Note: I had original intended to publish this chapter in December but due to recent health complications (Celiac disease), I was forced to take a hiatus. It's nothing life threatening but it does affect my writing, so going forward, I'll try to publish much shorter chapters. Apologies.

The trickling of the water from the nearby canal emanated a calming effect on the nearby surroundings. It created an ideal place for any who wanted peace and quiet, and that was what Sasuke had long desired for quite some time now. Ever since that fateful day, he simply could not handle the noisy crowds of the rowdy guild anymore, through no fault of their own. The words spoken by Irene still haunt him to this day. It was a complete lie yet metaphorically speaking, she might have had a point and that was what ate away at his sanity.

Was he truly the real Sasuke? Or just a piece of chakra that has a body and thinks it's Sasuke? That question haunted him for the last year or so and Hagoromo with his cryptic answers was of no help. Staring into the training dummy before him, Sasuke closed his eye and inhaled and exhaled. He repeated this process as he let his mind wander back into the memories that had begun to bother him.

"You are Sasuke but at the same time you are not the Sasuke that you know of"

A phrase that he once never put any stock into, never took heed or cared about, now haunted him more than it reasonably should. In hindsight, Hagoromo was foreshadowing what was about to happen to him. If Sasuke Uchiha had split into one who rejected the curse and one who embodied it, then who truly is the real one?

"After all, he's not even human."

Every time, the woman named Irene was within his vicinity, memories of his mother came flooding back in. If the words of the Sage rang true, then she was possibly her reincarnation; a concept further legitimized when Irene had every chance to kill him on the spot, yet hesitated. More importantly, she shed tears for him. And it was exactly because of this, that her words about him not being a human, hurt him even more because it was a reminder that the body he now had was created by the Sage of Six Paths, the same way he made the Tailed Beasts.

Who was he? Was he the real Sasuke? It was a question that had haunted him for a year at the expense of everything else.

Opening his eye, a burst of electricity pulsed through his left hand as he dashed toward the training dummy. In this instance, he refrained from using the Sharingan for reasons ranging from pride to uncertainty over his current state, but that suited him just fine even if his vision was hampered by a lack of focus on anything else but the target. Dragging his left hand through the ground, Sasuke charged at full speed, inching ever closer to the training dummy until he let out a roar and thrust his hand forward. "Raaaahhh!"

Dust blew from all corners, obscuring everything within a small radius. Once it was clear, the training dummy remained intact as Sasuke's hand harmlessly pressed again the centre. Small sparkles of electricity remained but from the onset, Sasuke had refrained from going all out at the last minute. His hands shook, his breathing heavy and shivering as he scowled. Even the powers and techniques that he utilized were being put into question; if they were truly his, to begin with. But just as his mind began to wander and mope about regarding such thoughts, a voice interrupted his train of thought and called out to him.

"Sasuke!'

Turning to his right, Sasuke saw that it was Lisanna whose voice called out for him as she was crossing the bridge over by the small canal. Accompanying her were Mirajane and Elfman. Without his permission, Talyn emerged out of thin air and flew over to the Strauss siblings.

"Talyn!" Elfman happily greeted the bird as it landed on his hand.

"You three? What are you doing here?" Sasuke blinked and asked, surprised by their visit since they hardly ever came over, except possibly Lisanna and Natsu, "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something did happen" Mirajane sardonically replied as she approached him before pointing her finger at him, "You."

"Me?" Sasuke blinked again and crossed his arms, "I'm fine."

"Pft, liar" Mirajane shot back, placing a hand on her hip, "Everyone at the guild knows something's gone wrong with you. You barely show up for work, barely talk to people, and …wait actually you're always like that but now it's worse. Heck, you don't even hang out with Erza that often anymore."

Sasuke let out an annoyed huff and scratched his head, one that was directed both toward Mirajane and himself for being that obvious. "It wasn't my intention to cause problems at the guild. If there's a misunderstanding, I'll clear it."

