A/N: Here's the newest update. Again, not the most exciting chapter, but whatever. More Gon, Killua, Fern action and a little bit of ninja touch. Because we know we all love bald people ,especially when they're ninja from the wrong universe.

Disclaimer: Hunter x Hunter belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. Fern is mine.

Summary: Fern followed Tompa and Leorio down the Sedar Sap path with Killua. When they caught up to Kurapika, Leorio, and Gon, Fern witnessed Kurapika's eyes turn red from the sap's delusion. She was shocked. After the sap's effects were broken, Killua decided to bomb the wall so they could get back to the main path without falling behind from the group. And Fern is now flying through the air from the bomb's immense force.

. . .

Chapter 6: Her Hero is Bald

No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-

She shut her eyes and squeezed them as tightly closed as she could, anticipating with dread a sure-to-be painful landing on the ground. She could still hear the explosions ringing in her ears, and the force of the bombs blasting hot against her back. A rush of air and heat burned her cheeks, making her dry eyes water and her scalded throat sting. Her brain felt like a crushed container of Jell-O, squishy crimson matter lying smashed and spattered around on the walls of her mind, reduced to mere particles and red juice. She couldn't think straight, couldn't even begin to think calmly. As she flew through the air, falling towards the ground at a rapid rate, Fern's head was filled with panicked and rushed pleading. Please let me survive this, please let me survive this, please don't let me get a concussion from this, please let my sack and clothes survive this, and please, please, please let my sanity remain intact—whoops, forgot I never quite had any to begin with.

Fern begged. Really, she begged and swore and prayed and even vowed to never pick on Akulla ever again. She did all that and more, and yet the floor just kept getting closer, and her body just wouldn't stop plummeting down. And now- now she was only seconds away from a broken nose and a bad concussion, and all thoughts left her mind completely, swept away by an overwhelming wave of fear and dread for the upcoming collision. All she could do was slam her eyes shut like the doors of an iron gate, clench her teeth, and wait.

And wait she did.

But….

….

….

It never came.

Instead, she found herself swept up, a falling feather snatched straight out of the air, and brought to a surprisingly graceful, and light landing in a warm, steady pair of muscled arms.

Her eyes snapped open. What the—

"H-Hanzo?" she heard herself saying. She could barely recognize her own voice. What was normally steady and trill-like was breathy and shuddering. Her heart gave a little weak flutter in her chest. I'm alive, she thought to herself in awe. She stared at her hands, shocked, staring at her open palms with her wide, astonished eyes and a slightly parted mouth. I'm alive, she thought again. The words could not seem to sink in. I'm alive I'm alive, I'm ali—Her eyes widened in realization. Oh holy mother of brownies and double nacho dip, I'm ALIVE!

A triumphant grin spread across her face. The foggy daze cleared from her mind, fear replaced by a feeling of accomplishment, or thrill and excitement and utmost exhilaration. Outrunning death—fun. Running towards Death, nudging him, and then succeeding in escaping without severe repercussions—awesome.

"What's the meaning of this?" she heard the examiner, Satotsu saying, but her mind was still too overwhelmed to register his words. .

"Sorry…we destroyed the wall a little bit…" Gon murmured sheepishly.

"I never said you couldn't destroy it. You wandered into the path of delusion and came back alive. Impressive."

She heard the conversation, but their voices and words were merely a mush of strange noises and nonsense in her mind. She pushed their words back and instead focused on the man holding her, not liking the way his arms felt around her body. Like a bed of chains, they felt like to her. She had to untangle herself from them.

"Feeling better, kid?" Hanzo asked her upon realizing she was watching him.

She forced a smile onto her face. "Um, yeah," she said somewhat shyly. Blushing slightly, she ducked her chin into her chest, raising her shoulders and glanced at the man sheepishly. "Can I ask, um.." she paused and fidgeted uncertainly, "Why did you catch me?"

The bald ninja just looked down at her dazed faze and grinned. "In my country, we ninjas always have to go on missions to save our client. Catching you was easy, brat. Don't think too much of it. It was barely even a reflex." He bent his knees and plopped her gently down on the balls of her feet.

