Previously:

"Umm… So anyway..." Hayate continued. "Those who are not feeling well… those who feel like quitting after these explanations… please come forward now. Since we will be starting the preliminary immediately..."

"What?!! Right now?!!" Kiba shouted incredulously, while he and Naruto both flinched in shock.

'This is gonna be rough...' April thought, bracing herself for more trouble. What she really wanted to do was take a shower and have a decent meal, but it looked like that would have to wait.

Naruto gulped nervously. 'Alright!!' he thought, clenching his fists and squaring his jaw with determination. 'I promised Kabuto-san. I'm going to do my best!!'

"..." Kabuto furrowed his brow slightly, looking at the sound ninjas' jōnin. He raised his hand. "Umm… I'm going to quit," he announced, adopting a somewhat apologetic smile.

"!!" April and the rest of Team 7 gasped in surprise, shocked.

"Huh?!!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief, completely taken aback. "K… Kabuto-san…?" What about their promise?

Chapter 61: Sakura's Request And April's Condition

Kabuto stood with his hand raised, looking awfully calm for someone who had just surrendered their chance to become a chūnin.

"…!!" Naruto and April stared him in astonishment, confused. Why would he suddenly give up after fighting so hard alongside them to get there?

"…!" Sasuke furrowed his brow, suspicious of his actions.

"Kabuto-san..." Sakura said, stunned.

"Umm… You're Kabuto Yakushi-kun from Konoha, right?" Hayate asked, confirming his identity. "You may leave now..."

'…!!' Naruto thought, startled. Just like that…!?

"Umm… Does anyone else want to retire?" Hayate asked. "Oh… Umm… I forgot to tell you that from now on, it will be individual battling. You may raise your hand based on your own judgement."

"So it won't affect our teammates?" April asked, keeping both hands down. As much as it had surprised her, she was sort of glad Kabuto was out of the running. She certainly didn't want to fight him.

"No, not at all," Hayate answered. He waited a beat for her to raise her hand after that, but she didn't. He coughed. "… Did you not want to quit…?" he asked.

"No, just checking…" April started to reply, when Naruto spun around to confront Kabuto before he had a chance to fall out of line.

"Kabuto-san!! Why are you quitting?!! Why?!!" he demanded earnestly.

"…!" Kabuto said, pausing to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun… but my body is all beat up," Kabuto replied with regret. "Actually, I haven't been able to hear out of my left ear from the time when I got attacked by the sound ninjas before the first test… And now we'll risk our lives… I just..."

"..." Naruto stared at him.

"..." Sasuke frowned.

'But… He's been fighting like that this whole time… and we risked our lives in the last test, too… I don't really see what's changed…?' April thought, also frowning. Was he worse off than he appeared? Was it because he had run out of stamina? She was also running on fumes in that department, but she didn't want to give up without even trying. And this was his seventh time, wasn't it? You would think he'd be more desperate to pass…

Naruto bowed his head in disappointment.

"I've seen him before," Anko told the Hokage. "Didn't he quit during the final test last year? What's he thinking?" she flipped through the tabs on her clipboard until she came to his. "Kabuto Yakushi's data… He's failed six straight times."

"What kind of record is that?" the Third asked, surprised.

"Since his academy days he was a student who didn't stand out much, his grades were average. He finally graduated on his third try. His completed missions are two C-ranks, fourteen D-ranks. No spectacular battle history here. But..."

"But?" the third asked.

"It's about before he entered the academy," Anko replied grimly.

He gave a look telling her to continue.

"Do you remember?" Anko asked him. "That young boy brought back from the battle at Kikyō Pass."

"I do… I remember, a jōnin member of the medical unit brought back a child of the enemy who had survived the battle," the Third mused. "So, he is that child..."

Kabuto suppressed a smirk looking at the one on the face of the sound ninja jōnin. 'You sure are devoted… Let me handle everything… Is what I'd like to say, but...' he thought, pausing to readjust his glasses as he turned his attention back to Team 7. 'Naruto-kun… Sasuke-kun… April-kun… I would have liked to play with you a little longer, but anymore and… hehe… the old blood will start boiling. I am a spy, after all… I can't reveal my true face here...' But with him there in person, there was no need for him to stay. 'Perfect… If you will be watching them, my job of gathering information is done. Orochimaru-sama.' Kabuto found it laughable that no one else seemed to realize their greatest enemy was hiding in plain sight, standing only a foot away from the Hokage.

