Disclaimer: I don't own anything.


The soft book pages caressed Naru's fingers, offering a little flutter of wind to her cheeks. The musky scent offered her a sense of peace while her eyes studied the diagram in Killua's mother book. It would never fail to amaze her on the amount of poisonous plants that could be found throughout the world. The numbers seemed to be increasing, the more and more she read through this book.

She slammed the book shut and made her way towards the kitchen. The floors creaked while the dining room table bang and jumped as her two friends gobbled down their dinner. For some reason, her two friends refused to eat dinner in Wing's house, always jumping for a chance to eat in her home instead. Perhaps, it was their way to reassure her that she wasn't alone anymore.

Shaking her head, she pulled out the drawer and stared down at the packet of rose seeds. The prices for roses were pretty high in this part of the world, but it was understandable. This country didn't have the suitable conditions needed to produce a rose. She grimaced, pluck the packet and pulled out the scissors that laid right beside it.

While her friends gobbled down their dinners, she should go back to mastering her Nen.

"Hey Naru, when will you have your next fight?" Gon pried. His brown eyes glowed with a lot of curiosity while his lips curved into a large smile.

Naru fished out a single seed and curled her hand around the seed. "I'll probably arrange for my next fight to happen closer to my last day. By that time, I should have my Hatsu developed."

The two boys nodded, and she looked down at her hand. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and began to insert her Nen into the seed. She felt the cells inside of the plant began to differentiate and it was not long before the rough stem began to poke in her hand. It felt so alive, willing to do anything that her Nen wanted it to do.

This was probably the beauty of her Nen.

"So will you have time to watch a match in the upcoming days?" Gon probed.

She hummed and glanced at the calendar. "Well, I can take a break when it comes to developing my Hatsu."

"Right," Killua replied, leaning against the chair. "Wing said that you were done with your training, right?"

Naru nodded. "He says that I don't have anything to learn from him since he can't help me develop my Hatsu. I guess it might be because he isn't a manipulator."

A grimace flooded Killua's expression while Gon lowered his shoulders, looking almost put-off by the knowledge. She offered them a small smile and inspected her hand. A tiny sprout grew out of the seed, the first sign of life. The little joy inside of her grew as the stem grew in a speed that was almost unbelievable for her. It was not long before the thrones began to grow out of the stem, almost looking as sharp as a kunai.

Within a couple of days, she was hopefully going to get it as long as the floor.

"But you seem to be doing a good job," Killua observed. His eyes fixated on the rose stem. "I mean this was bigger than three days ago but…how do you plan to use a rose in a fight?"

He had a point but she already had a good idea of what to do. "Well, I was thinking of changing the properties of the rose to make it sharper than any kunai that I ever owned or make it wrap around an opponent until they beg me for air."

"You could probably go even further," he suggested. "You could implant a throne into their neck and control them."

Naru hummed and inspected the seed. That idea had come to her mind but the thought of depraving someone of their free will brought a bitter taste to her tongue. Yes, she would love to do it to ensure that Gon didn't do anything stupid but she didn't want to make people feel like puppets. Humans weren't puppets. They had feelings and the right to make a decision.

But…if she wanted to protect her friends, then she might go that far because her friends came first.

"I'll use that resort if I believe that none of us have a chance of winning our fight," she replied with a grimace. Naru closed her eyes and rubbed the side of her head. "I…thought of using the thrones of the rose to control Sasuke when I saw him again but I know he'll resent me if I try to do it."

"He can't resent you if you are trying to protect him," Gon commented. "It just shows you care about him."

She shook her head. "I know it shows I care about him but Sasuke will just say that I'm doing what I think what is right for him and not what he…wants. Even though I know better than him when it comes to what is good for him, the bastard would never agree to it and just say that I don't understand his feelings."

"But you don't understand his feelings," Gon and Killua said in unison.

She scowled and let out a little annoyed huff before turning her nose up at them. They might be right about her lack of understanding about the emotional pain that her best friend went through but how the hell was giving his body to Orochimaru right? How was it right for him to go after Itachi by himself? He needed to live and at this rate, he was going to get himself killed.

