I apologize for the long wait, these last couple of weeks have been really hectic. I was honestly supposed to edit and upload this a few weeks ago, but life happened. I've taken the time to start writing the next chapter, so I'll try to update more regularly.

Thanks to those who read and those who leave reviews! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter or Naruto.

Dinner x is x Served

"Good morning Sakura... Sleep well?"

In hindsight, Sakura should've known that coming home late last night wouldn't end well.

She took one look at her mother, who was calmly placing three plates of riceballs on the table, and knew the woman was going to be insufferable to deal with. She was doing that thing where she acted nice, but was really about to chew somebody out.

Sakura sighed. "Yes mom. I did." She turned to Kizashi who sat at the table. "Morning dad."

Her father greeted back with a "Morning sweetheart."

She walked over to the table and took a seat across from him. As much as she wanted to get going to meet up with her team, she knew her parents wouldn't appreciate her constantly skipping breakfast. That, and she had a feeling that her mother wouldn't let her leave anyway.

"Did you really sleep well?" Mebuki questioned, taking her own seat at the table next to Kizashi and across from Sakura. "Because if I didn't know better, I'd think you stayed up pretty late reading those books you came in with last night."

Sakura carefully took a bite of a rice ball, maintaining a neutral expression. But internally, she was thrown the hell off. "How did she..."

"Leave it to your mother to be psychic at a time like this!" Inner Sakura exclaimed.

"Our mother."

She sighed and met her mother's eye. "I didn't stay up too late. I just skimmed through some of them." She returned her attention to her food but could still see her parents staring from the corner of her eye. "Could we drop this? You already scolded me enough last night when I got home."

"Who decided that?" Mebuki questioned. "I decide whether or not I've scolded you enough. And right now, I can tell that you haven't learned your lesson. You'd do it again with no regret."

Sakura raised an eyebrow but waited until she was done chewing to speak. "You're talking like I committed a crime. I lost track of time, I came home right after I realized I was late. And I was at the library. How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

Mebuki narrowed her eyes. "That's the problem. You're not sorry at all."

"But-"

"Sakura," Kizashi chided. "Listen when your mother is talking."

Sakura huffed but stayed silent. She didn't want to fight with her father, she usually didn't have a problem with him. She didn't want to create a problem over something petty.

"Thank you." He turned to Mebuki. "Continue honey," he said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. It made Sakura's eye twitch slightly.

Mebuki, with a nod to Kizashi, began speaking again. "Sakura, I know you think you can do whatever you want because you're a ninja and ninjas are considered adults no matter the age, but you're still a child. A person's brain doesn't fully develop until they're in their twenties. You're only twelve Sakura. You-"

"I'll be thirteen in two weeks..." Sakura cuts in quietly.

Mebuki narrows her eyes. "Bottom line, you're growing up too fast. And I've noticed that recently, you've been getting much more bold with this type of behavior. I'm positive those two foreigner boys are the main reason."

Sakura started rubbing her temples.

"It's way too early for this."

"Why drag Gon and Killua into this? How can they be responsible for my behavior?" Sakura demanded.

Mebuki leveled her with an intent gaze while Kizashi looked cautiously between the two. "Don't act dumb Sakura. You're a very smart girl. I'm sure you have enough self-awareness to see that those boys have had a big impact on your personality in a small amount of time. You may have been a little sassy before, but you didn't openly and continuously defy rules like this. Nor have you taken becoming a ninja seriously like you do now."

It was true, Sakura knew. Gon and Killua did have an impact on her, but didn't they have this conversation already? Why couldn't her mother understand?

"You ever thought that I was always like this on the inside?" Sakura questioned. "That maybe I had no real friends before, no real motivation, so I had no reason to stay out past curfew or lie about going to Ino's house until now?"

She placed her hands on the table and leaned forward, locking eyes with her mother. "Gon and Killua haven't made me a whole new person... they just helped me to be myself more. They treated me like an equal from the start, never looked down on me or treated me like some worthless girl... and maybe that helped my confidence a bit! But is that such a bad thing? Do you want me to be the meek little girl like I used to be? Following others around and obeying instead of thinking for herself?"

