The New Heirs of the Will of Fire (Sequel to Tsunade's Daughter)

十 ↬ The Chūnin Exams - Part I

Kei instantly smiled back at her.

"It was okay, I guess. We should make it to the next part of the exam," she replied with a confident voice.

"Yeah!"

Kei then took a good look at her surroundings to examine the others' reactions carefully, even trying to hear what they were saying. She suddenly spotted her two teammates in the distance.

She pushed her way through the crowd to get to them, and Mirai followed her without saying anything.

"Yori, Daisuke. So, how did it go for you?"

"Well, I'd rather not give my opinion on that matter," Daisuke replied earnestly. "To be honest, I have no idea whether I'll pass or not with what I did."

"What about you, Yori?"

"Well... I don't know either... But I really hope we'll all succeed," Yori said rather anxiously.

"If we have enough determination and faith, we will!" Kei said firmly. "Now is not the time to be pessimistic and worry. We need to keep doing our best until the next part of the exams!"

"I couldn't agree more, Kei!" Mirai said as she clenched her fist and lifted it so would be at the level of her chest.

"Yes, you're right. But we shouldn't overwork ourselves nonetheless," Daisuke replied. "We need to be in good shape for the next part of the exam."

"I know. But the work will be on the mental level rather than the physical one. It's what matters the most for a ninja."

"Yes, absolutely!" Mirai agreed again. "We'll still have to keep training, but reasonably!"

A determined smile appeared on Daisuke's face.

"What about we all go have some Ramen tonight? It's on me." Kei offered.

"You mean just the four of us?" Yori inquired as if surprised by her suggestion.

"Yes, unless you want someone else to come and join us."

"Huh....no," he simply replied.

"Sorry, but you will have to go without me. I can't tonight. I already have something planned," Mirai informed them.

"Oh..." Kei said obviously disappointed. "That's too bad..."

"What about tomorrow?" Yori asked Mirai. "If you're free, then we can wait until that time."

"No, it's okay. You guys go tonight. I don't want you to change your plans just for me. And we'll have plenty of other occasions to go and eat together," Mirai answered with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Yes, that's true," Yori agreed with her statement as a soft smile appeared on his face.

The truth was that Mirai was somehow jealous of Kei spending time with someone else that wasn't her.. She wasn't the kind of possessive person, no, but she preferred it when it was just the two of them spending time together. 

It was something that Kei completely ignored, and Mirai didn't want her to know about it, due to her being afraid she might upset her.

That was just something she couldn't control.

-----

The same evening, Kei and her male teammates went to Ichiraku's.

"Ramen has never really been my favourite food, But I have to admit that the one here is really yummy," Yori said, delighted by the huge bowl in front of him.