A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but here's part-one of their first test!

The longer they sat waiting for their turn to step into the dark, the more nervous the team became. It wasn't an unreasonable reaction- or at least that was Hikari's opinion on the matter. After all, it would be strange if one wasn't unsettled by the constant fearful shouts that came from the hall. She almost wished she hadn't elected to leave Sake with their sensei. After all, not only were there screams, but there also happened to be the strange feeling drifting from the hall that she had just begun to pick up on. Hikari easily contributed that to the fact that she wasn't naturally gifted in chakra sensing.

Even though it had taken her some time, the fact she could pick up on the matter at all spoke for itself. The air sent a chill coursing down her spine, her eyes flickering constantly between it and where Hisoka had taken a seat in a chair next to her. Miki- unlike Hisoka and herself- seemed unbothered by the events going on around her. Instead, her eyes had flickered to where another team had just stepped away from the registration table.

"And then- kabam!" familiar voice exclaimed, drawing Hikari's attention and striking the air with her fist. "They'll go down just like that!"

"... where am I?" an equally familiar, dull voice questioned.

"Cowering in fear," came the instantaneous answer. "Waiting for the amazing, all-powerful Etsuko to save your ass!"

"If one was honest, the only amazing thing about you is your ego," Akito replied bluntly.

"Why, I should--"

The third member of their team, Kimi, slapped each of her teammates upside the head from behind, cutting off Etsuko's temperamental retort. Deciding to cut in before the obviously irritated Etsuko decided to jump her teammate then and there, Hikari took that moment to wave her hand in the air.

"Akito-san, Etsuko-san, Kimi-san," she called out.

"Hikari!" Etsuko replied, a grin lighting up her face. She nudged Akito with her elbow- as if to make sure he was paying attention given that the boy's eyes had already begun to wander away from the scene- before taking off across the room to where Hikari's team sat. "Hey!"

Kimi sighed, shoved her hands in her pockets, and followed behind the group.

"Have you checked in yet?" Hisoka questioned the moment he sensed the chakra signatures standing before them. "What're your numbers?"

"Thirteen," Etsuko answered chipperly. "Yours?"

"Ten," Hikari answered, holding up the card she still held as evidence.

"Lucky," Etsuko replied, hooking her arms behind her head as a pouting expression lit up her face. "Jeez, if Akito wasn't so slow we would have gotten an earlier number, too. Well, I guess it's alright. I heard from some other genin that only one group out of the three that go into the hall will pass."

Hikari's eyes widened, even Miki tuning in at this bit of information.

"... so they're cutting us down by a third," Hisoka mused.

"Yup! So, you three better pass," Etsuko continued. "'Cause, I've already decided that we gotta face each other at some point! Ain't that right, Akito?"

When he didn't reply, Etsuko looked to her teammate. He'd apparently completely tuned her out, his eyes settled on Miki once again. In return, the redhead was studying him with equally critical eyes.

"Nine!"

Hikari jumped as the proctor's voice cut through the strange silence that had taken their group for a moment. Her gaze shot to the hallway just in time to spot one of the summoned genin staring in their direction. His striking, teal-eyes sent a shiver down her spine for some unknown reason. Within seconds his gaze had torn away from the group, hands shoved in his pockets as he started into the hall.

"Tch."

Blinking, Hikari looked back to Kimi, who had been silent until this moment. If the glower she was sending in the boy's wake was any indication, the one the boy had been looking at must have been here. When she said nothing else, however, just continued to study the hallways, Hikari turned her attention back to the now growing argument between Akito and Etsuko. Or, more accurately, the one-sided argument. Etsuko was growing steadily more and more irritated over some detail that Hikari had missed, and Akito looked as bored as ever.

That was, until a sudden explosion in the dark hall cast the entire room into silence.

"That dumbass," Kimi cursed under her breath.

Hikari's eyes darted between her and the hallway.

"W-what just happened?" she asked, fingers curling into the end of her shirt.

If the bad air in the hallway wasn't bad enough, now things were blowing up. It definitely made the need to enter that place something that she was beginning to regret.

"A dumbass decided to show off," Kimi said, breaking the silence following Hikari's question.

"Eeeeh?" Etsuko was looking at Kimi, head cocked in a questioning manner. "How do you know that?"

Kimi didn't reply, simply walking over towards the hallway as the same instructor from earlier appeared. It was hard to tell given his black outfit, but Hikari had the distinct impression that there was a fine layer of soot covering his figure. Given their distance from the hall, it was impossible to tell what she was asking him. Whatever it was, however, the man sighed, nodded, and disappeared into the hallway again.

"What's going on?" Hisoka prompted Hikari quietly.