There was a beat of silence where her parents just stared at her- one with surprise and the other with indifference.

"Sakura-" Kizashi started.

"Your confidence isn't the problem. It's just being manifested wrong," Mebuki said. "You shouldn't be confident enough to repeatedly disobey your parents at your age. If those boys gave you that type of confidence, I don't want you around them."

Sakura's eyes widened. "What? You can't make me stop being friends with Gon and Killua!" Even Kizashi looked at Mebuki with bewilderment.

"I know," Mebuki simply said. "Even if I told you stop seeing them, you wouldn't listen anyway. There's no point trying to stop you. However..." She folded her hands on the table. "...I want to make sure you won't be negatively influenced by anyone else, especially the ones you'll be around most often. So... I want you to invite your team over for dinner tonight."

Silence.

"The tea has been served," Inner Sakura quipped.

It was way too early for this.

"Um... ok?" Sakura said. "Why...?"

"I want to make sure your sensei along with the Uzumaki and Uchiha at least have some redeeming qualities and won't have a bad influence." She narrowed her eyes. "Uchiha could turn out to be problematic, but I'm more concerned about Uzumaki. I tried to get the Hokage to take him off your team, but he refused."

Sakura's eyes widened once again. She tried what?!

"Whatever you do Sakura, don't trust him. He's not... some normal kid. He's dangerous," Mebuki warned.

Before Sakura could protest, Kizashi spoke up. "She's right Sakura. That boy is not someone you should get close to," he said, a rare stern expression on his face. "Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be welcome in this house. But we have to confirm whether or not he'll be a guaranteed danger to you."

For a few moments, nobody said another word. Sakura stared down at the table, her face hidden from view.

She tilted her head up and nodded blankly. "Ok, I'll invite them."

They quickly finished their meals in silence and Sakura began heading out. She was shaking as she walked to the front door.

"Thank you for listening Sakura." Kizashi said, patting her on the shoulder. Sakura nodded, not even looking his way before she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

As she walked through the village to the meetup spot, she continued shaking. Her head was bowed and her bottom lip was trembling slightly. To some of the onlookers, it looked like she was on the verge of crying. But Sakura was feeling a very different emotion from sadness at the moment.

"How DARE they?!" She raged in her mind. "Talking like that about Naruto when they don't even know him! Like he's some type of monster in disguise!" She scoffed to herself. "He can be a bit mischievous-okay really mischievous... but to say that he's dangerous..." She took a deep breath and started calming down, slowly unclenching her fists. "I don't get it... are his pranks really that bad? All the villagers seem to hate him too... There's no way this can just be about pranks, right? There's got to be more to the story... maybe one of his pranks went really bad by accident?"

She would have to ask Killua and Shikamaru what they thought of the situation when she got the chance. They could help her break things down.

She sighed and shook those thoughts from her head for now. Instead, she mentally revised what she read from the books last night. She had skimmed through a passage on basic chakra sensing and remembered it said something about how she has to get more in tune with her own chakra first in order to better sense the chakra of others. Mindfulness and meditation is involved.

Closing her eyes, she focused on the faint feeling of the small amount of chakra surrounding her body. She vaguely felt the presence of the villagers around her, but made no attempt to dwell on that feeling. She focused solely on her own chakra flow and put effort into memorizing the vibe it gives off, everything else was just background noise.

While walking, she slowly shifted her focus from her own chakra and focused on the similar sensation coming from those around her. The chakra signatures of civilians were much fainter, but still had presence. She slowly made her way through the crowds with her eyes closed until she got to a forest area and away from people.

Now, she focused more intently on her surroundings. The breeze that blew past her face, the grass and trees that surrounded her, even the squirrels climbing around. She tried to maintain a meditative state and keep her mind clear—lest she lose the focus she was trying so hard to maintain. This was her way of training, after all.