"Alright, then you can start telling us exactly what's bothering you" Mirajane demanded.

"Nothing" Sasuke shrugged off.

However, the eldest Strauss was not buying his nonchalant answer. "Listen, I've been around long enough to know when somebody's quiet and broody and when someone's hiding something. You're the latter."

"Believe what you want" Sasuke stood his ground.

"You!" a baffled Mirajane was outraged by his obstinate behavior, especially after that particular event that happened between them. "After everything you preached to me about not giving up, you're gonna give us the cold shoulder?!"

Mirajane and Sasuke stared each other down, shooting daggers at each other. The spark from their tension could be felt by Lisanna and Elfman, both of whom interjected between the two. "Hey, you guys don't have to get so worked up over this" Elfman pleaded, his stature having towered over both Sasuke and Mirajane.

"Please don't be angry at Mira" Lisanna implored, looking up at Sasuke, "She's just worried about you. We all are."

Sasuke seemed like he was about to say something, only to be cut off by Mirajane. "Forget it, this is pointless" Mirajane let out a defeated sigh and took a step back, "let's go Lisanna, Elfman."

"But-

"You heard him, there's nothing wrong with him" Mirajane scolded and pointed out, "Besides, you're not going to get through to that thick skull of his. If he's got problems, let him wallow on his own. Hypocrite."

The final words parted by Mirajane rattled Sasuke a bit, as his eye widened. He should be annoyed, angry even but ultimately deep down, he conceded that she was right: he was the one who reached out to her, told her that she still had people who cared about her, preached about love, and yet, here he was doing the exact opposite.

As the Strauss siblings turned tail and began walking away, some with their heads hung low, Sasuke looked on and grumbled. "Wait" he called out, invoking them to stop in their tracks and look back at him, "It wasn't my intention to hurt the others. I just didn't think my problems would affect them."

"You're not as good at hiding your issues as you think you do" Mirajane stated, "So what's really bugging you?"

Sasuke exhaled, gently raised his left hand, and answered, "It's complicated."

"Nothing is ever simple," Mirajane said as she strolled around and leaned over to Sasuke with her hands behind her back, "But you already knew that, didn't you."

"I guess so" Sasuke conceded, rubbing his face as he understood what she was alluding to, "Listen, I'll tell you all about this someday."

"Fair enough" Mira leaned back with a smile. It was at that time that a realization also hit her, "Oh by the way,…..um….you know what, Lisanna, Eflman, tell him."

Sasuke tilted his head, confused by what just happened as Mirajane seemed rather irritated and in a scowling mood.

"Oh Mira, you're a mess sometimes" Lisanna shook her head in disappointment.

"Just tell him already!" An irate Mirajane continued scowling.

"What's this about?" Sasuke asked.

"It's about Erza" Elfman replied.

"Erza?"

Lisanna hopped over to Sasuke, who in turn, knelt down a bit to get to her level since she was still smaller than the rest. "She's not showing it, but Erza was really bothered by what was happening to you. Especially since you two are really close."

"Also, she seemed pretty bummed that you weren't there for her S-Class announcement or saw her off" Elfman added.

The announcement startled Sasuke and froze him. "Erza is in the S-Class?"

"You might have known if you were there, dummy" The eldest Strauss frowned and crossed her arms, "Look, she and I are never gonna be the best of friends, but even I could tell you not being there upset her."

The Uchiha ran a hand over his hair as he tried to alleviate some of his discomfort but to no avail. All this time, he had been so worked up over his own issues that he had begun ignoring those who were there for him from the very beginning, another case of his accusation of hypocrisy. "I see," he said in a disheartened tone.

Mirajane's frown deepened before she let it go with a sigh as her expression softened, almost with a look of pity. "Look, if you wanna make it up to her, you should get her a present for when she gets back, win or lose."

"A present? If you say so" Sasuke agreed with a slow nod, "But what should I get her?"

"It should be a weapon, like a cool sword or something" Elfman excitedly chimed in, both his hands tightened with joy.

