It was strangely quiet, peacefully so even. For once (Y/N) didn't hear the screams of her family; ther was no burning stench in her nose. It was just... silent.
It was nice.
Her body felt strangely cold though, detached even. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Never before had she felt the bite of the cold wind or breeze, nor the sting of ice.

Yet in her heart, at the center of herself there was warmth. The heat of blue flames that she was familiar with; that tone of electric bright blue that lit up the night sky with its hue during festivals.

The same blue that had drowned out the light of the starts at night and covered her home in ash and the smell of burning flesh.

Just as quickly as the comfort had come, (Y/N)'s mind was thrown into turmoil and she started to breathe heavily and pant in panic, squirming.

Let me go let me go!
Wake up!
Wake up (Y/N)!

Why can't I wake up?!

Trapped in the throes of fever, (Y/N)'s mind sunk into the turmoil of her memories and the sensation of drowning in cold water.

It's so painful.
What is this...?

~~~

It took some time before (Y/N)'s mind regained some sort of consciousness.

She opened her eyes, but all she saw was darkness. A darkness that stretched out everywhere she could see, water touching her feet. She realized she wasn't wearing her shoes.

Am I dreaming?
What is this place...?

(Y/N) looked around, squinting at the empty void, but there was nothing. She walked a few steps in the dark, hoping that it'd lead her somewhere. The water splashed under her feet as she walked, showing nothing but her reflection.

She shivered a bit, gulping. Am I dead? What happened?

She recalled the feeling of the stinging ice and shivered again. That guy bit me! Who does he think he is?! Snake wannabe...

She grumbled under her breath, clenching her fists as she walked. It was then she noticed that there was an air current coming from in front of her; breeze swept her hair aside, but it wasn't a cold wind. It was warm.

(Y/N) frowned in confusion, muttering  "How can there be wind here?"

She walked slightly faster, closer to the warm wind. Soon the dark dissolved into an obsidian stone corridor with jail bars at the end. 
The polished stone glinted with the light that came off of the torches around the bars, a soft blue just like her flames but slightly dimmer.

(Y/N) gasped slightly at the sight of the tall jail bars that reached beyond her sight and got closer to the cell, keen (E/C) eyes slitting in the dark.
A puff of hot air came from the inside, accompanied with soft rumbling.

That was when she realized it wasn't wind. It was breathing.

(Y/N) gasped loudly, finally seeing the seals that littered the metal bars so much they had almost look like wood.
It's...

She stumbled back in a hurry and the cage rumbled, jail bars rattling as the water beneath her feet rippled from the movement of something enormous. "Ah!" She exclaimed in fear, stumbling back.

Host or not, it was impossible to forget the stories of the once kind Dragon Emperor turned evil, cursed. (Y/N) looked around frantically for an exit. "Let me out! Let me out!"

She became frantic as something beyond the bars cackled deeply, and loud heavy steps made the water ripple under her feet and the floor shake. Before she could consider the possibility of just randomly running back the way she came, fleeing the sinister presence in that cage, she felt a warm touch dragging her back, pulling her away from the cage.

The dark obsidian walls flew past her and suddenly she was in a different place. It was no longer dark nor scary; she stood on a wide open room made of dragon stone; the same material the statue of Tetsuryo in the compound was made of. It didn't look much special, until heat made it glow.

And glow it did, brightly so, lighting up the space.

(Y/N) swallowed nervously, looking around frantically. Something grabbed me. Pulled me away from the cage.

I must be in my mind.
This is my seal.

"Where am I?!" She called out loudly, hoping someone would answer. Although, if this was her mind, who the hell could answer besides the Cursed Dragon? Still, she called out, "Please, help me!"

"Calm down my child. You are safe here."

(Y/N) almost jumped high enough to touch the ceiling, shivering in surprise. The deep voice was a soft rumble, but there was no one to emit it.
It almost seemed to be coming from the glowing dragon stone walls.

"W-who are you?" (Y/N) asked nervously, stuttering. The water under her feet felt strangely cold compared to the warmth from the glowing walls, and it made her shiver at the weird sensation.

"A remnant. A small one."

"Of what?" (Y/N) asked hesitantly, still trying to pinpoint the source of the voice in the empty room.

"Better times I suppose. I'm the only part that still remains..."

(Y/N) didn't answer for a moment, pondering on what that could mean. A remnant? Of better times?? What the heck does that mean?
She settled for a simple question, "Are you here to hurt me?"

The voice seemed to smile, if it can be said that a voice can smile. The softly glowing walls pulsed in amusement. "No my child. I'm here to protect you."

(Y/N) furrowed her brows at the walls, feeling even more lost. My child....? I don't understand.

There was a tense silent for the moment and the voice turned serious.
"I don't have much time left. We will not meet again my child."

(Y/N) frowned, lips pursed worriedly. Whoever was talking to her was fading, and the glow of the dragon stone walls was dimming too. "Why?"

"As I said before. I'm a remnant. I was going to disappear sooner or later."

There was a pause and the voice sighed, fading into something softer, the deep rumbling becoming weak. "I did what I could. The Curse Mark that man put on you is no more."

Curse mark? Does he mean the bite thing? (Y/N)'s jaw dropped in surprise, as the glow of the dragon stone continued to fade and the room got darker and darker. "Really?"

"Yes. Now go. I'm sure you are needed. But remember you must not be consumed by hate, I might have removed the Curse Mark, but you must do your part too."

"Hate?" (Y/N) frowned, now just full of confusion and worry, sadness for this person she didn't know settling into her core. Hate.. as in revenge? What is he talking about? But without my revenge... I don't understand.
"Will I never meet you again then?"

A warmth touched her cheek, caressed her hair. "No my child. This is the end for me. But perhaps, you may still have a chance to save me."

(Y/N) furrowed her brows in confusion and worry, "What does that mean?!" She exclaimed.

But there was no reply, as the warmth dissipated and the glow of the walls disappeared entirely.

(Y/N) was thrown into the darkness once again.

