On her way back, she thought about all she had done so far.
For some reason, she had felt responsible for these two boys's dreams. She didn't know why, but she believed in them. Peace was a noble thing, and if there was a way she could contribute to stopping the practice of sending kids to kill each other, she would do her best. But who knew if this could happen? Who knew if this wasn't just a passing phase for the two boys? Especially that she didn't know if Hashirama had any sort of mental support. She would be there every step of the way with Madara to prevent the world from darkening him, she had made that promise to Himiko, but what were the chances of young Hashirama having the mental strength it took to achieve their dreams, all on his own? Not good enough.
But then again, she had underestimated him the first time they met, and had proven herself wrong all on her own. Now that she knew about the effects of chakra on strength, she was left wondering about how strong he actually was, for his chakra to be able to crack the ground without the need to put in a bit of physical strength like she did.
***
She came back late. Tajima and the boys were already there when she entered the house. At least they had managed to scramble some left overs and dry foods and were feasting on them.
When she sat down, Madara asked. "Where were you? I was starting to get worried."
She lied. "The forest. I was looking for some herbs and lost track of time." He nodded and was going to leave it at that, when she reached for a plate and everybody noticed the big scratches on her bloodied knuckles. Punching trees and rocks came at a price. She will have to invest in a good pair of gloves. And to calm down Mama Madara, who was already fussing. "What the hell happened to you? Were you fighting wild animals for those plants?"
She smiled deviously. "It's the side effects of the new jutsu I came up with. I will show later."
That got Tajima and Izuna's interest. The latter couldn't believe her. " I haven't seen you in the training grounds for a while. You're telling me that you came up with a new jutsu on your own, in such a short while?"
The bastard had already come up with a signature katon jutsu of his own, but he was doubting that she could do the same. She admits to not training as much as he does, and not having his natural talent, but who the hell does he think he is?
Giving him the sugary sweet smile, they all knew she only used it when she wanted to threaten someone, she said. "Just wait. Once you see it, you will never dare to anger me again." Now they were all curious. They knew that she wasn't one to over sell herself.
That night, as Tajima and her brothers stood on the wooden porch, she made her way to the middle of the neatly trimmed garden. Gathering a significant amount of chakra in her fist, she jumped to give herself momentum, aimed at the ground and punched. The result was instantaneous. The ground started breaking all around her, and she jumped back on the porch, to avoid being dragged in the hole that was now taking up most of the garden. She looked at the boys smugly. The shock wave had reached the porch and even if it hadn't destroyed it, some wood planks were sticking out.
Madara and Tajima had been able to stay standing by sticking themselves to the walls, but Izuna had fallen on his butt, white as a sheet. He kept mumbling: "What the hell? What the actual hell? One punch now and she could kill me! I don't know what to worry about more, her or the Senju!"
She just smugly said, "You just need to be a good boy. I won't have to punch you if you don't give me a reason to" For once, he didn't retort back.
Tajima and Madara had other concerns. They made her explain how she did it, and when she was done, Tajima said, "That's certainly an interesting use of your chakra control abilities. It's not a technique for everyone. It requires great precision both in maintaining large quantities of chakra in one point, and releasing them at the right time."
She nodded. "Yes, and it's also perfect for my smaller chakra reserves. I still need to practice it, though. To get how it works, and how to get intent to match results."
Madara piped in. "Just don't do it here ok? We actually like living in this house, and at this rate, you might destroy it."
The four of them turned to look at the destroyed garden.
***
The week after that, her reputation grew in the clan. A lot of people grew scared of her after she destroyed training ground two when giving a demonstration to her fellow shinobi. Especially the elder council. They knew that they couldn't out run her if she wanted to punch the living daylight out of them. She looked forward to the next clan assembly. Natsuki had followed her for two days, trying to get her to teach her how to do it. After she caved in, Natsuki had tried to replicate the results, but she also failed, like Madara and Izuna. The teaching of this technique had to be restricted, when some shinobi used his Sharingan to try and copy it and somehow, ended up with second-degree burns all over his hand. Tajima had also decided that, even if he was proud that his daughter joined the ranks of the prodigies in a field other than medicine, he couldn't afford to repair the damage she was causing; especially that she was getting better every day. So all training that involved her monstrous strength was to be done in the forest.
It was on this good note that she celebrated the end of her first year as Uchiha Haruka.