Let It Burn: Death [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 45

Days passed into weeks and before the Phantom Ninja realized it, two months had already gone by. No Face was like nothing she expected it to be. She waited for someone to slip up and flaunt their cruel, sadistic nature. To enjoy bloodshed and ruin. But none of that happened. It was completely the opposite. These rogues traveled to some of the poorest areas, even those still trying to recover from the Shinobi War or their own Civil Wars. It was always dangerous, not knowing what to expect, but none complained or had reserves of their movements.

They enjoyed helping those less fortunate and nations without enough money to ask for help from Kage Villages. It was through this that Mai saw another side to her profession. It wasn't that the Be Fong would turn a blind eye to those less fortunate or refuse to defend, that there wasn't such a thing as hardship. She just didn't realize the extent of it and how grateful the people were towards the defected ninjas. None cared that they held no allegiance. They were paid with lodging for a night, even food and water, supplies, and leads for new clients. The Be Fong never sent in a report to the Hokage as to how the mission was progressing. She didn't want to be caught, even more wary of Masaru and Mokoto's skills as ninjas. Nothing would get past them. The woman would understand if nothing showed up on her desk. The older teen was doing her job.

As time went on, all become more accepting of their new member. Except Akihiro. His attitude towards the Be Fong remained sour as ever. As much as the young man tried to get a rise out of the older teen it never worked. She was always in control of her emotions and gave nothing away. She'd heard worse. A few times Beon would have to keep him in check to prevent things from escalating further.

"Give it a rest, Akihiro," Fumi sighed exasperated. "I swear that you're the child in this group, not her."

That only seemed to tick him off all the more.

It was during that time Mai finally gained an official role within the rogues. And earned a white mask with eye and mouth slits. The Phantom Ninja always thought that with such little holes it would be difficult to see everything around them. There would be no peripheral vision. That was wrong to assume, testing out the new item among the trees between jobs. It was just like am ANBU mask.

No Face rarely traveled to the Kage Nations unless it was to stop for the night in a remote area or just to pass through. Yet a mission never took place in the territory. It was a smart tactic. One that would keep them off the radar. How the Hokage managed to find them was beyond Mai because they were very careful. More so than any rogue, singular or a group, she'd ever hunted. They never traveled to islands off the mainland either.

There were many places they went Mai had never visited before on her own missions. Never was there a time to go out and explore, having to stick strictly to a schedule to be sure things were accomplished. This was the part of her undercover operation that felt freeing. The space was at their fingertips for practice in their own time or staging jobs before they happened. They were always trading ideas and trying to teach each other new techniques depending on their elemental jutsus.

No Face were the strongest with Wind and Water, many of the members possessing those elemental jutsus. Mai was the one to round them all out with knowledge in fire. No one else had that skill. The most surprising fact about the members of No Face came from Beon. His knowledge in Taijutsu was rather impressive and was his primary fighting style, unlike so many other ninjas who would resort to Ninjutsu and Genjutsu due to chakra use.

"He's skilled in all forms, which is a feat in itself," Asami relayed one night on guard duty.

Out of everyone she was the one Mai bonded and talked to the most. Her brother would sometimes join them, but not much.

"But he prefers hand-to-hand combat and doesn't like to rely on chakra unless necessary."

Because chakra could vanish in an instant. Especially for those who couldn't build up reserves like Sakura, Naruto, and herself. Maybe that was Beon's reasoning. Maybe it wasn't. A person could be good at bluffing if need be. The man could be just as deadly and skilled as Masaru. And the dark-skinned man was still a mystery. He never spoke. And he never practiced with them either during their down time. Mai couldn't figure him out and that unnerved her.

"We've moving out."

Mai broke from her train of thought mid sharpening of her weapons and looked to their leader. Everyone had stopped what they were doing in mild surprise by the sudden declaration.

"What's the deal?" Takashi asked. It was already past midday and it didn't make sense to leave so late.

"There's been a distress call in the far south of River Country. A dam broke and a town was flooded. Everything is in disarray and there are not enough hands to help them. It is a small community, no money to ask for hired help."

"This is a natural disaster, why wouldn't someone help?" Fumi asked in anger. It was despicable that no one would help without money.

"River Ninjas are scarce and most likely guarding their main Villages unable to leave their posts. Konoha and Suna will not jump on it right away either. There are too many other affairs that would take priority over this one."

"How did you hear of this?" Akihiro wondered.

"A concerned contact that came looking for us. We leave in five minutes. Leave what you can behind. If possible, we will return to reclaim it."

Not that they had much to bring with them in the first place.