She glanced over at him, rolling over how to answer in her head. After a moment, she shrugged.

"I dunno. Whatever it is has Kimi-san worked up, though," she answered honestly.

"Hm..."

"He's coming back," Miki commented quietly.

Just as Miki had said, the instructor reappeared in the hallway entrance. After he'd spoken to Kimi quietly for a moment, he shrugged, then turned his gaze to the open room.

"Ten!"

Kimi turned on a heel, starting back to where their group stood. At the same time, Hikari's team rose to their feet.

"Our number, huh?" Hisoka asked aloud, a grin coloring his lips.

"Yeah..." Hikari replied hesitantly.

Without a word, Miki passed the two of them, starting for the hallway. Not about to be left behind, Hikari hooked her arm with Hisoka's and started after her.

"Bye Etsuko-san, Akito-san," she called back over her shoulder. "See you afterwards!"

"See ya!" Etsuko called after her. "Good luck! Fight!"

"... good luck," Akito echoed dully.

When they reached the dark hall, the other two groups entering without hesitation, Hikari cast Hisoka an uncertain look. As if he could see her expression, the boy simply grinned.

"Don't worry Hika-chan," he told her. "I got this!"

She scowled.

"Idiot. Don't call me that."

Then, without another word, she nodded to Miki- who had been silently watching them- and stepped into the ominous dark.

Instantly, it disappeared. Hikari blinked, confused, as the world around her changed. Rather than the hallway she'd expected, she was surrounded by plain, wooden walls. The scene struck her as familiar, but she had difficulty dragging it up in her thoughts. Actually, she had difficulty constructing her thoughts at all.

What was she doing there, again?

Hikari shook her head, studying the room more closely. To her left was a simple lobby. A fireplace laid on the far wall, a couch and two comfy looking recliners situated around it. The sight stirred a memory in the back of her mind, but she dismissed it for now and turned her gaze elsewhere. To her right laid a desk, making where she was obvious. This must have been some sort of inn.

Was she traveling? Hikari was having difficulty remembering. Perhaps it would be easier to recall if she searched the upstairs as well? The more information she had the better. Just as Hikari started towards the stairs on the fall end of the hall, however, a figure suddenly appeared before her. She blinked slowly, wondering how she hadn't noticed him until that moment. Pitch black locks curled around his face, shaggily blocking most of it from view. His brown eyes- barely visible- were settled on her.

It was the smirk that did it, however. That was the expression that would never leave her mind. His lips were twisted upwards in just the slightest degree, faint amusement obvious. Even with the fog settled over her mind, the memory of that expression surged to the front of her mind.

"... you... can't... it's impossible," Hikari breathed.

He beamed, waving a vague hand in the air.

"Of course it is! I'm here, aren't I?"

Emotion surged through her body in reaction to his simple words. Her entire body went tense with the force of it all, her hand snapping a kunai from the pouch at her side before the thought had even crossed her mind. Within seconds she'd surged forward, flinging the metal towards his heart.

Possible, impossible... it didn't matter.

Hikari would kill him.

__________________________

The world around him had flared to life the moment Hisoka stepped into the hallway; colors almost forgotten drenched the walls, floors, and furniture. Unknown to him, it mirrored the situation that Hikari had found herself in. He stood dead center in the middle of a vaguely familiar inn. The moment all of this clicked in his mind, Hisoka laughed. Despite the way his thoughts had suddenly seemed covered by a thin layer of fog, the mess before him seemed far too easy to reason out.

After all, there were only a handful of reasons why a blind boy would suddenly be able to see. What sort of Asari prodigy would Hisoka be if he couldn't piece together such an easy matter?

One, a miraculous recovery. Given that he wasn't currently in a hospital and one's eyes didn't spontaneously heal themselves without a source, he highly doubted the probability of that course of thinking.

Two, he was dreaming. Unlikely- even Hisoka's dreams had started to drop into the darkness. He'd heard that it was most likely the result of his own mind-set, there was no reason for the boy not to dream in color.

Three, genjutsu. The most probable reason. Given the strength of the genjutsu, he doubted it was laid by a simple hand sign. Most likely, it had taken hours and a number of seals to place. He closed his eyes for a moment, wading through his hazy mind in order to dredge up a mental image of the hall he'd walked into. Yes, it made sense then. A genjutsu bound to an area, those were easy to build in strength. A skilled user would be able to manage such a thing without a problem.

So, really, the only question that remained was why. There must be a purpose to such a test.

Well, the answer would most likely reveal itself upon completion. Hisoka clasped his hands together, pointing his index fingers towards his chin.

"Release."

