I've been missing for quite a while. Honestly, life just wore me out for a while, but well, here I am again. I'm a bit bummed about this chapter turned out, since it is much shorter than I wanted it to be.. but I guess it just couldn't be helped. I also really wanted to post something. Hopefully next chapter will be longer, but I hope this time you would enjoy the content. Again, I apologize - I'll try to be more consistent with the story! Thank you to whoever spared their time to read it. And also - I forgot last time, but disclaimer - I do not own Naruto. Obviously, lol.


Chapter 4 - Puzzles to be Solved


When it comes to hand to hand combat, Haruki knew he was one of the top students in his class. Although basic academy taijutsu is a far cry from the advanced form of the Juuken, Haruki was specifically trained to be flexible, agile and precise throughout his short life for his family style, and the training showed results even in different styles.

So right now, when he was sparring with a more brute style of combat, his classmates seemed to be impressed. That being said, he was paired off against Kiba, who was also well versed in taijutsu. Haruki didn't know who they were cheering for but he didn't care at the moment. Kiba was fast, he can't afford to be distracted.

Avoiding and blocking some of the hits Kiba sent his way, Haruki tried to land a hit himself as he pushed Kiba's incoming fist to the side. Managing to hit his stomach, Kiba tripped back and almost fell on his back, his hand landing behind him reflexively. He had a gleam in his eyes and a grin on his face as he proceeded to use his position to kick at Haruki's ankles.

Haruki jumped just in time to avoid it, but Kiba himself managed to recover as he flipped over back to standing position with the time he bought off of him. Haruki bit the inside of his cheek as Kiba rushed forward towards him, his fist in the air. Haruki's gaze was so fixated that he gave in to instinct and crossed his arms defensively in front of him.

However, that did not shield the boy from Kiba's attack. The punch was proven to a feint and instead Kiba kicked his thigh, making him fall back. Haruki however had the sense to grab onto Kiba before he fell, dragging him down with him.

They struggled for a bit on the ground, both of them attempting to overcome the other with force, but in the end, Haruki managed to throw Kiba off of him by kicking him away with his feet with enough force that the boy found himself out of sparring ring's border. Haruki exhaled and his hand fell on his forehead, wiping sweat away as he caught up with his breathe.

When he finally found it in himself to stand up once again, Iruka already stood next to him, and Kiba was dragging his feet to his spot from across of him, hands in his pockets as Akamaru ran to him and yipped to cheer him up. "The winner is Hyuga Haruki! Now, form the seal of reconciliation." His teacher announced as cheers were heard.

Both of the children bowed slightly to each other before lacing their fingers to form the seal. At first, Haruki thought Kiba may have been in one of his sore loser moods, but the Inuzuka gave him nothing but a grin as they both looked at each other again. Kiba may have been prideful, but that trait was not reserved for pride in himself. Pack mentality was strong within the boy, and Haruki was glad to be able to say he was included in that mentality.

More than anything, Kiba was proud of him.

Walking away back into the crowd of aspiring ninjas, the nine year olds left to stand by Shino. Reaching for his bag and opening it in a swift motion, Haruki rummaged for an ointment for the two of them. He learned how to make that ointment a while back, and ever since the day he first brought it to class, Kiba insisted he brings some every day they have sparring matches.

Tossing one pack to Kiba and keeping another to himself, both boys applied it to their newly acquired bruises that seemingly disappeared upon contact with the substance. "Did you have to beat up my stomach that bad? I swear, it would have left a giant bruise if not for that ointment." Kiba spoke up first.

"Sorry, sorry." He laughed lightly. "Still, it's nothing compared to what you did to my face that one time." He reminded him. Haruki remembers how his nose bled due to Kiba's force. That was a painful spar.

"For the last time, I thought you will dodge it!" Kiba said defensively.

"That excuse sure wasn't enough for our female classmates." Shino mentioned offhandedly, and Kiba squinted his eyes at him.

"Haru, we should start working with Shino on his taijutsu. One day he's going to beaten up with those comments." He huffed at Shino, that spared him no mind. They could go on forever like this. Even with Shino's association with bugs, he couldn't help but seem more cattish when Kiba was around.

"We can work on that when you'd start working on your genjutsu." Haruki tried not to let the amusement on his face show, but his eyes crinkled a tad bit too much for Kiba to miss it. The boy, as expected, puffed his cheeks in annoyance.

"Who needs genjutsu when I can just terrify enemies with my real abilities anyway? Illusions can only get you so far." He muttered. He was never good at genjutsu, and ever since they've started practicing it in class he started to fall behind. Both of his friends were only mediocre in that regard as well, but being at the bottom never felt nice.

"Using genjutsu is sometimes a necessary part in tactics, Kiba. And even if you don't like it, at least you have to learn how to break out of one." Shino told him, more out of worry than anything else. That didn't stop Kiba's pouting.

"What's the point if I can just stay close to Haru? He can just see through them and break me out. He does it in class all of the time." His hands went behind his hand as he stretched his neck. Haruki sighed. Kiba was only saying this because he wasn't naturally talented in genjutsu.

