Departure

That night since the graduation party was three days away...

Naruko was on the balcony outside her bedroom, looking at her Hunter's License.

"Even having this isn't enough." she mused.

Apparently, to prove her strength and worth, she still has to be at least, a One-Star Hunter in order to have more access to places ordinary humans cannot go to.

'Haaa...so annoying...first we need a license card and then the number of stars increase for more access to locations?! Maybe I should go to that third place! Rules there must be easier but it'll take me a year to find that ship again...' Naruko moped. 'I should have gone here last had I known this will happen.'

xxx

In another area, Leorio told Kurapika and Gon about what was told to him since 'it would not matter anyway'.

'I see...so its like that.' said Kurapika. 'But still that's horrible. I don't think even as Hunters, we should go there.' he said. 'Compared to ours, we really have it peaceful here. She's strong out of necessity due to what she is. Had she been an ordinary civilian, her life would be easier but she's from a clan with special traits.'

'So Kurapika, what's going to happen to a Kuruta there if you went there?' Gon asked him.

'Well, my clan's eyes just go red and we get a boost of strength and speed...when I was a child, I could overpower three adults so I guess my strength doubles or triples depending on my default condition so I definitely must train.' Kurapika explained. 'That's not special enough in her world so I'll be left alone at best...I hope. Bad enough that here, my clan's eyes are a Flesh Collector's treasure.' he scowled. 'I wonder if there's a world where I don't have to worry about this ever again and live a peaceful life without having to isolate myself for it someday.' he wondered gloomily.

'Well, if there's a world like that, you can find the ship she's talking about and go there.' Gon piped up. 'Though that means we can't see you anymore which is lonely but people take what's best for them, right?'

'But the price is enormous.' Leorio shuddered. 'The journey from her world to ours beyond the Border Islands is a seven-month distance. That's not even including the travel time from land to Border Islands which takes a shittily long time too. Three months straight so that means ten months to get to our world's borders, and then three or so months to make landfall wherein by then, the ship would need maintenance and loads of supplies. I can already imagine how much jenny that'll cost since they accept payment in rations and medicine. As a ninja, that's easy for Naruko to accomplish since ninjas are pragmatic by nature to get the job done.'

'Yeah...she can seal massive amounts of items in scrolls.' Kurapika noted. 'But since she just wants to travel and not bother with jobs if possible...'

The words 'she'll steal' was left unsaid between all three of them.

Leorio and Kurapika knew how many cities will be emptied of its groceries and convenience stores just to meet the payment required by the sailors. That would mean loads of cities starving for days as people will compete for the remaining amount of food, all of which, are highly-perishable goods such as bread, eggs, meat, dairy products and organic vegetables. So the things she will steal, would be grains, sugar, salt, spices, bouillon products, canned goods, boxes of cereals, milk, coffee and chocolate powders, alcohol, hygiene and medical items, and coconut oil.

In fact, they know full well she would, regardless of that fact!

xxx

At another location...

'So, have you guys seen enough?' Netero asked...a group of twelve people present.

'Well, wow.' said a woman.

'That kid is as skilled as Illumi Zoldyck but she's frail compared to him.'

'Ninjas in her world are like that, huh?'

'Not quite, until you read those books.' said Netero. 'Naruko is a born genius and she told me what she can do what those in the exam do not know of as a sign of trust between aliens as she puts it.' he said. 'But she made it clear she does not like her home world due to how unstable things are, and looking for an ideal place to live in.'

'A born genius?' a man asked.

'Her ability to observe...is of such a high degree that she learns anything from what she sees.' said Netero. 'Had you been there, you would have seen that her skills are inferior to Illumi Zoldyck...until they fought that her movements got better and better until eventually, she's as good as him in fighting. That is something you would not see in a video which was why she was more injured than he was.' he pointed out. 'She calls her inborn ability 'Sight Training'. The flaw is that she must train her body to be capable of using what she's just learned otherwise she'll end up maiming herself if she went in raw so she made an ideal out of a person in her village and it paid off since she started emulating him. Once she's got enough of exploring our world, she'll go to the Third World next, north of ours since the remaining two worlds are so far its beyond their ship's technology and endurance.'

'We never explored those lands due to 'the fear of the unknown powers' in regards to traveling another world but at least now we gained information enough to venture there without getting our pants caught down.' said another guy.

'So what do these books say?'

'Well to sum it up, they're the modern and more dangerous version of ninja compared to the Japponese People who left that world long before ninja villages were founded. When I asked Hanzo about his abilities and in turn I had to tell him of his country's origins, he was shocked. Japponese Ninjas are nothing like their homeland. If I were to make a comparison, they're just a bunch of normal humans with 1 to 10th Dan in martial arts in comparison and their ninpo is utterly primitive and they don't even know what chakra is when I asked. However, as ninja in Naruko's world rely too much on ninjutsu and genjutsu, grossly neglecting their most important skills such as weapons and martial arts training, Hanzo would have the upper hand but he can never win if ninjutsu or genjutsu is used against him. These books are essentially, a 'trade' of information between us so that we can explore her world and know what to expect even if its a little outdated by a year due to the travel time it took her to get here.'

