Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


Naru cradled her legs close to her chest and stared out of the window. Despite the moon bathing its slivery glow on her and the streets, she could still make out Gon, Killua and Zushi practicing their Nen. There was an improvement in their Aura. No longer were Gon and Killua's aura flowing like a fast-moving river, now it was flowing like a slow-moving river. She relaxed her shoulders and darted her eyes to the photos.

The photo of a smiling Wing with her father was one that always caught her eye. The joy in their eyes alongside her father's subtle smile made it feel like her father had truly been a normal man. That he was not some legend from a book but an ordinary man, who had been more than just some strong shinobi. She curved her lips into a smile and looked back at the window. A man and a woman walked passed the residence, hands interlaced together and bright smiles covering their faces.

Had her father made that kind of expression when he was with her mother? What was her mother like? She must have been amazing for her to catch the eye of the Fourth Hokage. I won't know the answer until I go back home…or if I meet Gon's Dad, she mused as her finger twirled around the strand of blond hair.

"Naru," Wing called out. The girl tore her eyes away from the smiling couple and focused on the older male. The man held a glass of water and the blonde couldn't help but fixated on the droplets dribbling down the side of the glass. "Can I see how much you have progress when it comes to your Hatsu?"

She took a deep breath, steadied her trembling hands, and offered him a smile. "Well, I can't keep holding off, can I?"

"No." He shook his head and flashed her a tiny smile. "This is last day before your first fight."

Yeah, tomorrow was going to be her first fight in a long time. Naru licked her chapped lips and jumped off from her seat. The wood creaked, and her friends jerked their heads at her. She offered them a friendly shrug before dragging her feet towards the dining room table. With a deep breath, she dropped her legs onto the ground and ignored the sharp pain on her knees.

She took a deep breath and placed her hands on the glass. A warm feeling washed over her as she opened up her nodes once more. No matter how many times she did this, it would never fail to catch her breath on how soothing her own Aura could be. Perhaps, this was what a mother's hug should feel like. With another sharp intake, she allowed the aura to envelop the glass.

The leaf twirled and twirled like a rising tornado. The water swirled, splattering on her hand, and Naru felt the sweat pouring out of her forehead. The whole room grew silent. The lights flickered and it was not long before Gon, Killua and Zushi began to grasp at her actions. Yet, it was not their reactions that she craved to hear.

It was Wing's reaction that she wanted to hear.

"You're amazing," Zushi cried. He jumped up and down in his spot while Gon and Killua bobbed their heads in agreement. "You made the leaf twirl like it was inside a whirlpool!"

Wing laughed and Naru jumped up when the male put his large hand on her shoulder. "You've a lot of skill, Naru."

Naru ducked her head and rubbed the back of her neck. The warmth around her seemed to have grown bigger, almost as if she was enveloped by a small burning flame. She curved her lips into a smile and craned her head towards Gon and Killua. Both of them had large smiles on their faces, looking as if they were proud of her achievement. That knowledge made her…paused.

Sakura and Sasuke rarely showed her that they were proud of her accomplishment.

"So can I say that I pass?" She asked once she gathered control of her emotions.

Wing bobbed his head and flickered his eyes to Gon and Killua. With a tiny frown, the man placed his hand on her shoulders and helped her up from her seat. It was not long before the male began to force her to walk away from her friends, stirring her towards his room. She furrowed her eyebrows together and glanced over her shoulders. The three boys offered her a frown, looking almost as befuddled as she felt. It seemed like the three of them had no clue on what was going on.

What the hell was going on? Naru knitted her eyebrows and watched as Wing closed the door behind him. The man switched the light on, revealing the openness of the room. The room was rather large, probably larger than her room in Konoha, but there were a lot of rooms larger than her old room. Books lined up the room, giving almost a musky scent to the room. In the other corner of the room, there was a desk and chair.

She glanced at Wing and he gestured for her to take a seat on the chair.

"I know you must be confused about why I want to talk to you in private," Wing flashed her a smile as he took a seat on the bed. He clasped his hands together and offered her a larger smile. "But I don't want Gon or Killua to find out about what I'm about to tell you."

Naru scratched her head. "Why?"

"Because I can see Gon trying to skip a couple of steps in order to get what I'm about to tell you," Wing replied.

Her frown deepened. "And what are you going to tell me?"

There was a long pause as her teacher stared at her with serious eyes. He made no attempt to say anything to her. The only sound that could be heard were the low whispers from Killua and Gon behind the door as well as the sound of the owls hooting. She licked her dried lips and steadied her shaky arms as the man continued to prolong the announcement that he was about to give her.

