There is a legend that has been passed down from generation to generation in the land of fuedal japan. The legend is a tale of a great kunouchi that was born into a normal japanese family. She did no wrong to others, yet she was hated. She was hated for the envy she received from the woman of her village. Once she reached the age of 16, she and her parents were kidnapped. Her mother was killed first before her very eyes. The men who kidnapped her and her parents were of a clan rivaled of her village. Her father was cut into small pieces, then she was next. She was mercilessly beaten, then hung from a wire on the branch of a cherry blossom tree. She was left for dead, but she survived. A woman discovered her beaten up body hanging from a tree, and took the girl under her wing. The woman trained the young girl in the ways of the ninja. She named the young girl Kurenai, then let her free after she had completely trained her. Kurenai was never heard from again, but she is rumored to be behind the killings of numerous men. She was seen using the very wire used to hang her with a kunai tied to the end as her weapon of choice. Now the legend of Kurenai circles around Japan, being told from one generation to the next.
Chapter 1: The Night The Earth Stood Still
A young woman wearing a red kimmono was hopping from tree to tree, searching for a place to sleep and a bite to eat. She landed in a cherry blossom tree and picked some fresh wild cherries. The young woman then mashed them into a paste and ate them. She sat down her weapon and drank some water from her gourd. She stared into the sky as it stared back at her. The sky smiled at all that laid under it. The young woman shed tears at the memories of her dead parents being killed before her eyes. She sat on the ground and waited for the sky to close it's eyes and let the moon smile at the people of her country. The sun bid it's final farewells to those who it once laid above as the moon began to finally smile. The young woman jumped up as she heard rustling in nearby bushes and faint footsteps. She grabbed her weapon and stood at her guard. Four men surrounded her as they drew out there weapons. The men were of another clan, and of another land. "It's over Kurenai! We've found you!" one of the men said. Kurenai let down her guard and lowered her weapon. The leader of the men walked towrds Kurenai and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Next time you go out for revenge, make sure you cover your tracks" he told her. She looked up at his face in anger and disgust. "Brother, I don't required your assisstance, advice, or your help in this matter. I will do this of my own strength and free will" Kurenai told him. "Gennouske-sama! I found you!" a woman shouted to the man talking to Kurenai. Gennouske turned around and a woman jumped into his arms with eyes full of tears. "Obero-chan! I told you we can't be together! Go back to your clan before they find us!" Gennouske told the woman. She grasped onto his shirt tighter and looked up to his eyes. "I just wanted one last kiss, for it shall be my last" she told him. "What are you talking about?" Gennouske asked Obero. Obero looked into his eyes while her own eyes were full of tears. "My father has found out about my love for you and means to kill me tonight" she told him. "I ask this of you Gennouske-sama, my one true love, I ask of you to honor me with my first and last kiss before my final moment" Obero pleaded. Gennouske leaned forward and kissed Obero's lips softly. Obero clung to his body as though it were her life perserver. Kurenai watched as her brother kissed a woman of another clan. Once Gennouske pulled away from Obero, he hugged her tight and held her close to his heart. Obero placed her head onto Gennouske's chest and listened to the beat of his heart. Obero took a long breath of Gennouske's scent to remember it in the afterlife. She finally let go of Gennouske's kimmono, she began to run towards her clan's dojo. Gennouske watched as the woman he continued to reject ran away from him to face her death. "Lets go sis, we need to follow her" Gennouske told Kurenai. "Why should we care? She is of another clan" Kurenai told her brother. "I can't let her die without at least making an attempt to save her! For the first time in my life I feel love! I can't let it slip out of my fingers" Gennouske told Kurenai. Kurenai looked at her weapon, a wire that was once used to hang her body from the very tree she stood in front of. A wire that was once covered by her own blood, now a weapon she used to cast down her judgement upon those whom of which she despised. Kurenai looked back up at her brother's face, then she took a deep breath. "I understand how you feel brother, for I too love another of a different clan, but I never received the chance you were blessed with. If this is what your heart truly desires, then I'll help you with this dramatic matter" Kurenai told her brother. The six of them jumped onto the nearest tree branch and prepared to follow Obero. At Obero's dojo, Obero bowed down before her father as he stood over her. "Obero, you have fell in love with a man of another blood, and have yet again brought shame to this clan. You shall pay dearly for your disloyalty" her father told her. It couldn't be helped, she had to do something to save her life. Her father stood over her with his blade in his hand. "Wait father!" Obero yelled. "What do you desire to speak of?" he asked her. "Members of our rival clan are on their way to this dojo!" she told him. Her father lowered his sword and stared at his daughter. "Is that so?" he asked her. "Yes, I've been luring them here so that they may die at your hand" Obero lied. "Stand up Obero" her father told her. Obero cautiuosly stood up and stared her father in his eyes. Her father handed her his blade, "I wish for you to kill the man you lured here" he told her. Obero's eyes bulged out of her skull at her father's request. Obero grabbed the blade and unsheathed it slowly, staring at her reflection. "Yes father, I shall do as you wish" she told him.