Haruto had stamina that far surpassed the average ninja but fighting off three rather skilled nins and one overly large snake (was swallowed in a gulp but managed to cause it indigestion which made it return to its summoning realm), even he was starting to tire out. He grumbled, and the Kyuubi was being useless as usual.
He studied his opponents again, time to take this up a notch. He could do this.
"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" About another dozen or so clones poofed into existence and scattered, a few of them to his side while the others teamed up, each against one of the Sound nin.
"Suiton: Suiben!" One of the clones taking on the bandaged guy, Dosu, his teammates called him, yelled, lashing out water made whips to catch the guy. Having been cornered by the a few more clones, Dosu was unable to flee; he cursed as the other clones forced lightning chakra into the water whips.
Unfortunately, Haruto did not have Lightning chakra nature so it wasn't as deadly as it would've been in the hands of a Lightning-natured nin. But it was enough to stun Dosu and allow the clones to surround him and give him chakra-empowered beating.
At the same time, the clones confronting Kin were close to finishing as well, having lost the upper-hand of quantity as Haruto's enhanced stamina made up for that, by being capable of fighting longer.
"Doton: Retsudo Tenshō!" Haruto yelled, slamming his palm onto the ground and watching with twisted fascination as the earth rose and spiral in on itself. Predictably, Kin dodged but just barely.
The kunoichi scowled, breathing heavily already as she had worse stamina than her teammates. She exchanged a glance with Zaku; this was not what they came here for.
Mustering up a smirk despite her fatigue, Kin said, "Hmph, most unimpressive. The only thing you've showed us is your enormous amount of chakra and endless stamina. Where's the Mokuton kekkei genkei exclusive only to you and your great-grandfather?"
The Senju in question frowned, why would they want to see some of his stronger techniques? Weren't they just here for the scroll? Wait, he flashed back to his earlier exchange with them, even when he'd told them that he didn't have the scroll, they didn't even react and had continued with their assault. They seemed to be in league with the snake too, as it'd allowed them to ride its head without protest. And the snake belonged to…
"You're working with Orochimaru!" snarled the Senju, fists clenching. "What do you want from me?!"
"Eh, you figured it out. With the Uchiha calling you idiot, I wouldn't have thought you're smart enough to piece it together," Zaku taunted, laughing.
"To collect information apparently," answered Dosu who had managed to free himself from the clones and had proceeded to blast them away with a bomb tag; Haruto held his arm, stopping his clones from beating the shit out of their enemies as they were now willing to disclose information that may be vital to the village. "We're supposed to test you and the Uchiha, see whether or not you're worthy of Orochimaru-sama."
"Worthy of what?" demanded the blonde. "What about Satsuki?"
"You'll know soon, Senju brat," Dosu sneered—at least, Haruto assumed he was doing such under the bandages covering about half his face like Kakashi's. The Sound-nin tipped his head to the side, as if listening to something. A chilling smile made his cheeks puffed out. "Oh, judging from the chakra signature, it seems like the Uchiha kid had been marked."
A chill shot down Haruto's spine. "Oi! What did Orochimaru did to her?!" But they were no longer interested, and how nonchalant they acted sent Haruto spiraling into concerned rage. "Oi! Answer me!" When they ignored her, he snarled like an animal and lunged, his fist releasing the largest amount of chakra he could hold by his knuckles before releasing them onto the Sound-nins-all of them whom were surprised by the Senju's burst of speed.
When the red of anger had seeped away from Haruto's vision, he realized he was standing in a large crater and the howls of pain the trees were making was giving him a severe migraine. This was why he never used his mother's monstrous strength in woods because he could always hear the trees whining after that.
He glanced around and spotted no corpse; they'd escaped. "Dammit," he cursed softly, kicking a stray pebble out of the way before he sighed again and jumped out of the large crater he'd created in his rage. He approached a solid looking tree, he placed his palm on a tree, cringing when the trees and branches shied away from him; obviously, they were frightened of his display of power.
"Look, I'm sorry I blasted away your siblings but I really am worried about my friends now, could you tell me where they are now?"
Reluctantly, the trees begin shifting, the branches twisted and the leaves stiffened, pointing him through a surprisingly branch-free path. Haruto grinned, "Thanks guys!" and darted down the path, as fast as he could muster.
It was times like these that he wished he knew his father and great-granduncle's famed Hiraishin technique. The technique that made his father the fastest shinobi alive; that way, he could've teleported to his friends in the blink of an eye, and they might stand a better chance of surviving. Thinking and pondering on what he could've done made Haruto feel even more like kicking himself.
Damn this. When Ero-sennin swung by town, he'd be pestering the man endlessly for the Hiraishin technique. By hook or by crook, he'd get that damn jutsu. He had a birthright to it man!
"Haruto-kun!"
That annoying high-pitched and squeaky voice, yup, he looked ahead and saw a familiar blonde girl waving at him. He heaved a sigh, landing on the tree branch next to her. "Look, Ino, I really don't have the time now—"
"It's terrible!" the Yamanaka yelled, grabbing his arm and pulling him along. "Uchiha-san, Sakura and a guy with bushy-brows—I mean, ew, his sense of fashion is terrible and he really needs a proper haircut—"
"Fashion advice later," Haruto snapped impatiently. "What about Satsuki and Sakura?"
"Well, Sakura's the one who's taking care of Uchiha-san. Uchiha-san's having a high fever and she's beaten badly by this guy Sakura called Orochimaru!" Ino babbled, not noticing Haruto's pale face. "Ah, here we are-Haruto-kun!" Ino yelped, surprised by her crush's surprising burst of speed when a clearing filled with their fellow Leaf-genin came into view.
The Yamanaka landed a moment later, breathing slightly shorter than usual. "Seriously, Haruto-kun, don't frighten me like that…" Her voice died the moment she saw Sakura rushed up to her redhead teammate and hugged him. Jealousy bubbled within her, if Haruto had been her teammate instead, he would also hug her to comfort her—it wasn't, couldn't be, because he hugged her due to only something she has.
But apparently, Ino didn't have to worry about Sakura being a competition to her love because Haruto pushed her away gently, with an apologetic expression on his face.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan, got to tend to Satsuki. I'm a medic-nin after all."
Sakura appeared hurt. "But I'm injured too," she protested but it fell on deaf ears as Haruto had already raced her and towards the cave where he must've seen Satsuki's fallen form. "but I supposed I'm nothing in comparison to Satsuki huh…?"
Scowling, Ino stomped towards her, hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face. "Don't say that. You make Haruto-kun sounds like he's an uncaring person or something. He does care about you, just that Satsuki's more important in this case since her injuries are worse than yours!"
Sakura managed a faint smile, years of friendship telling her that this was Ino's way of comforting her. "Thank you," she whispered. "For coming to save us from," her mint eyes darted to the dead Rain-nins form. "them." she finished and it didn't pain her much when she said those words.
What hurt more was that Haruto barely gave her a glance as he shot towards Satsuki.
"Hmph," Ino huffed, crossing her arms. "Don't forget that I'm your rival for Haruto-kun's heart, Forehead!"
Don't give up because I'm still here for you.
Sakura laughed, feeling tears of gratefulness and joy for having such a good friend (why did they even argue in the first place?). "If you think I'm giving him to you without a fight then you're dead wrong, Ino-pig."
I'm not the kind who gives up easily, don't worry.