The moment her toes daintily brushed the ground, Fern turned and dazzled the man with a stunning, wild smile. Her hands clasped with joy in front of her chest and she gazed upon Hanzo with extreme admiration. "Thanks so much, Hanzo-sama," she said with a genuine smile. Fern's cheeks tinted pink and she tilted her head to the side, her blonde hair lying softly against her bashful cheeks. "I never thought anyone would be so kind and gentlemanly as to catch a girl like me. You're such a kind man, Hanzo-sama." She gazed up at him through fluttering light eyelashes. "I'm so glad I met you."

Hanzo flushed with proud embarrassment. He seemed almost to grow at the compliments, squaring his shoulders and rising up with confidence. "Heh, it was nothing," he denied, rubbing his nose and glancing away. She observed him carefully though, and the moment he thought she wasn't looking, a wide, smug smirk broke across his face. It was possibly the goofiest expression she had seen all day. My god, he looks freaking drunk on compliments. Fern rolled her eyes. Dork.

The group began to jog again, as they had apparently stopped for a moment when the wall was destroyed. Fern ran next to the ninja, planning to initiate a conversation between them. After all, if she wanted him to help her again, then it would be wise to keep their slight ties abound, right? And besides, a bit of social-networking and acting-practice wouldn't be so bad for her anyways. Especially since she hadn't exactly been sweet-talking to Killua and any other of Gon's group of friends.

In fact, she'd rather been doing the opposite. She wouldn't be surprised if they got sick of her….admittedly bitchy attitude and dumped her at the next chance. Hell, if she were them she'd dump herself.

Fern turned to Hanzo and smiled up at him, admiringly. "Wow," she breathed, fake awe lighting up her voice. "You're so strong. Is it because you're a ninja, or is it just because you're naturally that good?"

Hanzo's face lit up visibly, and she could practically see the gates to his secrets opening wide before her. Heh, Fern thought to herself with a smirk. Flattery does wonders for the braggers.

"Like I told you, for a ninja like me, that was nothing. Of course it isn't natural for anyone to be as good as me—this strength comes with some excruciating hard work." Hanzo eyed her scrutinizingly. "You wouldn't survive the first day."

She made her eyes grow wide. "Whoa, I didn't know the training was that hard!" A grin broke across her face. "In that case, I'm sure you'll pass the Hunter exams with no problem at all!"

Hanzo barked out laughter, his booming guffaw echoing loudly in the underground chamber. "Of course I will, kid!" The prospect of losing seemed to amuse him. "Me? Fail?" He snorted. "The chance of that happening is zero."

"Sorry," Fern apologized with a shy smile. "I just get worried easily about people I care about."

They jogged like this for a while. Fern continued to compliment the man, and Hanzo basked in her mindless compliments without protest. He was so far gone in Lala-my ego's the size of York New-land that he did not realize it when her comments began lacking her initial enthusiasm. Fern, becoming increasingly impatient and annoyed, reflected such in her voice as her pleasantries became dry drawling remarks that just dripped with sarcasm. Her patience began to melt away faster than chocolate in the desert.

"Wooooow," Fern droaned with half-lidded eyes. It felt like the thousandth time she'd said this. "I never knew you could do that."

"It was nothing," Hanzo dismissed with a proud smirk. That seemed to be his favorite line right there.

She rolled her eyes inwardly. Nothing? Fern snorted inside. Typical man—his ego is the size of Tompa's nose, and believe me, that is big, man, BIG.

Still, she could not deny the fact that the guy was handy. He had, after all, caught her from her impending doom. Hey, she scoffed in her head, at least he's useful for something other than killing people from boring-overdose. She grinned, pleased with herself. And this is why allies come in handy. I knew it would be smart to talk to this guy before the exam started. Heck, if she hadn't conversed and acquainted herself with him earlier, she'd probably be dead mush on the ground by now.

