A Rose By Any Other Name (A Sasuke Uchiha Story)

Chapter 39.

Hebi accepted Mei's presence there easily enough.

It was a bit of a shock at the idea that she had been the Tatsujin no Kakusareta; the very master that Sasuke had travelled to find. Not only that, but that they had managed to get close enough to one another for Mei to agree to come back with him and train him as they travelled and worked on Sasuke's goal. They hadn't known him that long, but Hebi knew that Sasuke wasn't the kind of person to let whoever he bumped into along the way tag along for the ride—when recruiting them, he had hand picked them for their abilities and took only the amount of people he absolutely needed. So the idea of him coming back with a new team member was a little strange. Not to mention the way Mei was in herself. Just by looking at her and the way she acted was enough to know that she was like Sasuke in a lot of ways, but if that was the case, the concept of her agreeing to come along with him was also one that Hebi couldn't quite understand. But still, Sasuke had made his decision, and they couldn't do anything about it. Evidently he'd done it for a reason, and there was no reason for any of them to think that Mei wouldn't get in their way—so there was no reason for them not to accept her.

With that taken into account, Suigetsu and Juugo shrugged it off, and though Karin paused, narrowing her eyes at Mei, she too shook it off and let it be. It meant that Mei didn't hesitate anymore in going over to them all, meeting them one by one. She wasn't exactly planning on getting close to any of them, but it was still good to know what kind of people you were going to be working with. Suigetsu and Juugo were amicable enough—Juugo merely greeted her gently with a small smile, though Suigetsu seemed a little more enthusiastic, but Mei got the feeling it was because of her circumstances in turning up in general rather than a particular interest in her. Still, Mei merely accepted it, not finding it much of a bother, and moved onto Karin. It was Karin, out of all three of the group that appeared the most hesitant with Mei joining. Why exactly that was, Mei couldn't quite tell, though she made her first theories as she stood in front of her. She kept her face blank, nothing revealing what Mei might be thinking about her, simply watching as Karin narrowed her eyes in her direction, almost uncertain as to whether to glare or not. Eventually, however, she nodded in greeting and introduced herself, though Mei got the feeling they wouldn't be becoming friends any time soon.

Sasuke could only watch from behind her, uncertain as to how to act. The fact that Mei had simply stepped forward and ignored the idea of revealing their relationship had surprised him, and without any experience of how to handle situations like these, it was all he could do to merely stand there in silence and wait. There was no hesitation when she went over to get introduced to Suigetsu and Juugo, and a part of him had automatically tensed up at that fact—though Sasuke had no idea why. Instead he kept his expression taciturn as always and waited until the introductions were over, before stating bluntly,

"We'll stay here for the night, then head off in the morning."

There was no need to wait around, after all, and they had things to be getting on with. Neither Mei nor Sasuke needed time to rest, so there was no reason for them to leave as soon as possible. The moment Sasuke stated his intentions, however, ultimately signally everyone could chill out for the rest of the day, and Karin came over to Sasuke, immediately replying firmly,

"Come on, Sasuke-kun! Let's go to my room—I can tell you everything that's happened while you've been gone. It hasn't been much, but still, you need to know, right?"

Instantly Mei narrowed her eyes at how Karin sidled up to Sasuke as she said that. She didn't grab hold of him and hug him or anything, but she wasn't exactly holding back, either. It wasn't the kind of way anyone should act—in Mei's opinion—but it was ever more heightened with the fact it was Sasuke. But even that Mei could have accepted. She didn't agree with what Karin was doing, seeing it as stupid and rather ridiculous. But it was how Sasuke reacted—or, for that matter, how he didn't react. He didn't move to get away from her, or tell her to stop what she was doing, merely standing there and letting it happen. True, he wasn't going along with it, but a niggling feeling in the back of Mei's mind was telling her that Sasuke should be turning away or saying something. Only noticing it a moment later, Mei attempted to shake it off, not understanding why she was getting so focused on it—why she felt that way. Regardless, it didn't matter anyway; they had just gotten back from the journey, and having just met up and introduced Mei to Hebi, Sasuke probably felt there was no need to argue. As such, Mei brushed it off, though that feeling hovered in the back of her mind—something Sasuke could sympathize with.

It didn't exactly help when Mei asked for separate rooms.

Sasuke probably would have gone along with the idea anyway when no one in Hebi knew about them dating, but the fact that Mei had just walked off and done it without even mentioning anything to him put him on guard. So trying to push it aside, irrespective of the fact that they kissed goodnight and spoke about how things had gone well, both Mei and Sasuke went to their rooms—and to sleep—with the question as to whether things would change for them now they were not only away from the valley, but working with Hebi as well.

Things certainly weren't the same as they got up the next morning and left the inn to begin travelling again. It had been difficult enough with the idea that neither of them were sure how to act around each other with the concept of them going out floating around, often having left them remaining apart as they had tried to decide what to do. After the day before, however, and not only did Sasuke and Mei still not know what to do or how to act as a couple, but their willingness to hang out in the same sort of way they had done while travelling alone had dropped significantly. The fact that in both of their minds, the other hadn't wanted to admit to them being in a relationship remained at the forefront of their thoughts; unable to stop wondering why that was the case. It left them unsure how to feel in return, whether irritated at the situation and wanting to confront the other, or frustrated at how things were turning out—an uncertainty that only tied in with not knowing how to act as a couple. But as they went on travelling, more and more time passing by, they couldn't help but consider the idea that the other didn't like the idea of the rest of Hebi knowing about their relationship.

However, as much as they were distant people, never showing their emotions and remaining mysterious to the majority of people around them, Sasuke and Mei were unable to hold back a slight feeling of nervousness at the idea. They hung out and talked when Mei trained Sasuke, with the breaks in between and the time afterwards, but compared to how much they had been around each other before, it was nothing. Getting into a relationship had been difficult enough when the both of them always kept barriers up around themselves in order to stop anyone from getting close. But during the time they spent together at the dojo, Sasuke and Mei had managed to break down those barriers in order to get to where they were. Therefore, with the way things were changing between them, the decreasing amount of time they were spending together and having no idea how they should act while spending that time together or deal with their combined problems, it was almost as if those barriers were reappearing.

The fact Sasuke and Mei didn't understand how they were feeling didn't serve to make things any better, either. Though Mei had tried to brush aside what Karin had done when first seeing Sasuke again, she found it harder and harder to let it go as her behaviour merely continued—and so did Sasuke's reaction. No matter how many times she acted like that, said something flirty or got close to him physically, Sasuke never did anything to stop her or say otherwise. It automatically brought up a feeling inside of Mei that she couldn't place—she was angry, but not like she would normally feel, almost feeling uncomfortable at the same time. All she knew was that she didn't want it to be continuing. A ball of emotion seemed to build up in her chest at times when she saw it happening or heard something Karin was saying to Sasuke, but Mei suppressed it and pushed it aside. She had never been one to get overwhelmed by her emotions, and things weren't about to change now. It would have just been a lot easier if she knew why she was feeling like this.

Then again, even if she knew, would it change anything?