Chapter 4: Encountering An Uchiha

There was the village gates. Nia observed the guards in their small area relaxing and having a good time. Those two guys were irritating to the teen. Whenever she was to leave or return from her missions, they were always the first to snicker behind her back and sometimes openly make fun of her in a cruel way.

Argh! Can't they just disappear for once?! They're blocking my way out.

Now Nia was forced to think of a diversion to drive away the men's attention. She dug through her bag searching for something useful. She grabbed a paper bomb.

This should do...

Wrapping the flat paper into a ball, Nia throws it as high as she could in the sky, jumped down from the building she was on, and took cover behind a large Boulder.

BOOM!

"Ahhhh!" Many villagers duck to the ground as soon as the bomb went off.

The guards immediately responded to the event and quickly left their positions. Nia saw this and hurriedly made a sprint to the gates. Since everyone was completely distracted by her previous action, the sixteen-year-old was able to roam free from the Hidden Cloud.

She decided to take the way through the forest instead of by water since it was the quickest way to the Leaf. Maybe she could make a stop at a few smaller villages and ask about Jiraiya's whereabouts and restock her supplies while doing so just in case.

"That was surprisingly easy." Nia smirked as she watched smoke spread in the air from outside the gates of Kumogakure.

She then turned around and stared ahead of her.

Now, this is where the real journey begins. I will find you Jiraiya-sensei and I will become your pupil!

*****

Her room was dark with the blinds closed along with her curtains. Sakura had her head on a pillow and stared at the wall across from her. Her pupils were not visible. The young woman was in complete grief and despair. She truly loved her fallen teammate.

"Sakura!" Her blonde mother calls her name from the front door, "Your friends are here, Dear!"

"Mhm..." Sakura flipped around on her bed.

"Sakuraaa!"

"I don't feel like talking to anyone, Mom! Tell them I don't wanna be bothered today." The pink-haired kunoichi yelled.

Outside, Hinata and the others could hear the conversation between Sakura and her parent. Shikamaru sighed as he thought there was no way of reaching Sakura in her current state.

"This is such a drag, you guys... Let's just leave the girl alone?" He suggested.

"Shikamaru." Ino scolded, "We're not gonna leave Sakura like this. We gotta try something!"

"Look, I'm just saying-"

"Sakura!" Hinata suddenly yelled, catching everyone off guard, "Please let us speak with you. I and everyone else have something important to tell you."

Sakura, overhearing Hinata's unusually loud voice, lifted her head up.

Was that Hinata I just heard?

"Please, I have a message to give you from Naruto since he can't tell you himself!"

Naruto?

"Fine!" Sakura agreed as she sat up in her bed and patted her face awake, "You guys can come in."

"All right!" Ino cheered, "Nice going, Hinata."

"I-It was nothing." Hinata returned to her usually more quiet tone of sound.

I just wanted to fulfill Naruto's favor is all...

The teens walked in the direction that Mrs. Haruno pointed towards. They reached Sakura's room and the young woman allowed her friends in.

"Sakura!" Ino hugged her buddy, "It's nice to see you again. It feels like forever."

"Yeah..."

"It's an honor to see you again, Sakura." Lee grinned and does his nice guy pose as his teeth shined brightly.

Sakura sweat-dropped, but smiled anyway, "Nice to see you too, Lee. It's nice to see all of you as a matter of fact."

"Alright, enough with the reunion, everyone." The jonin of the group, Neji Hyuga, spoke, "Sakura, we need to all discuss about Sasuke and find a way around his unfortunate end whether we like it or not."

*****

"Pervy Sage, where are we going? My legs are killing me!" Naruto whined as his legs became weaker and weaker with every step he took.

"Stop complaining, would ya?! You'll see when we get there." Jiraiya attempted to reassure his pupil.

Naruto groaned.

"What is making you so exhausted? We've only walked two miles..." The older man stopped and glanced at the younger gentleman.

Naruto dropped to the ground flat on his stomach; He was carrying two heavy luggage over his shoulders: One was his and the other was Jiraiya's.

"You're out of shape, Naruto. Hm, maybe I should have you carrying that the rest of the journey?"

"Ughh, please no..." The blonde pleaded, "No more."

"Oh come on, it can't be that heavy."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you try lifting it up and carrying that thing around the entire way yourself?!"

"You know what? I will." Jiraiya accepted Naruto's indirect challenge.

Naruto remained lying on the floor and removed the straps off his shoulders. His master proceeded to grab his bag.

"Look, this is already as light as a feather." He bragged as he then began to lift Naruto's large luggage, "It's all about tensing up your muscles right before you-"

The bag fell straight to the ground, leaving a small crater. Jiraiya had fell right along with it and hit his head on the rugged ground.

"See?" Naruto responded to the incident, "Its heavy, right??

"You knucklehead!" Jiraiya punched the sixteen-year-old on the head after recovering from his fall, "Your own bag is the reason why you can't keep up with me! What's in here anyways?!"

Zipping open Naruto's bag, Jiraiya sweat-dropped, "Hundreds of cupped ramen... Why am I not surprised?"

The teen chuckled while feeling guilty at the same time, "I don't know how long this trip will take, so I brought my entire stash of ramen with me just in case."