"Or maybe a nice trinket" Lisanna added, "Girls love that sort of thing." She was oblivious to the fact that her suggestion annoyed her elder sister to no end as she let out a pout.

"Alright. I'll get started soon then."

"Actually, I've got something better" Mirajane suggested, taking out a piece of paper from her pocket, displaying a quest, "We might just get what we want."

Sasuke could see where she was going with this; mutual benefit. Who knows? Perhaps he might also have some answers for himself in some mystical mumbo, jumbo. It was far better than moping about. "Fine."

"Ugh, Mira…how much further?" Elfman whined as he hauled the luggage behind him. Being the largest of the group, he had become the designated luggage carrier for his sisters, carrying the heaviest load despite Sasuke's insistence on sharing the burden, something Elfman refused for reasons the Uchiha couldn't fathom.

"Don't sweat it, we're almost there" Mirajane reassured her younger brother, happily skipping ahead.

Their destination was a small village on the outskirts of the desert between Magnolia and Onibus. An arid land rife with strange animals and bandits, though those were the least of their problems since the main issue was logistics. After an extensive train ride, the group had to continue the rest of the journey on foot.

"Mira's been in a great mood these past few days huh" Lisanna noted, walking beside Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded along, though his focus was on the road ahead.

After a long hike, the group eventually stumbled upon a lush oasis of green forests right on the other side of the desert. As they continued walking through the path, they eventually stumbled upon a small town, centered around an enormous tree.

"Guess this is it?" Mirajane said, reading the instructions on the poster as she turned around and declared to the rest of the group, "Welcome to Sharance."

Lisanna and Elfman looked on with gaping mouths, eliciting an audible "Whoa!" as a response to being awestruck by the enormous tree while Sasuke remained quiet as usual. Things like these barely fazed him anymore, even if the current world was stranger.

"*ahem*" Mirajane coughed before continuing, "Anyways, the client here is…" her eyes trailed across the request paper until her brows were raised, "the Mayor?! Name's Gordon something…..something…doesn't matter."

Her nonchalant description earned a laugh from her younger siblings, and while Sasuke was tempted to roll his eye at their usual immaturity, a part of him couldn't help but flash a quick smile over the relationship between the siblings. But just as that smile formed, so too did it quickly fade as memories of another sibling flashed in his mind, further perpetuating his own dilemma. The memory was that of a time ages ago, yet it was still so vivid in his mind; a younger Sasuke happily running over to his older brother only to be tapped in the forehead by-

*twack*

Sasuke was awoken from his conflicting thoughts by Mirajane, who snapped him out of his stupor by, ironically, tapping his forehead. He could only blink wordlessly as she leaned over.

"You, okay? You look like you're deep in thought" she said.

Sasuke gagged a little before averting his gaze, and answered, "I'm fine. So where to now?"

Mirajane's eyes fluttered with uncertainty but she refrained from pursuing the matter further for the time being and continued, "Well, we gotta check in with the mayor first."

"I was hoping for more capable wizards," the mayor said, tapping his desk repeatedly, "But you children will have to do it seems."

While Sasuke was content to let it slide, Mirajane was not a all pleased by the old man's offhanded comment. "Capable?" She repeated with an angry gruff as she rose up and stomped her way towards the mayor and slammed her hands on the table, "I'm worth 10 of those capable 'wizards', you old fart. You're lucky to have me do this job."

"Mira" Lisanna pleaded with her sister.

"There's no need to get worked up" Elfman joined in and tried to calm her.

"Quiet you two" Mirajane glared back and angrily scoffed, "If this old geezer thinks he can find better wizards, then we'll be on our way. Good luck fixing whatever problems you have."

"Lisanna, Eflman, let's go," she said, grabbing both of them by the hand and dragging them before looking at Sasuke, who stared at her dumbfounded.

"Wait!" The Mayor called out to them.

"What now?" Mirajane groaned before sniping back at him, "Thought you wanted real wizards?"

