Chapter 24: Imprisoned

Several miles from Konoha, Jiraiya and his two students were walking down a path that would lead to the village hidden in the leaves.

"I can't wait to get back home and eat some Ichiraku." Naruto said as he stared into his empty bag, "All my cupped ramen is gone, y'know?"

"You should've not eaten that so often." Jiraiya replied as he walked ahead of his two pupils.

Naruto slumped his shoulders.

"At least you got to train a little more. I didn't get to do anything since I was bed-ridden for most of the week." Nia frowned as she lazily sauntered the path.

"Don't worry, I'll train you a bit more when we reach the Leaf Village. Besides, I already taught a few more basic water style jutsus and gave you several more lessons on writing. You should be grateful." The sannin looked back, "It's better than nothing."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey, that reminds me!" Naruto straightened up and placed his hand on Nia's shoulder, "Did you finally come up with your own nindou?"

Nia thought for a moment then shook her head, "No... I didn't actually. Sorry."

"Oh..." The blonde sweat-dropped.

"She'll find her way of the ninja someday soon, Naruto. Let's not make her feel rushed to think of one." Jiraiya spoked.

"Yeah yeah."

The old man eyed the young girl and made sure to keep track if she was still following him every now and then.

I'm sorry for what I'm about to get you into, Nia. It was nice getting to know you but you need to go back to your village. You can't live the life of a kunoichi on the run any longer. The Hidden Cloud is where you belong.

Meanwhile, in the Hidden Leaf, many of the chunin noticed that the jonin seemed to be on a search. Sakura, who was hanging around a few of her friends, questioned them about it.

"I got called in by Lady Tsunade earlier and apparently a few ANBU from the Hidden Cloud are looking for a kunoichi who went rogue a few weeks ago. Maybe a month or two ago in fact." Shikamaru gave the details.

"Ah! So that's what this is all about!" Lee exclaimed as he did push ups with his feet in the air.

"This is no time for training, Lee!" Tenten scolded her overly energized teammate.

"There's always time for training!" Lee shot back as he did his push ups even faster.

"Lee!"

"Let him be, Tenten." Shikamaru smiled, "Once he's at it, there's no stopping him."

"You are correct, Shikamaru! There's not a thing Tenten can do that'll stop me from using the power of youth to train very hard."

The kunoichi shot a glare at Lee.

"Let's all calm down now." Sakura gestured her hands up and down while wearing a soft smile, "What we need to do is aid our sensei in searching for this girl."

"No." Shikamaru disagreed, "This isn't your job nor your business. The only ones allowed to search are the jonin and sensory type ninjas. The rest stays put and doesn't interfere unless they happen to come across the kunoichi themselves."

"So what's the deal then, Shikamaru?" Ino joined the conversation, "Why are you here and not doing your job?"

"Well," The Nara male crossed his arms behind his head, "Searching for some girl who probably isn't here is such a drag. I want to relax since it's my day off."

"You're lazy, you know that?!"

"Hey, don't insult me."

"Whatever," Ino moved her bang out of her way then walked passed her friends, "I'm gonna go and work at the flower shop. If you need anything, you know where to look. See you guys later."

"Bye Ino." Sakura and the others say as their blonde friend went away.

"So, got any idea when Naruto is coming back to the village?" Shikamaru questioned Sakura.

"Nah uh."

"Oh that's a bummer!" Lee spoke once more though he was sweating like crazy, "I was hoping to spar with him once he got back since he's such a fierce opponent."

"Got that right." Chouji, who had kept quiet, finally talked, "He's only a genin, yet his skills are beyond any of ours."

"Hmph." Shikamaru smiled, "He'd be the perfect ninja if he actually used his head more than jumping in without thinking."

Tenten giggled before replying, "As true as that may be, his recklessness does sometimes end up saving lives."

"No kidding." Sakura agreed, "I've seen that enough times to know that for sure. Naruto sure has grown since we were kids."

"That is true, Sakura." Lee responded as he now did fast-paced sit-ups, "Naruto is a hardworking shinobi just like I! He is a man of his word and doesn't back down to anyone! He is a true ninja."

"Lee... You must really respect Naruto, huh?" Tenten smiled warmly.

"Why of course! Him and I are a lot alike. We were the underdogs who no one respected or taken seriously. We both worked hard for our respect and now we're finally receiving it!"

The four other shinobi looked at their training-obssessed comrade and felt sympathy. They thought of the days where he was insulted and ridiculed for his use of only knowing taijutsu. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed that Lee was always never acknowledged for anything. However, as he said, with training and hardwork, even an underdog can beat a genius with talent who doesn't put in any effort in training.

As she stretched, Tenten wondered where Neji could've been at the moment.

'I wonder if Neji is doing alright...?'

In a different side of the village, Neji and Hinata were scouring the area in search of whom they needed to find.

"Any luck, Hinata?" The strongest of the Hyuga side branch family asked the purple-haired girl.

"No brother," She responded as she used her byakugan to get a better sight of things, "I'm not seeing anyone that I don't recognize."

"Alright then, Hinata. Let's split up to cover more ground. If you see the girl, don't be too kind to let her escape. Understand?"

"Yes. I'll do my best." Hinata agreed before scattering to another location.

Neji stayed where he was a bit longer and intensified his vision.

Nothing here. I need to get to higher ground to increase my chances of seeing someone out of the ordinary.

