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Kushina wasted no time as she pushed Mei into starting the chapter. She was happy to see it was already focused on Mei from the jump.
While Naruto continued battling it out with Hisoka, Mei slowly walked away from the makeshift battlefield. Her hand came up to her temple and gently applied pressure in a circular pattern. She felt a soothing sensation wash over her as the pain eased up for a moment. Looking back, she saw a small bit of dust rise up in the air from the direction she had left Naruto.
Thinking about the blond put a small smile on her face as it always did. Over the past three years, any time she thought of the young man who'd wormed his way into her life a smile wouldn't be far behind and she would be filled with a sense of adoration. Not just for him but for herself as well. His ardent words never failed to make her feel loved, it made her feel like a young teen crushing on a boy for the first time again.
Kushina, Sakura, and oddly enough Minato all awed at the heartfelt words. Mei herself felt Naruto pick her up and place her in his lap, getting a giggle from her as she continued to read.
That feeling only grew as the days passed, especially now. He was always protective of her even though she was quite capable of taking care of herself, but after she broke the news it had become much more apparent. There was a clear difference in his demeanor now. He didn't act like he was in his early twenties, at least not most of the time.
If something caught his interest enough, he had no qualms about letting his excitement show. One such moment was when they began learning about Nen with the Zoldyck family. Learning about a completely new power system available had caught his interest and he wanted nothing more than to become proficient at it. That excitement was what led to him being so thrilled at the prospect of fighting the jester.
Naruto wasn't a battle nut by any means but having only fought against what amounted to fodder, someone who was clearly a master of Nen use would be the perfect person to measure his progress with the art. That wasn't to say she wasn't excited about it, she was, but perhaps the more accurate term for her was intrigued.
The woman shrugged as she read. That fit pretty well.
Nen had some uses that chakra couldn't measure up to. The idea of hoarding one's own life force to extend your life and even look younger than your age was possibly one of her favorite things. The amount of money she would save on beauty products alone was astronomical. The principle of Hatsu also had diverse uses based on the few she had seen. It was almost as if every Nen practitioner had their own Kekkei Genkai.
Some of the boys rolled their eyes at Mei's thoughts regarding the beautifying aspects of nen.
While Nen definitely opened different avenues in terms of what they would be able to do, she still knew that chakra was the superior source of power. Mainly because of the lack of restrictions on the abilities one was able to perform. When it came to Nen, it was balanced.
'The stronger the Hatsu, the greater the conditions and restrictions on it' Zeno's words echoed through her mind. With chakra, that wasn't an issue. As long as you had the necessary levels of chakra, and could perform the hand signs necessary you were good to go.
"Chakra is truly an unfair ability." Zeno sniffed slightly.
Naruto knew this of course, but now that he had something new at his disposal and after seeing how his Nen responded to the thoughts of his family and unborn child, she could understand why he was so into it. In a way it connected him to part of his family that he'd been robbed of growing up. That was why she never burst his bubble about trying to master Nen. Plus, she couldn't deny it was a cute sight to see him excited about progressing in his training.
Mei hummed as she felt Naruto's arms tight against her and his lips pressed to the crown of her head. He was an incredibly loving young man.
Similar to him, she felt a sort of pride in herself after developing her own Hatsu. Had they still been in conflict back home, it would have definitely come in handy. Plus, she hypothesized that due to having chakra their Hatsu was more potent than it would have been had they been natives to this land.
The ground shook slightly followed by the sound of a small explosion. No doubt someone had been blasted into one of the buildings.
Mei shook her head. 'I wonder how he's doing.' She thought to herself. Would Hisoka make him resort to using his chakra? It was a possibility, the man wasn't one of those weaklings from Heaven's Arena, he was different. From what they had seen from his battle against Kastro, he was crafty and was clearly a master of his Hatsu.
Knowing that Naruto wanted to use his Nen only, there was a strong chance he might use his chakra. If he did that though, the battle was as good as over.
"That's true. Though something else ended it first." Kushina grinned at her future daughter in law who was weirdly older than she was. At least older than this form of Kushina was.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her left ear, she continued walking, slowing her pace down just a tad bit. Her low heeled shoes clacked softly against the concrete with every step she took. Walking a few feet further, she glanced to the side without moving her head. She could feel someone watching her from the surrounding area. She wasn't a sensor like Ao so she could only do so much, at least back then.
