Author's note: Sorry for the long wait, but it's back!

Previously:

"You saw his hand, right…?" Naruto continued, undaunted. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in realization. "That Bushy-brow mush have trained really hard… every day. More than you. That's all it is."

'Sasuke-kun…' Sakura thought as she watched him.

"That's exactly right." April agreed, removing one of her gloves, revealing the bandages they were hiding. She loosened them a little so she could pull them aside to show them one of the faint scars on the skin beneath. "I've been training to master JDK since I was six. If I didn't take such good care of my hands, they would look even worse than his. Remember this Sasuke, effort without talent is a depressing situation… but talent without effort is a tragedy. Fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." She finished confidently with a rueful smile. Sasuke relaxed slightly for a moment then clenched his fist.

'Sounds fun…' He thought. "Hmph… This is getting interesting, this chūnin exam…" He said aloud with a smirk. The others smiled, glad to see that he had recovered.

"Yeah!!" Naruto agreed with a grin.

"Yup!!" Sakura said brightly.

"Naruto, April, Sakura—Let's go!!" Sasuke said excitedly, taking the lead again.

"Time to take names and kick ass!" April said confidently as she pulled her glove back on.

"Hell yeah!!!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically.

Chapter 39: Challengers!!

When the four of them reached room 301, they found a familiar face waiting for them outside. They were surprised to see Kakashi leaning against the closed door. He hadn't said anything about meeting them there.

"Oh… So April and Sakura came too…" Kakashi remarked. The girls were more cautious and sensible than the boys, so he wouldn't have been surprised if they had decided to wait until they had more experience. "Now you can officially register to take the exam."

"?" April said, raising an eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean? Did he really think they wouldn't come?

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"The truth is that this exam can only be taken by teams with a minimum of three members." He replied. Fortunately for them, they weren't the only team applying with an extra person this time, so the rules had been adjusted slightly to allow for their participation as a group of four.

"Huh? But you said taking the test was an individual choice." Sakura reminded him.

"In other words, you lied to us?" April asked.

"Yes. If I told the truth, Naruto and Sasuke would have pressured one of you into taking it. Even if you didn't want to, if they asked you… you would, even though it wasn't in your heart. For the sake of your teammates." Kakashi explained. Sakura was weak against Sasuke, and April wouldn't have wanted to hold Naruto back. He felt it was better if they each had a chance to find their own resolve to take it, given the nature of the types of challenges they would be facing during this exam.

"So what would have happened if only Naruto and Sasuke had shown up?" Sakura asked.

"The exam would have ended here. They would not get to go any further. But the four of you came of your own free will, you guys are my proud team." Kakashi said with a smile. "Now go!" He encouraged them, stepping aside to let them through. April, Sakura, Naruto, and even Sasuke smiled proudly.

"Yeah!! Let's go!!" Naruto said excitedly as they pushed the doors open, entering the room without hesitation. Kakashi watched as the doors closed behind them.

"!!" Sakura gasped in surprise as the four of them stopped and stared at the scene that was waiting for them on the inside.

"W-Wow…" Naruto said as bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"…" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow.

"What is this?" Sakura asked, starting to get nervous again.

"I guess everyone else already beat us here…" April said. The large classroom was filled to capacity with fierce-looking genin.

'What numbers… They're all taking the exam? They all… look so strong…' Sakura thought, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Sasuke-kun!!! You're late!!" Ino exclaimed excitedly as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere, glomping Sasuke. Naruto flinched in surprise, while Sakura flinched in shock.

"!!" Sakura gasped indignantly. How dare she!?

"I haven't seen you for awhile, so I've been waiting eagerly." Ino said with a grin, blushing excitedly, as she continued to hang all over Sasuke, who did not look pleased with the sudden invasion of his personal space. He was especially ticked off because April looked like she was holding back a laugh.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun!!! Ino-pig!!!" Sakura yelled angrily, pointing at her with a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"Why if it isn't Sakura-chan… big ugly forehead as always…" Ino remarked smugly.

"What did you say!?!?" Sakura shouted incredulously as another vein throbbed on her forehead.

"Bleh." Said Ino tauntingly, making a face at her.

