TheDarkestShinobi: Hello, so this chapter is a bit like the second in the grittiness I would say, so I'm just warning you. Don't read if you're in a really good mood.
I'm so sorry I did update this when I said I would!
Chapter Start:
Yuki had held onto the girl inside of the temple. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a yellowish powder that didn't touch her gloved hands. She wrapped her yellow coated hand around the girl's throat. She knew the girl would try to scream from the pain, which is why the other hand flew over her mouth. After a second or two the girl slumped forward exhausted but conscious, the yellowish powder was gone but the girl's skin was a pale hue.
"Perfect." She whispered and scooped the small child in her hands, it was time to retreat somewhere that she would have the advantage. She started to run down the mountain and when she got to the bottom she jetted into the forest. She should have had someone scout out the area before as she had no idea about where she should go.
She felt the chill in the air and turned spinning lowly so that the strike missed her. She stood and Mei Lin fell from her grasps but Yuki quickly drew a kunai and held it to the small girl's throat. She then locked eyes with her original target. Yuki had heard stories of the kunoichi and right now none of them seemed to do her any justice. The girl had been described as a strong fighter without the passion to fight but looking into her eyes all Yuki saw was hate. The wind blew and the girl's hair rose with it and Yuki felt a state of surrealism.
Kasumi would die anyway; Yuki just had to figure out if she could kill her or if she would have to leave it to the child. Yuki narrowed her own eyes as the other shifted, and then froze at the laughter out of those lips.
Kasumi laughed bitterly trying to scare the other, it was a girl named Yuki, she remembered her brother complimenting her on some new thing, although that was many years ago and she forgot just what the new thing was. She knew the look Yuki was giving her. It was the 'you are a traitor you must die' look she had received countless times. What made her think she was so strong? What made her think she was so different than every other ninja to have left the Mugen Tenshin in search for her, better than the Hajin Mon, better than Ayane? Kasumi let her laugh die down and could see how disturbed Yuki was; she tried and failed to hide it.
"You can't kill me." The voice sounded weird and malicious even to her own ears she took a step forward. Yuki only had to back away about a step and a half, just one more step now. Kasumi crossed her hands in the way she used to see her sister do to intimidate people. It worked then and now. How was Yuki even alive today with the way she was getting scared?
"I'm a ghost." She saw the unconcealed fear in the other's eyes and felt satisfied, but still it wasn't enough, she had to be back enough so that Mei Lin would not be in danger.
"Didn't they tell you I didn't exist?" Kasumi said almost playfully, but inside she could feel the anger radiating in waves. Didn't they tell them that, tell them to stop coming, to stop putting innocent lives at danger? Didn't they tell them to stop!Yuki took that step back as Kasumi's words had the desired effect, the girl was no longer confident; she didn't look like she wanted to fight anymore. She looked like she wanted to run. For once Kasumi was the one hunting and not running. They had come too close, endangered a child. All of this fueled her.
Kasumi struck.
It was in that instant that she felt her blood chill. There was a familiar rush in that very second, she had always blamed adrenaline but she knew that wasn't it. She felt cold as the body fell and she watched it. She had been so conditioned to fight that she missed it, so conditioned to kill that she got excited for it. The fight there and now had been so exciting to her. She hadn't been that excited since she fought her sister. She looked to Mei Lin in horror, what danger had she put this girl in for a thrill. That's what it seems like. She had no other word to describe it.
She could not stay with them. It was all pretend, there was no way her life could really change, people would still chase her and she would still fight to survive. Maybe Mei was right, maybe she secretly wanted that because that was what she was used to. Used to running and fighting. She grabbed Mei Lin's shoulder and the girl looked to her, Kasumi suddenly felt exhausted as the girl threw herself into Kasumi sobbing.
I'm tired of this, Kasumi realized. Tired of never being happy, but she wasn't going to put them in danger in an attempt to find happiness. The girl sobbed as Kasumi rubbed her back. Kasumi picked her up leaving the body and the cutlery there. She slowly started a trek back up the mountain. It was time to get Mei Lin home, and then, then it was time to leave.
.
Mei had seen the vomit and blood on the floor and almost puked as well. She paled and almost fainted when she heard Gen Fu's story, Elliot had seen part of it to and she could fill in the rest, only one person could cause this carnage that would be protecting them, and according to what Gen Fu assumes happened, fighting for their baby girl.
She helped the boys get together, giving Elliot some bread and Gen Fu some aspirin. He also needed ice for the quickly forming bruise on his shoulder and neck. Elliot had said he was fine but she could tell he wasn't and so she hugged him until he stopped shaking. He then sat outside on the steps and waited, he knew she would be back and he would wait until he got to see his baby sis again.
Gen Fu had set to pacing around the house and Mei knew the boys weren't going to help her right now. They were busing cursing themselves. She kicked the bodies of the people who had endangered her daughter and jumped back when she heard a rib crack. Shaking her head she tried to clean it up, but no matter how she scrubbed it was still the dark crimson of blood. Eventually, when the blood was wiped up she buried her head in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably.
.
Elliot looked up suddenly when a flicker of light caught his eye. There were a bunch of lit candles in the temple. He stood so fast he almost got dizzy, he still felt nauseous but that didn't stop him from yelling 'the temple!' Gen Fu and his mother soon came out, but he was already sprinting to the temple, ready to be reunited with the little girl who had impacted his life so much.
He had her in a hug and she, for the most part seemed unfazed. Kasumi was there the entire time, in the shadows protecting her. She was safe, especially now. He tightened his arms and heard the footsteps from the Master and Mei. He pulled away slightly and wiped the tears he would never admit to crying. Mei was enveloped by her mother and Gen Fu hugged then both. Elliot almost joined and the family reminded him that part of his was missing.
"I know you're here," Elliot suddenly yelled surprising the other three. "You wouldn't leave her here unprotected!" He turned looking up into the shadows and then to the floor looking for something out of place, anything out of place, he had almost lost part of his family before, he wasn't going to again. "This isn't your fault, you don't have to leave!" he screamed hoarsely!
Kasumi watched him search for her and she shook her head sadly, yes, yes it was and yes she does. She wished she could give a proper goodbye instead of taking the cowards' way out but she can't face them right now. Can't face Elliot after forcing him to train until he bled for no good reason, can't face Gen Fu after taking out her frustrations out on him in a fight only to now be at the same place she was before, couldn't face Mei after knowing she was right, that the way she was brought up turned her into this…this thing that wants to fight wants to kill, that can't enjoy a nice quiet peaceful life. She couldn't face Mei Lin again because every time she did she would remember this.
She merged into the shadows as she watched the family comfort each other, to try to erase what happened. She hoped they could erase her as well.
