The day had finally come. It was the day of the first event of the chuunin exams.

Toshiko had been waiting ages for this. It was the day of the exams that would most likely determine his future. It was the day of the first part of the exams. If Toshiko was successful, he'd advance on to the next round, and get closer to fulfilling his dream as well as becoming known upon his village and the rest. If he didn't, he'd be disqualified and any chance that he had of becoming chuunin became minuscule. On top of that, he'd be the laughing stock of the whole town. His promises would be empty and meaningless. He'd have to get this done correctly. He had to win. If he didn't, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He would try as hard as he could, and hopefully come out on top.

He received the location of the first part of the exams, learning that it would be in Takigakure. The village hidden by a waterfall. he'd never traveled to the village before, and hoped that it'd live up the expectations that he held for it. He had no idea what to expect with the chuunin exams, but he realized that none of it would be easy. The only part that he was truly prepared for was the fighting. What other obstacles would be there to challenge him? While he had no clue, he'd still be completely capable of overcoming whatever it would be.

Toshiko made it to the land, reaching the outskirts of the place just as he had been told. There was a large crowd of people, all gathered around one specific person. Toshiko assumed that this was the group of individuals participating in the chuunin exams, and made his way towards them. There was a group of people lined up, receiving small bags carrying supplies. Toshiko lined up, and received one of the bags. He walked up to the front of the crowd, and opened the bag to find it's contents. There was a match, a half empty bottle of water, a substantially large bandage a kunai, and multiple meters of string.

After a few more moments, everyone had gotten the supplies provided and then all of the contestants made their way into the crowd. Toshiko looked around. The majority of the people around him weren't his age nor were they from his village. He knew that Kaneda from his squad was participating in said exams, but he couldn't track him down. Despite this, the speakers in front of the crowd silenced the individuals, and then began speaking.

"Welcome. You Genin are the best that your villages have to offer, and thus you've been chosen to participate in the chuunin exams to test your abilities and to determine if you are capable of receiving the rank. For the first part of the exams, you'll be facing a great challenge. The maze that you see before you now. Your goal is to reach the center containing the big tree, and the crystal clear fountain that contains water of legendary proportion. If you do manage to pass the first part of the exams, feel free to quench your thirst with the waters from the fountain that is said to bestow remarkable amounts of chakra upon the drinker. The best of luck to all of you"

After finishing his words, the man stepped down and the proctors proceeded with finding each participant and leading them to the corresponding entrance to the maze. Was Toshiko going to be ready for this? There was a strange feeling dictating his body. Was he nervous? That was the most likely explanation. He was also anxious. He really wanted to win. he was going to try his hardest to do so. Despite this, there was always the "What If" Scenario at the back of his head. What if he wasn't good enough? He'd only known one of the people there participating. He'd never seen these other people or their skills. What if they were better than him? He couldn't know for sure. He'd just have to try his best, and hope to come out on top.

"Toshiko Uzumaki!"

That was it. They were calling him up. It was starting now. There was no turning back. No do overs. No regrets. He had to enter this with his head held high if he wanted any chance of surviving.

"That's me!"

Toshiko raised his hand to the man that was calling out to him. He was several feet away, and observed Toshiko for a few moments before saying anything further. "Alright then Uzumaki. Follow me to your entrance."

Toshiko didn't hesitate to obey the man. Quickly, he followed up behind him as he lead him to his entrance. They got there rather quickly. There was a closed gate that would lead into the maze, possibly sending Toshiko to his doom. He had no clue. No clue what awaited him. No clue what was going to happen. He kept trying to put faith into himself, but what good would faith do when he was in there? Not much. He knew that. His palms began to sweat and his legs began to shake. What was he going to do? There was no way in hell that he'd survive. Maybe.... maybe it was time to turn back. To go home. Disregard that anything had happened. If he was going to be this weak before even entering, he'd never become a true ninja.

The proctor noticed Toshiko's nervousness. He wasn't as cold and uncaring as he had initially seemed to be. He bent over next to Toshiko, and then spoke.

"hey. There's nothing to be nervous about. You got skill kid. There's no doubt about it. You wouldn't be here right now if that wasn't true. I'm sure you've been training a hell of a lot to get here. Don't let that go to waste over a bit of fear. Use that fear, and that nervousness you have now to keep yourself alive in that maze. You do that, and i promise you that you'll come out on top."

Toshiko took in the words, and took them personally. He didn't zone out the wise words the man had given him. Slowly, he turned to face the man, and then gave him a nod.

