The Legend of Konoha's Shooting Star

Life Risking Battles!!

The doors leading into the next room opened, and all of the genins were ushered out to the main floor to assembled in a large hall, lining up according to their teams. Standing at the center of the main stage was the Hokage. Flanking him on his left and right were Anko, three shinobi they didn't recognize, Ibiki, Iruka-sensei, and two more unfamiliar shinobis. Behind them, further back on the stage, stood all of the  jōnins in charge of the remaining teams.

'Kakashi-sensei...!!!!' April thought, relieved beyond words to finally see his face again after all the hell they had been through. She felt healed after seeing him, like a person who had just discovered an oasis after being lost in a desert for five days without water. She was so happy, she was on the verge of tears. She would cherish the memory in her heart forever. She wanted to run and glomp him in a big bear hug, but she knew he probably wouldn't appreciate that. He didn't seem to be a big fan of PDA.

"..." Biki scowled when he looked over and saw how brightly she was smiling while looking at the sliver-haired ninja.

"First off, for the second test... congratulations on passing!!" Anko announced, greeting the tired genins. 'Hehe... Among the 80 participants, for 23 to get this far... I said I'd cut them in half, but I was expecting single digits...' she thought with a smirk. These kids were tougher than they looked.

'So hungry!!!' Chōji thought anxiously, gnawing on his own hand.

'Still this many left? This sucks...' Shikamaru thought with a frown. That meant more work.

"Sasuke-kun's team passed, too!!" Ino said, glad to see that they had made it.

Kakashi noted that, while Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked no different from usual... apart from how beat up they were, and the subtle way that Sasuke held himself in an attempt to hide the pain he was in... April had an uncharacteristically dazed and giddy expression on her face. She was still a little paler than normal, too. 'Tenzō did say he thought she was suffering from the effects of the exam's seal, but...' he thought, making an effort to keep his expression calm while he watched them, noticing that she seemed to have more visible injuries showing than the others. 'It looks like it might have been more serious than I realized...' They did well to get this far, though, especially with the major, unexpected handicaps that had been thrown at them along the way. He was extremely proud of them.

"Your team isn't too bad, maybe they were lucky," Guy remarked with a smirk. "But as long as my team is around, getting any farther is impossible. Since from now on, it's all about real ability. Well, with youth there are sweet times and there are sour times, eh, Kakashi..." he said confidently, glancing at him.

"Huh?" Kakashi said when he realized he was talking to him, pulling his attention away from his worries for April and plans to deal with Sasuke's cursed seal to look at him. "You say something?"

"!" Guy flinched in shock, mortified by the calm and indifferent air that seemed to surround his straight-faced rival. His verbal attack had zero effect! 'Heh... Not bad, my rival, Kakashi...' he thought, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist as he turned away to fume. 'You're so hip in that way, and it really gets on my nerves...'

"?" Kakashi said, wondering what he was so worked up about.

'Ahh... so that's Guy-sensei's eternal rival,' Tenten thought, smiling wryly when she saw the two men together. 'Guy-sensei totally loses in terms of looks, though...'

'I knew it, among all of the teachers, Guy-sensei is the coolest!! He is sparkling!!' Lee thought proudly, clenching his fist. "All right... Watch me, Guy-sensei!! I shall sparkle, too!!!'

'So, the main guy's survived... Sasuke Uchiha...' Neji thought, glancing sideways at Team 7. His eyes landed on April. 'That girl, too... I wonder how having the seal removed will affect her... not that I'm expecting much...'