[center][i]If the genin of Squad Alpha have been pushed to the very limits in this test, then there was one among them who had passed those limits long ago. Yet still, Maki Kirisame looks up at her comrades with burning, determined eyes. Her body should be shaking at the very least, any ordinary girl would have passed out from the pain at this point, but she cannot allow herself to succumb to weakness. Not now, not when she has come this far. Anemia. Hunger. Exhaustion. Sleep deprivation. Pain. As if in an act of defiance against the hopeless circumstances weighing her down, she unsteadily pulls herself to her feet just in time to catch a boy's voice-

"..what do you think we should do?"[/i][/center]

"We must move." 

Her voice comes out clearly and strongly, surprising even herself in the process. Dizziness assaults her as she attempts to step further into the dense mist, but she barely manages to keep her balance and almost tumbles to the ground in the process. 

[i]<Am I this weak?>[/i]

The same question, the question she asked herself every day, and the question that had gotten her into this despair in the first place. Gritting her teeth, she steadies herself and steps forth again, offering a path for her team to follow. All of her willpower is consumed keeping herself conscious, so she could hardly keep herself aware of her surroundings, but that didn't matter. They couldn't stand still for too long, Makoto wouldn't give them a chance to gather their wits, not in the most difficult stretch of their ordeal. What they needed now was to keep moving, even if it meant risking another dangerous trap. She would push her body as far as it needed to go, it was this determination that allowed her to move even after her body became numb with pain and too weak to support its own weight. Still, all of the willpower in the world couldn't overcome the faint sense of disconnection overcoming Maki's senses at that moment. It felt like she was a bystander, watching herself on the brink of collapse, covered in bandaged injuries from protecting her team. She vaguely realized that things were easier this way, but she couldn't quite allow herself to let go entirely, she turns her head back to her squad with the same eyes as before-

"Form up around Aki... he's the least injured, and the most ready to deal with an attack. With my ankle like this, I won't be able to dodge an explosive trap when we stumble into one. I don't want to die, so Ren will have to take point. I'll try my best to keep up with you two, but if I start to fall behind, don't come back for me. Nii-sama is a real ninja, if you try something like that, he won't let you get away."