Chapter I: Enter Kasumi: Survivor of the Hidden Shadow Village Massacre by edlovergirl
The wind was blowing harshly as ashes were thrown across the village. People walked outside to look at the burning house that was rapidly catching others on fire. A figure stood in front of the fire, watching. A young child rushed over and took her mothers hand before rushing up the hill. She ran up the hill with all her might while her long hair blew in the breeze. She stopped and looked up at the woman staring into the fire. The woman turned and looked at the child with deep, red, blazing eyes and smiled as the village filled with screams.
Kasumi sat upright in her bed clinging to the covers and sweating violently.
Just the memory again... Haunting my sleep and my every thought. Why won't it stop and just go away? The young woman closed her dark red eyes and let her shoulder-length black hair sweep over her face as she bent forward. She pulled up her knees and hugged them to her chest, letting her head sink down to rest on her knees. She sat just breathing; she couldn't cry. She hadn't been able to since the day-since that day.
She threw the covers off of herself and stepped into her black shoes. She took off her over-sized white sleep shirt and pulled on her black miniskirt. She bent down and picked up the shirt she'd thrown on the ground after returning from her latest mission. She pulled it over her head and down to where it hugged her breasts snuggly and reached a bit above her belly button. The sleeves hung down around her arms as if they didn't even matter. She put on a necklace that had a giant ruby in the middle with gold around it and reached for her headband. It was dark red like her eyes and lifeless, like herself in a way. It bore the symbol of her old village. Kasumi was the last person alive from the old village to receive the headband. However, she would never pass on her knowledge. It would die with her, and that might be soon.
Kasumi began to stretch but stopped halfway, just like she did every morning. She could see the bandages wrapped down her arms to stop at her wrists and down her legs to stop at her ankles. Scars to remind her of what was always on her thoughts. She shrugged the gloomy feeling off and grabbed a piece of toast before walking out of her small house.
Her small house was far away from the village, but that was to her liking. She stared at the house and ignored the feeling that the house was similar to someone. She threw a match at what was once her house and walked away as it caught fire. It was a rainy day so it wouldn't catch the forest or surrounding houses on fire. She had never called it home and never would. Her enemy had burned her home down long ago. All that remained were memories and the ashes inside of her. She knew what she had to do now, before her mind and soul would be at ease. She had to finish this last mission and then go on her journey to accomplish her goal.
Her mission was to protect Uchiha Sasuke from his brother Uchiha Itachi. She had to stop at a village and pick up an annoyance. Since she didn't feel like taking on more responsibilities, they had been forced to find someone else to help her. She could be an annoyance to major organizations, but she made up for that with the quality of her completed missions. Never failed one mission, never seriously injured, never injured even minorly. A couple of scratches and bruises, but that was when she was naive and careless.
Kasumi heard a rustling behind her and stopped with a smile that spread across her face. She cracked her fingers and turned as the Shuriken stopped in mid-air. She had her right hand outstretched and moved it down as the shuriken followed and crashed to the ground. Her older sensei stepped out and she bowed. He was always surprised at how good her genjutsu was. So good that she could control things through her hands by thought.
"This is goodbye, sensei," she said with an apathetic smile.
"Yes, Kasumi," he said, sighing, and looked at her. "I hope you reach your goal. But remember... revenge is never sweet."
"I always liked sour things," she said with a twisted half smile. "Watch your self old man."
He watched as she walked gingerly away through the forest with a cold look in her eyes. He still yearned for the sweet innocent girl from before. The one who smiled with all her heart and who had eyes that never stopped sparkling. Now he was reminded of Kasumi's sister, whom she referred to as her enemy. She would smile as sweetly as she had before, and her eyes would sparkle again; he knew that. But not until she'd gotten what she wanted... and that had to be revenge.