Previously:

"!" Mibu was startled when Naruto's fist came flying at him from the side. While they were worried about Sasuke, he had taken advantage of the moment to close the gap between them and pull up alongside them, aiming to take them all out with one hit.

"!!" the other two rain ninjas grunted in pain as he slammed into them, and they all went down like a row of dominoes. "Ahhhhh!!!" they cried, crashing to the ground with enough momentum to send them sliding.

"!" Sasuke said as he and Sakura stared at him in surprise.

"..." Kabuto was amazed by his stamina.

April just smiled, unsurprised since she knew how much Naruto hated to lose.

"I'm damn sick of letting you always steal the juicy parts," Naruto told Sasuke with a tired grin, panting from the effort.

Chapter 58: The Other Face

Sweat dripped down Naruto's face while he stood there, panting. He was exhausted, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Ugh..." Mibu groaned as he and teammates began to pick themselves up again. 'What a kid… He can still move…?'

'Is this really that Naruto…?' Sasuke wondered, furrowing his brow. 'This guy… since when did he grow this much!?'

"… Naruto..." Sakura said, amazed but also concerned. Should he really be moving in that condition?

"Good job, Naruto!!" April praised him. 'This was definitely a tactic only he could pull off… I'd love to tell him not to fight anymore, since he's clearly exhausted… but that would just egg him on...' She had learned by now that would never work. If you told Naruto not to do something, he would not only do it twice, he would take pictures while he did it.

'Wow… What chakra stamina…' Kabuto thought, astonished. 'A major technique combining many Shadow Clones and transforming only four of them into his companions… all that, and he can still move… And this is the fifth day...' He had to keep his expression cool. 'If this kid masters his chakra use… He'll become a monster...'

"You're pretty good..." their first rain ninja said as he and his comrades stood up again and formed their hand seals. "But we aren't 'unlucky' just yet… There's little time left… Now, we'll show you our ninjutsu!!'

'Ninja Art: Fog Clone Jutsu!!' the three rain ninjas thought, creating numerous duplicates of themselves.

"… Shadow Clones…?" Naruto said, furrowing his brow.

"No… They're just normal clones…" Sasuke replied, scanning them with his Sharingan. "But there must be some trick, watch out..."

"Heh, if that's the case, then there's only one real enemy..." Naruto said, smirking. "I'll just blast them all 'til I hit the real one."

"Idiot, that plan won't work..." Sasuke tried to tell him.

"!" they exclaimed when Naruto charged forward anyway.

"I told you to stay out of this!!!" he shouted at Sasuke, roaring out a battle cry as he ran. "UOOOOO!!!"

"Naruto!! Don't!!" Sakura yelled.

'Damn!! He's still got enough energy to get himself in trouble!!' April thought, frowning and furrowing her brow as she bent her knees, and shot out to help him.

"… Geez!!" Kabuto huffed, springing after April to join her in her attempt to bail Naruto out.

"…!!" Sasuke winced, startled when he tried to move, but was paralyzed by pain instead.

"!" Sakura was about to go, too, but she was startled by the look on Sasuke's face and the slight tremor running through his body and immediately realized something was wrong.

'Ugh… using my Sharingan makes the mark on my neck hurt… Have I used too much chakra…!?' he wondered, alarmed. 'Damn it...'

"Ahhhh!!!!" Naruto yelled, slamming his fist into the face of the first rain ninja he ran into. "!!" he exclaimed as he fell right through it. 'Damn it!! A clone!!' he thought, managing to catch himself in time. He kicked at another, but his foot went through its neck. 'And this one...' He tried to punch another, but passed through its body again. 'And this one!!'

"Come back!! Naruto!!" April shouted at him, throwing a spray of shurikens as a test. Every single one of her targets, and several behind them, was a clone.

"Naruto-kun! Stop!!" Kabuto yelled when he ignored April and continued to fight.

'They're all fake…?' Sakura thought while she watched them confirm several more clones. 'Could this be another genjutsu…!?'

'Whether this is a genjutsu or simple clones… It seems they're still sticking to their tactic of hiding in the shadows…!' April thought, furrowing her brow. They never should have let them form those hand seals.

'… This is my last chakra...' Sasuke thought, forming the Seal of Confrontation to help him concentrate. 'Sharingan!!' His normal vision faded and quickly transformed to show him the true forms of everyone and everything in front of him. Aside from Naruto, Kabuto, and April, who lacked the same cloak of chakra the others had because of the seal, there were only clones.

His eyes widened and his pupils constricted at the sharp stab of pain in his neck. "AWWW!!!" he screamed from the agonizing sensation, falling to his knees.

"Sasuke-kun!?" Sakura cried, dropping down to check on him. "!" she gasped when she saw the new black marks that had begun to form and spread out from the cursed seal. 'This mark again…!!' she thought, alarmed. "Sasuke-kun, please stop using the Sharingan!!" she begged, afraid he would change again.

"!" April and Naruto gasped, concerned when they heard his scream and her yelling about the Sharingan. Naruto turned his head to look.

