Hmm… yes, Randomguy, I do realise that Hayate and Hayabusa are from different clans… *nod nod* the reason why Ryu is taking orders from Hayate and Hayate is getting Ryu to follow his orders will be explained later, okay? Yeah, this is AU to the extent that there is no way that this would happen. Period. ^^

Oh, another note, there is a reason for changing from present to past tense… and I have realised that I've done it. :)

She clutched her small katana desperately, dodging the wild swiping of the sword easily. Fighting her is the person she hoped never to see or fight against, yet here she was, doing that exact thing she dreaded. Pain of sorts ebbed through her as she clutched her katana, ducking under another sword blow. Never would she have assumed that she would die fighting her own brother.

Hayate was still being affected by the katana blow she had managed to get in several minutes earlier. He had uttered a cry of pain, before swinging wildly at her, as he was now. In truth, she supposed that something wasn't in order. His sword fighting had never been this poor before.

"Kasumi, I'm going to kill you!" he hissed through his teeth. A sudden sharp pain erupted in her chest, as she gasped with the pressure of it. Emotional pain was sweeping through her. Her brother was going to kill her, and even though she would always care for him, she valued her own life more. Top survival skills.

She knew that she had to act soon before the sword blade, erratic as its path was, imbedded into her side. She took a deep breath and thought a silent prayer before plunging the katana home, into her brother's side. His eyes went wide, his mouth opening in a silent scream. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, before they spilled down over her pale cheeks. Here she was, killing her own brother.

"Hayate, I never wanted it to end like this," she whispered, dropping to her knees by the limp but still breathing body of her brother, kicking the sword out of his grasp. He was gasping for air, but they both turned with the sound of the wind blowing gusts of leaves. Or was it? She felt her own eyes widen as she looked up, straight into the cold green eyes of her guardian.

"Go!" he whispered, and she readily obeyed, running as fast as her legs would take her, looking back briefly before disappearing around the corner. Her guardian was kneeling beside the still corpse of her brother. Her brother…

Tears were blinding her vision now. She slowed to a stop and leant heavily against a tree, her eyes filling with the tears that she had been trying to not shed for so long. He was dead now. Her brother.

No more assassins would come after her, her life could be normal, or as normal as a kunoichi's could be. She wouldn't be hunted any longer. That was good. Finally, she could live a normal life, finally grow up into the adult's shoes, rather then be forced into them…

Her brother…

"No!" she screamed suddenly, startling the birds resting in the trees, causing them to take flight. The scream was ragged, filled with loss, despair and grief. She screamed until her throat was hoarse, before sinking to her knees, her matted orange hair falling forward into her face as the painful tears kept on rolling down her cheeks, almost mocking the calamity with their gentleness.

"Hayate!"