"But how did you know to catch me so fast?" Fern questioned boredly. There was not a hint of interest in her monotone voice. "Catching people during an explosion is soooooo haaaaard." And hearing the sarcasm is my voice is soooooooo difficuuuuult.

Oblivious, Hanzo grinned down at the disbelieving girl proudly. He flexed the muscles in his arm as he spoke. "Catching someone falling in the air isn't even enough to wake up my body. Don't tell anyone this, but in my country, we train every day from sun-up to sun-down, and we don't get any breaks. We even eat while we train. This stuff is so easy, I could do it while I was asleep! Heck, I could run this long just a couple months after I started to walk! And blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…"

Hanzo's irritating blabbering slowly faded into the background as Fern, distracted, focused on other, more interesting things around her. Like Gon and Kurapika and Leorio and Killua—

Her nose crinkled.

Killua. Where was that little brat anyways? She had a couple choice words to say to him…none of which should ever be repeated by a child- let alone anyone, for that matter.

"—And taijutsu training is a lot harder than just kicking a bunch of logs for a couple hours, you know. You have to spar with the people on your squad, and when you go all out, the bruises can be hell to deal with later. But of course, they don't bother me much anymore, because I'm used to all the pain, and I don't really get tired that much either. No one in my squad is really on my level anymore—they're a bit below me, so I don't get much of a good challenge anymore. I think I'm getting a bit rusty, so I hope this Hunter Exam gets a bit more exciting later on, or else I think I'm going to—

"—Hey," Fern interrupted the babbling man.

He glanced over at her, looking slightly irritated at having been interrupted with his bragging-spree. "What?"

Fern smiled sweetly at him, hoping to relinquish his good mood. "I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "But I really have to go see if my friends are all right." She pinned him with her sad, puppy-dog look-of shining, innocent eyes. "Maybe you could tell me all about being a ninja a bit later? You're really amazing, Hanzo-sama, and I'd really like to hear all about your country, but, you know, I…I have to be good to my friends. " She sighed sadly. "…I'm sorry; I have to go make sure my friends are okay, now. But you understand right? To a true ninja like yourself, comrades are important, right?"

Hanzo grinned, his previous annoyance with her obviously satiated with the amount of compliments that had been snuck into her lines. "Of course!" he agreed all-too eagerly.

Fern shot him one last (exasperated) smile before running off into the crowd to look for Leorio, Kurapika, Gon or Killua. It was a bit harder to find any of them now that the tunnel had stopped being a flat ground jog. It had- somewhere along the way—become a fast-paced, climb up a wall of steep stairs. Though the change was annoying, she figured it could be a good thing as well since it meant they were probably getting close to the finish line. Fern ran her gaze up and down the bobbing heads of the crowd, searching for any familiar heads of hair…

"Gon-san!" Fern cried as she spotted the young boy's spiky-black hair in the midst of the crowd.

The boy turned his head and smiled as he spotted her. "Leaf!" he replied, waving at her cheerily. The fake name made her want to cringe. Ugh, she gagged, tell me, why did I pick that dumb name to call myself again?

Regardless, Fern forced a smiled back. She held his gaze for a mere moment before looking away to focus on shoving through the mass of people crowding the tunnel to get to Killua and Gon. Much to her irritation, the two were at the very front of the crowd, which meant she really would have to do a lot of crazy pushing, shoving, and weaving.

All was going fine for a while. She was almost at the front. And then something terrible happened.

This fat guy stuck his round rear in her face, and his fat just rolled out of his pants so far that she couldn't seem to squeeze around him. The sight of him make her was to puke. Disgusting, she thought, eyeing the jiggling waves of fat. Just, ICK!

But the real problem was that he was blocking her way. For god's sake, couldn't he have failed earlier like Nicole? Fern groaned and considered her options. It was hard to get around him without either a) trying to push out of the way like she had done the others (which was very unlikely to succeed, but very likely to enrage), or b) tripping him (much more likely to succeed, but also very likely to end up with him getting right back up and chasing after her). And neither of those seemed very appealing to her.