"You passed the secret Hunter Exam," Wing announced, reaching his hand out to her. He ruffled her hair and offered her what could only be described as a proud smile.

She frowned, balled her hands into a fist and hissed. "What do you mean I passed the secret Hunter Exam? I thought I already passed the Hunter Exam."

"Your Dad had the same reaction when our teacher told him that he passed the secret Hunter Exam," Wing chuckled and shook his head before leaning his body forwards until it looked like a table. Dark eyes focused entirely on her. "In fact, he was even more upset when our teacher informed him that if he hadn't passed the exam, then he couldn't do those missions that he wanted to do."

Naru scratched her head. "Why not? Chakra is just as good as Nen."

"Both of them have their benefits and drawbacks," her teacher agreed. "But not everyone understands how powerful Chakra can be, in order to save the headache of having to prove yourselves to those people…it became mandatory that you guys learn how to access Nen."

She tapped her foot against the floor. "Then is it fair to assume that Gon also needs to pass this exam?"

"Yes."

Naru relaxed her shoulders and tilted her head back. Okay so it wasn't discrimination against people from her land but a general thing. That was something that she could live with, but there were still so many things that she wanted to know. How was Nen going to help her in the future? How could she do what Illumi could do? There was nothing about what they had done that could allow her to manipulate the plants in the way that she needed.

"I've another question to ask," she admitted. Her teacher blinked and gestured for her to continue on. "Does this mean that you won't be teaching me on making my own super cool Nen ability?"

Wing shook his head. "No but I can tell you that you have the skills that are needed to produce that ability. Just like how you were able to manipulate the leaf, you can do the same with whatever thing that you wish to manipulate."

So I'll have to experiment, huh? She released another sigh and offered a smile to her teacher before flickering her eyes to the door. Experimenting was fine. She loved to experiment. But she definitely would not have an ability for tomorrow. Naru closed her eyes and rubbed her chin. Well, she had her chakra and it was not like she was completely hopeless. Tomorrow would be just a good chance for her to increase the speed that she entered into Zetsu mode.

As long as she could use her chakra, then she was going to be fine.


The sound of the crowds cheering was what greeted Naru when she stepped onto the stadium. Hundreds of people crowded close to each other, their eyes dancing with greed and excitement as they caught sight of her. Some of them offered her a jeering look, almost as if they were certain that she was going to lose, while others gazed at her with so much expectation. Out of all the faces in the crowd, only four people caught her attention.

In the front row, she saw Killua and Gon glancing at each other as they offered her a thumb-up. The third person to caught her attention was Hisoka. The clown was barely visible in the darkest corner of the bleacher but she could spot him. How could she not? She could practically taste the excitement pouring off of him. And the last person? Well, she hadn't expected for him to watch her.

Itachi stood on the pathway that led to the stadium, almost as if he had been there the entire time. Knowing the male, he probably had been there the whole time but she might have been too excited for this fight. God knows that she had been itching for a fight since she hadn't had a fight since the previous floor. She took a deep breath and stared at her opponent.

He was a rather tall man, probably around the same height as Kakashi-sensei, but unlike her teacher…he looked sickly. That pale complexation hinted that the man had never been out in the sun. Yet, it wasn't his complexation that stood out to her. Those slanted eyes did not have the usual white pupils but dark pupils with a small white iris. Naru steadied herself and darted her eyes to the man's missing arm as her heart began to pick up its pace.

That was what the Nen initiation could do to Gon and Killua if she hadn't demanded for them to follow up with Wing.

"This is the match that we've been anticipating for!" The announcer declared. Excitement sizzled in the air as the crowds began to quiet down. "She waited till the last day to make her debut in this level: Naru!"

The crowds roared at the declaration, stomping their feet onto the ground until it resembled a thunder storm. Their screams continued to echo throughout the stage but Naru focused on her opponent. He had a confident smirk on his face, eyes glowing with so much sadistic joy, and she clenched her hands into a fist. Annoyance crept up on her spine as the vein on her forehead began to throb.

That bastard was underestimating her.

"Begin!"

Naru held her breath and slowly opened up her nodes. Warmth flooded her entire body as her eyes fixated on the man before her. For the first time since she met him, she noticed that he had a rather large arm. It's artificial but I can't seem to figure out what it is made of, she thought as her eyes focused on the large hand. However as soon as she noticed the arm, it…disappeared.

Either the man had gotten rid of his arm or he was able to conceal it in some way.

"You were unlucky to begin your first fight in this level with me," the man boasted.

