Chapter 61: Dark History

"Curly Brow!" Nia heard a voice calling as they shook her, "Hey, Curly Brow!"

The girl opened her right eye only to realize she could see only out of that one eye. Startled and fearing for the worst, she sat up and placed her hand on her other eye. To her relief, it felt as though a bandage was over it.

"Curly Brow, finally!" The girl turned to see Naruto smiling at her before giving her a quick hug.

"Naruto?" She blinked as she then looked around her surroundings and came to an understanding that the two were on a bed in a very beautiful room.

However, Nia's eye widened as she realized which room it was they were really in.

"KYAAA!" She screamed.

This is the same room Fuyuka said she was gonna let Naruto and I do our business!

Shakily, she turned to the blond and gazed at the profile of his face while she fantasized a light pink background behind him with little white stars decorating around it.

Way too handsome for me... way too good.

Naruto looked at her, "Are you alright?"

Nia quickly broke out of her fantasizing state and nodded.

"Yeah sure, but umm... how did we end up in here?"

"Erm, well I'm not really sure what happened but I remember waking up in the hall and no one was around except you. It was really weird cause there was no sign of Hanshin, ya know? Anyway, we were close to this room right here and I just carried you in here and looked around and found this first aid kit. We got lucky with that. Anyway, I wasn't really sure how to use it so I just cleaned your wound with this thingy then bandaged you up where you needed it."

"Naruto... that's very sweet. Thank you very much," Nia smiled, "but this room... didn't some kind of pod thing try to encase you in it."

"A pod thing? No... but... when I tried to open the door again, I realized it wouldn't open no matter what I did. The walls wouldn't break or anything either. We're trapped in here for now."

"What?! Let me try and kick our way out!"

"No!" Naruto kept the girl from getting off the bed, "This is a perfect time for us to recover..."

"Naruto... did you... actually just think that one out...? I mean, you're usually so impatient and ready to go."

"Yeah well, I just wanna make sure you're okay before I try to go back out there."

As he said this, Nia's eyes drifted onto the boy's injured left arm.

"Your arm... its wounded because you were protecting me from the kunais Hanshin threw at you." The kunoichi gently grabbed onto his arm.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I just need to bandage it like with what I did to to your head, eye, and cheek."

Nia felt on the areas Naruto mentioned and indeed felt the bandages on her. In his right hand was the roll for it.

"Here," She said as she took it out of his grasp, pulled up his bloody sleeve, and began tending to his wound, "I'll wrap the bandage around your arm for you."

"Thanks."

"No, thank you," The kunoichi smiled softly, "You're the one who's always helping me in some way. Besides, I'm always glad to be the one to patch you back up."

Naruto scratched his cheek and blushed, "You'd do this every time Sakura would leash out on me too, remember? Like that time she agreed to go on that date with Lee when we were at the Cloud and I got all jealous. You were all worried, ya know?"

"That's because your cheek was throbbing really hard."

Nia continued to wrap the bandage around as Naruto smiled and gazed at her. When she looked up at him, she became extremely shy and hid her face in her hands.

"Why're you staring at me like that?" She nearly melted.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how gentle you are with me. I think I even remember thinking how I wished Sakura was more gentle like you back when I liked her also."

Nia removed her hands away from her, "That reminds me... I sort of always wanted to ask you this, but I was never really sure if I should until now..."

"What is it?"

"The feelings you have for me..." The girl started, "Did you... settle for me?"

"Huh?" The blond raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, did you... only return my feelings because Sakura... didn't return yours?"

"Hmm, I never really thought of that." Naruto answered, "That's a good question."

Nia turned to stone.

He totally... settled for me...

A small grey cloud appeared above her head as rain pour out from it while the girl sulked in a dark corner.

"You're not really someone I consider that I settled down for..." Naruto made his decision as Nia then cheered up a bit and zoomed back over to him.

"Really?!" She asked him.

Naruto put his hands behind his head and sat in a cross cross position.

"Yeah... besides... there were times, even when I liked Sakura, that I was really feeling something for you. None of it really made sense to me until I talked to Pervy Sage about it since I'm not very good with noticing romantic feelings to their greatest extent, ya know?"

