Chapter 25

Mai groaned lightly, rotating a shoulder to work out the tired muscles from the physical therapy session. There was nothing left for her to do today. Ibiki had given her the day off. And Shikamaru wasn't expecting her to come by either. For once she was able to do what she wanted. Her eyes scanned the streets. But what to do?

There was movement above, glancing up and watching as Genma raced across the rooftops. He was headed towards the Main Gate. It struck her as odd, because that was not his normal post. Something was up. Mai shifted into the shadows of an alley, taking a deep breath and allowing the good fingers to flex, the others twitching.

"Let's give this a try," she muttered.

The Be Fong became airborne. It wasn't the most graceful mode of transportation through the Village, but she managed to go by undetected. Along the way, the teen nearly ran into Kakashi, as he passed by reading Come, Come Paradise. Immediately, Mai masked her chakra not wishing to be found. Judging by the direction of his travel the young man could possibly be swinging by her home. She'd have to deal with that later.

When the coast was clear the Phantom Ninja was moving again. Genma stopped in the guard tower along the wall. It would offer shade and protection from the weather hot or cold, sunny or rainy, and would be where Izumo and Kotetsu would station most days while scouting when not walking along the wall. There was a tree with thick branches that just reached behind the glassless back window. It was where Mai held on, slowly moving under the leaves until she was within hearing.

"Where?" Izumo asked seriously. It was odd, to hear that tone from him. The two teammates were usually always in good spirits, laughing, joking, carefree. Obviously, the situation was important.

"He's been spotted along the border of the Leaf yesterday afternoon and was headed this way," Genma said. "But as usual his latest whereabouts are unknown. He knows how to cover his tracks."

"What I don't understand is why we are speaking like this," Kotetsu stated. "He allied with the Leaf once more and all charges were dropped, so why the seriousness of the matter."

"You honestly don't believe it was that easy, do you? To just suddenly switch sides like that."

"Things happen."

"Sasuke Uchiha is unpredictable and we have no idea what his intentions are in our land," Genma stated. "Despite the good graces he's worked himself back into, a careful eye needs to be kept on him to make certain this isn't a ruse in any way. I am only telling you he's been spotted so you are careful. I don't trust him completely."

Mai didn't lenist the rest of their conversation as her ears rang. Sasuke was near Konoha. But where? Carefully, so her comrades didn't find her, the Phantom Ninja snuck away back into the trees. Skirting around the busier sections of Konoha, Mai was lost in thought. If Sasuke was in the Village where would he go? Nowhere he'd be seen easily, so old hangouts were out of the question. The top of Hokage Mountain was also not private. If the Uchiha had not made it known to the Hokage he was coming then obviously he didn't wish to be bothered. Her house–

No. He'd sense all of the chakras that lingered there from so many visitors, find it odd, and quickly leave. So then where would the ninja go?

The Be Fong instantly paused, realizing how stupid that question was. There was only one place as she completely changed direction.

A section of secluded area had been demolished in Pein's attack. And it was abandoned, a forgotten, terrible memory none wished to restore it. Stepping over the destruction surrounding the entrance it finally flattened out to the once familiar road for the Be Fong. She barely made a sound moving through the ghost town that was once the Uchiha Compound, the homes in shambles from neglect. There was no time to reminisce as Mai took a deep breath and pressed on towards her destination. Soon, the familiar front door was right in front of her and the Be Fong stood there staring at the wood surface. How long had it been since entering their old home? It wasn't a pleasant memory, and though there had been times over the last few years where the Be Fong would come by the compound this particular home was never on her radar. Instead, she'd visit the large gravestone in honor of the Uchiha.

Get it together, Mai ordered herself before sliding open the door.

The porch before the doorway leading into the house was spotless. Instead of removing her shoes as she normally would as a child, Mai entered. The once home reminded her of an empty shell, sparing glances into the rooms she passed. The ninja paused in a hallway, realizing where she was. If the teen merely glanced to the right, she'd see the closed door to her bedroom. Along with Sasuke and Itachi's as well further down. Biting her lower lip the Be Fong forced herself not to look.

The sound of something shifting drew Mai's attention. She dragged herself from the old memories and made her way to the back of the house. The ninja ignored the blood-stained walls and floor that had turned dark brown with age and rounded the corner coming to the sitting room. The far wall paneling had been pulled back giving a clear view of the overgrown garden that was once attended to by their mother. It was the silhouette that sat on the porch, their legs dangling over the edge, that caught her interest. She'd recognize that silhouette anywhere.

"You were gone long," Mai spoke up.

