I HAVE AN ORIGINAL STORY CALLED: Dare To Be Different!
It's a secret fanfiction of this book, just set in a high school setting. Think of it as Konoha High]
My account is: TheQueen923

Chapter 9: An Awkward Moment

"Stay close, Nia; I can't keep you out of my sight again." Naruto advised the girl following close behind him, "You'll probably get into trouble again."

"So you're actually gonna use my name now?" Nia replied as she quickened her pace to Naruto's; They were now side to side.

"Er yeah... I don't like the sound of Whisker Cheeks." Naruto said.

"I think it fits you."

"It does not."

"Yes it does," Nia giggled before poking a mark on Naruto's face, "Don't deny it."

"Oh yeah? What about your weird eyebrow?" Naruto smiled as he touched the girl's left brow, "Curly Brow fits you just as much as Whisker cheeks fits me, ya know?"

"You say that a lot, huh?"

"Hm?" Naruto blinked, "Say what a lot?"

"Ya know." Nia answered, "I don't really even know you but you keep saying that in almost every single sentence you say."

"What! I don't always say that, ya know!"

Nia bursted out laughing, "You just said it!"

Naruto realized what he said then looked away embarrassed.

In front of the two, a store with various sweets had catched Nia's attention. She ran off ahead of Naruto and stared at the section with different kinds of cookies.

Chocolate chip, M&m flavor, oatmeal; They were all her favorites.

Naruto caught up to Nia and smiled slightly when he saw her eyes twinkle.

'She's practically drooling over those things.' He laughed quietly inside.

"I would like the chocolate chip and M&m ones please." The girl made an order to the cater.

"That'll be a dollar." He said.

"Just one? That's cheap." Nia smiled as she dug through her pockets for her wallet.

Seconds passed to a minute.

"Eh?!" She couldn't feel anything, "What the heck! Where is it?"

Frantically, she searched every single pocket in and out her clothing.

"No! Where the heck is it?! I thought it was just in here!"

A sudden memory paused her actions. Back in the guest room where her sensei is, she left her bag beside the wall. It contained her money in there. Nia groaned and dramatically slumped her head and shoulders; She sulked about not being able to have her most craved treat.

Naruto saw the disappointment she showed and thought of himself when it came to him not having money to buy ramen from Ichiraku in the Hidden Leaf.

"I guess I have no choice." He said as he dug into his pocket and took out his green frog wallet then opened it and took a bill out even though it would bring him down to three measly dollars, "Here's a dollar."

Nia looked up to see the kindness Naruto once more displayed and the few dollars he had left in his wallet. The cater grabbed a napkin and placed the two cookies in a bag then handed it to Naruto, who then generously gave it to Nia.

"Here ya go." He said softly, "For you."

Nia's mouth watered and she immediately snatched the bag from Naruto.

"Thank you!" She squealed.

"Uh sure, no problem." Naruto smiled somewhat as he looked at the bag in Nia's grasp.

The two continue to walk in a random direction. Nia took out the M&m cookie; her favorite out of the two she had. She placed it near her mouth but looked at Naruto walking next to her. He was staring ahead and didn't really have any expression on his face.

'He's been really nice to me since we've been out here...' Nia thought as she glanced at her cookie, 'He's low on cash yet bought the two cookies for me since I don't have my money on me... I can't just-"

"Here." The dark-haired girl holded her favorite treat in Naruto's face.

"Eh?" He looked confused, "What is it?"

"You wasted your money on something so small; You can have this cookie as a thank you gift." Nia answered gently.

Naruto rubbed his head, "Oh, you don't gotta thank me; Keep it."

"No." Nia refused and popped the treat in Naruto's mouth forcefully yet gently.

He sweatdropped.

"There you go." Nia leaned forward with a smile, "Doesn't it taste good? That's my favorite flavor!"

"It's alwight." Naruto said with his mouth open as he chewed, "I would rather have ramen though."

