Two days later Haruka found Kakashi and Sasuke on a nearby mountain plateau.
"What exactly is he doing?" She asked, one eyebrow raised. The Uchiha was sprinting from side to side, weaving in and out of stone pillars as he went.
"Getting faster," Kakashi told her. "I hope."
"Maybe you should have asked Gai for some training weights."
"But then he'd know what I'm planning and could warn Neji," Kakashi told her, visible eye wide.
"Oh screw pyou," Haruka grumbled. "As if I'd lose to the Hyuga."
Kakashi just patted her head, affected a baby voice and told her that of course she would win.
"Fine, I see I'm not wanted here," she said, batting his hand away. Haruka placed a food container next to her sensei before she left, miso soup with eggplant, one of Kakashi's favorites.
It took a few hours for her to discover that he'd slipped her a piece of paper, presumably when patting her head. Breaking the code he'd used took even longer, but it was well worth it in the end. The note contained instructions on how to use a technique called Chakra Flow, that allowed it's user to enhance weapons by channeling chakra through them. It also contained the address of a smith.
She'd already known the basics of the technique because the books she'd read to learn more about general chakra manipulation had mentioned it several times, but Kakashi's notes paid a lot more attention to detail. They explained what kinds of extra effects using chakra of different natures could have. Wind for example made for nearly unstoppable blades, that would allow even a simple kunai to cut stone. Lightning on the other hand could be used to stimulate the nervous system to induce numbness or even cause paralysis.
Her chakra didn't actually allow for any kind of nature transformation except for yin and yang. The former was what made forming solid chakra claws and barriers possible and the latter was the cause of her accelerated healing and ability to deal with poisons. Unlike the Nara clan's shadow jutsu, what Haruka did was mere chakra manipulation and not an actual technique though.
While Chakra Flow was a powerful technique it also tended to greatly weaken the integrity of regular metals, to the point that they simply broke after a while—which was why Haruka rarely used her chakra laced senbon. Zabuza had warned her about that effect and recommended she get blades made out of a special conductive metal that could not only withstand the strain the technique put on it, but would also increase it's potency. It had sounded incredibly interesting, so Haruka had looked into it right after Wave, but weapons like that were so far out of her price range that she'd quickly given up on the idea.
Of course Kakashi was well aware of her interest and financial situation, so she decided to go see the smith regardless. Her jaw almost hit the floor when she entered the shop and was greeted by a big, smiling man that handed her two incredibly beautiful swords and then told her not to come back unless something broke. She'd just stared at him in response until he'd picked her up with two massive hands and deposited her outside.
The wakizashi and tanto were created with the same design. The scabbards looked like white marble with smokey, gray veins. Both mouth and end were rimmed in black metal and a wide, blood red cord hung from it. The hilt's pommel and collar were of the same dark steel, but the cloth it was wrapped in was bone white. The most beautiful thing were the actual blades though. The metal they were made from was so dark that it seemed to absorb light, except for the hamon that looked like rising mist. They were also wickedly sharp and surprisingly light.
The things must be worth a small fortune, and while Haruka knew Kakashi had more than enough high rank missions under his belt to be able to easily afford them, she was still torn between feeling grateful and guilty. There was no way she would be able to pay him back any time soon, not to mention that he more than likely wouldn't even let her try.
She found a second note on her kitchen table that said not to embarrass him during the tournament because he expected to make a fine sum by betting the Hyuga prodigy would suffer a humiliating loss during the second round. Haruka laughed at that, but she also cursed him a little. The ass could have totally written that on the first note instead of making her feel bad all the way from the smith's shop to her flat.
***
Haruka spent just about every other day at the Hyuga compound, and when she wasn't training with Hinata she played shogi with Shikamaru, practiced Chakra Flow, or improved her ability to fight with swords by sparring with Sai.
With the way the tournament was set up the only way they'd actually fight against each other would be if both of them made it to the final round, which seemed rather unlikely. Still, Haruka left her new blades at her flat, and Sai only used techniques she already knew about. He also warned her to be careful, but the seal on his tongue prevented him from explaining that vague statement in any more detail.
She kept an eye out for trouble anyway, which caused her to notice that Gaara apparently never slept, and frequently spent his nights just sitting on random rooftops.
Haruka generally just gave him a glance and moved on because he never actually did anything more interesting than watch the people below him, but he was also usually alone. That night she could feel Dosu's chakra signature nearby. She might have decided that it was none of her business had it been anyone else, but she still had and ax to grind with the Sound nin, and the fact that he was trying to sneak up on Gaara just made the whole situation more suspicious.