Several of the readers tensed and leaned forward.
The moment her right foot touched the concrete, she expelled her aura around the surrounding area using Ren. Following it up with Ten, she shaped the aura into a translucent blue dome that easily encompassed most of the area surrounding her. The entire sequence had happened in less time than it would have taken someone to blink.
'My En isn't as large as Naruto's but it's still larger than most according to Silva' She thought to herself. From one of the buildings behind her, she could 'see' someone hidden. It was a man, almost six feet tall and weighing about 160lbs. He was crouching near one of the windows on the top floor of the rusty looking building behind her. He had moved his head away just as her En had activated and no doubt knew he had been found out. Why he wasn't coming out though was a mystery to her.
Now knowing what she was dealing with, she once again added a mental point in Nen's favor. Sure, some shinobi were sensors but most of them could only detect chakra and how many people there were at a time, unless you were an outlier like Karin. En on the other hand painted a much clearer picture.
"Oh that is very useful." Minato said. He had used a specialized sensory technique during the third war but it would have been much better with the method that Mei had just displayed.
Mei stopped in her tracks but continued looking forward. "How long are you planning on hiding in there?" She spoke in a rather low tone but it was still enough to resonate through the area.
She canceled her En and turned to look in the direction she knew he was hiding. There was no movement for a moment but she didn't look away, she could still feel his presence. As she was about to take a step forward, there was finally movement and a blond man appeared from the windowsill. Just as her En had revealed to her, he was just as tall as she thought.
He seemed like some sort of martial arts fighter, dressed in a light purple two piece outfit consisting of pants that ended above the ankles and a sleeveless top with teal accents with black flat styled shoes. The man couldn't be older than 25. Mei raised an eyebrow in confusion as he hopped down, landing softly on his feet a few yards in front of her.
"Hmm." Naruto grumbled with a rather intense look on his face as he frowned at the image at the center of the room. Mei enjoyed the feel of his chest rumbling.
The blond wore an innocent looking smile and even waved at her cheerfully as if he hadn't been spying on her. He didn't seem threatening but through her Nen she could tell that he had above average levels of strength. He didn't seem dangerous in the same sense that Hisoka did, but he was definitely above anyone in Heaven's arena.
"Hey." He greeted.
"Can I help you with something?" Mei replied, not bothering to greet back. Placing a hand on her right cheek, she shot the man a cold smile. "My husband wouldn't take kindly to knowing I was being stalked by a stranger you know?" Only after she had uttered the words did the auburn haired woman realize what she had called him, but she found she quite liked the idea.
"I do like the idea. It's why we're engaged after all." She giggled.
Naruto simply smiled a boyish goofy smile that had his parents and teacher laughing a bit.
The thought of her and Naruto in a large venue back home instantly manifested in her mind. Her in a flowing white dress and him in one of those suits she loved seeing him in, their lips getting closer together with the whole of the world watching the union.
"I apologize. I wasn't expecting your En to extend out so quickly."
"He apologizes for being caught but not for stalking you?" Kurapika asked confused.
The image in her mind shattered as his voice reached her ears. Mei narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You still haven't answered my question. Nor have you told me who you are."
The blond scratched the back of his head and laughed lightheartedly. "You're right, sorry about that. The truth is I wasn't expecting to be found out. My name is Shalnark and I'd like to extend an invitation to…"
"No." Mei said, cutting him off. "Whatever it is you're offering, we'll pass. We have no interest."
"Ice cold." Kakashi chuckled.
Not wanting to hear anymore, the woman turned around and resumed walking away but she could feel that he was still standing in place, staring at her.
He sighed. "I'm sorry but I can't really accept that."
"I would have killed him there." Naruto said flatly.
After noticing the looks from the others he shrank down a bit. "Maybe just put him in the hospital?"
Hearing the shift in his tone of voice, Mei stopped once again and turned around with a visible frown on her face. Seriously, she already had a headache and was sure she would be puking within the next two hours. The last thing she needed was someone bothering her.