"Ramen?" Nia raised a brow, "You mean noodles?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, ramen. I love it, ya know?"

Nia reflected her times back at the Hidden Cloud and Leaf; Ramen was the main thing she ate everyday but unlike Naruto, she was pretty much forced to eat it throughout her whole life since her parents didn't really get anything else from a market. It was cheap as well.

"Noodles is what I call it; Ramen sounds weird to me." She commented.

"So you've tried it before?"

"Yeah; I was forced to eat it practically everyday since childhood."

"It tastes awesome, right?!" Naruto practically drooled at the thought of his favorite meal.

Nia smiled and shrugged, "It's alright; The packaged ones are the best but the cupped ones are disgusting!"

Naruto's eyes widened, "No way! They're awesome! I have one whenever I get the chance."

'I see that. You were just eating one in the guest room not too long ago when I was writing in my diary.' Nia silently thought.

"Anyway," The older teen continued, "When I was in your village, I used to see you in that noodle shop all the time."

"Ichiraku? Yeah, that's where the best ramen is served. It's kinda made like the packaged ramen is and served into a bowl with soup and toppings."

Nia and Naruto continued having their conversation and eventually realized that it was getting a bit too dark for them to stay out and headed back to the guest inn.

"Pervy SAAAGE!" Naruto slid open the door dramatically, "We're back!"

"I hope you two are better acquainted than before." Jiraiya said, not bothering to look behind him.

He was still writing. Crumpled paper scattered the room, some in a wastebasket. It was clear that the sannin was working diligently.

Nia pushed Naruto to the wall and rushed to Jiraya's side, once more looking over his shoulder.

"Are you finished with a chapter?!" She saw the words written on his paper.

"Not just one, but a few!"

Nia grinned widely, "Can I read it?! Please let me!"

"Hm, you are underage, but it's not like I wrote anything too extreme yet; I guess you can take a look." Jiraiya handed his work to Nia, who nearly screamed her head off.

Finally she was holding the draft to one of Jiraya's own writings! It was a dream! Nothing could beat this moment she was experiencing right now.

"I hope shoving me out your way won't turn into a habit." Naruto rubbed his throbbing cheek as he approached Nia. Being pushed again by her was annoying.

However, Nia was so occupied, she didn't notice anything or anyone around her. Naruto frowned.

I thought she said Pervy Sage's books are dirty and not sophisticated or whatever. But look at her now... reading away at the thing.

"You know Naruto, maybe you can read it right after Nia does and get a looksy at my book before anyone else." Jiraiya had stood up and nudge Naruto on the arm.

"No way! I already told you I'm not some sleazy pervert like you."

Jiraiya was annoyed but shrugged, "Your lost."

Naruto made a sarcastic comment then yawned. He was worn out with all the drama from today alone. A nights sleep would definitely do him good. His stomach growled. Maybe food would be better right now instead?

Naruto dug through his bag and grabbed three cupped ramen. A pot and small stove were in the room. The ninja turned it on and poured water into the light blue pot.

Several minutes later, he finished making his meals and handed a cup to his master and extended his left hand down toward Nia who had recently changed into a black robe and was now sitting and admiring Jiraiya's work.

"Hellooo?" Naruto waved the ramen cup in Nia's face.

She took her eyes off the paper she was reading and looked up.

"It's always bad to go to bed with a empty stomach. So here; Eat up."

"I don't like that." The girl replied.

Naruto thought back to their conversation while they were outside earlier, "Oh yeah... Well, can't you at least try eating this? It's already made."

"No." Nia pushed the cup away from her.

Naruto pushed it forward again; Nia pushed it away. They did this a few more times before Naruto lost his patience.

"Quit being so picky and just eat it!"

"I don't want to!" Nia shoved the cup back at the blonde.

Naruto groaned and turned away, giving Nia an annoyed look as he did.

"Be hungry then." He said.

Nia rolled her eyes, "I have my own food so you don't have to worry about me anyway."