If he died, then she could never forgive herself for what happened.

"I don't have to understand his feelings to know that he is going to throw his life away once he accomplish his task," she said with a flat tone. "The bastard has been building his entire life to kill Itachi and once he accomplish that goal…well I think he might try and kill himself."

"You think he is that suicidal?" Killua said with a bored tone.

She snorted. "I know he is that suicidal."

"Maybe he will be less suicidal once you tell him about Killua's theory about why Itachi did it?" Gon suggested.

Only the faint chatter of the busy streets filled her quiet room while her friend offered her a hopeful smile. Naru shifted her eyes to Killua, who offered her a grimace. It seemed like he had the same idea as her about what would happen if they told Sasuke about his theory. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that the boy would set his eyes on the village heads and try to kill them for what his brother went through.

Sasuke would kill them for giving the order to murder his clan.

"He'll do something even more stupid," she replied with a quiet tone. "I know I don't much about families but Gon, if you found out that someone forced your Aunt to kill the other members of your family…wouldn't you want to kill them?"

Gon turned his head away from her. "Of course, I would."

"Sasuke is the same," she released a sigh. "If we ever tell him about what we think might have caused Itachi to commit this crime, then he'll do something even more foolish! If he isn't a missing nin by now, then when he finds out the truth…he will try to kill the elders and that will be all the reason for the elders to put him in the bingo book! I don't want people to have an excuse to kill him!"

"But he has the right to know the truth!" he protested.

Naru maintained her composure and offered him a blank stare. "This is the one truth that we'll keep to ourselves because I rather he murder his brother than for him to have a bunch of shinobi hunting his ass! It will be a miracle if the Hokage hadn't made him a missing nin!"

Her friends kept quiet but exchanged glances. The way Gon thinned his lips, eyebrows scrunched together as his eyes flashed with annoyance told her that he didn't believe she was right about what she did. Not that she cared about what he think. With what she knew about the elders and Sasuke, this was the best course of action.

It was the logical thing to do.

"How did we go from subtly trying to see if Naru will go to watch a match with us to talking about Sasuke?" Killua complained. He clasped his hands behind his head and shook his head to Gon before fixating his eyes on her. "The whole reason Gon asked if you have time to watch a match is because I managed to get the three of us tickets to Hisoka's match."

She offered him an unimpressed look before looking back at Gon, who brightened up at the reminder. It didn't take a mind reader to know that her friend just wanted to change the topic. It must be frustrating for him to see that neither her nor Gon were going to change their stance on the matter of Sasuke's right to know the truth. But the good thing about Killua was that he didn't take sides.

It kept a balance if you asked her.

"You guys want to see that insane clown fight?"

Gon bobbed his head. "I should know what I'm going to face after I win my first fight."

"You're growing up," she pretended to choke up and wiped off an imaginary tear. "A few months ago, Killua and me would have to force you to watch the match up before you declare your intention to fight him."

The dark-haired male chuckled and licked his lips. "Actually, it was Killua's idea."

"I should have known that anything which requires to get to know your opponent would be Killua's idea." She shook her head and drifted her eyes to Killua. The silver-haired boy had a large smile on his face, almost pleased to know that she could differentiate between their plans. It was probably that pride radiating out of him that made her lips twitch a little bit. Actually, a full-blown smile threatened to come out.

Gon huffed. "What does that supposed to mean?"

"It means she thinks that you're willing to fight first without thinking about what your opponent can do," Killua explained with a shrug.

The black-haired boy did not argue against the assessment and Naru inspected the sprouting seed. It's a good idea for all of us to watch the match, she contemplated once she picked up the seed. She continued to embed her Nen into the seed as her eyes drifted to her friends. It was understandable why Gon would want to see it. If things went well, then her friend would have the chance to pay his debt. For her? This was her chance to understand the gap between her and other Nen users.

