It had been a while since the mission with Zabuza and all my injuries were fully healed. I had been in some serious training when I returned though, thanks to Guy and Kakashi. For one thing, I had to wear a chakra suppressor bracelet now because Kakashi had to inform the Hokage about my previous rampages. I didn't mind for the most part—they were only trying to keep the village safe—but it made any training with my chakra much more difficult.

It was almost like starting over from scratch. My wolf runner that used to be the size of a small wolf, was reduced to the size of a small dog until I was able to measure out the appropriate amount of chakra I needed to use without losing control. It wasn't long though before I started learning more jutsus, and the bracelet helped a lot with chakra control. If I used too much, I'd end up exhausted before the day was through and chakra management was something that took a while to get used to.

My taijutsu though, was better than ever and Guy and I actually sparred more often than Lee and I. This only encouraged Lee to try harder of course and I enjoyed the warmth I felt when he continued to get back up with a large smile, even after being defeated. It was a new sensation that I hadn't felt in a long while. It was the same with some of the other genin I stayed with and I can recall feeling the same feeling back before I came here. My memories hadn't returned at all, but on occasion I would have the sense that I did something before. Like deja vu.

My genjutsu was still pretty bad and Kakashi tried his best to help me improve, but he said that I was better off without it since I was good with traps and could hide my presence extremely well anyway. We did find out that I was fairly good at spotting the illusions though. Genjutsus on people were very easy for me to spot since, Kakashi claimed, my nose had a better sensing ability than he'd first realized. Although, I didn't appreciate him telling this to Guy, because my taijutsu training took a whole different direction when he thought it would be interesting to see what I could do blindfolded.

It was… difficult at first, but I began to remember how to rely on my other instincts like I did in the forest before. Soon enough, I could fight blindfolded with both Lee and Guy as well as a few other genin. Shikamaru was the only one this didn't really work on, since he used shadows, but his strategies when fighting always kept me on my toes. As did our shogi games. I'd gotten better at that as well, and found planning battle strategies to be very intriguing. I could even beat Asuma now.

Other things were beginning to catch my interest as well. When the Hokage had given me my bracelet, he had mention a Jiraiya coming in and possible working out a seal for me to keep my chakra in check. Curious, having only seen exploding seals before, I went and spent a whole week in the library looking things up on them. I couldn't get much, not having any jurisdiction above genin level, but I had enough to start working on figuring out my own seals.

I learned that I had already been doing one type of seal, which was on my arm in the form of a tattoo. It was the one I stored my excess chakra in for an emergency chakra reserve. Other than that though, I made a scroll that allowed me to carry most of my weapons and other things in. It made mission trips easier since I didn't have to carry everything, but I was still working on a way to make one that kept food from rotting. It would involve stopping time within the scroll and I was starting to wonder if that was even possible, but I wouldn't give up.

Another improvement I made, was expressing myself. I smiled a bit more, although my smiles were more like Kakashi's fake ones, and I spoke a lot more around people I knew. It surprised Kiba's team especially when I thanked Akamaru for warning me about an approaching enemy. I was still uncomfortable with strangers though and the few people I didn't talk to much, and I continued to keep the lower half of my face hidden—out of comfort more than secrecy. The only ones who had seen my full face were Kakashi and his team, and I preferred it that way since I had this nagging feeling that my calm days in Konoha were about to get crazy.

"Shi."

I opened my eyes wearily, having trained all day yesterday and came home late, falling asleep for maybe an hour before I glanced at the open window. It was Kakashi—he'd been coming to pick me up for missions ever since I got lost for over four hours in a bad part of Konoha—and I had apparently fallen asleep on the floor the night before. Not comfortable, but I didn't care at the moment.

"Mm. What? I'm tired." I yawned and scratched my head in a lazy manner before I started dozing off again.

Kakashi sighed and gave me a look. "Hey, the Hokage wants to see you. So you have to get going."

I groaned and rolled over onto my side with my back facing him. "Five more hours."

"What am I going to do with you?" He muttered, before climbing down and walking into my kitchen.

I was less than pleased when he returned, dumping a small glass of ice cold water on my face. Sitting up with a cough, I yanked down my scarf in order to be able to breathe, tongue hanging out as I gasped for air.

Kakashi smiled, eyes closed. "Hope you're awake now."

I frowned, but got up, stretching my arms over my head with a yawn before taking my scarf completely off to try and dry it before I went. Once I'd tossed it in the dryer, I headed into the kitchen to find Kakashi opening cupboards and looking around.

"What are you doing?" I asked, lazily grabbing an apple off the counter.

"You don't have much food here, do you?"

I shook my head. "I don't eat much."

He closed the cupboard and gave me a look. "That isn't healthy, Shi. You should eat at least two decent meals or else you'll run out of energy. Especially during missions and even training."

I shrugged my shoulders, not overly concerned. After all, I was used to less anyway. I was still trying to get my body used to eating one decent sized meal. Just then, the dryer went off and I pulled my scarf out and wrapped it back around my neck, enjoying the warmth still lingering on it.

Kakashi chuckled. "You really like that scarf, don't you?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It's mine. You can't have it."

He held his hands up. "I wasn't going to take it. I was just making an observation. We need to go though, Shi. This is the Hokage we're making wait."

I nodded before Kakashi and I poofed outside the Hokage's office, knocking before entering the room slowly.

"Mornin'." I muttered as Kakashi did the same.

This wasn't the first time I'd shown up at his office half asleep, so the look he was giving me now was just a normal occurrence.

"You shouldn't work yourself so hard, Shi." He said with a sigh.

"Ah." I said and stood before his desk with another yawn, ignoring the occasional chuckle Kakashi was giving me.

"Anyway, I don't know if you've heard yet, Shi, but the chunin exams start tomorrow and in order for you to get higher missions and become a jounin, it is mandatory that you become a chunin first."

I nodded, lazily.

"I had a problem though, you see. The chunin exams are taken in teams of three and due to your… situation, I can't have you in any of the existing three man groups. I searched for a two man group, but there were none taking the exam. So now, you have a choice."

I scratched the back of my head and nodded for him to continue.

"You could either wait and take the exam next year or whenever a group of two will show up. Or you could take it this year. However, you'd be doing it alone and not on any team."