~~~

"(Y/N)!"

"(Y/N)! What happened to her Sakura-chan?"

A click of the tongue, followed by a huff. "What happened?"

"She was bit too. She... god Sasuke. You had a fever but she.. it was like she was trying to fight against it. Aren't Ryuudo supposed to run at higher temperatures than us? She was so cold... I was afraid she'd die."

"What?! But Sasuke woke up! Why isn't she awake too then?"

"I don't know..."

"The only thing we can do is wait."

"We need rest."

Loud voices brought her out of her sleep. (Y/N) furrowed her brows in annoyance. What the.. Who's being noisy...

Her body felt warm, but the right level of warmth. There was no cold biting at her, and the usual warmth sat in her chest.
All was normal.

A warm calloused hand grazed her cheek, and she unconciously nuzzled into it.

A gasp, "(Y/N)? Are you awake?"

(Y/N) grumbled and opened her eyes slowly, sniffing and catching the scent of broiled fish. "Is that fish?"

"(Y/N)!" Naruto exclaimed in delight, not taking his hand off her cheek, as (Y/N) sat up and looked around blearily.

Her teammates looked at her with smiles, sitting around a fire, holding roasted fish in their hands. A river a few meters in front of them flowed slowly, almost soundlessly.

"Finally awake huh, Lizard?" Sasuke huffed with a small smirk that could almost pass as a smile.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes blearily yawning. She looked at Naruto and flushed, feeling that the hand was still in fact caressing her cheek. Naruto's tan hand was calloused but warm on her skin and she blushed at the soft touch. "Um... Naru?"

"Yeah?" He replied cheerfully with a wide grin.

"Your hand...?" She asked with a fierce blush.

Immediately Naruto pulled back, flushing and laughing nervously. "Ahahaha sorry! Just checking your pulse! You were asleep for so long!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at them, sighing. Idiot. That's not even how you check someone's pulse.
She glanced at (Y/N) as she sat up completely, still blushing. (Y/N) looked fine already, no fever, or cold in her body; Sakura had checked just a while ago. Sakura smiled in relief at finally seeing her third teammate awake. She took another fish stick from the fire and handed it to (Y/N). "Here, we thought you'd probably wake up soon."

(Y/N) smiled widely and took the fish gratefully. Now that she thought about it, her stomach was burning with hunger, how long had it been since she had last eaten?! She bit through the fish quickly in a couple of bites, and observed her teammates, trying to recall what had happened.
"What happened? Are all of you okay?" She asked after a moment, mouth half full. The fish was not exactly the best food ever, but it'd do for now.

