Chapter 15: Kabuto Yakushi

We continued walking towards the door when we saw Kakashi sensei.

Kakashi: "I see. Sakura, you've come too. Now, you can formally register for the Chunin Exam."

Sakura: "What do you mean?"

Kakashi: "Actually, from the start, only three-man or, in your case, four-man squads could apply and take the exams."

Sakura: "But Sensei, you said that the decision to take the exams was up to the individual."

Kakashi: "Yes…I said that."

Sakura: "Were you lying?"

Kakashi: "Yes, I was… if I said that, Sasuke and Naruto would probably forcefully convince you to take it. Or Hinoka would drag you there herself. Even if you didn't have the will to apply, if Sasuke asks you, you would attempt to take the exams half-heartedly. For Sasuke's sake and well, Naruto's and Hinoka's."

Sakura: "Then, if… it had only been Sasuke, Hinoka, and Naruto who had come here?"

Kakashi: "I would've stopped the Exam here. I wouldn't have felt like letting them go beyond this point. But…you guys came here on your own will. Sakura, Naruto, Hinoka, and Sasuke! I'm glad you came. You're the team I'm proud of. Now then, go on!"

Hinoka: "Let's go!"

We then entered a room with a bunch of people. Suddenly, a blond girl with light blue eyes hugged Sasuke from behind.

Sakura: "Get away from Sasuke! Ino Pig!"

Ino: "Oh, my. It's Sakura. Your Billboard Brow hasn't changed, eh… Ugly!"

Sakura: "What did you say?!"

Just then, a boy with black hair and a sleepy expression and a chubby boy with brown hair walked up to us. I turned around to see a boy with black hair. I ran up to him and put my hand over his shoulder as I said, "Hey Shikamaru!" with a smile.

Shikamaru: "Hey Hinoka. Are you guys going to take this bothersome Exam, too?"

Naruto: "Oh, it's the idiot trio."

Shikamaru: "Quit calling us that! Man, this is a freaking bother…"

I could see Sasuke looking at me weirdly but just ignored it. Just then, Hinata and her team arrived.

Shikamaru: "What did you say. You guys too?! Man. This means all ten Genin rookies are taking the Exam, eh…!"

A boy with a puppy on his head then said, "How far can we go? Eh… Sasuke?"

I then turned to Sasuke and said, "Hey Sasuke, who is that?"

Sasuke: "Kiba."

Hinoka: "Oh, okay."

Shikamaru: "Don't you normally like to be well informed?"

Hinoka: "Yeah, I only bother knowing important or strong people's names."

Kiba then looked at me, and I could see he was angry as he then said, "I'm a lot stronger than the last time we met, Hinoka! We won't lose to you guys!"

Naruto: "Shut up! We won't lose to the likes of you!"

Hinata: "I'm sorry. Naruto… Kiba didn't mean it like that…"

I looked at Hinata as I thought 'Wow, she's a whole different person when she isn't talking to me.'

Naruto: "Huh!"

A man with silver hair started walking towards us and said, "You should be a little quieter. You guys are the 'rookie ten'… fresh out of the academy, right? Carrying on like that with cute faces… Man. This isn't a field trip."

Ino: "Who're you? Acting all haughty!"

The silver-haired person then said, "I'm Kabuto Yakushi. Anyway, take a good look around you."

I looked around before letting go of Shikamaru and stepped up as I said, "If they're looking for a fight, I'll give them a fight!" Suddenly, five ninjas stood up and walked towards me as one of them then said, "Oh, the little girl thinks she's strong because she's going to take the Chunin Exams?!"

I looked up at the ninja with a smirk on my face as I said, "Well, unlike you, I didn't come here as an old man but instead as a 12-year-old. So, do you guys want to fight me or not? You would make the perfect examples to all the people here that they shouldn't mess with us."

The ninjas then looked at me annoyed as they charged towards me, and in less than a minute, I was sitting on the all five of the ninjas' unconscious bodies who were 10x bigger than me as I said, "If anyone wants to bully us, has a grudge, or thinks that we don't belong here, step up, and I'll fight you here and now and prove to you why we're here." Nobody responded, and I turned towards Kabuto before saying, "Thanks for your concern, but we're fine. So, what do you really want?"

Kabuto looked at me a little scared before saying, "I just wanted to warn you guys since you're rookies."

Sakura: "You're Kabuto… right?"

Kabuto: "Yes."

Sakura: "Then, is this your second time?"

Kabuto: "No… It's my seventh time."

Shikamaru. "Huh?"

Kabuto: "This Exam is only held twice a year, so it's now my fourth year."

Sakura: "Then, that means you know a lot about these exams?!"

Kabuto: "Kind of…"

Naruto: "No kidding. Kabuto, you're pretty awesome, huh?"

Shikamaru: "But you haven't passed."

Kabuto: "Yeah, well, that is the case, yes…"

Shikamaru: "Is the Chunin Exam that high a hurdle? Man, this is utterly bothersome…"

Kabuto: "Then, maybe I'll give a bit of information to my cute juniors. With these cards Ninja Info Cards."