I scrunched up my eyebrows, thinking it over.

"I've asked Kakashi as well as Guy to find out if they thought you'd be able to handle it alone and they both agreed that you are ready, but it is ultimately your decision on whether or not you feel ready for it. And, unfortunately, I need your answer right now in order to make sure everything is prepared correctly tomorrow."

I thought about it for a minute, thinking of the pros and cons of taking the test as well as if I thought I was truly ready. Before I made my decision, I decided to confirm something first and pointed to the chakra suppressor on my wrist.

"Ah, yes. Unfortunately, you must keep that on during the exam."

I frowned just a bit, but decided that it wouldn't be too much of an issue. "I will do it this year."

He smiled, turning to Kakashi and pushing a paper and pen in his direction. "That's good. Kakashi, I'll need you to give signed consent since Shi is technically your student."

He nodded as well and signed a piece of paper, before the Hokage took it back and signed it as well, giving me a final glance.

"I will turn this application in for you, since Kakashi has informed me about your… habits of getting lost and I fear you'll lose it before tomorrow."

I gave him a closed eye smile, rubbing the back of my neck and he glanced at Kakashi with a raised brow.

"Seems you've been hanging out around her too much already. She's already starting to act like you." He then waved us both off. "You two can go ahead and go. Make sure you're not late, Shi, and show up at room 301 at the academy tomorrow morning at 4pm."

I nodded and walked out of his office with Kakashi at my side.

"I wish you good luck in your exam tomorrow, Shi. Although I'm sure you'll have no problem."

I gave him a short glance as we exited the building. "Right."

"Well," Kakashi said. "I have someplace I need to be, so I'll be seeing you."

I gave a short nod and he poofed off before I did the same, popping up in the shopping district and checking to make sure I had some cash to grab an early lunch. Seeing how I had just been scolded by Kakashi earlier. Once I confirmed that, I started to walk, only to bump into someone, catching them before they fell into the dirt. Low and behold, I had caught Sakura.

"Sorry." I muttered as she stood up and gave me a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"It's okay, Shi. It was my fault. I was lost in my thoughts." Her smile slowly dropped and I frowned, knowing something was wrong.

The two of us may be on the same team, but we didn't really talk that much. I stuck around Naruto and Kakashi more and since she seemed more infatuated with Sasuke than anything, I never really saw a need to get too close to her. Call it my wolfish instincts. You don't mess with someone who doesn't want to mess with you.

Either way though, I could tell something was bothering her and I decided to fix it the same way I would fix any other problem. With food. I took her by the arm and brought her into a small restaurant that wasn't too crowded and sat her down at a small table in the back, where I was used to sitting should I want some time to myself.

"Uh, Shi? What are you doing?"

I blinked, confused and wondering if I was doing something wrong. This is where I go when I'm bothered by something. She seemed to catch on and shook her head with her hand up.

"Oh, no. It's not that I'm not hungry or anything. It's just… well… we don't really talk all that much and I don't really know what you're trying to do."

The waitress came by then before I could get a word out and I quickly ordered for the both of us, pointing at the menu. She was a waitress that was used to my silent behavior and silently nodded before heading off, leaving me dealing with an even more confused Sakura.

"Wha? Wait! You don't have to pay for me! I can—"

"No."

She stopped talking and I crossed my arms on the table before continuing.

"Something's bothering you."

She seemed surprised, trying to cover up her nervousness with false confidence. "T-That's not true! I'm perfectly fine! Nothing's bothering me!"

I simply stared at her, resting my chin on my folded arms as she shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. I wasn't trying to scare her or anything. I was simply trying to figure out what was bothering her by her actions and movements.

I'm not very good at figuring out people's emotions, having spent most of my time in this world in a cell being tortured, but I was slowly learning; and animal physicalities and actions were similar to human actions anyway, which helped. Apparently though, my staring had the opposite effect on Sakura and she seemed to have given up on hiding whatever it was from me.

"Fine! I'll tell you. Just… stop staring at me like that."

I raised a brow and tilted my head to the side. "Like what?"

He face flushed a bit and I swear I heard her mumble, "If you were a guy…"

The waitress then returned with our… food. It wasn't exactly lunch food, but I found sweets comfort better than anything else, so the double-decker triple sundae and banana split was, for me, as good as it could get. As I dug in though, Sakura stared at the desert in front of her in shock. Not knowing what her problem was with the chocolate sundae, I pointed my spoon at it.

"Eat."

She glanced up at me before looking back at it and picking up her spoon and eating some as well. Satisfied, I took another huge bite of my sundae before getting back to the situation at hand.

"What's wrong?"

She glanced up, before looking down in an ashamed manner. "Nothing's wrong. I just… don't know if I should take the chunin exam."

"Why not?" I questioned, shoveling another bite in my mouth under my scarf.

"Well, I-I just don't think I'm ready for it."

"Why not?" I asked again, and she glared at me.

"Are you even listening?"

I nodded, confused as to why she was angry with me. "You don't think you're ready. Why not?"

She sighed, realizing that I was listening. "I can't even keep up with Sasuke or Naruto."

"So?"

"What do you mean, 'so'?!"

I frowned behind my scarf. "You're different than them. You should find what you're good at and stop trying to follow them."

She stopped being angry and gave me a confused look. "What I'm good at?"

I nodded, poking at my ice cream. "Sasuke is good with speed. And Naruto is good with clones." I swirled around the whipped cream next. "But you have something they don't. Something…" I picked up the cherry between my fingers, twirling it around. "…unique."

I tilted my head back, lowered my scarf and dropped the cherry in my mouth.

"Like what? I'm not fast and I don't have a lot of jutsus. What can I do?"

"Hm." I hummed, pulling the—now tied—cherry stem out of my mouth and pulling my scarf back up. "Don't know."

She smacked her head with her hand, dragging it down her face while giving me a look. "How is this helping?"

I scooped up the last of my ice cream and got up, paying for both our deserts, looking over my shoulder as I shrugged.

"It doesn't. You need to figure it out."

With that, I left mentally wondering if maybe I should've handled that better, but a yawn interrupted my thoughts and I poofed back to my apartment. Now wasn't the time to worry about things. Now was the time to sleep and rest up for the exam tomorrow. Huh, Naruto and them still don't know I'm going, do they? Oh well. They'll find out soon enough.

