Chapter 18: An Unexpected Turn Of Events Part One

"Lady Tsunade!" A black-haired woman pushed open the door to the Hokage's office.

"What is it, Shizune? Can't you see I'm working on important documents right now?!" Tsunade scolded her assistant.

"I'm sorry, but we have some important messengers here from the Hidden Cloud."

"What? The Hidden Cloud?"

"Yes, My Lady."

"Well don't just stand there, bring them in!" Tsunade ordered.

"Y-Yes!" Shizune obeyed and hurried out the door.

The Hokage intertwined her fingers and brought them just below her nose.

The Hidden Cloud...? Just what is the Raikage's reason for sending in some messengers to this village? Did he have a problem with one of my ninjas during a mission?

Moments later, Shizune entered the room again and this time had members of the Hidden Cloud ANBU right behind her. Their presence disturbed the female sannin.

So... this must be important if he's sending in the ANBU.

"Lady Hokage." The leader of the group bowed on his knee to show respect, "Lord Raikage sent us here cause he believes that a rogue ninja may have escaped here."

"Hold on a minute!" Tsunade slammed her hand on her desk and stood up, "You're telling me that a rogue ninja may have snuck in this village?!"

"Yes." The leader nodded before ordering someone to give a picture of the kunoichi to the beautiful woman.

"That there is the picture of a young lady named Nia Umino."

"She has the same last name as Iruka!" Tsunade noticed.

"Indeed."

"Shizune!" Tsunade called.

"I'm on it, My Lady!" The assistant understood what her superior ordered without any words spoken. She left the room.

Tsunade then focused her attention back on the messengers, "I assure you, no one outside of this village has stepped in here besides you few. However, I promise you this; I'll have my top ninja searching every square inch of this town for anyone appearing suspicious or matching the person on this photo just in case. It will relieve your Raikage."

"Thank you, but may we have permission to join the search as well?"

"You do not; I can't allow any mess ups to occur. If your rogue ninja is here and she spots the ANBU from her village, it's very likely she'll find a means of escape and she'll be out of your grasp for who knows how long."

The leader nodded, "Understood."

Meanwhile, back where Naruto, Jiraiya, and Nia were, they entered a bar that Jiraiya had managed to get the underaged young ones in.

"Haaah..." Nia sighed as her, Jiraiya, and Naruto sat at a table.

"Welcome," An attractive brown-haired woman with curls reaching to her chest and a nice tan with an equally great figure, greeted the three as she gave each a menu, "My name is Misaki and I'll be your waitress today."

Immediately, Jiraiya's eyes turned into hearts.

"Why helloooo there, young lady. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He complimented her beauty.

"Oh my, you're too much." She giggled as the sannin began to flirt with her.

'There he goes again...' Naruto sweat dropped as he opened his menu, 'Lets see... do they have any ramen here?'

Meanwhile, Misaki's appearance had made Nia feel ashamed of her own. She noticed how the guys in the bar were talking, smiling, and staring at all the waitresses as they were all very beautiful. There was not one single woman in the restaurant who was deemed less than hot. All except Nia, of course.

Ugh! Why did Jiraiya-sensei bring us here? I hate when all the waitresses are dressed like skanks and they're just all perfect. It's so annoying.

Her mind then thought about the opposite gender and her eyes quickly scanned the room to see if the bar at least hired attractive men to go along with the beautiful women.

She looked and glanced at all the bartending men behind the counter and sighed in disappointment.

Haaah... I knew it. They only hire women based on their looks and men on their actual skills.

"And you?" The girl suddenly heard her waitress speak to her, "What would you like, darling?"

"Oh!" Nia grabbed her menu and opened it up. Quickly, her eyes spotted something pleasing to her and gave her order.

"And what type of beverage would you like to go with that?" Misaki was writing everything down on her notepad.

"Um... you guys got any pink lemonade?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll get that please. Thank you." Nia said politely.

"You are very welcome, dear." The woman smiled then went on her way.

"Naruto, isn't she a beauty?" Jiraiya turned to his student, who was sitting to his right by the window.

"Yeah, she's pretty." He answered casually.

Nia looked down as she felt a slight stab in her heart as she heard the genin acknowledge the woman's outer appearance.

'Somehow... I... wish he'd think the same of me...' She slid down her seat a little as she gazed at the boy across her while he talked to their master.

