I can't risk any more lives ending too quickly." She pleaded.
"Worry not, Kasumi," he said, a hint of a smile formed on his lips, "I promised to watch over you."
For the first time, Kasumi glared at him. 'How can he be so calm?'
"My clan won't stop! Your promise to my brother has been nullified. You are relieved of your duty. Please, leave me alone before you die too!" She burst out, slipping from his grasp.
Ryu crossed his arms once more and smiled down at her. "No harm will come to me, Kasumi. Besides I have dealt with Hayate before," he said, his voice so calm and natural.
Kasumi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I will not sit by while you fight my battles for me. I am strong enough to do that on my own. I don't understand why you insist on pursuing me."
Ryu pushed his weight up against a tree. He closed his emerald eyes slightly, shaking his head in the process. She obviously didn't see what he felt for her. "Isn't it obvious, princess? I will always be at your side. Even if I were to die, I will always be there."
Kasumi was at loss with words. If it were long ago, she would have gladly accepted his help, but it was he said that made her reconsider. She will not tolerate being at fault for his death if it were to happen despite how badly she wanted to be with him. She will break.
"No, you will not!" She said causing him to look her in the eye. What she was about to say would break her even more. "I will not let you die on me, Ryu. You are one of the only few friends I have left. If you fall, I don't think I will be able to live with myself. Please go back to your clan. They need you, not I…Live your life…get...get married…have a family. Just please...let me fade from your memory." Kasumi said in tears.
"Kasumi..." Ryu began, walking towards her to wipe away the tears, but she stopped him.
She placed a finger on his lip to silence him. Once he was quiet, Kasumi was on her toes as she placed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"Please understand. I am doing this for your own good," she backed away from him. "Goodbye, Hayabusa."
With a spin on her heels, Kasumi vanished into a swirl of pink cherry blossoms.
Ryu sighed. It wasn't heavy but it was still a sigh. He took the sight of the many cherry blossom leaves that have yet to touch the ground. He extended his hand to catch one. He smiled.
"You have failed to see, Kasumi," he said out loud. "I have already fallen and I have yet to pick myself up. No matter how much you beg me not to, I will never leave your side until you realize that you are the one I want to have all those things with. Running away from me will only make me want you more."
Ryu heard rustling sounds behind several bushes. He smiled to himself once more. "I guess I should go catch up to her before she will really need my help."
Ryu leaped into the air, leaving his own set of leaves to lay with the cherry blossoms that Kasumi had left behind.
Several seconds later, a ninja, with a white shinobi garb, walked from the bushes where he hid to where Ryu was at just at moments ago. His short auburn hair blew with the wind. He looked down at the fallen leaves and blossoms. He shook his head for he did not want to do what he had to do. He was soon overwhelmed by his own troop of blackguarded shinobi.
One stepped forward, "What are your orders Master Hayate?"
The white ninja just looked up at the sky before he walked away leaving his men puzzled.
~.~.~.~.~