Let It Burn: Death [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 53

The next few days since the Be Fong's return to the Village went by uneventful. Maybe were surprised when the Phantom Ninja seemed to appear out of thin air one day. Mai refused to talk about where she'd been. Since it was the older teen's job to handle top secret missions, none pressed her absence. Now back in Konoha, she trained with Belva, played Go with Shikamaru, and cleaned her home from the dust that had collected in her absence. Upon discovering the note left in the kitchen the morning after returning, she found it had been answered with the words,

Please be careful out there,

scrawled below in Sasuke's handwriting. Mai instantly burned the paper between the fingers till there was nothing left. Discarding the ash in a waste bin.

She tried to do everything and anything to distract herself from the mission, but sleeping was the hardest. It left the Be Fong to her thoughts and analyzing the fight constantly. If she had done this, if she had done that, maybe Beon would be alive. Maybe No Face could have been saved. Maybe she would have had the courage to face Sasuke alone and revealed who she was. Maybe she could have taken him on and convinced the others to escape, even if pursued by Jugo and Suigetsu.

The older teen never had a full night's sleep, taking naps here and there that weren't long at all because that was when the nightmares came. In every one of them she was a failure. Pulling herself from the bed or couch and going to meditate or train. Fresh air always seemed to help.

There was a knock on the door, causing Mai's head to pick up from where she was reading a newspaper. She was surprised to find Kakashi at the door, not dressed in uniform like always, but in lounge clothing instead. It was traditional for all ninja when they had time off so they could try and blend in with the others. Something the Be Fong had adopted since returning so not to be easily spotted by the others when out.

"Hungry?" he asked.

She had yet to eat anything all day. "Sure," the older teen said.

Grabbing her keys and money pouch the two walked through the Village in silence before coming to a ramen bar, but not Naruto's favorite place. This one was a bit fancier and offered booths so they weren't bothered by street traffic. The two of them ordered before the Jounin spoke up from behind his mask,

"You've been back for a few days, but we haven't seen you around all that much."

"Been busy."

He gave a small smile. "Yes, you were gone for a long time after all."

Mai shrugged, leaning back on the seat. "The mission took longer than expected. I traveled a lot so I was looking forward to relaxing for a few days."

Kakashi nodded, the two falling silent as their food was placed in front of them. "The Hokage told me what happened."

The Be Fong tried not to tense up in front of him, but the young man knew she was more on edge with this news. "Do the others know?" she asked quietly.

"Not yet," he reassured. "This is top secret as of now. The only reason I know was because I was your sensei, Belva included. Then there are those in ANBU, Phantom, and Root. Just so we're aware of the impending danger of those serial killers out there. Though I doubt any of them know it was you that infiltrated No Face."

"Maybe, but some will make the connection probably due to my absence from the roster."

Kakashi nodded. "Were you injured?"

"No," she whispered. "But some of them were..."

"I don't blame you for coming back, for leaving. You did the right thing, even if you think you didn't." Because the Jounin could see that the decision she made weighed heavily on her. Mai needed to hear this. "These killers are dangerous and if you stayed you may have been killed, even with your skills. You could have been found out who you were if forced to use your Chakra Strings."