His shoulders tensed for a moment before sighing. Mai gave a small smirk at the fact she'd caught him off guard.

"I traveled far west," was his answer. "Trying to stay out of the way of the Tsuchikage was a challenge."

"And yet despite the danger you are going back out there."

"Yes." As the silence dragged on it confused the Uchiha, brows pinching. "You're not going to argue?"

"You'd never listen to me anyway. Not in the past at least, so why would you start now?"

He chuckled in amusement. "You found me quickly." His head slightly turned to look at the teen from the corner of his eyes. "How did you know?"

"Genma. Said there was word of your presence around the border. I figured this would be the first place you'd come if you did decide to visit Konoha and wanted to evade detection. Obviously, our security is lacking if you managed to slip in."

A smirk twitched at his lips before looking at the garden once more. "Well, you weren't on guard duty."

"My mistake. I was at physical therapy." It was odd not seeing the Be Fong in uniform, the ex-rogue realized. She was dressed down, in what many ninja would consider 'lounge' clothing. "How long have you been watching the gate?"

"A few days. Took them a while to notice."

"You could have just written a letter... or walked through the gate like a normal person."

"And where is the fun in that?"

Mai's head shook, moving across the porch to sit beside Sasuke, "People in Konoha still don't exactly trust you. You should be trying to make a good impression."

"Do you honestly believe the people of Konoha will like me so easily even if I'm making 'good impressions'?"

"No, but you have to start somewhere if you're to call the Village your home again, and ally with us."

"Hn," was his answer.

There was a moment of hesitation between the ninjas. "Are we finally doing this?" Mai wondered.

"Doing what?"

"Talking about it. Why everything happened?"

"If you want to."

"You're not going to up and leave like the last time, are you?"

"I have more time now."

"Lucky me," she stated sarcastically.

Sasuke chuckled lowly. "I missed your comebacks."

"If you didn't leave you wouldn't have missed it." That shut him up. "There is something I continue to struggle to understand." His brow cocked. "How could you ally yourself with someone like him?"

Obito. That's who she was talking about. The Uchiha sighed, "You are the only one who understood me."

"I still am the only one who understands you."

"Then why do you continue to question me?"

"Because there were other ways," she nearly snapped. "You forget that I too wanted revenge, but there were other ways to get stronger. I did that."

"And yet you never found Itachi." The Be Fong was silent, giving him the hint that the statement was a lie. "Mai."

"I would find his movements. I kept track of him. There were some instances where I was nearly caught, and I had my chances. But I wasn't ready. Not yet because I knew I wasn't strong enough to take Itachi on. Physically... and mentally. Then he finally found me." Her hands tensed. "And I was terrified. So scared I actually ran and he caught me like I knew he would. But that was when I began to understand things. That my revenge was being focused in the wrong path. Itachi wasn't the enemy. That all those years of hating... it was such a waste.

"I stayed behind to become stronger, why couldn't you do the same? There were ways. Better than allying with someone as twisted as Orochimaru and then Tobi, Madara, Obito, whatever the hell you want to call him. He was a monster that loved playing us all and making a spectacle out of our weaknesses... and pasts. He was... a terrible human being, and I'm glad he's dead. I only wish I realized sooner to place my anger and revenge towards him, and not someone I considered a brother."

Something had happened in Sasuke's absence. "What else did he do to you? Obito?"

The former rogue watched as her jaw clenched. "He forced me... to kill my own kin when they met us on the battlefield. Friends, family... my parents."

His eyes widened. "Your parents?"

"Not the greatest place to meet them for the first time, and I didn't enjoy 'killing' them." A sad smile came to her lips before turning serious. "That bastard with the help of Kabuto played them like puppets. I hate him for that."

"I'm sorry," he muttered lowly. Mai was surprised to hear the Uchiha apologize. "But with all of your anger no longer directed at Itachi for what he did then where would it be? Do you know what Konoha did?"

"Yes... Obito sought out Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato and myself to tell us everything. Why Itachi did want he did. But the people who created all of that suffering and hardship are dead now... Then I hate the Uchiha Clan for staging a coup in the first place. Obito, I hated him the most for his actions."

In a way Sasuke could understand that, saw her reasoning.

"What really made you change your mind?" Mai wondered. "Why turn against Obito when he wished to crush Konoha like you wanted... and every shinobi in this world? You both wanted the same."

"It was the resurrected First Hokage. I sought the assurance of what Obito said to be the truth. I had questions that needed answers and no more run around. It was there I found what I was searching for. In the end... I would not allow my brother's life and the Village to perish like some afterthought."

