The four of us stood in the hallway, Kakashi stood in front of two large doors. "Glad you came, Sakura, for your sake and the others." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets. "Huh?" I raised my brow. "Now, you all can formally register for the chunin exams." Kakashi nodded. "Why? What do you mean?" Sakura asked, her pink hair swaying. "You see, only groups of three are allowed to apply for and take the exam, of course an exception had been made this year. Luckily you aren't the only team of four." Kakashi sighed, looking out the window. "But, sensei, you said the decision to take the exam was up to the individual." Sakura put her hands on her hips. "That's right, I did." Kakashi nodded. "Was that a lie?" She asked. "Sort of. It is an individual decision, but it affects all of you. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want the other guys pressuring you." Kakashi explained, I nodded my head. "At the same time, I didn't want you feeling obliged to participate, because of any feelings you might have for the rest of the group. I wanted you to come to a decision of your own free will." Kakashi turned his head back towards us. "Wait a minute. Do you mean if the others showed up but I decided to not come with them-" "Well, not exactly. The three of them could of gone with out you, but then the other team of four would have also been forced to get rid of a member. But it's a moot point. You're all here, and for the right reasons. Sakura, Naruto, (Y/N), and Sasuke. I'm proud of you." Kakashi smiled at all of us, "I couldn't ask for a better team. Good luck." Kakashi nodded, stepping out of the way. "We won't let you down, sensei! Believe it!" Naruto grinned, the four of us entered the doors, leaving Kakashi in the hall way.

"Wha-what's this?" Naruto gulped, looking around the room. "Gee, guess we're not alone." I grinned, the room was full of people. Man, I had no clue there would be so much competition. Sakura looked around, her eyes widening. There were people, all ages, shapes, and sizes sprawn out through the room. If being scary looking was one of the tests, they've got me beat! Sakura gulped. "Sasuke, where have you been~?" I heard a girly voice call out, I looked behind me. Ino threw her self around Sasuke's shoulders, pure disgust was drawn on his face. "Boy, you have no idea how much I was hoping you'd show up here!" She smiled, I started to laugh. "Man, if only I had a camera!" I snickered. "Hey, you porker! Back off! He's mine!" Sakura hissed, pointing her finger accusingly at Ino. "Miss forehead! They let you in? Still got those big frown lines on your billboard brow, I see." Ino grinned. "Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura shouted, Ino stuck her tongue out at Sakura. "Oh, it's you guys." Shikamaru sighed, him and Choji walked towards us. "Hey guys! What's up?" I asked, taking a step closer to them. Choji was stuffing his face full of chips. "Oh...the usual." Shikamaru heaved a heavy sigh. "I knew this was going to be a drag, but I didn't know it was going to be this lame." He shrugged. "So, all the three stooges are here, huh?" Naruto grinned, resting his arm on my shoulder. "Hey, you know what, pipsqueak?!" Shikamaru seethed, "Ah, forget it. You're a waste of time." Shikamaru looked away. "Well, well. What'd you know? Looks like the whole gangs back together again." Kiba grinned, Akamaru laying on the top of his head. "Oh, hi (Y/N)." Hinata blushed, "Hm?" I looked over to her, she gulped, her face completely red. "Ha, well, I guess so!" I rubbed the back of my neck, turning back to Kiba. "Man, every one's here for this stupid thing." Shikamaru sighed again. "Yep, here we all are. The ten rookies." Kiba chuckled, "This is gonna be fun! At least, for the one's good enough to make the cut." Kiba grinned, eyeing Sasuke head to toe. "Right, Sasuke?" He asked. "Kiba, careful you don't get overconfident." Sasuke grinned, his hands in his pockets. "Just you wait, we're going to blow you away. We've been training like crazy!" Kiba grinned. "What do you think we've been doing? Sitting around, picking daisies? You don't know what training means!" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Uh, don't mind Kiba. I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it." Hinata stuttered, "Huh?" I looked over at her, her face flared red again.

