A/N- To the reviewer who posted yesterday if you end up seeing this. Thank you, your advice helped a lot.
Naruto walked into the hotel, feeling a mix of pride and determination. He had made a good impression on Tsunade, even though he knew the real challenge was still ahead. The deal was set—he would meet with her in two days to prove his growth. His thoughts were racing, but he kept his confidence up as he entered the meeting room with Neji by his side.
Inside, Kakashi, Guy, and Tenten were already waiting for them. Tenten's face lit up when she saw him, though she tried to play it cool. Kakashi leaned casually against the wall, one eye reading a book, while Guy had his arms crossed, looking as energetic as ever.
"Well, how'd it go, Naruto-san?" Kakashi asked without looking up from his book.
Naruto grinned, feeling like he was on top of the world. "Pretty good, Kakashi-sensei! I showed her the Rasengan and made a bet with her. She's gonna watch me again in two days, and by then, I'll show her how much I've grown!"
Guy gave a hearty thumbs-up. "That's the spirit, Naruto! You've got the power of youth on your side, and that'll carry you through!"
Tenten smiled at him, impressed. "Sounds like you really did it, Naruto-kun. So, two days, huh? What's the plan till then?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I'll keep working on the Rasengan, but I could use some help, especially with the control part. Maybe we can train together more, Tenten-chan. You helped me a lot before."
Tenten's eyes brightened at the suggestion, and she nodded eagerly. "Of course! I'd be happy to help."
Neji, ever composed, crossed his arms and glanced at Naruto. "It was a decent plan. But don't get overconfident. Tsunade-sama won't be easily convinced. You'll need to show more than just potential."
Naruto, never one to shy away from a challenge, grinned back at Neji. "I'll do whatever it takes. Just watch!"
Kakashi finally lowered his book and gave a small smile. "You've got two days. Make them count, Naruto-san."
Naruto looked over at Tenten with a confident grin. "I guess in the morning we need to get back to training, Tenten," he said, his voice full of determination. He knew the progress they had made together was thanks to her help, and they were so close to mastering the technique.
Tenten smiled back, appreciating Naruto's confidence in her. "Yeah, we've come this far, Naruto-kun. Let's make sure we're ready to impress Tsunade-sama."
Kakashi, still leaning against the wall, gave a nod. "That's the right attitude. Keep pushing yourselves. You're both close."
Guy gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "The power of youth shines brightest when two comrades push each other beyond their limits!"
Neji, standing nearby, remained quiet but watched Naruto closely, knowing the next two days would be crucial.
The next morning, both Naruto and Tenten were up early as they started their training. Naruto created the clone as he tried his best to form the rasengan. His eyes focused on the ball as it swirled in his hand creating an impressive dynamic energy as he took a deep long breath focusing his mind. However as he went to expand it, it quickly got out of control and fell apart in his hands.
Naruto took a deep breath as he calmed himself. He had to get this, his focus flinching for a moment as he was a bit annoyed, but failure was expected. Nothing happened the first time. He closed his eyes again as he refocused his energy again, this time again, failure. He tried again, and again and failed. Letting out a deep sigh, he stopped for a moment trying to think of the best way to handle this.
Each time he created the clone used it to control the force and he used his own power for it. Each handling a role. He gritted his teeth as he went to try it one more time, and hopefully at least make some progress.
He created it again, and went at it one more time. He pressed his hand out pushing his power into it as his clone came over and started to control it, moving his hand quickly to control the spin. At a small size it was contained, then he let it get larger, as he felt it start to deviate in his hand again. He focused on the control as he grew frustrated pushing more power into the ball when it burst into nothing once again. Letting out a deeper size, Naruto turned as he clone went away.
Naruto looked at Tenten, as he saw her up against her own challenge. He saw as she tried to put wind chakra into her attacks, the chakra would hold for a second, but her lack of control would fade, before it hit the target.
"Hey Tenten, why don't we try this together again, I need to see it done right," he said as he was needing support at that moment. "I want to see how it works correctly," he commented firmly as he knew this was going to take a bit. Still, each failure was a bit frustrating, learning this move or anything hard was akin very much to hitting one's head against the wall in a way.
Tenten nodded as she looked at Naruto, she was dealing with her own annoyance, challenges, as she figured if she could help him, then perhaps she would have something positive to at least build on in her own training, and efforts.
