The sweat ran like a stream from the back of her neck, running down the middle of her back. With adrenaline pumping through her entire body, every breath was it's own sensation. With no sense of time whatsoever, the only thing she could do was to count them. So far, ninety-seven down, and God knows how many left. By this point, she didn't know if she could hold up much longer. But she had to, for Tomo's sake. They couldn't! They couldn't just take him away! He was a child, yet still they wanted to kill him! Her little brother… Pain shot through her head, as the cry of her brother echoed out in the night, before his dying moment.

"NEE-SAN!"

Kasumi winced. A dream. Those haunting memories still lingered, obviously. She sighed. She couldn't remember how long she'd been on the run. All she could recall was her hate for the ninja civilization, for killing Tomo. The hate that grew inside her, the hate that became nullifying pain. She had killed every last one that night, becoming shunned by the village she once loved. But she had soon realized that the peace amongst ones village was nothing but an illusion; they never hesitated to kill.

Slowly, Kasumi pulled her knees to her chin, huddling up to a defenseless ball of emotions. Tears burnt behind her eyelids, ready to overflow and fill her cheeks with a glossy wet coat. But she stopped herself. A shadow much different from the tree's was softly moving on the ground below her. Kasumi held her breath in true fear. But it didn't seem to help much.

"Baka-onna! Hiding yourself in a tree won't help, un." Kasumi gritted her teeth in panic and anger. Sure, she could handle dying. But being insulted by a man with a funny accent? She was a woman with pride.

"Who are you calling baka?!" Her voice came out much more insecure than she intended, and she actually did sound quite stupid.

"You, idiot." Kasumi widened her eyes when she turned her head abruptly, just to find the man standing there. He was fairly tall and wrapped in a black coat that hid his face. A strawish hat hid his eyes. This wasn't any Kumogakure Ninja. Who was this guy?

Kasumi could feel her every muscle tighten as a hand firmly grabbed her shoulder. She bit her tongue, killing the impulse to hit the guy. He was definitely faster than her. She slowly turned her head, her eyes wandering to the hand so cold that shivers ran down her spine. Or maybe it just was the knowing that this was her last moment, unable to avenge her brother. Either way, that shiver was like an alarm sounding in her body, making her impulse fizz up like mentos in coke. She grabbed the leg of the guy, pulling him out of balance. She couldn't see his face, but she heard his grunt when his broad upper body landed flat on the thick tree branch, the straw hat disappearing in the wind together with the leaves. Kasumi gasped in shock of what she'd done, and just stared at her hands for a few long seconds, before firmly closing her eyes and pushing the guy off the branch.

She stared in panic as she watched the body fall to the ground. Ninety-eight. Kasumi's face cracked up in a smile, though all of a sudden tears came streaming down her face.

"I'm going insane." She curled up in fetal position, wishing that guy just would've killed her instead. Just as she was to cry, she heard a thump on the ground.

"Not bad. We could use her, ne senpai?!"

"Un."

Next thing Kasumi knew was that she was gagged and stuffed face down in a sack containing a rather foul odor. Not dead, just in a stinking sack, not being able to ask what the hell was going on. Oh well. It wasn't that bad. At least no one saw her.

She let out a dissatisfied whimper as her body fell hard to the ground. At least she supposed it was the ground.

"You're awfully quiet." That other voice, the rather high-pitched one, penetrated the lid sealing out all sound. Kasumi only coughed lightly. What did these people want, stuffing her in a sack? After waiting a minute for some kind of response (which he really didn't get), the man started untying the sack, letting Kasumi see daylight for the first time in what felt like really long. While trying to adjust her eyes to the new found brightness, the man freed her mouth with the help of a kunai. Suddenly ignoring her surroundings, Kasumi stared a long time at the man, trying to make out any significant physical characteristics, but all she saw was the bright orange mask covering her face. She swallowed her fear and opened her mouth.

"Who the hell are you?!" She sounded much more terrified than she intended to, resulting in a scene that the masked man apparently found funny, referring to the laugh he let out. Suddenly that high-pitched voice didn't sound so high-pitched anymore.

"Little girl, we are the Akatsuki."

The slightly twisted part of Kasumi's mind seemed to be enjoying this.

Who ever thought of calling something so terrifying something so innocent as 'dawn'.

It makes you laugh.