Chapter 70

I woke up with a start. All around me was the squawking of crows. Every muscle and bone in my body felt sore and weary. "Sakura! Sakura, where are you?" I shouted.

"Sakura isn't here right now, Haru-kun. Would you like me to get her for you?" spoke a sinister and familiar voice.

"Kabuto. What do you want?" I snarled, still leaned against the base of a tree. Instinctively, I brought together a flaming sphere of chakra in my hand.

"Woah, there. I'm not here to fight. My master has decided that you are to pass this portion of the chunin exams. To that end, I am here to guide you to the end of the test." Kabuto pushed up his glasses as if to punctuate his professional and business-like demeanor.

"And why would he tell you to protect me?"

"Oh, something you don't know? Well...I suppose I can tell you this much. Otogakure intends to join Konohagakure. And my master intends to make your team the official liason between two village until the merger is complete, although I cannot fathom why he expresses so much interest in you specifically." Kabuto looked supremely annoyed whereas I was merely confused.

"Otogakure and Konoha? But Orochimaru hates Konoha..." I muttered, mostly to myself.

"Is that what you think?" the medic-nin asked blankly. Then he turned to greet Sakura, who was accompanied by a conscious Sasuke. "Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, I was just informing Haru of the situation. Are you ready to depart?"

"You guys don't actually believe him, do you?" I asked my teammates.

Sakura spoke first, "He could have attacked us for the scrolls at any point. Even when Neji and Tenten came to pick up Lee, he refused to hurt anyone."

Then Sasuke added, "I don't like it but we'll watch him for now." He rubbed at his neck and I could have sworn he seemed afraid for a moment, a fleeting moment.

"We could just kill him now and no one would complain. This is probably the best opportunity we will ever get to take him out." The idea was tempting but I decided to keep my options open. With a sigh, I dismissed my Rasen-fireball and continued to glare at Kabuto. The final crow became silent as we began to make camp for the night.