Flaring her aura, she inwardly smirked seeing the shocked look on his face as he took a step back. In response, his own aura surrounded his body, ready to defend himself.
"Last chance to turn around and leave." She threatened. As she reigned her aura back using Ten, an idea came to her.
'He can't know my affinity without seeing my Hatsu.' She thought. 'If I enhance my body using chakra, he'll have to assume I'm an enhancer and report the wrong information to whoever he works for.'
At that moment, unknown to her, Shalnark realized exactly why the boss had assigned him to scope them out. He'd been told what Pakunoda was doing but he didn't understand why the boss was willing to add more spiders instead of the standard 13. Now it all made sense, Pakunoda was definitely onto something.
"Of course he is with them. Although I think he will be in some hot water. He was told to scope us out. And Pakunoda was told she would be the one to recruit us. He got caught and is messing up their attempt to recruit us to their side already." Mei stated.
"He really should get his teeth kicked in." Naruto grumbled.
Seeing that the man wasn't moving, Mei took the initiative. Shalnark's eyes were still looking ahead even as the woman's foot was centimeters from his face. The kick connected and the blond was violently shot away into the building where he had been hiding. Tilting her head to the side, she allowed a small black antenna to harmlessly pass by her.
"These spider fucks are going to cease to exist pretty damn quick." Naruto growled getting Mei to enjoy the feeling of his tensed muscles and rumbling chest thoroughly.
A dark shadow formed from within the smoke he'd created and soon he was on the attack. Her hands were up and quickly moving in order to parry the blows he sent her way. Her eyes didn't miss the second antenna that was hidden in his left hand. The small needle was just barely peeking out of his fist, letting her know that had to be a condition for his ability to work.
'An antenna means he has some sort of controlling ability. A manipulator to be sure.' She thought to herself, ducking under a punch. Retaliating with a few punches of her own, she confirmed her suspicions when his left hand turned in an unorthodox way, no doubt trying to connect with her skin.
The readers were engrossed. Unlike with Hisoka this fight was full fledged. The clown might have been unhinged a bit but he stopped when Naruto had wished. This Shalnark was a threat and a problem. He wasn't letting Mei refuse his recruitment offer and so that could easily be a battle to the death.
His smile had faded, replaced with a look of intense concentration. Smirking to herself, she caught his left hand and faster than he could react, extended her left leg straight up to connect with his chin. His body would have been airborne had she not kept her grip on his hand. Bringing her leg back down quickly, she made sure to coat it with chakra and directed a kick straight into his chest.
"Mhmm, flexible." Kakashi muttered.
"Watch yourself old man." Naruto grumbled.
While Naruto checked his sensei, Mei locked eyes with another lightning user and sent Killua a small smile causing the boy to blush and look away from her. She was having far too much fun here.
Despite being disoriented by the attack, Shalnark had the sense to use his free arm in a feeble attempt to cushion the blow. He succeeded, albeit barely. A quick use of Gyo showed her that he had coated his arm and upper body with his aura in an attempt to not have both his arm and chest completely destroyed.
Just as before, Shalnark was sent barrelling back into the building, this time destroying a large part of the first floor.
Mei could feel him still on the ground in the darkness, holding onto his damaged arm. He was lucky she had only used a little bit of chakra, if she had wanted to, his arm and chest would have shattered.
'Is he finished?' She wondered to herself. He was getting up, that much she was sure of, but would he be stupid enough to actually again. His ability relied on tagging a target with the antenna but he should know by this point that wouldn't be a possibility with her.
"Nope." Mei laughed.
A dark shape began to form in the debris once more, only this time Shalnark stepped out calmly showing no indication that he would try to attack again. Her eyes glanced at his arm which was now a dark purple and bits of the top he wore were ripped at multiple places. Strangely enough, the smile was back in place.
"Well, I suppose I'll just have to try again some other time." He said happily. "Can I get your name though?"
Staring at him with her visible green eye, she stayed silent for a moment before answering. "Mei."
"Mei. Nice name. Well Mei I hope you and husband change your minds soon. I'll see you again some other time." He said before turning around and dashing away.
"I would rather snap him over my knee." Naruto said blandly.