Touching the tips of his digits to his forehead for good luck, the blonde opened his eyes. Almost instantly a rather smug smile colored his face. The inn had faded into the familiar black. It took him a moment, but he was able to call his chakra sensing into play once again. As a result, he instantly picked up on a certain detail. Standing a short distance away, his eyes most likely trained on the nine prone genin, was the instructor who had called them into the darkness.

"There's always one," he mused aloud upon noticing Hisoka's return to the world. "Your name?"

"Asari Hisoka."

"Hmm, Asari, eh? Wouldn't strike me as the type to pick it up so quickly. Ah, well, I suppose it doesn't matter either way," the shinobi replied, inclining his head towards the path behind him (an action unknown to Hisoka). "Get going. They'll mark you off on the other side. If your other teammates can join you before these others wake up, you'll pass."

"That simple?" Hisoka questioned. "Shouldn't things be a bit harder than that?"

"Hey, it's typically harder than you made it look, kid."

"Ehh, I dunno about that. But, if you say so..." he retorted, hooking his arms behind his head. "... anyways, can I ask you something before I go?"

The instructor sighed.

"Yes, I suppose so. What is it?"

"What's the genjutsu supposed to do exactly?"

Despite his initial dismissal of the test purpose, Hisoka had begun to pick up on an uneasy feeling creeping through the back of his mind. Something about this genjutsu rubbed him wrong- even if he had already been released.

"It's simple," the man replied instantly. "It's a test of fear. I can't give away the details of the technique, but... that's the jist, essentially. As for why that's the case... well, we'll go through a more thorough explanation once everyone has finished, but I can tell you a little bit now. The life of a shinobi is one filled with fear. Your will to live will be tested time and time again, as will your loyalty to the village, your dedication to the missions you're given, your bonds with your teammates... and all of these will face fear the most. This genjutsu puts you face-to-face with the worst of your fearful memories. The idea is simple- you need to be able to get past your fear and remember your task. The genjutsu isn't of such a level that a genin wouldn't be able to recognize it once they've faced whatever is thrown at them.

"Well, most of you here are too young to have lived through the war. You've been given the easy missions by your village. I doubt there will be much fear to drag out of you- although there have been a few... unlucky souls. I wouldn't worry about the matter too much. Take you for example... You finished rather quickly, right? I take that to mean that you're lucky enough not to have that much fear, eh?"

Hisoka stayed silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Yeah, I guess."

The words, the laughter, it all felt forced to him. After all, all he had to do was relax for a few seconds and that scene would flash through his mind once again. He doubted the vivid memory would ever truly fade. His unseeing eyes settled on the chakra flares of his teammates as this passed through his mind. If only he could see their expressions.

After all...

His teammates memories were no less of a hell than his.

Passing for them... well, they were strong, he knew that. Otherwise they wouldn't have been allowed to enter the exam in the first place. There were far too many things that could have been used against them if the third had really thought them unprepared- Hisoka's existence on the team being reason number one.

"Go on," the shinobi urged, his tone showing impatience. "You've got your answer. Get out of here, kid. I need to focus."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Hisoka replied, starting down the hallway.

He could only hope the genjutsu wouldn't dig that deep. Hikari, it was obvious what her fearful memories would be. Hikari was Hikari, though. She wouldn't fall to such a thing. Actually, if he knew her, the girl might even relish a chance to face off with the monster that had killed their naive world. Still, he would have to check in on her afterwards. He doubted she'd simply tell him if something about the test rubbed her wrong. Either way, she was Hikari and she'd be fine.

Miki, though...

He knew little of her past. Actually, he knew next to nothing. He and Hikari were only genin, after all. Teammates or no, they weren't privy to the classified details. Still, it'd be impossible to go through what they had, with knowledge of how Miki acted and how she'd been when they'd first met, and not understand a simple fact:

In Miki's mind... Yukio was no doubt only one of many monsters. They'd met hell once, no doubt she'd lived in it.

Still, it would be fine. Miki was strong. He doubted that the genjutsu would be able to drag up something so frightening that even she couldn't handle it.

___________________________

In the back of Miki's blackest memories, there was the faintest hint of a before.

To Miki, it began with a dark room. If she closed her eyes, she could still see it. She could feel the pain that had radiated her body from that single spot on the back of her neck. She could still remember screaming until her throat was so hoarse it hurt to breathe. She could remember crying.

Before that, though, it was all a haze. She knew there was more to it, but it was as if approaching that black would break her. She'd never considered touching it. The past was the past, her present was far more preferable. She cared little for whatever it was she'd left behind.

Which was why the scene before her was such a mystery.