As Neji did this, the Inuzuka and Aburame clans scattered the forests inside the village, hoping to get a clue on if someone was really hiding among the village.

In the forest outside, Sai was flying atop of a ink bird as he was on aerial perimeter duty. For the first few miles, he didn't see anything or anyone but as he went further and further away from his village, he spotted two familiar faces and one questionable one.

As he looked closer, he realized that the two men he recognized were Naruto and his master. However, the female was definitely a face he's seen before but couldn't come to a conclusion if she was the girl that he was shown.

I guess I'm gonna have to hop down and check it out for myself then.

As he descended, Naruto soon caught a glimpse of his comrade and enthusiastically greeted, "SAAAI! I'm back! How's it going?"

"Naruto. It is you." The artist jumped off his painting just before it fell on the ground as ink.

"Yeah." The genin smiled, "It's been a looong time since I've seen you. How's everyone doing?"

"We're all doing alright." Sai answered before taking a glimpse at Nia and pointing at her, "Who's this, Naruto?"

Nia covered her face with her hand; She was feeling insecure.

"Oh, that's Nia." Naruto used his thumb to point at his friend, "She's kinda awkward with guys so try not to be-"

"Super Beast Scroll!"

At his command, several drawn snakes came to life and slithered towards the toffee-skinned girl before wrapping itself around her firmly.

"Gya!" She screamed as the snakes hissed at her.

"Eh?!" Naruto looked to his left before angrily glaring at his male teammate, "What the hell, Sai! What're you doing?! Let her go."

"That I cannot do! This girl is a rogue ninja. I was ordered by the Hokage to find and capture this girl if I see her."

"By the- you mean Grandma Tsunade ordered you?"

"Not just me, but every jonin and sensory-type ninja also. Apparently, the Raikage is furious about this girl leaving the village and will stop at nothing to get her back."

"Ugh! I don't care if he's mad! I don't care about that village! I don't ever wanna go back there!" Nia hollered as she struggled to free herself from the snakes.

Naruto looked back at the girl.

So that's why she left her own village...

The blonde then clenched his fist.

Even so... It was wrong for her to abandon her village, but still...

"Let her go!" Naruto grabbed a kunai from his pouch and got into a stance.

"I already told you that I cannot." Sai retaliated.

"I'll bring her to Granny Tsunade and we'll have a talk with her there!"

"No. My orders are to capture her and throw her into jail."

"What?!" Nia responded.

"Over my dead body!" Naruto jumped into the air and came down with a strong kick.

Unfortunately, Sai blocked it and drew a lion to engage in a fight with his blonde opponent. Naruto was able to slash a few of his drawings but ultimately ended up getting pinned down by one. Sai took the chance to draw numerous amount of rats and have them alert the village that he had found the missing kunoichi.

'I'm getting so tired of these damn snakes...' Nia became agitated, 'If I don't free myself now, I'm done for. So...'

Focusing her strength into her arms, Nia slowly but steadily started to tear apart the ink reptiles.

"HYAA!" She managed to break free, surprising Sai.

Darn! I wasn't paying enough attention to her! The only other person whose been to break free was Sakura. Maybe this girl has some terrifying strength also? If so, I better keep my distance or I may get seriously hurt.

Nia hopped into the air and performed a few hand seals.

'Water gets rid of ink, right? So maybe this jutsu will do just that!

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Forming water chakra in her belly, Nia placed her fingers close to her mouth and pushed out the water through there. Jiraiya smiled as she seemed to have better control of that jutsu.

Ah, that technique always reminds me of Yahiko when I see her doing it... I'll never forget teaching her that.

~FLASHBACK~

"Now that you recovered Nia, it's about time I start teaching you some more basic water style techniques." Jiraiya, who had his hands on his hips, said.

"Really? Are you sure?" The Umino girl got excited like she did when the sannin taught her her first jutsu.

"You bet I am."

Sitting underneath a tree, Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and leaned his back against the piece of nature. He also was sitting in a lotus position. The genin watched his master teach his sibling student a jutsu and was curious to see how it would turn out. Accompanying him was Gamakichi and Gamatatsu; They both looked as eager as he.

Jiraiya pointed at the tree next to Naruto, "See that tree right there? With this jutsu, it'll be strong enough to bring it down."

"All right." Nia nodded.

"Okay!" Jiraiya performed the dragon, tiger, and hare hand signs. He then straightened two fingers near his face and said, "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

At command, a thick gallon of water shot out of his mouth and brought down the tree he pointed at with great power.

"Woah!" Naruto, Gamakichi, and Gamatatsu gasped at how cool they thought the technique was.

Nia seemed to be in awe of the jutsu also and begged Jiraiya to begin teaching her. The toad sage agreed but first wanted to tell a story to her about his past.

"Before Naruto and you, I actually had three other students. There names were Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan..."

Minutes passed by as Jiraiya informed Nia about the experiences he'd gone through with his former pupils. Eventually half an hour flew by and he finally finished telling the story.

"That's why, I believe that the person whom is going to bring peace in this world is going to be that knucklehead over there most likely." Jiraiya pointed his thumb at Naruto, who was currently chatting and laughing with his two summoning frogs.

Nia looked at the male laughing and smiled, "Naruto? I see... I haven't seen all that he could do but just knowing a bit about his personality, I'd say you're probably right. Still... Does he really not know when to back down?"

