I was avoided like the plague for the next few weeks. At first, Sakura and Matsuri tried to talk to me a few times, but when I wouldn't confess what'd happened while I was away they got upset and left me once more.

The only person who didn't follow the others in leaving me alone was Tenten. Her curious inquiries continued as though nothing had happened at all. I realized she was only asking questions about my upbringing and family. One night I finally snapped and asked her why she was gathering information on me. The pretty brunette girl tried to come up with an excuse, but was a poor liar and retreated to her bunk next to Neji and Lee in defeat. Her questions stopped after that.

Somehow, I managed to steel myself both inside training and out.

My and Naruto's M.A.T. sessions were tense and confusing for us both. There's no hiding your emotions from someone who's literally inside your head. He was worried, but he was also hurt by my inability to trust him and angry that I was doing all I could to ice out my thoughts so he wouldn't see anything I didn't want him to.

I didn't want to admit that it'd hurt when he looked at me like he had after Madara threw me back down here. Of all the people participating in The Program, he was the one person that truly understood me, at least I thought. Maybe it was only because we were partnered for M.A.T., but it was true nonetheless.

Keeping yourself completely distracted in your thoughts for hours at a time is incredibly strenuous. I did everything from reciting the elements of the periodic table to attempting to replay movies in my head.

The first day of this, Naruto tried to question me since there wasn't anywhere for me to run, but I did the mental equivalent of putting headphones on and tried my best to not listen. This really made him angry. By the time that session ended, the worry he'd initially felt for me was barely there anymore. He even stormed out of the room without looking my way.

Pushing away the first people I've ever considered friends made it hard for me to keep my head up. Tears were always just a moment away and I often excused myself to hide in one of the bathroom stalls so no one would see me struggling to keep my facade up.

Not only did Madara ruin my home life, but he also made sure to stomp out any rays of hope I'd have down here. There was also the story he told me about my mother. I desperately didn't want to believe it to be true, but something in my gut told me it was. If that was the case, I have an older brother out there somewhere that Madara insinuated he hadn't been able to locate.

What type of person could he be?

Will he look like me at all or would he favor his awful father?

I found myself yearning to meet him and had to nip my thoughts in the bud. There's a high chance he doesn't even exist so there's no point in putting energy into worrying about him. Instead, I worried about the sibling I knew for a fact was real.

It was clear Hanabi was going through something by the way she acted, but I knew better than to question him about it. I had to rush to the bathroom in the middle of the night when I first got back when I realized he might've approached my little sister how he'd tried to approach me.

What if he forced himself on her?

My whole body had heaved and shook in response to the panic the thought made me feel. I was so worried about her that it became hard to eat or sleep, but I still gave it my all during physical training. There was still a small sliver of hope in me that if I did well like I was told to, Madara would let me go at the end of this twelve week program and I could convince Hanabi to run away with me.

Before I knew it, The Program was halfway through. We'd been locked in the basement below the basement for six whole weeks.

When I looked around the dark room at all the sleeping participants, I couldn't help but feel at least a little impressed. Every person was developing their talents at an incredible pace, even me.

Six weeks ago, I'd never touched a gun in my life and now I'm confident I'd be able to hold my own in a gunfight. My once soft body was becoming lean and fit as I developed muscles from my hard work. All this only proved the physical training was paying off. I still couldn't figure out what we could possibly gain from the invasive mental training.

My question became relevant during the first training session of the sixth week. It wasn't answered, necessarily, but was still relevant.

Instead of sending us directly into our individual rooms, Dr. Uchiha had us meet in the large open room, Masumi standing at his side. Her pregnant stomach was becoming more noticeable and I wondered if they'd gotten a paternity test yet to verify the father. She was far enough along by now to do so.

His dark eyes scanned the group and I cringed when they landed on me. Ever since he tried to kiss me, I haven't been able to meet his gaze. He'd reacted so angrily when I refused and I was too worried what emotion he'd portray if I looked him in the eye.

"You've had six weeks, as a group, to strengthen your minds. The time has come to take the next step in your training."

Weeks ago, this group would've broken out into curious murmurs, but we knew better now. This seemed to please him so he continued, "The person you've been partnered with has undoubtedly found out your hopes, fears, and triggers."

My heart sank into my stomach. This didn't sound good.

