Chapter 4

It's been two months since the incident at the academy. Sasuke's face had been posted on the walls with orders to arrest on sight with charges for assault, though the charges are over exaggerated.

Surprisingly it wasn't the headmaster who caused this. From what he had gathered by interrogating a few random soldiers under genjutsu, the one who issued the arrest order is commander Lin. One of the fire nations army commanders if it wasn't clear enough.

The soldiers searching for him were part of his own subordinates. Just like Zuko had his crew and Zhao had his navy, these men were Lin's.

It was somewhat expected. He couldn't exactly go to the Fire lord with something like this and expect to receive help. He would be rejected and stripped of his position if not killed immediately which is why he resorted to using his own forces.

In this two months that they begin their search they had found nothing. No traces. They couldn't be blamed. After all how do you find someone who's former job relied on staying hidden.

The only clue they had was that he was close to Mai, which caused a lot of problems for her. They had once barged into her home, demanding to know where he was from both her parents and herself. This has caused her parents to be a bit more firm with her, forbidding her from seeing him again.

Of course she was sad but soon realized something...she was bound by rules but when had rules ever stopped Sasuke. Even after being confined in her room, he still found a way in with no one being the wiser...well except Mai. The sharingan make sneaking in very easy. He was still cautious on using his mangekyo because of the the chakra cost but the three tomoe sharingan was more than enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a room in one of the high class buildings in the fire nation, a young pale skinned girl with her black hair in two neat buns laid on her bed in her organized room.

"You know, one of these days you're going to get caught."She said with a bored tone.

"Oh please. They couldn't catch me if I stood right in front of them."

Leaning on the wall opposite her was a boy with similarly pale skin and somewhat spiky black hair that framed the sides of his face.

She snorted at his proud but accurate statement.

"But...you won't have to worry about me getting caught anymore." He said calmly but with a sad undertone which she easily caught.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked with narrow eyes, ignoring the pit she felt forming.

There was a tense silence in the room for a few seconds.

"I'm leaving." He said finally. At this point Mai was already up from her bed and standing in front of him.

"What do you mean by 'you're leaving'?" She said as her sight began to blur a bit.

"I'm leaving the fire nation." He said, dropping the news on her.

"Why?...why do you have to go!? What's so important that you need to leave?.." At this point she had broken down into sobs as she cried in his embrace. It was understandable. Your closest friend suddenly moving away and not being able to do anything about it.

He hadn't answered before she tearfully asked another question.

"Why can't you stay?" She cried softly. For all the bored and uncaring demeanor she normally exudes, she's still a child.

They stayed like that for a while before he answered.

"I'm sorry. There are many things that I need to do." He said apologetically as he soothed her.

"Then I'm coming with you." She said decisively which was replied with an immediate no. To Sasuke, this wasn't about preserving the timeline and all that crap, it was about Mai's safety. He was at least sure that she was safe until the start of canon. That's why he wanted her to stay.

He fought the urge to bring her with him but in the end he wasn't at his full power so he couldn't guarantee her safety.

He spent the next hour comforting her and allowing her to accept the fact that he was going, but with a promise that they'll meet again.

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The next week was spent with Mai sticking to Sasuke like glue. To the point where she asked him to stay in her room for the nights which he politely refused, though it hadn't been the first time she asked. Considering the fact that her parents could easily walk in...better be safe than sorry.

He decided to indulge her for once seeing as how he was leaving the next morning. He has been ready to set out but Mai delayed him for a week.

Sigh.

The next morning he was ready to head out and a slightly more composed Mai saw him off. Speaking logically, you would ask 'How is he going to leave the fire nation when he doesn't even have a map?'. That has been easily solved.

With Mai's help he was able to find a merchant who was heading to one of the fire nation colonies outside the fire nation. Sneaking onto his carriage had been child's play, literally.

Who needs a map when you have a ride that knows the way.