"It's not that easy.. My eyes only see through some genjutsu. I can't overpower even a mediocre genjutsu with them yet. I only manage to see through Haruno-san's genjutsu in classes because she doesn't have the chakra reserves to create something that can be fault-proof against my eyes. And Uchiha-san's… Ugh." Haruki shivered as he remembered their female classmate talent in the art. Although he still managed to break out of her jutsus, it took him much longer and her attention to detail had him fooled several times already.

As expected of an Uchiha. I don't even want to know what she will be able to do when she gets her Sharingan…

The genjutsu class was actually one of his more disliked subjects, solely due to the fact he somehow got roped into being a tester of how strong a genjutsu was. His classmates jutsu were almost always attempted on him and although all of the illusionary tactics they have learned were pretty much harmless, he still thought that if Mizuki-sensei would for once decide to do his job and do it himself, it would be nice.

At least he had gotten a bit closer to other people in his class due to it.

One person in particular that came to mind was Naruto, who honestly he had to help so many times just so Mizuki-sensei won't be so mean to him. He was almost unnecessarily cruel to him, and Haruki knows what it's like to continuously get yelled at.

He had to pretend that the jutsu affected him a lot more than it actually had, but honestly, Mizuki-sensei barely showed any will to help Naruto. Haruki pretty much had to help himself after class himself with how much Mizuki neglected the boy, and he wasn't even that good in genjutsu.

Mizuki-sensei just really doesn't do anything in the genjutsu classes..

The shock that reflected in Naruto's eyes the first time he helped him was electrifying. He only acted like the genjutsu was still affecting him for more than a minute, but the blond's wide, confused eyes said everything. He clearly knew that he wasn't doing anything to Haruki, but luckily for him, acting was something Haruki perfected over the years. The others were fooled.

It was literally the first time Naruto passed in anything, but the blond didn't really seem happy. He looked confused and uncomfortable.

Uzumaki Naruto did not want to take pride in something he didn't do.

Not too long after, practically the break after the class, Naruto confronted him in an unnaturally bashful way. Not really looking at Haruki, with his voice all hushed down, maybe even dejected - but full of questions.

"Why did you help me?" He asked, biting his cheek. Haruki frowned. He seemed so uncomfortable and vulnerable. Usually Haruki would deny he was acting in any type of situation, but it wasn't really fair for Naruto. Failing is a part of the class, and he may have denied him some process of learning.

"Mizuki-sensei was in a bad mood today and he is mean to you all the time as it is. I thought it was better to not give him a reason to lash out you." Haruki said, peering at his open bento and playing with the food absentmindedly. He wasn't used to being confronted like that. It made him quite self-conscious.

"Oh… Did that jutsu even affect you at all?" Naruto skipped subject. He seemed even more disappointed than before. Could he have been possibly been hoping that Haruki would say he wasn't acting? He did want to succeed so badly. He tried so hard, all of the time.

Frowning apologetically, Haruki shook his head. "No. You put so much chakra in it that I could basically see it more than the genjutsu itself.. it was just too much for a simple genjutsu." Haruki replied. Maybe knowing this could help him in the future. He really needed to tone down the amount of chakra he uses.

"What?... I could swear I used only a little…" He rubbed his head. Haruki's eyebrows rose. It was clear as a day that Naruto used a ton of chakra. He also had the biggest reserves out of anyone in the academy, and that included teachers. His father once told him it could be attributed to good genes to some extent, but still, Naruto's reserves we're unbelievably large.

"Uzumaki-san… whenever you use your chakra, it's always a lot. You have a ton stored in your body and you use more than you need. It's as if your system is completely out of whack. It looks as if there's so much chakra compressed in that it begs to be let out when you use it." Haruki tried to put it in words, but it was really insane to see when his Byakugan was active. He seriously felt like he was downplaying it while he talked.

"I do?I never noticed…" Naruto lamented, trying to think back on his previous attempts with a variety of jutsus. He pouted trying to figure out where he went wrong. "Hey, can you look if I'm using too much right now? Please?" Naruto asked, his usual bright personality shining through again. He tugged on Haruki's arm, trying to pull him from his seat.

Haruki took one glance at his half-eaten lunch and then looked back at the blond that held so much hope and excitement in his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to deny Naruto's pleads when he knew it would mean so much to him. Well, he could try to help...

"...I guess this is Akamaru's now." He pushed his bento to Kiba's side of the table, sighing half-heartedly with an awkward smile on his face. With no second to spare, he was dragged out by Naruto to what would be one of the first times they would train together.

"Haru! Did I whack you too hard in that spar? Wake up from your daydream!" Kiba shook him and Haruki realized he was too deep in his thoughts. Rubbing his temples, he laughed a little, shaking his head.

"...Nope. Uchiha-san's genjutsu is just that traumatic."


Sparring in his house and sparring in the academy were sincerely two completely different experiences. In the academy, he was rarely analyzed and watched the way he was at home, and sparring with Hanabi seriously meant he was going to get scolded on small detail that the elders could find. Anything that he gave them to work with would turn on him. It was very inconvenient when he knew he had to make them think his skill set was subpar.

