Chapter 58: Ultimatum

Nia watched as the door to the entrance of the palace was pushed opened. She was still trapped in the egg shaped crystal pod Fuyuka placed her in.

"Curly Brow!" Naruto stepped into the palace as he looked around after being transported there by Fuyuka, "Curly Brow, are you in here?!"

His eyes immediately noticed the clean white floors, the numerous doors to each side of the room, the two halls which was the east and west wing, and of course the chandelier hanging off the ceiling.

Woah, this place is huge and fancy too! She's gotta be somewhere in this castle! I just know it.

Nia's eyes widened as she saw the blond appear through the front door.

"Naruto!" She called from above as she pounded on the strong glass, "Naruto, I'm right here! Look up!"

Though she called for him numerous times, the boy never responded to her cry as he couldn't hear her.

When Naruto looked straight in front of him where the large staircase was, he saw Fuyuka standing innocently with a soft smile on her face.

"Oh my," She pretended to gasp and walked towards him in a friendly manner, "Have you been out in the cold for a while? Oh, you must've been freezing. I'm so glad I could help you with the front door."

"Oh um, hi, how's it going? I kinda busted through the front door and I'm sorry for that, but I'm actually looking for someone." Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he slightly blushed at the woman standing in front of him, "You think you can help me out with that?"

Wow, she's really really pretty. Even prettier than Haku when I thought he was a girl at first.

Fuyuka smiled as she read his thought.

Just as expected... he finds me pleasing to the eye.

She then arrogantly stared to her upper right as she was met with a glare from Nia.

'Oh don't be upset because I'm beautiful, honey. You're lucky you even managed to grab his attention at all, but trust me... physical beauty is all that a man cares about in the long run and I'll even prove it to you right now, little girl.' She spoke to her telepathically.

Knowing she could read her mind, Nia only responded:

'I'd like to see you try and take him away from me. There's no way he'd sleep with you! I trust him completely! He's a good person. Also, just know that if you try to steal him or try to take his life, I promise you I won't show you any mercy when I'm beating you within an inch of your life!'

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw the look in Fuyuka's eyes. He looked in the direction she did but saw nothing.

"Naruto!" Nia pounded on the glass again, "Finally! I'm right here! I can't get out!"

"Young man, is something wrong? You look... distressed." Fuyuka placed a hand on the genin's shoulder and lightly rubbed it.

"Don't touch him!" Nia yelled as the woman ignored her.

"I'm looking for a girl." Naruto answered as he looked at Fuyuka's hand on him, "She has this curled eyebrow and thick, black, nerdy glasses. Seriously, you can't miss her."

"Naruto, seriously?! You literally just looked at me! And nerdy glasses? That's a nice way of putting it!" Nia yelled with a sarcastic tone at the end.

Fuyuka traced her finger along the boy's chest, "I've seen no one but you and my servants in my castle all day long. I've seen no one else, darling."

"Eh? Can you not touch me like that, Lady. You're kinda creeping me out, ya know?" The genin lightly moved away her hand.

Fuyuka then quickly wrapped her arms around the blond's neck as she next winked at him.

"Since this is my palace and because I don't get too many male visitors, how about we head over to a special room down the hall and... make love?"

"GAH!" Naruto jumped back out of the woman's grasp and pointed at himself with his index finger, "YOU WANNA DO THAT WITH ME?!"

"Why of course," Fuyuka flipped her hair over her shoulder and seductively strutted her way back over to the ninja, "You are handsome after all. Don't you wanna score with a pretty woman who has an amazing body such as myself?"

Naruto shook his hands out in front of him, "Listen lady, I don't work that way. You're really, really hot and everything, but I already have a girlfriend, ya know?"

Nia sighed in relief as she heard this.

Oh thank goodness... he rejected her...

A few moments later, her eyes then shot opened as she fully took in everything he had said.

"Wait a sec!" She placed her hands on the glass as she looked down at the blond, "DID YOU JUST SAY YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?!"

Panic rushed through her entire being as she reminisced the date she had with him.

