Miu's POV (Three weeks later, Day of the Final Exam)

Isuke, Sasori and I were back at the field, going to the next part of my training session, but we were taking a little break. I looked towards the sky and sighed. "Are you okay, Miu? You haven't said anything for a while now." Sasori noticed.

"I'm fine." I lied. "Don't lie to me. Tell me what's really going on." He demanded. I sighed, giving up on hiding it. "Last night... I had a dream." I said quietly. "A dream? What kind of dream, Princess?" Isuke asked. "I expected you to know that, Isuke. You're the one who watches over what I dream." I stated.

"I'm aware of that, Princess. But last night, I wasn't able to get inside your head because you were preventing me from doing so." Isuek explained. I didn't think I could something like that in my sleep. "What was your dream about, Miu?" Sasori asked, going back to the topic.

"I had a dream... there was a man." I said softly. "A man?" Sasori repeated. "Yes. He looked like he worked with you, Sasori." I said.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he was wearing the same cloak as you."

"Did this man have blonde hair?" 

"I'm not sure. His face seemed blurry in the dream. I couldn't see it,"

I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "What's the next part of my training session?" I asked, changing the subject, as I stood to my feet. Sasori and Isuke stood up as well. "Here," He handed me a pair of razorblade claws.

"Do you know how to use these?" Sasori asked. "Um, not really." I answered. "Then, you'll start now. Put them on." Sasori said. I did as he said and slid on the claws. "Now," Sasori summoned a few to be a puppets. "Uh, Sasori?" I asked.

"You're going to fight, Miu. You're going to fight while using those claws." He said. "Say what?! But I don't know how to use these things!" I said. "Just try. Fight!" Sasori ordered. He flexed his fingers and the puppets charged at me. Oh, crap.

I got in position and used the razorblade claw to the puppet's attack. I slashed the puppet's chest and kicked it away. This would be easier if I could read the puppets' mind. Bt since they're made of wood, I can't. All three puppets charged at me again. 

I charged at them and used my mind to stop the puppet in front. I jumped over it and stabbed the other puppet in the face. landed in a kneeling position, on its chest, as it fell on its back. The last puppet used a sword to try and slash down on my head.

I dodged out of the way and raised my claws in an 'X' formation, blocking the puppet's attack as he prepared the sword to come down on my head. grunted as the puppet pressed the blade down on my claws. It made me go down on one knee as I tried to push myself back on my feet.

I gritted my teeth, knowing I had to do something. I kicked off the puppet and skidded back. Using my speed, I quickly slashed the puppet, ending up behind him, our backs facing each other. The puppet fell, making me sigh in relief.

Wait, didn't I have another puppet frozen? Oh, crap! I did! I spun around and used my claws just in time as the puppet slashed his sword at me. But the force was too strong and I flew back, sliding on the ground with a grunt. "Sasori, that's enough!" Isuke said.

I gasped when the puppet swiped his sword, making it come down on my head. I panicked and quickly shielded my head. After not feeling anything for a few seconds, I unshielded myself and saw the blade inches away from my face.

The puppet was frozen in place. I quickly got out of the way and looked at the puppet. It didn't move as it stood there. Not only that, but the atmosphere was blue. Why is everything blue? "Sasori, what is this?" I asked. I looked at him and saw that he was blue too, along with Isuke.

What the hell is going on? I looked around and saw animals frozen in place as birds stayed frozen in the air. Nothing moved. Everything was quiet. No way. Did I just freeze time? Oh my god. I think I did. But when? How? It must've been when I panicked from the puppet's upcoming attack. 

Okay, now that I have that figured out, I have to figure out how to unfreeze time. Hmm... What should I do? I sat on the ground, cross-legged,  and focused on the atmosphere around me. When I opened my eyes, everything was back to its original color and everything was moving.

"Princess?" I looked at Isuke and Sasori as they were unfrozen. "It worked!" I cheered as I hugged Sasori's waist. "What worked?" He asked as he gently placed his hand on the back of my head. "I unfroze you guys." I said. "Unfroze? We were frozen?" Isuke asked.

