Hanzo could only stare as the assailant removed his mask. It couldn't be Genji, Genji was dead, he killed him. Yet the moves...he dismissed the skill, anyone could use a sword with proper training. His story-how he fled the clan afterwards, earning their wrath and how they sent assassins after him for what they perceived as a betrayal, that was known. That he would return to Shimada castle every year on the anniversary of that fight to honor his brother's memory, that was known too. He didn't question the assasilant's idenity until the bright green dragon was summoned. Only his clan could summon chi in the form of the dragons. But then the mask was removed, and it was Genji, alive. His face was scarred and his lower jaw was covered with another mask of some kind, and the eyes, the dark brown eyes that matched Hanzo's own.

"Genji..." Hanzo said, shocked. He continued to stare, he didn't know how long until he broke the silence. "What have you...become?" What had he turned his brother into as opposed to granting him a clean death like he sought to all those years ago? Genji put the mask back on.

"I have accepted what I am." Genji said, walking towards Hanzo and giving him a squeeze on the shoulder. "And I have forgiven you. Now you must forgive yourself." Hanzo could only look at his brother, his little brother, and the grief and pain melted back to the anger and resentment he still held. "The world is changing once again, Hanzo, and it's time to pick a side." Genji then leaped to one of the lower towers, knocking over some of the tile shingles. Hanzo could only look down, and, still angry, ripped a remaining arrow out from the wall and notched it, aiming at Genji.

"Real life is not like the stories our father told us! You are a fool for believing it so!" Life wasn't like the story of the dragon brothers, the clan was dismantled to the point it would take a miracle to rebuild it. Plus, last Hanzo checked, Genji had no interest in taking part in the clan in any way and he doubted that changed.

"Perhaps I am a fool, to think there is still hope for you. But I do. Think on that, brother." All Hanzo could do was stare at Genji as he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a sparrow feather. Sparrow...what their father called him. He could've shot him before he vanished, but the truth was, he didn't want to kill him now any more than he did ten years ago. But the elders had instructed him to deal with Genji, to straighten him out and get him to take a more active role in clan business. He did what he could, beg, pleaded, demanded...but Genji refused and that led to their fight. No, the truth was, he didn't want to kill Genji, but it was the best choice in a sea of terrible choices. There were ways to make a person comply, horrible ways and Hanzo just couldn't do that to Genji. Dead was far more preferable than broken. Worse, he couldn't live with himself afterwards and rather than carry on business alone, he fled. Whatever power he gained with Genji gone had soured in his very soul. Rather than go after Genji, Hanzo just put the arrow back in its quiver, returned to the shrine and complete his offering. He did not kill Genji, but he did cost him his humanity, and that deserved an offering.

He had barely entered the courtyard after completing his offering when he found himself surrounded. It was only a matter of time before they thought to ambush him at this time. He fought the forces of the clan, he was even able to neutralize about a half dozen despite the lack of arrows, but in the end they had wrestled him to the ground. So this was how it would end, in the courtyard of his former home, ten years after he destroyed his brother for all intents and purposes. He saw someone approach him, and he was forced to kneel.

"Elder." Hanzo said, his tone neutral. There were others with him, those who managed to escape death or imprisonment.

"You left us, Hanzo-san." The elder said. "You abandoned your duty."

"Yes. I did."

"You do not deny this? Do not plead for your life?"

"What would be the point? I did abandon the clan, allowing my grief at fulfilling my duty to determine my actions. Pleading for my life will not preserve it, nor will denying my actions absolve me of my guilt. I struck down my brother to preserve this clan, and yet I rejected the legacy of my honored father afterwards. I chose this clan over my own flesh and blood and ended up damning both."

"That is true. Whatever shall we do about this?"

"I would think the answer is obvious." The elder gave a smile, one that had Hanzo's blood run cold.

"Ten years ago, we would have punished you for your transgressions, Hanzo-san, in the proper way. But much has happened since that night, and the clan is in need of a leader. You have proven yourself to be no leader, and Genji? He was expendable from the day he was born. Bring him." Hanzo felt himself dragged into the castle, through the halls until they reached the meeting room. He felt himself forced to kneel into a crawling position and chained to the floor hand and foot. He heard the elder dismiss the forces; soon he was alone with the remaining elders.

"We have made new allies in our attempts to rebuild, Hanzo-san." The elder said. "But we need a master to lead us to a new age. When we are through with you, boy, you WILL remember your place." So, they seek to torture him before death, or into compliance. Hanzo may not be a leader in truth, his submission to buyer's remorse proved that, but even he knew someone subjugated was no leader, if anything he was nothing but a puppet, a figurehead. Something the elders wanted all along. He braced himself for the torture they would deliver, a beating perhaps, broken bones or a whipping accompanied by a rubbing of salt and vinegar. It wasn't until he felt flesh to flesh that he realized exactly what they had in mind.

Then he remembered nothing else.