'But which is stronger? Chakra or Nen?'

'Well, in regards to versatility, Chakra exceeds Nen. But in power, force and effect and in most cases, the impossible becomes possible, Nen is better so she wants to learn Nen to be able to travel to the next world after surviving ours since her goal is to explore. That would take years, her whole lifetime to explore until she finds an ideal world. She is truly just a child fed up with how her homeworld works despite how it looks to naive eyes. I sense nothing else.'

'I see.' said another. 'So, we go to her world and find out all we could about it?'

'Yes, that is your mission. Amassing what the sailors charge will take time and finding them by satellite will be the easiest part. For them, money is understandably worthless. You can't eat money or use money to fix injuries after all...they'd only take money if their ship is seriously busted which is rare...and that itself is insecure so I say we go for option 2...OUR ships! We can just fly and avoid the dangers of the seas that way. But we need to make one hell of a GPS System so we can navigate back home.'

'That's true...'

'Oy Ging! Aren't you going to see your kid? He became a Hunter!'

'Meh, he should hunt me if he wants to meet me that badly.' Ging snorted. 'For now I'll watch his progress, good enough for me.'

'Jeez, guess who's the last to earn the 'Father of the Year' award?' a childish woman's voice huffed.

xxx

'Uh-huh...yeah. Yeah...I...jeeez...' Killua groaned "Darn that Illumi!" he swore. 'Yeah...yeah...I dunno if she'll be OK with it since she wants to explore...that means I go with her obviously. Yeah. Yeah. Geh...wakatta.' Killua scratched his head. 'She doesn't even know what you guys decided yet I have no idea how she'll react and right now...and aniki went to tell her...'

In Naruko's room, the balcony...

'Found you.' Naruko didn't bother glancing as a now short-haired Illumi got to her balcony.

'What is it?' Naruko asked him.

'While you were sleeping off that KO move, can we talk all about you?' Illumi asked her. 'You see, with your strength, ability and the fact that you don't exist in all records...you must be sort of 'like us', therefore we find you an ideal bride candidate for my little brother.' he said.

'...like you?'

'Well, you know the Zoldycks, right?'

'Well, what the public knows of you for the most part.' said Naruko. 'So I won't bother yapping what you know what the public knows of you.'

'Sou ne...'

'But I have no idea what you mean by 'don't exist'. Me? Understandably but that is a tale for another time. But you? You're world-famous.'

'Fufu...well...that's also another tale for another time...' Illumi smiled mysteriously. 'So about the offer...'

'A bride huh? I know nothing about Killua. We're the closest in age but that's pretty much it.' said Naruko. 'And while I did many book studies...there's so much about people I don't know given how I lived alone for years. You can say I'm a failure as a human being in regards to 'being human' to make making a family possible. I'm aware of my lacking but I have no idea how to fill the holes either. All I have is common sense, survival instincts and pursuing ideals of what I want to have. Oh, I don't like traitors either. Plenty where I'm from its hard to trust anyone there.'

'So you have no concept of growing up with a family, friends and relationships?' that, and she's very blunt and frank about herself, and has no qualms giving information if she won't lose anything from talking about it nor would her listeners benefit.

'Yes.' said Naruko. 'My first time of companionship was during Trick Tower, wherein it was us five together. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio and myself.'

'That's kinda problematic...' Illumi scratched his head.

'Indeed. I hardly feel anything either since I don't understand what everyone else has known for years as human beings and as people in society. I can read books but they are just mere words of knowledge. Comprehending, feeling and understanding is another story.' said Naruko. 'Where I came from...orphans must either adapt to survive if you're not adopted, or die. Orphanages where I'm from are a joke when I saw the orphanages here. There's no such thing as government-funded institutions for us where I'm from unlike here as most of my country's money go to the military and military research as well as funding operations and bringing in what runs a ninja village and the civilian council is corrupt. So think again before you bring me into your family. I'm pretty much a deviant human being your family will not like me if they see how utterly abnormal I am.'

Illumi looked thoughtful.

Indeed, he can somehow believe her as her expression and the way she talks speaks volumes, and it was absolute fact. She wasn't trying to dissuade him from what he and his family wants but rather trying to dissuade them because of what she is. Unlike him who was trained to maintain a poker face while he can still feel emotions to keep personal and professional lives separate to keep the family well-funded, Naruko was a total zero. Her perpetual expression was that of a doll's. Emotionlessly-innocent. Her way of speaking is matter-of-fact blunt-honesty tonelessness if she pretended to be a robot, she'd do well. She also has little sense of human values as she may have her own code as she despised traitors. Killua told him that she once told them that 'they have no traitor's bone' and she'd kill a traitor herself, having no tolerance for them which made him wonder.

Indeed, he'll have to talk to his parents again.

xxx

The Zoldyck Estate, Silva Zoldyck's room...