Akamaru's looking plumper...juicier...Choji looked at him, his mouth watering as he took a step closer to Kiba, Shino blocked him. "What do you want?" Choji squinted his eyes, looking up at Shino. "What's wrong?" Shino whispered, looking at the floor. A tiny beetle crawled over to him. "Thought maybe you hadn't seen it." Shino called out. "Huh?" Choji tilted his head. "Didn't want you stepping on it." Shino looked down at him. "Why, you saving it for lunch?" Choji snorted, I flicked him in the side of his head. "Ow!" He cried, I grinned as I looked over at him.

"Hey, you guys," A voice called out. "Hm?" I looked over at a guy walking our way, large circle glasses hung on his face. "You might wanna try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offense, but you're the ten rookies, right? Fresh out of the academy?" He called out, putting his hands on his hips. "I wouldn't go making a spectacle out of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip." He grinned, looking over at me. "Well, who asked you? Who are you?" I took a step closer, squinting my eyes as I looked at him. "I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really, look around you. You'd made quite the impression." He grinned over at me, "Huh?" I looked around the room, all eyes were on us, staring. I turned around, they were staring directly at us. "See those guys? They're from the rain village, very touchy. They all are. This exam makes every one tense, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way right now." Kabuto explained. "Hm..." I turned around to him, my arms crossed. "You can't help it. I mean, how could you know how things work? You're just rookies. You remind me of my self a while back." Kabuto smiled, Sakura took a step closer. "Kabuto, is that your name?" She asked. "Yeah." He nodded. "This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?" She tilted her head, he looked up at the ceiling. "No...it's my seventh." Kabuto rubbed the back of his neck with a smile. "Huh?" Shikamaru looked at him. "Well, they're held twice a year. So, this would be my fourth year." Kabuto nodded. "Wow, a veteran. You must really be an expert by now." Sakura smiled, "Yeah, sort of." He laughed. I shot my head up. "Cool! You can give us all the inside tips!" I grinned up at him. "Yeah, some expert. He's never passed." Shikamaru huffed. "Well, seventh times the charm, that's what they say, huh?" Kabuto chuckled nervously. "So, I guess all of those rumors about the exam being tough are true. Oh man, I knew this was gonna be a drag..." Shikamaru sighed, slumping his shoulders. "Hang on, don't give up hope yet, maybe I can help out you kids a little," Kabuto dug in his pocket, "With my ninja info cards." He grinned, a pile of bright orange cards in his hand, I tilted my head to the side. "What the heck are those?" I asked, watching him intently. "It's hard to explain, but these cards have been chakra encoded with everything I've learned over the past four years." Kabuto nodded, his glasses shining in the bright over head lights as he knelt down on the ground. "I've got more than two hundred of them," He placed them on the floor, I looked down at them. "So you see, I haven't been completely wasting my time. That may not look like much to the eye," Kabuto mentioned the cards. "In fact, they appear blank." He flipped one over to prove his point, I crouched down on my knees, Naruto and Sakura peering over my shoulders. "Don't want just anyone seeing this stuff." Kabuto explained, putting his index finger on the card, he spun it around on the floor. "What are you doing?" Sakura asked, tilting her head. Some of her pink hair fell on my shoulder. "Hm..." Naruto squinted his eyes, looking closer, Shikamaru leaned over next to me, Sasuke crossed his arms. "You see, I'm using my chakra to reveal their secrets, like this, for example." Kabuto smiled down at the card, a image of the world map appeared on it, "Awesome, a map!" I smiled, Shikamaru sighed. "You're way too easily entertained..." He huffed. "What's the map of?" Ino asked, putting her hands on her knees as she bent down.