"Jiraiya-sensei?" The girl tilt her head.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded, "Even though he's a huge perv, he still is pretty good with noticing romantic feelings and stuff. If it weren't for him, I probably would've never been truly able to get over Sakura, or at least, it would've took a lot longer for me to understand my feelings for you and your feelings for me."

"You don't say..." Nia lowered her eyes.

She then looked back at the genin and said, "That reminds me: Why did you return my feelings? I mean, it's one thing to be okay with being just friends with someone like me, but... becoming m-my boyfriend...? That's a whole other level of kindness and acceptance, Naruto..."

"Curly Brow," He leaned forward, "You really refuse to believe I like you, huh?"

"That's not it," The girl shook her head, "It's just... I can't believe that you do. Like I know you do, but I'm in complete shock over it. I never once thought that was possible. I always just imagined you rejecting me and saying we shouldn't be anything more than friends. I mean... you're KIND!"

The genin chuckled, "I guess, but you actually grew on me and surprisingly, with a little help from Pervy Sage, I came to realize I was starting to like you too."

Nia smiled to herself, "Geez... that makes my heart flutter, Naruto. I can't believe you'd like a girl like me. You're really amazing... one of a kind."

"You give me way too much credit. You're one of a kind too, ya know?"

'If only that were actually true...' Nia sweat dropped, 'but at least he thinks that. That's all that matters I guess.'

Naruto tugged on Nia's wrist and softly brought her close to him. Startled, she tried to pull away but before she could, the boy wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"Naruto..." She began to blush, "What... What're you doing?"

"What you said to my clone..." His voice became serious, "Were you... um..."

His cheeks began to burn and his heart started to race. Nia could hear the change in his heart beat and felt her stomach erupt with butterflies thus causing her to flush in the face even more.

'No way...' She thought as her right eye widened slightly, 'I... I don't understand... how am I making him feel this way? Guys only care about looks... don't they? How did I.... what made me get so lucky? Do I even deserve all this? I'm not beautiful...'

Naruto held her even closer, "Curly Brow, you really want me, right? Like with what you told my clone and all?"

Nia tugged on the genin's jacket.

"It's true...." She mumbled shyly, "I really... wanna... you know..."

"Whatever happened to taking things slow?"

"...I... don't wanna take things slow. I was already friends with you for a decent amount of time. I know you very good and I know you would never intentionally hurt me. You proved that to me over and over and over again. I'd only ever wanna take things slow with someone if I feel like there's a big possibility they would hurt me or betray my trust, but you Naruto... I trust you with all my heart."

"Yeah... I trust you too... for sure." The blond replied as he thought about the whole situation with Kiba and how the girl had rejected the seemingly perfect man, "I know you're extremely loyal for a fact."

You showed Kiba and I that even if a lot of desirable guys approached you, you wouldn't give in to their advances and walk away from me...

"Naruto?" Nia began to feel a special type of happiness.

He looked down at her only for the girl to look up at him.

"You make me... feel really good. The best I've felt in years. I didn't even know I could ever smile again. You seriously are a hero. Just... breathtaking."

"There you go giving me all the credit again," The boy rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not as great as you make it out to be, Curly Brow."

"WHAT?!" The girl pulled away and stared wide-eyes at the blue-eyed boy, "Are you kidding me?! You're INCREDIBLE!"

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Naruto!" Nia placed her hands on his shoulders, "The things I think about that run through my head when I look at you or hear your voice is absolutely ridiculous. I'm always wondering how I'm super lucky that a guy like you would even socialize with a girl like me. I mean, you're just so kind. Well, I mean, you can get an attitude and stuff and be a little irritating at times, but you're extremely kind where it counts the most."

Naruto didn't say anything as he just listened. Nia placed one hand over her other and held it to her heart.

"Seriously, you just don't understand how amaze you make me feel. I mean, you're just really... ugh! It's hard to explain," She then giggled, "I know I probably sound a little too much, but I just have to tell you these things. I can't just beat around the bush hiding my feelings from you. I'm not gonna be shy in that area because I feel like you need to know this. Even if I'm shy around you... I can still find the courage to tell you these things. Shyness shouldn't be used an excuse for hiding away your feelings for someone."

I refuse to be the extremely shy little girl I used to be that was too scared to confess my feelings! I need to be a woman now!

