"Come on, brat, you don't have to be so pissed."
Haruto feigned surprise. "Oh, I suppose," sneered the redhead, sardonically, mockingly as he crossed his arms, shooting his so-called teacher a scathing look. "I shouldn't be too mad that my own godfather and fucking teacher pushed me off the fucking cliff!" Jiraiya recoiled, sweat-dropping some when the Senju completely lost it. "HOW COULD YOU! I could've died trying to summon a stupid toad! When Mom hears this, you're dead! And I'll make sure she hears it!"
"Whoa, whoa." Jiraiya scrambled forward, blocking Haruto's path, preventing him from getting a messenger hawk and sending it straight to his mother, he knew the boy would do it and Tsunade-hime would murder him for trying to get him killed. "It's all in the name of training! Okay?" Haruto's furious glower did not dim one bit. "All right, fine, maybe I'll teach you a technique?"
Maybe it was time to teach the boy the Rasengan which was his father's incomplete technique? Just as he was about to suggest this, Haruto interjected.
"Teach me the Hiraishin ."
"Sure. Wait, what? No!"
"'Dear mother, did you know that your beloved teammate tried to kill me by pushing me off the cliff?'" Haruto tapped his foot impatiently on the ground, glaring at Jiraiya who was gaping at him. "It'll be the first sentence on the letter."
"Look, kid, I don't know how to teach you—"
"' I was severely injured and he even forced my tenant's—"
"No! It's the Rasengan I'm going to teach you!"
Haruto leveled him a scathing look. "I know Rasengan is a close-ranged technique. Are you crazy? Neji will kill me as long as I'm in range! My hand's shorter than his, he'll be able to land a hit on me before I can get him with the Rasengan! Think about it; the Hiraishin will be more useful! I'll be so fast he won't be able to land a hit, much less see me!"
Jiraiya hesitated and Haruto dealt the final blow.
"My teammates were hurt, badly, and I was so damned far. By the time I got there, it was already too late! If I had the Hiraishin… they wouldn't be so badly hurt again, Satsuki nearly died!"
Jiraiya scowled. "Oh, so in the end, it all leads back to her. I knew it."
"And my other friends. Why are you so hesitant? Are you trying to hold me back? Because I might be a threat to Konoha with my tenant? Or is it because I'm not good enough, that I'm too incompetent to learn it?"
It did not hurt to add the beaten-puppy look when he delivered the last sentences.
Jiraiya crumbled, unable to withstand the hurt golden eyes. That kid was going to be the death of him someday.
***
The streets of Konoha were mostly bare for the occasional shinobi landing on the ground to gain footing before resuming the pace to head to their own destination. The shops were all closed, specially for the Chunin Exams held at the stadium, easily the largest place in Konoha. The stadium was mostly empty except during civilian performances or like, shinobi battle royals more commonly known as the Chunin Exams where each village showed off.
This stadium was now packed, after a month long of anticipation for the showdown between the ninjas of each village. It was also this place full of people that one Senju was headed towards, alone, without his mentor as the man had left to do more research.
Haruto trembled with anticipation. To his embarrassment, his palms were sweaty and he hurriedly rubbed his hands on his pants. His sensitive hearing caught the cheers of the crowd and it only made his heart beat faster. To assure himself, he gripped the handle of the Hiraishin Kunai tightly. His feet refused to budge however and people were starting to stare at him weird.
"Ready?" A hand clamped down on his shoulder and squeezed, reassuring him without words.
Haruto nodded grimly. But as it was uncharacteristic of him to remain so silent and nervous, he said, "If I said no, can I postpone it?"
"No," Jiraiya said, slapping his student's back and pushing him forward, through the threshold where the people of Konoha and many other villages were waiting to see the Senju heir. Tsunade was going to kill him for what was about to transpire, especially after seeing the boy's technique, who wouldn't be able to connect the dots? "Now, go, do your clan name and sensei proud!"
Haruto stumbled but fortunately, no one saw. It would've been uncool.
It could've been his imagination but the shouts and cheers were louder the moment he entered the stadium where the Finals were held.