"Hush, no need to be so jealous. Only one for me is you. And maybe pretty pink over there." Mei said winking at Sakura causing the young woman to blush as red as Mei's hair.
She contemplated chasing him down but the headache was starting to return and she wanted nothing more than to lay down. Besides, it wasn't as if he could do much with just her name. They weren't from here, they didn't have any records, her name was useless to him.
Gazing in the direction Shalnark went, she was half tempted to use En again to make sure he had really left. After a second thought she shook her head and put her fingers up to her temple again to soothe herself. It wasn't worth the effort. Picking up the pace, she made her way back to the hotel, hopefully this time without any unwanted visitors.
"Should have checked. Just to be safe." Silva commented.
"Maybe." Mei replied.
xxxx
"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Naruto asked curiously as they walked through the many different displays. Most of the vendors had low end goods for sale, some sold phones in the shape of beatles which was odd. Part of him was tempted to get one just to see the look on Mei's face when he showed it but changed his mind at the last second.
"Oh yeah. Her." Mei groused.
"You seemed to like her somewhat earlier." Kurapika commented. He seemed to have a sour expression as he did so.
"That was before she waited for me to leave to try and seduce my husband and her teammate attacked me." Mei replied.
"Agreed." Naruto said, eyeing the woman. She was attractive but he was displeased with her entire gang of comrades at the moment. Very displeased.
Pakunoda shrugged. "Not really. I just happened to be in the area and thought I'd like to see what they had." She replied softly. "I'm not really expecting to find anything incredible but you never know."
He agreed with that sentiment. "I'm on the same page. I heard about this little auction and thought maybe I'd find something interesting. Have you been here long?"
"Just arrived actually. I hope you don't mind me tagging along with you while you're here. I think things like this are more enjoyable with someone as opposed to alone."
"Uhuh. I bet." Kushina scoffed.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah it's no problem. There's no reason why we can't enjoy ourselves." He replied happily. "I'd like to see if there's any other items embedded with Nen." He added afterward.
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and focused on his aura. The feeling washed over her in an instant, now that she was right next to him she could tell just how much power he possessed. The thought of using Psychometry crossed her mind but she discarded it almost immediately. The ability relied on touch, and the moment she did so, she was sure he would be aware of it.
"Try me." He said with narrowed eyes.
"Relax. I'm right here and they aren't being any harsher than Shinobi would be." Mei said, trying to get him to chill out.
"Maybe but these two seem like they want to manipulate us. Same for Hisoka. I'm not really liking this chapter. Even if we all got to see you be your bad ass self." Naruto commented.
The last thing she needed was for him to begin questioning her motives. Pakunoda knew that if a fight were to break out, she would be dead before she even realized he moved.
"Those objects are usually rare to find." She informed him, following Naruto to the nearest booth he'd selected. "It'll either be something like a knife or a completely obscure object."
Naruto hummed at her words. "Like a Ben's knife?" He asked.
She blinked and nodded. "Exactly like a Ben's knife." She glanced down at the table and saw a jagged looking blade on display. "Are you familiar with these?"
The blond shook his head as he picked up the knife, admiring the strange shape. "No."
"Interesting." Minato thoughtfully hummed.
The older woman went on to explain to him the history of Benny Delon, and how he created a new knife for every victim he claimed during his time. "He must have been using Nen subconsciously and each knife now has a bit of his aura."
"Wait so they are like serial killer knives?" Sasuke asked.
"Kinda want one." Naruto said.
While he didn't particularly like this Benny character, he couldn't help but be enthralled by the blond woman's words. That was the beauty of being in a new land, any little thing could have a deep history behind it, and these knives just so happened to be tied to a serial killer.
Staring at the blade a bit longer, he called the stand owner and made a bid, to the slight surprise of his new friend.
"You're buying it?" She asked. "You don't seem the type."
"He definitely is." Several Shinobi answered.
Naruto glanced at her and let a playful smile grace his face. "Really?" He asked, letting the owner wrap the blade up for him. "What type do I seem like?"
She wasn't sure how long passed but she found herself unable to answer as his blue eyes bore into her own. Eventually though, she was able to get a hold of herself and respond. Not breaking eye contact, she spoke in the same soft tone.
