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Chapter 23: Naruto's Questionable Feelings
"KEH!" Nia was sent crashing to the ground after having been kicked in the stomach during a sparring match with Naruto.
The blonde landed gracefully to his feet from the air while the girl struggled to sit up as she rested an arm over her stomach and gritted her teeth in slight pain.
"Geesh, you're good," She praised the blonde before wincing. "I can't even come close to beating you... You must've been really holding back the first time we fought..."
Naruto kneeled and lightly shook his head. "No... I was really trying to take you out that first time. No offense, but I wasn't about to let some random girl who came outta nowhere show me up. I struggled a bit cause you have a knack with taijutsu... I realized your ninjutsu needed work and took advantage of your disadvantage, is all. Not only that, but you tend to be aware of your surroundings and take advantage of things of that sort when fighting... you're pretty clever. Even now you're quick to think of something new to wear me down or find a way to examine my strengths and weaknesses then use them to your benefit, ya know?"
"You... think?" This flattered the kunoichi.
"Yeah. Oh, and don't sweat about the fact that I won this one. The important thing is that you're improving your skills little by little. I'm impressed with your progress so far. Besides... training with you kinda helps me to improve my lacking taijutsu techniques."
"I see..."
Standing to his feet, the blonde stretched out his hand with a warm smile.
"Now, I think that's enough for today! You're pretty fleshed out but I think you have a hard time remembering which hand seals to perform when you're trying to draw out your ninjutsu... Anyway, we can work more on that tomorrow. Here, let's go warm up by the fire or something; I'm sorta freezing."
Nodding as she returned the smile, Nia took the genin's hand and was helped to her feet though she was still feeling the effects of their sparring match on her body.
"Man... maybe I was a bit rough on you... you look a bit hurt." Naruto noticed her still wincing and rubbed the back of his head apologetically.
Nia shook her head. "No, I'll be just fine. I... made a mistake and you took that opportunity to cash in on that."
"Sorry..."
"Naruto, I just said it's fine."
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"I'm okay," The girl lightly rested her hand on his arm. "Don't worry so much. I mean, you're strong and all, but I can handle a few hits..."
The blonde crossed his arms behind his head. "Yeah... I guess you're right."
"So then... where's Jiraiya-sensei?" Nia observed the area.
Naruto sighed. "This old man just comes and goes whenever he pleases... if he's going to leave us stranded in a random village for some time, the least he can do is inform us on where he's headed. Though he probably is at some girly joint again. It is getting to be about that time of night, ya know?"
Nia sweatdropped.
Grabbing her wrist, the genin then walked forward, stringing the girl along with him.
"Oh well, complaining about it isn't gonna change the situation. You're shivering too... we need to head back. I'm sure by now the fish is heated properly. Let's go eat."
"Sure," The girl agreed as the two then made their way over to the campsite in the span of five minutes.
Grinning as he sat down by the fire, Naruto pulled a stick out from the ground and bit down on the fish that was attached to it.
"I'd rather have ramen right now, but oh man, does fish taste good, ya know." He said in between chewing. "You like fish, Curly Brow?"
"I love fish," Nia answered, grabbing that of her own. "It's definitely one of my favorite foods."
"Oh, that's right! You've never told me what kinda food you like. So how about it? Why don't you tell me what they are? They don't gotta be in order or anything."
"Hmm... I like a bunch of food, but I'm also very picky for some reason. I'd say my favorite foods are like chicken, pizza, fish, noodles, anything spicy and some other food I can't really think of at the moment."
Naruto placed a hand on his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ooo, I got a little worried there... I thought ramen wasn't gonna make it onto your list, ya know?"
Nia giggled in response. "Of course you were... you're such a ramen addict. I can't believe how obsessed you are with it. I like ramen, but damn... you're in love with it, haha."
"I'd marry ramen if I could. Me and ramen were made for each other."
"I... believe you. You declare your love for ramen so much that I can't even look at a package or cup of it without thinking about how much you like it — it's crazy."
The genin swallowed some of his food then asked, "You said you grew up eating that just as much as me before, right?"