"Sure, let us give it a go," Tenten said with a nod of her head as she walked over. "I see we are both a bit stuck."
"Yeah, but we can do this. I believe it anyhow," Naruto said with resolve in his tone, "It just might take a while to get right. Can't give up till I get this down."
"Alright," Tenten said as she took Naruto's hand as she felt how erratic his chakra was as she looked at him. She could feel his internal conflict of wanting to meet the expectations that were placed upon him. The need to master this to help his friend Lee get the treatment by impressing Tsunade.
"Naruto," she said firmly as she squeezed his hand looking up at him, "Take a deep breath, as you know this takes time, but we will get this, no matter how damn annoying it is right now, we will figure it out. Relax, don't press, and I think this will come more naturally," she said as she said her words, she almost was as much talking to herself as she was to Naruto.
"Yeah," Naruto said quietly as he took a deep breath. He was starting to let his frustrations build bit by bit, as they were starting to overwhelm him. They were causing him to get sloppy, and he even knew that wouldn't lead anywhere at all.
"Okay, let us do this one time together before we get back, an accomplishment to get us back focused and to remind us that we can do this," Tenten said softly as she felt the chakra normalize between them as the two created the rasengan between them.
Tenten looked at it closer than before, she could see the fluctuations, and the imperfections in it. It was far from being mastered, but they did it. She looked at how the chakra went into the ball, how it moved, how it felt to be the one to control Naruto's power with her control.
Was there a part of her that wished she had that level of control? Of course, she wished she did, but she was rather sure that Naruto wished he had her control to match his power. Her mind looked and thought about how it felt to control such chakra and mold it in her hand. She thought about how to explain it all to Naruto. As she thought about it, she thought about where she was messing up in her own attempts. She could see her flaws more clearly.
"Alright, I think you might be trying to force things too much," Tenten said after the rasengan faded away, "Work with the flow, control with a firm and guiding hand, don't however try to impose your will upon it and overgrip it. By doing so you lose your hold over the chakra and it bursts."
Naruto nodded his head as he thought about it. His annoyance was causing him to get worse with this, that made sense. He was trying to get it done, and trying to make it happen, insteads of just letting it happen naturally. He wanted to get it done so he could meet the expectations. He nodded his head, "Okay, I hear ya," he said with a nod of his head, "Let's work, I think this is going to take us a while."
Tenten nodded her head as she smiled at Naruto, "Yeah, it will, and even in this time if we don't perfectly master it, that is fine," she said as she looked at him. "It is okay, we will figure it out together, and I am sure that Tsunade will see how much you're putting into this and that itself will be enough too."
"Also remember I am sure the others will give us help too," she added as she held her shuriken in her hand. She tried and failed again and shook her head, "I am sure they will be able to give us a lot of advice, and we then seem to be challenged. We are here to support each other."
"Tenten, remember that goes both ways, when you are down on yourself, I am here to support you too, believe it," Naruto declared loudly as he gave her a thumbs up. One that caused the weapon specialist to blush a fair bit.
The two of them got back to work, pushing themselves as they worked together. It wasn't easy at all for either of them. They hit more times when they had to pause and slow down, or get advice from others, but they made progress. It was imperfect as they worked trying as hard as they could within the time they had together. Yet, things came slowly but surely with the effort that the two of them put into the work. Each attempt, even each failure leading the path to a greater success.
From time to time, Guy, Kakashi, and Neji would be around to help, and give advice as they knew the importance of this. They all wanted Naruto and Tenten to be successful and be able to impress Tsunade enough that she would return for Lee's treatment.
Unknown to them, either Shizune or Tsunade or sometimes both would keep an eye on them from a distance. Watching just how much effort and determination that the two put into the world. The very act of their efforts in many ways said more about the future of the village, then if they were successful or not.
After almost forty eight hours of constant work or sleep or eating. The pair of them were standing together in a clearing out just outside of the small casino filled village. They had made progress but they were still not masters of the move. They were both still far from achieving their goals.
Both were annoyed by this, but they knew that they had done what they could do. They had pushed their abilities as much as could be expected. Both Tenten, and Naruto felt confident in their growth and hopeful that it would prove enough to win the day and convince Tsunade to return to the village.