"Look, perhaps I may have spoken too hastily" the mayor admitted before quickly backpedaling, "B-but you can't really blame me for that. After all, at my age, things like these are a bit problematic."

Mirajane was not amused by his response as she shot him a narrow stare, "Blaming it on your old age huh? You old geezers are the same. If you wanna talk terms, double the reward."

"W-what!" the mayor exclaimed, baffled by the young girl's demand. "But what about the reward I offered!?"

"On account of you underestimating us, I've decided to charge double" Mirajane offhandedly replied, her gaze fixed on her nails as she avoided even looking at the mayor.

"Wait sis, I don't think that's necessary" Elfman protested.

"Yeah, I think that's too far Mira" Lisanna joined in as she looked at Sasuke, "You think so too right, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha was caught unaware by Lisanna's pleas, looking more than a little surprised. Eventually, he settled for a huff and a blunt, "It's her call."

His indifference annoyed Lisanna, though it only swelled up Mirajane's ego as she stuck her nose in the air with an indignant "hmph" and a haughty smirk. The old man was put on notice; he could either refuse and wait for another guild to take his offer, but on this occasion, it was a situation he could not ignore and thus, he reluctantly agreed, albeit not without quietly cursing along the way, "Darn kids these days…..fine, I'll pay you double."

"That's more like it," Mirajane said with a cheery smile as she clasped her hands together. "Now, as for the problem, you can explain it all tomorrow."

"But..why?" the old man asked.

"Well, it's getting dark and I'm tired. So are they" She pointed towards her three companions.

The old mayor covered his face with his palms and conceded, "Fine. But you brats better be worth your price. Ugh, children these days, not a single ounce of humility."

By the time they had found an inn, dusk had already passed as the little village was enveloped by the night. While Lisanna and Elfman waited by the lounge, Sasuke and Mirajane approached the desk where they were greeted by a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties.

"I'm Shino, the owner of this establishment. How can I help you?" the lady politely bowed and greeted them. As he got a better look, her attire was much different from anyone else he had met so far and even her name was different. She felt like a throwback to the culture that he felt familiar with.

"Two rooms" Sasuke pointedly stated.

"I see, let me have a look," Shino said as she browsed through the compendium, "In the meantime, could you tell me your names."

"Mirajane Strauss" she answers before pointing towards her siblings, "And those two over there are my baby brother and sister, Elfman and Lisanna."

Once she had jotted down their names, Shino turned over to Sasuke, "And what about you, dear?"

"Sasuke…" he paused, "Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke…Uchiha" she repeated as she began scribbling his name. Once that was done, the innkeeper focused her attention back on Sasuke, " That name…..are you also from Kannazuka as well…or perhaps Tsurumi?"

Sasuke's face reeled back in surprise. He scarcely recalled the names of these places, even in history or maps of Ishgar. From what he could deduce, and their cultural similarities, the names of the places that she mentioned were the closest to his old life, or at least, that of the former's life. Given the air of mystery he had kept to himself, playing along might just be for the best to not arouse suspicion. "Yeah..kind of"

"How come I've never heard of these places" Mirajane interjected.

"I can't blame you, we're pretty far off into the sea and well isolated" Shino answered, "We're essentially a collection of islands far east of Ishgar with Kannazuka, Watasumi, and Tsurumi acting as the three main islands. We're also called the Land of Reeds."

"You mean like Pergrande?"

"Nothing like Pergrande. Our home is much further into the ocean. In fact, it would probably take you years just to travel from Fiore to Kannazuka" Shino continued explaining, " We're a group of people living under the patronage of the sea god, Nirai, but you Ishgarians probably know him as Aquaticus."

"Guess you're pretty far from home, huh?" Mirajane looked over to Sasuke, who quietly nodded. "So why'd you leave anyway?"

