Back with another update!

Let me just say that I have no intention of writing romance, especially not between two 12-13 year olds. Sakura and Killua might have good chemistry, but I'm really just going for good friendship. I'm not good with romance, and honestly, trying to write romance and failing can ruin an otherwise great story. The closest thing to romance will more than likely be between Sakura and Sasuke just because of how I plan to develop them. Sorry if any of you were expecting differently.

But anyway, thank you to everyone who reads and everyone who leaves reviews! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter or Naruto.

Academy x and x Acquaintances

A few days have passed, and Gon still has the blonde boy on his mind. He didn't know why. Normally, he would've just forgotten about him and went back to training. But there was something about that boy that just seemed so... familiar. And not necessarily in a good way.

Him and Killua had gotten up early that morning to meet up with Sakura and walk her to the academy. She had told them that they didn't need to do that, but Gon was curious to see the academy and Killua begrudgingly admitted he was too. Mainly though, Gon wondered if the blonde boy might be a student there. He asked Sakura about it and she said that it had sounded like a boy she knew, but he never looked sad. He always had an obnoxious grin on his face and was always messing with people. Gon still had a feeling that it might be him.

Killua snapped Gon out of his musings. "Oi! Gon! Come on! Sakura's downstairs!"

Rushing to put on his signature green jacket and pull on his boots, he replied, "Coming!" When he came out his room, he saw that Killua was wearing a light blue sleeveless hoodie, cream pants, his usual purple and gray sneakers, as well as a red cap. He briefly wondered why Killua chose now to all of a sudden wear more than the usual 'tank top and shorts' get up he's been wearing these past few weeks. When a thought crossed his mind, he laughed.

Killua, meanwhile, was confused. "What's so funny?"

"Don't tell me you're dressing to impress the kids at the academy!" Gon said, continuing to laugh. Killua blushed and made an indignant noise before walking out the apartment and going down the stairs. Gon closed the door behind him and raced after Killua still chuckling. "Don't worry Killua! I'm sure they'll think you look cool."

"Stupid! I'm not trying to look cool. I just... wanted to switch up my outfit! I used to do that all the time! Remember back at Heaven's Arena and Yorknew?" Killua said. Gon chuckled again but nodded. "Exactly! This is nothing new."

Gon smiled but said nothing. He didn't have to. He was just glad that in all this craziness of getting mixed up in a new world, he still had his best friend by his side. He was very glad that he met Killua and was able to save him from the sadness his family was causing him.

"Woah! You look nice for once Killua! Trying to charm me?" Sakura asked with a giggle as soon as Gon and Killua exited their building. Gon and her made eye contact and they immediately busted out laughing while Killua fumed.

"As if I would ever try that, pinky! I just got tired of wearing the same thing all the time. We're not training today so I figured I should switch things up," Killua said while walking down the block. Gon didn't even know if he was going the right way, but when Sakura laughed and followed, Gon guessed he was.

"He's so trying to look cool," Sakura whispered to him with a giggle. Killua, who heard, glared back at them but kept walking. Gon and Sakura laughed before she addressed both of them, "Thanks again for walking with me guys. I know you said you wanted to see the academy but still. It means a lot."

"No problem Sakura! You'll be done with the academy soon so we won't get this chance again." Gon said. At this, Sakura smiled slightly and nodded before averting her eyes. Gon, as attentive as he is, picked up on this. He waited a few minutes before he spoke again. "...Is something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh no, not really..." Sakura started, but when she saw the disbelieving looks that both Gon and Killua were giving her, she sighed. "Fine. I just feel like my time in the academy went by so fast and I wasted it. I literally didn't start taking being a ninja seriously until right before I met you guys and now I feel so stupid. I was stuck in a childish dream, acting like academy life would last forever and I wouldn't have to grow up," she sighed again. "And to top it off, most of that time was wasted by liking a guy who wouldn't give me the time of day."

Gon was confused and Killua raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't he Sakura? You're a very nice girl! And very beautiful too! It would be his loss."