Sakura: "Ninja Info Cards?"

Kabuto: "To put it simply they're cards that have information burned into them and coded with Chakra. I spent four whole years gathering information for this Exam. There are close to two hundred of these cards. They are pure white to the eye… To open data on these cards…"

Sakura: "What are you doing?"

Kabuto: "The way it works is that no one can see the info without using Chakra… For example… Like this…"

Naruto: "Whoa, awesome! What information is this?"

Kabuto: "The number of test-takers and participation nations, and the number of applicants from each respective village is individually displayed. Why do you think that the Chunin Exam

 is jointly conducted in the first place?"

Hinoka: "It's said to deepen the friendship among nations and boost the Shinobi levels, second."

Sasuke: "It's said?"

Hinoka: "The real aim is probably to check Shinobi levels of neighboring nations and keeping power balance equal. Am I right?"

Kabuto: "Y-yeah"

Naruto: "Power… Equal?"

Shikamaru: "Why such bothersome things?"

Kabuto: "If it's not done, the weak nations will be invaded by the strong nations in no time at all and may end up being controlled unilaterally. There's a point to mutual supervision."

Shikamaru: "Hmph."

Sasuke: "Of those cards, are there ones with detailed individual information?"

Kabuto: "Yes, there are… Are there ones you're concerned about?"

Sasuke: "Yes, there are!"

Kabuto: "The information for the applicants this time around is not perfect but is burned in and saved. You guys included… About those ones you're concerned about, who you know. Anything's fine, tell me their information and I'll retrieve it for you."

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

Kabuto: "Oh, you even know names. That makes it quick. Here they are!"

Sasuke: "Please show me."

Kabuto: "Well then, first is Rock Lee. He's one year older than you guys. His mission experience, twenty D-rank and eleven C-ranks. His squad leader Guy. In just this year, his Taijutsu has drastically improved, but… His other skills are not good at all. Last year, he attracted attention as a Genin rookie with his ability, but didn't participate in the Chunin Exam. This is his first time taking the exams, same as you guys… Tenten and Neji Hyuga are on his team…"

Naruto: "Huh? Hyuga?"

Kabuto: "Next… is Gaara of the Desert. His mission experience, eight C ranks. B ranks… Wow, one B rank as a Genin, eh… He's a Shinobi from a different land and is a rookie, so there is no further detailed information. But… It seems he has returned from all of his missions uninjured."

Shikamaru: "B-rank as a Genin… But uninjured?!"

Naruto: "What is this guy?"

Kabuto: "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound… There are lots of exceptional Genins from those villages who have come to take the Exam this year as well. As far as the Village Hidden in Sound goes, it's a village of a small nation that just sprang up in recent years, so there isn't much information… At any rate, they're all Hidden Villages with nothing but crackerjacks."

Hinata: "That kind of makes you lose your confidence."

Ino: "Why are you saying that now!"

Sakura: "In other words… all of the applicants who have gathered here…"

Kabuto: "That's right. Not just Lee and Gaara but they're all choice top elite Genin from each nation."

Kiba looked at me with a shocked look on his face as he said "So that means Hinoka took down top elite Genins!"

I looked at Naruto who from someone who didn't know him well would think that he was scared, but I could tell… that he was excited!

Naruto: "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I won't lose to any of you! Got it?!"

Ino: "Say! What's with him?! It won't do any good to provoke everyone!"

Sakura: "Don't tell me!"

Ino: "If I don't tell it to you, who do I tell it to?!"

Hinoka: "Ino, Sakura, you don't think I can protect you?"

Ino and Sakura: "What! Of course, we know you can protect us, Hinoka!"

Kiba: "Hinoka! I won't lose to you or to anyone!" 

Shikamaru: "That idiot… In no time at all, he's made enemies of his surroundings."

Sakura: "E-Everyone, that was a joke. This guy's quite an idiot, you see… After all, he says idiotic, spazzy, scatterbrained things and gets carried away, so please don't concern yourself with him."

Just as Sakura was scolding Naruto, a ninja threw two kunai at Kabuto, but he managed to dodge them. However, he soon started throwing punches, and Kabuto dodged all of them, but suddenly his glasses shattered into pieces.

Kabuto: "I see… It's that kind of attack, eh?"

Sasuke: "What's going on? He was supposed to have evaded it. Why'd that happen to his glasses?"

Shikamaru: "Probably grazed the tip of his nose. He's trying to act strong, so. That punk."

Naruto: "Oh, he puked!"

Sakura: "Kabuto?"

Both Sakura and Naruto rushed to Kabuto's side to ask if he was okay.

Just then, a puff of smoke appeared, and a loud voice said, "Silence! Degenerates!" We all turned to the source of the voice. "Sorry to keep you waiting! I'm Ibiki Morino, proctor for the first test of the Chunin Exam. Now then, we will start the first part of the Chunin Exam! Turn in your applications, take one of these number cards in exchange, and sit in the seat matching that number! After that, we will hand out the paper for the written test!"

Naruto: "Written? Paper? Paper… A paper test?!"