We walked into the Hokage's office both a bit nervous. Amaya wouldn't show it though. Her cockiness and pride always got in the way of that. I had to muster up all of the courage that I had to even agree to this meeting. Now that I was finally here I wasn't entirely sure how things would go. Hokage was gazing at us with an all knowing look. He looked so calm sitting there like that.

"Please, Rei, Amaya, why don't you two have a seat?" he offered us.

I took a deep breath and tried not to think about what was going to happen. Amaya smiled her brightest smile at him, obviously trying to win him over.

"Well, I hear that you are wanting Amaya to take the Chuunin exams alone, Rei?"

"Yes, sir. That's right."

"And have you come up with an argument as to why I should allow this? You do know that as a general rule the students are to be partnered in groups of three."

"Yes, I understand that. I have tried my very best to group her with others. Every pairing has been unsuccessful. The truth is that no one is willing to work with her. She can be a bit hard to handle at times."

"I see, this still doesn't tell me why I should allow her to take the exams."

"She is extremely dedicated to this, Sir. I believe in her abilities as a ninja. She will do great things given the opportunity. I see in her things that others can't." I told him confidently. He didn't look like he was buying it though.

"Well, Amaya. Why don't you tell me why you want to do this." he tells her, sagely.

"Well, I really want to be a Chuunin. I know I'd be good at it too!" she answers, puffing out her chest. I fought back the urge to laugh. She really did look a bit silly though.

He looked like he still wasn't convinced and she shot her famous puppy dog face at him. That look could get her just about anything in the world.

"I will allow this under one condition, Rei."

"And what might that be, sir?"

"You will be her teammate. You will accompany her on any and all missions. She will be your responsibility. I can see that this young one has a great sense of pride in herself. She very well may go far."

"Thank you, sir. I wouldn't have it any other way." I say to him, feeling as though I've dodged a major bullet.

"Really!" Amaya shouts with glee. "You're really going to let me do this!"

I begin to feel a slight twinge of regret as I think about her lack of self preservation. This girl will never be able to keep herself out of trouble. Think of the most dangerous situation you could possibly be in and one way or another, Amaya will be there.

"Now, if you two ladies will excuse me, I have some business to attend." He said as he motioned toward the door.

Amaya and I silently showed ourselves out. Not a second after the door had closed behind us Amaya started her epileptic looking happy dance. I rolled my eyes as I started walking ahead of her.

"Yay! I get to take the test! This is so great! Wait til I tell Naruto!" she chanted.

I only chucked to myself. "We have a lot of work to do before this test, Amaya. It won't be long before it starts." I said trying to convince her.

"Aww, can't I go tell Naruto first?! Oh, and I want to see Gaara again!"

"Fine," I said shaking my head, "I'll give you half an hour. Meet me in our usual training spot. We really need to brush up on your skills a bit."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted as she ran off to meet the others. I probably should have gone with her to keep her out of trouble but I just didn't feel like it at the moment. I was still trying to get over the shock of us being a team. This was going to be a tough transition for me. Participating with her on all of her missions was really going to take some getting use to.

I started my slow walk to the forest. She would meet me in our usual spot near the tallest tree to train. It wasn't that she needed much training but I wanted her skills to be at their sharpest for the exams. Suddenly I slammed into Kakashi. I really should have been paying more attention to where I was going. He was reading one of his normal adult books.

"Oh, hello, Rei." he said calmly.

"Hey," I said a bit embarrassed, "I really should have been paying more attention to where I was going."

"It's fine. No harm done." he said walking off, not even giving me another glance.

I should have used this chance to talk with him more. I was crazy in love with him. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to tell him. I don't think he suspected anything, but then again, who knows. Every time I tried to talk to him the words just wouldn't come out. I did the only thing that I could think to do. I just stood there and watched him walk away from me. One day I'd do it. I'd tell him how I've felt all this time. Ah, who was I kidding, never in a thousand years could I gather enough courage to do that.

I just kept on walking to Amaya's and my spot in the woods. Maybe I'd get there a bit early and have some time to daydream. I started wondering what Amaya was doing right now. Could that girl possibly have the sense to stay safe without me there? Probably not.

I finally reached the tallest tree in the forest. I hopped up on one of the branches. This was one of the best places to be perched until Amaya got here. She wouldn't be long and I would see her well from this spot. The coolness of the shade felt nice as I waited. As I suspected, it didn't take long for me to see her bounding through the forest to meet me. A small smile appeared on my face as I thought of all of the things that we would eventually face together. This sure was going to be one hell of a ride.