"Are you guys taking this troublesome exam too? Don't die." Shikamaru remarked as he and Chōji joined them.

"Oh!! The idiot trio!!" Naruto said upon seeing all three of them together. April sweat-dropped at his way with words.

"Don't call us that!!" Said Shikamaru, annoyed. "Man, this sucks…"

'Shikamaru Nara: he's a unenthusiastic guy who would rather watch clouds than practice ninjutsu. Finds almost everything 'troublesome'. Naruto likes to call him a 'complaining idiot', but underneath that laziness, he can be surprisingly smart…' April thought, sizing up the members of team 10. 'Chōji: he's always eating something. For this reason Naruto calls him a 'fatass idiot'… but never to his face. 'Fat' is a taboo word around Chōji, and you wouldn't like him when he's angry.'

"Sasuke-kun is mine!! Bleh!!" Ino said, sticking out her tongue.

'Then there's Ino Yamanaka: always fighting with Sakura. She's Sakura-chan's rival. Naruto calls her a 'Sasuke idiot'… Well, no arguments there.' April thought, sweat-dropping. Didn't she realize she was just making herself look bad by acting like that?

"Yahoo!! Found you!!" Kiba said, getting their attention as he walked up with his own team, which included Shino and Hinata. Kiba's dog, Akamaru, was riding on his head.

"H… Hello…" Hinata greeted them nervously in a voice that was barely audible, blushing.

"Well, well, everyone is assembled." Kiba said with a smirk.

"Geez… you guys too?" asked Shikamaru.

"I see… all ten of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we'll get… Eh, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba remarked cockily.

"Pft… You seem confident, Kiba." Sasuke said with a smirk, furrowing his brow slightly.

"We did a lot of training. We won't lose to you." Kiba retorted cockily.

"Shut up!!!" Naruto yelled, pissed that it was becoming all about Sasuke again. "Sasuke might, but I won't lose to the likes of you!!!"

"Sorry… Naruto… Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way…" Hinata said shyly in a quite voice, blushing.

"?" Kiba said, glancing at her. Why was she apologizing?

"Huh?" Naruto said, wondering why she looked so nervous and fidgety.

'Akamaru looks tasty…' Chōji thought, staring at the puppy on Kiba's head with hungry eyes, even though he was already munching on a bag of potato chips. April sweat-dropped when she saw the way he was eyeing the dog, wondering if she should be concerned.

'Kurenai's Team 8…' she thought as she observed them. 'Hinata Hyūga: a shy and quiet girl who has trouble looking people directly in the eyes, especially Naruto, but she's a nice girl when she does talk. Given the way she's always watching him, I'm pretty sure she has a crush on Naruto. Unfortunately for her, he's totally clueless. Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru: even louder than Naruto (if that's possible). He and Naruto are a lot alike, except Kiba is bossier. It's kind of annoying. Akamaru is cute, though. Shino Aburame: I don't know much about him. But he seems to have a thing for bugs, because I saw him letting one crawl on his hand before.'

"Hey, you guys, you should be a little quieter." Another examinee called out to them.

"!!" Sakura said as they all looked over and saw the expression of disapproval on the older leaf genin's face as he approached them.

"You guys are the 'rookie ten'… fresh out of the academy, right?" the ninja said, furrowing his brow as he stared at them over the top of his glasses. "Screaming like school girls… geez… This isn't a field trip." He lectured them.

"…" April said, regarding the older genin carefully. She didn't recognize him from anywhere, even though he was wearing a Hidden Leaf protector, but from the sound of it, he must have taken the exam before. She wondered why he had bothered to approach them.

"Who do you think you are? Acting all haughty!" Ino asked with a frown, not liking his attitude.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi." The leaf genin replied. "Anyway, take a good look behind you."

"Behind?" Sakura asked as the rookies glanced over their shoulders. Everyone except April gasped when they saw the death glares that were being directed at them from virtually every other participant in the room. The guys directly behind them seemed the angriest of the bunch.

'Ah… I thought I sensed an ominous vibe from that direction…' April thought, sweat-dropping, while beads of nervous sweat rolled down the sides of Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru's faces.