"Nope. Not at all." Jiraiya replied, "If you had just known him a couple years back, you would know exactly what I mean. He's as stubborn as a mule I always say."

"As a kid, he always ran around screaming about being Hokage, painted on the Hokage monument, and pulled pranks all the time. Whenever I came across him, he always seemed so lonely and withdrawn. I felt bad for him but I always got into big trouble if I even came close to him if my parents or cousin was around. It was pretty sad really. I liked having friends myself and wanted to play with anyone just as long as they were nice and fun."

The kunoichi then felt gloomy, "The thing that sucks though was that at times I didn't want to go near him too cause of what my parents told me about him and because of the fear of being grounded. Those were both dumb reasons to not reach out to someone, Jiraiya-sensei."

"True but... there was something I remember hearing Naruto say about you." Jiraiya smiled.

This made Nia extremely eager, "He talked about me?! What'd he say?! Was it good?!"

"Calm down... All he said was that he thought that you were some girl with the strange eyebrow." Jiraiya said.

Nia sweatdropped.

...Seriously...? That's depressing...

"However..." Jiraiya continued, "He also said that you did something that made him extremely happy once or maybe a couple times when you both were little. Now that you two are around eachother as teens, he told me that he thinks you're very kind but sometimes feels as if you're embarrassed to show it at times."

Nia blushed and gazed at the blonde by the tree, "He... really said that? He thinks I'm nice?"

"Apparently." Jiraiya smiled warmly as he remembered Naruto's exact words:

"Nia can be depressing to be by sometimes, but still... She's really nice to me but gets embarrassed whenever I thank her for it; I think I actually like that about her though, y'know?" The boy said with a smile.

~FLASHBACK ENDS~

Jiraiya looked at Nia, who was still gazing at Naruto with her hand near her heart. He could tell by the look on her face that she may be gathering feelings for the guy. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about Naruto himself. The only hint was the hug he gave the girl a few days before and the fact that he seemed to enjoy her company. However, that could be done with just about anyone so there really was no telling at the moment.

If I tell her that he finds her depressing to be by sometimes, she'll probably throw a fit... Heh...

"Okay! Let's learn this awesome jutsu thing now'!" The girl felt a rush of adrenaline.

"What's with the sudden spike of energy? Don't tell me you wanna learn this jutsu to impress Naruto..."

"I'm doing this for myself!" Nia felt flushed in the face again.

"Alright then! This is how to do it, young lady!"

As time passed by, Nia began to very slowly learn and experiment how to release her chakra as complete liquid and not solidify it to make the rod like her first jutsu. Her first several attempts were failures as she either did make her water chakra solidify, didn't properly build enough water in her belly, or was just downright too clumsy with controlling her chakra correctly.

However, in due time, she managed to push through these obstacles and eventually got the technique down. This was mostly due to Jiraiya and Naruto incessantly encouraging her to keep trying even when she doubted herself a few times. Without their support, it would've taken her longer to learn that jutsu along with a few others later on.

Currently, Nia had Sai on the defensive. What she didn't know was that he was stalling her in order to have his rats gather the others to help aid him in battle.

Naruto was still pinned down by now several lions and couldn't break free.

"Get the hell off me!" He wiggled around. He then looked at Jiraiya, "Uh hey Pervy Sage, mind doing me a favor and-"

"Nope. Not right now, Kid."

Naruto sweatdropped, "What do you mean you're not gonna help me?! I thought you were on my side?!"

"I'm not really on any side." Jiraiya folded his arms.

"What do you mean? Are you saying you don't care if Curly Brow's captured?"

The sannin closed his eyes, "Listen Naruto, no matter how you slice or justify it, Nia is still a rogue ninja. She abandoned her village and planned to never come back."

"But that's only because they treated her so badly."

"She left her family and team back there! Sorry to force this memory upon you, but think about when Sasuke left! Did you just sit there and let a member from your village leave and do as they pleased?"

Naruto realized how his master saw the situation and thought about it:

When Sasuke left, I felt so helpless... so weak... My promise to Sakura wasn't fulfilled and my own desire to bring Sasuke back wasn't met either. He was a member of my team and yet... I let him die in the end...

He then watched as Nia blocked a punch from Sai then threw a punch as well, only for the artist to block it by having a drawing guard him, which exploded on impact.

I remember having the chance to play with her sister once before too... They seemed so close it made me jealous that I didn't have a sibling of my own. If they're still as close as they were back then, I'm sure she wants Curly Brow to return very badly. Not only her, but her parents and if she has any other siblings, them too. Her teammates and sensei should be worried also. She has people that she needs to return to that care about her...

"I understand, Pervy Sage." Naruto gave his master a serious look, "You're right, Nia has people she needs to see again!"

Jiraiya was pleased to hear that Naruto finally caught the drift of his reasonings. He used his strength to get rid of the beasts holding down the genin and Naruto was finally freed. He stood up and watched his two friends battle.

Within seconds, he could see a few of the jonin racing down the path leading up to Konoha.

"Kakashi, is that the one?" Might Guy, who was next to the copycat ninja, asked as he ran at a constant speed.

The white-haired sharingan user, took out the photo given to him and came to the conclusion that the person fighting Sai was indeed the girl in the picture.

"We found our kunoichi, Guy!"

"Yes! Now we can get this girl, send her back with those ANBU, and enjoy the rest of the day off."