'Really? That is truly unfortunate.' he mused. 'I will think of what to do about that problem.' he put down his phone. 'Looks like she's far from ideal which needs some fixing...and we were so close.'

xxx

Graduation Party...

The graduation party's attendance is attended by the committee and passed nine examinees.

Naruko made sure to thoroughly bathe, scrub and groom herself before the night began, and requested a dry-cleaning and pressing service for her formal wear, a very fancy black furisode with blue-star morning glory prints and matching obi and accessories and on her head is an ornate hairpin that matched her outfit. The way her obi is tied represents the fact that 'she's available'.

'Hmmm...I look and smell nice...yosh.' putting on her tabi socks, then lacquered okobo before putting her outfit on with the help of a clone. 'This is presentable enough I think. I studied formal wear the rich use after all.' that, and she stole it off a high-end boutique in Jappon's capital city of Kyoto. Its hellishly expensive made of first-class silk with first-class artisan work on it. She also stole about five boxes of Beni lipstick because for her its just 'the right amount of red' for her lips. Upon applying it with chakra, it would look great and stick well no matter what she does.

Upon leaving her room, she closed her door behind her and went to the hall.

She joined up with others in the hall.

'Wow! That's a japponese outfit!' Leorio marveled at her kimono and she looks befitting of a girl from high-class family.

'Don't tell me you brought your closet with you?!' Killua asked her, doing a double-take.

'I don't have a house, of course I'm taking my closet with me.' Naruko pointed out.

From afar...observing the group of five, were Illumi and Hisoka.

'Well? How's the family arrangements?' Hisoka asked Illumi in bemusement.

'There are...complications and that's an understatement.' Illumi sighed. 'Naruko came from a place wherein she calls orphanages are utter jokes compared to here. You basically raise yourself there and as an orphan who's primary concern is survival, little else matters. She has little human values, a twisted view of the world, no emotions and no concept of family, relationships, friends and love. But she does hate traitors so she values loyalty very much, judging by Kill's testimony. That, and she does and takes what she feels is either ideal or what she feels is best for her and she's blunt about it.'

'Well to be fair us orphans are nasty pieces of work.' Hisoka chuckled. 'The world out to get us and nobody giving a damn makes us what we are now.'

'Well, knowing you two that statement couldn't be any more truer.' Illumi sighed. 'My parents want to meet this girl but given her personality...mom's probably planning how to make an ideal in-law out of her.'

'That's bound to be fun.'

'You haven't met my mom.' Illumi sighed rather in exasperated exhaustion. 'Only Killua can turn her down and ditch her.'

'Oh my, so even you're whipped?' Hisoka looked ready to crack up in utter hilarity.

'Shuddup.'

xxx

In the party, Naruko was having her first taste of party foods of the wealthy.

Especially as Menchi cooked it all she never thought food can be this good and she was learning how to make dishes of this caliber just by tasting it and feeling the texture with her tongue while rapidly taking notes after taking bites by using a fork.

'Hey, what're you doing?' Killua asked her because she was rapidly writing in Japponese on a notepad.

'Oh, writing down a recipe notepad.' said Naruko. 'I learn how they're cooked by tasting it but I only bother to record foods I really like. Reference for the future I guess.'

'Heee...so your observation applies on what you feel and taste from it?'

'Yeah. So by eating I learn how to cook.'

'That's useful.' everyone sweatdropped.

'Can you at least write in a way we can understand at least?' Leorio snarked.

'After I write down some more, I'll translate. But I can only do this with foods with rich, savory flavors. I can't do this on bland food so bland I can't even recognize a component. That, and it takes a lot of practice on the aesthetic part since for now, my hands are too small and the fact that I hardly have time to cook. So while what I make tastes good, it looks like what you'd expect from a kid's cooking.'

'That's understandable...' Kurapika was glad some laws of nature somehow still work around this girl.

He had never met a girl who is crazy-strong, from another world from a near-extinct(or by now, extinctforreal) clan and an ability that makes her a prodigy.

However, the girl clearly has glaring issues of concern Leorio pointed out many warning bells as a self-trained doctor he has every right to be worried.

xxx

The next morning...

'Hey,' said Killua. 'Naruko, my family kind of wants to see you.' he said. 'Sooo you're going home with me.' he told her awkwardly, scratching his head.

'Oh...OK. You're really serious with this huh?' Naruko frowned. 'I'm fully-aware that as I am now, I'm the last person on earth who should marry.'

'And she can say that so bluntly...' Kurapika and Leorio deadpanned.

'Eh? Nande? Naruko you're a good cook and cute!' Gon pointed out.

'Gon, getting married to a guy takes more than that.' said Leorio. 'When a girl and a boy marries, their relation is so deep in regards to love and understanding of each other, and have incredibly-good relationship with each other enough to have a happy family. Its more than good looks and cooking skills.'

'Oh...family huh? That means kids right? How do you have them?'

Came the dreaded, awkward question.

Before Naruko can traumatize Gon, everyone else wisely shut her up.