The girl dug through her bag and took out some homemade orange chicken in a container. A pair of chopsticks was in her bag also so she took it out too.

"That doesn't seem like it'll be warm." Naruto commented.

"So. Anything is better than that nasty noodle cup." Nia replied.

"It's not nasty!" Naruto barked.

"It's disgusting. No offense."

"You haven't even tried my way of making it."

"You don't have a special way; There is no special way to make that stuff cause all you really gotta do is pour hot water into it and let it set for a few minutes..."

"Yeah, but I stir mines and add a ingredient in it that makes it all the more delicious."

Nia raised a brow, "What ingredient?"

"Naruto." The genin male used his chopsticks to pick up a white sweet with a pink swirl on the center. He placed it inside the cup.

"Here." He held the cup to Nia's face once more.

"Okay fine." She grabbed the ramen and sighed annoyingly, "I'll give it a try..."

Naruto showed a contented smile, "This will have you wishing you could eat all the ramen cups in the world!"

"Ack! Ack!" A sudden cough erupted out of Nia after taking a mouthful of ramen.

"Woah, what's wrong? You okay?" Naruto showed his concern.

Nia caught her breath and swallowed the noodles.

"Sorry, I just placed too many noodles in my mouth at once." She said.

Naruto concern wore off, "I'm not one to talk, but maybe not consuming so much at once will help you out till you become a ramen cup professional eater like me."

"Is that so...?"

"That's right!"

Nia giggled. Naruto placed his cup down to let it cool down then announced he was going to change into a blue robe and left.

Nia waited for the guy to leave then quickly headed to the sink while Jiraiya wasn't looking and poured out most of the ramen down the drain, making sure not a single noodle could be seen.

'I just hate cup noodles no matter what.' She thought as she got back to her spot, 'However, that blonde guy is kinda nice so I should at least act like I enjoyed it.'

A couple minutes later, Naruto exited a room and entered the space Nia and his master were in. He quickly spotted his ramen cup and sat down.

"Time to dig in!" He grabbed his chopsticks with a huge smile on his face.

"Yeah." Nia smiled as believable as she could.

'Hopefully this cup ramen doesn't make me throw up first...'

Before diving in, Nia gazed at the male across from her. She observed how he didn't have his headband on and how his front bangs laid down over his forehead. Naruto was just about to eat when he noticed the girl's stare.

"What is it?" He blinked.

"Oh uh, nothing." Nia mumbled her words, "It's just,,. you look different without your headband on."

"Oh." The genin replied, "I guess I notice that too at times."

Silence...

In this time, Nia realized the distance between her and her sibling student. Naruto was only sitting about three feet away; Too close for comfort. The female scoots back to lengthen the distance. Naruto didn't seem to notice as he was too busy devouring his meal.

A couple minutes later he finished and set his cup down, Nia pretended she was done too and did the same.

"That was good!"

Nia simply said nothing. The Uzumaki yawned and stretched his muscles. It was past midnight and he had grown tired. He went to grab a futon and placed it on the floor.

"I'm going to bed, Pervy Sage. When I wake up, you better teach me that new jutsu in the morning."

"Yeah yeah whatever." Jiraya flung his hand backward, "Goodnight, Naruto."

'Night Pervy Sage.' Naruto thought as he began to lay down. He then saw Nia once more reading Jiraiya's new manuscript he had typed.

He thought of a certain teacher he had while he was in the academy. A teacher who felt the same pain of having no parents and dealing with loneliness as he grew. The same man who recognized him as a person and bait a beast.

"Curly Brow..." He called.

"Hm?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Iruka-sensei, would you?"

"Of course im related to him. We're cousins."

Uzumaki sat up, "Whaaat?! You are?"

Nia nodded.

"You really just figured it out, Naruto?" Jiraiya joined the conversation.

"Well... I wasn't really thinking about it till now." Naruto answered.

"Iruka says he's been doing good at the Hidden Leaf. He really likes teaching the kids at the academy." Nia said.