As they approached closer, they soon came to a stop when multiple shadow clones stood in their way.

"Naruto?" Kakashi and Guy said at once.

"Listen, I know what your trying to do and I understand why completely." A clone spoke, "However, this isn't the way you wanna settle the situation."

"What're you going on about, Naruto?" Kakashi questioned.

"That's what I wanna know too, Naruto." Guy pointed at the teen, "Our orders are to capture this girl, place her in a holding cell, and wait for further instructions."

"But you don't need to do that! Just let me talk to Granny first!"

"I'm sorry but no can do, young one."

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"While we don't know why you're trying to protect this girl, we're gonna have to pass by you to get to her." Kakashi got into a stance.

"There's no need for that." Jiraiya stood behind Naruto.

"No! Let me go, Jiraiya-sensei!" A female voice pleaded as she pounded the interiors of a strong large wooden box she was kept in.

"Pervy Saaage!" The original Naruto turned around and saw the box his female friend was in.

"Naruto!" The girl cried, "Get me outta here! Please! I don't wanna go back!"

Just as the genin took a step forward, he suddenly found himself stuck in place. He looked down at his feet and saw a shadow.

"Gah!" He tried to move but couldn't; he was only able to look back towards Guy and Kakashi and saw someone much younger standing between them. He was a jonin too and was very intelligent nonetheless.

"Shadow Possesion Jutsu... complete." He said with a smirk.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto called.

"Sorry Naruto, but I gotta do what the Hokage ordered." The Nara boy responded to his friend's outburst.

The young jonin then called on someone else and out from this person's hand came thick wood. It wrapped itself around the blonde and further assured that he wouldn't do anything to screw up everyone else's duties.

"Wood?" Naruto looked around himself, "Captain Yamato! Not you too?!"

"I'm sorry also Naruto, but orders are orders." The wood style user appeared in front of the young male.

When Naruto's clones tried to go on the offensive, the others used their jutsus to get rid of them in a blink of an eye.

"According to Lady Tsunade, anyone who tries to help the kunoichi gets placed in a holding cell as well." Yamato  explained before using his wood to form a similar box to put Naruto in the same way he did Nia.

"Hey!" The genin yelled, "Why do I have to be in here too?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Do you not listen?!" Yamato replied, "You're in there for aiding a rogue ninja who's filed for capture."

"I was just trying to bring her to Grandma Tsunade so we can talk about this situation!" Naruto hollered as he kicked the wood, "Now let me outta here already!"

"Kakashi! Guy! You two carry Naruto and Master Jiraiya and I will do the same for this Nia girl!"

"Yes sir!" Guy replied while Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded.

"So you guys are just gonna turn your backs on me?! Kakashi-sensei, what happened to you talking about abandoning your comrades?!"

"We're not abandoning you, Naruto." Kakashi replied, "We're just keeping you in a holding cell until further notice. You're not gonna be in there forever so just calm down."

"Jiraiya-sensei, how could you do this to me?! Did you plan on this since day one?" Nia questioned with a solemn tone.

"You wanted to learn ninjutsu and become a better writer, right? I taught you what you wanted and now it's time to send you back to your village." The sannin replied earnestly.

Nia, though she knew that was one of her motives for going rogue, she still felt betrayed that her master would just hand her over the way he did.

As she pondered about what would befall her next, Yamato ordered Sai and Shikamaru to report in of their findings.

What would happen now? The answer was simple as the two were carried all the way to the dungeons.

"Gyaaah!" Naruto yelled as he was tossed in a cell directly across from where Nia was held in.

"Now, don't do anything reckless until further notice, Naruto." Kakashi instructed his comrade, "See ya later."

"Kakashi-sensei! Waaait!"

Kakashi, along with the others, left upstairs. The one who remained was Jiraiya.

"Pervy Sage-"

"Not another word, Naruto." The sannin interrupted his pupil, "I don't wish for you or Nia to receive caged time but if they're Tsunade's orders, there's no reason for me to break them."

"But-"

Jiraiya leaned forward and whispered,
"Listen Kid, I'll go talk to Tsunade for you and try to persuade her into letting you have this "talk" with her that you wish to have."

"You'll do that, Pervy Sage?" Naruto smiled.

"That's the least I can do for letting you get thrown in here wrapped in that white blanket-looking thing and tight brown buckles. That must be rough."

"Believe me it is."

"Hey, do me a favor and not let Nia know anything about this, would ya?"

"Huh? Why not?"

Jiraiya looked back at the girl who had her back faced toward the two men then directed his attention back at Naruto, "I don't want her getting her hopes up about possibly getting a way out of her village. If this talk with Tsunade doesn't go as planned, at least she already knew what was going to happen and wouldn't have to sulk about her chances of not being brought to the Hidden Cloud."

"Oh uhh, okay. I won't say anything, Pervy Sage." Naruto nodded.

The white-haired man straightened up and placed his hands on his hips, "Well, I'm off now! Wish me luck, Kiddo."

"I will." Naruto replied as he watched his master leave the candle-lighted room.

So Pervy Sage really is on my side!

Nia, who was too busy feeling down, didn't notice when Naruto began calling her name.

"Helllooo?! Earth to Curly Brow?! You there?!"

She didn't respond to Naruto's voice. This got on the genin's nerves before he finally yelled, "NIA!"

"WHAT?!" The girl angrily turned around.

