Nishira stirred before the others, who lay snoozing on their futons. She groaned from the uneasy sleep that led to tossing and turning most of the night, but that sound was drowned out by the ripping snore that came from Toma's mouth next door. There was no chance of falling back asleep, so Nishira folded up her futon and blankets and placed them at the side of the room, before tiptoeing out. She found old lady Suzunagi in the small, neat kitchen preparing herself tea.
"Child, you are up far too early for the exam. Why aren't you asleep?"
"I think I'm just nervous."
"What do you have to be nervous about, child? I believe things happen as they should, so you'll either pass or you won't. It won't do you any good to fret over something before you need to. Here, let me pour you a cup."
Nishira accepted the steaming cup gratefully, and she followed the old lady to the back door, which opened to the side of the hot springs, and sunlight slowly lighting up in the distance. Nishira perched there and sipped the tea and felt her heart quiet down. It seemed only moments before the rustling of others waking up drew both Nishira and her companion regrettably back into the building. And it wasn't long before they set off to begin the exam, a heavy silence fraught with nerves weighing on them all.

The teachers waited at the edge of a walkway to a building, Hibi waving like a proud parent as the three groups of Konoha shinobi walked into the building. Nishira looked around and saw cubbies, and hallways lined with writings, it dawned on her that it was a school. As per the instructions, they climbed the stairs to reach a classroom door. Nishira was overwhelmed by the loud chattering that spilled out. Dotted with sounds of exuberant laughter, the air inside was mostly heavy with anxiety. Sekawa looked over her shoulder and saw Nishira pause at the doorway.
"Come on, I want to grab a good seat this time!"
"You've done this task before?"
"They always change it up, but they're usually testing critical thinking skills. Last time they dropped us into a pit of sticky tar, the year before that we had to answer questions exactly like our teammates, and the time before that we had to cheat without being caught. They tend to repeat them from a cycle it seems, but it could be a new one. I hope its a new one, the other ones would be too easy."
Kabuto stood behind them with a grin.
"Does that mean you've taken this exam so many times you'll finally pass this time?"
"Shut it, Kabuto! you've been here at least as long as me! So where do you get off judging?!"
"At least I've made it worth my while, I made these."
His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of cards. Nishira leaned in to see a profile of a shinobi from the sand. Nishira's eyes scanned the card, it had his weapons, his style, how many times the shinobi had tried the chunin exam, and much more data.
"Whoa, how did you get this?"
"Oh, just observation. I don't have one on you yet, Nishira. I hope that'll change by the end of the exam."
Kabuto's words sat in her stomach like a suspicious lump. She silently followed Sekawa to a seat around the middle of the room.
"Hey! You can't sit there! Find your assigned seat!"
Nishira, startled, rose and left the row, searching through the dense numbers of shinobi there. She saw one near the back of the room, far away from her teammates, but giving her a full view of all the candidates. She grimaced as her name was printed on the slip there.

Sitting in full view of the classroom, it was the best spot to take in the roar of milling test takers. It was decidedly an unfriendly place, full of sneers and grunts, and a couple of elbows thrown out when shinobi from different shinobi were trying to find their own seats. There were genin of all ages there, many close to Naruto and Sakura's ages, but most were closer to her own and older. The back of Nishira's chair jostled rudely as a shinobi from Kumogakure barged through, throwing her a repulsed glare.

It wasn't long before an Iwa shinobi stood in front, demanding their silence with a single gaze. A burgundy bandana covered her head of brown hair, tied in a low ponytail, the shinobi headband lay across her forehead, engraved with two boulders, the symbol of the Iwa shinobi. The woman stood in her brown flak jacket with a hand on her hip, her dark eyes scanning the crowd in a roving merciless way, her mere presence demanding attention. She cleared her throat and most of the shinobi in the room were tamed by it.
"You will quiet down now, or it will be the end of you. It's time for the first task. I am your proctor, Atsutsuyo. Being handed out to you is a written exam. Complete it to pass, if you get caught cheating, you'll be failed immediately, and your team removed. You have one hour to complete it. Your time starts now."

After such curt instructions, Nishira stumbled to turn the page over. Scanning the questions, she let out a deep resigned breath. In front of her were questions that were almost illegible to her; Advanced calculations and decoding, strategies were familiar to her, but the level of knowledge to complete it would take jonin skill levels. She was encouraged by a bunch of questions she could answer, some of it triggered from some readings she'd done in the library for extra credit. She looked at the biology of chakra manipulation, and the theories, and smiled in relief. But for Toma and Sekawa, these questions would be almost impossible. Sekawa never had the patience for calculations, but could handle the strategies, and Toma could do the decoding, and some calculations, but his strategizing left much to be desired. If they had combined into one body, or a single entity, they could possibly complete the exam, she thought bitterly. But it seemed to Nishira that there needed to be another way. Her first action was to scribble everything down she knew. Nishira heard pencils scratching on the pages, but no one person was typing at breakneck speed as if they knew all the answers.