She stared blankly at the smiling woman tugging her along a faintly familiar, dirt path. Surrounding them was a forest of thick, mushroom trees and roots taller than her. Although, that didn't seem to take much. Despite how strange the concept vaguely seemed, Miki realized she was no taller than a fourth of the shrimpy woman pulling her along. She racked her foggy mind, but found no reason for why this felt so off.

"Come now, Maemi. We can't keep him waiting."

She blinked. That name...

"Hurry up," the woman continued, glancing down at her.

Her eyes were a dark, muddy brown. An uncomfortable feeling almost resembling longing echoed through Miki's chest at the sight. It wasn't the chocolate brown many sported, but a dull, basic brown like her own. The woman's hair was a soft blonde, cascading over her shoulders in thin, perfectly straight stands.

She didn't know this person, of that much she was certain.

"What took you so long?" another voice demanded, pulling Miki's sight to the trees ahead of them.

A man stood in the distance, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were a dull, charcoal black. His hair, though, was a wild, shaggy copper chopped at his ears. His frame was slight, just like the woman pulling Miki along.

That person. She didn't know him either.

"We got held up. The elder was asking about her health. Said he wanted to have her take the academy test soon," the woman said.

"Nosy bastard. Won't be missing him."

She didn't know them. Why... why did that extract such an uneasy feeling from her? Almost unconsciously, Miki rose her free hand to her chest. Her heart was racing. Why? Was she scared? What reason was there for her to be scared?

"Moron. We're not off the leash yet. You know how it is, we'll be stuck here for awhile yet."

"Dammit, don't remind me. We'll have our hands full just dealing with the brat's disappearance."

She clenched the fabric of her shirt tightly beneath her fingers.

What was this feeling?

"Well, let's get going," the woman retorted. "The sooner the better. The neighbors only agreed to deal with the other one till evening."

"Dammit," the man cursed.

They started moving, the woman pulling her along without a word of encouragement this time. Miki's heart continued to race, confusion flooding her system at the idea. She was scared... no, she was more than scared. Miki was terrified. Or at least, some part of her was. It was as if her body knew what her mind did not. It wasn't until they stopped walking again, a familiar face forming from the shadows ahead of her that the reason finally became obvious.

"Eh? This is what we're picking up?"

That voice she knew. Or at least, she believed it was. Her body began to tremble. Her mind had trouble pulling up the reason, but still, she knew it. Through the fog coating her mind, she could recognize him enough that it trapped her in place. 

The man's actual appearance was only slightly familiar. View of his face was blocked by a red and white fox mask. He stood a good two feet taller than the woman she'd been walking with and black hair hung over the edges of the mask. His attire was simple, black robe covered everything.

"She'll be useful if the unexpected occurs," an equally familiar voice replied. "If these two are to be believed."

"We wouldn't lie!" the woman insisted instantly. "Don't worry, Orochimaru-sama! The bloodline limit is there as promised!"

Orochimaru... yes, that's why she was so scared. It wasn't the first voice- it was the faint memory of the person who accompanied him. Even as she thought this, her surprisingly calm gaze settled on the yellow-eyed man, the other male crouched before her. 

"Well, if you say so. I best introduce myself, then. I doubt the other rules apply in a situation like this," the masked man announced, holding out his hand towards her. "I'm Sarutobi Kaito. Pleasure to meet you, Maemi-chan."

Orochimaru's lips twisted into an amused smirk.

"Your real name? Shouldn't you be giving the one that Root gave you?"

Kaito shrugged.

"It wouldn't seem right. Like I said, different rules. Besides, she looks a bit like Manami."

Her heart was racing so hard that she felt it might burst from her chest.

She knew why she was so scared, now. Even with the fog, she'd remembered. It was as if everything had been locked behind a wall that had suddenly dropped.

They were giving her away.

The pain was next. The pain and the darkness. How long did that last? She faintly remembered being told once that it only takes seventy-two hours for humans to go insane due to solitary confinement. Was she crazy? Had it lasted longer than that?

She didn't want to go into the dark again. She didn't want to feel that pain. She didn't want to remember.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take his hand," the woman urged her. "C'mon, do as your mother asks."

"No need," he cut in. "I'll be carrying her."

Her body wouldn't listen to her. She told it to move, to push them away so she could run. Despite this, the man who'd called himself Kaito easily swept her into his arms.

The black.

She'd soon be in the black.

These memories had been locked away for a reason.

The human mind can only handle so much before it breaks.

A/N: Hope all of this made sense! It took me forever to decide on Miki's fearful memory. I then realized, rather than a person, there was something she feared more. After all, by the time she really grew to know the people she dealt with, she was already dulled emotionally. The initial ride was probably the worst. :3

When I get around to it, the next chapter will focus on Hikari and probably finish up the first test. Hope you're looking forward to it!