"Did it ever occur to you," she asked, her voice quiet but not quite lost in the sounds of the street traffic. "That I never had any intention of playing with you? I don't have—" She faltered, almost imperceptibly, changing her words before they could betray her. "—experience with teammates, prior to you and Itsuki-san. I have been doing my best to fulfill my duty as a teammate. It is not always easy."For her, and because of her. She didn't understand him, and she wasn't sure she wanted to try. "After our promotion, it should not matter one way or the other." Her voice lost some of it's rock-solid certainty; it was obvious she wasn't sure whether she was happy or sad about her belief that they would part ways then.

"He hasn't merited that show of force yet." Again the slight dispersal of tension, like a person speaking a foreign language who's translator just let them know that they hadn't been given a threat, the other speaker was just loud. Again, a refusal to totally relax. "Besides, I told you that he would likely do well here." 'Deranged' was the word she had used. She thought that might have been the letter Masanori had stolen and read, even. "Konoha still frowns on that. I'm certain we discussed that when we met."