Hey everyone, I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but a lot has been going on right now as I'm sure we're all aware and there's a lot I have to sort out in my life. Also after looking back at the beginning of this story, I decided I'm going to edit and fix it up since this is one of my favorite stories. Despite the research, there were some holes in the information I used when I wrote this and decided that now would be a good time to return to fix it.

There aren't going to be many changes, which is why I can continue this chapter. The only big changes will be made for the first few chapters.

So, you can check that out once I'm done. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter!

"Championship finals: Gon vs Killua!"

Sakura cupped her hands around her mouth, and without a sway of guilt she called out "You can do it Killua!"

Gon glanced to the side, sweat dripped down his cheek, 'She's still mad?'

In this type of situation, she would have been more likely to root for Gon, but with the young amber-eyed boy beating her in the semi-finals, she opted for Killua's side. What also accounted for this, was Gon finally revealing his secret to winning in rock-paper-scissors, which came about while they were practicing for the contest.

It was a game they had used to settle many disputes in the past and now only to realize that the reason it had mostly been Gon's preference was because he had learned a method to win the game almost consistently. And all this time Sakura thought it was his luck.

He had learned the trick from a fisherman who had come to Whale Island. When the statement of rock was made, initially opponents would raise their hands into a fist and as they are about to bring it down, commonly, they would already have their signs formed before it was down. It was merely a matter of observational skills. Using scissors in this was also the best case to avoid losing.

So she was cheering loud when Killua managed to beat Gon in the finals, they would still be getting the Sword of Truth so it didn't matter who won in terms of teams but this was personal payback. Killua had misled Gon by using his right hand to form the rock sign while switching to his left to throw down his intended sign. Rock beat scissors.

"Our first restricted slot card," Sakura grinned.

"Yeah, looks we're finally making some progress right Gon?" Killua rubbed his nose holding it high. It was satisfying just to have been able to beat his friend in a game that he excelled at.

"I guess," Gon grumbled.

The time before the contest, Gon, Sakura, and Killua explored the town to collect information, items and discover strategies in competing against other players. It was then they realized that three was more than one and that meant more binders and more chances of setting traps. They weren't just aiming to clear the game, but enjoy it.

And in advance, they had come up with a strategy to avoid getting their cards stolen, heeding the warning from before. They lacked defensive spells to protect their cards, but the three were already well practiced in working with what they had.

A review of their progress came quickly after they had attained the restricted slot card, as the person who had been lurking after them from behind trees and buildings finally stepped out to confront. He was a plain individual, with no signs of malicious intent, rather desperation.

"Hand over the sword of truth!" He demanded. "If you listen to what I say, I won't harm you!"

A few other individuals that had been tailing the three friends broke their facade when they realized someone had jumped ahead of them.

Killua gave his typical haughty response, "No way idiot. Come on let' go,"

"Hold on you!" He summoned his binder as he called the three to a halt, making them bring out their books as well but he already knew that they were beginners from observing and that they had no spells to protect themselves and that there should only be one specified card in their slots.

It would be a fair assumption that as the winner of the contest Killua had the card. If only adults could stop to realize that kids played games a little differently.

"Thief on! Attack Killua!"

The card Thief allowed a player to steal another player's cards at random. However, the spell didn't activate, and instead, the card vanished into a puff of smoke leaving the player bewildered.

"What?!" He looked back into his binder and discovered the reason, "There are no cards in the designated slot pockets?"

Killua smirked, "Just because it's a specified card doesn't mean I have to put it in the specified slot,"

His mouth hung open in disbelief and horror, falling to his knees, head low."My rare card…was useless,"

Another player who had been watching from the side emerged next, binder out and spell card already in hand. "Watching how they react was worth waiting," he looked back at the three teens, "I already know you obtained 15 cards in total not counting the sword of truth. One Someone's drawing on paper, one Antique Clock, one Monica's Cat and 16 Gargida cards,"

This player had the card Pick Pocket; which would allow a player to steal cards from a random player's free slots. "Pick Pocket on, attack Killua!"

There was no changing result. Just as before, the card vanished, without having cast its effect on its target. Killua grinned, "The cards I win don't necessarily have to go into my binder,"

Sakura stuck out her tongue at the players and Gon gave a wide stretched grin full of mischief. The second player grasped his head in frustration realizing that he was going to have to choose which one of the three had the rare cards on them. It was either going to be Gon or Sakura since Killua's slots were all apparently free.

