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

Chapter 45.

Instantly Sasuke headed back in the direction of where they'd had their argument. Obviously Mei wouldn't be there, but Sasuke had watched her walk away from there, and no doubt continue in that direction. If he could find it, and see where she'd headed off, he might be able to follow her route. Though there was no telling if there would be any signs, considering the natural way Mei disappeared and left no trace of her around without even trying, Sasuke had seen what Mei was like when she was ruffled. When she had tried to turn back and return to the valley when they had been travelling to meet back up with Hebi, it hadn't been hard to track her when he had begun to follow—Mei had left footprints and broken branches everywhere with her state of mind. Sasuke just had to hope she'd do the same again now. Mei might have decided she wanted to go back home, but it didn't seem like she would be particularly happy about it after their argument and what he'd said. Not that Sasuke really wanted to think about that right now—what mattered was finding Mei and making sure she understood about everything.

Sasuke didn't bother telling Hebi about what was going on, not wanting them to get involved in his business and knowing they wouldn't be any help anyway. This was between him and Mei, and considering a large part of what they had been arguing about had been to do with Hebi, it would be best if they weren't around. Sasuke wasn't about to let this go on for days, anyway, though he wasn't about to rush Mei once he found her, and he'd gone off on his own before without any warning—they wouldn't instantly panic and think something had happened to him. Hebi could deal with it, and Mei was the most important thing right now—Hebi could wait. So Sasuke strode forward through the trees, skirting round the camp without going too close to avoid them asking what he was doing, and soon found the place where he and Mei had had their argument. Pausing as he glanced around the clearing, he soon picked out the direction Mei had gone in and started off once again, ignoring the rain and focusing on the task in front of him.

But just like it had been last time, Sasuke immediately picked out signs Mei had been nearby, frowning down at them and inwardly sighing. In the same way she was leaving an easily noticeable trail of footprints, trampled leaves and broken branches as she went along, and that wasn't something Sasuke liked to see. It meant she was affected when the majority of the time Mei wasn't affected by anything—but Sasuke had been the one to cause it, and he was able to get to her in a way nothing else could, only causing a scowl to flicker across his face. Not to mention it was easy to see for anyone in the forest, and there was no telling who that might be. True, Mei wasn't technically a rogue ninja considering she hadn't come from a ninja village and had spent pretty much all her life in the valley doing nothing but training people, with barely anyone knowing she was the hidden master. Therefore she wasn't exactly well known, let alone for criminal activities. But Mei had left the valley now. She was working for him, who of course was a rogue ninja. When people saw them working and travelling together, it wouldn't take them long to label her as a rogue ninja—for all Sasuke knew it could have already happened. And if that was the case, there could be plenty of ninja after her.

And she was still a girl. Sasuke didn't see her as weaker than him because she was a girl, especially taking into account Mei was the one training him to begin with. But she wasn't even sixteen yet, and though she did look mature for her age, it might not be enough, along with the fact she wasn't her normal self. There were people out there looking for someone who fit her description in order to attack. Beforehand Sasuke would have simply dismissed this, as she was the hidden master, and powerful ninja and was never one to let her guard down and get taken by surprise. But things were different now. Mei was upset at what Sasuke had said, she was probably angry and frustrated too, and now she was lost as well. Emotions weren't something either of them dealt with a lot, so it would have gotten to her more than other things might have—it would have caused Mei to let her guard down with realizing. She would be too busy trying to figure out where she was supposed to go and deal with what Sasuke had said to be paying attention for people around her. It could be possible she'd been attacked, and Mei wasn't at her best to fight them.

And it was all his fault.

However, Mei's mind was beginning to calm. Surprisingly, ever since she had woken up at the ninjas camp, tied up to a tree on the outskirts, Mei had been able to think a lot more clearly and rationally than before. She might not be proud of the situation she had gotten herself into, hating the fact she'd let her guard down and gotten like that, but in a way, it had been just what Mei needed, snapping her out of her stupor. It allowed her to shake off her tears and the feelings of being overwhelmed with all that had gone on, and simply think about everything from a calmer perspective. Escaping from these guys could wait, at least for the moment, as Mei knew that now she had cleared her mind it wouldn't be nearly as difficult as it might have been before. Still, she knew she wasn't quite ready to do so yet, with her argument with Sasuke remaining in her thoughts and not quieting enough for Mei to truly concentrate on getting away—so she took a breath and went into the same state of mind she did while meditating, letting the thoughts overcome her to think about them properly.

Mei couldn't say she wasn't upset at Sasuke's words—the fact she was there now was proof enough of that. But she couldn't help but get the feeling that simply walking off without a word hadn't been the best idea. Mei had never been the kind of person to avoid a confrontation: if someone challenged her, she was more than willing to take them up on it. Backing down had never been an option for Mei after all she'd been through in life. So why had she walked away from Sasuke? All that had occurred was that she had been overwhelmed by her emotions in a way she had never really been before. If she had stayed had talked longer with Sasuke, her anger would probably have died down, and Mei could have talked to him properly and figured things out. By starting the argument they were getting it all out in the open. Mei had known that things weren't right between them, and even if by arguing it was simply throwing insults back and forth, it was a way of telling each other just what was bothering them, and knowing that, it could be rectified.

It had taken them too long to get to that stage anyway, ignoring and avoiding each other and merely allowing it to build up. But it's not like Mei or Sasuke were used to it—they didn't know how to handle it. Mei had always been trained to remain clear-headed, however, and thinking back over everything now made Mei grit her teeth and glare at the space in front of her. Why was it that Mei had felt she couldn't say anything to Sasuke? Though Mei knew—she didn't want to come across as weak to Sasuke, although thinking about it now it just seemed stupid. They both carried a maturity that not many their age did, so the concept of talking about a subject like that shouldn't be so impossible to breach. Look at what had happened because they hadn't. Not to mention the idea she had walked away from Sasuke wasn't exactly 'strong': if anything, it was the opposite. It was simply like she was running away from the problems, and letting Sasuke's words overwhelm her.

They'd hurt her—a lot. Mei couldn't deny that. But she did trust him. Agreeing to leave the valley and join him on his journey had been proof of that, and even when it had wavered at hearing how Sasuke had turned his back on his friends in Konoha, Sasuke had made her realise the truth. Yes, he had done that, but he had had a reason. Mei knew he wouldn't hurt her—or at least not on purpose. She had understood that back then when they had had that conversation. The concept that she might have thought he had really wanted to hurt her back then seemed stupid when she contemplated it now. Mei knew Sasuke. She knew the kind of person he was and the kind of things he would do—and that was not one of them. True, Mei didn't quite know how their conversation would turn out if they fully confronted their issues, but at this point it had to be done—and she knew she could do it.

All she needed to do now was get out of here and back to camp.

Sasuke had thought of nothing but finding Mei and getting her back to Hebi to make sure she was alright. All their issues had fallen to the back of his mind, knowing they could deal with them. Sure, they weren't used to dealing with these kind of problems, but they weren't children anymore. They were able to talk about things rationally, and confronting Mei in an argument like that was something Sasuke already regretted, finally understanding how stupid it was. Neither of them wanted to appear weak to the other, yet that's the way it had turned out in trying to avoid it. However, that wasn't about to happen anymore—Sasuke wouldn't let things end up like this again. He paused as he wondered how Mei might react when he had hurt her like that, but as he appeared behind her, her eyes immediately moved to meet his, and seeing the smirk emerge on her face, Sasuke's concerns were nullified.

It was okay.