RED • MITSUKI

xli. REVENGE

***

Haruko cracked her fingers, moving her neck side to side. "I'm going in. You guys sure you want to guard it?"

"We can catch any enemy in an instant," Ichiro retorted into the mic. "You can count on us."

Haruko smiled. "Alright, see you when I get the flag." She jumped up into the air and landed on the roof of one of the enemies. The two who guarded it turned to her, kunais in their hands. If this is my competition, then this will be easy as pie.

"Water Style: Raging Waters!" Haruko blew water over to the two ninjas, who dodged immediately. She quickly stopped and ran over to the flag. From the corner of her eye, she noticed one of them was making hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Burn Out!" He touched the water, making it run through the water and towards Haruko. She quickly jumped out the way, falling into the trap of the other ninja.

"Earth Style: Earthquake!" He slammed his hands onto the ground, making the floor move. Haruko gritted her teeth. She felt herself getting angry.

"Remember, you don't know how to control it yet. Try your best to not get angry. It's understandable in certain situations, but don't use it in petty ones."

Haruko threw kunais over at the two Hidden Stone ninjas, making them jump. "Water Style: Twin Dragons!" Haruko opened her arms and tried to accurately aim her arms to hit both of them. One managed to knock one off the building. The other missed.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Haruko created five clones, the clones charged over the ninja. The real Haruko threw a smoke bomb, grabbed the flag, and ran.

Tenten laughed, shaking her head. "Typically, you would want to defeat your enemy before grabbing the target, but this kid did the exact opposite." She leaned back on her chair. "The genin this year have potential."

Haruko waved the flag around. "I got it!"

"Yes!" Eiji shouted into the mic, making Ichiro and Haruko flinch. They scold him as they went down to the chill zone. They were the second to last group to finish. There were only two groups left and one of them included Mitsuki. Haruko knew his team was perfectly fun.

"Aw, Sumire," Haruko smiled apologeticly, "you didn't make it?"

Sumire laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, we were too slow for them. The teams that passed are very strong, Haruko. Look at the people from the Hidden Sand. Scary..."

Haruko grinned brightly. "There's no one Haruko can't take down, yo! I'll win the exam for you, Sumire! That's a promise!" Haruko shoved her fist in the air.

Sumire gasped, her cheeks turning pink. She smiled sincerely at her best friend. They were like sisters from another mister. "You better not break it or else you'll suffer the consequences."

"Psh, when have I ever broke a promise?"

–•–

"Round Three consits of individual matches! There will be three stages. The three winners in Blocks A, B, and C will square off in the final match."

First up was Boruto, who won. He was able to bend his shuriken so well that it hit Yurui's explosive gum. Then it was Shikadai against someone from the Hidden Sand. He won. Then it was Sarada with someone in the Hidden Stone. She won. Then Inojin went up with someone from the Hidden Sand. He lost, sadly. Mitsuki went up shortly after that.