The girl nodded.
"Well yeah... when I was a kid, my parents were pretty cheap so they always bought ramen and I'd always end up eating that by default, but even though I was forced to eat noodles a lot, I still did like it. I just like mines curly though — at least when it comes to the packaged version of it. Dab some hot sauce and pepper then bam, my noodles is ready for me to eat."
"You don't like your noodles straight?"
"It tastes gross when it's straight..."
"What? Get outta here... ramen cooked any way is great!"
Nia just shrugged and took a bite out of her fish.
"So uh," Naruto kept the conversation going. "That diary of yours... you really like to write in it, huh?"
"Mhm, definitely... it helps to calm me down a lot and keep a sound mind."
"Hm?" The genin tilted his head.
The kunoichi explained further.
"Writing down things helps me to relieve some of the stress I feel during the day. I see it as a way to cope with my situations, I guess."
"I see... so do you have any like, great wishes you have for the future besides the ones you've already told me about."
"Um... I guess the one thing I would love to be for the remainder of my life is happy. As long as I'm happy, I should be able to stay on my feet just fine till I die, of course."
"That's a fair enough answer I guess, but hey, tell me something... you've mentioned having a family and all that, right? I've... never had anything of that sort, so I was wondering... what does... having one feel like?"
'Dang... that just hurt my heart,' Nia felt an ache. 'Poor guy...'
"Um..." She then got serious. "Honestly... it depends on what kind of family you have. Some people have terrible family members who treat them horribly, abuse them, or abandon them while others are more fortunate to have a loving, very close bond with their family. I happen to be one of the fortunate ones, but... every family has their ups and downs, some more than others. Despite that, for me, it feels good to have one... especially if your family members are your best friends at the same time."
"I see..." The blonde lowered his eyes.
"But, family doesn't always have to be just by blood. From what I've seen, a lot of people grow connections with their friends so strongly that they start to see them as the brother, sister, mom, dad or whatever it may be. Heck, I've seen cases where people feel closer to their best friend than their own blood-related family."
"That's true... but unlike some people, some of us have to walk into an empty apartment with no one to welcome them home, ya know?" Naruto mumbled, using the end of his stick to poke at the ground.
Nia gave a sympathetic look.
"Even if you may have never gotten the chance to experience having parents or siblings... that isn't the last chance you have at experiencing what it's like having a family to come home to..."
"Hm? What do you mean?" This intrigued the genin.
"I mean... you can always get married and have children. You may not get to experience what it's like playing the role of a son or brother, but you can still experience what it's like playing the role of a father and husband, you see?"
"Ah! You're right! I can!" This seemed to lift the blonde's spirits up. "How could I have forgotten that?! All I gotta do is wife some girl up and get her to have my babies then! Sakura, here I come!"
Nia sweatdropped then frowned.
You've gotta be kidding me... he's still thinking about her? Even after everything that happened between us when Akihiko came around?!
She wasn't gonna lie to herself; him talking about how much he desired the pink-haired girl bothered her each time it was mentioned. By no means did she think she had a chance with him, but nevertheless, it hurt her to know that if she were to have just been prettier, he would see her in a different light like how she was beginning to with him.
Each conversation would make her feel more drawn to him. Each laugh they'd share would make her heart skip a beat. Each argument that would be solved would make her feel closer to him. Each hug would give her butterflies and each moment spent with him would somehow make her feel more alive and happier even.
Yet, despite all this, Nia knew this wasn't the case with Naruto. His mind seemed to be on Sakura. Her pretty face... it was all he'd talk about. She... envied that. Though she didn't want to admit... she'd at times wish it'd be her he'd call pretty or have some expressed interest in. His personality charmed her... she would've loved if she were to have grown on him, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. The guy was dead set at achieving his beautiful girl... not for her — Not the hideous girl.
With that, the girl sighed then bit back her tongue, hoping the blonde wouldn't go on to express his immense attraction to his teammate. Thankfully, he didn't and instead stretched.
