Hello. I'm once again trying to cut down on Author's Notes, so I'll just answer a common theme that has been cropping up: I will try to answer less questions about where the plot is going. In a PM I received, I was asked a question explicitly about the pairing, and declined to answer. As such, I will not give any more replies that will act as spoilers for future chapters. Now, I will reply to reviews.
ShulkXMelia23: No matter how Konan's character changes, she is still the one who saved his life. Aside from that, there are two things that really define where she is in this story: her actions, and Naruto's perception of her. Information is imperfect, and all that jazz. Thank you for the advice over all these chapters.
Guest: I'm glad it was appreciated. One common trope surrounding Jiraiya is his near invulnerability when it comes to repercussions for his perversity. This was carried over for comedic value.
Antex: "Who knows?" is what I'll reply right back to you - one of the themes in this fic that becomes much more apparent throughout is ambiguity. Where are peoples' connections? Do feelings of characters match their end-fic results, or will there be letdowns and disappointments? I personally enjoy ambiguity, and think that it makes characters more lifelike.
With that said, here is the chapter.
Naruto sat down, worn out from his training. While he hadn't seen Ebisu since his humiliating defeat at Jiraiya's hands, Naruto still trained excessively.
He started with the creation of dozens of clones, and had them spar and practice with the various ninjutsu techniques he had picked up, while Naruto took a squad of his own to practice taijutsu. Seeing as how Naruto was against a Hyuuga, whose taijutsu inflicted wounds that were difficult to see, he had created a rather unorthodox method of training – he dipped the hands of his clones in red paint, so that he would see everywhere he was getting hit.
After all, his taijutsu likely couldn't hold a candle to Hinata's, why should he try to engage her elder cousin in a similar bout?
After using his Sensory Tags, and working on his improved sensory tags, he used them in battle against his clones. At first, he used both tags and kept his eyes open. After that, he blindfolded himself in order to maximize his usage of the sensory tags.
It was using these that he detected his visitor. Recognizing her chakra signature from the preliminaries, Naruto frowned at the sight of Tenten watching his practice. Her chakra felt agitated. He didn't interrupt her, but rather, allowed her to be there. After all, if she was scouting him out for Neji, she probably wouldn't realize he was aware of it. If she wasn't, she was wasting her own time, thus giving Naruto a slightly better shot at the tournament.
As Naruto's chakra stores continued to diminish, and his body ached with pain, he sat down. It was at this point that Tenten stepped out of the bushes. As she started walking towards Naruto, he turned towards her, blindfold still on. A second later, he picked up something coming towards him. Instinctively putting his arms up to catch or block whatever it was, he was surprised to feel a bottle in his hand.
Taking his blindfold off, he looked at it, before sniffing the contents. Realizing it was just normal water, he took a sip, and looked up towards Tenten, confused. She had a steely glint in her eyes, and as Naruto saw her march up to him, he berated himself for training so hard he couldn't move as well. He knew this wouldn't end well, although if you asked him he couldn't tell you why.
"Long time no chat, Naruto." Said Tenten. She grabbed Naruto by his hoodie and lifted him up until their faces were close.
"Yeah… It has been, Tenten." Said Naruto, trying to blink the sweat out of his eyes. One moment, he was being suspended above the ground by his old friend, the next he was thrown on the ground. The impact of his face on the ground snapped Naruto out of the heat-based daze he had been in.
"What was that for?" He asked. Naruto's self-deprecating habits ensured that he felt he was responsible somehow, and his feelings towards Tenten amplified that and minimized the chance that she could ever, under any circumstances, do any wrong in his mind.
"I was listening, you know." Said Tenten. At Naruto's confused expression, she clarified, "I heard you in the tower, trying to make that Ame team go easy on my team in those matches. Why did you do that?" Naruto didn't know how to respond, both because he was sure his under-the-table deal would be both secret and reasonable, but not only was Naruto's ploy discovered, but it wasn't even necessary – Tenten smashed Suiren.
Naruto gathered his thoughts, staring into the face of the person he had so desperately avoided in recent days. Finally, Tenten's angry front broke, and a more disappointed expression came over her face.
"Do you really think I'm so weak, Naruto? Do you think I haven't grown from the little girl in the orphanage?" Naruto's eyes widened, and he realized she might not be as angry as he thought.
"No, it was just… That Ame team took you guys down so quickly, and…" Tenten cut him off.
"That could happen to any team, Naruto. That could easily happen to you too!" Naruto nodded.