Sakura rolled her eyes slightly at her, grumbling. "Don't speak with your mouth full (Y/N)."

"I'll catch you up." Sasuke said with a nod, after taking a bite of his fish. "After we fought Orochimaru, Naruto and I were asleep for a day. We took two days of rest for healing after we woke up. You have been sleeping up until now."

"Huh?!" (Y/N) exclaimed, almost choking with a fish bone. "I slept for four days?!"

"Pretty much." Naruto shrugged, still slightly flushed in embarassment. He whined, "(Y/N)-chan I was so worried! You wouldn't wake up!"

(Y/N) smiled, as Naruto leaned into her with a worried look. She patted his shoulder comfortingly. Aw. "It's okay Naru, I'm fine now."

"Do you feel okay, (Y/N)?" Sakura asked, looking at her worriedly with an intense look as she observed her, as if wounds would show up anytime. 

(Y/N) munched through her fish, humming absently. She rolled her shoulders and wiggled her legs. "Yeah, everything feels normal."

Sakura sighed in relief. That's great.

With the assurance that their teammate was now fine, Sasuke and Sakura's looks turned serious.

"We have a bigger problem though." Sasuke said. "We don't have much time left."

(Y/N) blinked and gasped, recalling the time limit. "That's right!"

Sakura frowned worriedly, looking at her fish pensively. "For all we know, there may not be any Heaven Scrolls left. "

(Y/N) gasped at the realization and Sasuke frowned, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean Sakura?"

"Well, in this second exam, four of the five day time limit have passed already. So that means, we've already used 80% of the total exam time. 79 participants and 26 teams. There are only 13 each of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls. At most there are only 13 passing teams." Sakura explained.

Naruto stopped happily eating his fish without a care in the world at that, blinking worriedly.

"Moreover, you remember don't you Sasuke? That Orochimaru guy burned the Heaven Scroll we had."

Sasuke tensed, narrowed his eyes. "Which means.."

"The teams that will passs had already at that point decreased by one. Also, all of the other scrolls are not necessarily safe, so.." Sakura continued.

"After parting ways with the Leaf Village bunch, we allotted two days for healing. So from here on,  we have to increase the distance of our actions. At any rate.. the next enemy is our last chance." Sasuke concluded with a firm look. He stood up suddenly, "I'm going to get some drinking water."

The other three were left tense and worried, and Naruto stared at the Earth scroll Sasuke had left on the ground. He linked and then gasped, grabbing the scroll and looking at the girls. "Say say! I have a good way for us not to fight with an enemy, believe it!"

(Y/N) raised her brows in surprise but then deflated just as quickly as Naruto dug into his pouch and threw out all his scrolls. Nevermind. I thought for a second that he had an actual plan.

"Are you serious?!" Sakura exclaimed incredulously, realizing that the boy planned to make a fake one.

"I am serious." Naruto replied. "I have lots of scrolls stocked, so... Ninjutsu manual, deadly poison manual, for notes.. If we tweak this a little and change it it to look exactly like the Heaven Scroll-!"

"H-hold it!" Sakura raised her hand. "Even if you do such a thing, you don't know what's written on the inside! If the Proctor looked inside, he'd know right away, idiot!" She exclaimed frustratingly, pointing at him.

But Naruto smirked, holding his chin. "Generally with things like this, there's a password or something written and you can't get it unelss you have both scrolls. In other words... to pass at the tower goal, we'll surely need a password. Or something like that, believe it!" He exclaimed with a knowing grin, leaning closer to Sakura.

(Y/N) chuckled and rolled her eyes at her friend, patting his back. "Naru, are you forgetting we can't look at the scrolls? There's no such thing as a password, or a code. If there was there'd be clearing conditions to be able to look at the scrolls in the first place."

"Exactly! If you don't know the content, there's no use making a fake!" Sakura burst angrily.

Naruto deflated aand pouted in disappointment Sakura sighed, "Man, here I was wondering what you were going to say, looking all big.. you're an idiot who just can't think things through." Sakura shook her head in disappointment.

"B-but.. what if we could predict the content?" Naruto asked after a moment, lips pursed and eyes narrowed, lifting the scroll to the girls.