Instead of possibly being late, I easily snuck into room 301 later and slept there overnight, managing to even sleep through a good number of students coming in. I was sitting in the front with my Icha Icha book covering my face and my feet up on the table, dozing. I was paying attention for the most part, but only to make sure no one was thinking about trying to attack while I slept. After all, people from all sorts of nations were here and I was particularly keeping my ears out for the Sound ninja should they be a part of Orochimaru's gang. Something told me he wouldn't be too far behind if they were and I only grew more nervous when I heard Kabuto's voice talking to someone. That lackey hardly ever leaves Orochimaru's side. Best keep an eye out for the damn snake.

Just then, Naruto shouted out, loud as ever.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I won't lose to you bastards! You got that?!"

I sighed, lifting the end of my book and turning in my seat to peek up at him as he put his hands behind his head. He's going to get himself killed one day with that mouth. I then noticed the Sound ninja moving in, but they weren't going after Naruto from what I could see, so I ignored the mess they were causing and went back to relaxing. I haven't been noticed after all, so I best keep to myself while I still can. Of course, that only lasted a few minutes before a cloud of smoke appeared at the front and a deep voice shouted through the room.

"Quiet down you worthless bastards!"

I recognized the voice and frowned, peeking out from under my book again to see Ibiki Morino standing not a few feet from me. Needless to say, he and I did not get along even though we only knew each other for maybe half an hour. He was the one in charge of seeing if I was a threat when I first came to the village and, since I was cooperating, he wasn't allowed to use torture like he wanted and instead found my few worded answers a pain. After merely introducing himself though, I could feel all the energy in the room tense. He confronted the Sound ninjas then and they mentioned something about them getting carried away.

"Here's a good opportunity to say this. There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated. Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?" Ibiki said seriously and a number of students shivered or gulped in fear.

"We will now start the first test in the chunin exams. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

Mentally sighing, I counted off in my head. 3... 2... 1...

"What?! A paper test?!" Naruto shouted.

My mouth twitched towards a smile, but then I put my book away with a yawn and got up to grab a number and find my seat, only for Naruto to spot me and point me out to the room.

"Shi?!"

I sighed while Ibiki snickered. "Looks like you've been spotted."

I turned towards Naruto, scanning the glaring faces of the other genin, before ignoring his shouting and rested my head on my arms with a yawn. Then everyone was seated down at their assigned seats and the tests were passed out. Ibiki started explaining the rules, but I could care less and just wanted to get the test started and over with. Once he finished, I barely glanced at the board where he wrote the rules before flipping my test over lazily and looking over the questions.

"Line B, seen in the picture, is the greatest possible distance a shinobi can throw his shuriken from a tree of 7 meters. For enemies who appear within the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance. Show your work."

I blinked a few times, before moving on and looking at the other questions. They were all of similar difficulty, but I could answer some and did so before calculating my score. Once I was sure I had at least the number of points to pass—using my kunai I had stuck in the ceiling earlier as a mirror—I stretched and laid over my test for a nap. All I need is enough points to pass and then I have nothing to worry about. Naruto and the rest, on the other hand, have some serious thinking to do. I opened an eye and glanced over at Naruto, boredly. He was definitely having a rough time. I could smell his panic from where I was. I wanted to help him too, but I wasn't quite sure how I could without getting caught. I then saw Hinata trying to help him out and closed my eyes once again. He's in good hands.

I fell asleep easily, not worried about being attacked or anything as long as the proctors were in the room, but still stayed semi-alert so as to be awake for the tenth question. It didn't even feel that long before Ibiki was telling us that our time was up.

"Okay, and now, we will begin the tenth question." There was a bit of suspense, before he said something unexpected. "Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question."

The door clicked open then and some kid in a cat costume walked in with someone who smelled an awful lot like wood. A fake? Ibiki clarified that but didn't seem to care that the kid was cheating and moved on.

"I'll now explain. These are the rules of desperation. First, for this tenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?! What happens if we choose not to?!" A girl shouted angrily.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. You fail! Along with your two teammates."

I silently wondered how that would apply to me, when one of the proctors received a signal from Ibiki and handed me a piece of paper discretely. I didn't quite know what this was for, but I understood when I opened it. The rules had changed for me. If I choose not to take the tenth question, all of Team Seven will fail. That's Naruto's team. They don't even know about this, so if I choose not to, all three of them will hate me. It shouldn't bother me so much, but it seems I have gotten attached. Damn.

"And now, the other rule."

My attention focused solely on Ibiki, eyes watching him for any hint of lies.

"If you choose to take it and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to ever take the chunin exam again."

My fist clenched, but I showed no other response, even as Kiba yelled.

"What kind of stupid rule is that?! There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"

Ibiki began to laugh, amused. "You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules, but I am giving you a way out. Those who aren't confident can choose not to take it and try again next year. Now let's begin the tenth question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

The silence grew tense as everyone began to panic, silently choosing whether or not to stay and take the final question. It's certainly a tough decision. You either fail and never return, or you give up and your entire team has to wait another year. I watched as one by one, people began raising their hands and I silently worried about Naruto. If it's another written question, then he will be screwed and will never become the Hokage like he wants. But then… why wouldn't it be on the paper with the other written questions? Just because Ibiki likes to mess with people's minds? For all we know, there is no tenth question at all and it's just a stress test to see if we will give up without even trying. That's it, I've decided. I said it before, Naruto and them are the future. If I fail the tenth question and am never allowed to become a ninja, so be it. As long as it gives them a chance. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back in my seat and relaxed, knowing that it was up to Naruto and them now to decide whether to take the last question. Then, something I didn't expect happened. Naruto rose his hand… only to slam it on the table and begin yelling.

"Don't underestimate me! I will not run! I will take it! Even if I'm a genin forever! I'll will myself to become the Hokage anyway, so I don't care! I'm not afraid!"

Immediately, the whole room seemed to relax. The tension was gone and people who I knew were going to put their hands up, were now confident even as Ibiki questioned him.

"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit."

"I follow my unbending words. That's my ninja way."

