Tsunade's daughter (A Naruto original fanfiction)

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Why?

"Mai-Sama. It's been a while." Those mere words seemed to echo in Mai's mind. 

It had indeed been so long since the last time she had heard him call her this way. That sounded even weirder now due to the current circumstances...

She could remember telling him just to call her Mai. 

Why would he use the -Sama anyway? He had massacred his whole clan and betrayed the village. That didn't really make sense... 

Mai could feel her body tense slightly against her will. A slight lump was forming in her throat. He looked so much the same but so different at the same time. 

"So you two know each other too Itachi-San... So you are obviously from the hidden Leaf." Itachi's companion spoke up. 

Mai focused her attention on him. He didn't look human at all. That was much weirder. He really looked like a shark. And he was wearing the same cloak as Itachi. 

"May I ask you what your name is?" He spoke up again, neither in a contemptuous nor threatening tone. 

"I can ask you the same thing." Mai replied calmly. 

"All right, I can introduce myself first if that's what you wish. But I must say I am surprised you should ask for my name. I thought your comrades would have already told you. Unless you have forgotten it; but that's very unlikely. You don't seem like the kind of person to forget anything."

"No, I wasn't told. I didn't ask them." Mai plainly replied.

"Well, I'm going to tell you then. It would be rude not to introduce myself properly. My name is Hoshigaki Kisame." 

"From the hidden mist I presume." Mai stated, noticing his forehead protector. It was scratched with a long horizontal line; just like Itachi's. It was most likely a symbol of defection. 

"As you can see." Kisame confirmed, a small smirk appearing on his shark-like face. 

Silence filled the air after that. 

The situation was become more and more awkward with each second that passed. Mai couldn't help but scan Itachi from head to toe. He had grown up so much. 

"Why..." Mai whispered trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible. "Why did you do that." She wanted it to be a question but it sounded like an affirmation instead. 

Itachi remained as hard and cold as a stone. He didn't reply anything or moved an inch. But he stared back at Mai, his gaze devoid of any emotions. 

Kisame said nothing either for now and just observed the two of them carefully, looking back and forth at each of them. 

It was becoming harder and harder for Mai to keep her composure intact as a flow of emotions was running through her. She wanted to be angry, to shout at him; yet she was really shocked and sad as well. She didn't understand. 

"Itachi..." 

Still nothing.

"What made you become like this?"

Itachi just kept staring at her blankly. His attitude seemed really strange to Mai.

The woman couldn't bear the the frustration she was feeling and this endless silence anymore. 

She didn't want to fight him. She just wanted to understand. But she was afraid it may turn out just like the way it had with Kabuto. He wouldn't give her any answer and tell her she could not understand. But unlike Kabuto she knew Itachi. Well, not intimately. But he was a leaf Shinobi. Even though he had defected the village he still was to her. And she knew his parents. And even if she had never been really close to him she could tell he wasn't the type of boy to be violent.