"Thank you. I needed that. I'll take what you said seriously. I'm gonna keep my promise! I'm gonna try as hard as i can to win exams if i go down, i'm going down with a bang! No doubt about it!"

The man smiled, and patted Toshiko on the shoulder.

"That's better. Now get ready. Once those doors open, , you better start running. Get through there as fast as you can."

Toshiko nodded, and then the man went up towards the gate and opened it. The other proctors did the same action, but told the participants to wait a few moments. The announcer came back to the scene to set them off.

"On your mark, get set.......GO!"

With that, Toshiko gripped his bag of supplies and went running into the large maze. The proctor closed the gates behind all of them, and left them set out onto the dangers of the area. Toshiko still had fear buried deep within his heart. But he was going to take the man's advice. He'd turn that fear on itself, and make it an assist instead of a liability. He'd come out of the maze and advance to the next round. That was a promise.

Toshiko made his way through the beginning of the maze with his confidence up and his head held high. he was still quite attentive, and wasn't letting his guard down for anything. He didn't notice anything at first really. There weren't any beasts, any over sized animals around trying to eat him, no deranged killed running around. There wasn't much to be worried about. Nothing visible to him yet at least. His new found self respect was extremely helpful. He wasn't as paranoid as he was among starting the maze, but he made note not to turn that self respect into cockiness. That would ensure his loss. He wondered what the other participants were experiencing. If they were as lucky as he was, or if they were being faced with a life or death situation. He hoped that the exams wouldn't go that far. Despite this, things were turning out to be easy for him. He had made it a quarter of the way through the maze in no time, and nothing in his path. That most likely meant that something was coming up to attack him as well. He stopped walking for a few moments, and opened up the bag of supplies that he had. He was running low on energy, and the water that they had provided him with would be more than enough to help.

He realized that it was half empty, and that he needed to conserve whatever resources he had. It wouldn't be wise to drink all the water he was carrying now, as he'd most likely come to needing it later on. He took out the bottle, and slowly turned the cap until it came off. He held it in his free hand, and then brought the water bottle up to his mouth. Slowly, he got the water to the top of the bottle, and took a small sip of it. He then brought the bottle back down and put the cap back on. There was still roughly the same amount of what had originally been there. Toshiko put the water bottle back in the bag, and then pulled out the kunai and the wire. He'd most likely need the two items later on. He took one end of the wire, and tied it to the hole and the hilt of the kunai. After doing so, he put it back inside the bag, closed it up, and then started running once more. His energy was back, and he was ready to face anything that came his way. His tanto was in his pocket along with his kunai. He was wearing armor just in case. He hadn't taken light of the situation, and he wasn't overconfident in his abilities. He was well prepared for an attack.

he kept running along the pathway. To his sides, there were large bushes covering the direct sides of the pathways which lead into an array of trees. The path Toshiko was following would lead him into the center of the trees. There was a single wooden board. Toshiko ran up to it, and then stood directly in front of it. he looked down to it and saw that there was a sentence written upon it in bold.

Be ware of the moles, for the moles made many holes and with every hole there's some fun…be ware of the exploding tags while you run.

The holes? Toshiko looked forward to see the ground beyond the board was filled with holes. beware of the exploding tags........ There was a mine laying in front of him. Exploding tags were hidden within the holes. If Toshiko wasn't careful, he'd be blown into the sky. But how could he know where they would be? his fear came back to him once again. if he screwed up here and now, it was over. It would all be over. He had absolutely no chance of advancing on unless he could somehow know where and when the exploding tags would blow. he looked at the large amount of holes. It completely covered the ground in front of him. Meaning that he wasn't going to get across without putting his feet upon that mine. he gulped as one of the moles popped out from one of the holes before him. Toshiko looked at it, and as he did it quickly popped back down in the hole.

It was silent for a few moments, and then another mole popped out of a hole a few blocks away. Toshiko observed their movements. 'The riddle says that they created the holes. if that's the case, shouldn't they know where the tags are?'

At that moment, Toshiko got an idea. If he could take note of the mole's locations when they popped up to the surface and also how long they stayed upon the surface upon arriving, he could possibly pinpoint the range of where the tag will go off, and how much time until it went off. He looked at the mole, and then it went back down into it's hole. No explosion. Toshiko counted the seconds in his head, waiting to see how long it would take for the mole to reappear. It popped back up. 15 seconds. It was 3x3 holes away from Toshiko. Three spaces up, and three to the right. Toshiko waited a few seconds until the mole went back into it's hole, and then jumped towards the hole. While in the air, two explosives went off just a yard away from him. he felt a strange ringing in his ear, but landed on the hole that the mole was previously on. The bombs were going off now. if he wasn't careful, he might lose his life.