I really hate fat people.

Fern jogged. And jogged and jogged , waiting for the guy to trip, get tired, or move to the side.

He didn't do either.

And he was so. So. SLOW!

Annoyance pent up inside of her with every minute that passed. Her teeth ground down and her fists clenched at her sides. She could practically feel waves of anger rolling off her and a vein pulsating in her forehead. Finally, she snapped.

To hell with this! I pick plan C. Fern dashed forward. Like a mouse, she ducked and slipped through the space in between his two legs, before rising back to her full height and dashing off. She did not even stopping to see the man's reaction before leaping up the last few steps to reach Killua and Gon.

"Finally," Fern sighed in relief. She took a deep breath and fanned herself in the face with her hand. "I thought I was going to die back there."

Killua snorted, looking slightly amused. "Did you just run between a man's legs?"

She rolled her eyes and fixed Killua with a wide-eyed, disbelieving stare. "Um, did you see that guy? He was like—a walking, over-filled dumpling! And he smelt like freakin' horse manure!"

"Oh. I thought that was you." His face was blank.

Fern took a swing at him but the white-haired boy ducked coolly out of the way. A secret smirk played on his lips.

"Ah!" Gon suddenly exclaimed, drawing Fern and Killua's attention. He grinned at them toothily and lifted his arm to point in front of him. "Look! It's the exit!"

Fern snapped her head forward and her eyes widened at the sight of the bright light at the end of the tunnel. A grin spread across her face as she took in the sight. "Oh my gosh, yes!" she cried with delight. "It's finally almost over!"

"You two look glad," Killua commented aloofly.

"You're not?" the two asked in unison. Fern's eyes locked with Gon for a second, vaguely surprised, before she turned back to Killua with a curious look on her face.

"Not really," he said, closing his eyes and turning his head away from the blinding light. "It's only an exit." Or a train, Fern couldn't help but add in her closed his eyes and let out a dramatic, long sigh, his shoulders falling with disappointment. "What a boring exam…" he complained. "This isn't even close to a game."

Who the hell would even expect it to be like a game anyways? Fern asked incredulously in her head. A sardonic laugh threatened to escape her lips as she eyed Killua with a half-amused, half-dry look. Her eyebrow twitched. He would, apparently.

"But if we pass, we can become Hunters!" Gon reasoned. He smiled brightly, good-natured as always. "Wouldn't that be great?"

But Killua merely drifted his eyes slowly towards the black-haired boy. "…Why do you want to become a Hunter so much, anyway?"

Fern's gaze switched to Gon, watching him expectantly. Come to think of it, why does he? A spark of curiosity lit in her stomach.

"My dad's a Hunter," Gon confided. Pride held steady in his voice. "And he must be a great one!" Fern watched, slightly amused, as his whole face lit up like a candle at the mention of his father. His eyes sparkled and there seemed to be a burning enthusiasm that there hadn't been before.

A small, but honest smile dusted her lips. "You seem to really admire your dad…" Fern murmured softly, gazing down at the floor wistfully. I wonder what my dad would be like if he were still… She looked up suddenly as a thought occurred to her. "Wait, 'must be?' What you mean?" she asked, confused. Her brow furrowed. "Do you not know him?"

Gon nodded. "Since I grew up at my Aunt's place, I only know my dad through a picture."

Fern frowned. "But if he left you, then, why would you…?"

"I don't mind," Gon assured, still smiling. He gazed towards the end of the tunnel, but his eyes seemed to be seeing something else, looking so far into the distance, into some place Fern could not hope to understand. "Being a hunter must be a really amazing job if you would leave your family for it." A fire of determination seemed to spark in his eyes and he brightened up, turning to Fern and Killua and grinning. "That's why I want to become a Hunter like my dad!"

Fern blinked in surprise at the amount of intensity and certainty his voice had held in those last few statements. Her eyes momentarily flickered to Killua's beside her, and indeed, he too seemed to going through the same reaction as her.

