Wᴏʀʟᴅ ᴏғ Sɪɴ | Iᴛᴀᴄʜɪ Uᴄʜɪʜᴀ

Chapter Six

Another year passed like a moment. The life with Orochimaru and Kabuto continued at a steady pace. Mei continued studying new healing techniques with Kabuto, while Sasuke continued his training. His determination was gradually turning into an obsession, which worried Mei. There were times when Sasuke would be so absorbed in the thoughts of revenge, he would be unresponsive for days and every time that happened the grin on Orochimaru's face concerned Mei. The sly snake was plotting something, and it was a matter of time until he made his first move. Mei wished that Sasuke would see it just as clearly as she did.

Itachi never appeared during the year. Deep inside Mei knew that it was for the best, and yet she waited. After their fateful meeting, Itachi occupied majority of her thoughts. Sometimes she wondered what she would do or say if he suddenly appeared again. How would she react? And what if he trapped her in an illusion again? Mei realized that the illusions Itachi chose for her were harmless. A while ago Sasuke explained to her how the Sharingan works. If Itachi intended to harm her he could have used a more sophisticated torture. Mei knew that he could.

The day began as usual. Mei slowly walked to the kitchen rubbing the sleepiness off her face. She yawned and scratched her tummy. There was no one in the kitchen when she entered. She looked around sleepily thinking about coffee. Mei placed the filter paper in the drip coffee maker and added the ground coffee mixed with cinnamon. She poured in the hot water and set the kettle aside. She rested her head on her hands as she watched the coffee slowly drip into the see-through flask. The heavenly smell of fresh coffee filled the air making Mei's mouth water. She added extra hot water into the funnel when Sasuke walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning," Mei yawned.

"Good morning," Sasuke seemed quieter than usual. He sat at the table beside her glancing at the coffee. Mei caught his drift and poured him a cup. They sipped the hot drink in silence. "Today," Sasuke started, "I will be leaving for a couple of days." Sasuke finally broke the silence.

Mei raised her eyebrows surprised. "Where are going?"

"Kirigakure,"

"Why?"

"There is a scroll that we need to obtain from there." Sasuke shrugged.

"We? Am I going with you?" she asked hopefully.

"No, I am going with Orochimaru,"

Mei frowned in annoyance. The times that Sasuke took her with him on missions could be counted with the fingers of one hand. Yes, she was not a strong fighter, but she was an excellent healer, who enhanced her skills almost every day.

"You need to be more careful around him," she said trying to fight her annoyance. "I don't like him,"

"You've made that perfectly clear," Sasuke took another sip of the drink not wanting to discuss the topic.

Mei sighed. "Fine, be like that."

She picked up her cup ready to leave the kitchen. Sasuke's strong hand caught her wrist causing her to spill some of the coffee. "Don't be like that. You know why I am doing this." Sasuke said looking into her eyes. Mei freed her hand from his grip while returning his gaze.

"Yes, I know." Her heart clenched as her thoughts travelled to the older Uchiha. Mei turned away and walked out of the kitchen.

***

Mei was bored. The hideout was dead silent. Sasuke and Orochimaru left to execute their mission and Kabuto was missing for more than a week. The experiments she was overseeing were not distracting enough, which left the girl wandering around the hideout not knowing what to do. The day was still young when she decided to go to Yugakure. It was the nearest hidden village to the hideout and she often visited it with Sasuke and Kabuto. Mei grabbed a sedge hat and a kerchief to cover her face and rushed out of the hideout.