'I still have two pickpockets, I'll just have to take the gamble,'

He took out his second card, "Pickpocket on, attack Gon!" The card vanished from his hand and transformed into a light that rushed towards the boy, the light returned to his hand in the form of a card that had come out of the boy's binder but that resulted in another shocking discovery of the children's tactics.

"A normal rock!?"

Sakura giggled, "We've been picking up some strange objects too, it's interesting how everything here seems to be to able to turn to cards,"

"What is this!?" The player threw the card down, stomping on it viciously. They were beginners to the game with no spells to defend themselves, yet somehow instead of allowing it to deter them, they came up with methods to trick players with simple misdirection and their number. "Shit!"

"So you have no moves left? Leave it to me," The third player that had been tailing the friend's said, stepping forward with his card, "Both of your mistakes came from the fact you didn't look at your opponent's binders beforehand. But using Sight Vision; I already know that there are no cards in Killua nor Sakura's binders and I've already made sure that the Sword of truth is in Gon's free pocket using 'Steal'. With 'Rob' I can obtain that card,"

He held the card out, about to say the chant to attack Gon; though what most adults failed to remember at that moment was where they were and what it took to get here. Or they probably would have thought to be more cautious. In an instant the card was no longer in his hands, Gon held it up watching passively.

"Haven't you been training? Nice try," Gon threw the card back to him, "Next time, I won't return it,"

"Shouldn't have returned it the first time," Sakura said folding her arms.

The crowd of weak players, having witnessed Gon's speed had already chosen to back off. They did receive a warning, however. That their methods would only work with players that were weaker than themselves and that there were certainly stronger than them.

"That guy's right," Killua said when they were a good distance, "If we aren't stronger than our opponents are, then it'll be impossible to steal their card before they can cast it on us,"

Gon nodded, "Eventually we need to get spell cards to defend ourselves,"

Sakura pressed her index finger against her chin, "Well, where do we go for that?"

Two seconds later, they realized that they were no longer alone and their conversation was about to be postponed. Ten players ready to ambush, binder's out and their posture, demeanor, made it easy to feel that they were not amateurs.

Only one of the player's addressed them; he was a tall man in a yellow shirt with a fur collar and violet pants. "Only fools participate in tournaments. If you want a card, just take it from someone," All cards were held up, ready to attack, "Understand kids?"

Gon's sole was ready to push off against the ground, but Killua opted for him to surrender the card. "Just give up. They look like they're pro's and they're probably strong since they aren't using violence,"

Sakura sighed, hands sliding behind her back, "You're right, we can't attack them all at once, someone will cast a spell. Come on Gon,"

Gritting his teeth Gon took out his binder and walked towards one of the men. "Sorry kid, nothing personal,"

Sakura grinned, "Same here,"

It was a blur when she tossed the white balls, seemingly wrapped in a paper covering; exploding into smoke the instant they hit the ground. The players cringed but a warning came through.

"Smoke bombs won't save you!"

Gon wasn't sure what had happened in that instant, but he was lifted off the crowd and his stomach lurched with the wind beating against his back, catching sight of Killua under Sakura's arm opposite him. The pinkette had safely landed on the roof of the tallest building where they were able to see the commotion down below.

"Sakura what the hell!?" Killua hissed, "They can still cast spells on us even if we get this far,"

The pinkette dropped them both and pointed down below, "You sure about that?"

The smoke began to clear and all they saw were players laying on the ground, motionless, some with saliva running down their mouths as half-lidded eyes, turned white indicating loss of consciousnesses in an unnatural manner.

"Those weren't just smoke bombs,"

"Poison?" Killua inquired.

She winked, "They can't cast spells when they're unconscious right?"

"Wow, Sakura that was….." Gon's vision was blurred, he shook his head trying to keep his balance. Sakura caught him under her arm and easily clipped open her bag, taking out a small vial and opened his mouth, tipping the liquid into his mouth. She then threw him onto her back, holding his legs, and hunched forward.

"Sorry about that Gon. The antidote should take effect soon. Let's get out of here before we run into any more players,"

They found a more still part of town and rested on a stairway that would allow them to remain hidden from most people's view while being able to survey their surroundings.

"Wow, that's my custom poison and you're still unaffected Killua?"

The white-haired boy shrugged, "I'm immune, good thing none of them were. How are you doing Gon?"

Gon swayed slightly, leaning against Sakura's shoulder for support. The poison was meant to numb the senses and put you to sleep, even when you woke, it would still take days before you were able to move properly, "I'm fine now,"

"You could have told us you had that plan," said Killua. He had forgotten that Sakura's knowledge and skills weren't limited to healing. There were two sides to the practice and she had ensured she was diverse in both remedy and poison.