"Look at that girl," Her ears then picked up on the sound of a man who he and his friend's table were nearby to that of her own, "She's ugly as hell."

His friend chuckled, "I know. Ew."

These were middle-aged men insulting and mocking the young girl who was only minding her own business.

Hearing this, Nia lowered her eyes once more as she was again hearing many people commenting on her face. Some were pointing, others made jokes and laughed loudly, and the rest were just trying to keep their voice low as they talked behind her back.

'It doesn't matter where I go...' She thought to herself, 'I'm always being talked about like this by pretty much everyone. I can't ignore it when they're all calling me ugly. Haah, why can't they just ignore me? If they're not insulting me, they're just feeling bad for me which doesn't help at all. If anything, that makes me feel even worse about myself. I don't want their pity.'

"All right, here are your drinks." Misaki came back with everyone's beverages quickly, "Your orders should be here shortly."

"Thanks, sweetie." Jiraiya winked as the woman once more giggled a bit before walking away once more.

Meanwhile, as Nia was too busy thinking to herself, Naruto was gazing at her as he slurped on the juice he had wanted.

'Black hair, huh?' He thought as he did this, 'I don't get it. What's so great about dark hair? Usually, those guys are so stuck up and think they're better than everyone. Blondes are the way to go, ya know? She should like blondes like me!'

"Dang, this lemonade tastes good." Nia said after slurping her drink a bit with a straw.

Her eyes then glanced at Naruto only to see that he was smiling at her. Quickly, she looked down as blood quickly filled her cheeks.

What the heck... why's he looking at me like that?

She then pondered whether or not she should smile back at him. However, she was afraid to do so as she was frightened he wouldn't find her smile nice in any way.

What should I do? What should I do?

And so, for the next half hour or so, the three conversed and ate their meals before Jiraiya once more separated from the teens so he could do some more of his "research" alone.

Having gone outside, Nia rubbed nervously on her right arm.

"Man, Pervy Sage always ditches us, ya know?" Naruto shook his head.

"Yeah..." Nia mumbled, "So... I take it you want us to split up and regroup later then?"

"What? No way! That'd be too boring! Let's walk around the village and see if there is anything that'll catch our eye."

Though a bit thrown off from his reply, Nia nodded and the two headed off in a random direction.

For a while they talked about whatever came to mind. As they did so, Nia's mind began to feel at ease. It was nice for her to hear the sound of a kind voice and look into the eyes of a gentle soul.

She couldn't understand it; how Naruto was putting her at ease. He just... did. The feeling she'd get from him was like a baby getting the relaxation from sucking on their thumb or pacifier as they slept during the night. It was the most soothing thing she ever felt in her entire life. It was a feeling she just couldn't ignore.

Sometimes she'd be scared of what she was now feeling because they were all so new to her. However, those fears didn't prevent her from feeling what she did. It would be futile to do so.

"Yeah, so anyway, Sakura is just such a beauty, ya know?" Naruto suddenly brought up his teammate as Nia was pulled away from her sanctuary and was displeased to hear him talking about his crush once more.

"No really," The boy continued, "She has such nice big eyes, a cute small nose, her hair is silky, her skin is flawless and she's just really freaking pretty."

Hearing this made the kunoichi feel bad about how she appeared. Her eyes were small, her nose was a bit too big, her skin wasn't perfect, and her natural hair would grow in kinky as opposed to silky or straight.

"When her hair gets wet, it goes down really straight and it makes her look even prettier, Curly Brow."

Again, this comment stung the girl in the heart. She took some strands of her hair and observed it then sighed in disappointment.

He would never think I'm pretty for sure now... My hair doesn't go straight like most girls when it gets wet. It just turns into some ugly afro. Haah, why did I have to be born with this hard to manage freaking hair? I hate it. I want my hair to be beautiful and easier to deal with. I want it to be like my older sister's. Her hair grows in wavy and not kinky like mine...

Now feeling bad about how she was made, Nia lowered her eyes as her heart grew heavy.

It always feels like guys aren't attracted to black girl hair... they just think natural hair is ugly or something.

She next clenched at her shirt where her heart was.