'You've been a spy, hiding in your fake self since you were a child...' Orochimaru thought, watching him from the stage. 'Looks like you are trying your best to hold down that boiling blood...'

"Don't take selfish actions," Kabuto's teammate in the strange sunglasses scolded him quietly, keeping his voice down so no one else would hear. "Have you forgotten Orochimaru-sama's orders?"

"I'll let you guys handle it," Kabuto replied coolly, also taking care to avoid being overheard. "Especially you, Yoroi-san. With your ability there should be no problems."

"..." Yoroi scowled at him.

"This is your chance to show your strength," Kabuto told him. "I know you are frustrated that I have surpassed you."

"Orochimaru-sama's favorite… Don't get too confident, kid..." Yoroi scoffed at him.

"I understand, Sempai," Kabuto said as he stepped out of line and turned to leave. He was greeted by the worried and disappointed look on Naruto's face, the suspicious one on Sasuke's, the puzzled concern on April's, and the mild confusion on Sakura's. Kabuto gave them all a friendly smile and a small wave goodbye as he passed them on his way out.

"..." Naruto's expression fell further the closer Kabuto drew to the door.

'I'll save the fun for some other time, Sasuke-kun… and you, too, Naruto-kun… April-kun...' Kabuto thought with a wicked smirk.

'Heh, this Yoroi will leave no fun for you,' his teammate thought mockingly, guessing the younger spy's thoughts.

'What were they whispering about…?' April wondered, furrowing her brow slightly. She didn't like it, but she was growing increasingly more suspicious of their new 'friend'. The way his eyes kept drifting to the sound jōnin had her concerned. Did he also sense something strange about that man, or was it something else? Not only that, but… for a moment, she thought she sensed something scary from him as he walked away, like that time his eyes turned red when they fought the rain ninjas. But it was hard to tell with his back turned, and it seemed to go just as fast as it came.

Sasuke also watched Kabuto leave warily, but he was soon distracted by another sharp pain radiating out from the mark on his neck. 'Ugh...' he thought, grabbing his neck as he winced. 'The waves of pain are becoming more frequent.'

"!" Sakura gasped, while April frowned when they saw this.

'Sasuke-kun… I knew it...' Sakura thought, extremely worried for him.

'He keeps grabbing his neck… I thought I saw something on it before, but even when I asked, he refused to give me a straight answer...' April thought, also deeply concerned. She remembered when he went full 'Dark Side' while facing the sound ninjas. Those black marks all over his body had receded in the direction of his neck. 'The two must be related, but… how?' She could tell from the words Sakura exchanged with the sound ninjas about Orochimaru that it must have been his doing, but why? 'Why is he targeting Sasuke…? What's his purpose?'

"Umm… Now… there are no more retiring, right?" Hayate asked, coughing.

"Huh?!!" Sakura said, startled when she realized the window was closing fast.

"Arg..." Sasuke cringed, tightening his grip on the stinging mark.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay to fight like that?" April asked him.

"I'll be fine..." he insisted stubbornly.

'You seriously don't look fine...' April thought, frowning at him. His whole body was trembling, and he looked like he could barely stay on his feet.

"Sa… Sasuke-kun!! You should also quit this prelim!!" Sakura exclaimed anxiously.

"!!?" Sasuke said, furrowing his brow and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Huh?!" Naruto said, snapping out of his funk when he heard that, turning to look at them.

"You have been strange since that Orochimaru guy attacked you," Sakura continued earnestly. "That mark still hurts, right?!! If you continue…!!"

'Mark?' Naruto thought, furrowing his brow in confusion. What mark? What was she talking about?

Sakura started to tremble when she remembered the evil in that man's eyes when he told her he gave Sasuke a 'going away present' and that he would seek him out to seek power, the certainty in them… And the chilling look in Sasuke's while he was under the influence of those black marks covering his body. "… Please..." she begged, clutching her hands together against her chest to stop them from shaking.

Sasuke's harsh expression fell when he saw the look on her face, and Naruto was startled to see tears in her eyes.