"You wouldn't!" Sakura exclaimed, furrowing her brows.

"I'm going to.. open this scroll!" Naruto said determinedly.

Yeah right! (Y/N) laughed sharply, snatching the Scroll from his hands. "No way! Don't you wonder how they would know we opened it? It probably has some sort of marker or tag, or worse; the instructors or proctors themselves will come out if we open it. I assure you, there's a trap set for those who look."

Sakura nodded fervently, exploding "You! Have you forgotten the rules, you idiot?! We were told not to look inside the scrolls until arriving at the tower, right?"

"But at this rate we'll be in a hot spot, right?!" Naruto exclaimed with a whine and a pout at the onslaught from the girls.

Sakura stepped back, frowning. (Y/N) narrowed her eyes at both of them, as they deflated and looked at the scrolls Naru had taken out, frowning.
They stared at the scroll for a while and then Naruto making a grab for it, trying to snatch it from (Y/N)'s grip.

"Uwah! What are you doing?!" (Y/N) exclaimed, moving out of the way and holding the Scroll out of his reach as Naruto frantically tried to grab it.

"But we need it (Y/N)!"

"There's no other option!" Sakura exclaimed in agreement, standing up too.

(Y/N) started to sweat nervously as Sakura and Naruto tried to grab the scroll from her and she scoffed. I don't even know how we got this Scroll! You can't ruin the small chance we have! Are they fools?!?!
"Wait you two! Think about this logically, we still can get scrolls!"

"You should listen to her."

The three gasped at the sudden voice and invasion of space.

(Y/N) went deadly still, still holding the Scroll away from the two, but snapping her gaze towards the newcomer. Kabuto had appeared out of nowhere right beside Sakura and was smiling in a friendly way. (Y/N)'s hand instinctively tied her headband around her neck instead of her arm, though it seemed like an easy way to grab and choke her. She immediately felt like she should cover her mark.

(Y/N) bared her fangs slightly. I didn't sense him coming. His stealth skills are pretty good. She glared at him defensively. Oh great, another suspicious guy. After that Orochimaru guy I'm even less keen to trust him.

~~~

"Man, you're beyond saving..." Sasuke groaned with annoyance. "Is (Y/N) the only one with brains?"

"W-we're sorry." Naruto and Sakura stuttered, cowed.

"Those who ignored the rules are forced into the situation of having to retire." Kabuto explained. "In the previous exam, a hypnotism jutsu formula was set up to get into the eyes of those who looked at the scroll along the way; a measure to get them to lie in the forest until the end of the exam."

"See? I told you! There's obviously a trap in the Scroll!" (Y/N) exclaimed, throwing her arms up. "Next time, would you please just listen to me?!"

"Sorry (Y/N)-chan..."

Sasuke sighed heavily, and looked at Kabuto. "By the way, if I'm not mistaken, you're Kabuto right? What are you doing hanging around here alone?" Sasuke asked, slightly aggresively.

He's got a great point. Why is he alone? (Y/N) furrowed her brows, holding her chin.

"It's not that I'm after your scroll. " Kabuto reassured him.

"I didn't think so. If that was your intention, you could've tried to take it fom (Y/N) just now." Sasuke mused. "So you're also after the Heaven Scroll?"

"No. I already have them both." Kabuto shrugged with a smile, taking them out of his pocket and showing them.

Sasuke and (Y/N) gasped. Chance!

"Things led to things. I was hurrying over to the tower to wait for my estranged companions. Now if you'll excuse me..." Kabuto said with a smile and a shrug that wre a bit too self satisfied for (Y/N)'s opinion. He started to walk away, but Sasuke wasn't just going to let him go.

"Wait!" Sasuke called out, eyes narrowed. "Fight me."

"Fight you you say?" Kabuto looked back at him from the corner of his eye, smirking. There was something about that look eerily familiar.

(Y/N) clicked her tongue. Seriously?! This couldn't get more sus... should I say something? Kabuto makes no sense. Since the start it doesn't seem like he has a team, nor is he someone I recognize. I mean, the village is big, but not that big. And normally in the exam, one would be hanging with their teammates  from the start, right? But since the first test he's been alone. It's just too strange.. too many coincidences..
a spy huh.. Also fight?!

"What are you saying suddenly?" Naruto protested angrily as Sakura gasped. "Sasuke!"

"Are you serious?" Kabuto asked him, turning around completely to face Sasuke.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, lips pursed. "Sorry, but we dont have anymore time."

"Hey Sasuke! Kabuto saved us! " Naruto exclaimed angrily.

"Sasuke, I don't know about that myself.." Sakura agreed with naruto, albeit not voicing it so directly.

"Shut up!" Sasuke said. "It can't be helped. I said it before too. This is all that can be done to survive through this forest now."

Kabuto seemed to listen to something for a moment and smiled. "Hmm...That is a lie."

"A lie?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Your heart isn't totally in this as much as you're saying. If you could really become serious about this exam.. Why is it necessary to fight me? You should jump on me at my unguarded moment, without going to the trouble of announcing it. That's a ninja." Kabuto said.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration. Naruto hummed, tilting his head. "Hm..That's profound."

(Y/N) narrowed her eyes, full of distrust. This guy seriously gives me the creeps. Why would he help us? It makes no sense. Even if we are from the same village, you don't see the others coming to give us advice. Is it just me or was the wording of that sentence a bit too specific? His heart... Can he hear our heartbeats?! Maybe I'm just paranoid...

Unexpectedly, Kabuto smiled and declared "I don't dislike that side of you. So I shall tell you the way you should go. However, let's talk as we move. The smell of broiled fish in the fire smoke has reached a great distance. At this rate, we'll be marked by fierce animals and enemies."

Pff this guy. I could have just as perfectly being able to tell my team where to go if I had had a chance. Before (Y/N) could ponder whether she should say something to Sasuke about not trusting Kabuto, the four were on the move.