I closed my eyes, but left one open to watch Ibiki's reaction to what Naruto had done. Nothing really showed, but when he glanced up at me to see me unfazed, I noticed his lips twitch downward. Heh, sorry to kill your fun, Morino. He then turned back to everyone.

"Good decisions. Now, to everyone still remaining… I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

Everyone was lost. Absolutely and completely confused as to what Ibiki was telling them and I couldn't help but smirk to myself, pulling out my Icha Icha book and continuing where I left off. I pretty much ignored all conversation after Ibiki told us that we had passed. I could care less about the specifics of it since I had figured out most of it along the way, but when he reached up to remove his forehead protector, I lifted my eyes to stare at numerous scars covering his head.

"Because, in times, information is more important than life. And on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

I stared back at the scars blankly, but my mind was in turmoil, remembering everything Orochimaru's had done to me. All the pain, the struggling, the fighting. All of it was flashing right in front of me and I felt my old wounds beginning to ache at the remembrance, that beast inside of me fighting to be let out as the chakra suppressor on my wrist sparked, locking it back in place. I took in a deep breath, ignoring the bead of sweat that trailed down the side of my face, and let it out slowly as I controlled myself; listening to Ibiki's final words.

"No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship… This is the ability needed to become a chunin captain. Those who can't put their lives on the line, who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year', and then walk away from their chance… Those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices don't have the right to become a chunin. That's how I feel!"

His serious face turned into a small smile and I silently watched, having controlled myself for now.

"Those who choose to take it answered the tough tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubles you face in the future. You have made it through the entrance, the first test of the chunin exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

"Hell yeah! Wish us luck!" Naruto shouted, just when I noticed something heading towards the window.

I wasn't the only one though and since none of the proctors were reacting to it, I deemed it not hostile and sat back in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest. Kunai shot out of a black mass, unraveling it to reveal a woman who I recognized with a sigh. It would be her. Great.

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating! I am the examiner for the second test! Anko Mitarashi! Now let's go! Follow me!"

Nobody moved and I felt a small smirk make its way onto my face. Looks like your timing was off, Anko. She glanced around the room with a frown, not even noticing me yet, thank Kami. I was wrong though.

"79? Ibiki! You left 26 teams and an idiot?!"

I frowned at that, knowing she was talking about me. Ever since we met, she had deemed me as stupid because I never talked much. So this really shouldn't come as a surprise, but that didn't mean it didn't bother me a bit.

"I'll explain everything once we've changed placed, follow me." Anko said, before looking directly at me. "Not you, Shi!"

I froze, thinking the worse mostly because everyone was glaring at me now thinking that I had connections with the proctor. I also noticed her smirk. She knows she's pinning a target on me too, jerk.

I sighed, which she knew meant I was listening.

"Get me the usual! You know where to go!"

I was about to ask her about the money, but she'd already jumped out the window, leaving me with a group of laughing jounin and chunin. As they all left, a few gave me pats on my back, wishing me good luck and I took off, poofing to the shop that Anko usually goes to to get her dango.

Now, a bit about Anko. She's a pain. She drags me drinking with her every chance she gets since I seem to be one of the few people who can keep up with her, and she loves to push me around and get me to get things like this for her. I'd just not do it, but the last time I did that it didn't end well and she discovered my severe dislike of snakes, which she now hangs over my head like some kind of trophy since most of her jutsus use snakes. It surprised me the first time around, but she and I grew rather close; probably due to our connections with Orochimaru.

I found out about her curse mark when I was carrying her home after a rough night out and hadn't bothered to bring it up, but I think she knew that I saw it. Neither of us changed our actions towards each other though. She still acted very aggressively and Naruto-like and I stayed my quiet blunt self, but it was as though something had changed after that. Like we both understood what the other was carrying and since then, we'd hang out at a bar or dango shop on occasion.

I sighed as I approached where Anko's scent was coming from, dango bag in hand. Once I'd touched down though, she had already started explaining something. Knowing her, it's probably important. Sure enough, she had already started handing out agreement forms and was holding up a map before she spotted me.

"Shi! You're late! How long does it take you?! Years?!"

I handed her the bag which she took, before punching me hard in the back of the head, leaving me crouching on the ground as I held my head.

"Moving on!" She shouted. "Around practice arena no. 44 are 44 locked gates. Forest, river, and a tower in the center. From the gates to the tower is about 10km. During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will complete in a no rules scroll battle."

Anko held up a couple of scrolls, one black and the other white differently labeled.

"You will fight over these two scrolls, the 'heaven' and 'earth'. There are 79 people here, meaning 26 teams and this idiot." She kicked me in the side lightly. "Meaning 26 teams. Half, 13, will get the 'heaven' scroll and the other 13 teams will each get the 'earth' scroll. Shi, on the other hand—"

I looked up at Anko, not liking where this was heading. "Will get both scrolls."

My head dropped as a cloud of depression hovered over me. She's trying to get me killed!

She was full on grinning at this point as she went on. "To pass this test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls."

"So 13 teams will lose their scrolls. Half the teams will definitely fail, but Shi—"

Anko cut Sakura off. "But there's a time limit. This second test will last 120 hours. Exactly five days. Shi, the exception of this whole test, will not be allowed to enter the tower until the third day. So she's free game until then."

My cloud grew darker as I hung my head, feeling the bloodthirsty glances aimed my way.

"What about dinner?!" Chouji shouted, probably one of the few people who wasn't even caring about my predicament.

"You're on your own. The forest is full of food. Just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants…" She quickly got back on topic. "And 13 teams passing is not likely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become farther and the time to rest will become shorter. And the area is crawling with enemies, you won't get much sleep."

Immediately, Naruto took a step back, eyeing me as I grew tense, murderous intent rolling off me in waves. I loved my sleep. Anko wasn't bothered though, probably knowing that that would encourage me a bit.

"So not only will some fail by losing the scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the course. Now, I'll talk about what will disqualify you. First," Anko held up a finger. "Those that don't make it to the tower, with both scrolls, within the time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or those who have a teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. You will be in the forest for five days. And one more rule. You must not look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

"What happens if you do?" Naruto asked.

"That will be a surprise for anyone who does. A chunin will be asked to handle classified information. This is to test your worthiness. That is it for the explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, then choose a gate to get ready for the start. A final word of advice… don't die."