"Yeah, he's awesome! I think of him as a cool big brother or maybe even like a... a-" Naruto paused then looked down with a embarrassed smile as he rubbed his head, "A father."

Nia blinked a few times.

'A father? Iruka?'

"How come?" She asked.

Naruto scratched his cheek, "Well, he was the first person to ever truly accept me when I was a pre-teen."

The sixteen-year-old thought of the time Iruka risked his life to save his and how the ninja's tears struck down on his face. It was a moment he would never forget.

Jiraiya, hearing that story from Iruka himself, smiled slightly. Nia raised a brow.

"He was the first?" She asked.

Naruto nodded, "Well yeah. Basically. I know that I was lucky enough to play with other kids like Shikamaru, Chouji, you, and that one other girl who was with you, but at the end of the day, no one was really there for me until Iruka warmed up to me."

"Oh..." Nia lowered her eyes, "S-Sorr-"

"Ah no need to apologize." Naruto reassured the girl, "We we all just kids. It's not like you had the power to disobey your parents or anything."

"Yeah, but-"

"It's fine, you know."

"..."

Naruto stared at Nia.

'Even though I was extremely lonely most days... At least sometimes I had a few kids to play with at the park before their guardians would take them home or away from me.'

"Nia, thanks a ton for at least playing with me once while we were children. It meant a lot."

'You, Shikamaru, Chouji, and that other girl.'

"You shouldn't thank me." Nia clenched her lower robe, "Those two little boys played with you a lot more than I ever did. Heck! Even my sister played with you more."

"Huh? That other little girl was your sister?"

"Yeah. She's my younger sister and her name is Misumi. She's pretty hot-headed though now. Fifteen-years-old."

"Oh yeah." A light bulb appeared Naruto's head as he remembered the second girl, "That's right; She was the more fun one!"

A glare was shot at the blonde by Nia, "What!"

Naruto sweat-dropped and chuckled nervously, "Oh... I... Uh... Ummm..."

"You what?" The kunoichi glared slightly harder.

"Ehh... I remember you being... Um... Being the..."

'Why can't I think of anything to describe what I thought of her...? If I don't hurry up, that cold glare is gonna kill me!' Uzumaki grew anxious in his thoughts.

"Wait!" He placed a closed fist on top of his open hand. He then looked at Nia smiled and said, "You were the crybaby!"

"A crybaby?!" Nia yelled, clearly disliking the adjective Naruto used.

He flinched when he realized what he said was offensive.

"I- I meant nice!" He corrected himself, "You were the most kind one!"

Immediately, Nia softened up and averted her eyes shyly in disbelief.

'I'm the most... kind?'

She then smiled and awkwardly shifted her body side to side while still avoiding Naruto's confused expression.

'Heh... Give a girl a compliment and they'll get all weird.' The ninja genin thought as he looked at the reaction Nia got as soon as he had said that.

"All right, guys. That's enough of that." Jiraiya said as he placed his papers to the side of the table he was working on, "It's about 2:00 a.m; Time for some shut-eye."

"All right." Nia nodded and headed to the closet to get a futon. Jiraiya went after her.

Once she came back, she noticed Naruto was already knocked out and sleeping like a baby.

'Geesh, he's already out of it.' She sweat-dropped.

"That's Naruto for ya." Jiraiya appeared to the left of his male pupil, "Always the most energetic one during the day, but the most beaten up by night."

"Well of course. Having that much energy would have you out cold quicker and longer than most people. I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up in the afternoon."

"Hm... I guess so but I also doubt it. That new jutsu will have him waking up by 10:00 am at the most."

Nia glanced at the sleeping teen, "He did seem excited about it."

"Trust me; he is." Jiraiya replied as he got comfortable on his futon, "Anyway, we'll train in the morning. Get some rest."

Nia smiled and nodded happily, "Yes!"

Since there was only a small room, Nia was forced to lay her futon to the right side of Naruto and slept there, despite being a bit uncomfortable.