"Haaaah..." He yawned then rubbed his eye. "Man... this was one long day, huh? Crazy how we'll be arriving to the Leaf in a few short days... you nervous, Curly Brow?"
"Me?" The girl pointed at herself then shrugged. "Erm... kinda. I'm really hoping I won't be mistreated there..."
"Don't worry, you'll be fine," The genin reassured her. "You're village might've treated you way less than you deserved, but I'm sure you'll find a better place with those in my village. I mean, there's so many great people there, I'm sure you'll be accepted despite your appearance and weird and awkward as hell personality."
"Uh, excuse you," Nia gently nudged the boy on the arm. "I know you mean well, but dang you got me messed up with that last sentence."
"Right... s-sorry," Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "It's... true though. You're not a very common type of person - you're very different, ya know?"
Hearing this, Nia lowered her eyes to the ground.
"I'm sor-"
"Nah-uh!" The genin interjected and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Don't even think about it. You shouldn't apologize for being who you are — even if you are a weirdo and not the typical person. There's nothing wrong with being a little different and besides, I'm used to meeting strange people. I have a bunch of weirdos as friends. One is a training freak, another is obsessed with bugs, and I even got a teammate who can't for the life of him, speak with people properly. This guy causes all sorts of messes to get out from cause he's so bad with people and emotions, ya know?"
"Y-Yeah," This made the kunoichi softly smile.
Naruto winked. "And don't you worry about anyone trying to mess with you over your appearance or just anything in general cause if someone tries, I'll knock them into next week. I won't stand for anyone mistreating you, Curly Brow. Especially with you being as vulnerable as you are. I'll protect you, all right?"
"Naruto..." She just stared at him with rosy cheeks and slightly widened eyes.
She definitely did not expect to hear that. It made her... feel so warm. It made her feel safe and secured.
"You know... you're very kind," She told him with a tender voice. "So much so that... its sorta hard to believe. I'm still trying to wrap my whole head around it. I'm like... amazed."
"Sorry that you have to be so amazed when someone shows even a hint of true kindness to you," The genin replied. "Besides... like Pervy Sage once said to me: Knowing what it's like to be in pain... is exactly why we try to be kind to others."
"He told you that, huh? Well... it makes sense, I guess... but... in my case, I turned cold. Why... was that?"
"Because not everyone reacts to getting hurt in the same way. In your case, getting hurt on a daily basis caused you to learn to hate," Another voice spoke from not too far away as the two looked ahead to see Jiraiya made his way through some bushes while continuing to approach his students. "And when you learned to hate, you responded to it by directing your disdain toward others. You decided to treat the world the same way they treated you — cold and dismissive."
"Jiraiya-sensei," Nia wasn't expecting to see the guy back so soon.
"Pervy Sage, why back so soon? Didn't you go to a girly joint or something."
The sannin sighed and pouted. "My luck was flushed down the drain. They're not open on this particular night."
Nia sweatdropped.
He really likes to see strippers a lot...
Taking a seat across the fire from his students, Jiraiya crossed his arm and went on to say, "Enough of that for now... I wanna resume to what I was saying before being that I was listening to you two talk for a short time before making myself known. Nia... you reacted to being mistreated by learning to mistreat others back, so when you came around someone willing to show and give you kindness and acceptance, you responded negatively cause being hated, shunned, insulted, laughed at, and just treated poorly was all you knew. You can say being mean, cynical, and dismissive was just a defense mechanism you developed as a way to protect yourself from getting hurt. Before anyone could hurt you, you hurt them first, so to say."
Naruto crossed his arms and nodded. "Yep, yep... that sounds spot on. It took me forever to get her to respond to me without her lashing out for no good reason. Everything you just said makes perfect sense, Pervy Sage."
Feeling that there was indeed some truth to that, Nia lowered her eyes in guilt.
"You're right," She mumbled. "I got tired of being hurt so much that... I started to treat others just as bad as they treated me... even though I wanted to be kind... I just... couldn't... when all I received was the complete opposite of love and belonging."
"But even so... that pain has helped you to grow more with the help from the right sorta person, has it not?" Jiraiya responded.
