All characters and story belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Masashi Kishimoto
Kabuto approached Bakugo's body to change the damp cloth covering the ash-blond man's forehead. But as he was about to do so, he felt a strong grip on his wrist. Crimson eyes were piercing the gray-haired man's pupils. His pale, sweat-drenched face displayed a fury that would make any mortal recoil.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, four-eyes!" Bakugo said in a deep voice, a result of his still somewhat damaged vocal cords.
"You've exceeded my expectations again, Bakugo," Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses with his free hand.
Bakugo watched helplessly as Kabuto broke free from his grip. He was too weak to fight, and if he didn't eat something soon, he would faint again. The ash-blond boy struggled to his feet. He was panting from the simple act, as it required a great effort.
"You shouldn't get up in your condition, Bakugo," Kabuto commented, putting his hands on his hips.
"Don't tell me what I can do, four-eyes!" Bakugo touched his throat, which hurt from raising his voice. He felt something strange there. They were the stitches Kabuto had used while he was still unconscious. But the strangest thing he noticed was that his right shoulder barely hurt. "What the hell...?" he said once he looked at his bare torso.
First, he looked at his shoulder. There was no more pus or a hole in it. The only unusual thing was a large scar (N/A: like the ones Deku has in BNHA) covering that area of skin. But bone and muscle had grown back in that part of his body. Then he noticed that the area of his stomach where Zaku's kunai had pierced it had also healed, with another, smaller scar in its place.
"I'm sorry about the scars. It was the best I could do with my current abilities. But hey, I don't think you're one to worry too much about appearance, so I don't think having those scars for life will bother you," Kabuto remarked, pointing at him with his index finger.
"Did you cure me?" Bakugo asked, with a kind of twitch in his eye due to the disbelief at this revelation.
"You don't need to thank me," Kabuto said with a smile.
"I wasn't going to give them to you, you damn four-eyes!" Bakugo retorted, having many questions in his head.
And even more feelings formed when he saw Sakura coming towards him carrying numerous berries in her arms.
—Sakura?— said Bakugo, raising an eyebrow, not understanding anything.
Upon hearing her teammate's voice, Sakura turned her gaze to where her ash-blown companion stood. Seeing him standing there, her eyes widened in surprise, and she dropped the berries from her arms.
"Bakugo!" Sakura shouted joyfully. She ran towards him to hug him, but Kabuto, seeing the pink-haired girl's intentions, stopped her by grabbing her arm. "What are you doing, Kabuto?" she complained, annoyed at not being able to hug her teammate.
"Bakugo is still too weak for hugs," Kabuto scolded him.
"You're right. I'm sorry, I got carried away," Sakura said apologetically.
"STOP IT..." Bakugo started yelling, but seeing that his vocal cords were hurting, he lowered his voice. "Stop this bullshit and someone explain to me what's going on here!" The last straw for Bakugo was seeing Sasuke carrying a few fish and in perfect condition. "Weren't you half dead, Sasuke?"
"The only one who's been half-dead is you, Bakugo," Sasuke retorted with a half-smile, pleased to see Bakugo had regained consciousness. "Heh. Bad weeds never die," he recited the proverb, referring to Bakugo.
"Another one of those bullshit people!" Bakugo said sulkily. "Just fill me in already!"
"You were so peacefully asleep... Now you open your mouth and all that comes out is a bunch of nonsense," Sakura huffed. "And to think I actually missed your swearing, Bakago..."
Bakugo looked at her, narrowing his eyes. The three of them summarized the events, starting from when they saw him delirious and attacking them, mistaking them for enemies. They explained that Kabuto had tried to revive him, but it was no use. Everyone thought he was dead, but Ino hadn't given up until he had a pulse again. Then they explained about the blood transfusion and that Team 10 had left a few hours earlier in search of an Earth Scroll.
Upon hearing about the delusions, he vaguely recalled trying to save Dosu, Zaku, and Kin from the snake, and how in the process he had cut his arm on the reptile's venomous fang. He also had blurry images of seeing All Might, his former Class 1-A classmates, some of his enemies, and an army of zombies. He also vaguely remembered seeing his parents. After that, only a strange light came to mind, but nothing else.
After hearing the whole story while devouring the fish that Sasuke brought, he asked the same question that the raven-haired man had asked a while ago.
"Why did you do all this, four-eyes?" Bakugo asked, but before he could answer, he continued speaking. "I don't want to owe you a damn favor, so take our rolls and get lost," he said coldly, continuing to eat a piece of fish.
"Don't be rude to him, Bakugo! He saved your life! Besides... he doesn't want our rolls," Sakura said.
"Is that true?" Bakugo asked the gray-haired man. "Why don't you want our rolls?"
"Look, I already have both scrolls," Kabuto replied, taking them out of his kunai pouch. "Look!" Bakugo's suspicions grew as he realized Kabuto had no interest in his scrolls. "My teammates and I split up, and I kept the Earth scroll. We went our separate ways to see if anyone could find a team with the Sky scroll. I was lucky enough to find some beginners who had left their scroll unprotected. I took it from them while they slept. When I got it, I signaled to the sky so my teammates would know I had it. I was on my way to the tower to meet up with them. But on my way, I heard some explosions, and I became curious about what or who had caused them. I hid in a bush and saw you blowing the air with your hands, but there was no one there. So I hid, thinking you were under a genjutsu, to find out who was responsible." When I saw your companions and how you were attacking them, I discarded my genjutsu theory and thought you were hallucinating.
