Daybreak | Kakashi Hatake

1

Her throat was burning as she darted through the dark forest. She had to keep running, keep fighting, and keep herself from falling asleep although her body was growing weary. At this point, she didn't know how long the graduation exam had been going on; however, she did know that she had seen far too many bodies of her classmates littering the forest.

She felt a piercing blade rip the skin of her shoulder. As she recoiled and shouted in pain, she swung her own katana quickly, slicing whoever had attacked her from the shadows. She then wove signs for a jutsu, using her Kekkei Genkai to send a shower of ice needles into her opponent. She winced as she heard their screams; however, she knew that soon their noise would be quieted by death.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly to the corpse as she slid her katana back into its sheath and continued running through the trees.

She kept going, the forest feeling endless as her legs robotically carried her. She felt as if she had been running for miles and miles whenever she reached a clearing. As she stumbled into the moonlit field, her heart began pounding.

A shadowy figure stepped from the trees and into the middle of the open space. Around them other, larger shadows emerged. Unlike the one in the middle, these shadows carried with them a menacing aura, a cloak of evil and hatred enveloping their every limb. Her legs trembled in fear and she stepped back, scrambling away from the shadows until she was thrown into the clearing once more.

"You made it, Mare," the smaller shadow of a boy spoke softly. "I've been waiting for you."

"What's going on?" she whispered breathlessly.

She could no longer move as the large shadows began closing in, swarming like a hive of angry bees around her. She could hear their demonic voices instructing her to fight with all she had, to make sure she passed the exam, to take his life and make sure she escaped with her own.

The shadows were suffocating her as she was pulled closer and closer to the shadow in the center. As she reached the shadow, a pair of soft eyes watched her behind a mop of messy red hair. Her stomach coiled as she struggled to breathe. It felt as if all of the air in her lungs had been forced out and replaced with cement.

She hoarsely asked, "Hamako?"

"You remember."

There was total darkness surrounding them; however, she could see Hamako's face clearly. His young, kind, lively, handsome face. Mare shook her head as she spoke, "I could never forget you..."

A pleasant smile spread across Hamako's face for a moment before he grabbed her arm roughly and sharply snapped, his demeanor changing quickly, "That isn't surprising, Mare. I haven't forgotten you either."

She tried to pull her arm away from the boy; however, his grip was as strong as iron. Her breathing became more rapid as she felt her body betraying her. Hamako's nails were cutting deeply into her skin, breaking the flesh and allowing blood to freely drip down her wrists. His face was twisted demonically as the shadows began to slowly cloak them both.

"Let go of me, Hamako!" she struggled against him; however, an inhuman grin had come over his face. She fought to free herself from his grip without harming him; however, as the large shadows noted her weakness, they began swarming more intensely and screaming obscenities and demands to kill Hamako.

Her free hand seemed to move on its own as she unsheathed her katana and fluidly drove the blade through Hamako's stomach. Mare gasped as she watched her blade slide into her best friend's flesh, tearing through his internal organs and breaking through his spine.

As she watched the blood pool around his wound, her eyes flew up to his face. His eyes were blank now, looking beyond her as crimson blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. His head bobbed a bit and he coughed, spraying blood all over Mare's face and chest. His strong grip on her wrist relaxed and Hamako gasped with his final breath, "How could you, Mare?"

He then sank to his knees before the shadows completely enveloped Mare in darkness. She felt herself falling and whenever the world returned, she was back in what looked to be the graduation exam forest.

This time, however, she was immobile. Her eyes wildly scanned the landscape and she saw dozens of corpses lining the ground. Her heart pounded as she heard shrieks and cries from all around. A pair of evil eyes glowed from the dark fog. Mare begged her body to move, to do anything; however, she was frozen.

From the corner of her eye she saw a familiar figure jump down from the trees. It was her younger brother, Jiro. He swung a katana with force as he tried to take on the evil figure from the fog. As she watched helplessly, the figure emerged with ease and struck her brother.

She tried to scream his name, yet her lungs were burning and no sound was able to come out. She was frozen as she tried to fight her way to Jiro. She had to help him. She couldn't let him die. Not like this.

Suddenly, more individuals burst onto the scene. They all fought valiantly against this wicked figure; however, they were cruelly slain one by one. Finally, the mysterious figure strode from the thick mist and her heart began pounding even harder as she laid eyes on the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi.

Tears streamed down Mare's face as she watched Zabuza murder each of the examinees. Their screams burned into her ears as their pain surged through her own body. She was motionless as she choked out her brother's name, hoping he would be able to fend off Zabuza.

"Jiro!" she tried to scream; however, the words were nothing more than a whisper.

She watched with wide, terrified eyes as Zabuza sliced a large blade through her younger brother. He fell slowly, shallow gasps coming from his body as he slowly passed from life to death in front of Mare's eyes. She tried to crawl to him, but she was unable to move as the world began spinning in darkness again. The void swallowed her once more.

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