"You'll each be filling out questionnaires about your partner and I expect nothing but the truth." Narrowed eyes threatened us, "I will know if I've been lied to."

Masumi started passing out tablets. I inspected the one handed to me with a frown. The entire thing was dedicated to Naruto. It held file after file of information about him: his physical characteristics, medical history, history, mental acuity test scores, and more. My face burned as anger rose in my chest. This was incredibly personal information and it didn't seem right that it was handed to me without a second glance.

My eyes widened in shock when I realized that Naruto had most likely been handed a tablet with the same info about me. I looked over at Madara with a look of panic, but his back was turned as he spoke with Masumi about something before sending her toward the exit.

I glanced over at Naruto, hoping he wouldn't notice, but he did. His once warm blue eyes locked onto mine with an accusing look. I covertly shook my head, hoping to reassure whatever negative thought he was having that made him look at me that way.

"You may now go to your assigned rooms and begin."

Once the two of us were in the training room alone, I nervously sat against the wall on the floor. The only chairs in the room were the two training ones and there was no way I'd sit in one of those unless I had to. We were supposed to click each folder on the home screen and answer the questions within each about our partners.

I felt dirty, like I'd been tricked into spying on Naruto and everything we'd experienced together suddenly felt tainted.

I couldn't bring myself to click a single folder and stared at the screen with a hesitant glare. Minutes passed and all I could hear was my heart beating loudly in my ears. I eventually sat the tablet on the ground beside me and leaned my temple against the wall so I could rest my eyes.

"If you don't fill it out, he'll torture you again."

My body jolted in shock and I looked up to see Naruto looking down at me with a guarded expression. I got over my surprise and gingerly picked the cursed tablet back up. He slowly sank to the ground a few feet away. My eyes danced shakily over to the device in his hands.

What exactly was he putting as his answers? There was so much he'd unintentionally learned about me, but at the moment I couldn't remember anything but the glimpses he'd gotten of Madara and Masumi. "W-wait! Don't-"

I tried to warn him not to mention those things, for both his sake and my own, but he cut me off with a hard look, "I'm not."

My mouth clamped shut and I slowly nodded before sinking my gaze back down to the tablet in my hands. This felt disgusting, divulging someone's secrets, but I have to do it for everyone's sake. My hands were shaking slightly as I clicked the first folder. Immediately, the questions made me worry about what they planned to do with this information.

What is the material object, living or nonliving, that scares him the most? It was hard to choose an answer, but I decided to choose a belt. 'He grew up moving from foster home to foster home and endured so much abuse from adults who were supposed to protect him from danger but chose to do the opposite. Almost every single one of the memories he's shared involves a belt.'

Does he believe in supernatural beings? If so, how does he feel about them? I honestly didn't know the answer to this one. So, I answered with what I imagined he'd say on the topic. 'He probably hopes ghosts are real so those who've passed too soon can still visit their loved ones.'

What does he think is the worst way to die? 'There isn't a specific type of death he fears, but he's terrified of dying alone with no friends or family.'

In your opinion, if he had to choose between killing a child or killing five elderly persons, who would he choose and why? I wanted to smash the screen of the damned tablet. 'He'd rather die than kill an innocent person.' That much I'm sure of so that's what I put as my response.

I kept anxiously glancing at the topic of these questions and each time he was submitting answers quickly with steady hands. Tears rose in my eyes. I must've hurt his feelings so badly that it didn't matter to him whether or not the information he provided was used against me. That, in turn, made me feel terrible.

Even if I hadn't grown closer to him, I still wouldn't have ever treated him so coldly if I wasn't forced to. I wished I could at least tell him why I acted the way I did so he doesn't think I'm as terrible a person as I seem. My chest tightened when I realized that it didn't matter if he knew or not. To him, and probably everyone else down here, I was a cold-hearted introvert whom they're suspicious of.

Despite this, I still hated each moment I was spending on this questionnaire. If he ended up hurt because of these answers, I didn't know what I'd do. I leaned my elbow on my knee with my legs crossed so my hair could act as a curtain between us and he wouldn't be able to see my face as I tried to refocus on the questions.

For a long time, we sat in silence while we worked. I finally got to the final folder and was surprised to see that the questions were directed toward me instead of him. What is his best personality trait? This was an easy question. 'He treats everyone with the kindness he wants to be treated with. It doesn't matter where you come from or who you are: he'll be your friend.'