"Exactly. That's why I wanted to make sure they didn't do something like that to you again." Tenten's emotions were a bit of a whirlwind, akin to a well-mixed pastry dough. There was a base of frustration and anxiety mixed with sprinkles of positive emotion here and there – Naruto did care for her, and he seemed fine enough. Perhaps their friendship could still be salvaged?
"I realized that the Ame team, for whatever reason, wanted to help me out. I took a gamble, and figured that since it was your scroll that got us to the next stage, I should repay the debt." Naruto's eyes softened.
"I'm sorry, Tenten." He meant it. Not only because of the exam, but for abandoning her. It seemed that she understood well enough, as she let him down. Naruto crumpled to the ground, and Tenten sat beside him.
"I'm sorry as well, Naruto, but don't underestimate me!" Naruto nodded, groaning as he sat back up.
"So, was that the only reason you came here, Tenten?" Tenten looked confused.
"Not that I'm unhappy to see you here, I really am. I missed you." Tenten allowed a soft smile to arrive. Her adoptive parents loved her to death, but her team was not one that exactly emphasized real, genuine emotions. In between her emotionally locked off and arrogant Hyuuga teammate to the 'youthful' spandex-wearing duo, she had very little emotional connection with her peers. Tenten's serious demeanor when it came to becoming a strong kunoichi didn't help her much either, especially with the diminished zeal in the academy students who one day became her peers.
"What do you mean by only reason?" Tenten was glad, but she was still curious.
"I'm facing your teammate in the next round. I was wondering how much of what you saw you were going to relay back to him." Tenten laughed.
"Want me to be honest, Naruto?" He nodded. "Your odds of beating him are less than one in one hundred. But if you do somehow beat him, I'll be grateful." Naruto was surprised.
"What is this Neji character like? I assume he's much different without Hinata around?" Tenten shook her head.
"Not really. He's every bit as proud and fixated on fate as you saw. He's a bit less murderous though." Naruto and Tenten sat in silence, as they both pondered the Hyuuga's characteristics.
"That must be rough." Naruto said. Neji seemed like a more exacerbated version of Sasuke's negative characteristics, and he wondered what it would take for him to become a normal human being. Yawning, Naruto shook his head, and picked up the water bottle Tenten had thrown him, taking a long drought and sighing in relief. Cold water on a hot day was a miracle unlike any other.
"So, how do you feel about your opponent in the next round, that Kankuro fellow?" Tenten pondered.
"I think that his puppet is difficult to deal with, but if you are able to either target him, or simply blast through his puppet, it won't be a big deal." Naruto nodded.
"So, what's your plan for dealing with Neji?" Naruto shot her a skeptical look.
"Are you sure that you aren't spying for Neji? I won't be mad if you are, you know." Tenten laughed, and Naruto was reminded of older, better times, when it was just the two of them against the world in the orphanage. Laughing alongside her, Naruto made to stand up, but found himself far too weak from the intensity of his training.
"Oh! Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Asked Tenten. Naruto noted the new suffix to his name, but ignored it for the time being in favor of dealing with the pain in his system.
"Hehe, I think I trained a little too hard. Sorry, Tenten." Said Naruto. Tenten chuckled and helped him up, placing one of his arms around her shoulders as she placed her arm around his waist.
"Here, I may as well help you get back. Where are you going to?" Asked Tenten. Naruto shrugged.
"I figured I'd get some ramen from Ichiraku's, considering I can't really make myself food in this state." Tenten frowned.
"There's no protein in that, Naruto-kun." Naruto looked up at her with some effort.
"Where would you suggest I go then?" Tenten shrugged.
"How about Yakiniku Q, or the new dumpling place?" Naruto replied that he had never been to a dumpling place before, at which point he found himself being dragged to a restaurant he had never visited before by Tenten.
Keeping his hood up, Naruto was able to enter alongside Tenten without any trouble. The two sat down, and before long, Naruto met every single one of Tenten's favorite foods. From Gyoza to Nikuman, with the possibility of soup dumplings and dango with tea at the end, Naruto rather quickly learned that if the food in front of her was a dumpling, it would likely be enjoyed.
Of course, Naruto enjoyed the food as well – not only was it a new experience on an empty stomach, but the emotional state of Tenten became more comfortable than the awkwardness and anger she had held towards him in recent times. In some ways, Naruto could compare her to her younger self, but knew that diminishing Tenten in any way, shape, or form, was not an ideal plan.
If Naruto could describe her emotions in that moment, he would probably go with content. Her energy rose and fell over the course of conversation and food, her tone more serious during serious conversation and lighthearted during funny topics.
