Caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!
A flock of crows flew over the Forest of Death, passed through the interlacing branches, and landed beside every examinee.
"What was that noise?"
Kiba was still voicing his confusion, looking warily toward the cawing.
With no way to deal with airborne targets, Kiba always found disturbances from above troublesome.
"Crows."
Shino answered, while the insects beside him had already scattered and begun spreading up the trees.
"Why are so many crows suddenly flying around? Wait, Kiba, what time is it?"
Sakura put down her breakfast, a bowl of porridge she had thrown together that morning, and asked Kiba the time.
"Hmm, going by my body clock, probably seven or eight."
Seven or eight.
Sakura had a pretty good idea what these crows were here for.
Still, they had to be cautious, just in case.
"They might be here to tell us where Naruto and his team are, but we should still be careful."
Since most of their opponents came from other Shinobi Villages she did not know, Sakura could not guarantee that none of those villages happened to have Ninjutsu involving crows.
The foliage above their makeshift camp stirred. Shino had secretly sent more than half the sealing insects on his body to surround that tree, while Sakura was ready to use Genjutsu at any moment.
Snap.
A crow poked its head out of the foliage at an odd angle.
"Caw?"
Its expression looked rather adorably vacant as it stared blankly at the three of them.
"Why does this crow look so dumb?"
Kiba looked at the crow, puzzled. Crows were generally very intelligent, and some with unusual constitutions and Chakra could even speak human language.
"Caw, you're the dumb one! Caw, caw!"
Well, hearing Kiba badmouthing him, Ya-ya suddenly moved his beak and