Wait, wait, wait! We both agreed that we weren't official or anything! I'm not his gir-

She next felt her heart drop and slowly fell to her knees as she quickly assumed the worst.

Oh no, no, noooo... You can't... you can't be serious... Naruto's... taken? B-But... I thought... I thought...

Her eyes fixated on the one she loved as her heart continued to crumble.

"A girlfriend?" Fuyuka picked up on the girl's distress and decided to play along, "Oh she must be beautiful to land a handsome man like you."

"Oh yeah! I think so!" Naruto began to blush as he nodded, "It took a while to get to where we are now, but I get the feeling it'll be all worth it in the end, ya know?"

As Nia heard this, her heart sinked lower and lower.

'She's beautiful?' She thought as tears began to surface in her eyes, 'T-That's not... That's not me... he's talking about then...'

Her bangs cast a shadow over her eyes.

Naruto... seriously? I thought... I thought you weren't like that. I thought you were different... I completely trusted you... I don't... believe this...

Fuyuka smirked and said to Nia,

'Oh you poor little thing. The man you love has been playing with your heart this entire time. He had a girlfriend the whole time... and never told you. You must be broken... broken enough to help me take his power for my own good.'

Nia didn't reply. Feeling her distress, Fuyuka decided to free the girl from her crystal pod and as she did, Nia began to fall from many feet above ground.

"What the-" Naruto heard the shattering of the glass and looked up to see Nia quickly descending from the air.

Quickly, he caught her then sat her on the ground as had his arm around her.

"Curly Brow!" He grinned then hugged the girl, "You're okay! Thank goodness! I was so worried, ya know? I told you I was going to find you!"

Nia didn't say anything.

Naruto pulled away to only notice the deep long cut on her right cheek. He also noticed the brown long travel coat she wore and spread it open and saw the numerous other cuts and bruises that had formed in her body during the fight she had while outside with Sasuke.

"You're injured," The blond nearly freaked out, "Who did this to you?!"

Again, Nia didn't say anything. Naruto shook her by the shoulder.

"Curly Brow!"

"It's not important!" The girl raised her voice then pushed away from the genin, "How about... How about we talk about that girlfriend you have?!"

Naruto blinked a few times, "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah!" Nia said as she crossed her arms then unfolded them and placed her hands on her lap as she was unable to look Naruto in the eye, "You said... you said you have a girlfriend."

He nodded, "Yeah?"

This only crushed Nia's heart and she placed her hands over her face and turned away from the boy.

"Who?" She asked weakly as she struggled to hold back tears, "Who's your girlfriend?"

Naruto sweat dropped, "C'mon, don't be like that. You already know who I'm referring to, ya know?"

"No! I don't know! You and I agreed that we weren't official yet during our first date! That means..." Nia turned back around and removed her hands away from her face as she allowed the blond to see that she was crying, "That means someone else... is your girlfriend."

"Oh man! You're really crying over this?"

"Of course I am! You said you liked me... no, you said you love me and yet, you were already taken and didn't even bother to tell me! I thought you were better than that, Naruto! I try so hard to show you how much I care about you, and I even rejected some really hot prince guy who was was loaded just because I'm completely in love with you!"

Nia's sobbing intensified, "I can't... I can't believe this! Why does this stuff always ha-happen to me?! I just... I just wanna be loved for once in my life. I wanna be good enough. I wanna be pretty enough. Oh my god."

As the two continued to try and sort out this huge misunderstanding, Fuyuka held up a ram sign and began to build up her chakra. Neither Naruto nor Nia seemed to remember she was there as she prepared to set her plan into action.

"Curly Brow, seriously! You're overreacting! You think I'd seriously lead you on like that?!" Naruto replied.

"No!" Nia answered, "That's why I'm crying! I didn't think you were like that but you said you have a beautiful girlfriend which means I'm not who you're referring to."

With this, the kunoichi placed the side of her hand on her forehead and began to sob even louder. She was extremely stressed and sniffled every few seconds as she found it a bit hard to breathe.

"I.. I put in all that e-effort just to show you I cared and this is what I get in r-return?! A-Another guy who leads me to believe I have a chance with him only to find out l-la-later on, after I develop strong feelings for him, that he accidentally reveals or I find out h-he has a g-girl-girlfriend."