Naruto turned blue in the face, "N-Nevermind..."

Nia sighed, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking... Can't you see that I'm upset right now...?"

"Uh, actually... It's sorta hard to tell when you're not facing me completely."

The kunoichi faced Naruto and when she did, he could see the stress in her eyes...

"Don't worry so much..." He attempted to reassure her, "Things'll get better, y'know."

"Sure. That's what everyone says."

"It's true."

Nia lowered her head, "I just... I just don't wanna get laughed at and shunned again..."

A tear slipped down her left eye. Naruto saw this and made a face.

"Don't cry..." He got serious.

Nia heard him but didn't stop. In fact more tears rolled down her face. The memory of her past once more clutched onto her. She thought of herself in her early teens up till the age she was currently at.

"All I've heard since I was fourteen was just insults day in and day out," The girl sobbed, "I was so tired of hearing that I'm ugly or that I'm fat or that I was of no use on certain missions cause I couldn't use ninjutsu properly at the time! Now I have to hear all that crap again."

Naruto continued to frown but didn't say anything.

Nia was feeling so gloomy that her toffe skin began to show redness on its surface, "No one didn't wanna be my friend after my looks didn't grow appealing like theirs did. I was always alone in my room if I didn't have any missions because of my fear of being judged and being treated like an outcast! I was the girl who everyone hated just for having feelings for someone who was supposedly at a higher status than I was in Konohagakure Junior High and in the High school as well. Even there I was lonely and could barely manage to make a few acquaintances."

Naruto waited for a few seconds for Nia to talk and when she didn't, he decided to say what he wanted.

"I don't... like to hear the sound of your voice when your feeling the way that you are now, y'know?" He said with an empathetic tone, "I can hear the loneliness in your voice when you do and... It makes me feel a connection with you."

Nia slightly looked across from where she sat. Naruto was looking at the ground with a sad smile.

"I felt the pain of feeling and being alone too, y'know? I was always treated like dirt and no one wanted to be my friend when I was younger... I wanted someone to make someone make me feel like... Well someone. However, that's where you and I differ: I didn't care what kind of attention I got. Negative or positive, it didn't matter to me as long as everyone acknowledged my existence," Naruto then made eye contact with his friend, "With you, you'd rather be invisible than deal with having negative attention..."

Nia looked away from him.

"But still..." Naruto continued, "When we first met, I could see it in your eyes that you really wanted to improve yourself when we fought to see if Pervy Sage would make you his second pupil... You wanted to learn ninjutsu so you could prove that others are wrong about you and that it'll help raise your faith in your abilities, right?"

"Mhm..." Nia nodded but still wouldn't make eye contact.

Naruto chuckled a little, "That's where we're alike. We both have the desire to prove ourselves to those who doubt us. We both wanna be seen in a positive life."

Finally, the kunoichi looked up to see her blonde sibling student appearing very confident in his words.

"So, no matter what, don't let yourself be caged in self-pity just because others gave you a bad and unfair hand in life. I really do understand what it's like to feel so low that I convinced myself that maybe the world was better off without me. However... with more positive thinking, I came to acknowledge myself as a person and was able to make friends eventually. I never tired of trying to change the fate that life had for me back then. I fought for a new one and got it. You should do the same too!"

"But..."

"Don't even start!" Naruto cut Nia off, "You're about to say you can't do it and that's where you're totally wrong! All you need is courage and perseverance! Without those two qualities, life will always be a burden to you. You've got to learn how to carve your own destiny, Curly Brow... You've got to learn how to do it on your own."

"But I don't wanna be alone in this!" She cried.

"Then I'll show you how until you finally catch on yourself!"

Suddenly, the tears rolling down Nia's cheeks seemed to halt. They were now only a long single line. She once more made eye contact with Naruto.

"All you need is confidence and someone to show you the way of the shinobi: The will to never give up and the endurance to succeed even if you fail at times." The sixteen-year-old male smiled.

Again he was able to touch Nia's heart with his strong words.

"So, how about you wipe your tears now and hope for the best?" He suggested.

The kunoichi nodded and stopped feeling bad about herself. She wiped her tears and thanked Naruto for his kindness.

"You're welcome, but you don't gotta call me kind or anything." A tiny blush appeared on his cheeks just below his eyes.

He was somewhat flustered upon hearing a compliment.

"In fact, I think you're a bit more nicer than I am, Curly Brow. I just think you're awkward when you're showing it sometimes."

"Hm?" Nia's heart skipped a beat when his words basically confirmed Jiraiya's words not too long ago.

"Naruto said to me once that he finds you to be very kind but thinks you're embarrassed about showing it to him sometimes."

With a red tinge crossing over the bridge of her nose, Nia smiled widely then turned away from Naruto's gaze out of embarrassment. This caused the blonde to sweatdrop.

'...Is it weird for me to be reminded of Hinata when Nia averted her eyes just now...?'

*****

"That's all I came to talk to you about, Tsunade."

The Hokage leaned back in her chair, "So, Naruto and you have been with this girl for more than two or three months?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya nodded, "She was a troubled girl who wanted to receive help on her ninjutsu."

Tsunade gave her former teammate a suspicious look, "There was something more to it than just that. You wouldn't take in a student like her just to give her tips on ninjutsu so willingly. According to the ANBU, that girl is a very big fan of yours..."