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On an empty road on the borders of the fire nation, a plump man of average height could be seen on a carriage filled with merchandise being pulled by an ostrich horse.

Unknown to the man, in his carriage laid a young boy laid in wait for the journey to come to an end. He had been traveling for a three days and he hadn't stepped out of the carriage since they left the departed.

He had gone on one last stealing spree before departing. He swiped as much food as possible to stock up for the journey. He hadn't worried about space for store them. He could just store then in his inventory.

Yes, inventory. Despite not having a system, he possesses an inventory which was something that confused him. He didn't care about having a system. Having the memories of a legendary shinobi is more than enough for him, the inventory is just an unexpected but welcome ability which he will very much abuse.

With that motivation, he stocked up enough to feed a family of three for a month. At the end he was satisfied but that day will never be forgotten as many shop owners yelled out of frustration at their disappearing goods.

By morning when it was time to leave, he had then realized that Mai took the initiative to prepare food for his journey for which he was genuinely thankful. He had stored it in his inventory when he was out of her range of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the boy took a nap, the carriage suddenly came to a stop. The jolt from the sudden halt was enough to to wake him up. Expanding his senses a bit, he tried to figure out what was going on.

He wasn't a natural sensor like Karin was, but he was decent. Sasuke learnt a lot from Orochimaru that wasn't made known.

Despite the people here having chi instead of chakra, he was still able to sense them. He sensed the familiar signature of the merchant, he also felt the ostrich horse's but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that there were 9 unfamiliar energy signatures surrounding the carriage which led him to only one conclusion.

Bandits.

Before he could think on how to handle this situation, he felt the signature of the merchant fade rapidly before disappearing.

'Well...there goes my ride. Looks like I'll have to handle this myself.'

Stretching his limbs, he prepared to take action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After killing the merchant, the bandits 'disposed' of the body by burning it. As they crowded around the fire, one of them who had a short blade on his hip went to the back of the carriage to see the cargo that was being transported. He seemed to be the only non bender of the bandit group, indicated by the fact that he's the only one with any sort of weapon.

As he opened the carriage, he was suddenly pulled into it, the door closing behind him.

"Ahhh-*CRUNCH*"

His scream was interrupted by a crunch and it was silent after that.

"Lee, what's going on in there!?" One of the bandits who seemed to be the leader asked, hearing the scream.

There was no response from inside. Cautiously they spread out, flanking the entrance from both sides. The bandit leader sent a nod at the one on front of him who then went to open the carriage door.

*SLASH*

The bandits tensed hearing the sound of metal piercing flesh, but nothing came out of the carriage's open door.

All that was inside was cargo, even the body of the bandit who first went inside was missing.

"Weak." Came a young voice behind them

The bandits all quickly turned around hearing the voice. There seemed to be more confusion than fear among the bandits. They saw a very young boy with black spiky hair and black eyes sporting a short sleeved high collared vest in black color.

He wore black shorts and dark gray sandals. His arms were with white bandages all the way from his wrist to under his sleeves. His ankles were also taped but the taping ended just below his calf.

"Oi kid! Who the hell are you and how did you get here!?" The leader said, lighting up his palms with flames.

"You're all weak." He continued as if he didn't hear them, his voice carrying an emotionless feel, making a few bandits shiver.

The leader was about to speak again when he heard light coughing behind him. He turned around as his eyes widened. The bandit who opened the carriage door now laid on his back on the floor, trying to breathe from his bleeding slitted throat. He let out one more hack before becoming still.

Fear and confusion spread as they eyes the dead body wondering when he got his throat got slit. Their eyes widen simultaneously as the remembered the sound of flesh against metal.

'He's fast! What do we do now!?' Those where the thought circulating as they now stared at the young boy who held a bloody blade in his hand.

"We'll bury you here!!!" Yelled the leader as he looked upon the boy with rage hindering his sense of fear.

"Well then, come." With that, the young boy blurred forward, blade in hand.