Fern slowly turned her eyes back to Gon and gazed at the running boy beside her with her eyes wide in a mixture of awe and realization. He was no longer just sunny boy with an optimistic attitude, and a slightly too-gullible and naïve perspective on the world. He was now a boy who, although carrying much pain and loss, carried it with enthusiasm and optimism. He maintained a positive outlook on life that he carried everywhere he went, touching people and warming them with the sunlight and warmth he seemed to practically exude as an aura.

Cheesy, Fern scolded herself, but a fondness had already begun to soften in her chest. Still, he is…kind of…cute in a younger brother kind of way….She paused, the face of a certain black-haired boy flashing in her mind. The memory brought a smile to her face. But not as cute as Akulla.

She almost laughed. Never as cute as Akulla.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. Even so, Gon amazed her, and although a while ago she had been looking down at him for being naïve, she now found herself almost…. admiring the boy's clear determination and resolve in his goals. To follow and pursue a dream that led him blindly in an unforeseen direction…it was stupid. Really, really stupid. And maybe she could have just dismissed Gon as the regular, stupid person that just jumped into things without thinking, but…it wasn't like that. He wasn't like that. The look in his eyes told Fern that he did know what he was getting into, the danger he was walking towards, and yet he chose to keep going anyway. Bravery or just plain idiocy? Either way, what Gon was doing really took a lot of gut.

He was really…different, wasn't he? Much different than anyone she had ever met before…

A soft smile lifted the corners of her lips up. He's quite…eccentric, she thought to herself with a nod. But…Fern glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. The side of her lip curled up in an amused sort of half-smirk, half-smile. It's in a good kind of way.

"Hey," Gon said suddenly, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Fern shook her head to clear her thoughts, before glancing over at him expectantly.

"That skateboard," he was saying to Killua. "Can I borrow it sometime?"

The white-haired boy tilted his head and fixed his eyes on Gon. Fern regarded the two boy's interaction with silent interest, scrutinizing Killua's carefully masked face. His usually half-lidded, bored eyes were widened a fraction more than usual, teal brighter than usual, face alit with the slightest hints of surprise.

"No?" Gon asked, smiling sheepishly. A light blush coated his tanned cheeks.

Killua stared at Gon. Stared. And stared. And stared.

The silence was heavy.

Then, slowly but surely, a slight, slight, miniscule smile so tiny she could barely see it slipped onto Killua's face. "If you let me borrow your fishing rod," he said finally, his voice light and uplifted, "Gon."

Fenr frowned. Okay, there are two problems with this conversation. One, this is like, way too cheesy to me to handle. Two. She glared. Why the hell am I being LEFT OUT?

Fern cleared her throat loudly. "Ah-hem!" She coughed into her hand, successfully breaking up the moment.

Killua and Gon glanced at her with a strange look. "What now?" Killua groaned.

She pouted and pointed to herself miserably. "What about me?" she asked, jutting her bottom lip out sadly. "I feel left out of this conversation. Just because I don't carry around weird, random items with me doesn't mean you need to exclude me!"

Killua grinned mischievously at her. "Oh, stop whining, Blondie. Just because you're jealous of us doesn't mean you have to whine."

"Hey!" she cried in protest. "I'm not jealous! And don't call me Blondie!"

She moved to swat his arm, only for him to grin wider and duck out of the way. "Someone's aim is getting a little sloppy," he teased.

Gon just laughed at the two, causing Killua to crack a triumphant smirk. The white-haired boy snorted before joining in the laugh-at- Fern's-demise-club with Gon.

Fern huffed at both the boys and turned away stubbornly, angry thoughts churning through her head. "Geez," she muttered. "Guys are such jerks."

"Sorry," Gon apologized, but he was still chuckling.

Killua just rolled his eyes. "Don't apologize Gon; she's just playing with you."

Fern just sniffed at him and turned away, silently giving the boy the cold shoulder. What is his problem? Fern ranted in her head. I mean, it's not like I have cooties or anything—that would just be so lame.