"Uuh…" Sakura said anxiously, feeling her stomach do a flip.

"Those guys behind you are from the Hidden Rain Village. They have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, so quiet down before you cause a scene." Kabuto advised them. Seeing all the glares from the other examinees, they didn't have to be told twice. "Well, I guess it can't be helped." He said with a sigh. "You're clueless rookies who don't know left from right... You remind me of how I used to be."

"Kabuto-san… right?" Sakura said nervously.

"Yeah." Kabuto confirmed.

"So, this is your second time?" she asked.

"Nope… my seventh." He answered to their surprise. "This exam is held twice a year, so it's now my fourth year."

"Wow, so you know a lot about this exam." Said Sakura.

"That's right." Kabuto said confidently.

"Wow, impressive…" Naruto said.

'Although, that also means he failed to pass seven times, despite his previous experience…' April thought. Was the exam that tough? She knew it was probably going to be dangerous, but…

"Hehe… Then I'll share some info with you cute rookies. With these ninja info cards…" Kabuto said, pulling a well-stacked deck out to show them, fanning some of the cards in his hand.

"Ninja info cards?" Sakura asked.

"To put it simply, they're cards that have information burned into them and coded with chakra." He explained while he shuffled the deck, kneeling down on the floor. "I have four years worth of info here. Over two hundred cards… They look blank, but to open the info on these cards…" they watched as he removed one from the top of the deck and placed a finger on top of it, spinning the blank card to infuse it with chakra.

"What are you doing?" Ino asked.

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra, for example…" Kabuto said as a small map with a bar graph 3-D bar graph appeared on the previously blank card.

"Wow, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?" Sakura asked, impressed. April thought that was a neat trick.

"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they are from."

"Do you have info cards on individuals?" Sasuke asked.

"Hehe. There are some guys you're worried about?" Kabuto asked. "Of course… the info on all of the applicants this time around isn't perfect, but I do have it. You guys included… Tell me something about these guys, and I'll retrieve their info for you. Anything is fine."

"Gaara of the Sand Village, and Rock Lee of the Leaf Village." Sasuke said.

"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy, then." Kabuto said with a smile. In a flash, he swiped the requested cards from his deck and held them up in front of his face with their backs facing out.

"Show me." Sasuke said seriously, staring at the cards so hard that April thought he might burn holes in them, though she had to admit, she was curious too. If the info on these cards could be trusted, it might help them understand their opponents better.

'I don't understand what's going on, but… I'll just act like I do…' Naruto decided quietly, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Okay, first is Rock Lee." Kabuto announced as he activated the first card. "He's one year older than you guys."

"I'm fourteen." April felt the need to clarify.

"All right, then he's one year younger than April-kun, and one year older than the rest of you." Kabuto corrected himself. He noticed a few of the rookies (Naruto in particular) looked surprised that he knew her name, but April and the others hadn't forgotten that he had already mentioned he had info on all of them as well. "Mission history: 20 D-ranks completed and 11 C-ranks completed. His squad leader is Guy. In just this year, his taijutsu has drastically improved, but… his other skills are no good at all. Last year he gained attention as a talented new genin, but he didn't participate in the Chūnin exam. This is his first time participating in the exam, same as you guys. On his team are Tenten and Neji Hyūga…"

'Hyūga…? Is he somehow related to Hinata?' April wondered, glancing curiously at the shy girl out the corner of her eye, while Kabuto moved on to the second card.

"Next… is Gaara of the Desert." He said as he activated it. "Mission history: 8 C-ranks and 1 B-rank. Wow, one B-Rank as a genin, eh…" Kabuto said, impressed. "Since he's a newcomer from a foreign country I don't have much info, but… It seems he has returned from all of his missions without even a scratch." He finished seriously, readjusting his glasses.

"…" Sasuke said as a bead of nervous sweat dripped down the side of his and all the other rookies' faces.

'B-rank as a genin… and uninjured…!?' April thought, furrowing her brow, as she remembered their mission in the Land of Waves and the damage they had taken during it. 'As I thought, that guy isn't normal…'

"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Water Fall, Sound… Many outstanding genins from the various hidden villages are here to take the exam." Kabuto continued. "Well… the Hidden Sound Village is a small village created just last year, so there isn't much info, but… the rest of the hidden villages are filled with talented youngsters."