"Curly Brow." Naruto tried to reach for her hand only to have her smack it away.

"No! D-Don't touch me. If you seriously wanna know if you got me, you did. I totally b-believed everything you said to me from start to finish. I should've known a guy who's c-completely out of my league in every way, shape, and form could never p-possibly l-like me and only me. I was just kidding m-myself, but you know what? If you just wanna be playing games then I don't need to be around you a-any-anymore. I deserve to be treated so much better than that and-"

Naruto nearly snapped, "You need to calm down, ya know? You got the wrong idea! You're completely freaking out for no reason!"

"What do you mean calm down? You just told me you have a girlfriend!"

"I do have a girlfriend!"

"Ohhhh my god!" The kunoichi took her glasses off and rubbed her face as tears still slid down from it, "I can't believe you right now. Why are y-you doing t-this to me r-right now? What the hell! Ughhhh!"

"Curly Brow, I don't get why you're so upset right now. Do you not wanna be with me then?"

Nia nearly lost it at his question, "No! Of course not! Why the hell would I wanna be with someone who has a girlfriend already?! What am I to you? Some kind of back-up girl? No! Fuck that! I don't need you around me anymore to feel happy! I'll just go off and be happy my own damn self. Anything is better than being treated like garbage by some random guy!"

After hearing this, Naruto was now able to understand why the girl was so upset and tried to say something to her only to be caught off.

"Seriously, I don't wanna talk to you anymore. We went on a date not even a few hours ago and made it clear that you and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. Now that we're here just maybe a few hours later like I said before, you tell me, STRAIGHT TO MY FACE, you have a girlfriend. Do you not realize how messed up that is?"

"You did all the talking.. I only listened and agreed to take the physical contact slower. I never agreed to stop thinking of you as my girlfriend. I mean,  just think about it! No matter what you say, we sorta are a couple now, ya know?"

"Wait what?!" Nia became confused before she shook her head, "No, you said you have a beautiful girlfriend. Keyword: beautiful. I'm not pretty or anything at all!

"But... I do think you're beautiful!" Naruto confessed with a serious tone.

Nia momentarily stopped crying and looked at the genin with widened eyes.

"You think... you think I'm-"

"Yes!" The blond nodded, "I think... I think you're beautiful, ya know? I mean, I'm clearly not good with words, but... you get what I'm saying."

Nia's heart began to pound as she looked away from her love's gaze, "But.. I'm not pr-"

"I don't care if you think you are or not! I hate how you think that all I care about is looks, ya know?! Besides... I think you're pretty anyway."

"Naruto," Nia turned completely red as she scooted away from him, "Please stop lying to me. I'm the ugliest girl in the world. You can't possibly think-"

"I THINK YOU'RE PRETTY, ALRIGHT?!" The boy yelled as the kunoichi's insecurity was bothering him.

He clenched her upper arms tightly, "Seriously! I don't care if anyone else doesn't agree with me! I think you're pretty! If I didn't think that, why the hell would I even bother calling you my girlfriend, ya know?! Besides, didn't you say before you had other people like you despite your looks a few times?!"

Nia nodded, "Yeah but-"

"But nothing! That there should be proof that not every person you come across thinks you're ugly. On top of that, don't you think the way you're acting over me saying I have a girlfriend and you thinking it's not you tells you something about yourself?"

"..."

Naruto sighed, "After seeing how hurt you are over thinking that I'm already taken and that I was leading you on makes it so obviously clear that you see me as your boyfriend already... even I can see that as clear as day."

Nia blushed, "But I never said any of that stuff..."

"You don't have to. It's like you said: You show me you want me. I'm not usually good at reading a girl's body language toward me, but I know for a fact you got the hots for me, ya know? You so want me. Just admit it!"

Nia flickered her eyes as she tried to think of something to say. Seeing how awkward she became, Naruto leaned forward and grinned.

"C'mon Curly Brow, just say it."

"Say what?"

"Say you want me real bad."