Gon saw Sakura blush and shake her head before saying, "Thank you Gon-kun. But, you see, Sasuke-kun is very distant and... mysterious. He has this dark past that seems to hold him back from others so he doesn't really talk much to anybody. But I guess girls are just attracted to that type of thing because me and almost all the other girls in the class have all had a crush on him at some point..." She sighed and shook her head. "I know it's kind of shallow... but something about him just kind of draws me in, makes me want to learn more about him... But that's kind of hard to do because he won't let anyone else in. He thinks of himself very highly and is at the top of our class, so he sees the rest of us as not worth his time."

"In other words, he's a bastard." Sakura looked at Killua, shocked that he had said that. "He thinks he's the only one with a tragic backstory? Ha. Everybody has their own sob story, some more than others. But that's no excuse to treat everyone else like trash without giving them a chance."

Sakura hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah but... a few days ago Sasuke-kun had been acting different when it was just us two alone... he was still kind of cold but... he talked to me more than I expected and treated me more... kindly? ...In his own way?" She shook her head. She doubted Sasuke saw it that way. "But then again, when I saw him again in the academy, he was back to his usual cold and detached behavior... I don't think he always acts like that with everyone. Maybe he's just uncomfortable around most people in general because of all that he went through? Which causes him to be distant?"

Killua sighed. "Gon and I have a friend who's entire family was murdered and the corpses were mutilated. While he does still have some lingering issues from the trauma and can be distant, he is still one of the most reliable people you could meet and he truly cares about his friends. He can be cold and blunt, but that's just part of his personality, he isn't arrogant. But that guy you're talking about," Killua pauses to look at her, "sounds like he doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"At least somebody finally said it."

Gon and the others looked behind them and saw a boy with tan skin and a spiky ponytail looking at them with a bored expression on his face. He was the one who had spoken. Behind him was a chubby boy with spiky brown hair and red spiral marks on each cheek. He was munching on a bag of chips and looking at them with interest.

"Shikamaru! Choji! Where did you guys come from?" Sakura asked in bewilderment.

"They've been walking behind us for a while now," Gon said. Killua nodded in agreement and looked back at the boy, now known as Shikamaru, who was speaking again.

"Everyone in our class is always Sasuke this, Sasuke that. Even the teachers..." he sighed and closed his eyes. "It was really becoming a drag. Thank God somebody finally told it like it is." He looked at them with the slightest amounts of interest. "I've never seen you two at the academy though. Who are you?"

"I'm Gon Freecs!" Gon announced as he smiled and held out a hand which Shikamaru reluctantly held his own hand out to shake. Gon pointed behind himself at Killua. "His name is Killua Zoldyck. We're friends of Sakura and going to be ninja too! But we're being homeschooled so we don't have many friends our age!" He beamed at Shikamaru. "Let's be friends!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and studied them for a moment before shrugging. "I've never heard of a homeschooled ninja. But whatever, you don't seem like the lying type." He pointed at himself. "I'm Shikamaru Nara, and this guy..." he pointed at the boy behind him, who was waving shyly while eating, "...is Choji Akimichi. Troublesome to meet you, even though you guys seem less troublesome than the students here," he said with a lazy smirk. Gon laughed and Killua slowly smirked back. He liked this guy. Sakura just looked between the boys with confusion. "But unfortunately, the bell is about to ring. We should get going. You too, Sakura."

Sakura nodded and turned to them. "I'll see you later guys. You still coming to meet me after school so we can go back to your place?" They both nodded. She smiled. "Okay, see you then." She turned to Shikamaru and Choji. "Let's go you two. Class is about to start," she said, grabbing both their arms and dragging them along.

Shikamaru looked back at them with a long suffering expression. "This is a very troublesome friend you got here. I don't know how you handle her," he said before Sakura grabbed his wrist more tightly and he winced. "Wish me luck. I'll need it." He sighed and turned back around to continue walking.

The two hunters sweatdropped, watching them go. After a few moments, Killua spoke. "He's an interesting guy. Not really what I imagined kids here would be like. I thought they would all be a bunch of idiots." Gon laughed but suddenly a voice caught his attention.

