From then on she didn't ignore Naruto's sloppy execution of attacks or the stupid questions that revealed all the holes in his education. Instead she exploited the mistakes he made. Hard, fast strikes during sparring that took advantage of every little problem with his form, and with every hit she told him why she'd gotten through his defense. He took it as mockery at first, but then he started to adapt. He learned when to dodge and when to block, when to attack and when to wait. He learned that the ways to fight that looked cool usually only worked for very skilled shinobi and would end in an early grave for anyone else.
Naruto wasn't happy with what Haruka taught him. He thought her style was too underhanded, too unfair and too focused on killing. He didn't use most of what he learned, but he learned it all the same. It was good enough for her. One day the blond would have to fight for his life and then he'd understand that fair didn't mean all that much when it stood in the way of your survival. Haruka hoped that lesson would be kinder to him than it had been to her, but she doubted it.
"I can't tell whether you want to help the boy or just beat him into a bloody pulp sometimes," Kakashi said after one of their more brutal sparring sessions. He usually didn't comment, happy to read his book and pretend he wasn't watching them. She shrugged.
"A little bit of both. He's really fucking annoying and knowing how to fight through pain isn't gonna hurt him in the long run. But please, feel free to actually do your job and teach us instead."
"Well, if you insist. I might have something."
***
Something had turned out to be another D-rank. The worst one any of them had ever been on. Kakashi had claimed it was some kind of ritual all genin had to go through. A test of their skills he'd said. In reality it was nothing but plain old torture.
The mission sounded easy enough. Find a lost cat, catch it and bring it back. Only, the cat wasn't lost at all. It had escaped and was very determined to never go back. They spent hours looking for the stupid thing and if Haruka hadn't known better she would have sworn it was a summon that specialized in stealth. She actually lost the cat's trail three times even after she had learned what its chakra signature felt like. Granted, regular cats didn't have a lot of chakra so keeping track of it was harder, but it shouldn't have been that hard.
The few times they managed to corner the cat it had jumped, bitten and clawed its way to freedom. The little monster could walk up walls just as well as any shinobi and it loved to use civilians as cover to keep them at a distance. It also had the uncanny ability to nudge things like ladders and crates just enough so they would fall over the moment one of the genin went past.
Kakashi had given them radios for this mission. At first she'd been grateful because it meant they could spread out further and still stay in contact. But then she'd learned it also meant that Kakashi could make fun of them without ever even having to get up. The lazy bastard spent the whole day reading on their usual training ground while his team got torn to ribbons by a cat and then he didn't even have the decency to pretend he was sorry.
The worst thing was that they weren't even allowed to defend themselves. Apparently the cat belonged to the daimyo's wife and could under no circumstances be harmed. Kakashi had helpfully insisted that that included getting wet, dirty or losing even a single hair. Of course that only applied to the cat. By the end of the day the three genin were plenty dirty, and covered in scratches and bruises.
Haruka didn't even feel bad for the feline when they handed it over to its owner, where it promptly got squeezed half to death in a loving embrace. Instead she was seriously contemplating if Ibiki would help her hide Kakashi's body. The head of T&I was of the opinion that the other jonin was, at best, an unstable asshole and shouldn't be allowed near children under any circumstances. Usually Haruka defended her sensei, but at this point she was inclined to agree. Kakashi was clearly a sadist that needed to be kept away from the general population.
***
Completed D-ranks weren't usually something the Hokage bothered with himself, but this one involved the daimyo, which made it an exception. Haruka had never been particularly happy when she had to see the Sandaime and it had only gotten worse after learning about Naruto.
"We keep getting the crappiest possible missions old man! I want something better!" The blond complained the second they entered the mission office. He might be a disrespectful, annoying, little shit, but both Haruka and Sasuke agreed with him, if only in silence. They were shinobi, not babysitters, dog-walkers or mechanics.
Kakashi looked pretty resigned at the little outburst. He'd probably been waiting for something like this to happen. One of the desk chunin wasn't as calm. He jumped out of his seat to shout Naruto down. The Hokage, however, just chuckled. He explained how important these simple missions were, both for the village and so that new teams could learn how to work together. He had a point of course, but that didn't make D-ranks any less tedious or boring.
The Sandaime told them that missions were ranked from A to D—completely leaving out that there was at least one more rank—and that missions of a certain rank were only given to shinobi of a certain rank. Since they were fresh from the Academy that meant D-ranks were perfect for them. At least in his opinion. Naruto—very loudly—disagreed, and to everyone's surprise the Hokage decided that meant they could have a C-rank.
It took Haruka completely off guard. What kind of leader rewarded blatant disrespect like that? Kakashi was baffled as well, but he didn't seem like he would object. Now that she thought about it, he was probably bored out of his mind as well. Babysitting a bunch of genin for an indeterminate period of time couldn't exactly be normal for an ANBU. In fact it seemed like a waste of skill to her, especially because Kakashi hadn't actually taught them anything yet.
"It's an escort mission," the Hokage started and was immediately interrupted by Naruto.
"Finally!" The blond shouted. "Who're we escorting? A feudal lord? A princess? Is it—"
"Calm down," the Sandaime cut him off and then had their client brought in. Haruka might have laughed at the comically disappointed look on Naruto's face when the man entered, but of course it was another old drunk whose introduction consisted of insulting her blond teammate. So instead a wave of killing intent burst out of her and blanketed the room. She was two steps away from slamming their client into the nearest wall when Kakashi stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
His grip didn't hurt, but it was firm and she relented. The drunk man stared at her in shock and he wasn't the only one. Haruka didn't even particularly like Naruto. She shouldn't get this angry on his behalf. Still, the blond shouldn't have to deal with any more shit than he actually deserved.
The Hokage measured Haruka with a curious look after she took her place again, but didn't otherwise comment. Instead he explained that the client, Tazuna, was a bridge builder and that their job would be to get him back home to Wave and protect him until his work was completed.