Tsunade's daughter (A Naruto original fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty-Two: New Bond

Mai was so strained that she had forgotten the thing the man had put into her mouth. And kasha couldn't see it as her mouth was closed. 

"Mai! Are you okay?" 

Mai only made a strange noise as a response. That's when she noticed what was in her mouth. She spilled it out instantly at her feet. Kakashi's eyes widened even more. What could that thing be? He didn't think about it twice and immediately took it to throw it away, as far as possible. 

"Mai!"

Said girl stared at him with glazed eyes. 

"Ka...Kashi..."

"Damn little snot.... You're never going to bring her back..." 

The man did something strange as he was not up on his feet yet. 

But that was bad. Suddenly a great number of enemy shinobi appeared out of nowhere

What the- How- Kakashi thought as he turned around and watched them coming their way. 

They had to get away now. 

He took Mai's forearm with his hand and began running away. 

"Come on, we have to go." He said hurriedly. 

Mai was tired. But she had no other choice than following him. Yet, she didn't want to be a liability for him. 

"Yeah, right! Run, run as fast as you can!! But you'll never be able to escape my men!!" The man shouted at them as he let the men run after them. 

The two ran for a while as fast as they could, Mai doing her best to keep up with kakashi's pace as the men were still after them. They couldn't fight them anyway. They were way too numerous. 

However, Mai ended up tripping on the way, though there was no physical obstacle on the ground that made her stumble. Fortunately, Kakashi did not fall with her.

"Mai! Come on, we have to get away from here!" He said still panicky as he helped her stand up.

But as they were ready to run again they noticed another group of men coming in their direction as well. They were trapped. That was a familiar feeling for both. They had no other choice now, they would have to fight. And die. 

Kakashi readied himself and uncovered his sharingan. 

"I'm sorry Mai." He whispered as a frown hardened his features. 

He was going to fail again. And break his promise once again. 

He really should have warned the village first. He had just been acting irresponsibly for a shinobi. If he had waited maybe he could have really saved Mai. He really was a worthless shinobi. 

Mai stared at his back in silence, as she was seemingly flabbergasted. What should he apologize for? She then stared at him with sad eyes. She knew they were trapped as well. And she was sure that Minato wasn't going to come to save them this time. It was already a miracle that Kakashi had come to her rescue. So was that how it was supposed to end for them? She had hardly gotten her new arm. She wouldn't even be able to use it to unlock Mokuton. What a shame... And her wish to become stronger... Would never be achieved... 

Mai began trembling in frustration. She didn't care if she had to die. But Kakashi couldn't die with her. He risked his life to save her. Besides, they did have something against her. Not against him. That was unfair. Why couldn't they just let him go? No, that world was everything but fair. Mai knew it for a fact. But she couldn't let do that. She wouldn't let him die. No matter how much of a jerk he had been with her and everyone else. He had changed and he was not going to die now.