"All right all right, you got me. Her extreme liking towards my first novel stirred me into training her. Also, I thought that she could help shape Naruto with his average taijutsu. He's gotten better at it since then."

"Is that so?"

"You bet."

The older-looking sannin grinned, "Besides, ever since that day Nia woke up from her short comatose-like state, her and Naruto seemed to be really hitting it off slowly. It's gotten to the point where I think Nia may even harbor a small crush on the knucklehead."

"You're kidding..."

"Not at all, Tsunade. I'm the author of the Makeout series; I know love when I see it, Baby."

"You're about to know what my fist feels like if you don't scurry your love-sick fantasies outta here." The brown-eyed woman grunted.

"Ahh, you're still as violent as ever," Jiraiya laughed. He then composed himself and asked, "So how about it? Will you allow Naruto to have a moment with you?"

Tsunade thought to herself for a moment before releasing a sigh, "Fiiine! BUT he has FIVE minutes to talk."

She then tossed the key that would unlock the genin's particular prison cell and warned him that his five minutes started now. Jiraiya nodded and ran downstairs and passed the ANBU who were awaiting for their kunoichi to show up. When he finally made it to the holding cells, he found Nia lying on the floor with her back toward Naruto while the blonde himself kept his eye on her just in case someone would appear to snatch her out of her cell.

"Pervy Sage, you're back!" The genin squealed when he heard Jiraiya racing down the stairs.

"Shh," Jiraiya hushed the blue-eyed male as he unlocked his cage, "I managed to get Tsunade to agree with speaking to you. You only got about four minutes to do your thing."

"Well, if you get all these buckles off me, I'll continue on my way, y'know?" Naruto wiggled.

"There's no time for that! I'll just have to carry you over my shoulder and get you to her myself."

With a swift move, Jiraiya swept Naruto over his shoulder and headed to the Hokage's office. Once there, he lowered Naruto to his feet and the genin took no time in losing his balance before slamming his chin to the wooden floor.

"OWWW!" He groaned as he proceeded to roll across the floor in pain.

The two adults in the room sweatdropped in response to Naruto's clumsiness. Tsunade allowed the time to be bended in order to give Jiraiya some time to release  Naruto from the restraining garment he wore.

"You are just about the most clumsiest person I ever met, Naruto. You know that?"

"If you hadn't so suddenly dropped me, this wouldn't have happened, you old geezer!"

"Hey! I take offense to what you just called me, you brat!" Jiraiya barked.

Naruto had a vein appear on his temple, "Oh! So now I'm a brat, huh?!"

"That's right! You heard right!""

"Well at least I'm not some sleazy pervert who drive women away because I was peeping at them through a finger-made hole."

The two bickered at one another like children. Tsunade was growing a vein on her temple herself after a mere few seconds.

"QUIT IT! BOTH OF YOU!"

"But he started it!" Jiraiya and Naruto complained. They then both looked at eachother with shocked expressions, "What! Me?!"

"I SAID STOP IT!" Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, causing the room to rumble and vibrate.

Instantly, the two men gulped and let go of their quarreling. Shizune, who stood to the side of her superior, wiped some sweat off her forehead with a handkerchief while the pet pig in her arms hid its face away from the angry woman.

"Now..." The female hokage calmed down, "I believe you're hear to convince me of something, Naruto?"

"Yeah," The young man nodded as he remembered what he wanted to say, "It's about Nia and her village... You see..."

*****

"Whaaat? Naruto's in prison?" Hinata's eyes widened in response to Shikamaru and Sai explaining to the crew about the capture.

"Don't worry yourself to death, Hinata," Tenten placed a reassuring hand on the Hyuga girl's shoulder, "It's not like he's gonna be locked up for eternity or anything like that."

"She's right, Lady Hinata," Neji nodded, "Besides, Naruto was defending a rogue ninja. He should be thrown in there for that anyway."

"Ouch. That's a bit cruel, Neji." Tenten replied.

"I only speak the truth."

"That stupid Naruto..." Kiba sighed as he pet Akamaru's back, "Why would he even try to resist having that chick being arrested?"

"Apparently they're friends," Sai answered with a closed-eye smile, "Naruto described her as someone who's awkward with men. I can't blame her though; She is more on the ugly side. Kinda like Sakura actually. However, her body was a bit thicker than most women but at least that's better than the stick, boney, flat-chested body Sakura has."

At that moment, everyone except for Sai backed away. When he didn't hear any responses to what he said, he opened his eyes to see a very pissed off pink-haired kunoichi with a fiery aura surrounding her. She cracked her knuckles before ramming her fist down on the insensitive boy's head, causing him to have his head and upper body dugged deep into the ground. Sakura then walked off while muttering the insults Sai threw at her and mentioned that he was dumb along those lines.

The others approached the artist with sympathetic looks but didn't do anything to get him out of the ground.

"Ouch! You really shouldn't talk about someone so badly, Sai," Shikamaru gave his opinion, "Or else things like this may happen. Especially when you're insulting a hotheaded woman like Sakura."

"Noted." Sai said through the dirt as smoke risen out of it.

Meters away, Sakura had her arms crossed and still wore an angry expression.

That dumb Sai! He's always saying things to piss me the hell off.

"What? Are you serious?! My cousin is locked up here in this village?" Sakura heard a voice ask with a shock tone near her.

She turned to her right and saw Iruka and Kakashi sitting in a open door building, sitting at a table, eating dumplings.