Nia's blush deepened as she lowered her eyes, "I... I... don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really?" The genin leaned even closer, "Then why are you crying about how you think someone else is my girlfriend, huh? Huuuuh?"

"Because... because..."

"You love me. You wanna be my girlfriend."

"Stop saying it like that!" The girl became embarrassed and wailed her arms around, "You don't... you don't really wanna be my boyfriend, do you? I mean... who would ever wanna be with me?"

"Anyone who wants a super loyal, loving, nice, adorable, supportive, selfless, courageous, strong, sensitive girlfriend I guess..."

"You think... you think that?" This time Nia couldn't hide the smile that was forming on her face.

"There's a whole lot of other things, but-"

"I'm sorry." The girl quickly apologized, "I'm sorry for not really listening and giving you the time to explain yourself. I was just afraid that... that I wasn't enough for you. That I wasn't beautiful enough. I mean, you're handsome to me so when I heard that you had a beautiful girlfriend, I immediately just assumed you weren't talking about me though I do recall you saying you did think of me as your girlfriend on our first date now that I think about it. I'm sorry..."

Nia then took the hand from Naruto that she smacked away and rubbed her cheek against it.

"I'm so sorry you beautiful, warm, comforting, strong hand. I didn't mean to hurt you. I love you, too."

"Yeah..." Naruto sweat dropped, "You don't gotta apologize to my hand like that. That's kinda weird, ya know?"

"Naruto... I don't want any other girl to win your heart or take it away from me. I want it. I wanna be the one to make you smile and be there for you. I'd do just about anything to stay by your side."

"Oh, I know," The blond rubbed the back of his head as a small pink tinge made it to his cheeks while he softly smiled, "You don't gotta keep telling me that, ya know?"

Nia nodded, "So then... are we good now? There's no complications? Are you mad at me?"

"Not mad, just a bit disappointed that you would think I'd pull something like that behind your back. That sorta stung."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" The kunoichi pleaded as she still held onto his hand, "I'll never think that ever again! I was just scared, I swear! I just didn't wanna lose you. I was terrified with the thought of you not... of you not truly wanting or caring about me. I'm so sorry."

Naruto grinned, "It's okay. I guess I should've thought more about what I said to you since I forgot you wanted to take things slow."

"Oh uh... about that..." Steam began to pour out of the girl's very red face, "This whole taking things slow thing... I think... I think..."

"Yeah?" Naruto waited for the kunoichi to finish speaking.

"I think you and I should just make l-"

"ENOUGH TALKING!" Fuyuka screamed and interrupted Nia as she had just finished collecting the chakra she needed.

The two teens immediately turned their attention to the woman as she made a few signs then slammed her hand on the floor. When she did, a purple line raced around the two as it formed a large rectangle. The glow from the line shot up and form a barrier around them as well.

"What the hell?" Naruto stood up as he realized him and Nia were trapped, "What's going on, Lady?"

"Naruto, that lady isn't as nice as she appears. That's Hanshin! She put me in some kind of pod prison and threatened to-"

"WOAH!" The genin interrupted as he pointed at the enemy, "He's a chick?!"

Nia sweat dropped, "That's not really impor-"

"You know sexy jutsu too then?!" He asked the woman, "Not bad, but I can do better!"

"Naruto..." Nia glared, "Is it really that important for you to-"

"Lady, you're really hot, but check this out!" The blond put a sign together, "Sexy Jut-"

"NARUTO!" Nia lost her patience and hollered with a intolerant tone.

A shiver ran down the genin's spine as soon as he felt the deadly eyes staring straight at him. He shakily looked over his shoulder with a blue face.

"O-Oh! C-Curly Brow, don't get jealous. After all... y-you're gonna be the one who ends up in my bed later on, aren't you?"

This question nearly put the girl in a coma due to the sheer amount of embarrassment she felt from hearing what she did.

"And who the hell said I was gonna end up in your bed later on, Naruto?!" She wailed her arms up and down in a quick blurred motion, "I didn't say anything like that!"

"Well, all I'm trying to say is that..."

Naruto was suddenly unable to finish his sentence as he felt a sudden pain in his stomach. He dropped to his knees and keeled over.

