Chapter 13: Hurry Nia!
Once the pollen vanished, Nia took the chance to grab her glasses and slip into her kunoichi attire. She figured that she might as well grab Naruto's orange attire and put in her bag then carry it on her back also.
'I need to find Jiraiya-sensei!'
She then paused and took a look outside. She could still see the petals from a distance.
'No, if I get him, we won't know where she took Naruto.'
Nia placed her foot on the window ledge.
'I'm gonna have to get him myself..'
She pushed herself out the window and sprinted through the village. It surprised her that no one seemed to notice a human floating in the air by petals. They acted as if everything was normal.
When she got to the village gates, she knocked out the guards who tried to stop her from leaving late at night. She apologized to them in her head and continued on her way.
Several yards away in the sky, Mumi looked down and saw the kunoichi closing in on her.
"Naruto!" The girl called, "Naruto, wake up! Some chick is trying to kidnap you!"
No response.
Mumi laughed, "Nice try, but he won't be waking up unless I make him otherwise."
Nia grunted then kicked off the ground and into the trees. She grabbed a few shuriken and threw it right at the woman.
"Earth style: Dancing Petals!" Mumi shouted.
A shower of rainbow-colored flowers swirled around the girl in glasses and tightly wrapped around her body like a cocoon. She lost her footing and fell straight to the ground.
'Damn it!' She wiggled around as Mumi boasted about how skilled her jutsu was.
She was getting further and further out of sight. Nia closed her eyes and stopped squirming around. She began to focus her chakra into her strength. The petals constricted very tightly and she needed to prepare herself for some serious loosening.
In the air, Mumi stared down at Naruto's face. He was handsome to her yet she found it strange that he had marks on his cheeks. Did they mean something?
'Whatever.' She brushed her thoughts away, 'He's all mine now.'
It must've been not more than a few minutes when she suddenly heard:
"Water Style: Water Whip!"
A long rope made of solid water came wrapping around Naruto's foot. Nia's feet skidded across the ground as Mumi continued flying through the sky.
'Damn, this girl's persistent!' She cursed in irritation.
"NARUTO!" Nia yelled at the top of her lungs, "Wake up already!"
Again, no response was given. This angered the teen and she lifted her feet on the rope and latched it onto her own jutsu.
'I'm just gonna have to climb or have my weight pull down Naruto then!' The girl decided.
Noticeably, gravity was doing its job yet Mumi's jutsu was strong enough to hold more than three people at a time. Nia scoffed and began to climb up slowly but steadily. She called out to Naruto a few more times but nothing was happening.
She inched her way up, but Mumi whistled and called out a few names. The three men who were with her earlier, came flying into the air, throwing a few kunai and shurikens.
Nia swung her whip to the left and dodged all but one shuriken.
That one made a hit but didn't cause her jutsu to gush out into a puddle of water. She sighed in relief and wondered if only kunais could destroy her jutsu.
Again, the kunoichi climbed and again the ninjas leaped into the air. There was no way that Nia could dodge or block their attack in the position she was in but if she didn't do something, Naruto would be that woman's toy. Just thinking about the two getting intimate somewhat ticked her off.
'I have no choice, I'm gonna have to use genjutsu!'
With an unusual hand sign, Nia caused those whom she chose, to freeze in midair. The woman too was affected and since she was, Naruto was able to slip out of the petals he was bound by and landed on the ground.
'YES!' Nia cheered as she released her water jutsu and dropped down near her friend. She placed his arm over her shoulder and used her left hand to grab his waist, 'That genjutsu will only keep them in place for about three minutes. I need to find a place to hide!'
With that, Nia hopped into the trees and headed northeast.
'That girl...!' Mumi watched the kunoichi take off with her victim, 'I'll rot her in the ground for this!'
"Lady Mumi! I think she placed a paralysis genjutsu on us." The red-haired man said.
"I know that, you oaf!" Mumi yelled. She then smiled, "No biggy though. Naruto still won't be able to wake up even if that girl does try to wake him."