"Besides..." The girl remembered her past hurts and immense heartbreaks, "It was so dark before I knew you... I was so... empty and devoid of life... you saved me with your ideals and accepting and caring heart. You just... accept people. Especially the ones who are hurting deeply inside and seek acceptance themselves... You're a hero.... my hero... if I couldn't be with you, I'd want to be with someone with similar qualities as you. You're amazing, Naruto."

"Curly Brow..." Naruto seemed a little stunned from what he was hearing.

He was silent for a bit before he asked, "You probably won't like what I'm gonna ask, but... do you remember that time you tried to leave Pervy Sage and I immediately after you healed from when I attacked you the first time...?

Nia immediately brought back the memory Naruto spoke of and nodded, "Yeah... that was the day I was trying to figure things out on my own... I thought I didn't need anybody. I thought I was all alone..."

She began to gaze at the handsome male in front of her as she was taking everything special to her in while in a moment of gratitude.

'I'm super lucky,' She thought, 'I'm super lucky to be alive right now... and it's all because of you. You made me want to endure. You practically saved my life. You saved me from the darkness that was in my heart and mind. Thank you... thank you from the bottom of my heart, Naruto.'

The genin broke the girl out of her thoughts, "The villagers... some of them... were they really that obsessed with putting you down just because of the way you look?"

Nia took a moment to think then nodded, "Yeah..."

"But why? You're awesome! I mean you're caring, you're understanding, you're there if someone needs you, you try to make people others feel happy. I mean-"

"No one really gives me a chance to show who I really am. Besides, personality doesn't matter when it comes to a woman 99% of the time. Only her outer appearance does. Also, I'm not as great as you make it sound anyway sometimes..." Nia told him as she thought of her own flaws, "You see... when I was a kid, I was extremely kind. No one really treated me harshly because I guess I was pretty normal. In a way, to be honest, I was pure of heart. Like most children start off as. So... I was pretty happy most of the time back then..."

"So then... what happened? I mean, what made you so..."

"Life can't keep smiling down on people who are happy forever. I eventually went cold and depressed as you saw when you were getting to know me."

She then tried to smile for him to show she was getting better, "Naruto, the important thing is that I'm recovering and that even though I have a long ways to go, I still am learning to be a bit more optimistic with the life I live. So let's just focus on something less depressing... like how much I love you."

"Seriously... your feelings are so strong, ya know?"

The kunoichi blushed and nodded, "Yeah... I'm sorry if they make me seem like I'm all desperate or that I'm really creepy or even crazy. I promise you I'm not any of those things at all. I just... have feelings... like any other person in the world."

"I don't think that at all!" The genin swiftly pinned Nia to the bed and placed his knees on each side of her as he was atop of her now like he was when the girl had attempted to hurt herself all those months ago, "Your feelings aren't desperate, creepy, or crazy at all, ya know?! I'm completely in love with you too, Curly Brow!"

"Naruto!" The girl quickly became embarrassed and squirmed around as he held her wrists down, "Why did you get all aggressive all of a sudden?!"

"I made my decision!" He yelled as his face became extremely determined, "Right here, right now, I'm gonna make you my woman, ya know!"

"What're you going on about?"

"I'm gonna make love to you, Curly Brow!"

"EHHHH?! YOU MEAN LIKE RIGHT NOW?!" The girl nearly passed out, "What about the enemy?! What if they-"

"Do you... dislike it then?" Naruto then seemed to get a little down.

Nia stayed silent as she gazed deeply into his eyes. They looked so sincere and so full of emotion. There was no doubt in her mind...

"You really actually wanna do this... right now..." Her eye couldn't look away from the genin, "with me....? Someone... like me...?"

"Curly Brow... will you let me... show you how I feel?"

"But Naruto... with me?"

The genin pulled his hands away from the girl's wrists and sat her up.

"I think... you're beautiful... Curly Brow." He told her softly.

"Oh my gosh..." The girl nearly freaked out and again covered her face in her hands while she smiled like crazy and steam risen out of her burning face and ears, "This can't be happening! You're just too handsome, Naruto. I can't believe a guy like you would even consider doing this to a girl like me."

"I love you, Curly Brow." Naruto gently took Nia's hands away from her face and held it in his own.

"I promise to be really gentle, alright? I don't wanna hurt you but I think it might hurt a little bit either way since this is your first time. Pervy Sage told me that the first time usually hurts a bit for the girl, but don't worry, it's supposed to get a lot better, ya know?"

