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Tenten closed her eyes and spoke weakly, "You’re right. It’s your business. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lashed out. I just... felt overwhelmed, that’s all. I’m sorry..."

Her voice cracked, tears spilling over.

"It’s fine, really." Naruto comforted.

"I've always considered Neji a companion and I've always admired him." Tenten couldn't hold back her emotions anymore and burst into tears.

"Watching how hard he trained, learning about the Hyuga Clan’s secrets... After all these years, you’d think I’d be happy for him. He escaped the Caged Bird, and his future should be brighter now, but…" Her words dissolved into sobs.

Naruto listened without saying anything, just shaking his head, ‘Man... fate’s messed up sometimes.’

"Honestly, I'm happy for Neji. After all, he's finally entered a new chapter in life…" Tenten wiped her tears and her tone gradually returned to normal.

"But you like him, don’t you?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah... I like him. Neji’s always been caring and dependable, just like an older brother." Tenten sobbed, "Lee’s great, too and he also looks out for me... just, y’know, he’s Lee."

"Hmm?" Naruto looked at Tenten, "That... sounded weirder than you probably meant it."

He wasn’t sure what kind of ‘like’ Tenten meant, but it seemed more like a deep-seated reliance than romantic affection.

Neji, for his part, had never shown signs of seeing Tenten as anything beyond a teammate. Team 3 had always been straightforward that way.

In fact, among the four teams, except for Sakura who openly liked Sasuke, the members of other teams did not seem to have feelings for their teammates.

After all, being Shinobi is not playing house, and a group of three can be male or female. If a Shinobi develops an emotional attachment, they will inevitably become irrational when performing a mission.

Losing a teammate who was also a lover? That kind of grief could drive someone insane.

For example, Obito is willing to destroy the world for Rin, and there are too many other examples. The people from the same team rarely let their personal feelings get in the way of their duty.

It can be said that Team 7 is a completely special team, as they are likely formed by the members hand-picked by Sandaime himself. After all, Naruto liked Sakura, and Sakura liked Sasuke.

In some cases, the two orphans used Sakura as a medium to establish a bond. This is a good idea, but it's a pity that the ‘blond idiot’ slot had been swapped out along the way.

Naruto didn’t feel any emotional attachment or romantic spark toward Sakura. In fact, he later developed feelings for Ino and Hinata, and as for his relationship with Sakura... well, never mind. It was just an accident anyway. He wasn’t actually some kind of cuckold.

Right now, though, he was just casually comforting Tenten. He didn’t really care about her feelings for Neji, as what mattered to him was tomorrow’s trip into the underground cavern.

"Thanks for keeping me company, Naruto." Tenten said, wiping away her tears, "I feel a lot better. It’s just... sometimes I think about it and get upset, and a bit scared."

"Scared? Of what?" He asked.

"People change after getting married, don’t they? When you grow up, it feels like there’s nothing left to talk about." Tenten said with a choked voice, "It’s like... I’m going to lose another friend I could talk to about anything. And I don’t even know when I started growing up."

"It just feels like I’ll end up lonelier and lonelier. I probably can’t get married anyway, and I don’t know what to do. Thinking about it just makes me feel awful."

"Is that so?" Naruto didn't know what to say for a moment, "It's okay, at least Lee is..."

He suddenly remembered that Lee would also get married. After all, Lee’s obsession with Taijutsu didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in women.

Scratching his head to cover the awkwardness, Naruto trailed off into silence.

"You don’t have to comfort me. I’ve figured things out now.” She said.

"That's good." Naruto nodded, feeling vaguely relieved.

As the fire burned steadily, the tent warmed up significantly. Tenten, no longer needing her blanket, tossed it aside and sat up, fanning herself with her hand. Her cheeks were tinged with red, her pajamas clinging lightly to her form.

Naruto glanced at her, then quickly averted his eyes.

"Get some sleep. We’ve got things to do tomorrow."

"Okay." Tenten responded.

The night passed without incident.

…

The next day.

Perhaps because she’d let out all her emotions the night before, Tenten seemed much more energetic, with a faint smile on her face. Her gaze unsettled Naruto to the point where he swallowed nervously and said, "Tenten... why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason. I’m just in a good mood." She replied.

"Oh... good mood, huh…" Naruto’s mouth twitched as he packed up the tent and took the lead, "Let's go, follow me."

"Okay."

Naruto had never been one to guess what was on a girl’s mind, after all, women’s thoughts were like needles at the bottom of the ocean.

He didn’t know what exactly Tenten had figured out last night, but as long as she was fine, that was all that mattered.

Seeing her cheerful expression, he felt a twinge of unease and muttered under his breath, "So weird…"

By late morning, the two of them had left the beach and entered the hinterland of the island of Land of Whirlpools. After some searching, they finally found the underground cave Naruto had mentioned.

"This cave is so deep!" Tenten leaned over to take a look and couldn't help but sigh at the darkness below.

"Slide down along the wall. I’ll go first and catch you at the bottom." After Naruto said that, he jumped down skillfully and used Chakra to slow his descent.

The way down was smooth, and he landed at the cave floor without trouble. Scanning the surroundings, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

"All clear! Come on down!" Naruto called up.

"Okay!" Tenten responded, jumping down after him. Her landing also went smoothly.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she curiously glanced around, only to recoil in shock at the sight of twenty-seven statues looming in the stone chamber. She pointed at the ferocious statues and asked tremblingly, “N-Naruto... what are those...?”

"I don't know what it is, but since they’re carved here, they have to be something unusual." Naruto looked up. It was already noon, but there was no sunlight coming in.

"This is an extremely dark place, with no sunlight all year round. Logically speaking, it doesn't make sense to build a shrine here."

"A shrine? So... it isn’t a shrine?" Tenten shivered, the air was indeed cold and chilling.

"Good question. I don't know either." Naruto waved his hand, motioning her to follow, "Stop asking so many questions. Curiosity kills the cat."

"O-okay.” Tenten mumbled, hurrying after him, "Naruto, are you planning to steal something from here?"

"What do you mean by steal? How can you call this stealing?" Naruto shot her a look, then spoke with complete confidence, "I just came back to inherit the clan property. Besides… I'm the Clan Head."