there were four rows left of holes, and two went off in his current row. by using logic, he could infer that two would go off at unspecified locations in every row. Toshiko's ear was still ringing loudly. Was he going deaf from the explosion? maybe it would subside. Hopefully.... Another 15 seconds passed, and the mole upon the next row popped up. Toshiko quickly jumped to it's hole, and it went back in the ground. Two explosives went off on the other side of the mine. He sighed in relief as he stood upon the hole. The ringing in his ear had stopped, and there were only three more rows to go. The next mole came out and Toshiko repeated the process by jumping and landing on it's hole. The two explosive tags went off once more this time only 3 holes away from him. the debris and dirt landed in his face, but despite that he managed to experience it without being harmed. There were two more rows left. he repeated the process in the next row. The two explosions went off on the other side of the field. There was one more row left. The mole popped up, and Toshiko jumped to it's hole. The two bombs went off, only two holes over. The explosion knocked Toshiko forward, sending him flying forward beyond the minefield and landing hard on his face.

he laid there in the dirt disoriented for a few moments. Slowly, he stood up. The knockback may have caught him off guard for a bit, but there were no wounds upon him. He'd done it. He managed to get across without being blown to bits. That meant that no matter how small, he still had a chance of coming out of the maze and advancing to the next round. He smiled as he wiped the dirt off of his face, and then started running once more deeper into the maze.

After escaping the minefield, Toshiko kept running through the maze. He seemed to be making good timing. While the minefield was difficult he'd still came out alive and managed to get past unscathed. His luck was continuing, but he was sure that it would run out eventually. despite this he wasn't actually if things could get worse after the minefield. Running through a field of bombs and almost going deaf from the sounds of explosion was bad enough on it's on. What else could be there waiting for him? What other challenges would he find within this maze? While he didn't know, he also couldn't wait to find out. There was something about it that made him terrified and excited at the same time. The adrenaline was there fueling him, yet there was also the chance of his death that made every single move he made count. he had way too many goals to achieve before he could go down for the count. maybe that was what was fueling him. His determination was what encouraged him to go on.

As he ran through and looked around at the trees that covered his sides, he began wondering. how was kaneda doing? He hadn't seen him upon arrival, but he sure hoped that he made it. he wanted to face him eventually in the exams. Hideki hadn't shown up either. Where was Hideki? He hadn't seen him ever since the squad meeting. He hoped that both of his allies were okay and participating. Not only them, but he hoped for the safety of everyone in the exams. He didn't want to think of anyone getting hurt or being disqualified from something that they all most likely had been working hard for. He also hoped that they were having a easy time as he was. He couldn't tell of course. they were all set upon different paths and wouldn't even meet with each other. They would all most likely be experiencing different obstacles, some harder than others.

Toshiko had to have been far through the maze. he'd been running for ages, and assumed that he was at least 75 percent through it. he pulled out his extra kunai that he had brought with him separate from the supplies kit that they had provided him with. he could have grabbed his tanto, but wanted to keep it for the fighting part of exams. Something told him that he'd need the kunai quite soon, but he couldn't put his finger on why. As he ran, he took a look around the immediate area. Nothing there. Nothing of interest at least. Only life forms that resided there were the trees and other plants. Not really anything to be worried about. At least not yet.

He ran for a while longer and then came across something else. The light upon the path started dimming, and eventually he came to face what was seemingly the end. a cold, dark, nothingness laid before him. it was pitch black directly in front of him. He couldn't see a thing, but that was the only path that he had to take. he sighed and nodded. He wasn't afraid of the dark of course, but he was a bit afraid of what lied within that darkness. It could be anything. Anything there and he wouldn't even have a clue. He had to be ready. He had to focus on his senses and use whatever resources he had acquired. He looked through the bag he had been provided with. There was the match. He grabbed it, and then closed up the bag once more. After taking out the match, Toshiko slowly walked into the dark end of the maze. As he was a few feet in, he placed his thumb upon the spark wheel, and then pushed down force on it as he slid his thumb down with it quickly. The spark ignited the fluid within the lighter, and then fire emerged from it. The flame allowed Toshiko to see a few inches in front of him, and while it wasn't much it was still something.

Toshiko didn't walk slowly. While he couldn't see, he could infer that the path was straight from what little line of sight that the lighter had provided him with. He didn't want to stay in there for long. The eerie and silent dark setting was creeping him out. Surprisingly, things weren't going as bad as he thought they would though. Nothing popping out at him trying to startle him. No being chance by an abnormal horrific creature. Toshiko went on walking for a bit, and then he heard something.

