Haruto dusted imaginary dust from his shoulder—not that it wasn't dirty in the first place but he thought doing it was cool, he'd always wanted to do that since he saw one of Ero-sennin's hero from one of the less perverted books—grinning down at the pile of tied up ninjas.
"Was that easy or what!"
"Don't be arrogant, idiot."
"That's rich, coming from you, bastard," sneered Haruto sardonically. "you're always the arrogant and snobbish one."
Abruptly, the girl turned and marched back to the tower, alarming Haruto, thinking that the insult had gotten under her skin. He didn't think too much about snapping back since that was one of their daily conversation. "Hey!" he called, jogging after her, keeping pace with her fast strides. "You mad or something?"
The raven didn't answer and Haruto sighed. "Y'know, sometimes, working with you is hard. I mean, you're so… what, cold and distant? Even I have some trouble trying to converse with you! Take… um, Hinata-chan for example: yeah, she's sociable, albeit a little bit shy… eh? Oi, Satsuki, don't leave me here!"
The Senju glanced at the Uchiha's back, wondering what had made her sped up; her strides were quick and seemed pissed off, like she wanted to kill somebody. But surprisingly, she spoke even though her tone was bone-chilling. "Oh?" her voice was dark and mocking. "So, she's a better company than me?"
"Maybe. I mean—" Haruto was about to deny everything and say that, yes, Satsuki was better company but his current companion had all but run towards the tower. "Hey! Wait!" When he caught up to her, they were already close to their assigned room and he was panting slightly. "Geez… what's your problem tonight?"
Her hand was on the doorknob and she was eyeing him coldly. "So, is Hyuuga cute or what?"
"Well, yeah—" Haruto didn't get to finish as Satsuki threw him a glare and storm off inside. He followed timidly in after, glancing at Satsuki's bunk and noting that she was already turning in for the night. He sighed as he made his own way to bed. Seriously, he thought with a sigh, what's with Satsuki? Her mood swings were so hard to interpret! What was so wrong about saying Hinata was cute, like a little sister he liked to pick on and protect; she was different from Satsuki's you're cuter when you're angry .
He sighed. Girls were complicated creatures.
***
For the past few days, things between Haruto, Satsuki and Hinata were chilly at best and hostile at worst. Haruto was baffled himself; ever since that night after fighting with the Rain ninjas, and the small Q&A later, Satsuki had been pissed off; well, she didn't show it much, but anyone worth their brains could read the situation.
She was cold and grumpy towards Hinata even when the girl was trying to be nice and she flat-out ignored Haruto. Hinata blushed every time she saw Haruto or when she talked to him, which made Satsuki's mood worsen, which baffled Haruto even more. The redhead was trying his best to patch things up with Satsuki—even though he didn't know what to make up for—and chatted politely with Hinata.
Finally, when the time had come for the Second phase of the Chunin Exam to come to an end, Haruto approached Team Ten. Shikamaru arched a brow when he saw him approach but otherwise kept silent. Chouji greeted him cheerfully while Ino glomped him; he hoped Satsuki didn't see it, or else he'd be getting scorching glares the whole day, she seemed to be doing that a lot recently: glare at him whenever he got close to a girl, even when there was five whole meters between them!
"So, Haruto-kun, what's the occasion?" Ino giggled. "Come to ask me out on a date?"
"No," Haruto said, watching as the girl's face fall into a pout. "Maybe next time but now, I need some advice, after all, your team has the um, smartest genin among us."
"With what?" Chouji asked before he glanced down at the floor, abashed. "That's if, you want me to help. I know I'm not as smart as Shika or as resourceful as Ino but…"
"Of course I would want your help!" Haruto scratched his marked cheek, glancing around nervously at the Genins from other villages crowded into the room; there were more than he predicted. "Err… I was wondering why Satsuki was so pissed at me and Hinata-chan."
Ino cocked an eyebrow at the endearing suffix. "Why do you call Hinata '-chan'?"
"She's like a little sister I have to protect and I've always wanted a baby sister!" Haruto frowned. "What does that have to do anything with Satsuki's mood?"