The groups began to shuffle off and just as I got up, Anko tossed the two scrolls she had at me, which I caught.

"Good luck, moron."

I frowned. "No thanks to you."

She just laughed heartily, opening up her dango container and eating the first one as I made my way over to my gate with her. She glanced at her watch, counting down to the last seconds before calling out to everyone as the test began, all of us launching through the gates and into the forest that would certainly destroy a good number of us. Good luck, me. After all, I'm enemy number one. Let's hope I make it through this in one piece.

Not five minutes through the gate, and I heard a group shouting out in pain. I sighed, jumping from branch to branch as I made my way to the tower. I have to be here for three days. Nothing's going to change that, but I need to find the best place to wait those three days out. Staying by the tower's probably the worst idea since others will think of that just to get scrolls. Then staying by the gate is stupid too since I'll end up wasting all my energy trying to get to the tower on the third day that I'll be open for attacks. Just then, I caught a whiff of a scent and dodged a kunai that was thrown.

"Well look what we found, guys!" A kid chuckled, perched up on a tree branch not far away, flipping another kunai.

"Seems we found the exception." Another said, coming up behind me on the ground.

Hm, both from the Hidden Grass. Not good. They have the advantage in this sort of terrain. Shifting my stance into a crouch, I relaxed all the tense muscles in my body, preparing for a quick burst of speed.

"Oh? She giving up already?"

My eyes snapped open and suddenly, I was gone. The first kid didn't even know what had hit him before he coughed up blood, my kunai stabbed through his back. The other one quickly reacted, eyes wide in horror, but he was acting foolishly out of anger and made the mistake of charging right in. Once he was taken care of, I searched them both for scrolls and found none, reminding me that there was a third person in this group.

I was just a split second too slow and a sword pierced straight through my chest. Blood pooled out of my mouth and down my chin as I felt my heart trying to pump around the foreign object to no avail. As my vision was fading to black though, I smirked and disappeared into a puff of smoke, the real me behind the final male with my sword held in front of his throat.

"Scroll." I muttered, holding my other hand out.

The kid swallowed. "W-Why? Don't you have both already?"

"Insurance."

The kid slowly reached into his pouch to get it, hands shaking. Not soon enough, I took the earth scroll from him and removed my sword from his neck, turning to walk off but the kid called out to me.

"I hate you!"

I halted, turning to look at him as he cried, holding his teammates, only for them both to start moving, groaning in pain. The kid seemed shocked, but before he could say anything, I hurried off. I've grown soft. I sighed to myself, heading even deeper into the forest, when I caught the scent of something that sent shivers up and down my spine. I stopped on a branch and turned my head towards the smell, hands shaking as a wind coming from that direction only confirmed my fears.

"N-No." I whispered shakily, memories hitting me like a tidal wave. "H-He can't be here."

I was about two seconds from running to opposite direction to get as far from him as possible, when I caught the scent of ramen. I froze and glanced back, swallowing thickly as I tried to make a decision. H-He's over there… but so is Naruto. Sakura, Sasuke… am I really willing to let my fear of him control me to this extent? They need my help. B-But he's there… What do I do? I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply before snapping my eyes open and dashing as fast as my legs would carry me towards my worst fear. I just hope I'm not too late.

I pushed myself faster and faster straining my muscles to the point where I worried about how I would be able to get away once I finished. Clenching my eyes shut, I forced myself to slow my pace just a bit. I can't get over there with no energy left. I could care less about myself, but those kids need to get out of there now! Finally, I landed just above the scent were a huge snake was, just as Naruto unleashed his monstrous chakra, hitting the snake on the nose. I was about to jump in, but then I spotted the man himself, using a wind jutsu to knock Naruto into a tree. As much as I wanted to, I hung back, watching for just the right moment to jump in.

I can't go too soon or I'll only end up getting us all into more danger. Too late though and… I shoved the thought from my mind and grit my teeth as I watched the huge snake approach Sasuke, only for Naruto to stop it. He's got a lot of power right now, but I don't know how long it'll last and since he revealed it right away, Orochimaru is either going to kill him or do something to him as an experiment. Either way, it's…

"Not good." I muttered under my breath, just spotting Orochimaru wrapping his tongue around Naruto. This is my only chance.

I jumped, praying that I'd make it, just as Orochimaru did some hand seals, fingers glowing a light violet, but just as he thrust his hand forward, I cut between them, taking the hand to my stomach with a pained expression as I grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Oh!~ I haven't seen you in so long, mutt."

"Shi!" Naruto and Sakura called out, but I was more than preoccupied at the moment as my chakra began to surge, sparking around me while Orochimaru twisted his fingers further into my stomach, revealing a black seal that even I didn't know was there.

"You're in the way." Orochimaru hissed.

"Good." I growled in return, pulling out a kunai and slicing through his tongue, forcing him to drop Naruto and sending him back a few steps in pain.

I shook violently, falling onto one knee as I cradled my stomach, smoke drifting out from under my fingers as the seal burned away into nonexistence. The only thing holding back the beast now, was the Hokage's chakra seal and even that was burning into my flesh.

"Shi!" Naruto called out, having reverted back to himself for now. "What are you doing here?!"

"Naruto!" I snapped back, not moving my eyes from Orochimaru. "Sasuke! Sakura! All of you get out of here. Now!"

"W-What?" Sakura said.

"We're not leaving you here!" Naruto shouted in return.

"Go! Dammit!" I shouted, surprising them since it was very rarely that I ever shouted. Especially this seriously. "This isn't the same as Zabuza! He'll kill you! Now leave!"

Orochimaru smirked. "There's no point in leaving. I'll simply kill you and follow them. You haven't got what I'm looking for anyway."

So he's looking for something, but what? Something relating to power. Not necessarily an object. I stopped thinking about it momentarily when he charged forward, me dodging his initial attack and drawing my sword off my back as I ran towards him. My weapon clashed with his kunai and he just laughed as we exchanged blows.

"Why bother, mutt?! I've seen everything you can do already! I made you!"

"The hell you did!" I yelled in response, doing move after move in the hopes that Naruto and them had listened to me. I was only buying them time.