She ignored the proud feeling flooding inside of her as her plant continued to grow, choosing instead to focus on her friends. "Well, Hisoka wasn't really fighting to his full capacity when we were doing the Hunter Exam, was he?"

"He was probably toying around," Killua agreed. "But if I'm right about this match, then we'll have a better understanding of the gap between us and Hisoka."

Naru quirked an eyebrow. "What makes this match different?"

"Kastro managed to land a point against him."

She paused at this announcement and stared at the cat-like grin forming on Killua's face. He knows that if I was hesitating about watching the match, then I'll be interested to see how Kastro could do it, she realized. Her lips parted just a little bit, just large enough that a small fly could enter her mouth, and thankfully there was no small fly to crawl into her mouth. Hisoka wasn't easy. He was unpredictable. For the man to do it meant that he had a lot more skill than she assumed.

That his clone technique wasn't as inefficient as she thought she was.

"You really know how to get me excited to watch a match."

Gon grinned.

"It shows how well Killua knows us."

There was no arguing over that.


"Where the hell is Killua?" Naru asked Gon as they took another step closer to the door that would lead them to Hisoka's match. A couple of adults swirled their heads at her, shooting disapproving looks at her. She offered them a fake apologetic look before glancing at the oldest member of their trio. The older boy pressed his eyebrows together, forming a wrinkle on his forehead. "He can't be in the bathroom for 40 minutes!"

Gon juggled the popcorn closer to his chest and scratched his head. "Why not? He might be constipated! Y'know he doesn't like to eat veggies and Aunt Mito says that anyone who doesn't eat their veggies will be in the bathroom for the long time."

"We've been around each other to know that Killua doesn't take this long for the toilet," she pointed out to him. "Besides, he eats his veggies when we give it to him. The Grandpa might complain but he gobbles it down like there is no tomorrow."

The dark-haired boy considered her comment and offered her a frown as if he only just realized the truth behind her words. The smile on his face dropped as his eyes shifted across the crowded people in front of them. Not a single one of them had her friend's signature hair colour. She would know. It was always so easy to pick her friend from a crowd. All she needed to see was his soft silver hair to pick him out of a crowd.

"There could be a long line," Gon suggested.

She frowned. "With how fast he can run, Killua will just go and find the toilet with the least amount of people."

"Then what could he be doing without us?" Gon frowned and scratched his head. "It was his idea that we should watch the match."

I know. Naru grimaced and stared at the crowd shuffling closer to the door. So many loud footsteps rang in the air, slicing through her eardrums until it threatened to bleed. She tuned the sounds out, juggling her own food closer to her chest. For a moment, she could ignore the sounds but faint speeding footsteps headed in their direction. From the sound, it had to be Killua. This was his footsteps. Gon made louder footsteps but Killua?

His footsteps was so faint because of his training.

"So where the hell did you go for 40 minutes, Grandpa?" The annoyance bled through her tone, and she didn't even bother to turn her head around to look at her friend. If she looked at him, she was going to smile because she could practically feel his amused eyes fixating on her. It practically bled through in his steps. It was just amazing about how much she could tell about his mood through his movement.

A shiver ran down her spine as her friend placed his cold hand on her shoulder. "I told you that I was going to the bathroom."

"For 40 minutes?" She let out a snort and swirled her head at him. Sparkling blue eyes met her own and a boyish smile began to form on her friend's lips. The annoyance inside of her began to fade away just like it always did whenever she saw that smile on his face. There was just something about the smile that brought a warmth to her stomach and helped to dial down her annoyance. It just tugged on her heart, tempted the muscle on her lips to curl up to a smile.

Gon didn't seem to share the same sentiment as her because he maintained the annoyed frown. "Yeah, Naru pointed out that you never take this long in the toilet!"

"What? You keep count in how long I'm in the toilet now?" Killua smiled even wider and poked her cheek. "You must find me interesting if you know that kind of detail about me."

She ignored the heat bubbling beneath her cheek and grumbled. "You aren't that interesting."

"Then why aren't you looking me in the eye, Blonde?" He poked her in the rib while Gon let out a laugh. "You know you've to be a better liar, Naru because frankly, you are a crappy liar."