"I didn't intend to freeze you. It just happened when I panicked." I explained. "The ability to freeze time, huh? Impressive. That could help you in the exam." Sasori said. "Wouldn't that be cheating?" I asked. "Not if you're just using your skills, and what you have is a skill." He pointed out.

"I guess." I somewhat agreed. "And by the way," Sasori looked at Isuke. "You're her guardian, right? Why didn't you do anything to stop Akira and her friends from hurting her?" Sasori demanded. I had a feeling we were going to go back to this. 

"I wasn't able to detect that she was in danger." Isuke protested. "Guardian, my foot. I don't even think you're doing your job. I think you wanted Miu to get hurt." Sasori said. "I would never want my princess to get hurt," Isuke said with a frown.

"Princess, may I see your Chakra Gem?"

"Sure."

I took the gem out of my pocket and handed it to him. Isuke took it and examined it. "Ah, I see now. Your Chakra Gem was turned off." Isuke said. He held it on the palm of his hand and it began to glow pink like the first time he gave it to me.

"Turned off? How the hell does it turn off?" Sasori asked, annoyed. "Simple. Due to Princess's fear, her Chakra Gem malfunctioned and switched itself off." Isuke explained. "So, if I'm scared out of my mind, my Chakra Gem shuts down?" I asked softly.

"Exactly. There's only so much fear your Chakra Gem can handle. If it fills with too much fear, it will automatically shut itself down." He said. "That's a load of bull!" Sasori said angrily. "Please. Please stop. I don't... I don't want to talk about this anymore." I said softly as I gazed at the ground.

I could hardly sleep last night. That memory will never go away, along with the other painful memories of abuse and the bullying. "P-Please... I-I-I don't w-want to hear it. I-I just... I just want t-t-to c-carry on with t-the rest o-of the training s-session." I said, stuttering a little.

"Of course. My apologies, Princess." Isuke apologized while giving a small bow. "Right. Let's move onto some more harder techniques." Sasori suggested. "Like what?" I asked.

"Taking over someone's body."

"Didn't we do that yesterday?"

"This one's different. This time, you'll actually be able to control someone from the inside."

"Huh?"

"I'll explain. You have a power that allows you to control someone's body from the inside. It's almost like controlling them as if they were a puppet."

"So, it's like Ino's Mind Transfer Jutsu."

"Something like that, yeah."

"Do you know how it works?"

"Yes, but you're not quite ready for that yet, so let's put a pin in it for now."

"Okay."

"Wait a second. What day is it?" Isuke asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. Isuke's ears twitched like he was listening to something. "What do you hear?" I asked. "I hear an applause. The exams are today, right?" He asked. Oh, crap! I'm late! They probably already skipped me! Or maybe not. I don't know!

"Calm down. We'll get there in a quick second, Princess. Trust me," Isuke looked at Sasori. "Sasori, will you be witnessing Princess Miu's battle?" Isuke asked. "Of course, I will. I want to see how well she fights." Sasori said. I smiled and Isuke placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Ready, Princess?" He asked. I raised a brow at him. "Ready for what?" I asked. My own question was answered when he teleported us to the exams. We appeared on a balcony, behind Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, and Kankuro.

"Good luck, Princess." Isuke said. I walked forward and lightly tapped Naruto's shoulder. He turned around to face me. "Miu-chan!" He cheered. "Hey, Naruto." I greeted. "Where have you been? Don't you know they skipped you once? If you were skipped a second time, you could've been disqualified." Shikamaru said.

"I'm sorry, Shikamaru." I said, giving a small bow. "Man, you're too innocent." He sighed. I giggled slightly. "Cool outfit, Miu-chan. It looks awesome." Naruto commented.

"Yeah, it looks awesome." Shikamaru agreed. I blushed a little, not really used to getting complimented. "Did something happen to your shoulder? I noticed it's bandaged." Shikamaru said. "Oh, I uh... kind of scratched during my training session. It's nothing, really." I said truthfully.

Who's fighting right now?" I asked. "Sasuke is fighting Gaara now." Naruto said. "Sasuke?" I repeated. I went towards the railing and looked down, watching the fight between Sasuke and Gaara.

"Where's Gaara?" I asked. "He's in there." Naruto said as he pointed towards a dome made of sand. I read Gaara's mind. He was muttering something as he was inside the dome. What's he saying? I watched as Sasuke attacked the dome, trying to get Gaara to get out of it.

