Chapter 27

Like the Be Fong promised she showed up during the other's activities the following day. Sasuke had been the first notice her approach still dressed in uniform, but the weapons pouch was missing. Their chatter began to quiet as the group watched her approach to stop in front of the Uchiha. They stared at each other for a moment in silence. Some worried the former friends would begin fighting, others wondering what they would say to each other. This was the first time the two would be in contact since the end of the war. As far as they knew anyway.

"So, what's it like being back?" Mai finally asked.

"It's different," he answered. "Things have changed."

"Thanks to Pein."

Sakura winced waiting for the two to go at it.

"Took you long enough to come back," Mai continued.

"I was busy."

"Obviously." She then glanced over at the others. "Anyone hungry? I could go for barbeque after training."

"Let's go!" Choji exclaimed. Naruto followed by quickly agreeing as well. As the group began talking once more and made their way towards the designated restaurant, the Be Fong's attention went back to the Uchiha.

"You still like eating that, right?"

He gave a nod. "Glad you remembered."

"Well, you were always so picky. It's easy to remember what you like."

Sasuke chuckled under his breath as the two walked side-by-side. The tense atmosphere had disappeared, the others watching them go. They were surprised to see them acting civilly. It had been so long since seeing the familiar sight of the Uchiha and Be Fong side-by-side, it made them pause. Mai glanced over a shoulder when she noticed no one following and cocked a brow at them.

"Are you coming or not?" she wondered.

They scrambled to catch up.

Throughout the week Mai made her presence known. Not saying much, which didn't strike anyone as odd, but would at least attempt to be involved in their activities. And every evening the group would part ways only for Sasuke to turn back up at the Be Fong's home to eat and sleep. So was their routine for two weeks. It was nice for Naruto to see Mai coming out of her shell the more she was around. And it appeared that Sasuke and Mai were accepting each other's presence. They were... friendly, more or less, but kept at a distance from each other. As if the Be Fong was afraid of being hurt, while the Uchiha didn't want to get too comfortable because he was leaving again. At least they weren't outwardly fighting.

At the end of the day their quiet meals were not as restless, enjoying the silence in the home. There were even some nights where the two conversed over missions they participated in, in each other's absence.

"Aside from me running a blade through your chest before knowing who it was, were you ever on a mission that your life was on the line?" Sasuke asked.

Mai sat for a moment in thought, chewing her food. "I was aiding a group in the Land of Water," the Be Fong said. "There was a rogue. They had a habit of decapitating their prey."

"Who were they hunting?"

"Innocent people without any chakra levels. The criminal was a coward because his prey couldn't fight back. When we caught up with him, we realized why others had been unable to kill him. The man was immune to pain. He had been trained not to feel it having come from the Land of Mountains. They have a rather harsh terrain over there. Two in our party were killed in his extermination, and another died later from their wounds due to being crushed."

"What about you?"

"Broke a few of my fingers after he realized that's where my strength came from. And I nearly lost my sight in one eye from how hard he punched. It was bloodshot for months. His blade was poisoned too and had cut into my back and shoulder."

"What kind of poison?"

"The kind that makes you violently sick in order to expel it from your body as quickly as possible when given the antidote. Otherwise, I would have been crippled because the liquid began shutting my organs down."

"Damn."

"It wasn't my finest moment as a ninja. I was stuck in the Land of Water for two months."

"When did this happen?"

"Six months after I recovered from the Jounin Exam." She took a drink of water. "What about you?"

"It's a tie." Mai cocked a brow. "It's between my battles against Itachi and Killer B."

"Not Orochimaru?"

"He was easy."

Her eyes rolled. "Easy, right, of course he was... And that's what you get for going against a Tailed Beast. Didn't you learn anything from training with Naruto? They are resilient."

"Obviously I had forgotten."

The Be Fong gave a short laugh.

The days began to wind down and Sasuke's departure drew near. It made the two start to retreat subtly. Others would not have noticed, but to Naruto things were clear. They were distancing themselves. Everyone had said their goodbyes the night prior, as only Sakura, Naruto, and Mai would see him off at the gate. The other two teams would be gone on missions.

"When will you be back?" the Medical Ninja asked.

"No idea," Sasuke said.

"But where are you going?"

"North."

"What for?"

Mai sighed to herself. The ninja would never learn that asking too many questions would annoy Sasuke to a point he wouldn't even bother answering. And only to prove his point the Uchiha exited the gates

"You coming?" he called over a shoulder.

The Be Fong started forward, startling the other two. "Wait, are you going with him, Mai?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Nothing of the sort, I need to stop by Belva's," she answered. "I'll see you both later."

It wasn't until the gate was far behind them out of sight that Sasuke spoke, "Orochimaru had a few more bases in the Sound. I'm going to investigate and be sure none are in operation."

"And if they are?"

"I'll report it when I come back."

"Why are you so curious?"

"He may be back, but no one wishes for him to regain the power he initially had. By removing the bases, we remove his hideouts should the Sanin ever decide to turn on us. He also had certain texts that could be useful to me."

She sighed. "Just don't do anything illegal, all right?"

Sasuke smirked. "Don't worry. I have no plans in becoming a mad doctor."

"That's good to hear. No one needs Orochimaru 2.0 running around breaking this time of peace." They paused beside the path that led to Belva's. "Be careful."

"Always am."

Before the Uchiha left he placed a swift kiss on the Be Fong's lips and rushed off into the trees. The action startled the ninja, cheeks blushing. A hand came up to touch the area. She shook it off and moved through the forest.

The woman was waiting inside heating a pot of tea. "Was it pleasant?" Belva asked. "The visit?"

Mai sat at the table. The Phantom Ninja was left thinking of everything that had happened over the past two weeks. "For the most part."

"Do you wish you could leave with him?"

"Now that he's not working for the enemy... sometimes..."

"Will his visits distract you?"

A decent answer would have been a firm 'no'. However, Mai knew better than to lie to her mentor. "I'll try not to make them distract me," she said.

The woman nodded. "I understand this will take time to get used to, but it's a step in a direction. Hopefully things can probably go back to being normal."

That was almost too much to ask for the Be Fong. There would always be scars from the past, ones that could not be healed completely. But what they could do is try and work around it to get back on track.

"Are you ready?" Belva's voice broke through her thoughts. "This is important. You need to focus."

The ninja's brows pinched in question. "Why?"

"The Hokage is beginning to think you're ready to be assigned to missions again within Phantom. I want to be sure you're prepared. No more C-Ranked missions. You're back on B and A-Ranks. No need to have you jump in right away and not be prepared."

"Do you doubt me?"

"Of course not, but it's still good to ease back in."

The ninja understood her reserves and didn't blame the sensei. In all honesty, was she prepared to take up the mask again? Life had been comfortable as a normal ninja. Mai nearly forgot what it was like. But there was a part of her that missed the thrill of being on the field hunting the worst criminals and dragging them in. Or eliminating them.

"All right."

"Tonight, we'll train. There won't be a moon."

Which was a perfect time for her to really practice her craft without light to guide the way. "Looking forward to it."