"Come on. You are his elder and trying to seduce him and you are getting smitten?" Mei asked incredulously.
"Are you saying you aren't smitten with me Mei?" Naruto asked.
"Oh hush, I'm your wife. It's different." She said, waving away his words much to his amusement. "Seriously where is the professionalism?"
"The type to handle something up close without the need for weapons. The way you carry yourself tells me you're confident in your abilities. To the point where I don't believe you would have any need for a Ben's knife." She analyzed.
Naruto stared back with slightly raised eyebrows at her deduction. She was mostly spot on, the knife was nothing more than a souvenir due to liking the shape and knowing it had some history behind it. While she didn't say it outright, he remembered what Ging had told him when they met while they were training. People could still feel their power even while using zetsu. There was no doubt in his mind Pakunoda could sense the power he held and used that to make her deduction.
Chuckling softly, he walked past her. "You're right on most points. I don't really need it, but I like it. Oh, look at that." He said excitedly, pointing to another booth.
"Yeah that sums you up here pretty well." Kakashi chuckled.
The woman rolled her eyes lightly but felt no real annoyance. If anything this was a breath of fresh air. Her usual interaction came from the members of the Troupe, namely Machi and occasionally Shalnark. While she may genuinely like people like them, their usual interactions always had something to do with a job or a target they were trying to kill.
Walking alongside the younger blond, she felt like she was simply enjoying time with a friend. It had been so long since she'd last done so, she didn't even remember what it felt like. Walking around, chatting, and listening to his attempts to make her laugh while not needing to worry about completing a job. That thought brought her to a pause, she was on a recruitment job.
"She might actually have been a terrible choice to try and seduce you. You are going to flip her so easily. I am going to sit o-" Mei began.
"Mei, the kids!" Kushina stopped her.
"I'm going to sit on that nose." Mei said with full eyes.
"Why would you sit on her nose though? Is that part of some fighting move?" Gon asked, completely baffled.
He frowned when he was ignored.
Staring at his back as he leaned over a table to inspect another item, she wondered how to proceed. Her plan was to get close to both him and the woman that was with him but she was nowhere to be found. The option to try to seduce him was on the table but that could easily backfire as well. She knew nothing about the woman except that she was certainly more powerful than her.
If she made a move and it wasn't reciprocated, then word would get back to her and all hope of succeeding would disappear. She smiled politely as Naruto turned around to show her another item he was planning on buying.
In the end she decided to continue as she was for today, it would help to get closer.
The two continued making their way from booth to booth, looking over the mostly useless items up for sale. On occasion, something would catch their attention that she would most likely have to fill him in on.
"Playing it slow is smart on her part I suppose." Mei stated.
It was unusual, in her opinion, that he didn't seem to know some things that would be common knowledge. He was knowledgeable about Nen, which meant he could be a licensed hunter, but that didn't explain his lack of knowledge on certain subjects. All of these observations went into the mental file she'd created for him in her mind.
"You know, I don't think I asked this yet." Naruto began. "What brings you to Yorknew? Is it the auction?" He asked. That was still a ways off, and from what he gathered, most of the big names wouldn't appear until the day before or the day of.
"Work." She replied simply.
"She's not lying but she's definitely not telling the whole truth." Kurama chimed in from within his mind.
"Man am I glad Kurama is seeing the rest of the world with me. Especially in moments like that. He makes it so easy to deal with people who are trying to trick me." Naruto said.
"Could you ask him if he gets tired of having to carry your ass all the time?" Sasuke asked.
"He says as long as he gets to help kick you ass again he is perfectly happy." Naruto said with a smile causing the Uchiha to roll his eyes.
Naruto glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and stuffed his hands in his pockets, letting the small bags he had rest on his wrists. "You don't sound too thrilled about it." He noted.
Pakunoda exhaled silently but enough so that Naruto could see her chest deflate slightly. She hesitated for a moment and turned to look at him before turning her attention back in front of them. "Truth be told I don't really like my job." She revealed. "But without it…" She trailed off.
He noted that while her face remained as stoic as it had through most of their time together, he could still sense a sort of emptiness within her. It reminded him of when he was a kid and put on a fake front for people only to return to an empty home.
"Have you ever considered just taking a chance and quitting?" He questioned.