If it had been a slow-burning heat on her cheeks before, now her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Naru lowered her head as her stomach coiled up with another feeling. He wasn't wrong. She wasn't a master liar like him. Until she spent time with his family, she assumed she was a good liar but his family? They were a whole different league from her when it came to the art of lying.

Yet…

"I might be a terrible liar but I know you. When you quit the Hunter Exams, I knew you were going to go back to your family and we've been around each other to know…this much about each other," she reminded him. "Yes, you might have been in the toilet but I also know you wouldn't take that long, so just tell us where you went."

Killua maintained his smile but his eyes dimmed a little bit like it always did whenever she reminded him of the day that he gave up his spot in the Hunter Exam. The silence stretched between them as they took a step forward. Naru shifted her eyes to Gon. The older boy was still quiet, only having a knowing look when he looked at her and Killua. Like he knew about the importance of her time with his family.

Neither her nor Killua talked about the time that they had together because both of them knew it had been unfair for Gon not to have that time with him.

"I was talking to Kastro," he finally admitted.

She relaxed her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because you guys would have argued over who should join me when it comes to meeting Kastro," he explained with a shrug. His blue eyes focused on the both of them while his fingers snaked towards the caramel popcorn that she brought. She smacked his hand, ignored the scowl on his face, and tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for him to continue on with his explanation. "Instead of having you use your experience against Gon, I decided to go by myself."

Come on, I wanted to meet the guy as well and ask him about his experience with Hisoka! The desire to pout and throw a tantrum was just there but Naru only offered him a frown before looking back at Gon. The older boy frowned at Killua, not looking one bit pleased at what he had to say, and she was glad that they were on the same page about the male's behaviour. It wasn't fair that he made the decision for themselves.

And no, the irony wasn't lost on her.

"Next time you make that kind of call, I'll destroy all of your expensive chocolate," she threatened. Killua's smile faded and her friend grew even more pale over the thought of her destroying his chocolate. The smile on her face broaden as more devious ideas came to her mind. "I might give it to the orphanage or…flush it down the toilet."

He held his hands up in the air. "Fine, I promise that I'll try not to make the same call again but don't destroy my chocolate!"

The temptation to call out on his loophole was there but she knew that this was the best that she could get from Killua. Naru glanced at Gon. Resignation filled his eyes, and he glanced at her as if to ask her if she was alright with their friend's wording. With a subtle nod, she turned her head back to the group of people walking closer to the door.

"So how was the meeting with Kastro?" she probed with a casual shrug of her shoulder.

Killua eyed her with a frown playing on his lips but her friend seemed to have decided not to vocalize his suspicion to her. "He sensed me as soon as I entered the floor so I must be getting rusty!"

Her friend laughed and shook his head but his eyes spoke of a different story. His whole face told a whole different story. The small sweat trailing down his face alongside the slight quiver in his body told her that he wasn't happy for someone to find him out. She maintained her casual expression, offered him some of her popcorn and took several deep breathes to loosen the knot suddenly forming inside of her chest.

"Your footsteps haven't changed at all," she informed him.

His smile widened. "That's good to know because it means Kastro was telling the truth when he said that he sensed my Nen disappear when I was in the Zetsu's state."

"Sounds about right," she agreed.

He swirled his head at her. "You knew about it?"

Naru blinked and stared at her two friends. Both of them leaned closer to her, their eyes jumping up and down as they waited for her to answer their question. She handed the popcorn to Killua before stuffing her hands into her pocket. It wasn't like she knew about the whole thing nor could she claim that it was logical. Because why would it be logical? Between the three of them, Killua was the smartest one and he hadn't been able to realize it.

"Not exactly," she confessed. "I use chakra and well I would think that something is up if someone's chakra just up and vanish out of nowhere. So when Kastro told you that…well it reminded me of that, and well I didn't exactly know if someone could just sense a Nen disappearing from a far distance."