The kunoichi glanced over at the blonde before lowering her head and softly smiling to herself.
"Well... I do feel a bit better after being around you guys."
"See, that's why kindness can go a long ways. You never know who may need it the most when you come across someone. That's why doing your best to be kind to whomever you meet can affect someone's life for the better. You can even save a life without knowing by doing so."
"Well then... I guess I got extremely lucky coming across people like you guys."
"Well, definitely with me," Naruto then pointed at his master. "But, Pervy Sage? I was a little worried for you, Curly Brow. I mean... this guy is the most shallow man on the planet! He only cares for all the pretty women!"
"HEY!" This annoyed the man. "Now don't you go disrespecting me like that, kid. I go around preaching about the importance of being kind to others and wanting to establish peace and understanding with all people. I may like to stare at extremely beautiful women, but if I were to put down Nia and treat her poorly cause she doesn't have the most ideal appearance then that'd make me a certified hypocrite, you know..."
"Man... I never saw it that way. I was wondering why you weren't being all messed up about her looks... when you put it the way that you did, everything adds up."
"What can I say?" Jiraiya grinned. "The Toad Sage is no hypocrite nor does he discriminate! You two should be grateful you're in good hands!"
Naruto sweatdropped. "Now only if you could do something about that inflated ego of yours..."
Nia giggled.
Calming down, the older man leaned forward.
"So... how's your training been coming along, Nia? I hope you've improved."
"I think I'm progressing fairly well, actually. Naruto's been a real help while you're gone."
"Ah, you're giving me too much credit," This flattered the blonde. "I mean, you've been trying to improve very hard. It's your dedication that got you to learn some new skills, ya know?"
"But even so, it was your encouragement that gave me the push I needed. Your patience, graciousness, and faith in me helped me to do better," The girl affectionately rested her hand on his arm then smiled gently. "I couldn't have done it without you, Naruto. Thank you."
"Hm?" This caught the genin by surprise as he felt his face begin to warm up.
Not really knowing what to say, he just nodded as his lips slightly curved upwards while he gazed at the girl.
"Someone's blushing..." Jiraiya poked fun at him as this quickly set off the blonde.
"OH, GIVE IT A REST, WOULD YA?!" He whipped his head back at the sannin and clenched his fist. "QUIT TRYING TO EMBARRASS ME EVERY CHANCE YOU GET, YA KNOW!"
"But, you're obviously feeling something toward Ni-"
"PERVY SAGE, I'M SERIOUS!"
"Naruto's in lov-"
"GYAAAH!" This prompted the genin to jump across the campfire and shielded his hands over Jiraiya's mouth. "Why the hell can't you just keep that big mouth of yours shut?! No one's catching feelings, all right?!"
As the two guys got into it once more, Nia just sighed and gazed up into the stars.
We'll be arriving to Konoha shortly... I sure do hope Naruto is right about me getting to have a better life over there... only time will tell, I guess...
Not too long after, Nia would soon head off to a close hot spring while Naruto and Jiraiya sauntered through the area, speaking to one another.
At some point of their conversation, the sannin observed as his pupil seemed to have spaced out.
"You know... it won't be too long from now until you can see Sakura, Naruto..." Jiraiya smirked while the genin didn't seem to respond in any way.
He just kept walking with his hands in his pants pockets and eyes lowered to the ground below. His face was red.
"Again with the blushing?" Jiraiya raised and eyebrow, "Kid, you got a crush on Nia or something? What's with your face getting all red recently?"
"Hm?" He turned his head. "What was that? Sorry, I didn't hear you..."
"Of course you didn't..." The sannin breathed. "I mean, with you all gushing over Nia praising you the way she did. One touch on the arm and a warm smile and you're already acting like this."
"H-HOLD ON!" This flustered the ninja. "Who the hell said I'm blushing?! I wasn't really thinking about anything! Besides, how many times do I have to keep telling you her and I are just friends?! I mean, yeah... it feels great to know she thinks of me as reliable and all that other good stuff, but I mean-"
"You're overreacting, you know that? But I wonder how Nia will react if I tell her how you were staring at her breasts and see through skirt when you two were riding on that horse a few days ago?"