"Why wouldn't he leave" Shino spoke up, sounding a bit more demure, "Our nations have been wracked with conflict and strife for years. This miserable war has cost us everything, there's nothing left there but bloodbath and misery. For those of us brave enough to weather the storm and cross the ocean here, we're the lucky ones."

Mirajane was left speechless as she swayed her gaze back and forth between Sasuke and Shino. From her perspective, she was standing between two immigrants who had escaped from their awful homeland. It's probably one of the reasons why Sasuke was always so hesitant to speak about his past.

For his part, Sasuke was also taken aback by this information but kept himself composed on the outside. Internally, he was contemplating learning more about this particular civilization.

"*Ahem*, anyways, apologies for rambling on like this." Shino clasped her hands and quickly returned to her peppier form, "Now where were we.?"

After further negotiations with the innkeeper, they were able to book two rooms, one for Lisanna and Elfman and the other for Sasuke and Mirajane. After escorting Lisanna and Elfman, the innkeeper led the latter two towards their rooms. "There you go, please enjoy your stay," she said, opening the door as the two moved in with their luggage.

"Let me know if there's anything you two need" the innkeeper continued before winking at the both of them, "Especially if you need some more….privacy."

Sasuke tilted his head and hummed, puzzled by her words given that the room itself had ample space and privacy, but Mirajane's reaction was different: her face flushed red as she stormed towards the innkeeper. "Don't get the wrong idea!" she argued, pushing her away and slamming the door shut. Even so, the woman's laughter could still be heard from the other side, earning another grumble from Mirajane. A vein popped over her forehead as she slammed her fist on the door.

Her legendary temper rivaled that of Natsu and it was something Sasuke had seen for himself on many occasions, though he had luckily never been on the receiving end of it. Not that he'd care either way.

With a loud cough, Mirajane reverted to a more neutral expression and strolled over towards one of the beds. "Soo," she began, sitting on the bed and bouncing on its softness, "Wanna tell what's going on now?"

Sasuke blinked and exhaled, "I don't think this is really the best time for it."

"Liar. You promised, didn't you?" Mirajane retorted, crossing her arms, "So this is how it's gonna work. Either you tell me what's bugging you or you're a lying hypocrite. It's that simple."

Her ultimatum wasn't much of an issue but a part of him was pained to hear someone he valued as a friend say that. Perhaps, his time with the guild really had an effect on him after all. With a hesitant sigh, Sasuke dropped his bag and began, "Okay, but only because I'm trusting you."

"I'm all ears," the eldest Strauss said, leaning forward with her hands curled up and rested on her chin as she looked on with eager eyes.

"Have you ever doubted your own existence before?" Sasuke rubbed his hands together and began explaining, "That the 'you' that exists is not real, but simply a duplicate that believes itself to be true. That all of your thoughts, beliefs, memories, and actions are guided by the work of another."

Mirajane squinted her right eye as she tried to make sense of what Sasuke was talking about. In any other case, she would've brushed this aside and viewed it as the ramblings of someone crazy, but the look on their face told her that he was dead serious about this. "So, what you're telling me is that…you're not sure of yourself?"

"In a way" Sasuke affirmed, a hand behind his neck as he rubbed it, "I just don't know if 'I' am the real Sasuke."

Mirajane's head reeled back as she gave him a look of disbelief, "Wait… this is just getting weird now. You're telling me that the person I've been talking to all this time is not the real Sasuke?"

"More than that, you've probably never met him" the boy continued.

"And how the hell did you come to this conclusion?"

The Uchiha rubbed his left arm and replied, "Back when I went on quest with Erza and Gildarts, I encountered someone important to me. She...was my mother once."

In response to his outrageous claims, something inside the eldest Strauss snapped. As if a wellspring of infinite knowledge and the truths of the universe blazed through her incomprehensible mind. "You're kidding me, right? In other words, what you're telling me is that you've got some major mommy issues" Her eyes twitched and her lips wobbled, struggling between laughing and bafflement. For a few seconds, she remained quiet while Sasuke looked on in silence before exploding, "You're suffering from some type of delusion and you need help. You really need to snap out of it. "

Sasuke rubbed his temple and groaned. The reaction that he had expected predictably occurred yet part of him was embarrassed for even trusting her with the truth. "This was a mistake" he confessed and turned around, "And here I thought I could trust you."