The male nodded, relaxing his shoulders while Gon bobbed his head. She uncurled her hands from the pocket of her pants and took one big step towards the door. It was good to know that they understood that she hadn't kept it a secret from them. If I have known the possibility, I would tell them, she mused as her friends began to quiver.

"Have you ever tried to make your chakra disappear? Is it even possible?" Killua probed.

She hummed. "No because I know it'll cause alarm bells for everyone back home."

"Why?" Gon scratched his head.

Naru smiled. "Because they'll think that I'm dead and I don't know about you but I hate spending time in the hospital."

It just brought too many memories if you asked her. The nurses were nice to her but they were barely nice to her. They did the bare minimum to help her heal. The medic-nins took care of her but they never offered her a warm smile or praised her over her behaviour. If she ever spent the night in the hospital, they wouldn't give her a teddy bear like the other children. For them, she was just a burden that they never wanted to look after.

A part of history that they wished to forget and it didn't help that she almost never had anyone visit her.

"Y'know when you go to the hospital the next time, it'll be different." Gon reassured her with a smile as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. His eyes twinkled with amusement as they rested on Killua. Her silver-haired friend bobbed his head and wrapped his arm her shoulder as well. It felt like the warmest hug that she had ever received.

Killua fixed his eyes on her. "Yeah because Gon and me will be there by your side."

She sniffed and turned her head away from them as the lump in her throat tightened. It was stupid how emotional she was being over their kind words but she guessed it was because there was something so sincere about their words. No, she realized as her eyes rested on their smiling faces, I know that they won't abandon me and it feels different for them to say it out loud.

Yeah, it was nice to have them reassure her.


The fight between Hisoka and Kastro had been something if you asked Naru. From the moment the match started, her hands had never left the edge of the seat. When it came to Kastro destroying both of his hands? Well, she might have been tempted to act like Lee and make some notes. Overall, it had been a good match for her to watch. For her to see the difference but if there was one thing that bothered her…

Well, it was the fact that Hisoka had managed to put his hand back into place without making it seem so obvious.

My biggest problem is that I want to understand his trick, Naru mused as her eyes rested on Hisoka's eyes. Neither Gon nor Killua knew about her sneaking into the man's room. They would throw a fit if they knew, which was why she waited till they went for their training with Wing to get the information of Hisoka's room. That part hadn't been hard since she might have disguised herself as one of the workers.

So easy for her to pretend to be a ditzy receptionist, who forgot her password to the system.

"I've got a lot of questions to ask you, Hisoka," Naru declared. She felt her heart beginning to pick up its pace as Hisoka swirled his whole body towards her. A smile graced his lips and his eyes sparkled with amusement but her eyes focused on his arms, or rather where his arms had been. I was right, she mused as the blood leaked out of the man's arm.

Her nose burned with the metallic scent that was Hisoka's blood. Tears began to well up in her eyes as the room around her began to reek of blood. It wasn't like she hated blood. Blood was natural. Yet, her senses were always stronger than the usual human being and most of the time, it was good. Heightened senses meant that she picked up on sounds better than her average shinobi.

But in this case, it was a curse.

Hisoka leaned against the wall and inspected her. The lights around them began to dim, offering a menacing shadow to the male's features, and Naru almost took a step back. With those eyes leaking with intense murderous desire and the flickering lights, it felt almost like she was one of those horror movies. Hell, her heart had even picked up its pace, racing until it felt like it was going to explode from her chest.

"And what do you want to ask?" Hisoka probed, taking a seat on the chair. His eyes rested on her for a moment before drifting to his slain arms resting on the table.

Naru thinned her lips and inspected the man for a moment before allowing her eyes to fixate on the hands on the table. It was clear from the red tissue and the slight hint of bone that this was truly the male's hand. But why does he have it here? He can't just reattach his arm…can he? She nibbled on her bottom lip. It was impossible but she wasn't a doctor either…so maybe she was wrong about the whole thing.

"How did you fool so many people into thinking that you reattach your hand?" She gestured to the slain arms and made her way towards the table. Blood stained the table, offering a red mark to the otherwise white table. Naru snuck a glance at the smiling clown, who seemed to be pleased by her question. "I've been trying to wrap my head around your actions."

