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Naruto calmly lifted the pot off the stove and pulled out two clean glasses.
With a splash, he filled both glasses with the boiling water. He then reached for a larger pot, poured in more water and dropped two flat noodle cakes inside.
“Genjutsu... can’t it simulate that too?” Tenten beca a little unconfident, especially when she saw the two watery pancakes in the pot. Suddenly, her stomach growled loudly.
"Aahh!" She blushed a little and quickly turned her head away in embarrassnt.
"That shouldn't be possible. Do you rember that door underwater?" Naruto asked, taking out a pair of chopsticks and stirring the pot, the clear sound of water swirling filling the tent.
The tent was spacious enough to comfortably fit five or six people, making cooking inside a non-issue. Naruto himself hadn’t eaten all day, having spent most of the night awake and on alert.
He hadn’t felt the hunger before because he too focused on the task at hand, but now that Tenten was awake, his first priority was to fill his stomach first.
"Door…?" Tenten paused for a mont, then rembered the underwater door that Neji had discovered, "We got pulled through that?"
"Yeah, it's probably the effect of Space-Ti Teleportation or sothing like that." Naruto said, watching the water in the small pot slowly bubbling up.
"If you’re still not sure, you can try doing sothing that goes against the logic of your normal behavior. If you are under a Genjutsu, your mind will lag behind."
"…Sothing that goes against the logic of my normal behavior?" Tenten frowned and stared at Naruto skeptically, but didn't say anything else.
"You wanna eat?" Naruto quickly took out two bowls, scooped up the noodles, added seasoning and began to mix them, "Better than not having the strength to walk tomorrow."
"Thanks." Tenten took the bowl and chopsticks, took the first bite, and suddenly said, "I wonder if Neji and Lee are still hungry out there."
"They should be able to find food by themselves. Maybe not as convenient as us, but they won’t starve." Naruto shrugged, shoveling noodles into his mouth, "As long as they are alive, they will definitely be able to eat enough. At most, they will have to eat raw at and drink blood, but it's good enough that they are alive. Once we find them, we’ll all head back together."
"Of course, that’s assuming they’re also on this island. If they’re sowhere else, then there's nothing we can do. At that ti, we can only return to Konoha first, regroup, and decide where to search next."
Listening to Naruto's sincere but also sinister words, Tenten was speechless, torn between being touched and exasperated.
She imdiately realized that the other party should have so ideas, after all, Naruto had a tense face the whole ti when he ca, but now, he looked relaxed and focused
"Naruto… have you thought of sothing?" She took another bite of noodles and found that it tasted quite good, which made her more determined in her mind.
Food often reflected the cook’s mood. Even with the sa ingredients, soone cooking in a bad mood could produce a disaster.
Tenten gave an objective evaluation. If it was her, she couldn't make it so delicious with these simple seasonings even if she used all her life's knowledge. But now, this simple noodles made by Naruto was delicious.
This just goes to show that Naruto is very relaxed at the mont, probably because he has a new idea.
"Not sure yet, it's just a guess." Naruto quickly finished his noodles and took out new ingredients, preparing to make a stew, "Anyway, let's talk about it tomorrow."
"Alright."
Tenten sighed, resigning herself to the situation. Her frustration quickly turned into an appetite, and after a few bites of the stew, she realized it was surprisingly delicious… so much so that she scarfed down nearly half of it without noticing.
Grief was fleeting; a good al dulled most sorrows. Despite her protests, Tenten couldn't help but fight Naruto for the food. If he hadn’t been quick, the last piece of at would’ve ended up in her bowl.
‘How did she eat so much?’ Naruto wondered, ‘Is her stomach a black hole?’
The next morning.
Naruto took Tenten to continue searching on the island. Since Tenten was injured, Naruto handled the more treacherous terrain, like steep ravines, while she scanned open areas or called out from higher ground.
By late morning, the sun blazed overhead.
"I can’t... I can’t go on! I’m wiped out." Naruto declared, flopping down in the shade of a tree.
Tenten, ever considerate, fanned him while her gaze drifted beyond the glaring sunlight to the distant mountains, "We’ve covered almost the entire forest. The only place left is the other side of the beach.
"Let’s rest a bit. We’ll check the beach after." He said.
Hearing this, Tenten finally caved and asked the question burning in her mind, "Since the search is almost complete… Can you tell your theory now?"
"Sure, though it’s less a theory and more a hunch." Naruto said, "We both got teleported to the sa spot, right? I think Lee and Neji might’ve ended up together too… maybe not far from each other either."
"Why?" Tenten blinked in confusion and asked.
"Just a gut feeling." Naruto said.
"What kind of intuition is that?" Tenten was a little speechless, but still couldn't help but lean over and ask, "Isn't there a more reliable explanation?"
"There is." Naruto added, "Rember the door underwater? If we ended up on this island and they didn’t... it’s reasonable to think they landed sowhere else."
"Where?"
"It's in a place where Pervy Sage has been... but whether they’ll run into him is another matter." Naruto frowned and said, "It’s just a guess… we can’t confirm it yet. All we can do is keep ruling out options and wait."
"Got it." Tenten nodded.
…
Afternoon.
The two scoured the entire beach under the scorching sun, pressing on until they risked sunburn before finally retreating to shade. After taking a few gulps of water, they finally ca back to life.
"Nothing." Tenten said, then looked at Naruto beside her, "So, does this an that your guess is correct? Lee and Neji are in another place?"
"Yeah." Naruto said, looking up at the clear, cloudless sky. As the cool sea breeze washed over them, the sweat on his body instantly evaporated, bringing a hint of coolness.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a mont of silence, he spoke, "Let's stay here for another day and see if we can find the door. If we can't find it, we’ll contact Konoha for backup."
"Sounds good." Tenten agreed without hesitation.
…
The next day.
Naruto took Tenten toward another stretch of beach. He rembered that the cave he and Anko found last ti was there. There was a narrow crevice deep inside the cave, and there seed to be sothing beyond it.
‘If it was a door, that would be great. Even if I couldn't take it with , he could at least check it out. A shortcut between places, even a fixed one, was worth investigating. No way I’m leaving empty-handed.’
But as he walked, Naruto suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Tenten turned to him, and tilted her head curiously.
"…There's news." Naruto said.
"What?"
Naruto didn't respond, but quickly ford hand seals, and slamd his palm to the ground.
With a bang, a puff of white smoke erupted as a long, scroll-bearing toad appeared.
"Naruto! Jiraiya has been found." Gerotora said, "He sent to pass along the news and also get an update from you."
With the Summoning Technique, Gerotora has beco a homing pigeon… no, a homing toad.
"What's going on over there?" Naruto asked after a mont's pause, "I thought Pervy Sage was..."
Gerotora interrupted, "…Jiraiya was stuck in a glacier and almost didn’t make it out. Then, two people fell from the sky right on top of him."
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