What is his best physical feature? If the mood in the room wasn't so negative, I'd have blushed at this question. I put his smile down as the answer, hoping no one would confront us for our responses directly. It was incredibly cliche, but the boy's smile could light up a room.

Do you believe you could depend on him if your life was on the line? 'Absolutely.'

What do you think his sexual orientation is based on the knowledge you've gained so far? I'd gotten glimpses of a handful of attractive young women that he was involved with through his teenage years. He was definitely straight.

Are you afraid of him in any way? If so, explain. I hesitated to answer honestly once more. If I put the wrong answer down, something bad could happen. 'Yes. I've never met someone who worries about me so much. I'm afraid if I open up to him and get comfortable, it'll all be ripped away like it has in the past.'

Given the chance, would you rather have a different partner? If so, explain. 'No, but if he chose to switch I wouldn't blame him.' I tried to answer the questions honestly while simultaneously trying not to think about the horrible things he's most likely putting for his answers.

Once we were finished, we hooked the tablets up to the cords beneath the screen on the wall and waited, per our instructions. I desperately wanted to leave the small room because the uncomfortable air was starting to make me feel like I was suffocating, but the door was locked as usual.

I nervously picked at my nail buds as I sat back down, fighting the urge to curl into a ball and take a nap. My sleeping habits really had been affected by my stress levels.

A few weeks ago, Naruto and I would've filled the awkward silence with small talk. Well, Naruto would politely force me to converse with him to pass the time and I would secretly not mind. Instead, he leaned against the wall a yard away with his arms crossed over his chest. I didn't dare look up at his face. Everytime our eyes met in the past few days, the expressions he gave made me feel sick to my stomach.

I made one of the nicest people I've ever met hate my guts.

What felt like at least an hour passed before the screen suddenly powered on and our answers started being displayed: his on the left and mine on the right. I slowly got to my feet and approached the screen. Naruto did the same.

'She doesn't like blindfolds.'

The blood drained from my face. As soon as I read his first response, I knew my attempts to mask my thoughts had failed miserably. I tried so hard to hide what happened from him and thought I'd somehow managed it, but apparently not.

'I don't think she thinks about stuff like ghosts and demons.' That was true, for the most part. When I was a child, there were a few months where I slept in my father's bed because I was scared, but then what child doesn't go through a similar phase?

'Getting killed by someone she trusts.' Tears welled up in my eyes as I continued to read. How had he figured all this out about me? I never meant to be so honest and couldn't remember a specific time when he'd have learned this type of thing.

'She'd try to kill whoever asked her to make a choice like that.'

My shaky hands wiped at the tears that fell. I forced myself to keep reading and tried to ignore the fact that Naruto was reading my responses at my side.

'Hinata stands up for those who can't fend for themselves, even if it means she'll get hurt.'

'She has the prettiest eyes I've seen in my life.' My face warmed at his sincere compliment, even if he hadn't meant for me to see it.

'I would trust her with my life, but she wouldn't trust herself.'

I briefly wondered why they were showing us each other's answers. Perhaps, this too, was part of the training.

'I think she's heterosexual because she gets more nervous around guys our age than girls.' How humiliating. I am, indeed, heterosexual, but having someone speculate about it was uncomfortable.

'I'm not afraid, but she does confuse me sometimes.'

My eyes danced down the screen to the final answer, whether or not he wanted a different partner, and a whimper slipped past my lips as I tried to choke back my tears.

'Absolutely not.'

There were dozens of other questions that we answered and we read through them in silence. Once we'd finished, the lock on the door clicked and I took the opportunity to rush out of the room before Naruto could get a chance to say anything. Whether he asked about my responses or wanted to talk about what he did or did not see about the day I'd been taken upstairs, I didn't want to have to look him in the eye and I wasn't sure if I even could.

Everyone grouped back up in the large room so Madara could address us once more, "These results will be studied tonight and tomorrow. Your next M.A.T. session will be a bit different so prepare yourselves, " he paused to look at us with a studious gaze before continuing, "You're all dismissed."

I moved to follow the group, only to have the older man stop me, "Hinata, you stay back for a moment. I need to speak with you." He addressed me in such a professional way it threw me off guard.

A few members of Group B gave me distrusting looks as I tore away to obey Madara's orders.