"And what gave me away?"

She regarded Hisoka for a long moment, trying to gather up all the courage inside of her while faint footsteps began to echo in the background. Someone was definitely coming this way and she should just hurry things up. After all, it would be a matter of time before Gon and Killua came back to her room for a meal. If she didn't open the door, then they were going to start probing and wondering about her whereabouts.

That was the last thing she wanted from them.

"Nothing really gave you away," she confessed with an even tone. The male leaned forward, hair dropping downwards to his forehead almost like a curtain hiding his eyes. "But I love…pranks and every prankster knows that pranks needs trickery. For you to suddenly have your arm attached doesn't make sense unless there was a trick somewhere in your attack."

Hisoka let out an airy laugh. "You love to deal with facts, don't you? I suppose that is something you and Illumi have in common."

I've nothing in common with that monster, Naru thought as a growl threatened to vibrate out of her throat. Illumi did not care about the happiness of her own friend and destroyed her friend in the worst possible way. He saw friendship as a weakness, discouraging Killua from making friends. The bastard was so cold, was everything that she wanted to avoid becoming, and for that man to claim they had similarities….made her blood boil up with fury.

"Illumi and I have nothing in common." The vein in her arm twitched as she dug her finger against the palm of her hand. "To make a comparison between the both of us…is inaccurate."

The male smiled. "Inaccurate? You have similar personality traits."

Naru clenched her jaw while the birds chirped in the background. She wanted to argue with him, to state that there was nothing similar between them but she bit her tongue. Hisoka wasn't stupid nor was he the type to say something that he didn't know. He would omit information, would probably deceive people but something like this? There was nothing for the man to gain from uttering such things.

"Let us pretend for one moment that Illumi and I have similar traits, what does that have to do with what I asked?" She maintained her composure and ignored the growing pain forming inside of her hand. Blood dripped down the floor like a couple of rain droplets but her eyes were only focused on the man before her.

He smiled. "Personality traits can sometimes tell you about a person's Nen and from what I know about your personality, I assume you are a manipulator like Illumi."

Her heart froze at the information and the temptation to say that he was wrong was just there. Just ready for her to spill but the words couldn't come out of her mouth. She clenched her jaw and eyed the smiling male for a moment before slipping her hands into her pockets. It was problematic when her own mouth wouldn't do what her body willed it to do.

"But what does that have to do with what I asked?" she demanded. "How does my Nen relate to what happened in your fight?"

Hisoka shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't have anything to do with it."

She stumbled and threw an annoyed look at the male before turning her body towards the mirror. Does he think I'll tell Gon about how he did it? Because he had nothing to fear in that regard. Unless her friend asked again about how Hisoka had done it, then she would spill the beans. The chances of that happening? It was low. Very low. Gon was not the type of person, who would question about it.

Killua? He would ponder about it for a while.

"Are you going to answer my question?" she stood up from her seat and inspected the male for a moment. "Because if you aren't willing to answer my question, then I'll just leave."

Hisoka chuckled. "Tell me about the powerful man that you were talking to after your match."

Naru pressed her lips into a thin line and eyed the man before her. Blood lust leaked out of him and his eyes leaked with desire. A desire, she supposed, to fight Itachi. A couple of months ago, she would allow the male to charge after the missing-nin and try to kill him. But things were different now if you asked her. She just couldn't afford to have Hisoka target Itachi, especially if there was an off-chance that he could kill him.

"There is nothing for me to talk about the man." She offered him a tight smile. "I don't know much about him."

The smile on Hisoka's face widened, stretching across his face, and Naru felt her heart sprinting against her ribcage. It was never a good thing when he had that expression. He stood up from his seat, dragged his feet towards her while droplets of blood began to litter the ground. She gulped down the lump in her throat, focusing on the man before her. The menacing shadows alongside the wide smile as well as the dropping temperature in the room was now causing her shoulders to quiver.