After a few minutes of walking in a meditative state, only opening her eyes once in a while to make sure she was on the right track, she arrived at the bridge. She sensed her teammates before she saw them. Opening her eyes, she saw Sasuke leaning over the rail, staring out at the water. Naruto was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed a few feet next to Sasuke. He was most likely doing visualization and image training.

"Good morning boys," she greeted, waving with a smile when they both turned to look at her.

Naruto smiled and waved back. "Morning Sakura!" Sasuke just nodded at her curtly before turning back to the river.

She walked up and sat between the boys, leaning back against the rail. "Looks like Kakashi-sensei will be late again."

Naruto shrugged. "Probably." He scratched his chin and looked at her. "So how'd it go yesterday?"

When Sakura raised a brow out him, he continued. "Did your mother get mad at you for getting home late?"

Sakura sighed and looked to the sky. "Yeah... you could say that." She was about to add a comment about how annoying her mother was, but realized how insensitive it would've been.

"Don't speak bad about parents while next to two orphans... check!"

Sakura fought the urge to roll her eyes at her Inner. "Noted."

She turned back to Naruto, who was watching her curiously. "What about you? What did you guys do after I left?"

Naruto shrugged and looked ahead. "Shikamaru and Choji talked for a bit, but they pretty much left after you. And then..." he grinned and got a distant look in his eyes, but said nothing.

Sakura waved a hand in front his face. "Hello? Earth to Naruto?" Naruto snapped out of it and looked at her. "What? Did you get a girlfriend or something?" She could've sworn she heard Sasuke scoff quietly behind her, but she didn't dwell on it.

Naruto blushed but shook his head furiously. "No! I was just remembering yesterday... you see, I had a sleepover with Gon and Killua."

Sakura blinked, but smiled after a moment. "Really? What'd you guys do? Up to some mischief?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well first we headed back to my apartment to get some of my things... but when we got to their apartment, Killua made me and Gon try on some of the new clothes we got." He chuckled to himself slightly. "That was pretty fun. I was gonna wear some of them today, but I kinda forgot this morning..."

Sakura chuckled. That sounded like Naruto.

"Anyways," he continued. "After that, we talked for a while and told each other stories. Did you know that Killua's family put him through stealth training since he was three? And that Gon fought a creepy clown guy who was super strong?" He asked excitedly. "They told me all sorts of cool stuff!"

Sakura found herself intrigued. "No, they haven't told me about any of that. I knew they probably had some crazy stories, but I didn't want to pry about specifics."

She had a feeling Sasuke was paying close attention to the conversation, especially at the mention of Killua's stealth training.

Naruto had an admiring look in his eye. "They've done so much and they're only our age! They started traveling the world at 11 years old!"

Sakura hummed. So they've only been traveling for around a year probably. She was curious to know how much exactly could've happened during that time.

"I'm surprised they didn't make you play shogi with them," Sakura commented.

Naruto made an embarrassed face. "They did."

Sakura stifled a chuckle. "Killua was beating both of you over and over wasn't he?"

Naruto stood up with a huff. "It was no fair. He's either a cheater, a shogi master, or just super smart. Either way, losing to him doesn't count."

She raised an eyebrow. "So did you manage to beat Gon?"

"Only once out of like, four times..." Naruto said. "But only because Killua helped me. He started whispering math problems into Gon's ear and then Gon's head started... steaming?"

Sakura busted out laughing. Killua was so devious, he'd done that to Gon so many times. God how she wished she was there to see that again.

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "I never expected Gon to be the type to be into shogi anyway, but he said he likes the challenge and that it's kind of like training your mind..." He scratched the back of his head. "How could I argue with that? He convinced me to want to start playing it..."

After a beat of silence, Naruto spoke again.

"Hey, speaking of training, aren't we supposed to run laps right now?" Naruto inquired.

Sakura tensed. "I forgot about that." She really didn't feel like doing that—not with the morning she's had so far. Her parents had worn her down and the semi-meditation she did put her in a relaxed state that she didn't want to ruin.

