🌻 After a bunch of ruckus, everybody settled down. Thanks to Neji's strategy, most of the class were able to pass; however, there was a second part to the exam. The speaker buzzed and Ibiki's voice followed after.

"Please flip over your paper." He ordered.

The participants quietly flipped over their papers.

"Listen carefully to the last question." He began, whispers filled the room at the unexpected second part to the first phase. "You are on a mission with your team and the enemy found you. In order to shake them off, you have to leave a teammate behind as a decoy. It is your choice, knowing they'll face death. Write down your answers on the paper."

Ibiki continued, "Each person from the team must have the same answer to pass. The person written on the paper will be disqualified. You have three minutes."

The screen on the front of the class began ticking and a lot of people in the class were sweating profusely. They hands shook as they tried to think of the answer. Toneri made no move to write anything and I did the same. We can't possibly abandon a teammate. As quoted by Kakashi-sensei, "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum." Even if we had to leave one behind, we would rather fail. If we are a team, we fight and pass together.

My only worry was Naruto, he would probably choose himself as a decoy.

Naruto, please remember Kakashi-sensei's teachings. I prayed.

Soon enough, the three minutes were up and our papers were collected. We did not wait too long until our names were called to the school yard, those who were called passed the first round of the exam.

"Hinata Hyuga." The speaker buzzed.

I stood up from my seat and left the classroom. As I walked down the stairs, a girl with a pair of silver white ponytails just exited class three. Maybe she heard my footsteps, she turned her head and stared straight at me. Her eyes were malicious, it made me stop in my tracks. She moved on and walked in the front, leaving me behind to stare at her back.

🌸 "Hinata Hyuga."

I was so angry. She officially named herself as a Hyuga. After all the efforts and sacrifices were made to protect her identity of the Hyuga heiress, she still insisted on showing the entire world that she is last Hyuga from the main house. This is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

Right after her name was called, it was my name. "Miku."

I stood up angrily from my seat and headed towards the door; but as I turned, I caught a pair of onyx eyes. We stared into each other's eyes very briefly before I continued my way to the door and closed it shut. I heard someone walking towards my direction and I turned my head on instinct.

Midnight blue hair and lavender eyes.

Hinata fucking Hyuga.

I glared at her for a moment before stepping away and headed for the school yard. What a turn off.

The school yard filled with many teams and I reunited with mine. Master Toneri was smiling and I knew he probably met the Hyuga heiress.

At the front of the field was a small stage where a man with a face of scars stood on. "Congratulations on passing the first—"

Before he could finish his sentence a figure made a dramatic entrance on the stage. She raised her arms and greeted us enthusiastically.

"My name is Anko Mitarashi and I'll be the proctor of your second exam. For this round, we'll be collaborating with the village hidden in the sand because many of the participants are from the said country, so we formed a temporary alliance."

She purple-haired lady rested her hands on her hip. "Have you gotten soft, Ibiki? There are so many who passed." The man beside her only glared at her. She continued, "Since there are too many who passed, we'll have to narrow things down. First, any team without a third member will be disqualified."

The teams who sacrificed a team member were stunned. They began complaining about how unclear the instructions were and it was unfair. A man from the village hidden in the sand started complaining and shouting out inappropriate words. He was immediately dragged away by some ninjas from his own village.

"Second, the next phase will be taken place in the Land of Wind. It takes at least three days for a shinobi to crossover from here to the Hidden Sand village no matter how fast you are."

A hawk was dispatched by a sand ninja. Anko continued to explain, "After the first thirty participants who reached the venue, the others who followed after will be disqualified. Fighting is prohibited until the second round. That is all."

The first team to leave the field was led by a boy I'm very familiar with. We spent our childhood together back in the Hyuga compound. Neji Hyuga. He's intelligent and sharp. I looked over to Master Toneri for his instructions.

"Let's go." He said and headed to our destination in full speed.

My clone and I followed closely after.

🌻 As soon as the yard was full of participants who passed the first round, the first person I took notice of was the boy from before with his pale blue hair. He was standing with the twins and the girl who glared at me earlier was one of the twins.

"Hinataaaa!!" Naruto called in glee. "We passed the test!"

"It's just the first round, Naruto."

"We'll definitely pass it!"

I sighed at his optimism. The exam was the least of my worries, Sakura might cause harm in the village and we must be cautious. The safety of our village comes first.

Sasuke seemed to notice my nervousness. Of course he would, we had been training with each other for the last three years.

"What's wrong, Hinata?"

"Nothing, just a little worried." I answered.

"Don't worry Hinata, I've become much stronger and we'll become Chunnin together!"

I closed my eyes and laughed at him, "Of course, Naruto."

The raven haired man did not seem too convinced, so I gave him a reassuring smile. But he was no longer looking at me. His eyes were on the girl with pigtails. I followed his gaze and stared at her; something about her does not sit well with me, but I can't tell why.

A hand intertwined with mine and I looked to my left.

Naruto.

He smiled lovingly at me. His eyes were sparkling with passion as the bright sun lit behind his head. He hadn't been here very long, so it was only at that moment that I noticed how tall he has grown. "Don't worry, Hinata. I'm here and I'll protect you. I'll make sure we pass this exam together."

"Thank you, Naruto."

🌸🌻🌸🌻

Dedicated to GOLDENEIN for voting for this story in the Naruto Wattys Winter 2015! Thank you so much!

I've been on an updating spree ever since my semester ended. I'm trying my best to write as much as I can before my semester starts again. I published a total of 8 chapters yesterday I think my head busted lol. 😂

Also, if you see comments which existed before the date below, I actually erased the previous chapter where I expressed my gratitude to those who supported this story in a Naruto Watty Award. Although the admin of the account did not present any of the winners their well deserved award, the support I received was overwhelming so once again, thank you so much for bringing this story the 1st place!

I did not want to delete the comments because it gives me great motivation. I erased the chapter because I'm trying to avoid publishing author notes.

~Joelle

Published: 9 May 2018