She maintained her smile and closed her eyes while she began to close off the flow of her Nen. "Or maybe you're an idiot to think that you can beat me because I'm still a newbie."

The moment she uttered the word idiot was the moment that the man dropped his smile. Subtle rage colored his eyes, and Naru crept her fingers together into a familiar hand sign. For some reason, her opponent could hide his hand from her. If he could hide his hand from her, then it meant that the male could launch a surprise attack on her.

If she had more time and collected more seeds, then it would be easier for her to have control in this fight.

Something huge collided against her stomach. The inside of her own body threatened to spill from the other side of her body. Naru clenched her jaw and channeled more chakra to her leg. She needed to stick herself to the ground. If she allowed that punch to make its effect, then it could potentially be game over for her. That was the last thing she needed. Losing to this man in the first five seconds of her match would be humiliating.

She was Uzumaki Naru and nothing could defeat her.

"Your Nen…is pretty good," she complimented. She dropped her smile and held her fingers together into a familiar hand sign. "But it isn't something that I'll boast about. Anyone could do what you can do."

The rage in those eyes burned even wider, and Naru released a sigh as a white cloud of smoke covered the whole arena. The smoke seemed to decide to take its sweet time to disappear and that was a good thing for her. She had a lot of options on what she could do while waiting for the best opportunity to attack her opponent. With another sharp inhale, she began the hand signal sequence for her henge.

A shinobi should always be deceptive.

I will never stop being impressed with what the henge can do. From where she laid, she could see the man gawking at her clones with rage and irritation. Snickers erupted from her clones while the crowds roared with surprise over her actions. A large laugh threatened to come out from her lips but she swallowed it down. It would be a big problem for everyone if that man knew what was going on.

"What is this? It seems like Sadaso will need to figure out the real Naru from the fakes!" The announcer declared. "The only question for us to ask: which one is the real Naru? Because from where I'm sitting, they all look the same to me!"

That's because they are the same, Naru thought as she licked her lips. She held her breath and kept her eyes focused on the clones and man above her. Her clones charged straight towards the man like a person with a mission. Explosions erupted as something collided with her clones. White smoke enveloped the area. This could be her chance. With the thickness of the smoke, it would be easy for her to knock him out of the park.

A pop rang in the air.

It seemed like the bastard was going to try and attack everything until he got to her.

"Sadaso seems to be facing the biggest crises anyone could face!" The announcer cried. Excitement colored her tone as the crowds cheered. "He hasn't been able to find the real Naru so far despite managing to eliminating so many clones! Where is the real Naru?"

Too bad for him, I can make a lot of clones without getting exhausted, Naru mused. She rubbed her knuckles and put her fingers together into a familiar hand sign. Another round of squeaks erupted. The white smoke thickened until it seemed like there was a need for a knife to slice through it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. If there was one good thing about Nen, it was the fact that she could sense it even in her chakra state.

Found him.

She licked her lips and dashed to the far right. It was almost like her clones had the instinct to move away because a path was suddenly made for her. Screams exploded all around her. Strange images danced before her eyes. It threatened to overwhelm her. A phantom-like pain clawed its way to her stomach, demanding for her to kneel over. Of course, she was not going to give them that luxery.

Finally, her eyes caught glimpse of her opponent.

With a tight smile, she pulled her leg back and curved it like a scythe. Her opponent's eyes widened just a little bit. His jaw dropped a tiny bit. That moment of shock was all she needed. She slammed her foot against the man's ribs. A clear crunch vibrated through her legs and a loud shriek rippled through the air. Wind blew against her cheeks, threatening to slice it up.

The smoke cleared, revealing that her opponent had crashed to the opposite arena.

"It…happened so fast!" The announcer cried. "Can someone replay the tape so that we can understand how this happened?"

Naru yawned and closed her eyes. With everything that has been going on, her head seemed to be growing heavier. Her neck ached and demanded for a massage but she chose to open her eyes and focus on the screen. The match replayed for everyone to see, and she had to admit that it did seem quick when the camera played it in real time.

But that showed the difference between her and her opponent.

"Your mistake was thinking that I was just some kid that you could easily beat." It was a pointless to say it out loud when her opponent was unconscious but it had to be said. She shook her head, clicked her heels and turned away from her opponent before walking away. Her ears felt muffled even though she could hear something about her being the winner.

She stopped in her tracks and focused her eyes on Hisoka, who stood in the far corner of the stadium benches. The man barely seemed faze by her move but his eyes danced with excitement and desire. That was not good. It was never good when that psychotic clown was excited. He is going to try and fight me, she thought as her legs began to quiver.

Out of everyone from this part of the world, he was the last person that she wanted to fight.