In some ways, Naruto pondered, having a meal with Tenten was vastly different from Ajisai – rather than a cold, but deeply interested listener who came out of her shell after a long period of time, Tenten's demeanor was like a child in a warm summer day – energetic, happy, going from one topic to the next.
When she heard his story about being more or less exiled from the orphanage, she cursed the management staff. When Naruto talked about being more or less alone, she gave him a sympathetic smile, but avoided pitying him.
When she heard about Naruto's adventures fighting Zabuza and Haku in Nami no Kuni, she played every part of the active audience – excitement during battles, inquisitive questions during good times, and sadness for the deaths of the Mist-nin, his apprentice, and the suffering of Nami's citizens.
"Well, I gotta say, we haven't had many missions like that with Gai-sensei." Tenten said. Before long, the question of 'what was Naruto up to' changed to 'Tenten's life story', and things continued from there.
Of course, each had things they were holding back – Tenten never asked about what happened with Naruto and the mob, nor did she mention the emotional pain she went through, her own self-imposed guilt, or her self-esteem issues on Team Gai. Naruto, for his part, didn't talk about Tenshi, the mob incident, or his own guilt.
Both held back their own stories of great suffering, but each could tell there was relief in the other. At some point in the topic, they individually realized that the pain and confusion caused by separation were reflected in each other. Through coming back into contact as friends, as fellow shinobi, and competitors, they were healed.
Not too long after, they paid for their meal and departed, before vowing to help each other train, considering that Naruto and Tenten were in different competitor pools. Naruto also realized that Ajisai was in a different competitor pool from the both of them. What if they all trained together, or he at least trained with both of them? It was an interesting prospect at the very least.
As Naruto was close to getting home, feeling ready to work on his fuinjutsu and calligraphy, he felt eyes watching him. He didn't know who, but he felt that someone was following him, from street to street. As he discretely put a sensory tag on himself, Naruto closed his eyes and reached out to find any chakra signatures worth nothing.
Before long, he came across a signature different from the rest – it wasn't as large as a Jinchuriki like himself, or that sand genin Gaara, but it was larger than most jonin, and rather than being a blue color, or a blue color with a red tint like himself or Gaara, it was blue with a green tint. While Naruto understood that blue must represent human chakra, and theorized that red chakra had something to do with demons, he had no idea what green chakra should mean.
Quickly, Naruto slipped into an alleyway and hid, waiting for the signature to come. Scanning around, however, he felt… nothing. Where did that one go?
"Nice try, kid. I didn't realize you could sense me." Said an amused voice behind him. Turning, Naruto saw Jiraiya, grinning at him.
"Hello there, Jiraiya-sama." Said Naruto, bowing slightly. "I'm glad to see you're no longer hanging around the hot springs." Jiraiya's smile became like ice – frozen and angry, leaking killing intent.
"I really need to pay you back for that, gaki. I don't think anyone in your generation was brave enough to oppose me in my moment of research." Jiraiya's killing intent increased dramatically.
"Are you going to kill me, Jiraiya-sama?" Jiraiya laughed.
"Not quite. However, I'm going to train you so hard you wish I had." Naruto was now worried, and shunshin'd out, back to his apartment. Looking around with both eyes and sensory tags, he sighed in relief, before a hand appeared on his shoulder.
"I'll see you at five in the morning, gaki. Be ready for hell." Naruto was now disgruntled, but nodded nonetheless. The quicker he got away from this crazy sage, the quicker he could plan something to save his own life. Entering his apartment, Naruto sat down, and prepared for nearly two hours – making new tags, experimenting with strategies in his head, and trying to utilize what he knew about the sage, which was honestly very little.
Groaning, Naruto realized that he didn't have much time to continue if he was going to get a reasonable sleep. Hoping that going to sleep earlier would translate into waking up early enough, he fell asleep.
"Rise and shine, Gaki!" Naruto had little time to blink before he was dragged from his couch (he had fallen asleep there), out of his apartment, and shunshin'd to a training field. As Naruto was suddenly awake, he realized that he hadn't woken up before five. Luckily, he had good enough instincts to get moving, but as Jiraiya started his training, Naruto wondered how the Yondaime Hokage had lived long enough with this type of regiment.
My next question for you all: What will Jiraiya teach Naruto? Do you all think that Naruto will learn Summoning, or Rasengan, or something else entirely? And a side question: I personally enjoyed seeing Naruto work hard over a long span of time, and feel that element is lacking from the Boruto series, at least in regards to Boruto himself. What do you think about this shift in exposure to training in Boruto versus Naruto?
Have a solid time,
~KoS