It made me wonder who Sasuke was training. For the past weeks when we were supposed to be training for the finals, I noticed Sasuke's been leaving the house earlier than usual. Well, I've been coming home later than usual, so I guess we both have our secrets.

But unfortunately, I keep too many secrets from people. But I know if I were to tell them that I had the ability to read minds, then everyone would be afraid of me. "Miu Shimizu," I turned my head, noticing an ANBU Black Op had ahold of my shoulder.

"Yes, sir?" I asked. "Lord Hokage wants to speak with you. Come with me." He said. I gave a nod and looked towards Naruto and Shikamaru. "I'll be right back." I said to them. They waved to me and I walked with the ANBU.

When we got to Lord Hokage, I noticed he was sitting with someone else. "Good evening, Miu. It's been a while." Lord Hokage said with a smile. I gave a small smile back. "Hello, Lord Hokage." I greeted, bowing my head slightly.

"I haven't heard from you for a while, Miu. Where have you been recently?"

"I was training for the finals. I'm sorry, I haven't been in contact with you."

"That's quite all right, Miu. How have you been ever since you've been living with Sasuke?"

"It's been going fine."

He smiled at me. "Miu, there's someone I'd like you to meet. This is Lord Fourth Kazekage." He introduced. I looked at Lord Kazekage. "It's nice to meet you, Lord Kazekage. My name's Miu Shimizu." I said. I extended my hand towards him to shake his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," Lord Kazekage extended his hand and shook my hand. "You're a very sweet girl, Miss Miu Shimizu." He commented. I blushed and shyly lowered my head. Lord Hokage chuckled and petted my head.

"Miu is a very shy girl, but she'll learn to open up to you the more she gets to know you." Lord Hokage explained. "I apologize for my shyness, Lord Kazekage. I'm kind of a loner." I admitted. "Why is that? For a girl such as yourself, I expected you to be a social butterfly." Lord Kazekage said.

"Oh. W-Well, you see. I, um..." I couldn't tell him that I used to stay in my house all day because of the constant bullying. So, what should I tell him? "I've been so caught up in my training, I guess I haven't had the time to be the social butterfly." I lied.

Really clever, right? Note: Sarcasm. "You seem to treasure this girl, Lord Hokage. What is it about her you find interesting?" Lord Kazekage asked. "Miu means an awful lot to me. She's like a granddaughter to me. I don't know what I'd do if she was no longer with me." Lord Hokage explained. I blushed slightly as he said this.

"That's really sweet of you, Lord Hokage." I said with a small smile. "Miu, I'd like you to stay with me for the rest of the exams." Lord Hokage requested. "Um..." I wasn't so sure about that. "At least until it's your turn to fight." He added.

"Oh, okay. Yes, sir." I obliged. "Lord Hokage. Earlier, you mentioned Miu Shimizu was living with another student? Why is that?" Lord Kazekage asked. Lord Hokage mentioned that incident with him? Oh, man. Why was Lord Lazekage so interested in me all of a sudden? What's he trying to pull?

I narrowed my eyes a little and tried to read his mind. Huh? Nothing. I couldn't read anything off him. I tried again and once again, I got nothing. I don't get it. Why is this happening? Does Lord Kazekage know that I could read minds? Impossible. 

I never told him that I could do that. I sat by Lord Hokage's side and watched the match between Sasuke and Gaara. Sasuke dodged and attacked at the same time while spikes made from the sand dome attacked him.

I was wondering what Gaara was doing inside the sand dome, and at the same time, I was worried. I closed my eyes and went into Gaara's head. "Gaara? Are you all right?" I asked inside his head. "Who's there? Who are you? What are you doing inside my head?" He responded in a demand.

"It's me. Miu Shimizu. I'm worried about you." I answered. "Miu... Shimizu?" Gaara repeated."Yes." I answered. He stayed quiet for a while, making me worry even more. "Gaara, please answer me." I said. "Get out of my head." He said coldly.

I gasped when I was forcibly moved out of Gaara's head. I snapped my eyes open and looked towards the sand dome. He's still in there. What's Gaara doing?