"You still haven't answered why you helped me. I don't remember asking you," Bakugo remarked, frowning.
"Well, it's partly because I'm a doctor. Or at least I want to be one. What kind of doctor would I be if I saw someone injured and didn't heal them?" he said rhetorically.
"But I'm not some villager who needs help. I'm your enemy in this exam," Bakugo said, recalling the bad feeling he'd had the first time he saw him before the first exam. His distrust was growing stronger with each passing moment.
"Well, I admit I haven't been entirely altruistic. Hehe," Kabuto confessed, scratching his head.
"I knew you wanted something in return! What is it?!" Bakugo demanded.
"Well, I'm a little scared to go to the tower alone. There will be multiple teams around it preparing ambushes for people with issues like mine. So I was helping you; I was hoping you and your group would accompany me. If there are four of us, I'll feel more confident in a potential confrontation."
"That makes sense," Sasuke said, accepting his reason for helping Bakugo.
—Mmm, he does have it, but you don't look scared, four-eyes.—
"That's because I'm a really good hideer. I'm actually terrified. Hehe," Kabuto said.
Just like during their first encounter, Bakugo's intuition told him something was off about Kabuto. But he didn't know what Kabuto might be hiding; all he knew was that if it weren't for him, he'd be dead. So he set aside his misgivings and accepted Kabuto's explanation for why he'd saved him.
"Don't worry, Kabuto. We won't let anyone take your scrolls. It's the least we can do after saving Bakugo," Sakura said with a smile.
"Thank you, Sakura," Kabuto said, returning her smile.
"Tsk," Bakugo muttered, somewhat annoyed. He didn't like being reminded that he'd needed help to survive.
Once Bakugo had regained some strength, enough to walk on his own, the four genin set off. Kabuto volunteered to carry Bakugo's Kubikiribōchō, claiming he was the only one in perfect condition. Sasuke led the way, and Sakura brought up the rear, preventing any ambushes. Kabuto accompanied Bakugo. The blond-haired genin was surprised that the gray-haired man could walk so effortlessly carrying something as heavy as Zabuza's sword. It had taken him weeks to build up the necessary strength. The genin with glasses seemed to be hiding many secrets.
Luck was on their side throughout the long journey, as they didn't encounter any other groups along the way. It was a long journey because Bakugo's health only allowed him to walk, and he flatly refused to be carried like a sack of potatoes by any of his companions to lighten the load.
They finally reached the tower with only a few minutes left of the five-day deadline Anko had set. There were two adjacent red doors that provided access to the tower. At the tower's entrance, Kabuto's companions appeared; both wore glasses, although one of them wore dark ones.
"Here you are, Kabuto," said the man with dark glasses. "Time's almost up for going in. Why did you take so long?"
"Sorry, I got a little distracted," Kabuto replied.
"Yes, it's not his fault. It's our fault he took so long," Sakura apologized, bowing. "He helped us a lot. Thanks to him, my partner is safe."
"Come on, you've also kept me safe along the way. I'm grateful too," Kabuto replied. "Well, this is the door we need to go through. Yours is that one," he said, pointing to the door next door. "Goodbye. Good luck." He gave the trio a thumbs-up.
Kabuto's companions entered, and when the gray-haired man was about to enter, he was stopped by Bakugo.
"I owe you one, four-eyes," Bakugo whispered, then immediately turned to face the pink-haired girl with the black hair.
"I already told you that..." Kabuto protested, but was interrupted by the blond man.
"Don't make me repeat myself, four-eyes! And don't give me that crap about us helping you on the way to the tower! I didn't do a damn thing for you! I owe you one, so shut up and accept what I say!" Bakugo exclaimed.
—Whatever. Who knows, maybe I'll take you up on that and ask you for a favor in the future, Bakugo.—
"You'd better! I don't like being indebted to anyone!" Bakugo said, pointing at him.
"Heh. See you inside, guys." With that, the gray-haired man entered the tower, leaving Team 7 alone.
The trio stared at the door they were supposed to open. It was sealed shut. Sakura opened it and they went inside.
But before commenting on what they saw inside, at the entrance through which Kabuto's team entered, Orochimaru was waiting for them, leaning against the wall.
"A good harvest, Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked, sticking out his tongue.
"Yes, better than I expected," the aforementioned replied, revealing his true evil nature. "I learned a lot from Sasuke during the second exam. It was impressive how easily he disposed of the leader of the Rain Trio. Kabuto was spying on Sasuke's movements the whole time. That's how he found Bakugo, not because of the noise of the explosions." "I've recorded all the data here," he said, pulling a card from his pocket. "Do you want it?"
"Of course." Orochimaru extended his arm, taking the letter Kabuto handed him. "Tell me, what do you think?"
"Hehehe. Your curiosity is truly insatiable, Master Orochimaru," said Kabuto.
"As a spy for the Village Hidden in the Sound, you see things others don't. Your opinion interests me greatly," Orochimaru said, examining the letter.
"Bah. That doesn't matter, does it?" Kabuto readjusted his glasses. "Whatever I think, you're the one who decides..."
"Kukuku," Orochimaru laughed. "Always so careful about giving your opinion. I like it. Good work." After this, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"The truth is, the one who impressed me the most wasn't Sasuke Uchiha. It was that otherworldly guy who came back from the dead... Katsuki Bakugo," Kabuto thought with a malicious smile. "It's lucky he survived. I'm sure he'll make things interesting in the future."