Scroll 4: Rendezvous

What ran through Itachi Uchiha's mind when he came face to face with the woman he supposedly had killed no one would ever know. What went through Mai's mind, though, was enough to both fill her with a terror she couldn't quite contain and sicken her to her stomach.

It had been forever, it seemed, since she had last seen him. A lifetime. It seemed as if it had just been yesterday, for a moment, that they had lain together in their bed, exhausted after a mission, or that they had gone to the Kanseina Aka Tearoom together in the afternoon before going on their ritual stroll through the temple district.

But it hadn't. It had been years, and the last time she had seen the man who was always so gentle with her was that night. She could still see his sharingan, the tomoes whirring wildly about his pupils, as they morphed into the Mangekyou and his kunai tore through the soft, once lily-petal perfect skin of her throat.

"Why does it matter what village she's from? You're no fun, Itachi."

It sickened her to hear his name. It sickened her even more to think that she had looked at his face-albeit beneath the mask-for even just a moment in the same way she had looked at him before. And then, seeing his eyes drop to her throat, she swallowed despite herself and took in a shuddering breath. She was wearing a high-necked top, much like the traditional tops of her clan, but with a more fitted neck. Sasuke-bless him, she didn't even deserve to think his name, not after looking at Itachi like that-had bought her the first on she'd ever worn, thinking of her comfort and she hadn't worn anything since.

"She's none of our concern, nor did she directly engage you."

Mai's breath was shallow, caught, as she watched Itachi watch her. The blue-skinned man grumbled something unintelligible before pointing his weapon at her.

"Fine. Remember this day, girl. Remember that your life was spared on a whim."

Itachi had already turned from her.

"Enough, Kisame."

Before Mai had the chance to shakily exhale, they had gone. It was odd though, or it would have been had her mind not been reeling in shock as it was, but she could have sworn she heard him mutter something very softly under his breath as he sprinted off.

"A whim…"

Mai dizzily shook her head, trying to regain her alertness. She didn't remember falling to the ground, but then, he had been so obviously above her when he was there. She closed her eyes blearily and tried to clear her head. Disconcertingly close, or so Mai would have considered it, had she noticed, scarlet eyes melted black into a cool, analytical black. Itachi Uchiha glanced very briefly from behind a tree at the woman in the center of the clearing before grabbing the corpses of four Mist shinobi and leaving.

He didn't glance back.

Elsewhere, he disposed of the bodies, cleanly and efficiently. He needed to regroup with Kisame quickly…it would do no good to have him asking questions.

Mai made it the rest of the way to the village without any trouble. She delivered the scroll to the Hokage and was examined at the hospital. She had escaped with only bruised ribs and a few superficial cuts and scrapes.

Members of the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad were given priority treatment, of course, and were always to be healed to the best of the medical staff's ability, even when only with minor injuries. This was, of course, because they were the best of the best, and it was necessary for an ANBU to be fit for duty whenever the village needed them.

To be a member of the ANBU corps, a shinobi must be prepared to take mission after mission after mission, regardless of how tired one might be, how severely injured. Not that the latter wasn't generally taken care of, but…

It was a hard life. Sasuke, in his childhood, had aspired to reach the rank of ANBU, as his brother had by the age of eleven, as Mai had by fourteen. When Mai remembered the raven-haired boy excitedly babbling about how proud he was going to make her, and describing the sorts of missions he would join her and Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii on, she shook her head.

It wasn't the sort of fate she had wished for him then, not for that naïve little boy who made her forget the horrors of the field with his bright, winsome little smile. It didn't matter now, though, not when he was bent on revenge. ANBU, genin, rogue ninja…For Sasuke, there was only one end. Mai closed her eyes and sighed when she saw that Itachi's face, still consisting of the glaring, red sharingan and almost indecipherable silhouette, was still there.

And then shook her head to clear the image from her mind and thanked her fellow ANBU as they admitted her into the Hokage's office so that she could recite her verbal report and answer any questions. Written reports were, of course, mandatory, but it was well-known fact that ANBU were busy ninja, so only verbal reports were made mandatory upon return.

