Disclaimer: I don't own anything
A/N: I want to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and follows. I also want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
Naru settled against the couch and stared at the book in Shikamaru's hand. So far the book had told her that she had a reckless friend, who decided to go to Orochimaru. She really had to work hard to make sure that her friend didn't decide to run off without her knowledge again. Hopefully, this chapter would give her more information on what happened.
"Chapter 3…"
"Hey Naru, do you have parents?"
"This is probably the first time that someone asked you that question, isn't it?" Choji asked as the screen revealed the scene before them.
Naru considered the question and then nodded. "Everyone in the village knows that I don't have any parents. It's a well-known fact."
Naru stopped in her tracks and stared at Gon, who looked at her with curious eyes. The four of them had been walking through the path that led to the pine tree in complete and utter silence. Up till now, the only sounds they heard were the sounds of the animals that roamed this forest.
She took a deep breath and took a step forward. "My parents died when I was a baby so no."
Sakura frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. "You just talk like it isn't a big deal."
"Is it a big deal?" Naru asked, blinking. Her former classmates and her teammates looked at her with disbelief. "What? You wanted me to cry and moan over the fact that I'm a kid with no parents? I did that when I was seven so I don't see why I've to act like that."
Her teammates just stared at her with shock while Team Ten looked at her with discomfort.
There was almost an uncomfortable silence which settled upon them and Naru turned her head away from the three males. Both Kurapika and Leorio frowned, looking almost as if they felt sorry for her, and it was so strange. Why did they feel so sorry for her? She wasn't the only orphan in this world.
Sakura frowned. "Naru…"
"I don't need to hear you to say something comforting, or anything like that," Naru said, holding her hands up in the air. Sakura opened her mouth, and the Jinchuuriki shook her head. "You think I want people to feel sorry that I don't have parents? You never treated me differently when you knew the truth, so don't start now because a bunch of strangers feel sad for me."
There was only silence as everyone processed her words.
There was just no need for them to feel sad for her.
"If you don't mind me asking but how did your parents die?" Leorio asked, frowning. "And who has been taking care of you during this whole time?"
Ino slowly turned her head and stared at Naru. "He raised a good point. We all know that you live by yourself, but there had to be someone who took care of you as a baby."
"I've no clue on who raised me until I was three," she replied. "But I was probably in the orphanage."
Only the animal's howls were heard as the three males stared at her. Naru dug her hands even further into the pockets of her jacket and looked to the path ahead of them. There was no need for her to hide about their deaths. Everyone back in the Elemental Continent knew about the attack. Knew about the destruction caused from the attack.
Objectively, there was no reason to lie about what happened to them.
"They died defending my village from a very powerful fox," she explained vaguely as they continued through the path. "They weren't the first shinobi to die protecting the village that fox and there were a lot of children who became orphans during the attack, or who had at least lost one parent during the attack."
"We did have a lot of classmates without fathers," Ino commented, looking at Sakura. "Do you remember Aisu? Her Dad died during the Kyuubi attack."
Sakura nodded and sighed. "She always pulled I lost my Dad card whenever someone makes a tiny comment about her behavior."
In her class alone, some of the students lost a father and fortunately for them, even fewer had lost both of their parents during the attack. There had been students from the year ahead of them, who hadn't been as lucky as those students. Those upper classman of hers were in the same boat as her.
However, it took her a long time to find out why they had been treated with kindness while she had been treated like a disease that should be avoided.
Naru ignored the guilty looks of her former classmates and teammates, choosing instead to look at the screen. It was almost embarrassing to know that it took her this long to figure out the truth. Even then, she didn't figure it out. Mizuki had to spill the whole thing to her because he was a jerk.
Kurapika cleared his throat. "You haven't told Leorio who has been raising you this whole time."
No one. Those two words tasted bitter in her tongue and the girl shook her head. They would just pity her more for the lack of parental figures in her life. She didn't need that. Up till now, she had been doing fine without having anyone to raise her. Without having the love that she had only witness growing up.
"Who knew for someone who tries to look at the bright side of things, that you could have such depressing thoughts?" Choji asked with a frown playing on his lips.
She shrugged. "You think it's easy to be positive? It's a lot harder than you think."
"You've to wonder how she doesn't have her own brooding sessions," Sasuke stated.
"Someone did raise you, didn't they?" Leorio pressed on. "No one could expect a little kid to just raise themselves."
They can. A shrug and Naru continued to trek through the muddy path. Why did it matter whether or not a child could raise themselves or not? If the village had to care about every damn orphan created from missions and the Kyuubi attack then they would have less available shinobi.
"While Naru has a point about the resources, I doubt those people will see things the same way," Shikamaru commented. "I have a feeling that they're going to judge our way of life."
Naru bobbed her head. "Every culture is different, so it's natural to judge us."
Surprisingly, Gon offered her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder and flashed her an empathetic smile. She smiled back at him and hummed a small tune. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the two older boys dashing towards them.
There was a gradual change of the path turning from concrete to small rocks. More and more trees began to fill on either sides of the path. Naru almost stopped in her tracks when she caught sight of the skull sign that was on a warning sign. Taking a step forward, she preened and took her time to read the sign.
Beware Magical-Beasts!
Sakura scratched her head and looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, do you know what is a Magical Beast?"
"No," Kakashi answered, not sounding one bit pleased. "I think Shikamaru should read more so we can find out what it is."
Only one question had to be asked and that was…
"What the hell is a Magical-Beast?" she demanded, turning her head to the three boys.
Kurapika inspected the warning and grimaced. "Magical Beasts are beasts who have supernatural abilities."
"I've a real bad feeling of what is about to happen," Sakura whimpered, looking at her.
Naru hummed. "I don't think we need to worry because I'm obviously going to survive."
"Because you're the main character of the book?" Sasuke guessed.
She nudged the boy in the ribs and bobbed her head. "The main character can't just die in the beginning of the book."
So…we need to be careful but what can they do?What type of beasts will we find here? She eyed the trees and began to slow down her pace, matching it with the two boys behind her. When she had been on Whale Island, there had been no beasts that seemed magical. Nothing else about them that stood out to her.
Now they were potentially going to be dealing with beasts that could pose a challenge for her.
Freezing, cold winds nipped her to the bone and in the distance, an animal howled to the moon. Naru thinned her lips and darted her eyes to the trees, noting the differences in the slash marks against the tree trunk. An animal came out from the bush, glanced at her before scurrying away from them.
"They keep warning us about the Magical Beasts," Leorio complained when they past another warning sign. He clicked his tongue and glared at the sign before looking at them. "Instead, they should just tell us where is the nearest dump! I really need to pee."
Ino wrinkled her nose. "Too much information."
"He could just urinate on the tree," Naru grumbled, shaking her head. "That was what I did during the Chunin Exams."
Shikamaru spluttered. "We didn't need to know that, Naru!"
Naru turned her head around and suggested. "Then do it behind one of the trees if you really need to pee."
Leorio turned his head away from here and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that the man had a disgruntle expression. What did he expect me to suggest? That we find a toilet? You can't always find a toilet. She would know after all. When her team had been in the Forest of Death, she had no choice but to pee behind one of the trees.