Nishira closed her eyes and listened, summoning some chakra to filter out the unsure strokes of pencils, she heard one pencil, moving at a slow but steady pace. no hesitating, just slowly marking it. Nishira turned the page over and recreated the sounds, it went on for a bit before stopping. Looking down, she saw some full answers for a couple of questions in the middle. There are plants in the room, she thought. But that meant she'd missed the first couple of answers. Rereading the question, she was interrupted when a kunai whistled and landed on the test taker's page on her right.
"You have been disqualified for cheating!"
"What? No fair! I didn't cheat."
Nishira paid little attention to their scuffle, but as the team was escorted from their seats to the door, Nishira noticed something on the wall, a map. A map that resembled the scenario on question seven, she looked down and compared it covertly, seeing it was a strategy map. It was the answer. Nishira smirked and began to covertly look around the room. Now knowing the name of the game, she spotted clues every where. A constant she was looking for to solve a calculation was marked on the back of a clipboard one of the proctors observing them. The symbols on the back of the coat of one of the people sitting at the front of the room had a symbol from her paper to be decoded, but she still struggled with it, it wasn't her strength. She side eyed toward Toma who was on the far left a couple rows down, corresponding to the far right, with Sekawa in the middle closer to the front.

Toma's head turned just slightly towards her, a signal. Nishira moved her hand to create a shadow under it but sheltered from the jonin near her. A symbol appeared in her hand, the key they needed to complete the question, she was able to modify what the symbol was made of, as dark as shadow that it appeared in, and send back some answers of her own. Nishira scribbled what Toma had provided, and it wasn't long until she only had one question left. It was a laboriously slow process between the three of them. The final question before her was a strategy question, super advanced, far beyond Nishira's ability. She saw some random markings not pertinent to the other questions but puzzled over how they would interact. Sekawa would know this. Nishira looked at her teammate sitting near the front and wondered how to talk to her. The clock showed only fifteen minutes left.

Nishira considered slipping into the air, and using a clone as a deception, but she would need cover to do it under the many watchful eyes around the room. Before she could lift her hand up to do it, something flashed, catching her eye. Nishira spotted Sekawa, on her hand was the glove with a metal plate to protect her fists, she'd angled it to her at the back row. Nishira watched covertly as it slipped in and out and she realized it was a code. Nishira watched and scribbled on the back of her paper the notes, directions it moved, and with some strategic tapping, Nishira had a solid idea of that final question. She flicked her eyes to Toma, knowing that it would be difficult to send to him with the limited shadow messenger ability. Sekawa was right-handed and Toma sat on her left behind her. Nishira looked on as the final piece of the puzzle was before her but how to send it to Toma. There was one jutsu she'd toyed with, but it could be incredibly draining and sometimes did not work out the way she'd intended.

With anxiety laden in her belly, Nishira wrote down the final answer, turned her page and folded her arms on the table, resting her forehead on it. Nishira closed her eyes, silently praying this worked the way she wanted. A gap on the left side of her arms let her see her teammate. Nishira began to slowly expel air, barely audibly whistling. Gently to not deafen him, and quietly enough to not get caught. Her mind raced with her last attempt, the whistling had run so high, all the dogs in the village had howled even from the great distance they trained outside of the gates. Nishira furrowed her brow, feeling the chakra slipping between her lips in the airy tone, gently she directed it mentally. She risked opening one eye to see Toma straighten and turn slightly towards her. Nishira took one calming breath, glancing to see if anyone near her was listening or paid attention to her movements. But she seemed successful, and she let out a sigh. The sound was loud enough that she spotted one of the observers leaning closer. Nishira glanced at the clock seeing less than ten minutes until the end.

She waited with bated breath, until the observer leaned back in his chair and began looking at a candidate in the row in front of her. Gently, she pushed out again.
"Nod if you can hear me."
Relief flooded her as Toma was the only one to nod. With this success, she sent him the information that Sekawa had given her. Toma scribbling the last bits just as Atsutsuyo stood before them demanding them to put their pencils down for collection.

"Congratulations on making it to the end of the timer. Proctors, please take the exams and mark them."
As the papers were passed along the row, Nishira turned to wait for it to reach her, and she saw the genin two seats down ran his hand over the name of sheet of another sheet. the move was clumsy, and the jonin standing beside her saw it too.
"Hey, you in the orange! you and your team are out. Give me your test."
When he held the boy's test, he ripped it in half, and his teammates were also forced to relinquish their tests.