"Too bad it won't be that easy." Zeno commented.
"Yeah, it never is." Naruto sighed.
The woman looked up at the sky briefly and took a breath. "I have, but those thoughts always lead to the same conclusion."
Naruto waited for her to elaborate but after passing a few stalls without a word, he realized he wouldn't be getting any more than that. Sensing that the mood had shifted, he quickly scanned the area until his eyes landed on just the thing that would help them out at the moment. Leading her over to a booth, he told her to wait for a moment and left. She looked slightly confused by the request but complied and looked at the trinkets available for sale.
Naruto returned two minutes later, holding two small pastries served on a small paper dish. Holding one out, he was delighted to see her grin slightly and accept the food. Reaching out, her fingers glided over his softly as she took the plate.
"Thank you."
"You should have gone home to Mei by now Naruto." Kushina sniffed.
"Yes mom." Naruto sighed.
Naruto took a bite and made a note to go back and get another for Mei after he bought their dinner.
"Feeling better?" He asked kindly.
"I am. You didn't need to buy me anything but it's appreciated." She replied.
"It was nothing. I'm not sure what you do, or what you don't like about it, but I think if you're unhappy or bored with how your life is, do what you think would be best for you." He advised. That's what he had done. He wasn't sure whether there was life beyond what he knew but he took a chance, and he was here now happier than he'd ever been.
"I know we just met but I can tell there's more to you than what you've shown."
Similar to how he'd done earlier, she mirrored his playful smile although hers didn't quite reach her eyes. "Really? What do you see when you look at me?"
Making sure to look her in the eyes he responded after a second to get his thoughts in order. "I see someone who hides behind a false persona. You stay in a situation that you no longer want but see no way out which has made you aloof. In the time we've been together though I've seen that you have no problem laughing openly, making small jokes, and actually having a good time. Those little things are what tell me there's more to you than you show. You just don't know who to show it to."
"He really is just going to seduce the seducer." Zeno said to his son.
"Good for him?" The current head of the family said with a shrug.
He didn't even need to use Kurama to know that much. As he spoke, the look on her face changed from mirroring his earlier look to one of slight surprise at his deduction.
"So? How'd I do?"
Pakunoda broke their eye contact and took a bite of the pastry then turned her attention forward once more. "I'd say you were pretty spot on." She replied softly.
"Don't expect it to be all tender and loving at first. The first few times with her I'm running the show." Mei said simply and most of the readers knew precisely what she meant as Naruto chuckled.
"Well now you don't have to worry about that last point at least. I know I can't force you to quit your job but if you need a friend, I'd be more than happy to lend an ear whenever you need it."
Naruto wasn't aware but his words had an effect on the older woman. She managed to keep herself together on the outside but couldn't deny the feeling welling within her. It had been a long time since she last felt a bit of genuine happiness but it was there.
The woman felt her phone vibrate from the pocket in her skirt and discreetly pulled it out to check the time.
"Well, as much fun as this has been I should be going." She said. Stopping at the end of Bull Market next to the first stall, she spoke again. "I hope this doesn't sound too forward but would you mind exchanging contact information?"
"That is the plan, I'm sure." Mei laughed.
"Of course I have to get in touch again so I can bring her home to meet mommy." Naruto huskily whispered in Mei's ear, getting a sultry smile to spread across her lips.
Pulling his own phone out, he shook his head. "Not at all." He had become well versed with his phone and could now save contacts directly, something he was pretty proud of. Once her number was in his phone, and his in hers, she thanked him for a good time and promised to call him soon before heading out.
Once she disappeared into the city, he checked his phone as well and decided to leave the market too. He still needed to get ingredients for dinner tonight and stop by again to get a pastry for Mei.
"Even with another woman you are thinking of me. So sweet." Mei said with a smile.
"He was practically on a date while you two are married and pregnant. You're kind of weird." Killua said.
"She's kind of the perfect woman." Kakashi corrected, getting nods from almost all the men. Minato had better survival instincts than that though.
"Please. If it was any other man I was with I would have powdered them the moment they thought about another woman. Naruto is just too much for one woman to handle. Don't worry none of you should ever have to worry about such things.