Sasuke stood from the railing and began walking off the bridge.

"Sasuke?" Sakura questioned.

"Where are you going?" Naruto demanded, standing up.

Sasuke stopped and turned to face them with a slightly annoyed expression. "To start running. Come or stay, doesn't matter to me." He turned and began jogging, turning right once off the bridge.

Sakura raised a brow. She was pretty sure he knew they were supposed to be running, so why didn't he say anything? Or why didn't he start running sooner?

"Obviously, he wanted to eavesdrop."

Sakura pondered that for a moment and decided that her Inner was probably right, as out of character as it sounds for Sasuke. But instead of thinking more about that, she turned to Naruto.

"Might as well," Sakura sighed, already running after Sasuke.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Meanwhile, Gon and Killua had just left their own apartment and were walking through the village, heading to their team meeting.

Killua watched as Gon walked with a spring in his step and a bright smile. He was wearing some of the new clothes Sakura bought him—a navy blue t-shirt, dark green shorts that cut right above the knees, and blue shinobi sandals. He also donned his Paladin's Necklace and his Leaf Village headband was tied around his left arm.

"What's got you so upbeat?" Killua asked with a raised brow. He himself was wearing a blue tank top, brown shorts, and his usual sneakers with his Leaf headband tied around his neck.

Gon looked at him and smiled brighter. "Nothing, I was just thinking about last night! Having Naruto over was really fun, and he seemed happy."

Killua hummed and turned back to the road. "Of course he was. That's the first sleepover he's ever had, and he's been alone for a long time."

Gon nodded. "I never had a sleepover either until that time I brought you to Whale Island with me. That was a lot of fun too."

Killua's lips tilted upward slightly. "Yeah... it was."

What he didn't say is that he wouldn't have minded spending his life there with Gon and his family. Even if things wouldn't be as interesting. But then again, he was also very glad to have met Bisky and all the friends they've made in the Leaf Village.

"We should invite Naruto over more often," Killua said instead.

Gon made a sound of agreement, but seemed to have something on his mind. "Hey..."

"What's up?" Killua asked.

"What if we—"

"Oi! Boys!"

Gon and Killua turned to see Bisky walking up to them from down the street. She wore one of her usual pink dresses with her hair styled into a ponytail.

"Bisky?" Gon said.

"Morning hag."

Bisky's eye twitched at Killua's greeting, but she ignored it. "What are you two doing strolling so leisurely? Kite's waiting you know!"

"You weren't exactly in a hurry yourself... and you were further behind than us..." Killua pointed out.

"So? You're the ones doing the missions and training anyway, not me." Bisky said pointedly. She got in their faces and raised a finger.

"The number #1!" They both called out, their eyes glowing with the aura from Gyo.

She hummed slowly. "Good. You aren't slacking, and you're vigilant even though it's early." She began walking past them. "Come on. While we're on our way, I want you to practice the genjutsu dispelling technique with Gyo. I want you to have it down by the end of the month."

Gon looked at Killua, who had a very dry expression. "We do need to know how to do that since we'll be fighting ninja... We should listen, every moment of training counts."

"I know, I know," Killua whispered, huffing at Bisky's back. "But we were talking about something before she just waltzed over!" He purposely raised his voice with emphasis so she could hear.

Bisky huffed but kept walking. "Idiot. You two have all the time in the world to talk. You go everywhere together and live in the same apartment for crying out loud. Do that on your own time."

Gon laughed nervously as Killua growled. "It's okay Killua. I won't forget. I'll tell you later. Promise." He held up a pinky.

Killua looked at the pinky and back to Gon's face before sighing. "Okay." He wrapped his pinky around Gon's and suddenly, the boy started chanting.

"I-pinky-swear-that-I'll-remember-to-tell-Killua-later!"

"Gon."

"If-I-break-my-promise-I-have-to-swallow-a-thousand-needles!"

"Gon..."

"Sealed with a ki—"

"Gon."

"Yeah?"

"Stop."

Whack!