Nia seemed to be in deep thought. Meanwhile, Naruto gulped down a lump in his throat as he anxiously waited for her answer. His heart pounded in his chest.

Come on, come on, come on! Say yes, say yes, SAY YES!

The girl looked at him, then looked away, then gazed back at him.

"Okay..." She gave her consent in a sweet tone, "Lets make love, Naruto."

'ALRIIIIIIIIIGHT!' He freaked out in his head, 'I DID IT! SHE TOTALLY WANTS IT!'

"Curly Brooooooow!" He hugged Nia tightly, "I feel so happy, ya know!"

"Yeah, me too!" The girl felt the same way as she blushed deeply then pulled slightly away from the hug and gazed into the lovely eyes in front of her, "I feel really happy too. I love you, Naruto."

They gazed at one another for just a little while longer before Nia's lips planted themselves on Naruto's own. He responded quickly by returning that kiss and succumbing to the anticipation that would soon be met. It didn't take long for him to softly bite down on Nia's lip and meeting his tongue with hers in a easy match that declared him as the more dominant one.

They stayed like this for a little bit before they pulled away for air. Nia tucked some hair behind her ear as she smiled shyly at her now boyfriend who was unzipping his jacket and tossing it to the floor. He placed a hand behind Nia's neck and the other around her waist then once more began to make out with her as she tugged onto his shirt.

'Naruto...' She thought as her heart raced like never before, 'I can't believe you're really gonna do this with me... you're such a good person.'

When the two broke the kiss again, Naruto took the brown travel coat Nia had on her and threw it elsewhere then glanced up and down at the girl's body as he blushed once more. He looked away and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Erm... so... it's alright for me... to take your clothes off, right?"

Nia became awkward also and nodded her head as she felt like she could die of embarrassment at any moment. Naruto gulped and shakily tugged at the zipper of Nia's overly-sized grey jacket.

T-This is it! She's really gonna let me... do this with her...

The blond slowly began to unzip the jacket as the anticipation to see the girl's chest better was killing him inside. As he got down to where everything would be revealed under, the door to the room had exploded.

The two gasped as the door and wall debris came flying at them.

"GET DOWN!" Naruto threw himself over Nia protectively and laid on the bed.

It seemed as though fire had been the cause of the door going down as the room became somewhat very hot. Smoke filled the air and Naruto looked down at Nia to see if she was alright.

"I'm fine." She told him as the two then looked to where the door had once been.

To their surprise, Hanshin had been lying on the floor as it appeared he had been defeated by someone. A shadowy figure stood inside the smoke as Naruto became increasingly annoyed that he and Nia didn't get to do what they both gave their consent for.

Maaaaaan! You gotta be kidding me! I was SO CLOSE!

"Listen whoever you are! You could've at least waited until Curly Brow and had a moment to finally make l-"

Naruto's sentence was cut short as the smoke began to reveal the person who had put Hanshin in his place. His breathing felt as though it came to a halt, his eyes widened and quivered like never before, and suddenly he lost all of his ability to even mutter a word.

The black hair, the outfit the person wore, the blank expression on their face, the way they stood calmly at the entrance of the room, the dark and cold eyes... Naruto had felt as though he was seeing an actual ghost. His mind felt as though it would explode as he tried to make reason with what he was seeing.

'No...' He said to himself as the person made eye contact with him, 'T-This can't be... there's no way this can be r-real... That person... that's... that's...'

The smoke cleared to fully reveal the person who had just been unable to be identified in the smoke.

SASUKE!?

----

A/N - End of chapter! This was actually pretty difficult to write since I had to keep changing and/or adding things to it. This is one of my longer chapters with over 6,000 words lol.

Anyway, I know that the flashback was dark and I apologize if it really bothered people but it had to be done. I had to do it. Also, guys, if any of you are considering suicide, just know that you shouldn't keep your pain, sorrow, and suffering all to yourself. Please reach out to someone and get help. You're not alone in the world and if you feel as though no one cares about you, just know that's a lie. I at least care about all of you guys. No really, I actually do. If you need someone to vent to, I'll give you an ear. So stay strong ❤️

Anyway, thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed it! Please comment and vote and have a great day!

QOTD#1: Favorite part of the chapter?

QOTD#2: Describe Nia in one word? Lol