"Oi! Loser! You haven't dropped out of the academy yet?!" The voice yelled. When Gon and Killua turned, they saw a boy walking from the other side of the academy with feral features, a gray hoodie, and red tattoo marks on each cheek. Despite the dog sitting atop his head, Gon could smell that a lot of the animal-like scent is coming from the boy himself. He was walking behind a blonde boy wearing an orange and blue jumpsuit with green goggles resting on his head and blue sandals. The boy had a particularly annoyed look on his face as he tried to ignore the other boy's taunts.

"Wait..." Gon thought. "That's him!" The blonde hair and orange jumpsuit were dead giveaways.

The blonde boy, meanwhile, had turned around to face the one bothering him. "What the hell do you want you damn mutt?! Didn't eat your dog food this morning?!"

"Oi... watch your mouth, idiot! I'm asking why you came back to the academy! You missed almost a whole week, you might as well have dropped out!" The dog boy yelled. "We're all about to graduate and you're still failing! It's been pissing me off for years that you ignore what I say and keep trying! Don't you get it?! You'll NEVER become a ninja!" Civilians who were walking by turned to watch the spectacle warily but kept walking.

No one was going to step in for the blonde boy? Defend him? Or at least tell the bully that he was being a jerk? Gon felt his blood start to boil as his fist clenched.

"...Yup, right on cue. There's the idiot I expected," Killua said before turning back to Gon. When he saw that the boy's aura was building up and he was shaking with anger, he warily stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "Oi, Gon. Are you ok? Chill out... there might be people around us who can see your aura."

"Chill out? Did you not hear how that bastard talked to him? How everyone else is ignoring it? Who is he to spit on somebody's dreams like that?!" Gon gritted out.

Killua was nervous. Once Gon was angry, he got tunnel vision and it was very difficult to stop him. His emotions were very volatile. "Gon, I get it. It's really annoying to see. But we don't know those guys and we don't know the situation. Maybe we should ju—" Before Killua could even finish his sentence, Gon had suddenly dashed out of his grip and appeared in between the two boys. The dog boy had tried to throw a punch at the blonde one but Gon had tightly grabbed his wrist to stop the punch. The blonde boy looked on in shock.

"What the? Who the heck are you, bastard?" Dog boy said. Gon narrowed his eyes and squeezed the boy's wrist hard. "Yow! What the HELL! Get off of me!" The boy's dog growled at Gon but one look from Gon made it shut up and whimper in submission.

"What gives you the right to tell him to give up? That he can't become a ninja? You have NO right..." Gon growled as his grip tightened and his aura started unconsciously intensifying, "...to talk down to him and insult his dreams!" The dog boy was looking at him in a mixture of pain and anger while his dog was whimpering. The blonde boy was watching on in shock.

"Gon, hold up!" Killua shouted as he put a hand on Gon's wrist. "We could get the other guy in trouble for this! What if the teachers take this mutt's side?" He whispered to Gon, whose eyes suddenly widened. He loosened his grip on the boy's wrist and the boy pulled his hand away before glaring at the two of them angrily.

"Who the hell are you guys? Some other idiot friends that damn loser Naruto has? And what was with that damn grip strength? What are you?" He asked. Before the blonde boy—now known as Naruto—could retort, Gon spoke up.

"None of that matters. All I know is that you better stop trying to be a bully. You don't have the right to tell somebody what they can and can't do," Gon said with narrowed eyes. "Now go!" Dog boy was about to refuse, but when he noticed how his pet was whimpering, he simply glared at them and left. Ignoring the multiple civilians and few ninja that were watching from the shadows, Gon turned to Naruto. "Are you ok?"

Naruto eyed him and Killua warily, taking a step back. "Why did you help me? I didn't ask for it..." he said. Gon and Killua both observed that he didn't seem to trust them.

Gon shook his head and said, "I just don't like seeing stuff like that." He held out his hand for the boy to shake. "He said your name is Naruto right? I'm Gon Freecs. This is my friend Killua Zoldyck," he said as he pointed at both him and Killua. Naruto reluctantly took his hand, as if he was expecting this to be some type of trick. "We're new around here and we don't have many friends. Would you like to be friends with us Naruto-san?"