Just then, I somehow managed to slice him clean through, lopping his head from off his shoulders, but he disappeared into smoke as Sakura screamed.

"Naruto!"

I turned in a split second, only to witness the actual Orochimaru shoving his chakra laced palm into Naruto's stomach as he had tried to do before.

"Same as ever, mutt! Or should I call you Shi." He laughed.

Then he threw Naruto over his shoulder, Sakura managing to through a kunai and pin him there to keep him from falling to his death. She began shouting something at Sasuke, but all sound was lost to me in that instant. The beast was beginning to take over and everything around me was just turning into static noise as that vision of Orochimaru hitting Naruto replayed over and over in my head.

Kill him!

Nothing was going to stop me. Not Naruto, not Sakura, not Sasuke.

Kill him!

The power was flooding through me, like flames as they licked away at the edges of the Hokage's seal on my wrist.

Kill him!

Then, I disappeared.

Sasuke couldn't sit back anymore. Sakura was right. He can't let Naruto get ahead of him. He was supposed to kill his brother! How can he do that, if he can't even handle one creep? Grabbing as many weapons as he could, he laced himself to the teeth and activated his sharingan. He was going to have to jump into this battle and not even Shi was going to stop him.

Orochimaru began running around on the tree's thick branch, enjoying Sasuke's creativity as they battled, throwing kunai and dodging. Just as a shiriken came around to kill him, Orochimaru caught it in his mouth, laughing.

"Heheh. Too bad—"

His eyes widened though, when he saw what Sasuke's real plan was. Fire raced up the metal wire and burned Orochimaru's face, except, it wasn't his actual face and it peeled away easily.

"To be able to use the sharingan so well at this age. You truly are the man that carried the Uchiha blood. Just as I thought. I want you."

He smirked and suddenly, Sasuke and Sakura were frozen in place.

"I had fun testing your powers. You really are brothers. I sense power in your eyes that surpasses Itachi."

"Who the hell are you?!" Sasuke managed to shout out.

"My name is Orochimaru. If you want to see me again, then survive and pass this exam." Orochimaru set the scroll of heaven he had taken from them and set it aflame. "Of course, defeating my men the Sound nin trio on the way."

"What the hell are you talking about?! We'd never want to see your face again!" Sakura shouted, silently wondering where Shi was in a time like this.

"Hehe, it won't go that way." Orochimaru chuckled, making a couple more hand signs as his neck suddenly extended towards Sasuke.

Before he reached him though, a blurred grey figure grabbed a hold of his neck in powerful jaws, tearing it away from Sasuke and Sakura as Orochimaru cried out.

"Agh! What are you—" His eyes widened as he stared back at Shi's slitted grey eyes as she pulled him right off the tree, breaking the spell between him and the two others.

As they crashed into the branches below, Orochimaru retracted his neck, bringing a hand up to try and stop the bleeding as he stared into the cloud of debris. A low growl echoed though the tree as a snarling muzzle poked out of the cloud followed by two grey eyes full of hatred.

Orochimaru couldn't believe it. All those years he had experimented on people in an attempt to create a new body worthy of himself, but he also worked to create what he called a jinchuriki killer. A beast that, while wasn't one of the original jinchuriki, was capable of being on par with one and destroying it, if need be. Again and again he struggled with different formulas and equations and none seemed to be working. All the people were too weak to handle the sheer power that this beast needed to be capable of.

But then he discovered a woman who just appeared out of nowhere with an amazing amount of chakra. He almost couldn't believe it, that she would just sit there and let it ebb out of her like she had no enemies to worry about. Then when he heard her speaking about coming from another world, he spotted his chance and grabbed her. She handled the experiments exceptionally well, which showed promise, but time after time she failed all the tests. Useless. He thought. She was capable but wasn't showing any of the results so he decided to get rid of her. That same day though, she escaped and wasn't seen or heard of since.

And now he'd found her, but didn't expect much. It was far too easy to get to the loud blonde child and releasing her seal was just a blunder on his part. He never expected this though. He never expected that she would have taken to the experimentation so well and was actually capable of using that hidden energy. None of his other experiments could get past the first stage and yet here she was. Past the first, through the second, completely skipping the third, and having gone straight into the fourth stage.

She wasn't human anymore. Hardly, anyway. The best word to describe her would simply be: a beast. The figure of a wolf only the size of a large house. Teeth sharper than any weapon you could hope to purchase and larger than ever imagined. Muscles taunt, able to be seen rippling past her cloudy grey fur as she walked and a look that could kill. The emotions weren't there anymore. Instinct had entirely took over, leaving room for little to no error while in battle, which was exactly what she was going for as she let out a deep breath, smoke seeming to have poured from her jaws.

Then, she was gone. Orochimaru quickly glanced around, but couldn't spot her even when she showed up directly in front of him and took him in her jaws before throwing him through tree after tree. Once he had finally stopped, he only had time to glance up before she was once again in front of him, a deep rumbling voice chuckling as it grabbed a hold of his leg and threw him like a rag doll once more.

"Pathetic snake."

It went to attack him again, but Orochimaru was prepared this time and dodged it. There's no stopping it once it's going. That was what I was supposed to finish working on should it have succeeded in the tests, but she never showed any signs of it working! Without a method of control—How is this even possible?! She couldn't have been hiding the result the whole two years, could she?! Hit after hit, dodge after dodge, Orochimaru was growing weaker and weaker by the minute, searching for a way out of this situation. Then, he spotted it.

Taking his chances, he created a clone in the hopes that it would distract her as it did before. Unfortunately, it completely bypassed the clone, not even sparing it a glance before it hit him with a monstrous paw, but throwing him near his destination nonetheless. Quickly, he did the hand signs, took one look at Sasuke to paralyze him and attacked him once more. As he had planned, the beast went to interfere only for a huge snake to fly out of the branches above and wrap itself around the beast, biting deeply into its neck as Orochimaru did the same with Sasuke.

Sasuke cried out in pain and when Orochimaru heard the pained cries of his dying snake, he hurried off into the forest, attempting to escape the beast that he knew would be following him. As he did though, he bumped into none other than Anko. They fought only briefly before she was practically immobilized. He could sense the beast coming though and quickly finished up his little speech to his old apprentice.