"You shouldn't create openings!!" the rain ninja told him, rushing forward to stab him with a kunai.

"!!" April glanced at him, eyes wide when she saw the danger he was in.

"You, too!!" one of his teammates shouted, flinging a kunai in her direction.

April gritted her teeth and managed to dodge, only obtaining shallow cuts to the skin on her upper arm and the side of her leg. She risked another glance out the corner of her eyes and was relieved to see that Kabuto had tackled Naruto out of the way of his attacker at the expense of his own leg. She began carefully making her way towards him, while Naruto and Kabuto landed harshly on the ground.

"Kabuto-san…!" Naruto cried, concerned when he saw the wound on the older genin's leg.

"Gu..." Kabuto winced, keeping his hand pressed against the injury to suppress the blood flow. They managed to get him in a very inconvenient spot!

"Damn it!!!" Naruto cursed as April joined them, coordinating with her to take up a protective stance around their injured comrade.

"Stop, Naruto!! April!!" Sasuke shouted at them.

"!!" they said, turning their attention to them, though April still kept one eye on the enemy while she listened.

"No matter how many you punch… you won't find the real ones..." Sasuke said, panting from the effort it took him just to talk.

April frowned with concern when she noticed the pained expression on his face and the way he was holding his neck.

"Then where will the enemies attack from!?" Naruto demanded anxiously. "Normal clones can't attack!!"

"If we knew that, things would be easy!" Sasuke retorted impatiently. "That is their plan!!"

'Damn… If we could at least figure out the direction…!' April thought, frowning and furrowing her brow in confusion and frustration. 'Just now… I thought I was being attacked from the front, but I felt the pain in my leg before my arm...' The angle of the cuts were odd, too. "!" Her eyes widened with realization as she remembered the technique Kakashi had used during their bell test to conceal himself underground in order to drag her under. 'This is…!!!'

"Ugh..." Naruto groaned, collapsing to his knees in fatigue. 'I can't use the Shadow Clone Jutsu again...' he thought, forcing himself back onto his feet.

"Naruto..." April said, getting his attention. "Listen carefully, I've figured out where they're attacking from..."

"!!" Naruto, Kabuto, and Sasuke said, surprised by the confidence in her voice.

"Looks like they've reached their limit, lucky," the rain ninja with a grudge against her said, unperturbed. She looked like she was having trouble staying on her feet, too.

"!!" Naruto gasped in alarm when he charged at them.

"Ignore it!! Look, behind!!" April yelled, quickly scanning the earth under their feet, spotting all three enemies rising up through the shadows of the clones behind them, turning to meet them.

"!!" Sasuke exclaimed, astonished when his Sharingan supported her prediction. 'I see!! they are hiding in the earth and attacking from the clone's shadow!!'

"!" Kabuto was alarmed when one of the rain ninjas moved to attack him, but April countered by flipping over him into a swift dropkick that crashed straight on the nearest enemy's head. In that split-second, she had discerned the quickest way to land an attack without stepping on her already injured comrade.

"!" Naruto gasped, eyes wide with amazement, watching as she landed and spun around to deliver another kick that ripped him from the earth and sent his unconscious body rolling across the clearing. His clones disappeared, eliminated from number that was still surrounding them.

'Heh! It's like a game of whack-a-mole, now...' April thought with a smirk, managing to find humor in the situation despite her fatigue. Unfortunately, the rain ninja's teammates were already retreating underground again.

While she was recovering from her series of kicks, the two remaining rain ninjas attacked from the other side.

"Naruto!!" April yelled, swiveling around when she realized their next move, but she was a second too late.

"!" She and Naruto exclaimed, horrified when one of them slashed their kunai across Kabuto's face as they emerged.

Kabuto managed to move his body enough to avoid a fatal wound, thanks to the advanced warning he had from April figuring out their trick, but he landed harshly on the ground, and his glasses popped off of his face.

"Heh..." the rain ninja smirked, moving in for the kill.

April was ready to intercept the attack, but she froze when she sensed a sudden spike in killing intent beside her. She could tell the rain ninjas must have felt it too, because they stopped their attack and actually took a step back. Cautiously, April turned her head and saw the vicious glare Kabuto was shooting at them from his position on the ground. It was so fierce, that he had been able to make them back off even from that vulnerable position. Although, "vulnerable" was probably the last word she would use to describe him at that moment.

'Huh?' Sasuke thought as he frowned and furrowed his brow, flinching in shock at the drastic change in personality. Kabuto was glaring so hard at the rain ninjas that the whites of his eyes were turning red.

The two rain ninjas trembled, too paralyzed by their fear to see what was coming next.

"URAAAAAA!!!!" Naruto roared, flying around to nail them together with a powerful kick to the first one's head, knocking it hard enough against the second's to send both of their unconscious bodies tumbling across the rough ground. The remaining clones disappeared the instant they were out. "Heh!" Naruto smirked, wiping his chin. "You shouldn't create an opening, right?"

"Phew…" Kabuto sighed with relief, putting his 'nice guy' mask back on as he sat up. "Thanks, Naruto-kun, you saved me. April-kun, too."

