When team 7 arrived at the tower in the middle of the second chunnin exam, Kabuto said his bye, and turned to the other door, hiding his smile, of finding enough things to report to master Orochimaru.
But he also wanted to report something else.
Without the knowledge of any of them, he observed their chakra control, through a new jutsu that he learned recently. The reason was, good chakra control was key to medical ninjutsu, and he wanted to see if anyone in Konoha would be suitable for that.
To say that he was shocked, when he saw Sakura's scale of chakra control was an understatement. He tested this for the last couple of weeks, and no other person even reached the 90th percent of it, and for basic medical ninjutsu, 80% was the minimum, and Kabuto was not planning in having someone basic. He almost gave up, wanting to throw away this idea entirely, or to look somewhere else, but then she was there, with her 99th % chakra control. He couldn't even believe that it was possible, his was 95 and that was already rare, sannin Tsumade being a notated to have higher.
And here was this little girl, with almost perfect control, without anyone actually noticing it. Kabuto was surprised her sensei didn't put her on medical learning right away, or at least, as soon as he found out about her ability.
He grinned
It was just too perfect.
No one noticed it before him, so he will be the one to claim her.
Now he'll just need to arrange it with Orochimaru-sama
A day later, when he brings this up, he let Kabuto speak about a possible plan, which he gladly obliged.
His plan was maybe simple, at first glance, but it still had the thought process of a spy, who didn't reveal himself to anyone from Konoha, so it guaranteed free range.
First and foremost, her family needed to be put out of the picture, which was a child's play, arranging them a 6 month long mission, in the Mist.
The second part was, to alienate her from her team and friends. That seemed to be harder at first, but since Sasuke was leaving his village, Naruto and many of other gennin friends were running after him, Sakura was actually left behind with only the Yamanaka and Rock Lee.
Kabuto just needed to sneak into Rock Lee's hospital room, and speed up the process of his healing, in order for him, to head after to group.
Now only the Yamanaka girl was left.
Kabuto learned of their crush rivalry, and how they tried to meddle it, but it was still fresh, fresh for new bruises.
Kabuto only needed to find himself in the same company as them, and mention how, when Sasuke is brought back, he is sure, Sakura will be his girlfriend. The pink haired girl blushed at this, enough to annoy the blonde, and he played up just a little bit more, so Yamanaka walked away, not wanting to talk with Sakura.
Kabuto was truly lucky, her sensei was away too, and he only needed to run into her one more time (accidentally of course) to remind her, of the hopeless situation that her team was facing, and tell her, that if she wants to become strong, so next time she would be able be of better use, he can help her.
The way her green eyes sparkled at this was remarkable, and it left Kabuto thinking, just how much was her ego and self worth destroyed in order for such a little push to result in eyes like that.
He told her, to meet in the forest, outside of the gates, at 11:55 pm.
After getting home, Kabuto showered, gathered his stuff and took a nap, in order to prepare his body for the night long travel with another person's weight.
He was not planning for a dream, after all, who is actually planning to have dreams? Yet he saw those green eyes, the sparkle, the sadness and desperation in them, and without his want, he got reminded of a memory, from when he volunteered at the root for Danzo.
On some alone nights, he still shivered at that.
After waking up abruptly, he decided to eat some, there was still more than 2 hours until the given time, and Kabuto opted to prepare Sakura's poison in order for her to stay knocked out for the way. It was just a cream, that he needed to apply on her skin to work, of course he needed to use a glove while applying it, to not get affected by it himself.
Everything was really planned out, Orochimaru-sama even lend him a a summoning snake, which was small, to watch Sakura and alert him, if something changes, but so far everything was going smoothly.
Heck, maybe her talent will be useful later down the line to finally cure Kimimaro.
When it was time, he run through the shadows reaching the point in the forest, not far from the gates, and after checking the time, 11:50, he let out a sigh and mentally prepared himself.
Orochimaru-sama told him, that Sakura was not really a good person to be recruited for Otogakure, Kabuto knew it well, her friends and village will probably send people after her, but Kabuto mentioned to him, that she is similar to Sasuke, as in he is also not a good subject, but his potential and ability make it worth it.
Kabuto heard a hush in the wind, and turned to the pink haired girl, who come out from the hiding of a tree.
Of course Kabuto prepared for traps, and he was thankful there was none.
He studied her face, at least the features that could be seen in the dark shadows, where not even the light of the moon fully reached.
"Good evening, Sakura-san" he said with a smile, and it seemed to relax her a bit.
"Good evening" she said, and he noticed the clutching on the hem of her dress.
" I would like to teach you something, but before, this cream needs to be used on your hands, to get rid of bacterial and viruses" he said, while holding up the small container, the label clearly to read, which he already changed to his type of cream, while wearing glows.
She nodded and pulled up her hands, for him to hold it, and, after opening the container, rubbing the white cream into her skin. Maybe he held it for a second longer than it was necessary, but he just shawled that thought to the back of his mind.
After letting go of her hand, she looked at him curiously, and Kabuto thought he can entertain himself while waiting for the cream's affect.
"So, have you ever considered medical ninjutsu?" he asked and her face grew surprised
"I have actually..." she said, rubbing her hair, and looking away
"Oh really" he asked, genuine curiosity on his lips
"Yeah...after Hokage-sama healed Sasuke-kun, I was so amazed..." she said, and he already saw the long blinks she did.
"Ahh yeah, she is a legend amongst the medical nins" he said, giving her another smile, but she was already falling.
Kabuto caught her last minute, before falling on the ground. He placed her on his back, and slowly took off the glows, careful not to touch it, and put it in his bag.
Grabbing her thighs, he slowly got up, readjusting to the extra weight on his back, and jumped up on one of the branches.
Sakura was already snoring lightly, and, maybe she was mistaking him for her teddy, because she hugged on him tightly.
Kabuto didn't even remember the last time he was touched, maybe with Nono, but those memories were a bit cloudy, and they were such a long time ago.
He felt her hearth beats on his back, her hot breaths on his neck, her hold on him, and he almost stopped on his run.
The way to Otogakure took more than one and half day, so he had a lot of time to think.
He already thought that Sakura, for some unknown reason, had an unexpected affect on him, which he had time to think, if it good or not.
One on hand, if he would get attacked to her, in any way, even just being proud of her in the medical field, he was sure, it would just put a giant sign onto her forehead, saying she is a weakness, therefore needs to be eliminated. By whom was up to question, right now he was loyal to Orochimaru, but Kabuto already knew how quick the allies can change, so he was not betting on his loyalty lasting until the graves.
On the other hand, this was still really early, and Kabuto actually found the thought of getting close to someone almost funny, so maybe he can just wait and see, and decide later.