"That's rather thoughtful of you after everything you did for the enemy."

He sighed heavily, knowing his childhood friend would not let go of her anger towards him so easily. "Yes, there was probably a way for me in Konoha if I stayed. I see that now. But I needed to get stronger quickly, and none in the Leaf could do that for me. There were always rules and restrictions... I couldn't handle being held back. It worked for you, but that was not my way."

"Yet you'd risk being consumed by Orochimaru."

"He was a good opponent to test my skills. And I won in the end."

"I still think you were stupid."

Sasuke chuckled. "I was consumed with anger and hatred. I wasn't exactly thinking straight. Especially after... Itachi threatened to take you."

"I know. Later I found out the Akatsuki were looking for me. But I didn't want me to be a reason you left."

"It was one of many. If I got stronger, I could protect you. Like I couldn't do when we were children."

The breath caught in her throat for a moment, closing her eyes at the memory. Sasuke looked to his childhood friend to study the reaction. Noticing how much it still affected her. It was the same for him too.

"I couldn't protect you either," she whispered.

True. But he never asked her to. At the time the Be Fong did not know how to combat the Sharingan. As an Uchiha, Sasuke should have known what to do. How to fight it. And he didn't. It nearly cost Mai her sanity. Even if in a way it made the teen stronger when something snapped in the ninja's brain making her immune to genjutsu.

"How do you do it, Mai?"

She hummed in question for him to elaborate.

"Harness all that power?"

The Be Fong sat for a moment in thought, staring at the top of the wall surrounding the back of the garden. "I couldn't honestly put it into words if I knew myself. It just... happens. I don't even have to think about it half the time. Since merging with the Chakra Strings, they've become an extension of myself. It saves a bit of my chakra away each day building up a reserve as Belva's explained. That technique is similar to Sakura's Sage technique. Putting a little away at a time each day until it's needed. Comes in handy, I guess. In a way that's my own curse because sometimes I have no control. I just... lose it. Which can be dangerous."

Yes, it was. Her bold actions nearly cost the Phantom Ninja her life on more than one occasion out there on the battlefield.

"I harnessed that power... because I knew I needed to survive. I wouldn't die so easily and I refused to be used by the Akatsuki. I refused to be weak."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Sasuke wished to voice the question that had been nagging him since his last departure, "You never answered my question from the hospital."

Mai remembered it very well. "You never gave me a chance to answer before you left."

"So?" he questioned. "What you said all those years ago... do you still mean it?"

"I will never forgive you. I hate you, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yes... and no," Mai said. "But like I said, I won't forgive you so easily. I thought we were closer than that back then. You could have told me of your plans. And even if I would have said no, you could have asked me to go with you anyway."

"We've been through this. You would have tried to stop me."

"Can you blame me?" The ninja looked him in the eye. "You were the last thing I had left from all that violence and heartbreak in our past, and you left me. You promised a lot of things when we were children. I felt like you broke them when you left and the longer you were gone."

He remembered the day after the massacre of the Uchiha Clan. After waking in the hospital to find the state Mai had been left in. When her mind was on the brink of insanity from the illusion she witnessed. When the doctors said it would be too much to handle, Sasuke didn't care and forced his way in. The child was cowering on the bed in terror, sobbing every now and then as the memories came back. Horrible headaches would plague her every few hours. Mai was no longer the playful, smiling little girl he'd grown up with. When the tears went away only a hollow shell was left behind. In a way he felt the same for the first couple of weeks, yet a fierce determination for revenge soon filled him. That was when he promised,

"He's still out there, but I won't let him touch you ever again. I'm going to protect you. I promise. And I'm going to avenge the Uchiha Clan. I will demand him to tell us why he killed our family. And then I will kill Itachi for what he did to us."

"You won't leave me?" Mai whispered. Some of the first words she had spoken since being admitted. "Will you?"

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Mai. I promise."

"Fair enough," Sasuke said. A hand ran through his hair as it began to lightly rain beyond the extended rooftop above them. "In the end though... I did kill him."

"And did it make you feel better? Honestly."

"For a while... until I learned about the truth. A truth that Itachi didn't even tell me in the end." Sasuke's thoughts went back to their brother's final moments. When the Be Fong seemed to appear out of thin air. "You cried for him."

"Because he hinted that what we knew was false before dying. That our thoughts on the matter at hand had been wrong." Her head tilted to glance away. "I was upset because he never explained anything to me properly. I had to hear it from others, friends and enemies, and try to piece it all together."

"That wasn't the last time I saw him," Sasuke admitted. "I met Itachi on the battlefield during Edo Tensei... He too was one of the resurrected."