"Hey Naruto-kun, I think this is about as far as we are going to get if we push any more. We're just going to have a negative impact on both of us, so we won't be ready for tomorrow," Tenten reasoned as she looked over at Naruto. Both of them, having pushed their limits over the last day. "How about…" she started for once feeling a bit nervous for some reason. "How about we go out for a meal tonight? Enjoy and relax. I'm confident you have this down and you can do amazing tomorrow, and you alone will probably be enough to impress and convince Tsunade to come back to the village to treat Lee," she said softly as she felt her heart rate pick up as she really liked the idea of going for a meal with just Naruto.
Naruto, drenched in sweat and breathing hard, looked over at Tenten, his determination still strong despite the exhaustion. As she spoke, he realized just how tired they both were. She had a point—pushing further might only set them back.
When she mentioned going out for a meal, Naruto blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the suggestion. "Yeah, you're right, Tenten. We've done everything we can today, and it's probably better to go in rested tomorrow," he said, nodding in agreement. But the second part of what she said, about going out together, caught his attention in a different way.
He smiled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "A meal, huh? That sounds… pretty nice, actually," he said, feeling a bit of heat rise to his cheeks. He wasn't used to someone suggesting something like that, especially not Tenten. "And thanks, I hope I can impress her enough to bring her back to help Lee. But… it'd be cool to just hang out, you know?"
Naruto looked at Tenten, noticing for the first time how nervous she seemed. Her confidence was usually so steady, but now she looked almost as unsure as he felt. His grin softened. "Let's go for it. You've been amazing this whole time, and I couldn't have done this without you, Tenten-chan. Let's take a break and enjoy ourselves tonight."
Tenten turned a bit pink at the comment, it made her happy to hear Naruto make such a statement to her. She knew that he was growing more and more important to her during the mission. She had time to get to know him, work with him. She felt encouragement from him, and she understood what type of person Naruto Uzumaki was. That type of person was one she liked a lot, someone who believed in her, and could make her heart so very excited by being near him. She had a feeling she understood what made him so special as well too.
"I know you; you want ramen don't you," Tenten suggested knowing of course of Naruto's love for the dish.
Naruto grinned at Tenten's suggestion, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "You know me too well, Tenten-chan! Ramen sounds perfect!" he said, laughing happily. He was feeling closer to her as well, and the idea of spending time with just her outside of training was something that made him excited, though he wasn't entirely sure why. "Let's go get the best ramen in town!"
As Tenten led the way through the main street, searching for a ramen shop, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised that they hadn't found one yet. Every village seemed to have at least one good ramen place. When she felt Naruto's hand suddenly grab hers, she blushed even more, but her heart skipped a beat in a way that felt... nice. She squeezed his hand back, feeling a sense of warmth and connection.
When they finally spotted a small, out-of-the-way ramen stand tucked in a quiet backstreet, Tenten smiled, nodding toward it. "Looks like we found our spot, Naruto-kun," she said softly, her nerves settling. The night felt more relaxed, and the little ramen stand seemed like the perfect place for just the two of them to unwind.
Naruto couldn't help but smile as he glanced at Tenten, feeling a warmth he hadn't expected. This was different. He'd never had a moment like this before. He felt a sense of excitement that went beyond mastering the Rasengan—something more personal. Watching Tenten blush only deepened that feeling. She was beautiful, but in a way that was uniquely her own, different from Sakura. Maybe even more so.
The two of them walked up to the rather simple but homely ramen stand, the seat here was a bench style seat in front of the counter unlike the stools back in Konoha. Behind the counter stood a older man with a gruff beard and messy long dark hair. "Now, what do we have here, a pair of youngsters out and about at night for a little dinner date," he teased as he looked at the two of them. "I think I know just the order for the pair of you tonight. Enough to help make this night special youngsters."
Naruto chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, just here for some ramen," he said with a grin, though the blush on his face betrayed him a bit.
Tenten laughed softly, shaking her head. "Yeah, ramen first, and maybe we'll see about the rest," she joked, playfully nudging Naruto's arm.
The old man chuckled, clearly enjoying the banter. "Ramen it is then. Just don't let it be the only thing you remember about tonight," he said with a wink as he started preparing their meal.
"So how are you feeling about the rasengan, do you think you got it under control," Tenten asked as she sat close to Naruto wanting to talk about something to help her nerves.
