The Kunoichi

She leaned against the bark of the tree behind her, sliding slowly to sit on the dry, dusty ground. Stretching out one leg while resting her forearm on the other, she sighed. She looked at her other hand; it was holding the handle of her sword, whose tip was buried in the ground beside her outstretched leg.

Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back to rest on the tree. After a few ragged breaths, she opened her eyes, surveying the large clearing around her. Light was streaming in through the opening between the limbs, glinting off of kunai, swords, and hitai-ate. The battle hadn't long, but the evidence of it filled the opening in the forest.

To her right lay the majority of the enemy, where they had been pushed back to after trying to infiltrate her home. Not one of them was left to threaten her friends, her family, or her village.

Spread throughout the clearing, though, were her teammates. They had died deaths befitting shinobi. They had protected that which they had sworn to protect. She knew that each had lived a good life, and was prepared for the sacrifice they had made today, just as she was. She pressed her free hand to her abdomen, now wet and slick with blood. She did not mean to cry, but as her eyes filled with tears, she closed them for the last time. One single tear ran down her cheek as the sky darkened and it started to rain.

servo quis vos dilectio

"to protect what you love"