"Wait, where are you going?" Mirajane called out to him.

"Outside" Sasuke bluntly replied and slammed the door shut.

As Mirajane chased after him and opened the door, all that remained in the corridor was the cool air blowing past her with no sign of Sasuke anywhere. She frantically looked around the inn for him only to give up eventually and return to her room, dejected with a frown on her face. "Ugh, me and my big mouth" She slammed her fist against the wall, cursing herself at her impulsiveness.

For the remainder of the night, Mirajane spent that time huddled in her bed in the quiet room. To be fair, with Sasuke, it was always quiet since he was never one for starting conversations unless necessary: a very laconic individual in her mind. But without his presence, it felt quieter still. Her words weighed heavily on her mind, wishing she could've taken it back. What surprised her the most was that he seemed genuinely hurt by it; which was almost out of character for him based on her experiences with him since he always seemed to take any slander against him in stride, as if it never bothered him.

But perhaps, there was a limit to what he could tolerate as well. Honestly, it made him human. "Guess I don't know a lot about him as much as I thought I did" she murmured, clinging tightly to her blanket with a troubled expression. Her intention was never to hurt or insult him on purpose, in fact, she thought it was just another harmless ribbing that she had done on him countless times to no response. However, as she thought deeper on it, Mirajane realized that this must've been a delicate matter and an expression of vulnerability to air his troubles to her; an act of trust that she broke. "Dammit!" she pouted and enveloped herself completely with the blanket rolling back and forth.

….

The morning that came after, left Mirajane with a head full of questions and uncertainties. As she rubbed her eyes and stretched with a loud yawn, the eldest Strauss glanced over to the empty bed opposite hers with a frown. Parting the curtains, she realized that the sun had barely risen up as the light of dawn was at its infancy, this meant that she had ample time to look for him before Lisanna and Elfman woke up.

Once she had gotten ready, she tiptoed across the corridor, doing her best to make sure not to disturb her siblings as she crept past their room, which would seem a bit excessive from an outsider's perspective. Gingerly descending down the stairs, Mirajane found herself at the receptionist's desk.

"Well, good morning. I didn't expect to see you up so early as well" Shino said.

"Yeah, well…I have some things to do" Mira answered, leaning her arms on the desk. "Did a brooding kid walk past you?"

The woman touched her chin as she gave Mirajane a sly grin. "Oh, I see …." she giggled with a sly grin, "He went out not too long ago. But you might want to be quick, otherwise, my two daughters might steal him away from you."

Mirajane was immediately taken aback as she pushed herself off of the desk. "Hold on, I didn't say anything about him and I, lady"

"Perhaps," the woman wagged her finger, "But I could tell by the look in your eyes that it's bothering you. Call it experience, my dear."

The eldest Strauss's expression ranged from somewhere between embarrassment and revulsion as she immediately turned around with her nose in the air. "Whatever" she gave an indignant reply and stormed off.

"Ah, youngsters and infatuation," the innkeeper said as she looked on with a bemused smile, "So naïve and yet, so adorable."

…..

Mirajane was in a foul mood as she stomped her way towards the front garden of the inn. "Gets hurt over a joke but has no problem flirting with girls huh?" She murmured with an irate voice, "I never took you for a lech, Sasuke."

"Welcome!" a cheerful voice yelled out, belonging to a young lady around her age with pink hair and what appeared to be fins protruding from her head. With a shawl covering her top and a broomstick in hand, the girl paused any chores she was conducting and walked towards her. "Oh. And...good morning? I'm Aya. I run the bathhouse. Have you been there?"

