"...What should I call you then?"
After her initial excitement, Mai had stopped crying, though a thin layer of moisture still shimmered in her eyes.
'What should she call me?' Logan felt that something was off, 'After all these years, an unexpected reunion, and this was how their conversation was unfolding?'
But Logan still went along with it, "Call me 'onii-san'! I told you before, didn't I? How do I look like an uncle?"
Logan turned his head and glanced back about a hundred meters away. The other Konoha's Ninja were still sprawled on the ground, unable to move. He had held back earlier, only using Lightning Release as a form of 'electric therapy' on them, including that scar-necked Jonin leading the team.
'Wait, so these three people lying on the ground… they're in the same team as Mai? Her sensei and her teammates that she's spent every day with...'
Mai kept staring at Logan's face. His face had become more mature than before, but still young and strikingly handsome. Again and again, she looked, and indeed… he didn't seem like an uncle. Her lips parted slightly, and in a voice soft as a whisper, she hesitantly said, "Hattori… nii-san."
"Mm, now that sounds right." Logan nodded casually, though his mind was preoccupied. He was already thinking about the aftermath of the fight.
His combat skills were still as sharp as ever, at least that was confirmed. But now that he had met Konoha's Ninja here, the news of his return was probably about to land on the Hokage's desk.
He turned his head back, just in time to see Mai suddenly lose strength and collapse.
"What's wrong?" Logan was startled, quickly catching her frail body. Seeing her eyes tightly shut, he was baffled, 'I just told her to call me 'onii-san'… Would she really faint from that? But I'm not that old.'
Guessing that his earlier actions might have injured her somewhere, Logan carefully laid the unconscious girl down, positioning her legs flat on the ground and letting her body lean against the tree trunk.
Her breathing was steady, and in this quiet moment, she looked as docile as a doll, completely at his mercy.
After a brief inspection, there were no visible injuries, but her face was a little white and she looked a little too drained.
"What's going on…?"
Logan was helpless and looked at the silent Mai, who was dressed in black and green Ninja uniforms, with her bandaged ankles and thighs pressed against the grass. A single leaf brushed the tree bark before spinning downward, briefly dimming the silver sheen of her Konoha's forehead protector as it fell.
Right now, Mai looked as if she had simply fallen asleep from exhaustion.
As he kept watching, Logan couldn't help but chuckle again, "This kid… when did she become a Ninja?"
"A Konoha ninja, huh? She even looks the part."
In the now-silent forest, Logan's gaze swept over Mai's attire one by one, taking in the small smudges of dirt, the deep imprints of straps and bindings.
He tried to piece together the path she must have walked, from an innocent little girl to a trained Ninja. The hardships, the transformations, the immense emotions hidden beneath it all.
"It must've been a tough journey." Logan murmured to himself.
What he didn't know was that Mai had an innate talent for Medical Ninjutsu, that she was a sensory prodigy, and that Tsunade herself was her teacher.
Logan knew he shouldn't linger. Here, in this forest, in the Land of Fire… especially after an unfriendly encounter with a Konoha's team.
Five minutes passed. Logan watched Mai's peaceful sleeping face, but with no sign of her waking up, he decided against waiting any longer. He stood, brushing a few stray leaves off himself.
And now, a new problem arose. His original plans had hit an unexpected snag.
The little girl he once knew had grown up, and now, here she was… sound asleep. Years ago, she was part of the siblings who, in this cruel world, had clung desperately to hope and a better life.
And now, somehow, they had traveled from the small fishing village… all the way to Konoha.
To this moment.
Her long eyelashes flickered slightly, splitting the sunlight that filtered through the deep green canopy above. Logan reached out, gently ruffling Mai's hair. This unexpected reunion had been a shock, hurried and awkward, but somewhere inside, a quiet warmth stirred.
Logan glanced at the three unconscious Konoha's Ninja in the distance. Then, back down at Mai. Then, back at the shinobi, then, at Mai again.
He repeated the motion several times, nodding to himself as if coming to a very reasonable conclusion.
…
Mai lay on Logan's back. It didn't take long before she started to wake up.
"Mm…"
A barely audible murmur slipped from her lips as she cracked her eyes open just a little, carefully observing her surroundings. The wind brushed a few strands of her hair, and she found herself resting against a warm, steady back.
They were moving, leaping through the crisscrossing tree branches, and the broad figure in front of her shielded her from most of the rushing wind and scraping leaves.
Mai closed her eyes again.
"Are you awake?" voice, distant yet familiar, came from in front of her. The sound and the feeling… It was so vivid it almost felt like a dream.
Mai didn't answer, but instead pretending to be sleeping with steady breathing.
"..."
Not getting the response he expected, Logan paused briefly before shaking his head with a helpless chuckle.
Without breaking the other party's weak lie, Logan steadily carried her steadily as he moved forward.
A while ago, Logan had no intention of harming the veteran team. When Mai fainted, he could have simply left her with her teammates. But this unexpected reunion, where they barely had time to exchange words, had made things more complicated.
His identity alone, appearing before Gensaku and the others, was sensitive enough. So, for now, he decided to look after the girl himself.
He didn't think too hard about it. He had just wanted to do it at the time, so he did. It wasn't like he was kidnapping her.
Right?
Logan could tell easily enough whether the girl on his back was truly unconscious or not. Years of experience as a Ninja made it impossible to fool him on that. As for her physical condition, it seemed she wasn't seriously injured.
The only explanation left was exhaustion, both physically and mentally.
Logan's guess wasn't far from the truth.
Mai had been caught directly at the center of his Chakra outburst, keeping her sensory abilities extended the entire time without pulling back.
Her ability was far too delicate and refined, too precise for such reckless use. Instead of avoiding the turmoil, she had thrown herself right into it, and the energy disruption had overwhelmed her.
She understood this, of course. But given the situation… it had been complicated. Besides, seeing Logan again had already shaken her emotions beyond control.
Still resting against Logan's back, Mai secretly opened her eyes once more, noting the direction they were heading, which is north. She recalled what Logan had said earlier while confronting Gensaku and felt a flicker of curiosity. She wanted to ask, but she held back.
She was thirteen now. Her small head wasn't just filled with childish innocence anymore. Life in the village, her training, and her studies had taught her many things.
She knew how to calculate the trajectory of a kunai, how to pinpoint an enemy's position. Her thoughts, while still young and growing, had already pieced together the truth in the short time that had passed.
Logan is a Rogue Ninja. And she… she is a Konoha's Ninja.
She couldn't defeat him. So if she woke up, she might have to go back.
Therefore, Mai would rather lie down on this familiar shoulder and stay like this a while longer.
She couldn't think too much while swinging between the branches like this, but one thing was clear. If she stayed longer, the emptiness inside her seemed to fill up, just a little.
'Hattori… nii didn't notice." Mai's small arms looped around his neck, and she subtly buried her face deeper against his back. She didn't know where they were going. But as long as they didn't stop… it didn't matter.
Logan focused on the road ahead, occasionally maneuvering around obstacles, completely unaware of the tangled thoughts swirling in the mind of the girl on his back.
Just like that, under this tacit understanding, a lone black silhouette stretched into the shadows of the setting sun.