"…Hey," Killua's voice interrupted her mid-rant. She whipped around, about to snap at him, when he cut her off, lifting his skateboard towards her. "You can ride my skateboard too."

The words died in her throat. Shocked, she could only blink at him with wide eyes. He didn't look like he was lying. His eyes were shifting, in a nervous kind of way, and that was how she could tell. For normal people avoiding eye contact was a sign of trickery, but with this boy—with Killua, she could already tell that he was so accustomed to lying that lying had become natural and easy. On the other hand, honesty had become the action to cause unease. Backwards, maybe, but not so far-fetched. Especially when Fern herself was the same.

Her face softened. A smile played on the corners of her lips. "Thanks, I-

"But only if you buy me a lifetime supply of chocolate."

A vein pulsated in her forehead. Her smile widened, strained and dark and undeniably annoyed. Fern moved to elbow him. Killua ducked. Her grin widened and she stuck her foot out to kick him in the shin.

He stumbled.

Fern laughed and rushed forward, dancing up the rest of the steps towards the welcoming, warm light.

"I hope the light's a train and you get run over!" Killua yelled after her.

She only rolled her eyes and laughed harder. "I'll make sure to lie straight down under the wheels and pull you down with me!"

But even as she ran, leaping up the stairs, her laughter was light, airy, and inside of her, in the very center of her being, there was the beginnings of a softness, a warm bubbling rising in the depths of her stomach. Like hot chocolate on a cold, winter day, it filled her chest with a warm sense of….what was it? What was this feeling?

Comfort?

She shook her head. No, it couldn't be.

…..

….Could it?

. . .

Fern stared out at the endless expanse of swamp, mud, and exotic wildlife that lay beneath the cliff she and the other candidates stood on. The mucky brown wetland covered with a thick, gray haze extended far into the horizon, cut off by the beginnings of a rigid mountain of jutting rock. The mountains surrounded the landscape like an iron gate without a door in sight. Or in existence.

No escape.

A sharp caw echoed in the distance. Fern glanced up at the overcast sky just in time to see a beast with the vast, powerful wings of an eagle, but the crushing jaws of a shark swoop down from above. A sick ripping shrieked through the air as the beast sunk its fangs into the another bird. Its powerful jaw viciously tore apart. Death was instant. One moment flying. The next attacked. A moment later food. The predator beast flapped its wings and soared off into the distance, disappearing behind a cloud of smog.

I bet they eat humans too, Fern mused to herself. She glanced back down from the bloated sky and eyed the swamp cautiously. If the other animals here in this area are all savage and volatile beasts like that, then I'm really going to have to watch my back closely if I want to get out of here alive.

But she wasn't really worried. After all, Fern was used to this survival in the wilderness thing. Out here, it was no-man's land. It was one man for himself, or in this case—one beast for itself and there was no such thing as trust, friendship, or loyalty. It was kill or be killed, and if that meant killing comrades, then so be it.

Because when you're in no-man's land, it's a free-for-all, and when there's no one but you to watch your own back, there's no room for mercy. All you can care about is yourself, and surviving, because if you don't, then you're dead.

Morals held no importance to these creatures. They may have been smart, but they held no conscious like humans did.

SCRREEEECH!

Fern turned and looked behind her just in time to see the steel door roll shut. It closed with a resounding clang, cutting off all sight of the dark tunnel they had just emerged from. The chatter of the candidates instantly silenced, and turned their gaze to the waiting examiner.

"Numele Swamp," Satotsu said, gazing out at the fog-covered land before them. "Also, Swindler's Roost. To get to the Second Exam Center, we must pass through here. There are many rare animals that only exist here. Many of them trick people in order to kill and eat them. They're cunning and greedy animals." He pivoted around to stare at the candidates. "Please be careful and follow me. If you get tricked, you will die."

True, true, very true. But they can't trick you…

Fern felt a tiny smirk curling the corners of her lips up.

If you trick them first.

. . .

End of Chapter 6

Question for Reviews: What do you think Killua thinks of Fern at this point?

Review please…