She shook her head, jumped off the stage and began to make her way towards the corridor that would lead her back to her friends. People chanted her name, offering her a thumbs up and applauding her for her fight. It was strange but at the same time….it was not that strange. Ever since she came to this place and started to win these fights, all she ever heard were people chanting her name.

It was a nice change of pace from having a whole bunch of people underestimating her.

She stopped in her tracks when she reached to Itachi.

"I hope you enjoyed the match," she said with a fake smile on her face.

Dark eyes did not radiate with any emotions. Itachi only inspected her for a moment before flickering his eyes to the stage behind her. "It was…interesting but I did not understand how the man was attacking you when he wasn't using his only hand."

"He was using another kind of energy to make a huge hand," she replied with a grimace.

The man nodded. "And how are you able to see it?"

"That's for me to know," she retorted. Itachi nodded; his lips curved just a little bit as if he wanted to make a smile at her comment. But it must have been her imagination because it was gone a second later. What was she thinking? That the great Itachi would be amused by her rude comment? That he was capable of feeling amused. Although…the man was only human.

She was only human as well, and so it was almost wrong of her to assume that he didn't have any feelings.

He shook his head and drilled his eyes on her. "You may have improved when it comes to planning your fight but your current skillset can only help you so much."

"I know," she confirmed with a grimace. A strange feeling crept up on her as Gon and Killua's images came to her mind. Compared to Sadaso, she was strong but he wasn't someone that she should compare herself to. No, she needed to reach a level greater than Itachi and Illumi. Her friends needed her to survive. She had to survive for their sake. "I've a plan when it comes to improving my skills."

"I hope for your sake that you do have a well-thought out plan on how to get stronger," he warned. "Orochimaru and the other members of the Akatsuki are stronger than your opponent."

There was nothing mocking about his tone. It was sincere like he truly did hope that she wasn't making things up and that he wanted her to get stronger. Although when I think about our deal, it make sense, Naru concluded as her eyes drifted to her hand. Their deal required she got Sasuke away from Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was no joke.

He could potentially kill her if he wanted and for the first time in her life, she was not eager to look for the Shinigami to take her life away.

"I have to get stronger," she agreed. Naru turned her head away from him and focused on the benches. In the front row, Killua and Gon exchanged looks and had tiny frowns on their faces as they focused entirely on her. "Because for the first time in my life, I have friends who will probably look for a way to bring me back to life before killing me for being a…reckless idiot."

Itachi did not smile and stared at her friends. "That is why you need to relay on your friends because you will fail if you do things by yourself. Even when you grow stronger, you will need to make sure that you never do things by yourself."

With those words, the man left her alone and Naru could only stare at the man's back with a frown on her lips.

Don't walk in the same path as Sasuke.

That was what his advice sounded like to her, and if she was being honest with herself: she had no intention of becoming like Sasuke.


"So what did Itachi talk to you about, Naru?"

Killua did not turn away from the vending machine as he tossed the soda to his friend. Crowds of people surrounded them. Each one of them rushing through the corridors, no doubt eager to go to the next fight that they booked to watch. With what he witnessed so far from this floor, it was more than understandable why people wanted to watch these matches.

He picked up his own drink, ignored the slight cut forming on his skin, and turned back to Naru. His friend offered him a simple look before opening up her own drink. The gas fizzled and Killua allowed his eyes to wander back to Gon. Naru will probably won't tell me what is going on because she thinks I'm naïve so you should be the one to ask her. That was what Gon told him while they waited for the girl to get away from Itachi.

His friend wasn't wrong because Naru did tend to keep things from Gon if she thought that he would do something reckless or stupid. With what happened with his family, he didn't blame her.

"Nothing much," Naru shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her drink. "He just told me that I need to work harder if I want to survive against the Akatsuki."

The blood inside of him froze at the comment, and a cold shiver ran down his spine. Right. The man must have been watching the match because he wanted to see Naru's growth. For the man to make that observation meant that the match did not impress him. It meant Naru's future opponents were in a whole different league…but that was something they did know. After all, they could agree that the man was nothing like the first Nen user that they saw.

Still, if Naru needed to get a lot stronger…then it meant Gon and him had to work even harder to protect her.

"You got a plan on how to get stronger?" He leaned against the vending machine and glanced at Gon. The boy was still intent on talking to Wing but his eyes kept wandering towards him. A single eyebrow rose as the oldest member of their trio pointed to the blond-haired girl. He shook his head and tilted his head upwards. "Itachi must be worried if he thinks that you aren't working hard enough."