"GAAH! NO, DON'T! I DIDN'T EVEN MEAN TO LOOK, BUT THAT OUTFIT SHE WAS FORCED TO WEAR WAS JUST TOO EROTIC!" Naruto panicked at the thought of being found out. "Not only that, but her boobs just kept bouncing in my face because of the hoofbeats! Then her cleavage was all out there... HOW DO I NOT LOOK, PERVY SAGE?!"
The older man laughed.
Naruto frowned.
"I'm not some sick pervert like you, ya know? I mean... sort of, but definitely not to your extent!"
"Hey! Who're you calling a sick pervert! I just take extra interest in the form of the female body!"
"Justify it whichever way you like..." The genin rolled his eyes. "You're still a huge pervert..."
"Kid... you really ruffle my feathers sometimes, you know that?"
"Yeah, whatever..."
"Aaaaanywho... Isn't Nia in the hot springs right now?" The sannin then pondered.
"Erm yeah... what of it?"
"Don't you... wanna look at her or something?"
"Eh?" The blonde tilted his head, the redness of his cheeks still evident on it. "The hell you talking about, Pervy Sage?"
"Don't act so innocent, Naruto. You know what I mean. Look at how red your cheeks are. You can't fool me."
"WAIT!" It suddenly came to the ninja. "You don't mean that I should go peek at her, do you?!"
"That's exactly what I'm implying! Think of it! You two have been really touchy touchy for a while now. I bet you Nia wants you to look at her!"
"Are you crazy?! I'm not peeping on her, ya know!"
"You can perv on her while she was wearing that revealing outfit, but you refuse to see her stripped of all her clothing? Where's the logic in that? When I like a woman, I do everything I can to try and get even just a small glimpse of her naked."
"Curly Brow is my friend! And besides, the only reason I checked her out that one time was because she was right in my view! I couldn't just look away the entire time. With her being in the hot spring and all, I actually have the choice of whether or not I wanna look at her!" Naruto crossed his arms. "I'm not interested."
"You always tried to peek at Sakura..."
"I have a crush on Sakura, so of course I wanna see her taking a bath."
"Oh, I just thought... you might wanna look at Nia, especially after everything she told me about you not too long ago."
Naruto's eyes widened. "What? She talks about me to you?"
"She sure does," Jiraiya confirmed. "Quite a bit actually."
"Well, spit it out! What does she say?!"
"Just that she likes being around you and that sort of thing. She thinks you're one hell of a guy. Seriously, there's no doubt in my mind that she fancies you. She goes on and on about how kind you are or how she thinks you're funny and brave. Don't even get me started on how much she admires your mental strength and your confidence — seriously kid, this chick DIGS you!"
"Whoa... she... really thinks that good of me?" The blonde was touched.
"From the sounds of it, yeah. Even though you're a knucklehead, she seems attracted to who you are as a person."
"Oh, um... that's uh... erm..." Naruto was speechless before reflexively averting his eyes to the ground and subconsciously started smiling to himself.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A deafening scream alerted the shinobis as it was very apparent to have been coming from Nia. "S-SOMEBODY! SOMEBODY HELP! LET GO OF ME!"
"OH NO! CURLY BROW!" The blonde immediately dashed forward in the direction of where the hot spring was. As he did, he summoned a few shadow clones to aid him.
Not too long after, he and his clones would arrive on the scene, desperately searching for where the girl may be.
"Curly Brow!" They all shouted, scanning their eyes everywhere. "CURLY BROOOW!"
"N-Naruto..." They all heard a whimper, rough splashing of water and the sound of what seemed to be monkeys screaming.
Following the noise, it was revealed that Nia was trying to escape from the hot spring but the monkeys having occupied the place were aggressively pulling at the towel wrapped around her, as well as her legs.
"You damn monkeys!" The original sprung into action along with his clones to help separate Nia from the agitated animals. "Get the hell off her!"