'Sakura...' April thought, understanding that her deeper feelings for Sasuke made seeing him in pain and watching him change so much more painful.

"Please… quit..." Sakura pleaded with him, reaching up a trembling hand to try to wipe away her tears. 'I'm… afraid...'

'Sakura-chan...' Naruto thought, disturbed and concerned. He had never seen her like this before.

"..." Sasuke looked down and furrowed his brow again. He didn't like it either, but he couldn't quit. Not yet.

"You are in no condition to fight right now!!!" Sakura snapped, desperate to stop him.

'Shut up!!' Sasuke thought, scowling at her and the pain wracking his body. He didn't need this right now.

"I can see it!! You have been hiding the pain all this time!!" Sakura told him.

"Be quiet," Sasuke growled at her, shooting her a glare get her to stop.

"Whatever you say, I'm going to tell the Senseis about that mark," she continued, refusing to back down. "Then..."

"!" Naruto gasped when she started to raise her hand to get their attention.

CLAP.

Sasuke's hand shot out to grab her wrist, holding it down. "Shut up about this mark," he told her sternly.

"Uhh..." Sakura's lip trembled. "Why are you so stubborn?!!" she cried. "I don't want to see you suffering anymore. To me you are..."

"This has nothing to do with you," Sasuke said bluntly, cutting her off.

"!!" Sakura flinched, shocked.

"Stay out of my business," Sasuke told her with a sharp look.

"…!!" Naruto said, appalled on Sakura's behalf.

April frowned at Sasuke's harsh response. "Sasuke…" she said firmly, getting his attention. "These may be individual battles, but you're still our teammate. Teammates are supposed to look out for each other. We care about you. So it is our business."

'April-chan...' Sakura thought, grateful that she was backing her up.

"No, it isn't," Sasuke retorted shortly, starting to get angry. They didn't understand a damn thing. "Sakura… I have told you before," he reminded her.

"?" Sakura said. Told her what?

"I am an avenger," Sasuke stated with absolute certainty. "This isn't just a test to me. I don't care about chūnin or whatever."

"..." Sakura stared at him with tears in her eyes.

"!!?" Naruto gasped, surprised. If he didn't care about the test, then why was he there?

"..." April furrowed her brow. She remembered when he told Sakura that, too. It was when he was covered by those strange marks and his chakra was going berserk. It seemed he had decided the only thing he cared about was taking his revenge on that mysterious man he mentioned that he wanted to kill before. It didn't take a genius to figure out he meant the man who killed his family. She had been there herself.

" 'Am I strong?' I just want the answer to that," Sasuke said, determined to keep going. "To just fight strong guys here… and they are here." There was that sand ninja, Gaara, and Lee and that guy named Neji, who was also on his team. "I can't forgive even you… If you take that away from me," he told Sakura, frowning and furrowing his brow at her. "… Or you," he added, looking at April. He may owe her, but he wasn't about to let her get in his way.

"You bastard!! Stop acting cool!!" Naruto snapped angrily at him. "Idiot!! Listen to April!! Sakura is this worried, and..."

"Naruto..." Sasuke said seriously, stopping him. "I also want to fight you..."

"…!!" Naruto gasped, surprised.

"You, too..." Sasuke added, looking back at April.

"…" April furrowed her brow. She also wanted a chance to fight him one-on-one, but…

"Ugh..." Sasuke groaned, twitching and clapping his hand over the mark on his neck as he was hit by another wave of pain.

"You know, Sasuke..." April said, frowning while she watched him. "Unlike Sakura… I have no problem being hated." Not if it would save someone she cared about. She would rather have them safe and upset with her than the alternative.

"!" His eyes widened. He strained against the pain to look at her. Her expression was dead serious.

"I don't know all the details, but even I can tell that thing on your neck is dangerous... I also think that we need to tell the senseis about it," She said, raising a hand to stop him when he opened his mouth to protest. "Like I said, I don't mind being hated. So, if you want to buy my silence… I have two conditions." It was obvious nothing they said would convince him to quit, and despite what she said before, she didn't really think it was their decision to make… but… she at least wanted to try to get him go about it a little smarter.

"Conditions?" he asked, scowling at her.