There a strange scattering sound coming from above his head. Like something was up there and moving. Like something was following him. Quickly, he stopped in his tracks. the noise kept on for a split second, and then stopped. It was coming from right above Toshiko. he held out the lighter a bit, and then looked down. he looked down towards his shadow, and next to it, was a strange, distorted outline. It was the outline of a large hand, hovering above his shadow. Toshiko slowly looked up, to see a severed hand moving along the wall and hovering right over him. The hand ripped it's nails out of the roof of the area, and then attempted to grab onto Toshiko's head. Toshiko grabbed his own kunai and then stabbed it through the center of the hand. The hand then started squirming, and Toshiko ripped the kunai out. the hand started shaking frantically and then fell motionless. Toshiko stared at it in shock. What was that thing? did he kill it? No. He hoped that he didn't.

The large hand slowly started moving once more even with the hole in it. What was Toshiko going to do? Was the thing even alive? it started coming towards him at full speed. he'd have to act fast. he dropped the match and kunai, formed the tiger seal and quickly took in a deep breath. He then opened his mouth, firing out a large fire ball directly at the hand. The flame connected with the hand, setting it on fire and turning it into mere ash. Toshiko sighed, but as the fire dispersed along with the hand the light went out. He looked around for the kunai and match he'd placed on the ground, but couldn't find them. Then, he heard something strange occur. The scattering noise had come back, but it was in the threes this time. Were there more of him? The sound was coming from directly in front of him, and it was getting closer. He couldn't tell exactly where it was, so he'd have to use a jutsu that'd go off in every direction.

He inhaled once more channeling his chakra into his throat, and then unleashed ten medium sizes balls of fire directly in front of him. They all lit up the area while they were active to show three of the hands comings towards him. Three of the fire balls collided with them, turning them into ash. A few of the fires were still burning. Toshiko saw his kunai and match on the ground next to him, he picked them up and turned towards the direction he had to go to exit the place. He didn't want another meet up with one of the severed hand things, so he ran as fast as he could, quickly exiting the pitch black path.

Toshiko kept along the dark path for what seemed like ages. he was a bit worn out. The minefield, and the pitch black path were both great hardships, but he managed. His promise became true. He had got through two obstacles, and once again didn't know what to expect within the rest of the maze. He had finally exited the utter darkness, and was back in a strange setting. He looked up in the air, and saw it. The large tree that was said to have been at the very center of the maze. it wasn't right up close, but it was within in range. Toshiko smiled. That meant that he'd done it. He'd succeeded. he managed to complete the maze, and get to the center thus moving on to the next stage. It was all going his way as of now. If he was cautious and as determined as he had been among stating the maze, he might just actually be able to win.

Despite overcoming the challenges Toshiko did not go without fatigue. There was still dirt smears onto his face and hair from the minefield. The greasy, oily blood from the hand hand gotten on his armor and hand. Sweat covered his face, and the rest of his body underneath his armor. The match that he had was out of fluid, and the only things that he had left of use were his two kunai the string tied to the kunai they provided him with, the bandage, and finally the rest of the water. he was going to stop and rest eventually but not until he got to the fountain. The fountain that the announcer had spoken of that was supposed to contain the legendary hero water. Was the legend true? Would the water actually provide anyone who drank it with divine power? Toshiko wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to find out. The majority of the time, whenever something good came along there was a negative down side to it. If you want to live forever, you have to watch all of your loved ones die. If you achieve all of the knowledge in the universe, you'd most likely go insane. If you gain godly power, you will most likely become narcissistic.

Toshiko wanted to keep the same morals and values that he had now. He didn't want to become powerful due to a shortcut, or from stealing it. he wanted to earn it so he could be proud of himself and not just proud of his power. Despite this, his human curiosity was getting the best of him. he was now coming to an entrance of sorts, and the big tree was right in front of him. He walked through the entrance, and then saw it. The large tree next to the crystal clear fountain. It was filled with the legendary hero water as the announcer told it to be. Toshiko stared at it in awe. he took out his water bottle, and drank what was left in it to quench his thirst. He stared at the water. He wanted to drink it. To know what type of power it'd be capable of granting him. he was going to wait though. He took his empty water bottle and put it in the water within the fountain, filling it up all the way to the top. Once it was completely full he placed the cap back on, and put it in his back pants pocket.

he then sat down near the fountain, laid back upon it, and smiled. He'd done it. He made it to the center. He made it. After all that he'd done, he'd finally made it. TI was time to rest, and be proud of himself for once. He was going to advance on to the next round, and continue the fight to become a chuunin.