"But I didn't want them to suspect anything; otherwise it might have resulted in a head-on fight. We'd give at least one of them a chance to cast their spells,"

"We need to get spell cards too," Gon said, standing up.

Killua smiled, "Then our destination is Masadora,"

Despite the time that has passed and their awareness that has sharped, the tip wasn't sharp enough to detect the presence of the one who had been observing and following them.

..

..

..

..

..

After going to the Trade shop to trade in some of their cards for money, the three bought supplies and a fill-in map as they prepared to go to Masadora. But with a blank map, they had to do a reroute to the Trade shop to buy information on how to get to Masadora. The NPC of the store was a burly man with a stern face and expressionless voice who mechanically gave information to players who pay for it.

"Head north for eighty kilometers. If you follow the North lake, you should reach Masadora,"

"If we hurry we can go eighty kilometers in a day," said Killua.

"l could do it in less,"

"Show off," Killua winced as the pinkette pinched his cheek.

"Assuming you survive," the NPC continued, "The mountain is crawling with bandits. And once you pass the mountain you'll encounter hordes of monsters,"

The thought of facing bandits and monsters only proved to excite the three like the children they were. The promise of danger also gave a great promise to adventure. One that they couldn't wait to have.

"Alright let's go!" Gon called out when they left the store.

"Please wait!"

Barely two steps and already they were brought to a pause by the familiar figure running towards them with a feeble expression. It was the young girl with the doll-like appearance that had been part of the passing selection to enter the game.

"Please let me join you!"

Sakura seemed taken aback, "That's um…

Killua bluntly declined, aware that his friends would likely be swayed by the blonde girl's pitiful appearance. "Sorry, can't,"

"W-Why not?"

"You'd be a nuisance," Killua winced when his skull vibrated from the impact of Sakura's familiar smack. "What was that for?!"

"Being rude," Sakura replied, she then turned to the girl again, "I'm sorry about him. By chance are you also going to Masadora?"

"Yes," She looked up at Sakura, holding her gloved hands together, "Please let me join you, I'll try really hard not to get in your way!"

"Well since we're all heading in the same direction anyway…." Killua tugged the back of Sakura's top to turn her around, whispering harshly when they were barely an inch from each other's faces.

"Hey come we don't have time to babysit!"

"We're not going to be babysitting, if she managed to get into the game through the same screening we had," Sakura honestly didn't know if having this girl accompany them was going to turn into a hindrance and her being here means she turned down the offer to join forces with the other players to clear the game.

Killua narrowed his eyes and looked over his shoulder the girl and sighed, "Fine, you can come along if you can keep up,"

She nodded, "Thank you!"

Sakura smiled, "What's your name?"

"I'm-

Killua turned and started walking away, dragging his friend's with him, "Let's go,"

"Hey, Killua!"

The pigtail girl watched their backs, her mouth dropped into a line and opened as she clenched her teeth, 'This annoying brat…..I was just going to mess with them a little, but now, I'm going to wreck their friendship!'

..

..

..

..

..

..

Mountain terrain was dense with flora and fauna, compact or spread, it was difficult to move in a clear path. With north as the only direction, Sakura, Gon, and Killua ran swiftly with little sign of slowing, even when the sky began to lose its blue hue and darken with the growing cold air.

A few meters behind them, still within sight, the pigtailed girl followed without any signs of fatigue.

"She's keeping up with us better than I thought,"

Sakura replied haughty, "Maybe she overheard your plans to ditch her once the bandits attack," Killua had pointed out since she needed strong Nen to qualify to enter the game, she would at least be able to escape on her own, but Sakura had berated him for almost half an hour after that and now it looked like she was getting ready to start again.

The moonlight provided a scarce source through the canopy of trees, but even with that and all the blind spots, they already stopped before several figures emerged behind the tree trunks, the bottom half of their faces covered with a white cloth, helmets on their heads and swords on their backs.

"Let's take them," Killua said.

They waited for their opponents to approach them, and they did in perfect sync just not in the way they imagined. Instead of leaping for an attack, they landed in front of the three and willingly collapsed on their knees, bowing defenselessly.

"Please helps us!"

"Eh?"

It was only after they quieted that it was possible to hear the light coughing of the group.

