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

Chapter 44.

It had been a few hours, and throughout it all Sasuke had remained sitting in silence.

Of course, that wasn't exactly unusual for the rest of Hebi, and knowing he wouldn't be about to join in any conversations, they had left him alone. But his silence was a little different than normal—though Sasuke was always thoughtful in a way, it was mostly because he focused on the plans for the nearby future, where he might head next and where Itachi might be. How things would turn out between them. This time, however, Itachi and revenge weren't on his mind in the least. Ever since they'd had their argument, Sasuke had been able to think of nothing but Mei. His anger had lingered as he had returned to camp, staring deep into the fire as her words burned into his mind as strong as the flames in front of him. Sasuke constantly ran over the argument, wondering why she had said what she had and debating how he should feel in return. After all, she had no right to say any of those things! Saying he was flirting with Karin—Mei knew what kind of person he was, and there was no way he'd been doing anything close. Not that she had room to talk with how she had been acting.

With what they had been through back in the valley and how Mei had gotten her revenge, and even when they had started dating, Sasuke had never imagined Mei could act like a jealous obsessive fangirl like several in Konoha had been—like Karin was. Especially when she hadn't even been willing to acknowledge the fact they were going out. They had both understood that they weren't about to shout it from the rooftops to make sure Hebi all understood, but that they would do something to get their point across. Yet Mei had ignored him and brushed aside any chance to do that—clearly the bond that taken so much for them to develop didn't mean as much to Mei as it did to him. But Sasuke had tried to ignore it—when it came down to it, it was getting revenge on Itachi that needed to be at the front of his mind, not problems with Mei. Not that it stopped their argument from circling constantly around his head, never letting up for him to simply forget it.

Though as time had passed Sasuke's anger had faded into mere acceptance. Things had changed for both of them lately—even more so for Mei—and considering it mainly involved being in a kind of relationship neither of them had even experienced before, it was bound to be a little difficult. Not to mention Sasuke and Mei weren't the type to merely open up and talk about their feelings—obviously leaving things to build up like they had. He had to work around it, and knowing Mei, she wanted the same thing. They'd both had time alone, and though Sasuke doubted either of them would be willing to truly apologise, it would mean they could at least let it pass. All Sasuke had to do now was wait for Mei to turn up again. It was this thought in itself that added to Sasuke's acknowledgement of what needed to be done, as when he ran the situation again through his mind, it fully occurred to him what had happened, and how Mei had reacted.

She wasn't the kind of girl who would cry when insulted, and though Sasuke knew they both had tempers, Mei was better able to keep hers under control and not lash out when provoked—but Sasuke didn't doubt she would if pushed over the edge. The way Mei had reacted during their argument, however, when Sasuke thought about it now, was not what he would have expected from her. She hadn't said a word when he'd spoken, merely walking away without looking back in utter silence. Ultimately that marked the situation as different, and although to begin with Sasuke couldn't figure out why she would act like that, it slowly dawned on him that in order to change someone's behaviour, something had to make it happen—but the only thing that could have done so was what Sasuke had said.

Abruptly Sasuke gritted his teeth, knowing the feeling that was washing over him but not wanting it to be there. He wasn't one to feel regret for the actions he took—he made his decisions and he stuck to them regardless, and no matter what he did he didn't feel guilty—why should he care about other people? But Mei wasn't other people, and it was evident now that Sasuke had hurt her. Her past was what had caused her to hesitate when leaving the valley and coming with him, particularly after facing Uragiri, and he'd just brung it up like it was nothing—and to insult her. Inwardly sighing at this realization and wanting to make it right, Sasuke finally gave in to his thoughts and stood up, heading straight into the forest without saying anything to the others. With each step Sasuke took the glare remained on his face, not liking the idea of having to be the one to back down, but attempted to shake it off as much as he could. This wasn't necessarily about an apology, per se, but more about making Mei see he was sorry. And he knew Mei—she wouldn't try and force him to give an apology. The fact he was there would be good enough for her.

Of course, that meant finding her, and having not paid much attention to where Mei had headed, and the fact that she could have wandered anywhere by now, caused Sasuke to have no clue where Mei was. Still, he doubted she would have gone far—even if they had had an argument, she was still training him and they were still going out. Not to mention she didn't know the area well, so disappearing off wouldn't do her any good. Either Mei was pacing in order to think things over, or in the same sort of way it had been when they had first met Mei was sitting somewhere meditating to help clear her mind. This thought helped to make Sasuke feel a little better—even if they had had an argument, he knew her well, and that they still shared that connection regardless of what might have happened. It caused his glare to soften as he walked on, more determined to find Mei than ever.

That determination only grew, however, as Sasuke noted the time a few minutes later, realizing that even with how much he had looked—how far he had come—he still hadn't come into contact with Mei, and couldn't sense her anywhere around. He backtracked and circled round again, but there was still no sign of her, and Sasuke was beginning to get concerned. Something wasn't right here. Could she be in danger? But there would be signs of a battle—they would have heard something. Karin might have even sensed other people around. But maybe she had. If they weren't close, and showed no signs of coming closer, there was no point telling everyone and getting them riled up when nothing was going to happen and they weren't a threat. At least not to them. As such, Sasuke instantly headed back to camp, not pausing as he went up to Karin and asked her if she'd sensed anyone in the nearby area—if any groups of ninja had passed through. Upon being told she'd sensed nothing, Sasuke brushed off their questions as to why he was asking and headed back into the trees. Of course there wouldn't be any ninja. The area was practically empty, not to mention Mei could take care of herself. It would take a lot to take her down, even if they'd just had an argument. So there was no way she'd got into a battle—unless she was far enough away that Karin wouldn't sense it and it wasn't possible to hear from the camp. But that would be quite a way, and Mei wouldn't go that far...would she? Sasuke understood now that he'd hurt her, but would it be enough for her to disappear all night? She didn't even know the area having not ever been this far away from the valley—it was one of the things that had bothered her when they'd talked that night after Mei had tried to turn back—

But then it hit him and Sasuke froze where he was. Mei couldn't have done it. Not again. She'd had her worries back then, about travelling and about him. But she'd overcome them, and none of it bothered her anymore. Mei hadn't been hesitant about coming with him and had accepted it entirely. So why had that changed? Did Mei really think he wouldn't notice? That he wouldn't want to do something about it or not even think about the argument afterwards? Though that in itself made Sasuke slow his pace. Did Mei think that? When Sasuke had said that back there—had it really affected her like that? Had it made it seem like he didn't care Mei had come all the way out of the valley to train him—that now he was back with Hebi she didn't matter anymore? Sasuke had always known he was the kind of person who preferred doing things alone, but he'd always figured Mei knew it was different with her.

Their argument had been all about how neither one of them seemed to want to acknowledge they were going out. Sasuke had been the one to instigate it, saying she was dismissing their relationship and ignoring him. In turn Mei had said that he treated her no differently than the others—merely a tool to help him with his training and nothing more. When he had said that was why she had left the valley...that since the beginning all she did was keep an eye on the other men...had Mei assumed that Sasuke didn't care about her? That things had changed since meeting with Hebi and he didn't want her anymore? Sasuke didn't doubt it had brought up memories of Uragiri, and Mei wanted to be back in a familiar place—where she felt safe and strong. That ultimately meant the valley. The dojo. But Mei had no idea where she needed to go to get back there, and now she was wandering around, lost, with it starting to rain. It seemed like over the past few days Sasuke had done nothing but make mistakes.

So now it was time to make up for them.