Written reports, Mai thought, her hand twitching in anticipation, absolutely sucked and could definitely wait until later. That said, she delved into a precise recount of her mission.

"You were accosted by a shinobi you identified to be Hoshigaki Kisame?"

Mai nodded at the Third Hokage's question, standing respectfully straight in front of his desk, looking out of the window behind him as she spoke.

"Yes, sir. Both his physical appearance and fighting style matched what was listed in the Bingo Book. We engaged in a brief skirmish, but were interrupted…The speculation that Hoshigaki Kisame was traveling in the company of Itachi Uchiha is true, sir. I confirmed it with my own eyes. During my battle with Hoshigaki, Itachi-the Uchiha appeared. It seemed that the pair were in a hurry, because Ita-the Uchiha ordered Hoshigaki to leave me. They seemed to be specifically going after Mist shinobi."

The Hokage was silent for a moment.

"You mean to say Itachi Uchiha spared you?"

Mai had dreaded the possibility of this question.

"Yes, sir. I do not think that he recognized me, though, as I was wearing both my mask and my traveling cloak. It seemed to me that both Hoshigaki and the Uchiha were going somewhere in a hurry. I thought it unusual for a renown killer to spare a ninja that could have been spying on him; I would have expected him not to take the chance. It is, however, possible that he has grown arrogant in his ability. He is not the man I knew."

Mai flinched when she realized she had crossed the line from an impersonal account of what happened to saying aloud her own mental commentary. The Hokage seemed to notice her discomfort and nodded quite kindly at her, smiling gently.

"Thank you, Mai, for your hard work. I will send for you when I need you again."

Face blazing scarlet at her lack of professionalism, Mai knelt on the ground in true ANBU style and gracefully accepted her dismissal before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves.

"Hokage-sama?"

The old man sitting at his desk looked up and motioned a young medical ninja into his office. The man respectfully placed a folder on the Hokage's desk, murmuring a deferent, "for your consideration, Lord Hokage."

The folder contained the results of Uchiha Mai's med-exam.

"If it is convenient, Lord Hokage, I will make my verbal report?"

The Hokage, more than a little intrigued, nodded and the medic began.

"We have attended to Uchiha Mai as ANBU practice protocol dictates and found that she suffered minor injuries during her time in the field, including bruising of the ribs, a mild concussion, and stress fracturing of the ulna. The report in your hands provides greater details to the particulars involved. While examining the patient, slight inconsistency of chakra flow was noted in her brain, indicating genjutsu. Greater detail is found in the file on your desk, sir, and Dr. Kirihoshi, the attending specialist, has written of the matter in further detail."

The young medic looked flustered for a moment before continuing.

"You ordered any evidence of possible genjutsu influence to be reported directly to you, sir, whether it was clear or insubstantial. Uchiha Mai is fit for duty, though, and is not under any form of genjutsu whatsoever at this time. That is my report, sir."

The Hokage nodded, picking up the folder before him and flipping through it.

"Thank you, that is all."

The medic bowed rather stiffly and left. The Hokage continued to read through the report, passing over the detailed account of physical injuries and skipping straight ahead to the section labeled "Notes of the Attending Physician."

Alarmingly subtle discrepancies of chakra flow in certain parts of brain…point to a master-level illusionist…it is unlikely that the patient managed to break such a strongly concealed genjutsu…must have been released by the caster…never before seen such subtle effects…patient is clear of genjutsu influence and is fit for duty…would advise Lord Hokage to look into the matter…possible security threat…Kirihoshi Yakuto, Attending Physician.

"Interesting…"

When Mai reappeared outside the Hokage's building in the embrace of a little breeze, she was nearly giddy with joy. She had done it. To any other ANBU, it wouldn't have been an accomplishment, and certainly, to Mai herself in the past it had come as naturally as breathing, but now it was something to be proud of.