To hear their grievance, taking it as a part of the game, Sakura, Gon, and Killua along with the young girl, went to the so-called bandit's village in the mountainside, laying on the other side of a gorge. In one of the homes, they were met with the sight of a young boy laying on a futon, sweating, and breathing profusely with difficulty.

"It's the island's endemic disease. You start with a slight fever but then continues to grow and eventually leads to death,"

The oldest of the group, an elderly man then explained their predicament, "All we can do is use medicine to keep the fever in check, but it only works for a week,"

"It's also incredibly expensive and we're out of money," another coughed, "My son only has three or four days to live,"

"Could you spare us some money?"

Sakura whispered to her friend's, "Just so we're clear I can't do much to heal him right?"

"This is a games event, so in-game characters probably aren't going to be impacted,"

"So if we give them money….?" Gon trailed,

"We'll probably get a reward or information,"

Gon looked at the village elder, "Um, how much do you need?"

"100000 Jenny,"

Sakura frowned, leaning towards her friend's, "It's not a coincidence that that's everything we have, is it?"

"It's probably programming that lets them know these things,"

The blonde girl, who had been sitting back quietly chimed in with a sweet tone, "I have enough to cover that amount,"

Killua just waved her off, "Shut up for a minute would you?"

Again they missed her quick change in expression and didn't even feel the heat of her glare when they turned their backs.

"We can give you the money," Gon offered.

One of the villagers burst into tears, "Thank you so much. You saved my son's life!"

Immediately after they handed the money over, the boy under the futon whimpered weakly, "Cold, I'm so,"

"Oh no! If he's body gets any colder he'll die before we can give him the medicine! If only we had some children's clothes, some children's clothes!"

Sakura coughed, turning her head, 'I know where this is going,'

..

..

..

..

..

…

"Dammit!" Killua cursed for the fourth time while they ran out of the forest. Thinking it was another part of the event for the game, Gon had given away his green jacket and Killua his white and blue tops, leaving them only with their tanks underneath.

"At least they didn't ask for your pants," Laughed Sakura.

"It's not funny!" Killua snapped.

Gon kept looking ahead as they ran down a hillside, propelled forward by the slope as they searched for the end of the forest, "We didn't get any information, we lost our clothes and we're broke now,"

Though this seemed like an in-game event, they hadn't received any rewards for their efforts. And they were still being trailed after by the young girl. Sakura looked back to check on her as she had been doing since the beginning of their journey.

"Are you alright?"

She gave Sakura a sweet smile, "Yes, thank you,"

Killua glanced back, glaring at her, "Why the heck is she still following us?"

"She said she was heading to Masadora too, don't get so hostile,"

"We'll probably be able to ditch her once we get passed the mountain,"

..

..

..

..

..

There was no particular reason she chose to latch onto those three children. It was simply a whim mixed with a desire for mischief. Initially, she assumed, she would be the only 'child' player present in the game, so she was piqued seeing them. The screening was not a low obstacle to climb over, especially considering the harsh judgment of Tzguerra.

They seemed a bit conceited, especially the white-haired boy. Yet he was the first to surrender when those other professional players cornered them in Antokiba. It wasn't as if they were capable of taking them on and if it hadn't been for the quick thinking of their female friend, they would have lost their specified slot card.

Though they had been running for hours, neither were showing signs of fatigue and despite losing all their money and their clothes, the sight at the end of the forest, leading out into a widespread area of rocky mountains without signs of vegetation and promise of monsters only succeeded in accelerating their pace. Leaping into danger at the first turn.

She decided, for now, would be the best time for her to slip out of their sights just to observe what they were capable of.

The rocky terrain worked as cover for the giant cyclops monsters waiting behind, with clubs in hand that created tremendous wind pressure with each swing. Without even accessing the strength of the monsters they rushed in.

The dark head-Gon was attempting one too many punches that were having little effect. Then Killua went in on his target, running along its arm to reach its eye and delivering a single kick. In a massive puff of smoke, it reverted into a card.

"Its eye are its weakness!" He called out to his friends.

'Not bad,' She smiled, watching as they started to take down the monsters with one attack, at times doing some unnecessary jumps and tricks. Although she was noticing quickly that the one who had been keeping her movements to a minimum was the pinkette. She was older than the two boys, but she was easily swayed to their demeanor.

It wasn't long before they had cleared out so many of the monsters that they had exceeded the card-transformation limit for them and could only leave them be. Then they were off again rather eager, but only for a moment before another monster appeared.