Geez, what the hell is wrong with me? Why am I so damn obsessed over how he sees me all of a sudden? I want to be beautiful so no one will make fun of me and so I can live the normal life I wish for so dearly, not so he could view me as beautiful and end up loving and wanting to be with me with all his heart...

Her gaze then fixated on the profile of the blonde's face.

'But somehow," She continued thinking to herself, 'I have this... overwhelming desire in me that I can't ignore. It's so strong, I can't take it! I've seen how my parents act with one another. I've seen how my mom cares for my dad and how he cares for her. I've seen how they're there for each other, how they complete one another, how they're exact opposites yet get along so well. I've seen how happy they get, how they argue but resolve the issue, how they're right for one another. It's like... I crave for what my mother experiences with my dad with someone I'm into though...'

Her mind wandered further.

My mom... I've seen how beautiful she looked at my age through pictures and videos. I remember her stories about how kindly everyone treated her, how no one picked on her, how every guy wanted to date her... how females either envied her, wanted to look like her or befriend her. Even my own grandma was the same as her! My sisters too... they have people who think they're pretty and important. Then... there's me...

Nia sighed.

The ugly child. The ugly sister. The ugly friend. The good-for-nothing. The hated one. The bullied one. The made-fun-of one. The worthless one. The pitiful one. The creature. The monkey. The gorilla. The dog. The beast... I'm nothing. I have no light, no sense of direction, no anything. I really am just a walking dead woma- creature.

While she kept being her usual negative self, Naruto reflected back on the words his master had told him just the other day.

"Kid, I'm telling you... she looks like she's starting to have the hots for you... Why don't you try asking her on a date or something? That way, she'll feel more comfortable around you like you want her to be..."

Naruto glanced at the girl next to him then shook his head and crossed his arms behind his head.

Pervy Sage can't be serious... Curly Brow isn't feeling any sort of way toward me... and besides, I already like Sakura.

He then gazed at her a bit longer, thinking of everything that occurred between them a couple nights back.

But... I kinda am curious. If Pervy Sage keeps claiming she's all falling for me, then I kinda wanna see for myself if it's true or not...

"Curly Brow, hey..." He awkwardly broke the ice. "I was thinking... we should probably hang around somewhere alone and get to know one another on a deeper level... You know, just the two of us... What do you say?"

With that said, he once more glanced at the girl to see she wasn't paying attention.

"Hellooooo!" Nia was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as Naruto was desperately trying to get her attention by waving his hand in her face.

"W-What? Did you say something?" She freaked out.

"Man, you easily space out, ya know?" The blonde told her as Nia suddenly spotted something very pleasing to her eyes many yards ahead, "Anyway, I was saying since it's just us two and I like being around you and think you're cool, we should take this time and go on a da-"

"I'm sorry, but I gotta go!" Nia interrupted as she began to pick up the pace a bit.

"Curly Brow, wait! I'm trying to ask you out on a da-"

"I'll see you later!" The girl didn't hear the boy as she broke out into a run to where she had spotted a shop where they gave customers an amazing makeover.

As he watched her take off, Naruto sweat dropped, tilted his head, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"You could've just said no instead of running away, ya know?" He sighed before turning around and crossing his arms behind his head as he walked back to where he believed his master to be.

I knew Pervy Sage was wrong when he said she liked me... she totally ran away when I was trying to give her the chance to go on a date with me. Oh well... I guess what happened that night when she told me what kind of guy she liked meant absolutely nothing to her then. Pervy Sage is always wrong about women... When we get to the Leaf, I'm totally asking Sakura out again! She's pretty!

Meanwhile, Nia was pushing through a crowd of people as she was hoping to be someone who would get the chance to have her looks transformed. She had remembered the girls in the Cloud constantly talking about a beauty shop where they'd change the looks of a plain or unattractive girl or woman into that of a beautiful kunoichi if one was desperate enough.

'This is my chance! My break!' She thought as she approached closer and closer to the shop, 'If these people can make me look beautiful, I won't be laughed at anymore! I'll be treated like a human being and not some nasty disease! Guys will finally stop glaring at me and giving me disgusted looks and will maybe even smile at me! I'll be normal!

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A/N - Okay, that's the end of Part one. Very short, I know. It took me less than an hour or two to type out. I may update part two on the weekend or the next chapter.

Anyways thanks for reading! Please comment and vote and have a great night everyone! ❤️