"I'm going to enjoy this." He said. "Although I never expected the experiment to have actually worked."

"W-What are you… talking about?… Experiment?" Anko gasped out.

Orochimaru smirked. "Haven't you already met her? You two seemed to be good friends, although, I wonder if she has enough control of herself to remember that before she kills you. Let's find out."

Orochimaru smirked, doing some hand signs and transforming Anko into a copy of himself with a genjutsu.

"I'd stay to watch, but she'd probably maul me to pieces before I could see anything interesting."

With that, he poofed off just as Anko heard what sounded like a hurricane making its way through the forest towards her. Her eyes widened though when she saw what it actually was. H-Holy… The beast immediately gazed down at her, causing her to shake uncontrollably as the beast seemed to smirk at her. It opened its huge jaws and went to eat her, only to stop and pull back, closing its mouth and instead bringing its nose close to her and blowing up a gust of wind as it sniffed.

As soon as it was done, it lifted its head and sniffed again before lowering its head with a growl. Anko decided to take her chances and forced herself up to get away from the beast, dismissing the genjutsu. But what Orochimaru said had her concerned. An experiment? We're close? What the hell was he talking about? And for this thing to do so much damage to him, this isn't any normal beast. She stumbled, tripping over a root in her exhausted state and the beast turned its head back towards her with a low growl.

"You. Where is the snake?"

Anko froze in fear just by seeing the thing's eyes, filled to the brim with hatred and murderous intent. She couldn't even swallow let alone answer the thing. It appeared to scowl before grabbing her in its jaws, jumping off the branch and landing easily on the ground. It began walking with her hanging from its mouth, not the least bit concerned about anything other than finding Orochimaru. Anko, using the last of her strength, reached for a kunai to attack the beast into letting her go, but her hands were shaking too badly. I haven't ever felt this much fear. Not even from Orochimaru. W-What is this beast?

Suddenly, the beast stumbled, managing to catch itself but even Anko could tell something was wrong as it's breathing grew heavier and heavier. Just as they got to a decent sized clearing, the beast halted, tossing her to the side as something jumped onto its back. Anko was then forced to watch as a band of tigers attacked the beast in its weakened state. As soon as the one tiger was taken down, the second one bit down onto the beast's leg, enticing a menacing growl and the two animals froze upon meeting its eyes. Both tigers released the beast and slowly backed off with tails hanging low before they turned and ran off.

The beast scoffed, but then cringed, taking a step back only to step wrong and tumble to the ground. It laid out the best it could in the small space, and set eyes on Anko once more, who went stock still. Its eyes though, had changed from that murderous grey to a familiar blue. She wasn't as afraid of it as she had been before and something about it seemed…

"Idiot?" She gasped out, taking a guess.

It scoffed once more, closing its eyes. "Says you, jerk."

She was surprised, having never expected this… thing to be Shi. Just then though, Shi lifted her massive head with a low growl as two Anbu approached. The one started doing hand signs, but Anko stopped him.

"Wait! Don't!"

"Are you insane, Anko? That thing could kill you!"

Shi growled menacingly and the two Anbu went still, fear creeping into their hearts. Anko just walked closer to it, ignoring the two and touched Shi's fur, bringing her attention back to her.

"Shi, can you change back?"

Shi cringed. "I can… try but that damn snake broke the seal and I've been poisoned as well… It will be hard to keep down for more than a day or two."

Anko nodded and Shi sighed, relaxing as best she could before trying to shove all the excess chakra back. It was a painful process and as soon as Shi was done, she collapsed, still conscious, but barely. Anko tried to help her, but her curse mark was acting up as well and she fell to her knees too.

"Are you alright? Hey." One of the Anbu asked, going to her side while the other gave Shi a hesitant look.

"Uh, what do I do with this one?"

Anko looked at him with a pained expression. "Take her too. She needs a high grade seal… fast."

The Anbu nodded, lifting Shi as the other did the same to Anko, surprised when he spotted the curse mark.

"The curse mark has reappeared. This can't be. Orochimaru… Damn, we will take you to the Hokage then."

"No. To the tower. Both of us." Anko argued.

"What are you talking about!? Martial law must be implemented the moment Orochimaru appears! The exam is meaningless now!"

"I'll explain everything at the tower. Have the Hokage meet us there."

Once the four of them reached the tower, Anko was sat in a chair while Shi was laid down on the couch, pain etched onto her face as her chakra flared only to go back down.

"Things are getting bad, but we can't stop the exam!" Anko said, rather loudly.

"What do you mean?" The bird Anbu asked.

A man suddenly slammed the door open asking Anko to view an important video and she got up to go, but gave Shi a look.

"You'll be alright, idiot?"

Shi nodded, fist clenching over her stomach. "For now."

Anko nodded and left, leaving Shi to wait desperately for the Hokage to come and see what he could do.

Once Anko had left, I was left to my own devices to try and control all the power that was trying to take over. Never before had I had to deal with this much raw power and I could feel it slowly eating away at my barriers. I tried to even shove some of the excess power into my tattoo seal, but it could only hold so much and had already extended to the back of my hand and towards my chest. Any more, and the seal would break, releasing it all.

"I-Is there, uh, anything I can do?" The Anbu who had been left behind asked, approaching me.

I wearily opened an eye and croaked out, "Water."

He nodded and hurried off to get me some, just as my chakra spiked again. I cried out, but stifled it down as best I could and clenched my eyes shut as I tried not to release all the power building up inside me. The Anbu returned not much later and actually helped me by holding my head up for me so I could drink the water, and it felt like hours for Anko to return looking surprised about something. Her expression changed though when she got a good look at me.

"Geeze. You look like shit."

I managed a small glare, before I cringed, chakra levels spiking once again. Not good. The spikes are happening in a shorter amount of time. It's getting harder to keep it under control and the poison isn't helping. Once I'd suppressed the chakra again, Anko began barking out orders, seeing that I wasn't going to be able to keep it back much longer in the kind of shape I was in.

"Get me a medic nin in here! Weren't you guys listening when I said she was poisoned too?!"

A couple of the Anbu hurried out to grab a medic ninja, but I was concerned that that wouldn't do much. As I looked at Anko though, I could tell she was tense for reasons other than myself.