~~~

"Are there really still enemies around?"

"Yes, no doubt.  If you think about it a little you'll understand. Do you know the cleverest way of fighting in battles in jungles and expansive forests such as this?" Kabuto asked them, as team 7 followed him, jumping from branch to branch.

They followed Kabuto with a little bit less caution than (Y/N) would want from her teammates, but she sighed, supposing she was cautious enough for all of them; for one, at least she knew where they were heading.

"No." Naruto hummed.

"The tower located in the center of this forest is the common goal for us test takers.. That means when the last day of the test is here.. the area near that tower is the easiest place to gather scrolls." Kabuto explained.

Sakura gasped, smiling "Oh I see, ambush right? In other words, we go after the scrolls of the teams that have both the Heaven and Earth scrolls and are setting out for the tower."

"That's only one third of the answer" Kabuto replied smiling.

"What?" Sakura siad confused.

"I mean that you guys are not the only ones thinking that! Near the tower, the same badgers have probably already set traps, so.." Kabuto explained.

"That means there are lots of enemies lying in wait to engage us!" Naruto concluded cheerfully.  "Heh, having a handicap gets me pumped believe it! I'm looking forward to it! If we just beat them all and get the heaven sroll, we'll all survive the second exam!"

"No, that's still two thirds of the answer." Kabuto replid.

"What about the other part then?" Sakura sked.

"The collectors who are certain to appear during an exam likethis." Kabuto answered.

"Collectors?" Sakura asked in confusion.

(Y/N) having quite enough of Kabuto pretending to be the "helping and nice smart senpai" cut in, "Of course. There are those who like collecting the scrolls from enemies they spare and such, or just people who like to fight. There are also those who will accumulate them and give them to shinobi from the same village as them. This exam has a bunch of variables thrown into it; many people will handle the time limit differently. I'm sure there will even be some who waited for the last moment purposefully, unlike us, just to fish for prey at the last moment, when everyone's going for the goal. There are going to be a lot of big guns, but there are also going to be weak ones who couldn't handle the scroll hunting up until the last moment. We should be careful."

"I see." Sasuke smirked and hummed. "I understand the reason why you appeared before us. You're scared too, right Kabuto?"

"That's right." Kabuto confirmed.

(Y/N) scoffed, glaring at the teen's back. Yeah right. Scared my butt. Why were you following us is the real question?

I don't like you. You're suspicious, I'll keep an eye on you.

And so Team 7 headed to the location for their last battle of this phase of the Chuunin Exam, ready to fight for their chance to pass.

Still, an unrest had settled over (Y/N)'s mind and she had the feeling something was going to go wrong.