The eldest Strauss was unsure of what to make of her as she maintained a considerable distance. "Names Mirajane and no, I haven't been there yet" she answered with a contorted face that reeked of discomfort. From what she could observe, it seemed the girl lacked any sort of social grace.

"Oh, do you wanna go there now?" Aya offered, dropping her broomstick and taking Mira by the hand.

'I told you I'm not interested!" Mirajane growled and pulled back her hand with considerable force. Mirajane expected to girl to be on the verge of tears, yet what happened next was very unexpected.

"Oh, I see" Aya gave an approving nod and a thumbs up, "You're on a mission to kill all those crabbies!"

"Crabs!?" Mirajane had to shake her head as she was utterly baffled by this girl, "Why would I want to kill crabs…What's wrong with you!?"

The pink-haired girl ignored her castigation and continued rambling with a big smile, "Aya pledges to give you all her support!"

Mirajane pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a defeated sigh. "Is everyone in this town so kooky? *Sigh* listen,…I promise I'll eat all the crabs in your hotel if you promise to help me."

"Sure thing" Aya readily answered.

"Have you seen dopy looking, broody kid walking around here?"

"Uh-huh. I think he went to the garden to talk with Sakuya" Aya pointed towards the direction of the garden, "Oh, Sakuya's my big sister."

"Big sister, huh" Mirajane noted and deduced that this Aya was probably one of the innkeepers' daughters even if she looked nothing like her mother. But that was none of her business to meddle in.

As she moved closer to the center of the garden, she could hear the sound of human voices nearby. As she peeked through the corner of the garden, she discovered much to her annoyance that Sasuke was in a conversation with the one called Sakuya, one that matched the looks and aesthetics of the innkeeper, leaving no doubt of the familial relation between them. "So she must be the other daughters. Looks like they're getting pretty cozy" she grumbled and bit her thumb.

"Well, these are all the curios I have, interested in any of them?" Sakuya said, holding a book in the hand that levitated and displayed all the items she had for sale.

"I was actually thinking more along the lines of something with more intricate designs" Sasuke explained, "A gift, to be more precise."

"Hmm, what kind of gift do you want to buy?" Sakuya asked.

"It's for a friend. Something like a homecoming present?" Sasuke elaborated.

In response, Sakuya closed her book and let her thoughts drift away until she came back to reality with a snap. 'If it's a homecoming present you want, then Yue should have what you're looking for" She suggested as she continued talking, "She's from the Kannazuki, just like us, and a traveling merchant to boot. She's got lots of interesting goodies from her travels and lucky for you, she's staying at the inn right now."

"So where can I find her at the inn? And at what time of day is she there?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh don't worry about it" Sakuya reassured him, twirling her left finger, "She spends most of her time at the teahouse. The inn is her break time from all those travels."

"I see" Sasuke noted, resting a hand on his chin before giving a nod of approval, "Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem" Sakuya gave out a big smile and leaned forward with her hands behind her back before moving back, "If you need anything else, let me know. I'll be at the inn."

"Got it."

The girl gave a fervent nod and a smile before skipping away, leaving Sasuke to his lonesome. It was at that time that Mirajane decided to make her presence known, although Sasuke had already figured out that she was around.

"A gift huh? Who's it for?" Mirajane said in a sardonic tone and approached him, "Getting close to all these cute girls, making you want to buy a present?"

Normally, Sasuke would just roll his eye and leave it at that, a notion that Mirajane was expecting since that was his usual response in the most nonchalant way possible. Yet, for some reason, all she could see was scorn on his face as he gave her a glare. "None of your business" he replied with a scornful huff before walking past her.

Mirajane's body tensed as her eyes widened in disturbance; she had never seen Sasuke this disdainful. Did she hurt him that much? Had she struck a nerve with her comments? The weight of that night felt heavier as she looked back and called for him, "Hey, where are you going!?"

She did not receive an answer as Sasuke simply continued strolling without a word. She reached out her hand before hesitating. "Damn you, jerk!" she cursed, dropping her fists, "Sometimes, I just don't get you."