****

The three slept happy but the hours flew by and it was long past morning. In fact, it was 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

"Please... J-Just one more... bowl..." A small voice spoke as Naruto slept, "Ramen... more..."

The ninja had stretched every part of his body in his sleep and accidentally slammed his hand on Nia's face. Feeling the impact, the girl became startled and quickly risen up with her arms in a guarding position.

She scanned the room and saw no one. The kunoichi lowered her guard and sighed.

'Oh... It's no one. That scared me.'

"S-Sakura..."

Nia looked down to her right.

"Don't be so shy..." Naruto talked in his sleep. He was dreaming of his crush.

Nia stared intently at him.

'Oh. He has a girlfriend already...'

She didn't notice her next action of looking down.

"I'll give... you a hug..."

Naruto subconsciously patted the futon next to his until he found something to grab onto: Nia's right wrist.

Before she could react, he pulled her against his chest then wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Sakuraaaa!" Naruto said in his sleep.

Nia, who was a victim to his strange sleeping behavior, grew extremely red with embarrassment to the point steam rises out of it. A man in his sleep had just pulled her into an embrace and wouldn't let go. Her blood pumped faster and faster and she was frozen in place.

Suddenly Naruto talked again and his lips formed the shape of someone preparing to kiss another. He lowered his lips towards the already frightened kunoichi.

'W-What's he doing? I-Is he going to- k-k-k-'

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She hollered and broke free from Naruto's grasp.

The two advanced ninja then awoke out of their sleep ready to fight.

"What?!" Naruto jumped up and got into a stance, "Who the hell is here?!"

Jiraiya didn't stand up but looked around very closely. Once the two realized there was no danger, they relaxed.

Naruto, however, noticed Nia backed up against the wall with her hand over her heart. Her face was still red.

"What's up with you, Curly Brow? You look like you just ate the hottest chili in the world." He talked.

"YOU'RE SO STRANGE WHEN YOU SLEEP!" She responded quickly.

Naruto rubbed his head and looked down to his left, "What are you talking about? I'm normal."

So badly Nia wanted to inform the younger teen what he did but she decided against it and slowly attempted to calm herself down. She didn't want to be put in an awkward situation.

"N-Nevermind." She replied.

Suddenly, another scream was heard. It came from Jiraiya this time. He looked at the clock and realized it was afternoon. He told the other two and Naruto began to remove his robe right in front of Nia.

"Change somewhere else, Whisker Cheeks!"

Naruto looked back and sighed, "Fiiine."

He headed back to the closet and changed there. After him, Nia went in then Jiraiya. Soon the three made their way outside in the forest of the village.

The weather was a little hot and the wind was blowing a bit but it was not awful nor unbearable.

The sannin stood across from Nia and Naruto who stood side to side.

"All right." Jiraiya placed his hands on his hips, "The first lesson I'll teach is how the two of you can benefit from the other."

"Hold on!" Naruto got grumpy; he pointed a finger, "You said you'd teach me that new jutsu!"

"Would you clam it up already?! I will get to that but first this is what we're going to do. Don't get so impatient, Naruto. I told Nia I would teach her how to use ninjutsu more effectively. Don't be so selfish; You might learn a thing or two also."

Naruto slumped his head and shoulders.

'Yeaaah right.'

And so, the official training finally went into motion. However, back in the Hidden Stone, a certain bad-tempered Raikage was heading out the village gates and back towards the Hidden Cloud.

He quickly remembered the agreement he made with the Umino girl and grunted.

'Nia had better learn how to use ninjutsu better or its back to the academy for her. I won't stand for such wasted potential.'

----
A/N- Okay! Now I'm done. Took this a long time to come out but now here it is. I'll be resuming on my break but I'll try to type some more chapters while that is happening. Please share your thoughts and vote. Thx for reading and thx to everyone who either sent me an inbox about how much they like this story already and/or commented on my other chapters! It really means a lot. Hope you enjoyed reading :)