Shikamaru snorted, finally speaking up. "Women, so troublesome." Ino elbowed him which made him groan in pain, but he threw the Senju a disgusted look. "Can't you tell? She doesn't like you and Hinata together."
"Why?" If anything, Haruto was even more confused; maybe he shouldn't have come to this team for help. They weren't being particularly helpful and all he was getting was the migraine of the century; Shikamaru was right, women were troublesome. The Senju was tempted to storm up to Satsuki's face and demand in a loud voice what her problem with him was. "I–I really don't get it!"
"He really is a idiot, Uchiha was right," Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head though he seemed a tad amused now. "Troublesome to explain but… yeah, it's a love triangle."
"Huh?"
Chouji munched on his chips, his mouth full as he elaborated. "What Shika means is that Hinata-chan likes you, Satsuki-san also likes you." He squinted. "But you only like one of them, right?"
"In short," said Ino, rolling her eyes. "Satsuki's jealous." She looked pointedly at Haruto, seeming hurt and resigned at the same time. "I liked you too, y'know, but you never noticed. Don't worry, I know I should give up since you're already painfully in love." Ino giggle teasingly, poking his cheek. "Aren't you?"
For the umpteenth time, Haruto felt his cheeks heating up due to a conversation related—directly or indirectly—related to Satsuki. "W-who are you talking about?" he choked out, face burning when Team Ten turned to stare at the Uchiha girl blatantly.
Feeling stares on her back, Satsuki turned, her impassive mask dissolving into a filthy glare when she saw Ino poking Haruto's cheek. Chouji cleared his throat awkwardly as Ino trembled from the glare. "As you can see," the orange-head said, drawing their attention back to him. "She doesn't like any girls getting close to you."
It took a very long time for the news to sink in Haruto's head; Satsuki liked him? Like that crush sorta thing? He didn't see it coming; he thought he was always annoying her and she hated him (it ached to think that the last part might be true). "Hey, thanks," he managed to say through his shock. "But, uh, one last thing: how do I approach Satsuki about this?"
"How do you feel about her?" Ino raised a blonde brow. "It's painfully obvious. But she's too obsessed with her vendetta against her older brother to notice or even bother with it. You're too dense and could easily lead the conversation to a minefield, thus, might ruin everything."
"Uh, I still don't see— "
"Greetings, everyone…" Haruto glanced desperately at the Hokage who had begun his welcoming speech, grudgingly, he sidled back to Satsuki's side, ignoring her deadly glare. He glanced at the Hokage then back at Satsuki who still was in a foul mood. Just as he was about to say something, a flash of silver killed his voice.
His jaw dropped; what was Kabuto still doing here? He was a traitor to Konoha and he was in league with Orochimaru! He shot a frustrated look at Iruka-sensei who didn't seem to notice him. A feeling akin to dread settled in his stomach, what if Iruka-sensei was in league with Orochimaru too? He needed to warn the Hokage, now and personally. But before he could say anything again (why is people always interrupting him when he had something to say?!), the Hokage's last sentence stunned him:
"…Let the preliminaries begin!"
"What?" he gasped. "I didn't—"
"We have to fight if we want to advance to the finals. There's too many of us that passed," said Sakura, worried, but her eyes were on Kakashi who nodded encouragingly and waved at them.
"But before the battles start, is anyone here incapable of going on?"
"Who goes first… Oh. Satsuki, are you sure you can fight?" Satsuki glowered at Haruto who'd spoken up. When she stubbornly nodded, his hand latched onto her wrist, pulling her back, concern evident in his eyes. "You sure?"
"Yes," hissed the Uchiha venomously, irritated. Sometimes, Haruto's concern was not endearing nor was it touching like Sakura thought it was; to Satsuki, it was suffocating, why should he care whether she could fight or not? In her eyes, it was like he was severely underestimating her and it ticked her off. "Now, let go."
Haruto's eyes hardened and Sakura was worried that a fight between them would break out instead. Fortunately, it didn't happen, instead, he dredged up a shaky grin, saying, "You better win for me, got it?"
"Hn. Who do you think you are?"
He winked. "When we both make it to the finals, I'll take you out on a date!"
"FIRST MATCH: BEGIN!"
Satsuki threw Haruto a furious glare before he left to join the others in the ring.