Naruto took a moment to think, his fingers absentmindedly tracing the edge of the table. "I think I'm getting there," he replied, his voice steady but excited. "It's definitely tougher than I thought, but I can feel it coming together. With each try, it feels more… natural, you know? I just need to keep practicing, and I'll nail it!"
He glanced over at Tenten, noting how close she was, and it made his heart race a bit. "What about you? How's the elemental chakra training going? You're amazing with your weapons but adding that extra layer must be challenging."
"I figured out I am good with wind chakra and I think I have it mostly when it comes to shuriken, but with any other weapons not so much," she admitted with a smile. It was a step, and the gap in where she was and where she wanted to be was large, but she had at least taken a step.
"Wow, that's awesome, Tenten!" Naruto enthusiastically declared with a knowing smile, "I have seen how hard you have worked to get there, and I am so impressed. You're so cool, Tenten-chan," Naruto declared openly and honestly. "I know, without you I wouldn't be where I am in figuring out the rasengan, and I know together we are even better than I am by myself. I know you're going to get this wind chakra stuff down in no time completely. I know it, because I know how hard you work, and I know just how awesome you are, Tenten."
Naruto leaned back as he thought for a moment, "I already knew that you were good with weapons, but now that I have worked with you. Well, there is so much more to you then I thought," he admitted as he gave her his trademark smile. "I believe in you Tenten, I know that when you figure this out, and I figure out my stuff, together we are going to be unstoppable."
Naruto's enthusiasm was contagious, and he couldn't help but feel pumped up just talking about it. "We're going to impress Tsunade for sure. I can't wait to show her what we can do!"
Tenten smiled and then leaned in and gave Naruto a quick peek on the cheek, "Thanks for supporting me," she said softly as she returned to facing forward. She knew that without Naruto, she wouldn't even be close to where she was. She would have let the frustrations build, and ultimately failed. Giving up on the idea completely in time. Having him to support but also support him. That meant a world of difference in her training.
Naruto's face turned beet red as he felt Tenten's quick peck on his cheek. Naruto pressed his fingers to the spot where he had been kissed. This was a first, he wasn't slapped but kissed. He blinked as his mind processed what happened. His heart beating quickly in his chest. "No Problem, Tenten-chan," he mumbled with a goofy grin on his face. "I'm always here to support you! You're, like, amazing, Tenten!"
Naruto looked unsure what to say, but he thought he had to try to play this off as being cool. Yet, he wasn't so good at that, his heart was beating with joy about this all. He knew that Tenten wasn't just someone he had been training with. That this mission had changed their personal dynamics from virtually strangers to something more than friends. "So, um, what else do you want to do after ramen?" he asked, eager to shift the focus away from his blushing cheeks. "Maybe we can train some more or just hang out? I'd like to spend more time with you."
"A walk around town maybe?" Tenten asked, herself blushing as much as Naruto. She couldn't believe she had done something so bold.
Naruto's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Yeah, a walk around town sounds awesome!" he replied, trying to hide his own blush but failing miserably. "We can check out some of the shops and maybe find a cool place to hang out."
The gruff man smiled as he knew that his read of the young couple was spot on as he put the ramen in front of them. "Enjoy," he said before he took the money and took his leave to clean up his kitchen while he let the young couple eat.
Naruto took the first bite and smiled before he took a second larger bite. "Tenten, this is so good!" he exclaimed, glancing at Tenten with a wide grin. "I'm really glad we decided to do this together. It's way more fun than just training all the time."
He could feel the excitement bubbling inside him, not just from the food but from the thought of spending more time with Tenten, making new memories. "After we eat, let's explore the best spots in town! I'm sure there's a lot to see!"
As soon as the meal was over, Naruto got to his feet and smile as he offered Tenten his hand, "Come on, let's see what we can find that is open this night, maybe we can find you a kunai or something so that we can remember tonight," Naruto said trying to be cool, as he felt so excited to just spend time with Tenten.
Tenten felt her heart flutter at Naruto's gesture. She took his hand, feeling a rush of warmth as she stood up beside him. "That sounds perfect, Naruto-kun!" she said, her smile brightening as she squeezed his hand lightly.
The pair of them wandered off into the night hand in hand. The two of them were more confident than ever that they would be able to convince Tsunade together to come back to the village.