Sakura shook her head and stared at Naru. "Didn't you get ambushed when you went—"
"We agreed to never talk about that dark day," Naru reminded her teammate, folding her arms against her chest.
Ino offered Naru a look of pity. "Only a pervert would attack a girl when she is doing her business."
She had no idea of how true her words were.
Too bad that one of her opponents decided to be a pervert and attacked her while she peed. I got him real good when he tried to attack us again. Her dignity had been restored once she showed him that she was not some weak girl that he could attack.
Oh yeah, he would be having a difficult time in the future when it came time for him to have kids.
"You broke it, didn't you?" Choji gulped.
Naru whistled. She had indeed broken his manhood, but that wasn't the only thing she had done to the boy. It had been pure luck that they had been near the plants that was well-known for causing infertility. The boy had no idea of why she shoved those leaves into his mouth.
Around twenty minutes passed when they finally caught sight of the cabin in front of the pine tree. It was a relatively big cabin, too big for just a couple to live in but that was just her opinion. The cabin also stood in the middle of the field, not so far away from the forest but not so close to it either.
"We are finally here!" Leorio cheered, looking up at the cabin.
Naru nodded and stared at the cabin before glancing at the man. She quirked her lips into a smile, turned her head away and laughed. "I think you need to check your pants before we go in."
Sasuke sighed. "At least you were being nice about it."
"Are you implying that I can't be nice, Sasuke?" she asked, puffing her cheeks. Everyone exchanged glances before they slowly turned to her. It didn't take long before her teammates and former classmates bobbed their heads in agreement with the dark-haired boy.
Ino cleared her throat. "You weren't known for being the sweetest and nicest girl in the village; you're known for being the rude kid that picks a fight with everyone."
"I agree with the former because Hinata-chan takes that award," Naru agreed. "But I don't pick a fight with everyone."
Sakura stared at her. "Lee-san."
"He started it," she argued. Sakura blinked while Sasuke nodded his head in agreement. "He only challenged the Bastard for a fight because he couldn't accept the fact that Neji is better than him. He wanted to get an ego-boost, and he didn't even consider me as a potential opponent."
Blinking, the man looked down at his pants and pinkened. He quickly zipped up the zipper of his pants, cursing under his breath as he did so. The girl shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Gon. The dark-haired boy had been quiet throughout their walk, only making the occasional comment to tell Leorio to hurry up.
Kurapika frowned and surveyed the area before he observed, "It is so quiet and it also looks like we are the only applicants that have arrived."
Weariness seeped inside of her. Naru inhaled and glanced at the boys before dragging her feet to the cabin. The weariness and suspicion continued to build up as she took each step up the cabin. Usually, there would be some kind of mumble behind closed doors or there would be some kind of chatter from the television inside the cabin.
But…there was no sound.
Kakashi grimaced. "Something is definitely not right about the whole situation."
"It might be another test," Shikamaru suggested.
Naru groaned. "I hope it's not another quiz."
Something rustled in the background. The 12-year-old girl knelt down while Leorio and the other two boys walked closer to the door. Skirting towards her kunai pouch, the girl looped her finger against the small metal loop of her kunai and pulled it out from the pouch.
Leorio knocked the door. Knocked it again and again before he turned to look at them. He slacked his jaw at the sight of her kunai and hissed. "Are you insane? You can't go around carrying that! You're going to scare the couple with that weapon."
Naru huffed. "I'm perfectly—"
"You're going after me even though I tried to kill you," Sasuke retorted. "You're the definition of insane."
"C'mon I want to feel reassured," she retorted.
He eyed her for the longest time and then waved his arms at her before storming back to the door. Without warning, the man pushed the door open. The moment he took a step inside was when Gon, Kurapika and her decided to follow him into the cabin.
A stunned silence fell upon them as they took in the sight before them. Broken pieces of furniture were littered around the room, hinting of a struggle between them. In the dark corners of the cabin, a man laid on his stomach and had his hand reached out as blood dribbled down the side of his face.
Sakura quivered. "What the hell happened?"
"We're going to find out," Sasuke replied.
But he wasn't the main star of the show.
The main star was the growling beast in front of them. There was ferocity in his eyes as he choked the woman around her neck. Its fangs bared at them, almost threatened to kill them and Naru eyed the kunai in her hand before glancing at the beast. Its crackles rumbled in the air and the woman in its hands whimpered.
"A magical beast!" Kurapika barked.
Ino jerked her head. "That's a Magical Beast!"
"They aren't at all cute," Sakura cried, inching closer to Sasuke. The dark-haired boy sighed but didn't move away from the quivering girl.
Wait a second, there were warning signs of a magical beast. The panic inside of her faded as a wave of suspicion settled inside of her. She had lived in a forest once. Knew about the dangers inside of a forest and knew how to avoid certain dangers. If she knew how to survive the forests in Konoha, then these people should know.
The paragraph hovered in the air as the screen revealed images of her childhood. Naru slumped against her seat as the screen revealed her 5-year-old self hunting in the forest, playing with the animals and even sleeping on the top of the trees. Did Raiden have to show that side of her?
"How long did you live in the forest?" Choji asked, blinking.
Naru tilted her head. "Two years? I'm not really certain, but my earliest memories were in the forest."
"It explains so much on how you're comfortable with Shino's habit," Ino muttered. "And how you were able to differentiate the different plants that our teacher taught us. But seriously…how the hell did you end up living there?"
She blinked. "I…don't remember."
"The more we read the book, the more I realize that we know nothing about you," Sakura said, dropping her jaw.
Naru shrugged. "You never asked me."
These people lived in this forest with the awareness of these beasts so how could they be that easily defeated?
"Something doesn't feel right," she muttered under her breath and she pocketed her kunai back into her pouch. Was it just coincidence that the attack happened just when they were about to introduce themselves? Or had this been staged? The best way to determine would be to question the man.
Best way to determine what the hell was going on was to analyze the crime scene carefully.
"He got a woman!" Gon announced as if they hadn't noticed it.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "They can see that."
They would be blind if they hadn't noticed that the woman wasn't being held by the neck by the beast's arms. But she isn't struggling as much as someone in that situation. The suspicion grew even stronger as her eyes darted around the crime scene. It looked almost like the whole thing was planned because there were certain items that were, surprisingly, not broken.
"It's definitely a test," Shikamaru confirmed. "Naru is definitely right to be wary."
Naru nodded. "Well, Future Me is right anyway."
Leorio frowned and eyed the injured man. "And the guy on the floor looks like he badly need a doctor."
The moment that the man finished his observation, was the moment that the beast made a run for it. Glass shattered into millions of pieces when the beast crashed against the window. The cries of the woman began to die away. Naru stood still as Kurapika and Gon dashed towards the shattered remains of the window.
Heavy footsteps drummed against her ear as Leorio made his way to the wounded man.
"Please help," the injured man groaned. "Please save my wife! You have to save my wife."
Ino frowned. "Why would they go this far to test you guys?"
"No idea."
Gon jumped over the window while Kurapika turned around to look at them. "Leorio, I need you to attend to his injuries and Naru—"
"You go and help Gon," she waved him off and darted her eyes to the injured man. "I…have someone to interrogate."