Gleefully, she practically skipped the rest of the way to her apartment. Well, as close as someone still in ANBU uniform with the mandate of discretion looming over her head could be. It was a shallow joy and a meaningless victory, but it was joy and victory nonetheless. And she would prefer to return to her and Sasuke's apartment in a mood that didn't immediately make Sasuke suspect anything. He couldn't know that she'd seen Itachi, that he'd spared her life. No, she wouldn't let Sasuke know about that.

"Mai! You're back early!"

Mai blinked as Sasuke threw open the door, leaving her standing in the hallway with her key in her hand, ready to put it into the lock.

"I thought it would be wiser to take the scroll as early as possible, yes. Why?"

The dark-haired boy stepped aside, shrugging casually, as though he hadn't run to the door and nearly ripped it off its hinges in surprise and a little relief.

"I wasn't expecting you, that's all."

Mai stepped in almost suspiciously-which, considering what she had been put through in the past few days, was not entirely unfounded-and looked at him, puzzled.

"Are you alright?"

Sasuke nodded rather flippantly.

"I'm fine."

Mai looked at him rather unsurely before nodding.

"Well…I think I'm going to go get some sleep. I half-killed myself trying to get the scroll delivered substantially before schedule to avoid a fight, and soldier pills only do so much."

Somehow, she felt as she had when she was with Itachi, the first time he had taken her out for tea and sweets, making her (actually true and therefore valid) excuses outside her house. It was something in the seemingly forced casualness in their conversation that did it, and she wondered what on earth had brought it on.

Sasuke rather awkwardly nodded an affirmative and a puzzled, discomfited Mai left.

It had been odd, when she was gone. He hadn't liked it. And…not that he would ever admit it, but it was strange, seeing her in her ANBU gear, seeing her with that mask again, even if she hadn't technically been wearing it. It made him think too much of the old Mai, one he thought of just as fervently, though it was the old Mai that was Itachi's.

The old Mai, after all, deserved to be just as fondly thought of as this one. It had been Mai who had played with him when Itachi couldn't, later, when she had come to live with them as a young bride, it was Mai who would train him when Itachi didn't want to anymore. She had been a central part of his world, and she was everything to him now.

Sitting on the couch, Sasuke wondered when he started to worry. It was unlike him, and it was entirely unnecessary. Mai could take care of herself. She had always been his ideal of what a woman should be, gentle, nurturing, and a formidable opponent in her own right. She was well-loved by the clan, if occasionally excluded from clan meetings due to her age and her lack of sharingan. But she was kind and well-mannered and talented, and he knew she was intelligent. So what was the problem?

He thought briefly of the only time he had even had the remotest possibility of panicking for her sake before that night.

"Oh! Mai-are you alright?"

Mikoto nearly had a heart attack when Mai came in with her eldest son, a nasty bruise on her face and-here was the shock-her hair loose, shorn from just above her chin on the left side, her hair pins absent from her usually present up-do.

Sasuke, nearly at the age of beginning at the Academy, watched almost frightened as his brother quietly took Mai's hand and led her into the house.

"Nii-san? What happened to-"

Mai grinned at him and his mother.

"I'm fine, no need to worry."

Mikoto was shocked.

"But Mai, your hair-"

Mai shrugged a bit helplessly, her smile fading a little, and to everyone's surprise it was Itachi, standing almost protectively near her, that answered.

"She cut it herself. As my second-in-command, she took it upon herself to serve as a distraction while I assassinated the target. The other two members of our squad were supposedly newly passed recruits, so she requested that they remain on standby in case either of us needed backup. They were with the enemy from the beginning and turned on her. It was thanks to Mai that the mission was still a success. The entire operation had been a trap."

Sasuke scrambled up from his place on the floor, his then littler fingers tangling themselves in the remnants of her hair that were still long.

"Tell me all about it, Mai! What happened!"

The raven-haired girl laughed and shook her head.

"It wasn't really all that exciting, Sasuke."