"Naruto!" Nia grabbed onto the blonde as he pulled her from out the water while his clones dealt with the monkeys still trying to attack her.
"Don't worry, I got ya."
"OW!" A random clone shrieked as one of the monkeys jumped on its face, trying to either bite or scratch it.
"Damn, these things are ruthless!" Another clone slammed a monkey back into the water.
While they did that, the original helped Nia stand then grabbed her wrist and ran, trying to get her to safety.
Blushing as she tried desperately to keep her towel from falling off, Nia eventually had to get Naruto to stop so she could adjust it again.
"S-Sorry," This made her embarrassed. "I didn't mean for you to see me like this..."
Averting his eyes from her, the blonde refrained from gazing.
"You okay?" He asked as he then suddenly found himself being hugged. Immediately, he sprung his hands upwards and reddened.
"GUHHH, CURLY BROW!" He didn't want to touch her inappropriately. "Y-YOU SHOULDN'T HUG ME WHILE YOU'RE JUST WEARING A TOWEL, Y-YA KNOW!"
"I know... but you saved me," She looked up at him. "Thank you..."
"N-No problem..." He once more glanced away. "Your clothes... they're still over there, right? I'll go get them for you."
"Kya! You can't!" Nia objected.
He'll see my bra and panties if he grabs them!
"Man, look how big this bra is!" A clone suddenly jumped down from a tree, carrying the girl's lingerie. "I can't tell if Curly Brow's or my sexy jutsu's boobs are bigger! This is amazing, ya know!
"KYAAA! GIVE THAT BACK!" Steam poured out of the kunoichi's face as she snatched her item from the clone's hand.
Immediately after, another clone was holding onto her panties, messing around with it and stretching the fabric out.
"Man, this is hot.." It commented as Nia once more had to snatch away the item from that one as well.
"NARUTO, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR CLONES! THEY'RE ACTING LIKE PERV-"
"Whoa, can I get a better look at them, Curly Brow?" The original just tugged on her lingerie, making the girl shriek and back away from him.
"KYA! NOT YOU TOO?!"
"C'mon, just a little peek."
"Naruto, what the heck's gotten into you recently?! I swear you've been acting really strange towards me!"
"What're you talking about?" He walked up to the girl and pulled her into a hug. "From now on, in order to protect you, I'll watch you be in the hot springs so that no one else can harm you."
"Kya! You wanting to protect me shouldn't extend to you peeping on me!"
"R-Right, my bad." The genin apologized as he continued holding her. "I'm glad you're okay though, ya know?"
Hearing this, the girl softened up and nodded, returning the affection being shown to her.
"Naruto, Nia!" Jiraiya then came brushing through the bushes. "You guys alright?"
"Um yeah, no need to worry about us, Pervy Sage," Naruto unzipped his jacket and covered Nia's upper body with it.
"What happened out here? I heard monkeys screaming and acting out of control..."
"Curly Brow, get changed and meet with us afterward," Naruto whispered to the girl before having her leave and put on clothes in a more private area.
Afterward, he'd walk toward his master with his hands behind his head.
"Turns out some monkeys jumped her..." He informed him.
"Man..." Jiraiya shook his head. "Nia just can't seem to catch a break, huh?"
Naruto chuckled. "For real... poor girl, but she doesn't have to worry anymore! I'll protect her!"
"Mhm..." Jiraiya nodded his head as he observed the genin's grin and still noticeable blush before looking over his shoulder. "For the record... I'd probably dismiss my clones if I were you. They're trying to peep on Nia."
"WHA?!" The ninja turned around to witness what the sannin meant and immediately got rid of the clones.
When he did, he sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness... I don't need Curly Brow breaking my ribs like Granny did with yours..."
A few minutes later and Nia would return, zipping her jacket up and throwing her arms through her bag's shoulder straps.
"All right! I'm ready to go." She declared happily. "On to Konoha!"
Seeing this, Jiraiya frowned and turned away.
He knew what he had in store for the girl once they would arrive at the village... and it wasn't pretty.
———
A/N - Thanks for reading ❤️ please consider commenting and voting and have a great day!
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