A few miles ahead, Nia observed her surroundings carefully.
'Less than two minutes before my genjutsu breaks!'
"Naruto!" She called as she kicked off another branch, "C'mon, wake the hell up already."
His eyelids stayed shut. He looked more to be in a hypnotic state than a sleeping one. Nia sighed and continued looking for a hiding spot.
Another minute passed by. About thirty seconds remained.
Nia's heart pounded. There were no good spots to hide in. She felt as though her and Naruto were screwed.
'Man, I wish Jiraiya was here...' She felt a ache in her heart.
The kunoichi was beginning to feel self-doubt.
Could she really find a way to help someone? Would Naruto end up being killed because of her? Is she skilled enough to take on those four attackers?
The girl also wrestled with selfish thoughts.
Was putting her life on the line to save someone else even worth it? Should she just leave Naruto to that woman and escape out of trouble? Maybe she could do that now while there's still time left?
'I'll just leave him by a tree and head back to the village and get Jiraiya-sensei! He'll know what to-'
I never turn my back on any of my friends!
A recalling moment forced Nia to stop on top of a boulder. She swore that Naruto's voice had reached her even in his comatose-like state.
People who abandon you aren't your friends!
There it was again! Nia glanced at Naruto but he was still out cold. The girl looked down with shame written on her face.
'What am I doing?' She pondered, 'I'm here thinking about leaving a nice boy to a threatening woman out of fear and cowardice...'
The three minutes were up. The attackers were definitely now able to move. Nia gained quite a decent distance between her and them but still couldn't find a hiding spot.
'I've made up my mind! I'm not going to abandon one of the very few people who actually made me feel accepted.' The kunoichi furrowed her eyebrows.
She pushed down on the boulder beneath her, preparing to leap back into the trees. When she did however, the rock had suddenly disappeared and a large wide hole appeared instead.
Because she didn't even push up, Nia began to fall into it at high speed.
"AHHHHH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs as tears fell out of her eyes.
In the heat of the moment, she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and closed her eyes shut. During the descent, she incidentally made him be in a position where he would be landed on like a soft pillow.
After a few more seconds, everything seemed to be still. Nia opened her eyes and saw that she was inside a strange cavern beneath the ground. There were rocky pillars to the side and front of her. It was dark and freaky.
'Where are we?' She thought.
Miraculously, Naruto began to stir. Nia saw this and began to get her hopes back up.
"Naruto! Naruto! Naruto" The girl shook the ninja's shoulders, "Waaaaake uuuuuup!"
The boy made noises but was beginning to lift his eyelids slowly. After a few seconds, his eyes meets with Nia's, He felt something laying on him and came to the realization that the girl was on top of him.
"Gyaa!" He sat up and caused Nia to fall off him, "What were you doing on top of me, Curly Brow?!"
"It's not what it looks like, okay?!" Nia's face got red from embarrassment, "We fell into some hole and-"
"Wait! Where the hell are we?! Wasn't we in that inn sleeping?!" Naruto noticed the sinister look the cavern gave. He then looked down at himself, "And If I'm outside, why do I have my robe still on?!"
Nia listened to a few more complaints the male genin made and eventually grew impatient.
"Would you be quiet already?!"
"Tell me what's going on here and I will."
Nia stood up and gave her comrade a serious look, "Listen, this is going to sound ridiculous, but it's true."
Naruto stopped acting kiddish and payed close attention.
"Some lady with a strange flower petal jutsu entered in our room and wrapped you around with her flowers. I tried to stop her from taking you but she sprayed me with some weird pollen then took you." Nia explained, "I chose to went after her and caught up eventually. We fought for a little and I managed to get you back by placing a genjutsu on them. After that, I ran as far as I could away but somehow I made a false step and we ended up falling all the way in this cavern. That genjutsu I placed on those attacks worn off and I'm sure they're looking for us as we speak."
