Chapter 141: It's Time to Make Our Relationship Clear
Chōji's actions brought the Konoha rookies together, and they began to chat about the details of the exam and their hopes for future team assignments.
A moment later, Sasuke also walked out. Although he no longer had Sakura and Ino fawning over him, his appearance still drew cheers from many of the other girls. He still wore that same smug look, only walking over when he saw Akiyama Makoto.
"When are you going to teach me something new?" Sasuke asked bluntly.
Makoto patted his shoulder. "You'll have a teacher to guide you from now on. They're much stronger than my paltry little tricks."
"Really?" Sasuke was skeptical. Although he didn't know Makoto's true strength, the fact that he could break down the basics and teach them to him was enough to show his mastery of those ninjutsu. When he himself had tried to teach Naruto, all he could manage to get out was the word "idiot."
Oh well. Perhaps the Jōnin instructors really are stronger than him.
"By the way, Makoto-kun, who are you waiting for? Everyone we know should be here by now, right?" Ino couldn't help but ask, seeing that some of the children had already left with their parents.
At this moment, Sasuke made a rare interjection. "Who else but that idiot? I think he probably failed."
Just as his words fell, Naruto walked out, dejected.
Sasuke had been ready for a shouting match with him, but instead, Naruto walked gloomily to the distant swing set and sat down, looking as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.
"Looks like he really did fail," Shikamaru sighed.
"It's not that surprising, is it? He's such a troublemaker," Chōji added.
His words sounded cold at first, but they weren't wrong. In the original story, Naruto had a very mischievous personality right up until graduation. He didn't just slack off in his regular classes; he was also inconsistent with his ninjutsu lessons. While his inability to perform the Transformation Jutsu was partly due to the Nine-Tails' interference, the lack of proper guidance was also a key factor.
Sasuke frowned, looking at Naruto, and considered whether to go and comfort him.
But Makoto said, "Let me."
He held up the yakiniku coupons. "If you run into something that makes you unhappy, just have a big meal."
He walked up to Naruto and handed him a coupon.
Naruto looked at him strangely. Were they on such good terms? Although he had learned a lot from following him recently, he was always teaching Sasuke; he was just an afterthought. Coupled with the situation with Sakura, he had thought Makoto disliked him.
"Everyone gets one, so of course I can't leave you out. Besides, I brought a camera. Don't you want to take a commemorative photo with everyone?"
Naruto bit his lip, and the faint taste of blood filled his mouth. After two seconds of silence, he turned and ran away. As a failure, he could not accept charity from others.
Makoto didn't do anything more. He knew someone would go to "comfort" Naruto, and that tonight, he would have his own fortuitous encounter. Hiruzen Sarutobi would never allow Naruto to fail to graduate. If he, the Hokage, had taught Minato's son and turned him into this, wouldn't that make him look like too much of a failure?
"Alright, alright, let's not worry about him, Makoto-kun. Did you really bring a camera?" Sakura rushed over and grabbed him, even boldly taking his hand.
Seeing this, her parents just felt a sense of warmth. If their daughter were to stop being a kunoichi because of this, they would be overjoyed.
Ino, not to be outdone, pulled him to a spot with good lighting to start taking pictures.
Yamanaka Inoichi covered his head as he watched this. Shouldn't the first photo be with her family? What was the meaning of going to him first?
Hiashi Hyūga, on the other hand, was much calmer. From this day forward, Hinata was half a follower of his. Let alone taking a photo, even if he treated Hinata as a maid, as long as he didn't do anything inappropriate at this age, Hiashi wouldn't interfere.
Makoto had the staff member who had come with him start taking pictures. Amidst the flashing of the magnesium light, after a large group photo, the girls began to pull him aside for individual photos. Although many people were looking at them with playful expressions, as if trying to guess their relationship, Ino and the others could no longer care. Once they became ninja, their time with him would be much less. They had to seize every opportunity.
It wasn't until the staff member said there weren't many film plates left that, at his urging, the girls finally took photos with their families.
At this point, what he needed to do was pretty much done. He said goodbye to everyone. Although he had given them a large number of coupons, he had no intention of going to the restaurant with them today to celebrate. Taking photos with them had already taken up their time with their families. The celebration for the rest of the day should naturally be spent with them.
Of course, after that, there was still his time.
In the coupons he had given to the three girls, he had tucked a small note, inviting them to go moongazing in the forest with him at night.
Since Level 3 affection meant confirming a relationship, then there had to be a process of confession and acceptance. Ambiguity would no longer work at this point. The fact that he had tried to bluff his way to a Level 3 relationship with Hinata at her house and failed was the best proof of this.
So, what he had to do was simple: confess, have all four of them accept, and then prevent them from fighting each other or attacking him. To achieve this, he needed to use tonight's "big event" as a backdrop for his grand confession.
Soon, night fell.
He came to the forest from his memory. This was probably the place where Naruto's thousand shadow clones would make their debut. As for why he was so sure, it was because there was a small hut here, which was a landmark in the forest. And with his sensory ability, as long as he wasn't off by more than a few kilometers, he could find his way there smoothly.
Sitting on a tree branch, he looked up at the moon. Tonight was a full moon, a perfect match for a demon fox.
"Heehee, you're already here!"
Tenten flipped onto the branch and sat down beside him, tilting her head to look at him, her sparkling eyes reflecting only his image.
He naturally hadn't forgotten to invite her. Today was also the first anniversary of her graduation, wasn't it?
"I heard you went to take pictures with them. I thought you had forgotten about me."
"How could I? If you want to take pictures, we can make it up tomorrow."
"Alright, you make it sound like I'm so petty. Seeing as you invited me out, I'll forgive you."
Although the two of them often trained together and would even eat and drink on the street every week, those were things friends could do. But his invitation now was different. The two of them, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the cool, moonlit forest... the slightly chilly air made one unable to resist the urge to get closer.
Tenten's heart skipped a beat as he put his arm around her shoulder. A faint blush rose on her cheeks, but she didn't make any drastic movements, instead leaning into his embrace. The air was cool, but the warmth from his body was comforting.
She now regretted not dressing up a little more. If he were to do something else later, and she was too embarrassed to refuse, what would she do?
Time slowly passed as the two embraced. He suddenly smiled. "It seems they're here."
"They?" she asked, confused.
"Yes. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata."
Tenten immediately shot up, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "Why are they here too? Don't tell me you want to train together at a time like this?"
"No. Actually, I have something important to say. We can't just go on like this, so vaguely."
He took an envelope from his chest. There were no words on it, but it clearly contained a letter.
Just as she was about to take it, a chaotic noise suddenly came from the distance.
Naruto, carrying a giant scroll on his back, shot out of the forest like a raccoon dog. He was surprised to see the two of them cuddling together. Then, he showed a suggestive smile. "Seeing as you gave me a coupon today, I won't tell Sakura about your secret date. See ya!"
With that, his figure flashed and disappeared. Then, Iruka appeared.
"You two—it's you. There's no time to explain! Was that just Naruto?"
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