"It shows the geographical distribution of all the candidates who have come to take the exam. What villages they come from, and how many from each village." Kabuto explained, looking up at all of us. "Why do you think they all come here to take the exam together, at the same time?" Kabuto asked us all, silence fell into the room. The only sound I could hear was Choji's munching. "It's to foster friendship between nations, of course. International brotherhood, and all that. And it's true enough, as far as it goes." Kabuto shrugged, looking around at us. "But there's another reason." Sasuke looked down at him. "Yeah. You see, the important thing is that this way, they can carefully regulate the total number of shinobi that end up in each village, thereby maintaining the balance of power." Kabuto nodded, Naruto tilted his head to the side. "O-Oh, yeah, balance of power?" Naruto gulped, a confused look crossed his face. "Balance of power? Big deal. It's all a drag..." Shikamaru scoffed, the image on the card slowly faded away. "If the balance isn't maintained, one nation could end up with many more shinobi than it's neighbors and attempt to attack them. So, they try to maintain the status quo." Kabuto held up his index finger, "Make sense, I suppose." I nodded, Sasuke took a step forward. "Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates, individually?" Sasuke asked, looking down at the stack. "They might. You have a special some one in mind?" Kabuto asked, Sasuke squinted his eyes as he looked down at him. "I might." He clenched his fists. "I can't promise my information is complete or perfect, but I've got something on just about everyone, including you guys, of course." Kabuto grinned, looking over at me. He shrugged. "So, which one is it? Tell my anything you want to know about them. A description, where they're from, whatever. Anything at all." Kabuto held up a card, it's orange back facing us. "He's Gaara, from the desert." Sasuke said slowly, his hands shaking with anger. I cupped my hand to the side of my face, "And, uh, Kabuto? Do you know...Rock Lee?" I whispered to him, pink flashing on my face, Sasuke eyed me suspiciously. "Man, that's no fun, you already know their names." Kabuto huffed, digging around in his deck of cards. "That makes it easy." Kabuto shrugged. Choji burped, "Nice one." I grinned, looking up at him, he smiled back, digging into a new bag.

"Here they are." Kabuto smiled, holding two cards between his thumb and ring finger. "Show them to me." Sasuke's eyes were beaming down at him. Naruto looked at Sasuke, then the cards, the me, nodding his head up and down. I haven't a clue what is going on here, but I'll act like I do! Naruto gulped, continuing to nod his head. "Alright, first up, Rock Lee." Kabuto nodded, "Hm?" Sasuke looked over at me, whats the big deal about this weirdo any way? Why does (Y/N) want to know about him? Sasuke huffed, turning his head away. I giggled as I looked down at the card. "Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience, eleven C ranks, twenty D ranks. His squad leader is Guy. In the last twelve months, his taijutsu has radically improved, but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year, he got a lot of attention as a genin, but for some reason, he chose not to participate in the exam. This will be his first time as a candidate, same as for you guys." Kabuto explained, I looked down at the card with a smile. His pictures so adorable! I touched the sides of my face, heat rising to my cheeks. "His team mates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga." Kabuto continued, Hinata took a tiny step closer. "Huh? Hyuga?" Naruto tilted his head, trying to remember where he had heard that name before.

"Okay, now for Gaara, of the desert." Kabuto pulled out another card, spinning it like he did the first. Hm, that Gaara guy was pretty interesting. But there was something...off in his eyes. I thought, peering down at the card. Sasuke knelt to the floor. "Mission experience, eight C ranks, and get this, one B rank as a genin. There's not a lot more information about this guy. He was a rookie from another land, originally, but there it is." Kabuto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "He survived every mission with out getting a scratch on him." Kabuto looked up at us. "The dude's done a B rank as a genin, and has never been injured?" Shikamaru looked down at the card, "What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asked, "Yeah, and why doesn't he have eyebrows?" I wondered, rubbing my chin. Sasuke glared down at the card.