"Gaaaah!" He groaned as he felt a very familiar sensation running through his chakra, "D-Damn... w-what the hell is going on? I feel like... I feel like I'm burning up inside!"

Quickly, Nia crawled over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"C-Curly Brow..." The boy began to tremble as he struggled to keep the other supply of his chakra in check, "Listen to me. I... I need you... I need you to stay away from me. I need you to run. High-tail it out of here, ya know?"

"What? Why?"

Seconds later, red bubbles began to very slowly form around the boy. Immediately, Nia's eyes widened at the sight of it and she tightened her grip on the blond's shoulder.

"Naruto! What's going on?! Why are those bubbles appearing around you like it did back when we were in that cave?"

"Just stay... away from me. Stay away from me. Just run. Please just run!"

"What?! No! No way!" The girl refused, "I'm not going anywhere without you! I'm not leaving you! There's no way in hell i'm doing that!"

The bubbles now completed forming a full tail as they next began to surround his whole body slowly. Realizing what was going on, Nia quickly threw her arms around Naruto's neck and hugged him tight.

"Please don't!" She begged, "Please don't do this! Please don't transform!"

Naruto's lips became black as his teeth and nails sharpened and became much longer. His teeth resembled that of canine teeth. He gave no reply to the girl.

"Naruto!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Fuyuka laughed hysterically at what she was witnessing while she held something strange in her hand.

"You!" Nia quickly glared daggers into the woman's eyes, "What the hell did you do to him?!"

"Oh, let's just say I tampered with his chakra not too long ago. What you're seeing now is the result of my plan kicking off into action, sweetie."

"Don't ever call me sweetie... and what do you mean by you tampered with his chakra?!"

The evil woman smirked, "I mean... the moment I pretended to get all physical with him, I placed... well let's go with something like a needle through his skin. Something so small and painless, you wouldn't be able to feel a single thing."

"Honestly! I should've killed you back when I had the chance!"

"Oh, but you didn't. Besides, the one whom you fought was simply a clone. You can't kill me in my own genjutsu, little girl. Besides..." Fuyuka pointed at Naruto, "I think you have more important things to worry about."

When Nia turned her attention back at the genin, he aimed his claws right at the girl's head. Immediately, she pushed away from him, barely managing to avoid getting torn in half from the head down.

Nia then slowly stood up as her legs wobbled a bit due to shock at his attempt to kill her.

A full cloak had now surrounded around Naruto's body in the shape of a fox. He slowly raised to his feet but hunched over with his head kept low where his hair covered his face. One arm hanged down past his knee while the other stayed by his thigh. The long strings of his headband floated casually inside the cloak.

"N-Naruto?" Nia took a step closer as she feared mainly for his condition while they were both trapped in the rectangular barrier.

Fuyuka placed what looked like a small leaf to her lips.

"Listen well, Nine-Tails..." She spoke into it, "I only have one mission for you... that mission..."

The woman pointed her finger at Nia, "Is to slaughter the girl in front of you into a million pieces! Once you tear her with your lovely claws... well... we'll see what happens next."

"You're crazy and damn right evil!" The kunoichi replied as she couldn't see very well due to taking off her glasses earlier while reconciling with the jinchuuriki. They were still lying by him also, "There's no way Naruto would ever wanna-"

The sound of a growl stopped the girl from finishing her sentence. As soon as she stared ahead of her, Naruto lifted his head up as his eyes became red and his pupils were slit like that of a cat's. The whisker marks on his cheeks had became more thicker and wider and his hair also became more wild and untamed.

Nia felt her heart quiver with complete worry.

'Oh no...' She thought as the boy in front of her gave her the most deadliest stare she had ever seen in her life, 'If... If I don't... If I don't do something... Naruto will... he'll... he'll get burned all over like last time and maybe he'll... maybe he'll even die this time!'

"So what will you do?" The white-haired lady spoke once more, "Stand and do nothing as the person you love tears open your flesh, or... do you try and kill the man you love instead so that you may be able to live?"

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A/N - Yep! This is the end of this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks for reading and please comment and vote and have a great day ❤️

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