"WINNER: KANKURO OF THE SAND!"
Haruto stiffened, glancing up at the proclamation, a scowl heavily in place. "Dammit. I would prefer one of us to win than the other foreign ninja," he growled as his fellow Konoha-nins nodded in agreement.
As if he heard him, Kankuro glanced up, smirking smugly at the gathered Konoha-nins. "It seems like Konoha's standards are dropping, if someone like him could be a ninja."
"You jerk! Konoha is the strongest shinobi village!" Haruto snarled, waving his fist threateningly in the air but when he sniffed poison, he knew he had to rescue Kiba from the cloud of poison before the guy actually die in there—the medics didn't dare enter, apparently, Konoha didn't give their medics gas masks for emergencies. He was going to have a talk with the Hokage about this, he knew his mother would disapprove of this.
Haruto frowned, concentrating, there were a few seeds left from his battle there and if he concentrated enough… A single thick root shot out of the ground, abruptly pushing through the smoke before diving back in and retrieving a limp body. "Got him!" Haruto declared unnecessarily, as he carefully maneuvered the root to gently place Kiba on the stretcher. The medics saluted him in an act of gratitude before leaving with the injured nin in tow.
Haruto felt slightly embarrassed but he nevertheless, savored the attention. Hehe, it was nice to be looked up to.
"So, the Mokuton's very useful in situation like these, huh?" drawled Shikamaru, looking a tad interested despite his lazy slouch and the tone he used.
Haruto beamed, nodding.
***
"…Then there's the ninth match; it pitted Gaara and Bushy-Brows against one another, and do you know what happened? Gaara practically crushed Bushy-Brows and now the medics say that he couldn't be a ninja again!" Haruto snarled vehemently, crushing the metal railings they were leaning against now. Satsuki frowned, her opponent in the Finals was that strong? Haruto seemed to thinking along the same lines too as his vehemence was replaced by concern. He scrutinized Satsuki heavily. "You sure you could beat him?"
That riled the Uchiha up. "Of course I can." Then after a pause, willingly, she added. "Kakashi's going to train me for the whole month so I won't be having much free times after today."
Haruto perked up at the hidden implication. "Oh, that's right! The date."
"You've forgotten? Good."
"Don't be mad, I didn't forget at all!" Haruto hastily said when he saw his companion's eyes narrow dangerously. "Where d'ya wanna go?"
"Anywhere but the hospital," the Uchiha wrinkled her nose in distaste at the last word, pushing herself off the railing and walking towards the stairs leading down from the roof the two clan heirs were cloud-watching.
"Why don't you just jump down from here?" asked Haruto as he followed her, arms crossed behind his head. "It's much quicker that way."
"Unlike you, Senju," Satsuki's voice sounded dry, rebounding in the small space and echoing around them. "I at least want to act like I'm normal." Haruto pouted at the inadvertent insult, but knowing that he would be going somewhere with his best friend-that-might-be-more excited him enough to not retort.
"So, so, I was thinking we could go to Ichiraku's—"
"No way."
"Aw—Oof!" Haruto rubbed his nose from where he'd ran into Satsuki. "What's the holdup for?"
Satsuki's eyes were smoldering as she glared at something in the hot-springs. Haruto cocked an eyebrow, curious as he followed her gaze, which landed on a long and spiky white mane belonging to a man clad in net-shirts, and a red coat. His eyes brightened whereas his date's eyes darkened, like she was contemplating murder.
"Come on," said Haruto, excited, as he linked his hands with Satsuki's, not noticing her wide eyes and slight blush. "I'll introduce you to him!"
The statement baffled Satsuki enough to wipe the blush away. "You know him?" she sounded incredulous and pissed but Haruto nodded enthusiastically.
"He's my godfather! He may be a pervert, but he's a nice guy—Oi, Ero-jiji, stop peeking at the ladies—Umrf!" Haruto abruptly found himself slipping out of Satsuki's limp grasp, as his godfather hauled him forwards, slinging an arm around his shoulders and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "What the heck, Ero-sennin?"
"It's Jiraiya-sama, or, the Great and Most Awesome Jiraiya, you brat!" The white-haired sage darted another glance at the dumbfounded Uchiha (a very rare situation) before he glanced down at his godson who struggled, squirming. "Okay, kid, tell who that totally cute chick is, I gotta hook her up—" He didn't get the chance to finish as Haruto's chakra empowered fist met his chin.
"OW!" he howled in pain, releasing his godson who rolled out of the way. He pushed himself up into a seating position, rubbing his aching chin; the kid's punch was almost as painful as Tsunade-hime's, definitely mother and son, those two. "What the heck was that for, brat!"
But Haruto wasn't concentrated on him, rather, his female companion. "Satsuki, stay away—and I mean it—from that old pervert, or he'll hurt you real bad." Then Haruto pointed an accusing finger at him. "And you—stay away from her, you got it? Or I'll tell Mom!"
Jiraiya grunted in pain. "I was about to say hook her up with you, why did you hit me? You know I'm no pedophile to go after little girls!"
Now, the Uchiha's eyes narrowed. "And I won't go near a pervert, like you."
Great, Jiraiya thought, more brats with sharp tongues and had no respect for their seniors. He sighed, and judging from the girl's aloof and totally Uchiha attitude, she might have a fiery temper and could pack a few hard punches; he could see Arashi's taste in girls in Haruto.
Why did his foolhardy students always go after chicks that are more likely-than-not cause them severe physical harm? Well, maybe because he was their teacher, after all, he never stopped chasing after his hot-headed teammate no matter the number of castrations and punches.
And the Uchiha girl was pretty, would grow into a drop-dead gorgeous sort of beauty. Haruto made the right choice; he sighed dramatically, patting his student's red spikes. "You've grown up, Haruto, accomplishing what I couldn't do. Even I couldn't get an Uchiha girl to look at me with my irresistible charms."
The Uchiha looked at him, her eyes were like, this guy's supposed to be one of the Legendary Sannins? Yeah, Jiraiya got that looks a lot but he didn't mind, it was his hobby and bread of life. The little kids had no right to criticize him. "You better run along now, after today, I have to steal Haruto away from you for training."
"Let's go," insisted Haruto as he pulled on the girl's arm, dragging her out of the hot springs; he looked nervous and the Uchiha was looking at him, wide-eyed. Oh? Had she fallen for his charms.
"Heh, even girls that young likes me!" He threw his head back, momentarily awed by his own awesome that he did not hear the sounds of knuckles cracking until he saw the shadow of death looming over him. When he turned, he suddenly understood why the Senju and Uchiha had fled so quickly. He gulped, raising both hands in a placating manner. "Now, now, ladies… I was just…" he scrambled for an excuse but what came out was only a pathetic whimper as the ladies surrounded him, and all that registered next was pain and pain and he was out.