"Well, you're right. Let's get going then."
Kakashi had no objections—he'd been wanting to leave for a while now. He was only waiting for Natsuki to pick him up, so it'd be faster.
The two exited the house and quickly found Fu to say goodbye.
Fu looked reluctant. "You're leaving already? Natsuki just got here and hasn't even had a proper al!"
Natsuki chuckled. "My girlfriend is waiting for to co ho and eat, so I really can't stay away much longer. But Fu, how about you send off with so local specialties? I'll take them back to make my girlfriend happy."
Fu agreed right away. "Of course! I'll go get them!"
She really went and brought back quite a lot—her enthusiasm was off the charts.
Natsuki didn't just take them for free, though. He handed her a kunai marked with the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) formula. "Fu, you've probably seen vanish out of nowhere before—this is how I do it. As long as you carry this kunai and manage to send a ssage, I can appear at your side instantly."
Fu clutched the kunai tightly like a precious treasure. "Thank you! I won't be polite about this!"
Fu was cheerful, but not naïve. She understood that her existence could bring calamity to her village. This kunai from Natsuki might be the key to saving it.
She knew how strong Natsuki was.
A man who could create terrifying giants—there was no doubt he could save the village from disaster!
All she had to do was get a ssage to him in ti.
Of course, Fu hoped the Akatsuki wouldn't show up at all, but she wouldn't count on luck. She'd already planned with Shiki: if the Akatsuki ca, she'd go with them willingly and ask them to spare the village—then let Shiki find a way to contact Natsuki. That was the best plan.
"Alright, we're off."
Natsuki waved, and together with Kakashi, vanished in a flash.
Fu continued holding the kunai tightly, silently praying that disaster would never arrive.
anwhile, Natsuki and Kakashi reappeared directly inside the Hokage's office. After reporting Fu's situation with the Seven-Tails, they left and headed ho.
Natsuki went straight to the ninja tools shop. The mont he stepped in, he called out:
"Father-in-law, father-in-law! Look what I brought you! These are specialty goods from Sunagakure! And these here are from Takigakure! Bet you've never been there, huh? Their local goods are really nice!"
He pulled out one item after another as he spoke.
The shopkeeper actually inspected each item carefully, and a smile unconsciously tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Still, he kept his tsundere act going. "Ahem! You've got so thoughtfulness. Even though these look pretty average, it's the sentint that counts. I suppose I'll accept them—just this once."
He was clearly happy, but had to pretend otherwise.
Natsuki didn't argue and chatted with his soon-to-be father-in-law for a while before heading straight to Tenten's room.
Inside the bedroom, Tenten wasn't resting—she was tinkering with sothing.
Natsuki walked over and saw she was working on sothing like a projectile device.
"What's this?" Natsuki asked, examining it.
"It's a senbon launcher!"
Tenten grinned. "I modeled it after that move used by Sasori of the Red Sand. It's really effective, so I shalessly copied it. As for poison, I'll just ask Tsunade-sama for so."
Seeing Tenten had already shaken off her previous discouragent, Natsuki smiled.
He gently pulled her into his arms, but his words weren't so serious: "Tenten, I bought so Wind Country-style clothes. Wanna wear them for ?"
Tenten glared at him, cheeks flushed. "You never have decent thoughts!"
Natsuki looked cheeky. "But isn't that a decent thought? If not now, then wear it for tonight!"
Tenten gave a half-laugh, half-sigh: "Fine, fine! I'll wear them and sleep next to you tonight, happy now? Geez. If you're so free, then co help —this part's tough to work out!"
Natsuki saluted, looking serious: "Understood, wifey!"
That made Tenten laugh again. The two of them stayed in the room working on the senbon launcher—copying Sasori's design, and even making so of their own variations.
Sure, senbon launchers might beco weak later on, but since Tenten was so into it right now, Natsuki naturally kept her company.
Tenten said, "Natsuki, I want you to teach your fūinjutsu (sealing technique)."
Natsuki blinked. "You want to learn that too?"
Tenten nodded earnestly. "I still don't have access to the Six Paths Tools, so I need to keep getting stronger. I'm not talented in ninjutsu or genjutsu, and I'm not good at dical ninjutsu either. I can learn taijutsu from Guy-sensei, and sealing techniques are the other option. As long as it can make stronger, I'll learn anything!"
"Good, that's the right mindset!"
Natsuki flicked her cute nose. "Humans grow stronger through constant learning. Look at —I'm still working hard to study in the Senju archives. If you want to learn, I'll get you the knowledge."
Tenten's eyes sparkled with joy. "You're the best husband ever! As a reward, co here—muah muah muah~!"
What? A couple of cheek kisses?
No way that was enough!
Natsuki wasn't shy at all. He grabbed her and used the Hiraishin to take her ho—ti for a little crow flies the airplane action.
The next day, Iruka and Ebisu were summoned to the Hokage's office along with the genin.
Tsunade waited until everyone was present before making an announcent.
"This ti, your performance in the Chūnin Exams was excellent. After discussion with the upper ranks, it has been decided—you are all officially promoted to chūnin!"
"Yeah! We're chūnin, dattebayo!"
Naruto leapt up and danced with joy, and the others were just as excited.
Finally, they were no longer genin. That was a big deal.
But Tsunade's next words wiped the smiles off their faces:
"In addition, based on recomndations from Guy, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma, Hyūga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke will be promoted to jōnin. Abura Shino and Nara Shikamaru will be promoted to tokubetsu jōnin (special jōnin)!"
Nani?! Those guys got promoted to jōnin?!
The others were stunned. They'd just thought they were catching up to their peers, and now so of them were already leaping ahead again.
Shikamaru scratched his head. "Ugh, how troubleso… Asuma always does annoying things like this."
He wasn't happy about the promotion. Even as a tokubetsu jōnin, it ant more work—and that didn't align with his lazy lifestyle.
Natsuki, though, was a little surprised. "Shino, honestly, you should've been made a full jōnin."
Shino shook his head. "I'm still not strong enough. I need to beco stronger. Even Tenten is a tokubetsu jōnin—I can't surpass her yet."
So that was the reason.
Seems like his encounter with the Akatsuki had shaken his confidence.
Truthfully, Shino didn't need to be so harsh on himself. The Abura clan's fighting style was very unique, and so enemies were natural counters. Sasori, for instance, was a full-body puppet—bugs were useless against him.
But Shino had a strong sense of pride. He didn't feel he was ready to be a full jōnin, so he had Kurenai only recomnd him for tokubetsu jōnin.
(End of Chapter)
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