The question from earlier still bothered Misaki and she had mulled it over quite a bit while she was waiting at the exit -- of course, Midori returned quickly, so it wasn't much more than a minute or two, but she couldn't really come up with any reason other than that it was a reprimand for going against his instructions.<br/><br/>That, she resigned herself, was something she would likely have to get used to, considering that she had been sent to the Academy with a mission of greater priority than just studying there like her brother was going to. And if completing that mission to the best of her ability required that she underperform in other tasks and that she suffer punishment for it, that was what she would do. Had she run at the very front, she would not have been able to observe the top athletes without using the Byakugan's all-seeing visual range --- and that would have disqualified her for molding Chakra during the sprint.<br/><br/>Still, when the actual lessons began and reconnaissance switched to a lesser priority over acting as a bodyguard to her brother, she felt confident that she would have enough time to devote to the academic program. She'd just have to stick close to Ibiki, regardless of how much resentment she harbored towards him.<br/><br/>----<br/><br/>The Hyuga girl didn't increase her step when she heard Midori hurrying after her, but she didn't slow it either. Her first attempt to speak was met with silence -- what was Misaki to say in response? A frown crossed her face as she questioned whether the girl really needed her to explain what a pouch strapped to her chest rather than around her leg was.<br/><br/>The second one didn't really warrant a response, either. She believed the girl, as intimidated as Midori had been earlier she probably wasn't going to just follow her for the company -- and if it was some sort of attempt to coax information out of her, then Misaki could handle that.<br/><br/>The last one, however … she responded to that, after a moment had passed for her to consider her reply. "I wasn't there to take the test, just to monitor it." It wasn't really a secret, the conclusion was easy enough to make. Anyone with a modicum of training and likely  some of the civilians, too, had likely realized that at the very least she and the Aburame kid weren't there for evaluation. "Your test will be positive, so I took an interest in why you went back inside."<br/><br/>"You butting in forced me to deal with that idiot and draw attention to myself. I don't need help, but I won't have someone suffer because they thought I did." She actually stopped at that point and turned around to face the other girl. "Just leave me alone and we won't have any trouble. We're even, like I said." She sighed, shook her head and then turned away again.<br/>