"Chunin Ninja Exams, second match of the second round—begin!"
This time, the two Ninja taking the field were from Kirigakure: Hozuki Zangetsu and Juzo Biwa.
Although neither was from Konoha, the crowd still gave them a warm round of applause.
It was noticeably quieter, though, than it had been for Sara and Pakura.
"Are you going to let go of me? I've already advanced, and I still have another match later," Pakura said coldly.
She had followed Uchiha Yin off the field. Feeling everyone's eyes on her, her cheeks burned.
"What's wrong? Don't you like me holding your hand?" Uchiha Yin paid no mind to her cold tone. He smiled faintly and looked at her.
"Who would like that?" Pakura turned her head and tried to pull her hand free.
In truth, she had wanted to shake off his hand from the start.
But doing it in front of everyone would embarrass him. That would surely leave her with even less to do with him.
Yet she found she couldn't bear to pull away. She couldn't bear to embarrass him, and least of all, she couldn't bear to lose her connection to him entirely.
Or perhaps she had simply been too dazed to think at the time, letting him lead her along by the hand on instinct.
By the time she realized what was happening, she could no longer bring herself to let go.
Pakura felt as though she were under a spell, hopelessly infatuated with Uchiha Yin.
But it hurt, because she knew they could never be together.
"Are you sure you don't like me holding your hand?" Uchiha Yin let go.
A wave of disappointment swept through Pakura, followed by a rush of conflicting emotions.
Just then, Uchiha Yin suddenly stepped close and lifted her chin with his