"..." April and Sasuke were still watching him warily, though she was able to keep her suspicions from showing too much on her face.

"Great job, Naruto!!! April-chan!!!" Sakura cheered for them. She was amazed that April had been able to figure out the enemy's trick.

"Hehe..." Naruto laughed, grinning, while he fell into a sitting position.

April would have liked to sit, too, but she had a feeling that once she did, she wouldn't want to get up again, so she stayed on her feet. 'Now then...' she thought, turning her attention back to the rain ninjas. 'I guess were ought to do something about them...'

While April and Naruto tied up the rain ninjas to make sure they wouldn't be able to attack them again, on the off chance they might wake up in time before the deadline, Kabuto walked over to check on Sasuke.

"!" He said when he saw the cursed seal on his neck. "What is that thing?" he asked, showing concern. "An injury? It's a horrible mark."

"It's nothing..." Sasuke said, quickly covering it.

"All done!! Let's go!!! Let's go!!!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, ready to continue.

'I really envy his fast recovery rate right now...' April thought, smiling wryly and sweat-dropping.

"Great..." Kabuto said.

'Him...' Sasuke thought, eyeing Kabuto with suspicion. 'Something's strange...'

Although they were tired, and Sasuke and April had to lean on Sakura and Naruto for support, they were able to reach the tower in no time with no enemies attacking them. They were about to pick from the two entrances that still had doors with unbroken seals on them, when Kabuto's missing teammates emerged from the bushes to join them.

"Oh, you guys..." said the one wearing sunglasses, that April thought resembled a pair of black monocles, and a mask that covered the lower half of his face. "You're late… Kabuto."

"We ran into some trouble, sorry," Kabuto apologized.

"But!! But!! Thanks to you, we got here without losing our scrolls!!" Naruto said with a grin.

"No, it was all because of you guys. Kabuto said humbly. "You were great at the end, Naruto-kun… April-kun, too..." He never would have imagined there was a genin with that kind of physical prowess, who also had the analytical ability to out predict an activated Sharingan.

"..." Sasuke furrowed his brow, still worried about the other side he had displayed after getting injured.

"We are going through this door," Kabuto said, picking the one next to theirs. "Good luck to both of us!"

"Yeah!" Naruto said, giving him a big grin.

Kabuto grinned back.

April stopped leaning on Naruto so he could open the doors to their entrance. He grabbed both handles, turned them, and pushed them open, tearing the paper seal.

"How was the harvest?" a familiar voice asked Kabuto when his team stepped through their own doors.

"Yes, it was above expectations..." Kabuto replied, holding up Sasuke's ninja info card. "I've written down all of his data from the second test. You want this, right?"

His master reached his hand out to take it from him. "So, how was it?"

"Hehe, so you're that interested... Orochimaru-sama..." Kabuto said, somewhat amused. It was rare to see the older shinobi this excited.

"I want to know your opinion..." Orochimaru told him while examining the card. "… As our spy..."

"That's unnecessary..." Kabuto said, placing his hand over the cut on his face to heal it. "Since everything will be decided by you."

"Heh… I like that intelligence of yours..." Orochimaru told him, about to leave, when he remembered there was something else he wanted. "Oh, yes… Did you happen to make a card for the outsider…?"

"So… You're interested in April-kun, too..." Kabuto remarked, pulling her card out for him as well. As expected, he had a good eye for quality. "The seal may have interfered with the results, but..."

"That's fine..." Orochimaru said, accepting her card before making himself scarce. They would be able to see her real power in the next round. "Good work..."

"… Nobody's here..." Naruto said while Team 7 stood in the middle of the empty room, wondering what they were supposed to do now.

"Sakura… I'm alright..." Sasuke said, pulling away from her to stand on his own two feet like Naruto and April. 'I still can't believe she beat my Sharingan...' he thought, furrowing his brow and frowning as he glanced at April out the corners of his eyes. He wouldn't have thought it was possible if he hadn't witnessed it for himself.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah…" Sakura said, smiling to hide her disappointment. 'God damn it!!!' Inner Sakura cursed.

"Hey, hey!!! What should we do?!!" Naruto asked, still looking around for any sign of life.

"I think we should probably start by reading that..." April said, pointing up at what looked like a large, framed poem or something like it. It was the only thing that could serve as a clue in the empty and bare room.

"That's probably a good guess..." Sakura agreed.

They all stared up at the lines of kanji.

"Without… heaven… What the hell does this mean?" Naruto asked, confused.

"It looks like it's missing words there..." April said, spotting the quotation marks around an empty space in the writing, even though she had trouble with some of the kanji. But she recognized the ones for 'heaven' and 'earth'.

"This is probably about the scrolls..." Sakura said. "I think they are telling us to open the scrolls..."

"I think you're right..." April agreed.

Sasuke and April handed the scrolls in their possession over to Sakura and Naruto. They all stared nervously at the Heaven and Earth scrolls, hoping they were right.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. "Alright… Let's open them up…!!!"