Kabuto pulled out another card from the deck, placing it on top of Gaara's. The map showed again. "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound. From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptionally skilled candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the Hidden Sound Village is small. It sprang up recently. No one knows anything about it, those guys are a mystery." Kabuto shrugged, picking his cards back up. "Well, you get the point. The competition's going to be intense this year." Kabuto sighed, "S-So it would seem..." Hinata whispered worriedly, "It's almost enough to make you loose your confidence." She sighed, "It's a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino shouted at her, "Do you really think it's going to be tougher this time?" Sakura asked Kabuto, worry etching onto her features. "Oh, yeah. In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with as much potential as this bunch." Kabuto nodded, "Mmm..." Naruto crossed his arms, "Yep. We've got our work cut out for us." Kabuto sighed.

Kakashi was standing out side the door, he heard silent muffles coming from inside of it. "I can't go along with this! They may be under your care now, Kakashi, but I know these kids! They were my students, I trained them! I don't know what you're trying to prove with this, but-" Iruka shouted, Guy cut him off. "You know, he may be right, Kakashi. You're putting a lot of pressure on them. Why so impatient?" Guy asked, his hands on his hips. "I held my team back for a year, so they could hone their skills and mature. Let them enjoy their youth a little longer." Guy nodded, "Your concern is touching. You sure it's not just because you know your guys don't stand a chance against mine?" Kakashi asked, his hands in his pockets, Guy was staring daggers at him. "Alright, alright, that's enough. The matter of the rookies' participation is closed. Now, as for the other genin, I'm ready to consider your recommendations." Lord Hokage called out, Kakashi looked up at the ceiling. "I know what I'm doing. You'll see." Kakashi whispered to Guy, Guy stared at him.

I wish I was as sure as I sounded, I wonder how they're doing...even Naruto must be a little scared. (Y/N)...good luck.

Okay, so we're just rookies, and most of these guys are older and more experienced than we are. N-No big deal. It's okay to be a little scared! I can handle it. Sakura thought to her self, Naruto was shaking. I looked over at him. But it would be a whole lot easier if I didn't have to watch Naruto falling apart right in front of me! Sakura put her hands on her hips. "Are you okay?" I whispered to Naruto, standing back up. Nothing usually gets to him, maybe I can try to cheer him up! I smiled. "Hey, don't worry, Naruto we'll be fine-!" I began, "Gaaah!" Naruto shouted, raising his index finger in the air with a wide grin, his other hand on his hip as he pointed to the huge crowd. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat every one of you! Believe it!" Naruto shouted to everyone in the room, I grinned. "Yeah!" I smiled, punching my fists in the air.

"Hey! What are those idiots trying to do?! Get us killed?!" Ino screamed, I should of known. They're not smart enough to be afraid. Sakura sighed, looking down at the ground. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big fat trap shut!" Ino shouted at Sakura, getting in her face. "Whose boyfriend?!" Sakura shouted back, headbutting Ino. "Oh, sorry, I forgot you couldn't get one!" Ino screamed, "What'd you say?!" Sakura seethed. "Yeah! I feel a lot better now!" Naruto grinned, looking over at me. "You rock Naruto!" I laughed, softly punching him in the shoulder. "Hm..." Kabuto looked up at me with a smile.

"That's the same kid as before, isn't it?" Kankuro asked, looking across the room at me. "Hm?" Mikio turned around, "Huh?" He clenched his fists as he spotted me, I was laughing joking around with Naruto. Gaara had been watching me the entire time. "They yip just like a little dog." Temari grinned. So...you are here (Y/N)...Mikio crossed his arms, anger bubbling up inside of him. Father must be all over you right now, you and your stupid Daigan! He stomped his foot on the ground. What ever, I don't need the Daigan to beat you and your puny little friends.

"How cute..." Tenten whispered to herself, "Well, they sure haven't lost any or their spunk." Neji looked down at the table. Lee was looking over at me with a smile. "They have passion." Pink rose to Lee's face. "That's the one you asked out earlier isn't it Lee?" Neji asked, looking over at me with an interested face.