Kakashi bobbed his head. "That's a good choice, but you've to allow Leorio to treat the man before interrogating him."
"That's the plan," Naru smiled warily.
The words lingered in the air like a bad aftertaste. The blond-haired boy inspected her, almost as if he was trying to gauge her level of seriousness before bobbing his head at her. With a weary heart, she turned towards the injured man and waited till Kurapika was out of earshot before making her way to the man.
"Once Leorio treats your wounds, I want you to answer every single one of my questions."
The man winced but she never missed the slight approval in his eyes.
Choji nodded. "You're probably on your way of passing their test."
It looks like we are going to be tested from the moment that we declared our intentions of doing these exams.
Well, it wouldn't be an exam if they didn't have a test for everything.
Ino huffed. "Yeah, but they're going too far for these exams."
"It's a pain in the ass," Naru agreed.
"Mind explaining to me how a lovely couple like you and your wife managed to get hurt by that beast?"
The moment Leorio was done dressing the wounds, Naru had led the man to one of the few non-broken chairs in the room. He remained relax, almost confident that she wouldn't hurt him and he was right. Hurting him while he was wounded was not something she felt comfortable to do.
"It's a whole different story if he isn't injured," Naru admitted, and Sakura alongside Choji and Ino looked at her with disbelief. She frowned and raised her hands up in the air. "C'mon if I've to get the guy to talk, then I've to go that far."
If he had been uninjured from the beginning then it was a whole different story for her.
"The beast just came out of nowhere," the man explained, looking her straight in the eye. "My wife and I were watching television when it suddenly attacked us."
Leorio frowned and sweated while Naru inspected the man carefully. "But you were aware that they are magical beasts in this forest, weren't you?"
"Poke for any holes in the story," Kakashi commented. "That's the right place to begin."
There was a long stretch of silence as she waited for the man to answer her question. He didn't meet her eyes, focusing most of his attention on the floor below them. From her own experience as a prankster and getting into trouble, she knew he was trying to think of an excuse.
Shikamaru shook his head. "A few of your excuses didn't make much sense."
"Iruka-sensei was starting to get better with finding holes in my excuses," she admitted.
A believable excuse for the question that she posed on him.
"We were aware," he replied and Leorio eyed her like he was trying to understand her point. "But we didn't think that the beast would come and attack us like that."
She allowed the words to linger in the air and inspected the room carefully. The destruction of the room, at first glance, spoke of a struggle but it was interesting that only the living room had been destroyed. The kitchen looked completely untouched and the photos frames weren't broken at all.
Not even a single crack.
Sasuke eyed her. "You think the beast and the couple know each other?"
"It's a possibility to consider."
"But you knew magical beasts lives in this area," she pointed out and the man trembled just a little bit. "You know I lived in a forest until I was five-years-old and I still remember how to defend myself from animals. Yet, you expect me to believe that you and your wife didn't know that creatures would attack you?"
Leorio frowned. "Naru, you can't believe that everyone is like you when they are in this situation. They might be a newly-wedded couple who just moved into the area."
"Naru won't believe it with that logic," Sakura commented, shaking her head. "She wants facts, and you don't have any evidence that can get this stubborn girl to believe you."
The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki smiled. "You know me so well."
But the landowners didn't tell them? I doubt it. She regarded Leorio. He had been quiet during her interrogation, never tried to tell her that she should give the man some slack until now. It might be because she did help him when he requested her help or because he knew she wasn't going to change her mind.
"Even if you move into a new area, wouldn't you do research about your new home?" she asked him.
Leorio grimaced. "Of course I would do that, but not everyone thinks about doing research."
"Who the hell wouldn't do research on their neighborhood?" she demanded.
Kakashi chuckled and bobbed his head while Sakura and the members of Team Ten looked at her with surprise. Right, she forgot the fact that those four pre-teens hadn't been in her shoes. The only people, who could understand her frustration, was Kakashi and Sasuke.
The dark-haired boy nodded. "Only an inexperienced person would do that."
Technically, he was right but they were currently being tested. That subtle approval in the way she chose to question him meant he had been hoping that she would figure things out. That they would know something was up. Besides, the whole thing was fishy even before I figure out that this was a test. The only question was what were they testing them on?
"For the sake of your theory then tell me, why weren't there any claw wounds on him?" she asked Leorio and the injured man stiffened at her observation. She thinned her lips and pointed to the wounds on his arms and shoulder. "He had blood on his mouth and there were several wounds…but nothing that suggests an animal attack, or am I wrong?"
Sakura frowned. "You analyzed the wounds that quickly? Why didn't you analyze Kakashi-sensei's wounds or Zabuza?"
"Well with Kakashi-sensei, I thought that it would make you more confident if you could figure things out," Naru replied with a shrug. Sakura jerked her head while the girl released a yawn. "With Zabuza? I know some things, but I'm not perfect. How was I supposed to know that he wasn't dead? I trusted Kakashi-sensei's judgment."
There was a moment of silence as Leorio stared at her before jerking his head at the wounded man. He spent more time reassuring the man and healing his wounds instead of noticing the fact that there had been no bite marks or claw marks. She shook her head and folded her arms against her chest.
"No, they seem self-inflicted," Leorio finally agreed, scowling.
Naru kissed her teeth and turned back to the dark-haired man. "And if he knew that there are magical beasts in the area then shouldn't he have some kind of protection over his home? But we got here without any problems."
"You really have a way of making him seem naïve and idiotic," Sasuke commented.
She bobbed her head. "It's a skill."
The more and more she spoke out her own observations, the more Leorio looked at her with dark eyes. He clenched his jaw and inspected the sweating man, almost as if he was searching for more clues on what her implication meant. It is going to annoy him once he realizes that this whole thing has been a test. She pulled out her kunai and twirled it around, making sure that the moonlight was reflected onto the injured man.
The man gulped but kept his mouth zipped.
Leorio trembled and balled his hands into a fist before turning his head at the injured man on the chair. "Did that beast actually attack you? Or was this some kind of trap?"
"He's a real hot-head," Kakashi commented, shaking his head.
Sighing, the man leaned back on the chair and curled his lips into a slight smile before scrutinizing them. It almost unnerved her but not enough to make her feel uncomfortable. Not enough to make her shuffle her feet back and forth. But, it was enough for her to frown at the man sitting on the chair.
"My family will explain when we are finished judging the other two," the man confirmed and both Naru and Leorio yelped when the man's human features began to shift to the same creature that attacked his so-called wife. He settled his attention on her. "But, I'm curious to know what made you think to question me. I was the injured husband."
Choji knitted his eyebrows together. "His family? Does that mean it isn't just a wife and husband living in the cabin?"
"That's the only explanation," Ino replied, furrowing her eyebrows together.
That was not the question she expected him to ask and Naru found herself settling on the ground. She kept her eyes on the man. Genuine curiosity colored his features, almost like he hadn't expected her to figure out that the whole thing was a trap. Then again, in a high-intensity case like this…no one would think like this.