"I wondered if some of the Akatsuki had come to the field..." Mai said.

"He wasn't on the front line. But the one who released Edo Tensei by controlling Kabuto."

She gave a dry chuckle. "And once again we cannot commend him for his selfless act of bravery and loyalty to the Leaf." Sasuke's brow cocked in interest to what she had to say. "He didn't owe the Village anything else for what he did by killing the Uchiha Clan... and still he kept on giving even in death... After everything is all said and done, did you find all the answers you were searching for? Besides revenge."

"What do you think?"

A smirk twitch at the corner of her lips before it quickly disappeared. "Yes, otherwise you wouldn't have allied with the Shinobi Army. I would probably be dead."

His eyes flickered towards the area where the arm had been severed off. The scar wasn't visible from this position, but based on the way the fingers twitched every now and then slightly it was clear the digits were still regaining proper feeling in the nerves.

"Itachi wanted me to tell you something," Sasuke said.

Now he had her full attention. The Be Fong turned to look him in the eyes.

"'You two never have to forgive me'," he remembered. And mimicking the same movements as their brother, a hand reached up wrapping around the back of the teen's head to pull their foreheads together until they touched. "'No matter what happens to you both from here on out, I will always love you'."

A shuddered breath escaped Mai's lips, eyes closing tightly. In a way... that's all she wanted to hear from Itachi. Everything had finally come to an end. An agonizing chapter in their lives that finally had closure. It was a start to getting back on track.

Sasuke watched the emotions that rushed over her expression. To others they would only be able to notice a few and that's because they didn't know her. Didn't try to. But the Uchiha could see everything, feeling the hand closest to his own come up to clasp the wrist tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered. And he knew she was speaking to both brothers.

"Mai..."

Slowly, her eyes opened. It had been so long since they had been this close. Not including the times where they were face-to-face with sparks flying from their clashing weapons with the intensity of their strikes. Even after those instances where they crossed paths on missions, there were always distance. Because they were dangerous to each other. But now they were no longer enemies. The last time they were this close they had been children. Genin. Team 7.

Staring at Sasuke an unknown feeling began to take over Mai. She could see the intense look in his eyes, having only witnessed something similar to it on the battlefield. But then there was a bloodlust to it, danger, a killer instinct. This was something else. It wasn't until the hand still behind the head pulled them so close what was left of the space between them had vanished. Mai realized what his expression was. Desire.

His lips were cold. And she enjoyed it. Still, the action had surprised the Phantom Ninja and made her eyes widen, staring at the Uchiha in shock. He in turn watched from under hooded eyes taking in the reaction, expecting it. Her eyelids eventually closed, pressing back. He hadn't planned on doing this. It had been a thought that plagued the back of his mind for a while now and when they had come so close Sasuke couldn't help himself, honestly. Being the first to pull back he heard her breath falter.

"Why did you do that?" she whispered.

"Because I wanted to," he answered truthfully. "Have for a while now... I was only too blinded by other things to notice sooner."

Her eyes slowly opened to look into his. A calloused hand trailed down a cheek to rest at the base of the Be Fong's neck.

"I may not know what you think of me, but I'll take the fact that you didn't slap me for a good sign."

What did she think? They had grown up together, were raised together, went through the same hardships together. But their lives had taken two completely different paths yet in the end they came together to fight for a similar cause.

"I may be still trying to figure that out for myself."

And he understood. Feelings towards others were not a familiar concept for either of them. As ninja that sense of them had been cut off, coupled with the hardships endured over time and being orphaned. Love was not an easy thing to express and it was just as hard for them to pick up on it when conveyed by others. There was a barrier that kept them protected.

"You know I can't come with you."

"I know... But maybe one day this will all be over."

She understood what he meant. His journey to become stronger. But Mai never thought he needed to be. Still, it was his choice. She couldn't force him to stay.

"Just don't get yourself killed."

He smirked, standing, "I'm always careful."

"I'm serious." The Be Fong stood as well. "You still have enemies." And he met her intense stare as he took her words to heart.

"I know." The Phantom Ninja was still tense, worried for what waited for him out there. Sasuke moved forward, connecting their foreheads once more.

"I'll be back soon," he said.

"How soon?"

He gave a short laugh. "A few weeks. I'm headed south." A calloused hand ran down the damaged limb. "Focus on getting better. And maybe I'll see you on the field soon."

"I'm trying."

His lips made contact with her once more, but briefly. "I really do care for you, Mai." The Be Fong's heartbeat faltered for a moment. "And be careful yourself."

And he was gone.