He glanced around, trying to stave away his nervousness especially when he heard his rabid fan girls scream. His eyes automatically scanned the place, looking for a familiar pale girl. Finally deciding that it was hopeless to look in the sea of faces, he ascended the stairs, to where the test candidates were gathered.
Some of Haruto's confidence flowed back in with anger and pride, when he saw Neji's sneer. He scowled back but for the sake of unity in their village, stayed away from him lest he punched the guy or something, walking to the other end of the box and settling down on a chair. His dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar fanned out when he sat down. He frowned, wondering what everyone was staring at; it wasn't like his tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with the Senju Clan mark, was such a rare sight.
Still, people stared even though Haruto didn't think there was anything to stare at; what was so nice about his attire? They just consisted of a black shirt beneath the coat, fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded orange leather straps, baggy black pants with orange stripes, and red-brown sandals. The clothes were chosen by Jiraiya, and, apparently was what his father wore back when he was the same age as Haruto was now.
He had changed a lot, he knew, his once short bangs were now jaw-length (too late and too less time to go to a hair salon, but Haruto didn't plan on making himself look uglier by simply cutting it with kunai; he had styles man), similar to his father before his death. It was unnerving, but after tapping the Kyuubi's chakra, his vine marking started to recede, turned root-black, generally forming a thick mass of bad-assery. Haruto had wanted to dye his hair black or at least wear the Yondaime's coat as a joke but when reminded that his mother wouldn't be pleased, those ideas were discarded.
The pros could not outweigh the cons.
Haruto glanced around; all the participants were here but Satsuki wasn't.
"Haruto-kun!"
Said boy blinked, looking up from where he was laying on his back to see the familiar faces of his friends. "Yo!" he greeted cheerfully, raising a hand. He grinned when he saw Kiba and Hinata. "Doing well, I see. Nice battle, Hinata-chan, I had fun fighting you. And Kiba still owes me his life."
The Inuzuka grinned ferally, revealing his sharp canines which Haruto could only match when he was in Kyubi mode. "No one asked for you help, Senju." He was suddenly shoved away by a certain blonde girl who threw her arms around Haruto. "Tch."
Haruto managed to keep himself on his feet when Ino tackled him into a very enthusiastic hug. Hinata looked on disapprovingly, seeming to pout and Haruto only had time to wonder why when Ino's loud voice squealed in his ear.
"You've changed, Haruto-kun! You're even more handsome than ever, right, Hinata?"
The Hyuga jerked, blushing furiously when asked but she nodded. Haruto grinned sheepishly, nevertheless, blood thrumming in pleasure. "Thanks, girls." The compliment would only be so much sweeter if—
"Where's Uchiha?"
Haruto shrugged, mood dampening slightly. "No idea."
Fortunately, everyone was spared from saying anything as the speaker crackled, announcing the beginning of the Finals. Haruto frowned, Satsuki wasn't even here yet and the second match was her against Gaara! She wouldn't be running away, more likely, Kakashi-sensei had influenced her!
Haruto didn't have time to grumble or wonder what had happened to her as the announcer all but yelled to get the crowd's attention.
"There would be some altercation in the matches," the proctor said to the finalists. Haruto blinked owlishly, wait, what? Did that mean he wouldn't be able to smear the Hyuga into bean paste? He scowled heavily at the prospect and wondered what brought on the changes. "First Match: Nara Shikamaru and Temari."
"Second Match: Kankuro of Suna versus Aburame Shino of Konoha."
"Third Match: Senju Haruto versus Hyuga Neji."
"Fourth Match: Gaara of the Sand against Uchiha Satsuki. And that would be all."
Haruto calmed considerably, but he was curious as to why the matches had been altered, wasn't he and Satsuki supposed to go first? Maybe because Satsuki wasn't there yet? Changing the battles, man what favoritism but it was to be expected. The Uchiha and Senju's matches were what everyone had been paying to see. And Haruto wasn't one to complain when he got extra time even though he was pumped and ready to go. More time meant he had more time to plan out his strategy.