"Well you were injured but you could still talk reasonably well," she observed. "And I noticed the warning signs about the magical beasts, which made me wonder how you and wife had nothing on you to help you protect yourself against those creatures. Even if the attack was sudden, you should always have something on you when it came to these things. Yet, no weapons on sight."
Shikamaru nodded. "You basically nailed on what's the problem with the whole thing."
There wasn't a need to point that out but it felt like it had to be put out there. Not for Leorio or even the injured man's sake but for her sake. Her sake because she wanted to remind herself that she had always been quick to observe. While books had never been her thing, she had a habit of observing things.
"I don't know about that," Sakura commented. "Your observational skills aren't that amazing. Half of the time, your observations are a fluke."
Shikamaru snorted as he read the next line. "Naru knows you and Sasuke well."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
It was a necessary skill for survival, though Sasuke and Sakura believed her observational skills were a fluke.
Sakura and Sasuke jerked their heads at Naru, and she shrugged her shoulders. They might not have said it out loud until now, but their behavior had always suggested that they didn't believe for one moment that she could observe things.
"Did you even notice the bandages on his arms? He probably trained till his arms bled, Sasuke so maybe the great Uchiha Clan isn't that great."
Sakura had been pissed when she said it, claiming she had been insulting Sasuke and his family. Naru exhaled and stared at the man before turning to the shattered glass on the floor. It would have been better if I insulted them. It would have made more sense than her subtly telling him that he wasn't training as much as Lee.
"That was your whole point?" Sakura cried. "Why didn't you just say that to him?"
Naru smiled. "Because I wasn't trying to give Lee a big ego boost by saying that he trained harder than Sasuke."
"We haven't seen anyone that could quickly dissect the situation as quickly as you did," the creature observed and the girl turned her head around to face it. A warm smile was stretched across his face and heat crept up beneath her cheeks at the freely given praise. "You and Leorio-san have passed the right to be taken to the exam hall."
Ino relaxed her shoulders. "Now we just need to hear the other two pass the exam."
A loud cheer sliced through the air. Leorio dropped on his knees and let out a couple more cheers while the girl offered the creature a relieved smile. Letting out another sigh, she laid on the floor and listened with a rather content heart to the distant howls and growls of the animals in the forest.
All we need to do now is wait for the others.
That could take a while but they had all the time in the world to wait.
"It has been ages since a human was able to tell us apart and so easily as well," the beast declared with a laugh once everyone had gathered in front of the cabin.
Ino huffed. "Why can't they show us what happened?"
"Probably because the person that brought us here, doesn't think it's important that we know about it," Shikamaru replied.
Naru only stared at the two beasts, then to the woman and looked at the man before turning to the other people in her party. Both Kurapika and Leorio looked at the talking beasts with disbelief before they landed their eyes on her. If they thought that she was like Gon when it came to telling those two animals apart, then they were sadly mistaken.
"Can anyone tell them apart?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.
Everyone shook their heads.
She could tell the subtle differences between their voices but their faces looked the same to her too.
Shifting closer to her and Kurapika, Leorio murmured. "Can either of you tell them apart or is this a Gon's thing?"
"This is definitely a Gon's thing," she declared.
Her fellow blond nodded and muttered, "I really cannot tell them apart."
With a bright smile playing on his lips, Gon jumped up and down, waving his arms at the two beasts while he did it. "The one Kurapika and I hit is the husband."
Sakura twitched. "Which one is the husband!"
"He talks as if everyone can tell them apart," Ino barked. "They look the same to me!"
Which one is the husband? The question was just on tip of her tongue, ready to be spilled out in the air but Naru only swallowed down the question. As much as she wanted to know the differences right now; there was just no way that Gon could explain with words about the differences between those two beasts. It was just one of those things he couldn't explain.
Shaking her head, Naru slipped her kunai back into her pouch and stared at the creatures right in front of her. How do they shift their appearance? Because it doesn't feel like chakra. The desire to know more about the fascinating animals stirred even more as a million of questions came flooding her mind.
But this was definitely not the time to question them about where did the ability to transform came from.
Kakashi tapped his finger against his jaw. "It might be Nen."
"What's Nen, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
The silver-haired man eyed Naru before looking at the book. "If Naru doesn't pass the Hunter Exam, then I'll explain what the Fourth Hokage explained to me when I asked him about his techniques."
"As you probably realized by now, we are the navigators," one of the beasts announced.
Yeah, your son spilled that fact to us. It was interesting to know that the Hunter Exam employed beasts to help with the exam, especially a whole family of them like the one in front of them. Though she guessed they wouldn't hire them if it wasn't for the fact that these beasts could mimic humans and even talk their own language.
The daughter took a step forward, lifted up the sleeve of her blouse and revealed a set of tribal tattoos. With a faint smile stretched across her face, she explained. "These tattoos signify a sumi woman's betrothal to god and her vow of chastity. Very few people would recognize such ancient symbols on sight."
Sakura blinked. "The only person who could figure out that clue would be Kurapika-san."
"Gon doesn't seem like the type of boy who reads a lot of books," Naru agreed.
Considering what I saw from Gon and the way Kurapika recognize my Hitai-ate, he probably recognized those symbols on the woman. It was a certainty but it was quite difficult for her to tell when the male had one of the best poker faces that she had seen. Honestly, he probably would run circles with Tsunade in a game of poker.
Then again, anyone could beat Tsunade when it came to anything that required gambling.
"It is never a good thing when Tsunade wins a poker match," Kakashi commented.
The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki touched her necklace and bobbed her head. "Something bad always happens when she wins her match."
"However Kurapika did and also knew their significance," the daughter continued on with a bounce in her steps. "He knew that I had no spouse."
Well, it seemed like her theory about the boy being the one to figure out and recognized the meaning behind the symbols was true. But there really was no one else that could figure out, so really I shouldn't be proud for realizing it. She sighed and clasped her hands behind her head, only to tilt her head when the son took a step forward.
"Naru was able to quickly identify that there was something wrong with the situation and press me for answers to on questions such as protection against the beast," the son praised with a smile. "She was also able to differentiate between my wounds, though she hadn't told Leorio until he was done attending my wounds."
Choji frowned and regarded her. "Why didn't you tell him?"
"How am I supposed to know? It didn't happen yet," she pointed out.
She coughed. "He was in the zone."
The dark-haired man pinkened and Naru stared up at the moonlit sky. From the few times she had been in the hospital, she had been privy to seeing a couple of medic nins ripping the heads off on anyone that interrupted them during work. Leorio was already short-tempered and to interrupt him…
"Would get me an earful about the importance of letting them do their work," Naru finished with a shudder.
Kakashi chuckled. "That has happened a few times, hasn't it?"
"More times than I care to admit."
Yup, definitely not something she wanted to interrupt.
"Leorio might not have figured me out immediately but he did give me first aid that was exceptional," the son raved and Leorio pinkened even more from what could only be embarrassment. "More to the point was that he cared what he believed were my needs with great diligence and compassion."
Choji scratched his head. "With all his talk about money, it's surprising how caring he can be to other people. Is he really that greedy for money? Because it doesn't feel like it."
"There's probably more to the story," Shikamaru agreed.