While most of the men frowned and focused back in the story, Minato and Kushina exchanged a knowing look as thoughts of a certain beautiful Uchiha woman flashed through their heads.
xxxx
"You're here already?" Pakunoda's attention diverted to the small alleyway in between two large buildings to see one of her colleagues stepping out. She noted the few scuffs on his face and clothing along with the pleased look on his face. It was a look he only wore when something amused him or he found someone worth fighting.
"This should be an interesting conversation." Kurapika said. He was hoping for a bit of an argument before the members of the Phantom Troupe.
"I should be asking you that." She replied, continuing her walk, not at all bothered that the man began to match her pace and walk alongside her. "You only ever show up when you believe it's convenient. Yet here you are a month and a half early. It makes me wonder what you're thinking."
Hisoka gave a nonchalant shrug. "I have business with a friend here." He replied. "In fact, you were just with him a few minutes ago."
"Hmm that isn't how I expected him to go about things." Zeno said.
Pakunoda narrowed her eyes at the jester, suspicion clear in them. "You're friends with Naruto?" She found it hard to believe. Hisoka wasn't the type to have any real friends from what she knew of him. The man saw people as prey or toys, nothing in between.
The red haired man nodded in satisfaction and brought a hand up to his chest in a dramatic fashion. "Yes. Him and Mei both actually. What I'm interested to know is how are you friends with him?"
"Oh, wow she is just buying his obvious lie?" Killua asked.
"I doubt she buys into it that easily. Plus we might actually be friends, with him. At least whatever Hisoka considers friends." Naruto said.
"Defending the side piece?" Sasuke asked.
"Nah, Sakura doesn't need me to do that." Naruto said immediately causing Sasuke and Sakura to both turn red in rage and embarrassment. Though Sakura was a bit surprised herself that he was just claiming her like that.
The not so subtle wink from Mei drove things home though and Sakura actually smiled.
In that brief window of time Sasuke had gone from red to purple in anger at his friend but biy it back. Both from the influence of the Host calming him and realizing he didn't actually care that much about Sakura being Naruto's.
Plus he could just run some brats through Naruto's cousin to feel better about himself.
Hisoka's mind began working overtime and it didn't take long to realize that Chrollo had already learned of them and found it necessary to look into them. To do so, he sent Pakunoda to investigate whether they would be a threat and if so, what to do about them. A sinister grin appeared on his face at the thought. Just off their brief spar, he had only scratched the surface of what Naruto could do and he knew one thing.
No one in the troupe stood a chance against him but that just made it all the more exciting to him. Both Naruto and Mei were out of his league for the time being, but maybe he could use them to put himself in a position to fight Chrollo.
"Oh, that's all he wants from us?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah that's not that bad." Mei agreed.
"Just what I was thinking, that's not that bad. Shit he could probably just ask." Naruto nodded.
"I bumped into him at Bull Market and once before that. We hit it off well." She replied calmly. Inside though she was anything but calm. Hisoka was always an off putting individual but knowing he was close to the people she needed to win over only made her feel uneasy. No one knew what he was thinking or why he did what he did. With a simple whim he could ruin her objective.
'Have you ever considered just taking a chance and quitting?' Naruto's words came back to her. If she did that she wouldn't need to worry about anything Hisoka did.
"Evidently they are friends now. That might not be the case." Kakashi joked.
"They're an interesting pair that's for sure." Hisoka said. "Naruto has been the only person who's ever come to me asking for a fight. I get the feeling we'll be best friends in no time. Anyway, it was nice seeing you but I have other things to take care of." Giving her one final 'friendly' smile, he turned at the end of the street and walked off.
"He is such a weird guy." Sakura sighed.
"I dunno he kinda grows on you." Naruto said with a chuckle.
"Oh my god you really are becoming friends with him." Kurapika mumbled.
Having his back to her, the woman never noticed the change in his facial expression. The kind smile was replaced with a malicious smirk. His tongue licked his bottom lip from left to right in anticipation. He didn't know what Pakunoda was doing, but perhaps they'd be able to come to an understanding soon.
"So he grows on you but he is still a freaky dude." Naruto said.
With a snap the book moved on to the next reader.
Done and done. Hope you liked it.
Till Next Time.