This time it was a large lizard, and by large, it was able to tower over the rocky peaks if it stood on two legs, it's body covered in dark purple spots, and a tongue that could reach out and grab them in an instant.

And it was after this that the blonde was beginning to access the individual's abilities. While the two boys were running in order to escape, the pinkette had kept pace before she jumped high into the air, and brought her fist down swiftly onto the head of the reptile. Clearly missing the weak-spot it was attempting to protect with its movements but even then, the creature turned into a card; displaying just how much power was behind that punch.

'So she's got the muscle huh?' Considering herself, it wasn't too surprising.

As the three friends continued to venture not so much effortlessly as carelessly, they were overcoming the monsters, primarily due to one member of the group. The girl Sakura was not only strong but she was sharp. With the next monster that appeared being a small fuzzy creature with a long tail. It's speed was blinding, and although the three had good eyes to keep track of it, only the pinkette caught onto its pattern and managed to capture it.

"The Hyper Puffball," Sakura read before putting it in the binder.

"It was so quick, how'd you catch it Sakura?" asked Gon,

She shrugged "I just picked up on its pattern of movement. At this rate, we'll have a lot of monsters to sell once we get to Masadora,"

'Seriously are they going to rely on her to keep them alive?' The blonde girl gritted her teeth at the thought. She truly thought that their display back in the city was a wonderful display of their friendship, but watching them was making it difficult to understand why.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

She was losing patience fast.

The monsters kept appearing before the three friend's and it was only the girl who was standing any chance of earning the cards. She was on a different level to the two boys. It wasn't just in terms of strength or speed, but her skill in analysis and her experience. She was carrying them and that was not a good thing.

And yet at the same time, she seemed to be on the same level as them in terms of Nen ability.

If they were to run into one too many monsters or worse stronger players; then this dynamic more than their ability; was going to lead to a game over for all of them.

She clenched her white-gloved fist, 'These kids are wasting their potential! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'

Another monster had crossed their path, but they weren't able to see it. Instead of focusing on the empty armor in front of them. With the helmet over its face, they weren't able to see that this was nothing more than a puppet filled with aura hosted in an empty shell.

"GYO!" The girl shouted getting their attention. "Don't take your eyes off it! Use Gyo!"

Their eyes glowed with their aura and they were able to see the white mist leading to the armor and shaping out of it leading behind one of the boulders. While Sakura and Killua avoided the armors sword, Gon went to find the monster behind this manipulation.

It turned out to be a small, furry creature that instantly transformed into a card once Gon set his eyes on it.

"I got the card," Gon called happily rushing back to his friends.

The blonde girl also came down to the three, now addressing in a much firmer tone than her youthful one, "So you can use Gyo. Why didn't you use it before?"

They could only look sheepishly at each other and concluded that they forgot.

The girl raised her finger, "What are you waiting for? Use Gyo!"

After a few seconds longer, they listened to her instruction, "What do you see?"

"The number 1"

"Good; from now on if I lift my finger use Gyo and then call out what you see. If you ever sense anything suspicious use Gyo. Got it?"

Killua was the first to recover from his state of surprise and hissed out, "Why are you ordering us around?!"

She lifted her finger again and Sakura and Gon called out, "Five!"

"Correct, you," she pointed to Killua, "Drop and give me two-hundred push-ups,"

"Huh!?"

"It's your punishment, get to it,"

Killua glared back at the girl who looked younger than him, "What the hell? Why should I?"

Sakura didn't know why she was going along with the girl's instructions so easily, Gon was understandable to a degree but the tone of voice and demeanor just gave her a chilling sense of familiarity of someone who held authority. It was easier for her to identify after training under Tsunade for those years and now she was getting vivid flashbacks of that training and the consequences.

"Um," Sakura called before Killua could pick a fight, "I'm sorry but who are you?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself," She smiled, "I'm the pro-Hunter Biscuit Krueger. And I've first learned Nen forty years ago. I'll be coaching you for now on; in exchange, you have to follow my instructions without fail,"

Although there were many aspects of that statement to confront, the first was this 'young girl's mention of learning Nen four decades ago.

"Forty years ago!?"

Killua blatantly blurted out, "You're an old hag!"

Gon and Sakura watched Killua take a swift journey into the air for his comment.

Sakura swallowed heavily, looking at Biscuit. 'Oh boy,'

And that's all for now; I'm sorry it's not one of my longest chapters, but I'll try to update quickly for now since I'm stuck at home now. I'm still editing this story and I will also be writing another soon.

Till next time, don't forget to review!