Yeah, Leorio is really kind. It was almost discerning how he could be doing these exams with that kind of behavior if you asked her. While she didn't know what being a hunter entailed, she imagined killing a person could be a requirement. Could this kind man bring himself to kill someone? No, she couldn't see him do it.
He was so much kinder than the people she knew.
"Gon displayed extraordinary agility and perception," one of the beasts praised and his tone screamed how pleased he was with the dark-haired boy. "There are very few humans who are this naturally gifted. With that, we conclude that all of you have passed our test and earn the right to be taken to the exam."
"I wish we had seen what he did to get that praise," Ino demanded.
Naru sighed. "It'll be a mystery that will never be answered."
That is good. She grinned and hugged the three boys before turning to face the family of beasts. Now that it had been confirmed that they earned the right to take the exam, she could allow herself to relax with the knowledge that she was getting closer in finding a way back home. That in a couple of months, she would be able to reassure everyone that she was alive.
(Funny how things didn't go according to plan because she only made contact a year later, and only because Gon needed help. A help that neither her nor their friends could give him because they lacked the necessary skills, even with her own Nen).
Everyone kept quiet and turned to Naru. The Kyuubi jinchuuriki blinked and furrowed her eyebrows as everyone else looked at her with concern. There were so many questions that needed to be answered because why would she wait another year before going after Sasuke? What was going on?
"It…sounds like Gon-san is going to be on the verge of death," Sakura whispered. "But what could have happened?"
Kakashi patted the girl's shoulder. "We're going to find out, but he's going to be fine. If Naru is by his side, then we can be certain that she won't allow him to die."
"That's a definite fact," Naru agreed.
This place is so different from Konoha.
Everything about Zaban's city was different from Konoha. Buildings taller than even the Hokager Tower decorated the streets. Women and men were more crowded together as they walked through the wider streets, never seemingly bothered by the way that people brushed against them. There were even stands that had food on display.
"You're going to get distracted the moment you see a ramen stand," Sasuke announced with a smirk.
Naru scowled. "Only because my future self hasn't eaten any ramen for days."
Naru inched closer to the ramen stand and then groaned when Kurapika pulled her back by the collar of her shirt. "We aren't here for you to sight-see, Naru."
"But I wanna explore and eat my ramen," she grumbled. The 16-year-old boy's lips parted and a chuckle escaped his lips before he proceeded to drag her back to their main party. Both Leorio and the beast offered her unimpressed looks while Gon stifled a laugh.
Leorio shook his head and stared at her. "Sometimes you act like this mature little kid and then there are times when you act like a little kid in a candy store."
"At least you got to see Naru being mature," Sakura grumbled. "I would've killed for her to act like this during our missions."
She huffed. "If I acted like you and Sasuke, then I'll be a boring 12-year-old!"
C'mon can't I be both? I am only 12. The whole being mature thing was the thing she left for Sakura and Sasuke because they seemed so intent on growing up quickly, while she was just content to live on the moment. The only reason she had been showing her mature side was because she had to rely on herself to pass these exams.
"So if we were clueless as those three, then you would have been the more mature one?" Sasuke asked slowly, not looking one bit pleased with this piece of information.
She bobbed her head. "Definitely."
The beast looked at her with faint amusement while Gon flashed her a smile and linked their arms together. Knowing the boy, he was subtly helping those two by chaining her to him. Not like I mind. It was almost nice to have someone, who had no problems with interacting with her. Nice to have a person not worry about what their parents would think.
"I don't know about Shikamaru and Choji, but I didn't bring you around my house because my parents will kick a huge fuss about you," Sakura admitted. Naru blinked and turned her head to her female teammate. "My mother isn't exactly a huge fan of you. I mean she likes you a little bit more, but not enough to be civil around you."
Naru furrowed her eyebrows together. "So the reason you never invited me to your home is because you didn't want me to deal with your mother's snide comments."
"Yeah, why else wouldn't I invite you?"
Because she thought her teammate didn't actually like her.
They continued to walk through the crowded streets, making sure to keep an eye on the beast. They turned and twisted through the streets until they reached a particular street that was surrounded by various skyscrapers. The only odd building in this particular street was the small restaurant that stood in the far corner of the street.
It was almost unnoticeable.
"There it is," the beast announced once they reached near the end of the street. His finger hovered between the restaurant and the tall skyscraper right in front of them. With how things have been going, I wouldn't be surprised if the Hunter Exam is in the restaurant. These people really took deception to a whole new level.
"But how would they fit so many people inside that building?" Choji asked, licking his lips as his eyes focused on the image of the plate of pork cutlets and fried rice. "And will they give free food?"
"I imagine that the building looks a lot bigger than it actually looks," Shikamaru replied.
The three boys turned to the skyscraper and a cloud of wonder fell upon them. Stars also sparkled out of their eyes, almost like they couldn't believe for a moment that this was where they were taking their exam. Should I just remind them that the Hunter Exam hadn't been that obvious lately? Nah, she would let them live in their fantasy.
"They should've realized by now that it still wouldn't be that obvious," Kakashi agreed, shaking his head.
"This is where the best of the best come," Leorio whispered in awe.
Kurapika gulped. "This is where aspiring Hunters would come."
The sentences hovered in the air while the three males continued to gawk at the building. Naru turned to the restaurant, followed behind the beast, and stopped in her tracks when the beast raised his human eyebrow at her. With a sigh, she pointed to the three boys behind her and the beast shook his head before dashing to the three other participants.
Ten seconds later and the three males were back by her side. Not a single one of them could meet her in the eye, embarrassed and even disgruntled about the location of the exam site. No one blames them for making this mistake. It was a reasonable mistake, one that even a simple-minded genin would make.
"When you say a simple-minded genin, you mean those genin that failed to recognize the trap set by the Chunin Proctor, don't you?" Ino asked.
Naru considered the question and nodded. "Only explanation."
"It looks like a simple restaurant no matter how you look at it," all three boys grumbled in unison as they stepped into the restaurant.
She eyed the boys and raised her eyebrows at them. "Have the exams ever been this obvious?"
None of them could give her an answer. Naru shook her head and surveyed the restaurant while the beast made its way to the cook. There were people hustled close together, flipping and turning their food around on the grill. Most of the customers had smiles on their faces as they chatted to their neighbors. But what stood out to her was the scent.
The scent of cooked meat alongside the garlic-scented streamed vegetables danced around the room and for the first time since they started their journey, her stomach howled for food.
"I want food," Choji declared. "Once this whole reading is over, we're going to get BBQ!"
Shikamaru and Ino slumped their shoulders and released an exasperated sigh.
A small tug on her jacket caused her to look away from the food and to focus on Gon. He offered her a smile and drew her closer to him as Leorio and Kurapika walked ahead of her. "We have to follow the waitress to the room."
"I was too busy salivating over the food," she explained with a nervous laugh.
He smiled even wider. "It smells really good!"
Too good to be true. So good that she wondered if it would taste better than that BBQ place that Team Ten seemed to enjoy going whenever they completed their missions. Hopefully, once they were done taking the exam then she could come back here and enjoy the food. Though by that time, she prayed that she had a Hunter License and some money.
Naru tilted her head and looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, did the Fourth Hokage ever tell you how much money a person could get with a Hunter License?"