Sometimes he wondered if his grandfather just hated him. His comments would always be as nitpicky as possibly could be, and even in things Haruki knew he did not get wrong he would get scolded for. Even Hiashi gave him a side eye at those times. Not to even mention the amount of times he gets compared to Neji on a daily basis.

It wasn't like he was making himself so bad it was unbearable. At the moment, he only lowered himself to a level to make it seem Hanabi is on her way to surpass him. She was certainly good at the Juuken, but she was only four. He couldn't make her into the winner quite yet, but he could make her seem much more naturally gifted.

His grandfather however, would not sugarcoat anything. At all. He was the one person in the clan that actually told to Haruki's face that with the way things are going his title as the heir would be taken away from him before he makes it to genin.

For Haruki, it was a little more than a shock to hear. It was the plan to make them consider switch heirs, but he couldn't help but feel depressed. He really wondered why is his grandfather, a man that is known throughout the village to have the most vague, politic tone to him at all times would be so damn blunt with his grandchild of all people.

Every session that his grandfather observed, Haruki got out of with the feeling that if he could just stay in his bed and not wake up, it just might be better for everyone. It went on for so long that most of his friends caught him sulking. Even his sister realized what a bad mood he was constantly in.

"Nii-san… nii-san… your neck will be sore if you keep that position." Hanabi poked him. His face was on their low tea-table, practically hanging off of his body as he sat. He was so tired that day. He returned from the academy so sluggish - they had just started a more difficult set of ninjutsu techniques that required a lot more chakra than usual - and he seriously wanted to sleep, but he was forced into a spar with Hanabi, and the obligatory scolding session that always came right after. That alone really got him down.

He didn't feel like moving. Usually he wasn't that dismissive of his sister, but he just gave out a grunt and moved his head to the side. Haruki just wanted to stay in that position as much as he can, which was not a lot, considering they had to eat with their father in twenty minutes. If he had to sit in seiza style for the next hour, at least he'll rest now.

Hanabi frowned, and poked him once again. This time, she deliberately put some chakra into her fingertips. The second it touched Haruki, he hissed and practically swerved away, holding onto his side, as well as gave the four year old the most betrayed look he could possibly muster.

"You are always so gloomy! Cheer up nii-san. It's gonna get better. Grandpa is just mean because he's worried." Hanabi told him. It didn't really surprise Haruki she was able to connect the dots to why was he so depressed, she was a bright child, but her words were unexpected.

"How do you even know that? And Hanabi, that hurt. No Juuken out of the dojo, you know that already." He reprimanded her, trying to at least be a good brother while trying to ignore the burn at his side. He was seriously lucky she only used a bit of chakra.

"...Sorry nii-san. And it's true! Lately grandpa always says he's worried some man will take you if you won't be the heir. Something about the village elders seizing opportunities? I don't really know what he meant." Hanabi said, trying to figure it out in her head herself. Haruki was just plain confused.

What does that even mean?

"Where did you even hear that?" He asked instead, fully aware that Hanabi would have no idea of what was the context of their grandfather words. He was as secretive and vague as it comes. Haruki himself would probably be confused.

"...Spying after papa is fun."

Haruki wasn't even surprised.


Sneaking out to train was something Haruki was very versed in. At this point in his life, he wasn't even worried about getting caught. Most of his family probably wanted him to go out and train, so even if they spotted him, he wasn't too worried about being approached.

The spot he chose was just like the village. Hidden in the leaves, the forest surrounding the small clearing he found gave the place a secluded feeling, with only the moon above Haruki to watch. It was a small clearing, nothing too fancy, but for Haruki it has already become his own secret garden.

Exactly because of that, he was surprised to see that this time, someone got there before him.

It was truly lucky that his byakugan was activated before he got too close. He worked on his sight for quite a while now - he could almost see for a full kilometer now. He wasn't that far away from the clearing now, but he stopped himself in the correct moment for sure.

Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui were both standing in the clearing, serious, crestfallen expressions on their faces. They seemed to be in deep conversation, and at the moment Haruki was unsure if he was either grateful or unlucky that he couldn't read lip movements well.

Shisui in particular was acting strange, his eyes glowing red as he activated his Sharingan. Haruki gulped as he thought there would be a battle occuring. Why else would Shisui just whip out a Sharingan? Then again, it does not make sense for them to fight. Everyone knew Itachi and Shisui were good friends. Was it for a spar, maybe?

None of the answers in Haruki's head matched. A very intimidating, shuriken-like version of the Sharingan appeared in Shisui's eyes. Haruki had never seen anything like that. He heard the doujutsu has an evolution of sorts, but he never got to actually see it on anybody.

Itachi just nodded. At this point, Haruki already felt like he intruded on too much. He decided to turn away and leave, train somewhere else for the night.

Whatever it was that made even Uchiha Itachi seem worried, was something he certainly didn't want to dabble in. He has enough on his head as it is. It was crucial for him to get home early tonight as it is.

Shimura Danzo is visiting the clan compound tomorrow, and he can't be anything less than perfect for it.