The boy resolutely didn't pout, and tugged a little more frantically on her hair as he demanded her to elaborate on what he could tell was going to be an awesome story that would result in Mai being even cooler than she was before. At least, in young Sasuke's mind.

"Tell me! Girls care more about their looks than anything else, and you cut your hair! It was so pretty, I know you didn't want to cut it! So the bad guys must have cut it off, right?"

Itachi looked a little indulgently at Sasuke before looking to Mai, clearly preferring to lead her to the quiet solace of his room so that they could talk, but Mai started to speak.

"Alright, fine, but don't be disappointed when it's not the incredible account of bravery that you expected it to be. Our teammates turned on us-"

Sasuke blew a raspberry in disgust.

"When I'm an ANBU too, I'll be on your squad and Shisui-nii can come with us and we won't betray you and Itachi-nii EVER!"

"Sasuke, don't interrupt her," Itachi admonished gently, making Sasuke turn a little pink about the ears. Mai laughed quietly into her hand before going on.

"Of course you wouldn't, Sasuke. I know that. So, our teammates had, as Itachi had earlier suspected, been working with the enemy. It was risky, but we NEEDED to get to the target, otherwise the whole village would be in danger. So I told Itachi to go ahead and complete the mission in secret, and we told the other two members of our squad that THEY were going to do the actual assassination and that we would take out the guards."

Sasuke was sitting at the edge of his cushion.

"And then they turned on you? They did, right?"

"Sasuke."

"Right! Sorry nii-san. Sorry."

"Apologize to Mai, Sasuke. She's the one telling you the story."

"Right! Sorry Mai!"

"It's fine. When I attacked the guards to be the 'distraction,' though, the spies on our squad attacked me instead of taking the target and running like we expected them to do. I was too busy fighting the enemy ninja that the target had hired for his protection to notice what they were doing until it was too late.

You see, one of the spies was a lightning user. The other used earth. While I was fighting, the earth user attacked in order to distract me from the other spy, who grabbed hold of my hair and half ripped my hair pins out. Hair conducts electricity, in case you didn't know. Well, I know that girls like pretty things, Sasuke-kun, and thank you for saying that my hair was pretty, but I am a shinobi first and foremost. A ninja.

My appearance is not my priority. The second my hair became a liability, I got rid of it. I cut it off to free myself and used my fan to take him down. Wind beats lightning, Sasuke. Remember that. And fire beats wind, and water beats fire. What element do the Uchiha always have?"

Sasuke grinned proudly when he answered.

"Fire, duh! You have fire and wind, and Itachi-nii has fire and water!"

Mai smiled.

"Very good Sasuke. Hell, you'll probably be my squad captain in a few years."

Sasuke strutted around the house like a rooster the rest of the evening.

It was hard to think of those days, when Itachi and Mai were savoring a blossoming romance, one that was convenient when one considered their arranged marriage and how abruptly it was revealed after that incident.

It was funny how Sasuke had always thought of that day-it had proven Mai's strength to him, her courage, and her ability as a ninja. It was the closest he had come in his childhood to being frightened for her, and yet now, having nearly lost her once and having lost all else, he found that he had grown comfortable in his role as caretaker, in having her safe at home, and he found it difficult to shake the image he had of her in the hospital bed, of the scar along her throat. And it was ironic that the next time he saw her, split up again by her second mission since her reinstatement and his participation in the chunin exam, that he would not feel worried, and that she, as he had seen her so many times before in his youth, would be in the arms of her one-time lover and husband, his brother, Itachi.

Mai was called out for another mission the next day. Sasuke left for training with Kakashi. It was a long mission that Mai had been sent on, and she had been made part of a squad this time. When she returned, she was met with the sound of an explosion.

In order to do her duty as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, she traced the noise to its origin without a second thought. The sight she met with, now without her mask and armed only with her fan and hairpins, was an unwelcome one indeed, one that made her stomach churn in unadulterated rage.

"Itachi!"

Rendezvous/End.