"The only thing I know is that it is enough for a person to be set for several lifetimes," Kakashi confirmed.
"Once the whole thing is over, I'm going to do the Hunter Exam," Ino declared. Everyone blinked and swirled their head at the platinum-haired girl. She raised her hands up in the air. "I don't get paid enough in the flower shop, and our missions doesn't pay me enough."
The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki rolled her eyes. "Don't waste all of your money on hair products and make-up."
"While you might not like to pamper yourself, this is my way of pampering myself!" Ino declared.
The door to a small room opened, revealing some juicy, high-quality meat being grilled alongside various, other refreshment. There were exactly four seats around the table, and Naru dashed straight to the chair that was nearest to the meat with the biggest cut. From behind her, she heard the chuckles of the three males but she ignored it for the meat.
That kind of meat being grilled was one that she had always dreamed of buying but couldn't buy because the Hokage had to cut their pay. Those old hags were out to get me but I can't complain to the Hokage because the clients are always right policy. Honestly when she became the Hokage, they were going to rue the day that they got her pay cut.
"Your petty side is showing," Sasuke commented.
She huffed. "You know damn well that I made one tiny mistake when it came to removing those plants, and those Old Hags acted like I destroyed their garden! Of course, I'm going to be petty."
"Someone seems to be hungry," Leorio joked as he took the seat beside her.
She chewed on the meat, let out a groan of satisfaction and puffed her cheeks. "I'm a growing girl that needs her meat."
That only earned her another round of chuckles. Well it was true. She might have already hit the beginning stages of puberty but it didn't mean she was going to slow down on her growth. A couple of steamed vegetables fell onto her plate. Naru scowled and turned to Leorio, who eyed her plate of food.
"I don't like vegetables," she grumbled.
Kakashi pinched his nose. "Naru, how many times must we tell you that you've to eat your vegetables?"
"Nothing in the world would convince me to eat that abomination," she retorted.
The man rolled his eyes and teasingly said. "How can you grow taller if you don't eat a balanced meal?"
I…hate you for having a valid point. She puffed her cheeks and reluctantly eat the steamed vegetables, only to pause when the beast turned away from them. Why was he going out of the door? Wasn't he going to see them off? She kind of liked him and his family. They had been really entertaining throughout their flight to this city.
"Leorio-san really knows how to convince you to eat your vegetables," Sakura stated. She offered the youngest member of Team Seven a smile before furrowing her eyebrows together. "Although, it's a curiosity on why that beast isn't eating with you guys."
Shikamaru frowned. "The next couple of paragraphs should answer that."
Only when he was about to close the door, did the beast turn towards them. There was a subtle pride in his smile as if he felt proud about something. Naru gulped down the broccoli and placed her chopsticks on the table. It wasn't long before the boys followed her lead and turned to the beast.
"The odds of you getting to this point was 1 in 10000," the beast explained to them and Naru jerked her head. "For rookies, you aren't doing too bad and for your sake, I hope that you will be just as lucky as you have been but…don't be afraid to look me up next year."
He really doesn't expect us to get our Hunter License, does he?
Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "No, and considering what you four went through: can you blame him?"
"…No," she agreed.
Oh he had no idea on how much she thrived when people thought that she lacked the capability to accomplish something.
She was getting that Hunter License even if it killed her.
"If you even get killed during these exams, then you're never taking the exams Naru!"
Honestly, Sakura was being dramatic.
There were so many people in the alleyway, more people than Naru could ever dream to count. The fact that there were so many people in this alleyway meant that the air was just thick with heat. It also probably meant that their next test was probably going to be something difficult because the numbers were just too big.
"That's way more participants than the Chunin Exams," Ino gawked, pointing to the screen. "How many people are there?"
Choji whistled. "It has to be more than 200 people."
Several heads turned towards her. Their eyes gleamed with subtle cruelty as if they couldn't wait to hunt them down. Well, they would have a hard time hunting her down. I'm good at hiding when I wanted to be and I'm confident that my chakra will give me an advantage. She curled her hands into a fist and darted her eyes to the green blob.
"I wonder how people can accomplish these exams without chakra," Sakura pondered.
Kakashi sighed. "We're going to find out."
On the green blob, there seemed to be a basket of number badges.
"Your number badge, Miss." The blob held out the number and his eyes widened slightly when it caught sight of the Hitai-ate on her forehead. For a brief moment, she contemplated of questioning it but decided against it. This would just bring more, unnecessary attention on them and Naru plucked the number badge from the blob's hand.
402.
"So many people are doing these exams," Naru gawked. "The exams are going to be a pain in the neck."
Sakura patted her back. "You probably won't need to do these exams if we stop Sasuke—"
"—I'm still going to do those exams!"
Humming, Naru clipped the number badge onto the pocket of her orange jacket and made her way towards the three males. All three of them scanned the alleyway, their eyes wide with awe and that made her paused in her steps. I forgot that those three have never taken an exam like this. If this was anything like the Chunin Exams then they had to be weary.
They were fresh meat and veterans absolutely adored eating their fresh meat.
"Remember the Chunin Exams?" Shikamaru asked. "That was hell."
Naru rolled her eyes. "Well, you don't need to go through that experience again."
"How many people are there?" Gon wondered when she finally reached them. His brown eyes were bright with curiosity and there was almost a cute, little tilt on his head as if he was actually considering about the numbers.
Something banged from behind them. Naru twisted her head around and curled her lips into a tight smile at the sight of a pudgy middle-aged man sitting on one of the pipes. He had a friendly smile. But she knew smiles. Knew the fake smiles from the sincere smiles because of how well she perfected her fake smile.
"There are 405 participants if I include you guys," the pudgy man chirped and he jumped off from the pipe. Surprisingly, the man landed on his feet and made his way towards them. The girl eyed him before darting her eyes around the alleyway. Some of the participants had a cruel—almost pitying— smiles on their faces; that only made her suspicion increased.
"We have got a Kabuto," Naru declared.
Sakura blinked. "What do you mean we got a Kabuto? Kabuto-san is a nice person."
"Right, I forgot to tell you about what happened with Kabuto," Naru admitted with a grimace. Sakura slowly turned her head and raised her eyebrows up to her hairline. "He's working for Orochimaru."
The pink-haired girl trembled. "Why didn't you tell me anything?"
"Why didn't you tell me about the hickey on Sasuke's neck until after I fought him on the rooftop ?" she retorted.
There was no answer, and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki shook his head.
Something was definitely up if they could make that expression.
"I'm Tonpa," the man said as he shook hands with Gon. Naru inspected the man carefully, noting the number 16 on his badge before looking for subtle clues about the man's intentions. His smiles were fake but not in the obvious way. A naïve person, or even a cautious person would be fooled by the smile.
But luckily, Kabuto had given her a valuable lesson when it came to trusting people.
"We're definitely going to hear what happened between you and Kabuto," Ino vowed.
A hand rose and brown eyes pleaded for her to shake his hand. I can't let him know that I don't trust him. She slipped on her fake smile and loosely shook the man's hand, making sure not to reveal the strength behind her hand. One tiny mistake or revelation about her skill would be enough for the man to try and use against her.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You're so paranoid."
