"Akina, wake up!"

Miki is shaking me frantically in an attempt to get me out of bed.

"Go away," I mumble tiredly, rolling over in bed.

"I'll leave you here," she threatens, still shaking me. I imagine her red hair flipping across her face with each shake.

"Go ahead," I grumble.

She stops shaking and huffs. "Fine, be late. You can deal with Ayame then. If you don't make it on time don't say I didn't try." She stomps off, slamming my door shut.

I know I should purse her, but instead I shut my eyes and fall back asleep.

My alarm blares in the next five minutes, forcing me to wake. I slam my palm on the top of it, rising groggily out of bed. I walk into the bathroom, ignoring the frizzy, mangled mass of hair on my head.

I turn on the hot water, climbing into the shower. Dirt and twigs fall to the bottom of the bathtub from my hair and face. I scrub the dirt from last night's mission off myself.

To think Ayame had us scrounging around through the swamp last night the day before the chuunin exams, I think bitterly.

I finish showering and grab a towel from the rack, wrapping it around myself. Once I step out of the shower, I reach under the sink and pull out another towel, sopping up the water from my hair. I flip my hair over my head, rubbing my locks between the soft cotton of the towel.

When it is dry enough I flip my hair back over my head, catching my reflection in the mirror as I do so. I trace my finger against the scab on my cheek. I roll my eyes in exasperation and turn, walking away from the sink, picking up a brush as I leave. I walk past my sister's makeup chaise, having no want or need to put any on myself. I shed my towel and put on a black sports bra, not that it helps much, and red, lace panties.

Walking over to my closet, I pull out one of the many black dresses I own, along with a fishnet, turtleneck top. I pull the long-sleeve top over my head first and then the dress. The fabric of the dress is breathable and prevents sweat from building up and drenching my body. It fits my curves perfectly. The bottom stops just below my butt and there is a slit on the left front side of my thigh.

I grab the brush I threw on the bed earlier and brush out the honey brown strands of my hair before parting it to the right. I pull my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head, shaking it to set it after I pull it tight.

I walk over to my night stand, pulling on my muddy, black fingerless gloves. I glance at the clock and swear.

I dash out of my bedroom and pass by the kitchen on the way to the door. There is a note on the table, along with an apple, my hip pouch and forehead protector. Miki's messy handwriting is scribbled across the card.

It reads: You have 15 minutes. You'd better start running.

I glance over at the clock and swear, realizing she knows me all too well. I throw on my hip pouch and tie my forehead protector around my waist. I grab the apple off the table and make a mad dash for the door, biting into it as I close the door behind me.

...

I make it inside the giant double doors just before they slam shut. Unfortunately, because of that I end up rolling in on my butt. "Dammit," I curse, rubbing my back.

"You're so irresponsible, Akina," Miki says gruffly, extending her hand to me.

Bitterly, I grumble and take her hand, letting her help me to my feet.

I hear Siori sigh behind me. "You couldn't put on anything more appropriate for today?"

I stick my tongue out at her, brushing the dirt off my dress. "Sorry, all my long clothes got dirty yesterday, courtesy of Ayame."

She rolls her eyes in response, irritated. She prefers more conservative clothing, as is displayed by her long, slim kimono. It fits her body close enough to prevent any hindrance to her movements, and the slit up from the floor allows her legs to move freely. Even so, she wears black tights underneath it to prevent any of the skin on her legs from showing. She pulls her long black hair into a traditional braid behind her back and wears only foundation and red lip stick on her lips.

"Give it up, Siori-chan. I try to buy her new clothes, she merely prefers that," Miki says dismissively, waving her hand nonchalantly.

Though my sister and I are identical twins, we could not be farther apart. Instead of showing off her curves, she prefers to wear loose, black baggy pants. She instead prefers to show off her incredibly toned stomach with a bright red, long-sleeved flowing top. Her straight, bottle-red hair flows over her shoulders, parted to the left. Her bangs cover most of her forehead, separating only at the part. She wears a liquid foundation underneath a powered one, and bright green and white eye shadow along with a golden bronzer on her cheeks and pink lip gloss.

I never understood why she felt the need to wear so much make-up over her flawless skin.

"Are you ready to start ladies? Or are we just in the way?" the proctor's annoyed tone makes Siori blush.

"Yes, forgive us," she apologizes. She slips a piece of paper in my hand, motioning with her figure towards the seat next to Sasuke.

I grumble again and stalk off, looking down to see the note has a number on it only when I sit down.

"You really should work on your timing, Hoshigaku," he comments.

"Didn't ask for your opinion, Uchiha," I reply, crossing my legs, the leather on my knee high, low heeled boots, rubbing together.

He scoffs, balancing a pencil between his fingers. I glance over at him, raising and eye brow at the smirk on his face.

"You make me laugh, Hoshigaku."

Having no idea of what he's talking about, I merely roll my eyes.

I cross my arms, closing my eyes. The proctor is babbling about the exam in front of us being worth ten points. He goes on further to explain that 1 point will be taken off for a wrong answer, two points if we are caught cheating and if one of us fails then we all do.

There is something about his tone that raises questions for me. I open my eyes, glancing down at the paper as the proctor shouts, "Begin."

I allow my eyes to scan over it for a moment before I close them again.

Impossible, I think. This test is absolutely impossible for gennin of our level. Which is why they stress so much on cheating. They know there's no possible way we could figure this out on our own. They expect us to obtain the answers. Which also means…

I pause in my thoughts and breath in deeply, activating my Yaminome with my exhale. The room illuminates behind my closed lids. I scan my eyes around, finally locking on a shinobi three desks in front of me. He fills in the answers without hesitation, only feigning it to keep up appearances.

Which also means they'd put several rats within, because someone needs to know the answers. I smirk, holding back a scoff and raise the fingers on my right hand ever so slightly from my arm. I feel my fingertips tingle as small, almost-invisible tendrils of black lighting snake from them, licking the answers onto the paper.

I continue this until question eight, when I hear the whirl of a kunai as it heads in my direction. I break the strands, raising my hand in time to catch the kunai just before it connects with my temple.

"No sleeping during the exams," one of the assistants yells at me.

I smirk, yelling back, "I'm not sleeping, I'm merely resting my eyes." I hear Sasuke scoff beside me.

I flip the kunai in my fingers, stabbing it on the desk. Behind my closed eyes, I see the look of agitation on the assistant's face as he sits again.

I chuckle internally before gathering the strands again to answer the ninth question.

"Using your Yaminome so soon, Hoshigaku?" Sasuke murmurs beside me.

"You're one to talk. You've had your Sharingan active for a while now." I whisper back.

"It's just disappointing. I could've saved myself the trouble and cheated off you. Of course, you don't use a pencil, so it takes a while for your answers to become visible."

The corners of my lips rise into a smirk. "Yes, that is my Yaminome's advantage. What I write does not become marked in until I say so."

I breathe in deeply, deactivating my Yaminome with my exhale. Opening my eyes slowly, I allow them to adjust once more to the light within the room. I glance over at the clock, there are twenty minutes remaining. The proctor will give the final question soon, then.

A/N: Chapter one of the story stemming from the oneshot Before the Dawn. Please read, review, etc. Look forward to more chapters in this story.