Naruto looked hopeful for a moment, but it quickly disappeared and he started laughing. But both Gon and Killua could tell it was faked. "New here, huh? I guess that explains a lot. Trust me, you don't wanna be friends with me," he said with a devious grin. His expressions and words didn't match up at all, they noted. "Anyway, sorry for the trouble but... I can handle dog breath on my own. Been dealing with him and many others like him for years now. It's no biggie." He turned and waved at them as he walked through the academy doors. "I gotta go to class now... If I'm late today, Iruka-sensei will kill me!" He looked back and grinned. "See ya!" Soon enough, he was out of their sight.

"Killua…"

"Yeah..." Killua said, instantly understanding what his friend wanted to say. "Something is off with that guy."

The boys both knew that his on the surface joking persona was faked, but they had different ideas of the person behind it. While Killua was wary of Naruto and sensed a dark presence from him, Gon watched him go, only seeing a sad boy.

"Are you sure you're ready, Biscuit-san?" Hiruzen asked. "I've personally designed this test with the idea that you're around Sannin level. The ANBU won't be aiming to kill you, but if you're lower than the expected level it will be difficult to handle this exam. You can say 'stop' if you want to quit midway, but this is your chance to back out before we start." He looked over the blond woman clad in her new attire. She had decided to ditch the attention-grabbing princess dress for the exam and now wore a black sleeveless shirt with a dark red corset around her waist and chest, baggy black legging shorts, and dark red ninja sandals.

"Nah, I'm ready," Biscuit easily replied while stretching. She had a certain self-assuredness about her that had everybody anticipating how well she would do. "I'm not sure what this Sannin or whatever level is though."

"Biscuit-san, you told me you used to specialize in weapons right? Are you sure you want to go into this fight barehanded?" Kite asked. "You're up against twelve ANBU members, three different elite teams attacking at once."

Bisky looked at Kite. "Oh wow, I thought there were more than that. Guess I didn't pay too much attention to counting," she said while stretching. She looked around at the ANBU. "Listen up. I'm purposely holding back so I don't injure any of you too badly. But I can't make any promises. I'm bad at holding back, especially when I'm fighting opponents who try to rush at me like you guys will no doubt try to do." She paused before continuing. "So, if any of you would like to quit and save yourself the potential pain, go ahead." Nobody moved an inch. Bisky smiled. "Only follow orders from the Hokage, huh?" She turned to Hiruzen. "Okay, I've said what I had to say."

"I assume you understand all the rules?" Hiruzen asked. Bisky nodded. Basically, she had two options. Option one was that she had to defeat half of the ANBU members by knockout or TKO from hitting each one at least five times. Option two, involved the scrolls that each ANBU had strapped to their hip. Biscuit had to figure out which one of them has the 'important scroll' and then take it from them. Or, just randomly steal scrolls until she gets the right one. "Normally, genin exams emphasize teamwork and cooperation skills. But since you're a special case, and since I know that you already have chemistry with Gon-kun and Killua-kun, your test will be more of an uphill survival battle. Are you prepared?"

Biscuit just nodded.

Hiruzen watched her for a moment before glancing at Kite and nodding. "Ready..." He raised his hand into the air, "BEGIN!"

"I win again," Shikamaru said, leaning back with a sigh.

"DAMN IT!" Killua yelled as he stood up and grabbed his head.

Gon laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay Killua. Shikamaru probably has a lot of experience with this game."

Killua calmed down but was still sour. "I know but... this damn shogi game is so similar to a game called chess that I grew up playing!" Gon smiled at him reassuringly and took his spot in front the shogi board since it was his turn.

While Shikamaru and Gon played and Choji watched, Killua went into a quiet contemplation. "There seems to be a lot of similarities between this world and ours, like the fact that we speak the same language and eat a lot of the same food... I thought it would feel more like some type of fictional manga here, but instead it just feels like we traveled to a different part of our world." Killua's eyes settled back on the shogi board, but he paid no attention to the moves either side was making. "This world is clearly very different from ours, with the geography and history and all that. But it doesn't seem completely foreign. I wonder if it's more connected than we realize..."