"Well. you're out of luck, Kiddo. Some of these gotta go." Jiraiya grabbed as much ramen as he could and threw them a few feet behind him into puddles of mud.

"GYAHHH!" Naruto flipped out as he immediately rushed to his foods aid.

Nooo! Not in the mud! ANYTHING BUT THAT!

"Did you really have to throw them in the mud?" A long stream of tears ran down Naruto's eyes as he recovered his ramen cups out the mud.

"Look, if we're gonna make any progress, you're gonna have to unload a few things." Jiraiya shakes the last remaining cup ramen out of Naruto's luggage to the ground.

"THAT'S NOT A FEW THINGS!" The young man appeared to the side of his master while carrying a load of his thrown out food in his arms. His expression was that of an angry one now and a vein looked as if it was going to burst, "YOU'RE LITERALLY POURING OUT ALL MY RAMEN, PERVY SAGE!"

Noticing how emotional Naruto got over his cups of ramen, Jiraiya sighed, "When will you ever grow up, Naruto? Fine, I'll stash some of your ramen cups in my bag. However, you're gonna have to treat us to the spa so I could get some more of my research done."

"Yeah, yeah." The blue-eyed male mumbled before separating his ramen in two piles: One side for Jiraiya and the other for himself.

Instead of writing those pervy books about women, why can't Pervy Sage just write about an awesome hero or something that's actually entertaining. If he did that, maybe I'll take more of an interest in what he writes and read them. Pervy Sage never changes...

*****

Two full days has passed since Nia left her village. She had been hopping from tree to tree in direction of the Hidden Leaf. However, recently, she stopped at a small village and asked about Jiraiya. One person had said that they had seen the senin with a young man who looked about the same age as Nia herself. They gave the girl the area they were in and Nia took off that way.

The Raikage should be back in less than a couple days, a few at the most. I need to hurry and find Jiraiya-sensei then go into hiding while also getting in some training and tips for what I really wanna do.

Nia stopped on a branch of a tree. She placed her hand on the tree to support her balance. Her thoughts gained control of her.

I never really wanted to be a ninja... I never wanted to grow up having responsibility to protect a village I really hate. In fact, I don't wanna protect anyone except for myself and my family! Everything and everyone else is garbage.

Nia had always heard the talk about friends and bonds through Bee, whom she considered an uncle. However, she doesn't care about that particular bond. Friendship is something she doesn't understood very well. The young lady has people she considers "friends", but in reality, they aren't. The proper term would be acquaintances because of the way she views, treats, and feels for them.

None is important to her. None is really worth keeping contact with. As a result, she has lost some of those bonds. Her reasoning for making "friends" is selfish and not at all right. She only wants someone around when it makes her look less lonely at times or if she feels she's in a awkward situation. It's never because she genuinely wants to be by their side. In fact, Nia really couldn't care less about even having friends. To her, friends are dead last for everything. She's very selfish towards them and sees them as invaluable.

As the wind blew, Nia took her mask off to get some air.

I'm wasting time thinking about dumb things, I need to get moving... I don't wanna be standing aroun- huh? Who's that?

Below her, a male was strolling down a trail. He wore clothing similar to the one Team Kakashi had found just weeks prior. His black hair and eyes, figure, and milk-like color of skin, had Nia's eyes bulging out in the shape of hearts.

Wow! That guy is hot!

Sasuke Uchiha is alive and well! The young man is freely roaming about on his search for his older brother Itachi. The Uchiha was already aware of a presence near him. He stopped.

"Why are you watching me?" He asked out loud.

When Nia gave no reply, Sasuke took out his sword, jumped high into the branches and slashed the one Nia was standing on. She ungracefully landed on her face. The move Sasuke made was very unpredictable.

Nia recovered and slipped her mask back on. Sasuke descended to the ground in front of her.

Man, why did he have to catch me off guard like that?

Sasuke saw the mask Nia wore.

That mask... could she be working for the ANBU?

"Who are you?" He slid his sword in his sheathe.

"That shouldn't matter. I'm not a threat to you." Nia answered.

"Hmph!" Sasuke walked forward, "If so, stay clear from me or else."

The young man passed Nia and continued his own path. Once the coast was clear, Nia slid to her knees and clutched her chest.

"PHEW!" She controlled her breathing, "That guy seemed cold... His presence... It felt... terrifying. I'll make sure to stay clear from him for sure. I bet I'm lucky to still be alive."

Suddenly, Sasuke's face had rang a bell. However, Nia couldn't exactly pinpoint who she thought the handsome man could be. All she knew was that... He definitely wasn't your average every day ninja.

Better write what just happened in my diary before I continue on my way...

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A/N: Chapter completed! I actually had a nice time typing this one. I really like the part with Naruto and his ramen and where Nia encountered Sasuke. They're my favorite parts. The part with the explosion was fun to write too! :D
Oh and yeah I have a new cover! I made it all by myself :D I think it turned out nicely. I really liked my other cover but over time, I got bored with the pictures I used and wanted to give it a more unique look. I hope you guys liked this chapter and new book cover as much as I do. Plz share your thoughts and vote! Thx for reading:)