"Probably worried that I won't save Sasuke on time," she waved him off and offered him a smile. "But I've a plan on getting stronger because the last thing I want is for Sasuke to get stronger than me."

The sweetness of his own drink burned his tongue as a strange feeling crept up on him. "And what is your plan to get stronger?"

"Well, I need to get flower seeds and a couple of dangerous flowers since I want to manipulate plants." Naru shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head to the side. A tiny frown crept up on her lips and those blue eyes glowed with confusion and suspicion. "And once I earned my star, I plan to travel back home and resume my training with Ero-Sennin. Hopefully, I'll be strong enough and smart enough to deal with Orochimaru."

Despite the cheerfulness and casualness in her tone, her eyes told a whole different story. You have to wonder how she can be a ninja when she shows her emotions so well, he mused. A small breathe crawled out of his mouth as his eyes focused on Naru. Her eyes radiated with self-doubt as if she didn't believe for one moment that she could do it. That she was not any of those things but…he knew better than her.

He had been around her long enough to see how fast she could pick up on things and her strength.

"Y'know I know you are going to get stronger and smarter," he admitted. The girl jerked her head and parted her lips while the soda can quivered in her hand. "You're probably one of the strongest and smartest people I know, Naru. With how hard you work and how smart you are, I can see you kicking that guy's ass to the next century and bringing Sasuke back."

Naru didn't laugh and just trembled. "You really think I can kick Orochimaru to the next century?"

"Definitely," he confirmed. "You know that I'm not the type to lie about these things."

She nodded. "I know but maybe you might lie about this because you want to cheer me up."

"Have I ever lied to you?"

The blonde raised her eyebrows at him and held up three fingers. "Do you want me to tell you the number of times that you lied to me?"

He flinched. Of course, Naru would keep track about the number of times that he lied to her. She was the type of person, who would remember every deed that a person committed against her. That was the scary thing about her if you asked him. The thing that always shook him to the bone was the fact that Naru forgave but never forget what a person did to her.

It usually meant that she could hold it over him.

"No," he grumbled. "And you know what I mean, Naru! Have I ever lied to you about someone's strength?"

"You should've worded things differently then," she retorted, dropping her fingers. Blue eyes sparkled just a little bit as the smile on her face widened until it seemed like it would crack. "But yeah, I know when it comes to determining and praising people's strength, you won't lie about it. You aren't that kind of person."

He nodded and stared at his drink before looking back at her. "Today, you managed to defeat that guy even though you haven't started to develop your Hatsu. If it was Gon or me on that stage, we would have had a difficult time in trying to figure out that guy's ability but…you didn't have that ability."

"Well, I have chakra." She muttered.

Killua snorted. "So what? It's how you use your chakra and your planning skills that allowed you to win your very first match. An idiot would have had a difficult time thinking on his feet with how much that idiot likes to swing his fist."

Naru did not say a word but tears glistened out of her eyes. This was not good. Definitely not good. He couldn't deal with a crying girl, and somehow it was even worse when his friend cried. Maybe it was because the blonde wasn't the type of person to cry. Yeah, it was probably that reason that his heart would ache for the girl right in front of him.

"If it was you, then you would have just as well as me."

He bobbed his head. "I know."

Naru laughed. It wasn't a quiet disbelieving laugh but a loud-belly laugh that definitely developed from her stomach. It was a nice laugh. The kind of laugh which filled his entire being with warmth. He grinned and sipped on his drink as the laughter continued to dance around the hallway. If his confidence could make her laugh, then he would keep making her laugh.

It was the least that he could do for Naru with everything that she had done for him.

"You know we have to do something about your big head." Blue eyes sparkled with amusement as she rubbed her hand against her mouth.

He didn't smile and stared at her. "And we have to do something about your lack of confidence because you don't give yourself enough credit."

The girl made no comment. She only fiddled with her drink before focusing her eyes on their friend. The shadows hid one side of her face, highlighting the grim lines on her face. Killua took a sip of his drink and waited for the girl to make some kind of comment, but the girl only kept quiet. It was never really good thing when she was quiet.

No one could tell what was going through her mind when she was quiet.

"I know," she admitted. "But it's difficult to give yourself credit when the whole world keeps telling you that you aren't that kind of person. Do you know what I mean?"

Bloodied bodies flashed before his eyes, reminding him of his past occupation. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

It might be a long time before he could believe that Naru and Gon were right about his kindness.


So I know that this chapter is shorter but the next chapter will be longer since there are quite a few things to see. We may have a glimpse of Konoha in the next chapter but that is all that has to be said for now. Please do let me know of your thoughts on this chapter.