Suddenly, the door bell rang. "I'll get it!" Killua said. He already knew who it was anyway. He opened the door revealing Sakura, who was panting lightly, no doubt from running all the way home and back. "How'd it go?" He asked as he let her inside.

Sakura sighed. "Well, I told them I was going to be at a friend's house and they didn't stop me. But my mother clearly wanted to. She seems to be catching on to the fact that it's not Ino's house I'm going to..." She waved her hand dismissively. "But she has nothing to worry about. I'm old enough to take care of myself. She's just been getting more and more edgy the closer graduation gets..."

Sakura had already been to his and Gon's apartment a couple of times over the past few days. Ever since that first dinner went really well, Killua had actually started to connect more with Sakura. At first, he didn't want to be around her because he was slightly jealous of how she interacted with Gon and was scared she would steal his best friend away. Especially when she blushed almost every time she talked to him. He only tolerated her because she was helping Gon with his studies and because he found training her amusing.

But, as he came to realize, Sakura was friends with both him and Gon. She didn't even mess up their dynamic, only added onto it. Not to mention Bisky took a liking to her. Plus, she was pretty fun to mess with.

He shook his head and commented on Sakura's situation. "Well, can't say I blame her. Her only daughter is about to become a ninja. She's just worried."

Sakura hummed and nodded before changing the subject. "So, how many times did you and Gon lose to Shikamaru while I've been gone?"

Killua scowled. Leave it to her to redirect the conversation to that. "I've lost three times and Gon lost twice. Though, I'm pretty sure he's about to lose again."

When Killua and Gon went to meet Sakura after the academy day was over, she had brought Shikamaru and Choji with her. Apparently, she had never really talked to them much because she was too busy rivaling with some other girl and trying to talk to Sasuke which made Shikamaru steer clear of her. But they sat together at lunch that day and found out they had a lot and common.

Sakura and Shikamaru both loved shogi and reading. Sakura and Choji both loved BBQ and butterflies. She offered them to come with her, Gon and Killua after school to their apartment so they could play shogi. She had a feeling that Gon and Killua would be ok with it and they were. Gon was fine with it, always glad to have more friends. Killua was fine with it because Gon was and he himself found the boys—mainly Shikamaru—interesting company.

The main conversation on their walk back to the apartment had been them talking about the rumor of a boy in green threatening a boy named Kiba in front the academy. Shikamaru and Sakura looked pointedly at Gon, who laughed sheepishly. Killua, surprisingly, was the one who filled them in while they were walking. By the time they had made it to the apartment, they all were laughing and cracking jokes, particularly about Kiba. Killua had never thought he would be that comfortable around kids his age, but he owed it all to Gon.

Killua and Sakura walked in the room to see Gon sitting at the shogi board with smoke coming out of his ears, Shikamaru lazily smirking at him, and Choji watching the smoke come out in confusion.

"How is he.." Choji started.

"Don't ask," Killua and Sakura replied in unison.

Along with Sakura, Gon and Killua have made two new friends in Konoha. Neither of them knew if they could count Naruto, even if Gon wanted to.

Meanwhile, Bisky was sitting atop an ANBU member with a scroll open in her hand. "I had a feeling this was the right scroll... well..." she said as she dropped the scroll. "...Not like it even matters now anyway." She looked around at the unconscious bodies of the twelve ANBU that were scattered across the training field. Most of their masks were broken. Some had broken bones and other injuries. Some were bleeding from head wounds or cuts that Bisky inflicted by using some of their weapons against them. One of them was planted head first through a tree trunk. It was a wonder that one was even alive.

"Wha…" Hiruzen tried to say.

Kite was speechless. He doesn't think his jaw has ever dropped lower.

"Well..." Bisky said as she looked over at Kite and Hiruzen. "As you can see..." she motioned at all the unconscious bodies around the clearing. "...I'm pretty strong."

Chapter 6 End