Most of the remaining genin were cleared to continue, but before they could disperse, an oversized man who towered over them all, his large muscular arms, that were thicker than Nishira's body she guessed, crossed and his black steely gaze that eyed them down until everyone fell quiet, under a gaze that twinkled with mischief. But Nishira was sure she wouldn't like the mischief that would come from the mountain of a man looming before them.
"Hello. I'm the proctor for the next task." He scanned the crowd deliberately.
"Welcome to Hell."

The roaring wind pulled at their clothes and hair, tempting them over the ledge that displayed the village below. Occasionally it would succeed in taking loose stones with it, as they chattered along the uneven stony ground, helpless to stop. That cruel untamed rush ignored the thick layers the people wore, finding every pocket or opening and filling it with a chill despite the sunny day up on the peak of the mountain that loomed over Iwagakure.

Most of the genin huddled with their teammates, ducking their heads into the shirts to try and ward it off. The wind spoke in their ears with a voice like the ancestors, Nishira listened to it sail and whirl around the exposed rock faces, and smiled as it pulled at her raven locks, not like the gentle caress of the wind in Konoha, but aggressive like a competitor, fighting for victory. The punch of it was invigorating. A genin bumped her from behind, making her catch her breath, it tickled her throat, forcing her to take another breath. She willingly drank the crisp dry air in, as it filled her lungs, carrying on it the faintest taste of pine trees and moss, earthy and rich, with the faintest tang of iron.

"Listen up for instruction!" An Iwa shinobi with a clip board motioned to the larger man to his side that had addressed them back in the classroom. Nishira stretched out her arms and hopped a couple times to warm up her limbs. The shorter version of it was they had to enter the caverns and they had seventy-two hours to reach the bottom, deliver a package and then come back out. A genin had asked for more details about the package, but the proctor only grinned a devious filled look and said they would have to be satisfied with not knowing.

The teams lined up near shielded tents, the flaps threatening to run away with the wind as they snapped like a whip. As they emerged, Nishira turned to Sekawa.
"The boxes are different colours. What does that mean? They are either red or blue."
"Could mean everything, or nothing. It might mean different packages, but it also paints a target on your back if you have a different colour, some teams might get a little jumpy. When we get it, make sure it's in your bag before we leave the tent."
Toma and Nishira nodded.

As they moved up in the line, a hard shoulder knocked into Nishira. She scowled at the man who stopped to deliver a malicious leer. His shaggy hair still had a coiffed look while being abused by the elements, and his physique was impressive. But that sneer contorted what otherwise would be considered a handsome face into a repulsive sight, his voice was immediately grating to her.
"Go home little Konoha shinobi. This is no place for you tree huggers."
Nishira stared unflinching into his dark eyes.
"Is that neanderthal forehead of yours from licking rocks your whole life?"
"You bitch!"
"Maybe, but at least I'm smarter than the boulder between your ears."
The man roared about to throw a fist, when a proctor materialized, grabbed the oversized barrel arm.
"Jori, reign it in or you'll be disqualified."
The Iwa genin sneered at the proctor before taking his arm back.
"Watch your back, leaf head."
Nishira openly laughed as he walked away, despite Sekawa's warning glare.
"Come back when you have more than one brain cell, bonehead."
The proctor refused to let Jori turn back around, pushing him back to his team.

Toma agreed to be the carrier, and when they got there, he tucked the red package carefully into his bag. The sleek outside was only made of cardboard, no designs, no frills, it seemed to be a theme in Iwagakure. The three of the Konoha shinobi nodded as they exited, the nerves jittering under Nishira's tongue.
"Man, this is going to suck!"
"Toma! We got this, we are going to make it this year!"
Nishira turned to see the flames of passion in Sekawa's eyes, her clenched fist tremored with eagerness. Paper tests made Sekawa nervous, but survival exercises were where she felt most at home. Toma sighed, squatting on the ground.
"Aw man, I would rather nap. We already did one task."
"Come on, we've been assigned to entrance three."

Together they approached an arch connected to a fence that supposedly surrounded the whole mountain, leading to a cave system snaking under the rock face. The sign for three was carved into the top of the arch. Groups were being let into the forest at timed intervals. Team twenty-two stood, ready to enter, and when given the signal, they bolted it into the dark cave. The light from the surface faded quickly, and with in, the cold slowly going with it, a humid heat starting, and it wasn't long until the three of them removed their heavy winter cloaks.