"Wait... So you know genjutsu?" Naruto asked with slightly widened eyes.
"To a certain degree, I guess."
"So you're great at taijutsu, know genjutsu, and are getting better with ninjutsu... Do you know what this means, Curly Brow?" Naruto placed his hands on the girl's shoulders.
"What?" She blinked.
"It means that with a whole lot of hard-work and patience, in time, you can probably be a master at all three main jutsu types! You'd be unstoppable, y'know?"
"Unstoppable...? Me?" Nia pointed at herself in disbelief.
"Yeah! I'm serious! Even I can't do genjutsu at all and my taijutsu is a bit above average now at most!"
Naruto's statement made Nia a bit more secure in her abilities. She smiled and began to take off the bag on her back. The girl took out Naruto's normal orange attire and Konoha headband then handed it to him.
"Here, I grabbed these before I went to chase after you; I thought you might like to change into them at some point."
"Err right," Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks a lot."
The kunoichi nodded then turned around in order to give her friend some privacy. When he got changed, he muttered something about getting the creeps who kidnapped him and jumped very high up. His goal was to get to the outside.
"Wait! Don't leave me here!" Nia prepared to jump also before she caught witness of something.
At a certain height, Naruto came crashing against a type of barrier; It reacted by electrocuting the ninja for a few brief seconds before he fell flat on his back next to his kunoichi friend.
'Damn, he looks burnt!' She thought as she examined smoke seeping out of Naruto clothing and skin.
"Are you okay?"
Naruto twitched, "Do I look okay to you?!"
"Uh, not really."
"Oh Yeah? That's what I think too! How about helping me to my feet then?!"
The girl nodded and helped the blonde. Once he recovered, he decided to try to perform a rasengan and break through with it. He spawned a clone and had it proceed to aid him in creating the jutsu but in mere seconds, it faded and Naruto felt weak.
"My chakra feels like it's being eaten away somehow. I can't make a rasengan."
"Now that you mention it, I don't feel as strong anymore either." Nia replied as she stared at her right hand, "Could it be that this cavern is causing it?"
"I don't know."
"Well, since we can't obviously jump out to freedom, we have no choice but to explore this thing."
"I don't know..." Naruto's face showed fear.
"This looks like a place where ghosts'll show up, y'know?"
Nia sweat-dropped.
'He's scared of ghosts...?'
"There's no such things as ghosts, Naruto." The girl reassured him. She then grabbed his wrist and started going a certain direction, "Let's go already."
"W-Wait, Curly Brow!" Naruto trembled heavily, his face went blue, "You don't know that. Those things are probably watching us right now."
"Naruto, believing in ghosts is like believing in the Tooth Fairy or Santa; They're not real. So stop freaking out!"
"Well they are!" The male retaliated.
Nia stopped, "Someone who says their gonna be hokage shouldn't be scared of ghosts..."
All of a sudden, Naruto seemed to gain his bravery back. He walked ahead of Nia then looked back with a serious expression.
"All right! I'm not scared of anything! If those ghosts show up, I'll just hit them with a rasengan and they're finished for sure!"
Nia tilted her head, "But you can't remember? This cavern is draining our chakra somehow."
"Eh r-right." The genin once more trembled. He swallowed a huge lump in his throat, "I guess w-we're finished then, huh?"
"Umm... I'm not afraid of ghosts so... Not me. I don't know about you."
'She's right! T-They'll get me.' Naruto panicked.
The kunoichi shook her head then placed her hand onto his back and pushed him forward, "Let's go, Uzumaki."
"O-Okay."
'I'll have to get past my fears in order to get out of here. A-Atleast I'm not alone in this creepy place...'
----
A/N- Another update yaaaaay! This chapter was somewhat fun to write but I hope some things aren't too confusing. Still, I added a picture lol and that was fun to make. I hope you guys enjoyed reading.
Please comment and vote. That would be very much appreciated. I would like to know who's reading this story.
Anyway, sayonara minna :)