"It's true. I saw her myself. Guy did too." Kakashi answered.

Iruka stood out of his seat, "I can't believe this! Why would Nia leave her village like that?! I need to talk to the hokage right now!"

"Good luck with that." Kakashi bit into his sweet.

Iruka ignored this comment and ran ahead of Sakura. The girl called him out and the male stopped for a brief moment and looked back.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I can't talk right now; I need to go talk to Lady Tsunade about something important. We can talk later." Iruka waved before turning back around and continuing his way.

"Wait! I'm going with you." The kunoichi said as she quickened her pace in order to catch up to her former teacher.

The two eventually made their way to the floor where Tsunade was currently at and opened her door dramatically.

"Lady Tsunade! I need to-"

Iruka silenced himself when he saw that not only was Jiraiya in the room, but Naruto as well.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei! It's been a while since I've seen you! How have you been?" Naruto greeted once he turned and looked at his old friend.

"Naruto... You're back." The Umino male said slowly.

Sakura, who was behind him, made her presence known and also saw her teammate smiling as he always was, "Naruto?"

"Sakura!" The genin grinned, "What's up? Why are you and Iruka-sensei here?"

"That's what I wanna know too." Tsunade shot a glare at the two newcomers, "I was in the middle of an important discussion and you two just felt free to do whatever you want and barge in here without knocking. This better be good!"

"S-Sorry, My Lady." Iruka and Sakura bowed in apology.

They both straightened back up and Iruka continued with, "Tsunade, there's been rumors going on about the arrest of a member of my family..."

"Those rumors are true unfortunately, Iruka."

"But..." The academy teacher clenched his fist, "How did this happen?"

Tsunade intertwined her fingers and slightly smiled, "She, Team Kakashi, Yamato, and Team Guy will fill you in on your journey to the Hidden Cloud."

"Huh?"

"No way!" Naruto became overly excited, "You're actually agreeing to the idea that I had, Granny?!"

"Save that energy for when you're traveling, Naruto. Don't waste it on something as silly as this."

"Wait till Nia gets told about this! She's gonna freak, y'know?!" The blonde smiled widely.

"Get told what?" Sakura asked with a raised brow.

"Never mind that, Sakura. Your job for right now is to keep watch of Nia and make sure she doesn't try anything funny while she's locked up. Do I make myself clear?" Tsunade ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" Sakura responded.

"I'll go down with you." Naruto decided.

"No you will not!" Tsunade shot down his decision quickly, "You are not allowed to interact with this girl till your departure in the morning. If you do, there will be serious consequences for your actions. Do you hear me, Naruto?"

"Yeah... I hear you, Granny..." The genin pouted like a child.

"Iruka! You can go with Sakura if you wish to do so."

"Thank you, Lady Hokage." The chunin bowed before following Sakura out the room and to the dungeon.

Jiraiya placed a hand on his student's shoulder, "Why don't you get some rest, Kid. After all that traveling, you need to rejuvenate yourself before heading back out. In fact, why don't we get some ramen? The bill's on me."

"Awesome! Let's go then!" Naruto's mood quickly lifted.

"Tsunade, thanks for the chat. We owe you one." Jiraiya said.

"No biggie. Just make sure to have a good time, but before that, I need a favor from you. Go bring in the Cloud ANBU for me, I need to address them about this new situation."

"No problem."

The old man then looked down at Naruto and told him to go ahead without him and he'll meet up with him at Ichiraku after doing Tsunade's favor. Naruto nodded and exited out the room and to the outside.

He walked for about a block before he noticed a certain shy kunoichi walking ahead of him. He called out to the girl and greeted her.

"Hinata, hey."

"Oh! N-Naruto." She blushed when her crush had suddenly approached her, "I didn't e-expect to see you here."

"Yeah well, I'm sure you heard the story about me being thrown in the village dungeon by now."

"Yes, I have. That must've been terrible, Naruto. I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

The genin placed his hands in his pockets, "It wasn't that big of a deal, y'know? I ended up getting freed eventually and now I gotta rest up for my mission tomorrow. I'll be gone for a while again"

"Already?" Hinata gasped.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded, "My team and Neji's is heading to the Hidden Cloud to make a request and deal with their Kage first thing in the morning. It'll take about a week to travel through the forest to get there, so I won't be here for at least two weeks or more depending on certain circumstances."

"Oh..." The girl sighed with disappointment.

"Hinata...?"

"Yes?"

Naruto smiled, "I saw Sakura recently and she looked a lot better than when I last saw her. Thank you for talking to her for me. You're awesome, y'know?"

Hinata blushed and shyly smiled herself, "You don't have to thank me, Naruto. If doing a favor makes you happy, I-I'll gladly take it upon myself to do it for you. That reminds me, d-do you have any new jutsu you could show me?"

The blue-eyed boy scratched his cheek, "I do but it's not a very safe one to show unless a crisis occurs where I would be forced to use it. Besides, Grandma Tsunade ordered me to save up my energy for tomorrow."

"Okay..." Hinata said while feeling a bit disappointed.

"So, where were you headed?" Naruto asked.

"I was called in by my father to head back to the Hyuga household for a meeting." Hinata answered.

"Oh! Well, you better hurry along then. I don't wanna be the reason you're late. I'll see you once I get back, Hinata. Take care!" Naruto waved just before turning a corner and jogging off.