"Evening Panda Eyes," she said after using a Body Flicker to join the redhead on the roof. She'd made sure he'd seen her before moving closer, and kept several meters between them. For one so he wouldn't think she was trying to attack him and for another so she had enough time to dodge if he reacted in a hostile manner anyway.
"What do you want?" He gave her an odd look, that wasn't exactly cold, but certainly not friendly either. It made her incredibly uncomfortable, especially with the way he never seemed to use any kind of inflection. Haruka almost laughed when the thought of whether he'd understand sarcasm flashed through her mind, but she quickly clamped down on the impulse. As far as she could tell Gaara was volatile at the best of times, but so far he'd also listened to orders and obeyed rules, which meant there was a good chance he wouldn't attack her as long as she didn't give him an excuse.
'Enemy—at—your—six," She signed in a code she hoped was still current. Ibiki had taught her the non-classified standard ciphers of all of the five great nations. Nobody actually expected them to be safe, so her knowing it wouldn't cause trouble, but that didn't mean they were never changed.
"I know," Gaara told her, continuing to stare.
"Well then, mind if I join you?" She asked and then decided to interpret his silence as permission. He was sitting on the tail fin of a very big, very intricate fish statue. This time Haruka simply jumped to close the distance, avoiding the use of chakra completely. Then sat down next to him, a little less than two meters between them. A few grains of sand stirred, but settled quickly enough when she didn't do anything else.
Dosu had stopped his approach, when she'd first appeared on the roof, but after several minutes he gave up any attempt at stealth and simply walked up to them.
"I was planning to kill you in your sleep," he said to Gaara and then shifted his one eyed gaze towards Haruka. "Taking him out gives me a better chance to fight Sasuke. I'm sure you'd like to make your teammate's life a little easier too, wouldn't you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"That's cute, but as far as I'm concerned you're both monsters, and right now I like Panda Eyes a lot better than you."
Dosu's shock at that declaration was almost comical, but Haruka couldn't enjoy it long, because she had to jump out of the way of a wave of sand. It wasn't actually coming for her, but it didn't try to avoid hitting her either when it slammed into the Sound nin. Gaara crushed him into a bloody pulp mere seconds later, and she used her chakra barrier to shield both of them from the resulting spray of blood.
"A little warning next time," she chided in a voice that was a lot steadier than she felt. "I wanted to ask him a few questions."
Gaara just shrugged, and she sat down again, afraid that she'd fall from the roof if she didn't. Keeping her legs from shaking was incredibly hard. She didn't even try with her hands, merely placed them in her lap and took slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.
Knowing how powerful and bloodthirsty Gaara was was one thing, but actually seeing the evidence of how much worse Lee's fight could have gone was quite another.
"You're afraid," the redhead stated after a while. It didn't sound like a question, but he clearly wanted an explanation of some sort. Haruka wasn't in the mood to play guessing games though, so she simply confirmed. Gaara waited several seconds for her to continue, but then gave up when it became obvious that she wouldn't.
"Then why stay here? People usually run."
"I didn't feel like being hunted," she told him. In the forest Orochimaru had said that prey should never stop trying to flee when a predator was around, and back then she'd wanted to, but that decision had been just as stupid as Naruto's to stay and fight, or Sasuke's to bargain their scroll. None of these would have had any chance of succeeding and the only reason they had survived that encounter was that the snake hadn't wanted them dead. In the future though Haruka would choose fighting over running when it seemed like all paths lead to death, because that way she'd at least have the chance to inflict some damage on her killer.
This was different though. Gaara had made no move to assault her in any way so far. Both his posture and chakra were perfectly relaxed, if slightly wary, completely unlike the excitement she'd seen in him when he'd killed Dosu. Haruka didn't think the redhead would attack her as long as she didn't make any sudden moves. Not to mention that she still didn't trust her legs to keep her upright. She wasn't stupid enough to trust him with her life, but for now keeping an eye on his chakra and hoping that she could use a Body Flicker faster than his sand moved would have to do.
"Do you really never sleep?" She asked, to keep herself from thinking too much about the film of blood on the roof that used to be a person.
"Bad things happen when I do," he told her, and Haruka seriously wondered what someone like Gaara would consider bad. She didn't know how much time she spent on that roof before she was sure she could make it back home without falling over her own feet. Neither of them said anything else, but she had the feeling that Gaara considered asking something several times and then decided against it at the last moment.