"I'm guessing that you are new," Tonpa stated once he shook all of their hands.
Gon's eyes widened and wondered, "How did you know?"
Well first we talked and acted like we were in awe at what we saw. That was only a theory but if she judged from the new snicker directed at them, then she had to say that there was another more plausible theory. Perhaps, it was their ages or something else entirely. Either way, they had done something to give them a way.
"Have you considered the possibility that he had done it more than once?" Kakashi asked.
She blinked. "I'll take note of that possibility in the future."
"Well this is 35th attempt," Tonpa explained, puffing his chest like it was something to be proud of and that only rang the alarm bells in her brain. This felt like Kabuto again. Polite Kabuto, who fooled her into thinking that he was her friend. Shy Kabuto, who turned out to be a little snake and sided with that traitor Orochimaru. "You see I started this exam when I was 10."
Choji eyed her. "You really hate Kabuto, don't you?"
"Yup."
"Wow, you must be really old," she pondered and the man twitched but didn't drop the fake smile. "If this is your 35th attempt then you must know everything, don't ya? And you must be even more amazing for staying alive in these exams!"
Praising him for his ability to even last this long was going to lower his guard. That was the plan after all. She fluttered her eyelashes and ignored the befuddled looks from Kurapika and Leorio. So what if they found her cutesy act to be weird, she had to make the man think that she was some ignorant kid.
"This is the same trick that you used on Iruka-sensei," Sakura commented. "It got you out of trouble quite a few times."
She grinned. "It works like a charm."
The man grinned and patted his stomach. "Well if I couldn't stay alive during those exams then I wouldn't be able to stand here, would I? And to answer your first question, I do know some stuff so if you need to know anything then don't be afraid to ask me."
Yup, we have already met our Kabuto! Next, we need to have a Gaara and some invasion…and we are all set for the second repeat of the Chunin Exams. It was almost bitter but how could she ever remember the Chunin Exams with fondness? Her team began to fall apart once those exams concluded and a part of her would forever blame the exams.
Blamed herself for even signing up for the exams because she was just so eager to climb up the ladder.
"Nothing that happened is your fault, Naru," Kakashi reassured her, patting her shoulders. "If anything, this is my fault because I overestimated the dangers in these exams."
Naru eyed him. "How could you know Orochimaru was going to invade?"
Blamed Kakashi-sensei for signing them up for those exams because he shouldn't have made them do it, though he wouldn't have known about Orochimaru. No one could have seen it coming but emotions was a funny thing. A cruel thing because it could overpower logic at the most crucial points.
"So then you know everyone right?" Gon inquired, smiling.
"Just about everyone," he agreed. "Let me tell you about some of our regulars."
That was such a Kabuto move to do and that only made her inch closer to Leorio as she tried to regain control of her emotional state. She dug her nails against the palm of her hand and cleared her throat. "Yeah, please tell us about them if you can."
"I'm starting to think that Naru is right," Choji observed. "He is doing the same thing that Kabuto did for us."
Naru frowned. "Who do you think he's working for? Kabuto worked for Orochimaru, so who is he working for?"
"We'll find out sooner or later," Sasuke commented.
"You see 103?" he asked, pointing to the man with the strange hat on his head. "His name is Bourbon and he is the snake charmer. He is a tenacious competitor and you really don't want to get on his bad side because you will never be able to get off!"
So if he is a snake charmer then that means his weapons of choice is a snake. Just the knowledge made her grimace and she glanced at Leorio. The oldest member of their tiny group had grown pale at this knowledge, no doubt considering the idea that the man might be capable of using poison against them.
"You should stay away from that guy," Sakura commented.
"Do you see the guy with the small ponytail? That is Cherry, the Martial Artist," Tonpa introduced, pointing to the man that had 76 pinned on his shirt. "When it comes to unarmed combat, he is the best of the best."
That was doubtful. Every year, there must be new participants and there was surely someone that could be better than that man when it came to combat. I mean I thought Kakashi-sensei was strong until the incident of the Land of Waves. Just the memory brought a pang to her heart and Naru furiously shook her head.
"That was our most memorable mission," Sakura declared.
"What about those three? They seem to be huddled together," she asked, pointing to the three men that had been snickering at them.
"197, 198 and 199 are the Amori brothers," Tonpa answered, grinning. "They specialise in teamwork, and keeps getting better at it."
But if they specialise in only teamwork then they should be quite weak when they are alone. She tapped her finger against her chin and observed those three males. If at any point in time that she needed to fight them, then she could speed things up by separating them from the others. It would certainly make things easier for their group.
"They don't look strong," Choji said. "You could beat them without any trouble."
Naru nodded. "But it's better to be safe than sorry."
For some strange reason, the hairs on her neck began to stand up and a chill ran down her spine when a red-haired man walked past them. There was something about his movement that was predatory. Something about him that made her stomach curled up with unease. No, she knew what made the man different from the others.
This guy could actually pose as a threat to her.
"He doesn't look like a friendly clown," Sakura muttered, shuddering. "Are you sure that you still want to do the exam?"
Naru nodded. "Murderous clown? Definitely not something I want to deal with, but the idea of being filthy rich and having more jobs? Now that's something that will convince me to do those exams."
Shaking her head, she looked away from the clown man and focused on the other competitors. There was two more people that caught her attention. A man covered with so many needles and a boy who looked like he could be around her age. Both of them caught her attention for two different reasons.
One of them caught her attention because of the sheer pain he must be in from the needles, while the other one drew her attention because he looked really…cute. Like the kind of guy that Sakura and Ino would gush about in the Academy. I think it is his eyes that makes me think like that. They were a rather pretty shade of blue you asked her.
"He's cute," Ino agreed. "And he has to be something if the Ice Princess can admit that he's cute."
Naru blinked. "Ice Princess? Why the hell are you calling me an Ice Princess"
"Other than the fact that Ino and the other girls don't think that you can be soft?" Shikamaru asked. She blinked and swirled her head at the other two females. They winced, and the black-haired boy released a sigh. "You never showed any interest with any boys, and how focused you're in becoming a kunoichi. Honestly? You should see it as a compliment."
She stared at him. "How the hell do you know about this?"
"Ino talks a lot," he explained as if this was enough.
It almost reminded her of lightning with how blue his eyes were.
But that was not something she should pay much attention to because they were in the exams. With a tired sigh, she looked at the others and realized that her three companions were still asking Tonpa for some more information about some of their competitors. He does an amazing job when it comes to getting people's trust. A scowl formed on her lips and she shook her head.
A loud scream erupted from the far corners of the alleyway, and Naru spurn around to find the source of the scream. 44 is definitely someone to look out for. Her throat tightened and cold sweat broke out from her forehead as the participant held up his bleeding, stumped arms for everyone to see.
"Please never be in the same room as him," Sakura pleaded.
Naru sighed. "I vow never to be in the same room as that psychopath."
As the metallic scent of blood crept up her nose, Naru stared at the sliced arms on the ground before looking at the clown. There was no weapon in his hand that indicated that he sliced it off. What did he do to cut off the arms? She didn't sense any chakra from him but oddly enough, she sensed…life energy.