Finally, the clown stopped right in front of her and lowered his head at her. "You have almost the same expression when you were talking to Illumi about Killua."

"It could mean I hate his guts," she argued. It was the truth too because her blood still boiled with so much anger and hatred whenever she recalled what the man had done to her friend.

He regarded her for a moment and shook his head. "Yes but you tolerated him and that means he must have something against you for you to tolerate him."

Hisoka can really pick up on things, Naru realized with a sinking heart. If he could figure things out from her interactions from a far, then it meant he could pick up on other subtle things. It meant he could twist things around in order to get what he wanted, could use relationships to get the things that he needed. She trembled and eyed the man before her. He truly was not someone that you wanted as an enemy.

Of course, she realized this tiny detail during the Hunter Exam.

"Itachi is my ally," she warned him. "And we…share a common interest of making sure that I get stronger."

This was probably the least harmful information that she could give him. It would be enough information for him to realize that Itachi was expecting her to get stronger, which meant he couldn't directly attack her if he wanted. It was enough information to know that there was some similarities between him and Itachi, although they had different reasons for their desire for her to get stronger.

The man let out a laugh. "Since you were willing to part with one information, I'll answer your question: conjuration."

Time slowed down as her brain processed the information that Hisoka had given her. I feel like an absolute idiot for not realizing that conjuration could explain his trick, Naru thought as her whole body shook. It made absolute sense. That piece of paper. When they had been so busy with looking at the mask, the man had used the paper to camaflouge the gap between the pieces.

It was something so basic that no one would think that he would go for such a trick.

"If you're thinking about asking Itachi to fight you, then I suggest that you don't try to kill him," she suggested as she walked towards the door. Her hand wrapped around the golden door knob and Naru turned her head to look at the murderous clown. "If he dies, then it'll cause a big mess for me…so try not to kill him."

Hisoka let out a dark laugh.

"That will destroy my fun."

I don't want Sasuke chasing after you because I already have to worry about Gon, I don't want Sasuke to be involved either. She swallowed down the words and offered him a tight smile before opening the door. Gon was easy for her to deal with because Killua helped her when it came to talking sense to him. But Sasuke? No, her friend could be unreasonable. Very unreasonable when it came to anything that concerned the honor of his clan.

Shaking her head, she stepped out into the hallway and began to make her way through the corridor. The only sounds that could be heard were light, feminine footsteps. Who would be visiting in this hour? She furrowed her eyebrows, stopped in her tracks and paused when she caught sight of a pink-haired woman walking towards her.

A cold feeling washed over her as alarm bells rang inside of her head.

This woman is a lot stronger than me.

She trembled and ducked her head down as she waited for the pink-haired woman to walk passed her. Even from how the woman walked, she could tell that this woman was a killer. That her steps were more refined, almost shinobi-like in a way but this woman did not have the chakra associated with shinobi. Naru relaxed her shoulders and turned her head around, blue eyes focused on the woman's whereabouts.

A sense of wariness crept up on her when she saw that the woman had stopped right in front of Hisoka's room.

If she knows Hisoka, then she is definitely not some weakling.

She probably should tell her friends that they needed to be weary of anyone with pink-hair because god knew that she didn't want to be involved with another psychopath.


So I thought of having Naru watch Hisoka and Kastro match but I thought that it would be a repeat of the manga and the anime, which was why I didn't put it in. We can also see that Hisoka is building an interest when it comes to Itachi and we also see Naru and Gon having conflicting views when it comes to Sasuke's right to know the truth. The next few chapters will be leading to the end of this arc and the introduction of the Yorknew arc.

I would also like to state that writing Naru and Hisoka's interactions was difficult for me so I hope that you enjoyed their interactions in this chapter. We also see that Naru has a glimpse of Machi and that may play an important role in the upcoming arc.

In terms of ages:

Naru: 12

Gon: 13

Killua: 12

Hisoka: 28

Please tell me of your thoughts on this chapter and for everyone who is asking about the update of Reading the Search, I'll try to have the next chapter up in the coming weeks.