"Anko… You okay?"

She turned to me with a raised brow. "Why the hell are you worrying about me when you're practically dying here on the couch?"

"Because…" I huffed out. "I'm not the only one hurt."

She gave me a disbelieving look before smirking. "You know, this is the most I've ever heard you talk, idiot."

"Don't get used to it." I muttered, cringing.

Just then, the door opened and a medic nin hurried in with the two Anbu before coming over to me and looking me over with wide eyes.

"Her chakra level is—"

"Shut up. We know!" Anko interrupted. "Just take care of the poison, will you?"

The medic nin nodded and pressed his glowing hands onto the wound on my neck, only for my chakra to lash out. I was suddenly thrust into black as my instincts tried to take over once again. I had growled at the medic nin and he was launched off of me as a thick wave of chakra managed to escape my hold, before I reeled it back in and regained my vision. The medic nin was out cold when I awoke from the short loss of control and I was breathing heavily as I stuttered out an apology.

"S-Sorry… I-I-I can't really—Ngh!—control it."

The Anbu helped the medic nin out and Anko scowled, pulling a hand through her hair.

"Damn. Well, let's hope the Hokage hurries it up." She gave me a look. "How long do ya think you can hold out?"

I closed my eyes tightly. "The poison's… making it harder… Maybe… five more hours."

She cursed under her breath and began pacing. "How the hell did this happen anyway?! Why wasn't I informed about this?!"

"I-I didn't even know." I muttered. "The seal… on my stomach… I don't remember."

"Are you serious? You can't tell me you didn't know you were his damn experiment either?!"

I cringed, feeling her anger smother me since my senses were in overdrive. "The Hokage was the only one… who knew."

She clicked her tongue and resumed her pacing until the Anbu returned.

"How long until the Hokage gets here? Shi said she can only hold up for another five hours maybe. We don't have time to just be sitting around!"

The Anbu glanced at each other nervously before one spoke up.

"Four more hours. Maybe more. They have to get through the forest undetected and it takes that long just to get here."

"Shit." Anko cursed as she flopped down in one of the chairs, exhausted.

"Anko." I pulled down my scarf, giving her a smile. "I'll be okay."

She gave me a look. "Of course you'll be okay! Idiots don't die this easily."

I pulled my scarf back up, fighting another wave of chakra as I mentally smiled to myself. Goes to show even someone as tough as Anko can worry about someone. Even if that was a bit brash. I was worried too though. Five hours was the maximum limit that I calculated as for how long I could hold out. With things going the way they were, waiting any longer than that was going to be risking me losing control. Not to mention how long it was going to take just to seal this much power. I have to though. It's the only way.

Five hours had come and gone, and we were going onto the sixth hour as I struggled to keep my chakra from lashing out. I had actually been moved into another room once the five hour mark had hit because my chakra was starting to spark around me and they couldn't risk me unleashing everything in that room. Even now, my chakra was trying it's hardest to form that grey chakra cloak around me but I kept pushing it back, eyes closed as I sat in a meditating position.

Just a little longer. That's all I need to do. Just hold on a bit longer then the Hokage will be here and will be able to seal it. Already, I had risked pushing more power into my tattoo seal and it had crawled up the side of my face in dark black arcs. The poison was also a problem right now and I was struggling to even stay conscious as my vision swirled and my fever rose.

Finally, just as I was thinking I wouldn't be able to keep it up, the door opened and the Hokage stood in the doorway in complete and absolute shock. I could understand why too. The air was thick with my chakra and I was sure my appearance right now wasn't exactly pleasing either.

"Hurry." I gasped out, knowing that I couldn't hold it back much longer.

He nodded and stepped in along with someone surprising. Kakashi was with him and even he was giving me worried looks as he helped the Hokage set up the sealing circles. Minutes seemed like hours as they worked, before they were finally ready to start what I knew was going to be an agonizingly painful sealing.

"You ready?"

Kakashi asked, his voice hazy to me as the pressure of my own chakra pushed down on me. I glanced down at the intricate markings he had written in blood up my clothes and onto my stomach; my shirt having been tied up and out of the way. Another roll of chakra hit me and I curled up slightly, trying to keep my hands away from the markings in order to not smudge them and screw things up. I gave him a look, letting him know it was now or never and he nodded, looking over at the Hokage as he began the hand signs.

Almost as though it knew what was coming, the chakra surges became even more frequent; happening about every fifteen seconds. As the Hokage sped through sign after sign, I resisted every surge and once he finished, he slammed his palm into my stomach, igniting me with burning, agonizing pain. Not even I could keep the scream that ripped through my throat as he pulled away and a seal began taking form. It wasn't finished yet though and Kakashi was already going through his own hand signs as I wriggled in agony. He too pressed his palm against my stomach and the pain ignited once more as the blood markings traveled up my body and wrapped themselves around the first seal that the Hokage did.

Once it was over, I couldn't move. My body wasn't responding to me and I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as Kakashi hurried next to me and began checking my vitals. He turned and said something to the Hokage, most likely, before looking back at me and pressing his fingers against my neck—my scarf having been removed ages ago for the sealing. I was afraid. For the first time in ages—not counting my encounter with Orochimaru—I was afraid. Afraid of death. Of dying. Forcing myself to move, I shakily reached up and grabbed Kakashi's sleeve.

"K-Ka—"

That was all I could get out as my vision blurred. Then, I realized, I was crying. I hadn't cried for years. Not since the first experiments I was put through. But this had me frightened. More frightened than back then because now, now I had people who cared for me. People I cared about. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi… So many… As I looked up at Kakashi, he appeared to give me a small smile, brushing away the tears that had fallen from my face. He then looked away as people came in to take me to the hospital, getting up and leaving my side. I tried to call out again, but my voice was failing me and my hand limply reached out for him. He was my rock right now. The only one here I knew and I didn't want to lose that. I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want to leave.

I was taken from the room anyway and as I was carried, I saw someone familiar walking beside me, his hands in his pockets. His mere presence comforted me and I suddenly had this overwhelming feeling that everything was going to work out, despite the pain and my vision turning darker by the second. Giving him a final glance, I mouthed out words to him before my vision went totally black.

"God, I don't want to die."