"Wait Naruto!" The girl stretched her hand out but failed to get his attention.

She then placed her hand down and smiled, "At least I was able to get a little closer to him today... I hope he'll have a safe trip to and from the Hidden Cloud."

*****

In the dungeon, Iruka and Sakura were in the middle of a discussion with the girl behind bars.

"You're telling me that you went rogue just cause of a few insults from the villagers? That was enough for you to ditch your family and team?!" Iruka grunted at his young cousin.

"They treated me like I was garbage! You don't understand, Iruka! There was no place for me! Besides that, I was threatened to head back to the academy if I couldn't improve my ninjutsu within a week by the Raikage! I needed to find the best of the best to teach me and so I left!" Nia barked back.

Iruka sighed heavily, "I never thought  you would be the type to do such a thing, Nia; I'm just shocked and in disbelief right now."

The girl only looked away.

I'm always disappointing someone...

"Iruka-sensei, why don't you rest up for tomorrow? I'll keep watch over Nia for now," Sakura recommended, "You can catch up with her in the morning."

"All right. I'll leave her in your hands."

The male got off his knees and stood up, "I'll see you tomorrow, Nia. Don't stay up too late. You'll need your stamina for tomorrow."

"..."

Soon, Iruka left and Sakura picked up a plate of food.

"You probably hadn't eaten in a while so on my way down, I got you some rice balls to eat." The pink-haired girl held out the snack as Nia took a bite out of it.

She wore a restraining outfit like Naruto had and thus was unable to eat on her own.

"Thank you." She said as she chewed a small portion of the snack, "What's your name? You never told me."

"Oh sorry, I forgot to introduce myself: My name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura smiled.

Immediately, Nia spat out the rice in her mouth due to shock, "You're Sakura?!"

A vein throbbed on the green-eyed girl's temple. Her eyes were shut and her eyebrows furrowed when the grains of rice slid off her face. Nia noticed her mistake and quickly apologized as best as she could. Not wanting to make herself look like an unforgiving person Sakura said, "I-It's... fine..."

However, in her mind, all sorts of craziness was going on. An image of herself in black with a white outline around her body appeared right behind her.

'CHAAA! HOW DARE SHE SPIT ON MY FACE LIKE THAT! DOES SHE REALLY HAVE NO MANNERS AT ALL?!' The image raised a closed fist near just under her chin.

Nia watched as the girl took a handkerchief and wiped her face. The captured girl thought back to what Naruto said about the female in front of her.

~FLASHBACK~

"Where do I start?" The blonde sat near the riverside of a bank, "Hmm, Sakura's a girl who's on my squad back in Konoha. She's always been the one to put me in my place if I was out of tune with something. I've always had this thing for her ever since we were children but she's always had her eye on some other guy."

Nia, who was sitting next to Naruto, leaned forward.

"Anyway, she has this really cute smile that makes me feel mesmerized whenever I see it. Her eyes are a gorgeous green and her hair is a light shade of pink. She used to wear it long but for some reason, chose to wear it short. Either style is fine, but I think I like the way it looks now better."

"So, short hair is what you like?" Nia asked with a curious expression.

Naruto blushed and rubbed his head, "I'm not very picky with what I like about a woman's hair, but I guess I do."

The kunoichi touched her own hair that was put into a bun,

When I take my hair out, it at least touches my shoulder depending on if I have bangs or not.

"All in all, Sakura's one of my best friends! She always will be, ya know." Naruto smiled.

~FLASHBACK ENDS~

Nia looked down.

He really likes this girl...

"All right; I think I'll go get you something to drink. I'll be right back." Sakura gave a smile before leaving Nia to herself.

The girl watched as Naruto's teammate walked away.

She doesn't like Naruto back...? That other guy Naruto mentioned must be extremely awesome for her to not have a little interest in him himself. Poor guy...

Suddenly, the kunoichi shook her head.

Wait, what am I saying? My feelings aren't returned either... Well... their more on the low key so I don't really care if Naruto has feelings for someone else right now. I'll have to lay low on my feelings until they eventually go away...

In no time, day had turned into night. Currently, Naruto laid on his bed with his arms supporting his head. It was clear that he was in deep thought.

"I just... I just don't wanna be laughed at and shunned again!"

Naruto reflected back on his friend's words and as he did, his facial expression changed to a empathetic look.

Curly Brow...

The clock in his room ticked over and over and the glow of the moon was his only light. The setting was like the lonely nights he spent as a child, wishing that he lived the life of a kid with parents and/or siblings. He never had any of those bonds and couldn't hope to find one as the villagers despised him.

He was the kid who killed everyone's loved ones to them. The one who destroyed the homes of many and the one who slaughtered the fourth hokage. No one didn't see him as anything but the nine-tails. As a result, they hated and shunned him for many, many years...

Naruto dropped his painful memories and flipped to his right side. He thought over his idea for when he would reach the Hidden Cloud and furrowed his eyebrows.

If this plan doesn't work, Curly Brow may not be able to find peace within herself. However, I've been around her enough to know that she has a very high chance in completing her one task! I just hope she'll be ready to believe in herself for it.

----

A/N- I hope I didn't make this chapter overly dramatic... The pictures used are clearly scenes that happened in the anime so yeah. Thanks for reading this chapter. Please vote and comment before you leave. Have a great day :)