Sasuke's twin sister, But Neji's first love

Narrowing The Field: Sudden Death Elimination

We stood facing the coughing man, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"Before we begin the third exam," he rasped, "we have to hold a preliminary exam."

Preliminary exam? I frowned. Huh... Confused murmurs broke out around me.

"Why do we have to take a preliminary exam?" I asked, crossing my arms with a scowl.

"Well, you see," he explained, "the first and second exams might've been a bit too easy. We never expected this many of you to make it through. According to the Chūnin Exam rules, a preliminary exam can be held at any stage to reduce the number of remaining candidates."

"Huh? Is that even fair?" Sakura asked nervously.

"It's necessary. We need to speed things up. As mentioned earlier, a lot of important guests will be watching the final round—we can't afford to waste their time. They've come to see only the best. So if any of you feel like you're not in top condition, now's the time to step down." He broke into another coughing fit.

Maybe he should take his own advice, I thought dryly.

"The preliminaries will begin immediately," the proctor announced.

"What? Come on! We barely survived the last exam! Don't we get a break?" Ino complained.

"Then maybe you should bow out," I muttered just loud enough. She shot me a glare, but Neji must've overheard—I caught the flicker of a smirk from him. I kept my eyes forward.

"Oh, and by the way," the proctor added, "the winners will be determined by one-on-one combat. Sudden death. Like I said—if you're not up for it, leave now."

Suddenly, a burning sensation shot through the mark on my neck. I winced and gripped it. My eyes darted to Sasuke—he was doing the same.

"You two need to quit," Sakura said, stepping forward. Her voice was rising. "You've been like this ever since the encounter with Orochimaru... and it's getting worse. It's that mark he put on you, isn't it? You can't deny it. Please—you're not in any condition to fight!"

"Shut up, Sakura," Sasuke hissed coldly.

"Shut it, pinky," I snapped, glaring at her.

"You think I'm blind?" she pressed, her voice trembling. "You think I don't see the pain you're in?"

"That's enough," I warned sharply.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do this. I'm going to tell them about the marks," she said, raising her hand.

But before she could speak, another hand shot up.

"I forfeit," Kabuto announced with a calm smile.

The proctor turned to him. "Kabuto Yakushi of the Leaf Village, correct? Very well. Step back."

Kabuto nodded and moved away. Naruto shouted something after him, but I didn't bother listening. The pain in my mark was slowly fading. I exhaled and released my shoulder.

Neji glanced at me. I looked back, and he raised a brow.

I shook my head and turned to see Tenten glaring again.

"Does she have a problem with me or something?" I muttered to Neji. "I'm getting real tired of her constant glaring."

"She's always been protective of our team," he replied calmly.

"What does she think I'm going to do? Poison her tea?"

He shrugged and sighed, briefly glancing at Tenten and shaking his head. She looked away.