"M… Makes you lose confidence…" Hinata stammered quietly with a nervous gulp.

"So basically…" Sakura said, furring her brow. "All the people here are…"

"Yup!! Like Lee and Gaara, they are the top elite genins from their various countries. This isn't going to be easy." Kabuto said with the hint of a smirk.

"…" April and Naruto both furrowed their brows and grimaced slightly while they mulled that over in their heads. April didn't find this news that surprising, but it was still unnerving to have some of her worst suspicions confirmed.

Standing out in the hallway, Kakashi recalled Guy's words when he butted into his argument with Iruka when he had nominated his team for the exams.

"This isn't so easy. You are rushing things." Guy said as he stepped forward. "Iruka is right. My team waited a year to gain greater abilities. Let them mature a little more first…"

"Pft… They may not be perfect…" Kakashi said. "But they'll quickly blow by your guys."

"Ugh…" Guy furrowed his brow, chagrined.

"That's enough." The Hokage said, bringing an end to the discussion. "Now we will nominate the non-rookie genins."

"Well, just don't complain afterwards." Kakashi told Guy, causing a small vein to throb on his forehead.

'I may have said that, but… even those fearless kids may be shaking in their boots right now…' Kakashi thought. He wondered how April was going to handle this…

Back inside the room, Sakura watched as April and Naruto began to tremble in front of her.

"Even Naruto is nervous seeing these numbers…" Sakura thought with a frown, concerned. 'I can understand, we're all genins… but we are rookies among rookies… This isn't like Naruto. And April's usually so composed… I'll cheer them up a bit.' She thought, reaching out to touch them on the shoulders. "Hey, Naruto, April-chan, don't get so down…!" she started to tell them, gasping when they suddenly lifted their heads with grins on their faces, and Naruto raised his hand and pointed at the rest of the examinees in the room to call them out.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!!!" he declared proudly at the top of his lungs. "I won't lose to you bastards!!!!"

"!!" the other genins said with scowls on their faces, surprised by his guts and stupidity for pulling such a stunt.

"You got that?!!!!" Naruto yelled.

"…" Kakashi sweat-dropped and smiled wryly as he leaned against the wall outside. Naruto… He should have known. He'd really done it now. No doubt he would be in for a scolding from Sakura and April.

"Naruto…" April said quietly, sweat-dropping, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel, but we don't have to say everything we're thinking, okay?" She was excited and nervous too, but they didn't need to go out of their way to make enemies.

'He's too stupid to get down…' Sakura thought, chagrined. She couldn't believe she had actually begun to feel sorry for him.

"Hey!!! What is he doing?!!" Ino demanded incredulously as beads of nervous sweat slid down the sides of their faces. Was he crazy!?

"Ah… That felt great…!" Naruto said with a cheeky grin while he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Heh." Sasuke said with the hint of a smirk.

'Well, I guess at least we've managed to remove any doubts about who might come after us now that he's pissed off the whole room…' April thought with a wry smile. The corner of Kabuto's lips curved up slightly while the other examinees glared at the rookies from across the room. These kids were something else.

"…" Gaara stared at them from his place beside his siblings.

"Hey… it's that guy from before..." Kankurō said with a mean smirk.

"That dog's bark is worse than his bite." Temari remarked.

"Is he stupid…?" Tenten wondered aloud dubiously.

"He's very spirited. I guess you didn't beat him down enough, Lee." Neji remarked.

"…" Lee frowned.

"Hehe… Did you hear, the Hidden Sound is a minor village?" said one of the sound ninjas, pissed.

"Is that so?" said their bandaged leader. How offensive.

"Let's play with him a little bit…" the girl suggested wickedly.

"Hehe… Good idea." Snickered the boy in the muzzle-gasmask. He didn't care what happened to the others as long as that cute purple-haired girl remained intact. "Calling us left overs… He should know better."

"Let's help him add to his data… by showing him that Hidden Sound shinobi… can be quite vicious…" Their leader said with a devious smirk.