"Natsuki! You're back!"
Tenten's eyes reddened, a wave of guilt surging within her—but she held back her tears.
"Tenten, are you okay?"
Natsuki immediately stepped forward to check on her, and upon confirming she wasn't injured, he let out a breath of relief. But then his eyes shifted to Ino, Hinata, and Choji—all struck by Sasori's senbon.
This wasn't good.
Considering the enemy was Sasori, the poison in those senbon wouldn't be mild. It would take Tsunade herself to heal this.
"I'm fine," Tenten replied quickly, "but several people are poisoned. Megumi said the toxin's strong—we need to get them to Tsunade-sama fast!"
Natsuki nodded. "We'll talk later. First I'm taking the poisoned back!"
Without delay, he reached out and touched the wounded with chakra—whoosh!—he vanished, reappearing the next moment inside Tsunade's office.
Tsunade had been reviewing documents while Shizune held Tonton, clearly bored. When Natsuki appeared with several injured behind him, both women jumped in shock.
"Natsuki?! What happened?!"
Natsuki didn't reply. Instead, he vanished again.
Moments later, he reappeared with Megumi and Sakura in tow. He left them to explain the situation to Tsunade—he wasn't well-versed in poisons anyway.
Then Natsuki flashed back to the battlefield. Now, only the uninjured remained. The other examinees and proctors had already fled far away. Good thing, too—otherwise the casualties would've been much worse.
"Alright, someone tell me what happened." Natsuki gently ruffled Tenten's twin buns.
"We ran into Deidara and Sasori," Tenten explained everything that had transpired, including her own mistake. "It's all my fault. I should've listened to Shikamaru and contacted you sooner. If I had, nobody would've been poisoned. I thought we could handle it on our own—I didn't want to keep relying on you. But… I wasn't strong enough."
She lowered her head, devastated.
After all, she had just been proud of countering Deidara's clay bombs… only to end up relying on her boyfriend again in the end.
Natsuki said nothing. He simply stroked her hair gently.
He knew Tenten was strong—emotionally and mentally. She didn't need comforting words. She would stand back up on her own. What she needed was someone quietly by her side.
But suddenly—BANG!
Naruto punched the ground with a trembling voice.
"Tenten, what nonsense are you saying, dattebayo!? You protected everyone! You countered the clay guy, you repelled the puppet guy—it was mostly you! Getting hurt and poisoned is part of fighting strong enemies! I… I didn't do anything! I could only watch—completely useless—dattebayo!"
Shino added calmly, "This truly isn't Tenten's fault. Natsuki, you've always trusted my strength… said that you felt safe when I was around. But this time… I let you down. I didn't do enough."
That regret gnawed at Shino.
Natsuki had always shown faith in him, even said he'd entrust him with his back. But this time, it had been Tenten doing all the heavy lifting while the rest of them faltered. That shame weighed heavily on him.
Neji also stepped forward. "If we're pointing fingers, the fault lies with all of us chūnin exam proctors."
Even the usually lazy Shikamaru spoke up. "Come on, let's not all rush to take blame. The truth is—the enemies were just too strong. It's beyond our level. Tenten managing to force them to retreat? That's already incredible."
Everyone fell silent again.
Especially the newly minted chūnin. Just moments ago, they had been puffed up with pride after passing the exams. Now, they were crushed by the reality of power levels.
Even if they weren't comparing themselves to Natsuki, they were still quietly measuring themselves against each other. And many were boys with strong pride—being protected by a girl their own age? That was a hard pill to swallow.
Just then, Sasuke, who had remained quiet all this time, finally spoke:
"Tenten, you weren't the only one trying to prove yourself. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If someone wants to become strong, they shouldn't depend on others all the time. You could've relied on Natsuki, but you chose to stand your ground and face the enemy alone. That's called courage and resolve. That's the path to becoming stronger. So I don't think you did anything wrong."
Everyone turned to Sasuke, surprised by his words.
He continued, "Earlier, I secretly followed Natsuki and Kakashi-sensei and ran into Uchiha Itachi—my greatest enemy, and a powerful one. I insisted on fighting him myself… but I failed. I wasted time. Natsuki had to fight him in the end."
Sasuke's voice dropped slightly.
"So if you didn't contact Natsuki immediately… you were right. Because even if your message had arrived earlier, Natsuki wouldn't have been available. He was in the middle of that fight. And besides—you were the one who pushed the enemy back! You should be proud, not ashamed! Fighting strong enemies always comes with wounds. And these guys were from Akatsuki. You did better than I did. So why are you blaming yourself!?"
Tenten opened her mouth—but couldn't speak.
She knew Sasuke was probably right.
But she still felt unsatisfied with her own strength.
After all, the enemy hadn't retreated because of her, but because they realized Natsuki was on the way. That wasn't her victory.
Still, there was one thing she agreed with Sasuke on—
If you want to become strong, you can't always depend on others.
She had become too used to relying on Natsuki. And that wasn't good for her growth. That's why she had chosen to fight—even when Natsuki had warned her about Akatsuki's danger.
In the end, she hadn't succeeded.
She still had a long way to go.
Tenten wiped her eyes and smiled. "You guys don't all have to lecture me. I'm not weak—I'll bounce back myself. Didn't you notice? Natsuki hasn't said a single word. He knows me best. He knows I don't need comforting."
Everyone looked at her smile—and finally breathed easier.
They had really been afraid she'd spiral into guilt.
Then they all looked at Natsuki.
True enough—he had stayed silent, calm, never once trying to comfort her aloud.
Because he understood her better than anyone else.
At that moment, the examinees and proctors who had previously run far away returned.
Leading them were the long-absent Asuma and Might Guy!
Both elite jōnin looked worn and uneasy.
(End of Chapter)
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