"First, do not use your Sharingan," she stated firmly. She had noticed during their last fight that his pain seemed to be worse when he did, and she could have sworn she heard Sakura saying something about the mark spreading while it was active, too. That seemed dangerous, so she wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

"!!" Sasuke and Sakura gasped.

"!?" Naruto said, wondering what was going on and why April was suddenly making such a bizarre request.

"Second, the moment you're done fighting… tell Kakashi-sensei about that thing, or I'll tell him myself," she finished sternly, leaving no room for an argument.

'April-chan...' Sakura thought. She had been relieved and then startled when April implied she wouldn't let Sasuke continue, only to offer to keep quiet, but now she understood why. She was playing the villain to help her keep Sasuke safe.

"..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, glaring at April. He hated that she would dare to threaten him like this, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that it wasn't an empty one. If he didn't agree to her terms, she would rat him out right then and there. "… Fine..." he agreed grudgingly. At least she knew better than to tell him not to fight.

"I thought so..." the Hokage remarked gravely when he saw the pain Sasuke was in, and the way he was clutching his neck.

"What should we do?" Ibiki asked him.

"We should remove him from the exam and have Anbu watching over and protecting him..." Anko suggested earnestly.

"He's the type that wouldn't easily agree to that..." Kakashi cut in.

"!" Anko said, turning to face him.

"Since he's from that Uchiha clan after all," he finished with a closed-eyed smile.

"Don't be foolish!!" Anko snapped at him. "We will force him to quit!! By just releasing chakra, the curse becomes active and forcibly pulls out chakra. It's a forbidden jutsu which eats away at the user's body," she explained earnestly, knowing all too well how it felt, since she was also a victim. "It's amazing that this child is still standing. He should be dead." She turned back to face their leader for confirmation. "Hokage-sama?!!"

The third sighed, exhaling the smoke from his lungs. "What Orochimaru said is on my mind. Let's let Sasuke continue and watch over the situation."

"Ho… Hokage-sama…!!" Anko said anxiously.

"But if the curse begins opening and releasing the power, then jump in and stop him," the Third added firmly. He wouldn't let the boy become a martyr.

"Yes," Ibiki replied dutifully.

Kakashi silently agreed. He didn't want to stop Sasuke from fighting if he chose to continue, but he had planned to do that from the beginning.

"Um… Now… Let's begin the preliminary," Hayate said, making sure he had everyone's attention again. "This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation."

April and the other genins furrowed their brows, ready to get serious.

"Since we now have exactly 22 entrants, we will conduct 11 matches and… umm… the winners will advance to the third test," Hayate explained. "There are basically no rules. The fight continues until one of you dies or is knocked out or admits your defeat." He coughed. "Umm… If you don't want to die, then quickly acknowledge your defeat. But when I decide that the winner has clearly been established… umm… since we don't want to pointlessly increase the amount of corpses, I'll jump in and stop things." He coughed again. "And the object that controls your destiny is..."

"Open it," Anko ordered into the mike on her headset, recognizing her cue to get things rolling.

April watched a wood panel in the wall retract to reveal an electronic screen.

"Is this…" he continued with another cough. "This electric sign-board will… show the match-ups for each battle." He coughed. "Now, this is sudden, but let's announce the two names of the first fight."

Everyone looked up at the screen, nervous with anticipation, while they waited for it to reveal the participants for the first match.

"!!" Naruto gasped when he saw who it was.

SASUKE UCHIHA
VS
YOROI AKADO

'… Right now...' Sasuke thought with a smirk.

'Heh… I didn't even have to beg...' Yoroi thought, also smirking behind his mask.

'No way…!! Why does Sasuke have to…?!!' Sakura thought, upset.

'It may actually be better this way...' April thought grimly. 'If his pain is getting worse, then the sooner he fights, the less he'll have to deal with while he battles, and the sooner we can get him treatment...'

"Now, these two entrants come to the front..." Hayate instructed them, waiting for Sasuke and Yoroi to take their positions in front of him, facing each other. He could tell everyone, including the other genins, was anxious to see this fight. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. "The two participants in the first fight are Yoroi Akadō and Sasuke Uchiha. Are you ready?" he asked them.

"Yes..." Yoroi answered immediately.

"Yeah..." Sasuke confirmed.

Both entrants were raring to go.