"How is that possible?" Shikamaru asked.
Kakashi sighed. "It'll be explained later."
Wasn't life energy supposed to be locked up inside the body? To be closed in the chakra nodules? So why could she sense it from him? Something didn't make much sense. She pulled her bottom lip back and clasped her hands behind her back as a dull ache began to form inside of her head.
I'm definitely going to have to look up on how a crazy-ass clown can do that when he doesn't have chakra.
"I really want to know how that clown does things," Sasuke commented. He leaned forward and turned his head to Naru. "Also, you are never going to be near that psychopath! When we're doing that exam—"
"You want to do the exam with me?" she asked.
He sighed. "Besides, the fact that there's another source of power that we can use? You're dealing with an insane, murderous clown with three weak people."
And her friend wondered what made her decide to go that far for him.
It was odd and conflicted with what Sakura drilled inside of her head.
"Looks like he is back," Tonpa groaned as sweat dribbled down the side of his face. Discreetly, the man pointed his finger at the clown that now walked away from the dying man. "That is Hisoka, the magician. It seemed like he was going to be a Hunter last year, but then he attacked an examiner that he didn't approve of and…was disqualified."
Sakura quivered. "He's a psychopath! Who attacks an examiner?"
"Only an insane person," Shikamaru replied.
It seems like the disqualification only happens for that year. She kissed her teeth and stared down at her quivering legs. It had been a while since her heart raced with the desire to run away. A long time since her legs trembled and threatened to give out because the opponent overwhelmed her with their killing intent.
A bag zipped open and Naru frowned when she caught sight of the orange cans that threatened to topple over. That is a lot of drinks. She flickered her eyes to the three boys, who kept gawking at the torn limbs on the ground. Had they never seen a sliced off arm before? No, they didn't see it before.
She certainly hadn't seen one but that didn't mean she would obviously show people about the level of discomfort.
"Do you think Tonpa is going to get lucky this year and crush them with those drinks of his?" One of the participants muttered from the furthest corner of the room. If it wasn't for the fact she entered the room with the intention of enhancing her hearing with chakra, she probably would never have heard that.
Kakashi grimaced. "He must have poisoned those drinks."
"I can handle poison," Naru muttered. "But I don't know about those three."
"The Kyuubi deals with poison?" Shikamaru guessed.
She bobbed her head.
I knew it was suspicious for him to have those drinks. She plastered on her smile and observed with weariness as the man began to hand them their drinks. Gon and Leorio eagerly took the drinks while Kurapika eyed the drink for a brief second before politely taking the offered drink.
She expected this from Gon and Leorio but Kurapika was the last person she imagined would take an offered drink.
"And don't think I forgot about you," Tonpa assured her when he offered her a can.
For the longest time, she stood there and eyed the drink. On one hand, she couldn't be rude and just say that she knew that he was up to no good but on the other hand she didn't want to accept it. She didn't want any of her companions to drink that stuff. They came too far for the man to ruin their chances.
An idea came to her mind when she recalled a scene from one of the movies that Hinata-chan loved to watch.
"You and Hinata watch movies together?" Sakura cried. "And you don't invite me?"
Naru shrugged. "You squeal too much when it comes to romance movies."
"So many questions," Ino muttered.
"I apologise but my guardian has always told me that I should never accept anything from a stranger," she confessed, shaking her head. All three of the boys frowned at her while Tonpa looked almost put off by her declination. "Even though you have been so kind to us, you are still a stranger to me and I cannot accept your drink."
Gon frowned and stared down at the drink. "Aunt Mito said the same thing to me and I made a promise to her that I can't take anything from a stranger."
"He doesn't strike me as someone that follows what people say," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
You have broken some of the rules that your Aunt Mito probably gave you. There was probably no need to remind him and she also had no desire to remind him about how he broke the rules when it suited him. It was an accusation. Accusations did more harm than good, which was why she was going to keep her mouth shut.
"I wish you had kept your mouth shut in some missions," Sakura commented. "Remember what you said to Inari?"
Naru sighed. "You wanted me to do the sweet act that you did? He was rude to us, so I returned the favour to him. It might have been too much, but you can't baby him because he lost his Step-Dad."
"We will talk about this later," Sasuke ordered.
"Well if they aren't going to drink it then we shouldn't drink it either," Leorio said, shaking his head and handing the drink back to Tonpa.
Kurapika nodded. "It will be rather unfair for us to drink with you when Naru and Gon can't bring themselves to drink it."
The pudgy man opened his mouth to argue and she stilted her eyes at him. If the bastard even dared to insist that they tried to drink his drug-induced drink then she would pull out her kunai. Hell, the Kyuubi could come out and have some fun with him. It didn't really matter as long as he didn't allow them to drink.
"Can you activate the Kyuubi at will?" Choji asked.
Naru shook her head. "He is a grumpy fox who gets furious whenever I uses his power."
Seconds passed before rivers of sweat poured out of the man's face. He quivered like a scared little, fat bunny before dashing away from them with his tail between his legs. Naru relaxed her shoulders, thinned her lips and turned to the three boys. I'm going to give them a crash course about these kind of exams. Because it seemed like she was the only one with understanding.
"All of us have an understanding when it comes to these exams," Shikamaru corrected.
"Never ever trust someone that just walks up to you because they are nice," she warned them. "Do you know if I haven't heard those assholes from that corner over there then we would be drinking a poisoned drink? Because Tonpa apparently has been searching for ways to crush rookies."
Gon blinked and pointed out. "But he was nice to us!"
Why are you working for him?
The hot, fiery rage inside of her began to boil up as Kabuto's smirking face came to her mind. The desire to lash out at the innocent boy in front of her was great but she gulped it down. Shoved down the righteous rage until it was bottled up with all the other negative emotions that she didn't want to confront.
Everyone looked at her as if they wanted her to confirm those thoughts. Naru did a zipping motion to her mouth and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't want to do the whole emotion things with them. Helping people deal with their emotional shit? That was her thing.
She was not going to talk about her desire to lock away her frustration.
It would do more harm than good if she whipped out her blunt tongue at him.
"This is the Hunter Exam, not the Best Friend Exam," she informed the three of them as her eyes darted around the people in the room. Most of them didn't seem to pay much attention to them, more focused on their other participants then on them. "We can trust each other because we develop a kind of bond by getting here, but you always have to be weary of your competition."
"Not the Best Friend Exam?" Ino giggled. "That's probably the most appropriate term to describe things."
Naru nodded. "The exam barely started, and people are already trying to destroy us."
"You aren't going to have an easy time," Choji commented.
You could never know who was your friend and who was your enemy in these exams.
(The irony of her words weren't loss on her when Gon and her became friends with Killua and if she was honest, the reason that she had no problems with trusting Killua…was because of the way he behaved.)
"Sounds like you and this Killua guy are going to be really close," Sakura commented with a knowing look.
Naru rolled her eyes. "You're jumping to conclusion."
Choji sighed and shook his head. "I'll read next."
That's the end of the chapter.
So I have been asked if I was going to bring in more characters, and the answer to that question is that I'm debating about it.
Thank you for reading, and please let me know of your thoughts about this chapter.