"You heard what he said about the Hidden Sound Village?" Zaku scoffed, "He called us little. A mystery." Zaku shook his head, gritting his teeth angrily. "I heard." Dosu glared at us from afar. "I say, we teach this guy some manners." Kin grinned, putting her hands on her hips. "Yeah. Time to clear up some of the 'mystery' for him. Update his information. Let him know that if you insult a sound shinobi, you'd better be ready to pay the consequences." Dosu grinned.

"Uh, can you say that again, a little louder please? Didn't quite catch it." Kiba grinned, looking over at Naruto and me. "You moron. Are you trying to get everybody in this place to hate our guts, or what?" Shikamaru seethed, glaring at Naruto. "NARUTO! You jackass!" Sakura screamed, choking him, he struggled to get out of her hold. "Why'd you have to go and say something like that?! You obnoxious little-!" Sakura froze, everyone was glaring at us. "Oh, hi, everyone! Don't mind him! Sometimes he says these spazzy little things, he doesn't mean them, they just kinda come out! He's got this condition, you know? Kind of a psychological thing! He really should be on medication!" Sakura chuckled nervously, waving to the crowd. "Hey! Get off of Naruto!" I shouted, jumping on top of them. "KYA!" Sakura screamed, the three of us went toppling down on the floor. "Naruto's right! We're going to kick their 's!" I laughed, Naruto grinned up at me, we rolled around on the floor. "(Y/N)! YOU IDIOT!" Sakura seethed, "Woo!" I giggled, high fiving Naruto.

"You ready?" Dosu asked, "Let's do it." Zaku nodded. They moved together in a flash, Sakura was throwing punches at us, Sasuke stepped in. Kankuro started to remove the bandages he had wrapped around his arms, Gaara held out his arm to stop him. "Huh?" Kankuro looked down at him, throwing it back onto his shoulders. Dosu rolled up his sleeve. Kabuto was watching them closely. "Would you two for just once in your life think about what you're doing?! Think about the rest of us!" Sakura shouted, I turned my head away.

Zaku threw a flying punch at Kabuto, "Huh?!" I gasped, looking behind me. Instantly, Dosu jumped in front of him. "Hm?" Kabuto's eyes widened. They're from the village hidden in the sound! Kabuto jumped back, successfully dodging Dosu's punch. He's fast, almost as fast as me. Sasuke grinned. "Hm." Kabuto smiled smugly, but in an instant he lost his grin. His glasses broke into tiny shards, glass dropped onto the floor. Kabuto took them off. "Oh, I get it. So it was that kind of attack." Kabuto grinned, "Hang on. I saw it all. He dodged the attack. How did that happen?" Sasuke clenched his fists, "It must have come closer than it looked. Look at him, acting like it was nothing. Tch, really tough guy." Shikamaru scoffed, turning his head away, Dosu grinned behind his mask.

"Huh?" I took a step closer as I watch Kabuto fall to his knees, he was gasping for air. "Kabuto! What's wrong?!" I shouted, running over to him, I skidded on my knees. "Hey! Kabuto, are you okay?" I asked, ignoring the shards of glass that were pricking into my legs. I rubbed his back softly. "Yeah, I'm fine." Kabuto gritted his teeth, looking up at Dosu. "Are you sure?" I asked him in a whisper, Naruto ran over to me. "Not such a tough guy after all, I guess. Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try." Dosu breathed out, I looked up at him with gritted teeth. His entire head was covered in bandages except for one eye, peering down at us. "Write this on your card, punk. The genin from the sound village will be chunin when this is all over. Guaranteed." Zaku grinned down at us, I was glaring daggers at him.

I don't get it. He saw their attack in time to evade it. What made him fall apart? Sasuke was also staring at Dosu. "Hey, Lee, what was going on with that attack?" Neji asked him, watching the three sound ninja intently. "There was more to it than just speed, some kind of trick." Lee glared at them. "I do not like (Y/N) being there." Lee clenched his fists. Gaara was staring at them intensely.

"All right, you baby faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!" A man shouted from across the room, I helped Kabuto stand back up. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy." He grinned, looking around the room.