A faint glowing "T" on the back of Toma's vest lit up, Nishira, acknowledging the brilliance of such a placement, following the mark. Toma's eyes were accustomed to shadow and saw the curves of the path that lead them deeper into the yawning mountain. It was a fair distance before the narrow cave opened into a vast cavern, below them a water shone a clear blue with what looked like ice at the bottom of the pool. The ripples of the water cast flickering shadows on the high ceiling. As they paused, Toma let out a sigh.
"Good thing we started earlier; It'll give us the advantage to avoid other teams."
"Toma, what is this place?"
Toma looked around at the dark edges of the cavern not lit by the water.
"I'm not sure, but this whole cave system is rife with chakra. I can tell the difference between human and not, but there are definitely things in here I have never felt before."
Sekawa draped her arm over Toma's shoulders, jostling him from his focus. He righted himself and placed his hand together in front of his face, frowning in concentration. His face glowed a sickly green in the light of Nishira's glow stick and the reflection of the water below them.
"You got this. You can sense anything. Trust your gut. What are you sensing now?"
"There were twelve other groups, and I can sense five in the area that are distinctly shinobi. They're distinct enough that I'll see them coming before they get near us." He hummed in concentration. "Yikes, some of them are pretty powerful. But there's something else…"
"Something else?"
A scream echoed weakly through the tunnels, interrupting their refuge, but it was too far away to tell what happened.
"There are now less than five full teams. But I don't know what happened or who attacked them. Which, I can see from your face, Kawa, yes, it is a challenge and so we expected creatures to test us, but… there's something. I can't quite put my finger on it, it's not chakra, it's not air or water or anything natural… it's … something." He frowned in frustration. "There is something down here, deep down that feels… ominous. I'm sorry I don't know how else to describe it. I can't tell you any more, and I think we should avoid it."
"Good idea, Toma. Nishira, let's go."

Nishira dragged her hand across the stone face for balance. Her fingers catching a symbol etched it, matching one that glowed a deep blue by the edge of a small pool. The symbol meant "rabbit".
"What do you guys think 'rabbit' means? There's a mark here and there."
The carved symbol was small, easy to miss in the dark. Sekawa and Toma immediately began talking about it.
"Maybe it's like a trail marker?"
"That might be right? Are we just supposed to wander aimlessly otherwise?"

The third member of the team turned her attention to the water itself, rather than the symbol. Descending towards it softly, she approached the edge of the pool carefully, ready for a trap or something to jump out at her. Nishira was drawn to stare into the bright waters, the ice shaped like brilliant crystal just below the water's surface. The light dazzled along the surface, giving it an ethereal feel, like if she reached out to touch it, it would vanish, swirl away from existence. Curiously, Nishira reached out to touch the surface, mar its perfect stillness, her own reflection reaching towards her, her comrades voices seeming muffled like she was underwater already. Her hand hung merely inches from the water. A strong hand gripped her shoulder.
"Nishira! What are you doing?"
She looked up to see Sekawa's eyes wide, searching her face.
"What? What did you see?"
"N-nothing. I was just thinking that there is something weird about the water."
"Good weird? Bad weird? Although knowing this place, it's definitely not good."
"I don't know, just weird, like maybe there is something under there?"
Nishira looked back at the water, her reflection looking back. She reached out again, just wanted to disturb the stillness and the quiet around her. Something in her mind made her pause, if she'd stretched her hand, she would have been able to dip her fingertips into it. But something, something in her gut made her stop. Nishira was about to look back at Sekawa, an urgent question in her mind. But her reflection reached from the water surface. As it passed the surface, the youthful skin blackened and oozed filthy water from the bloated skin, a string of wet twisting foliage wrapped haphazardly around it. It grabbed Nishira's hand and yanked her into the water, Nishira's last sight before being dragged under was Sekawa screaming with her hand desperately stretched out for her.

Nishira kicked out her legs, struggling against the invisible binds that dragged her further still, more of the vines wrapped around binding her arms tightly to her side. The water had darkened around her, leaving her to thrash blindly as water invaded her lungs. Instinctively she tried to cough, which only made her choke on more black water. She tried to call out for help, sending what remaining air bubbles rushing to the surface, the sound was distorted through the medium. The wretched burning in her lungs made the panic crawl in her stomach, and the hard tightening in her chest was regret.

A bright light flashed below her, showing a path under the ice that couldn't be seen from the surface, leading down and away like a secret tunnel. Nishira kicked so she could see the surface, desperate for air, managing to wiggle one hand free. The edges of her vision were starting to warp, the water in her lungs burned less as she slowly drowned. The shinobi looked down and saw a body swimming towards her and she reached her freed hand out towards it until the darkness took hold.