Whack!

"Are you two deaf? Gyo practice! Start now!" Bisky scolded loudly, scaring off nearby villagers.

"Osu…" the boys groaned, rubbing the new bumps on their heads before following her order.

Pant.

This was ridiculous.

Pant.

Honestly, ridiculous.

Pant.

As she glanced behind her to see her sensei chasing her and her teammates with a dangerous glint in his eye and a kunai in hand, Sakura couldn't help but wonder how they got to this point in three and a half hours.

She looked beside her at the fearful Naruto and the annoyed Sasuke, and her mind wandered back to what happened...

After three hours of them running laps, doing basic physical training and even practicing their own individual interests, Kakashi finally showed up at the bridge. Naruto had his eyes closed practicing visualization, Sasuke was off the bridge practicing with shuriken, and Sakura was reading one of the chakra books. Sakura was the first to notice Kakashi.

Her head turned in the direction she sensed a presence. "You're late!"

Kakashi stood there with his signature book in hand, reading casually as if he wasn't three hours late. He glanced up at Sakura and gave her a casual wave.

"Yo."

Sakura's eye twitched as the man placed the book in his back pouch.

"Hey Kaka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, running up to the man and enveloping him in a hug. Sakura raised an eyebrow at that.

Kakashi, too, looked caught off guard. "Hey there Naruto," he said, awkwardly patting his head with one hand. When Naruto let go, he looked up at the man with an excited grin.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this visualizing and memorizing thing for the true transformation jutsu!" He said, making a fist. "I've been using shadow clones to study objects for me and so far it's been working! Pretty clever huh?"

Kakashi blinked. "That actually is pretty clever, Naruto. That didn't even cross my mind." He looked at the boy curiously. "Did you do it over night?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, with about ten clones. I tried twenty for a while, but it's kind of hard to sleep with because of how heavy my head feels." He paused before adding, "I even have some back at my apartment studying right now."

Kakashi patted him on the head approvingly. "Using that method, you'll be able to get the jutsu down quicker. Nice going, Naruto."

Naruto beamed at the praise.

"Well at least Kakashi-sensei's doing wonders for Naruto's confidence," Sakura thought.

At that moment, Sasuke walked back onto the bridge in silence.

"Good morning Sasuke," Kakashi greeted.

"...It's not morning anymore," Sasuke replied dryly. Sakura had to stifle a laugh at that.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head in fake embarrassment. "You don't say? My bad, you see, an old lady—"

"Save the practiced speech sensei."

Kakashi's gaze turned to Sakura. "Practiced? But I come up with my speeches as I go."

Sakura squinted at him. "I doubt it. I don't know where you go when you're not here, but you probably spend extra time thinking up excuses."

Naruto laughed. "Kaka-sensei probably spends all that time reading that book!"

Sakura saw Sasuke's eyes narrow beside her. She got the idea the boy would be very upset if that was true.

"Why do you read that book so much anyway?" Sakura questioned with a raised brow. "Are you really that perverted or..."

Kakashi turned to Sakura. "The thing is..."

While he was distracted, Naruto went behind him and took the book out of his pouch. He leaped away when Kakashi took a swipe at him.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed, landing on the bridge railing. Even though it seemed to be an instinct, Kakashi almost knocked him in the face.

Kakashi's eyes were intently locked on the book. "What are you doing Naruto?"

His quiet tone of voice sent shivers down the three genin's spines. Was he really that protective of a book?

"I-I... I just wanted to see the book..." Naruto stuttered, faced with Kakashi's piercing gaze. "Besides, you sensed me going behind you right? I didn't think I'd actually be able to get it."

Sakura was sure Kakashi did sense Naruto, but either didn't pay him much mind or thought the boy was just going to hug him again or something.

Kakashi took a purposeful step toward Naruto without saying a word.

"Naruto, give him back the book," Sakura scolded. She really didn't want the boy make their sensei upset.

Naruto, with his feet and one hand placed on the railing, held out the book with his other hand. "Here you go sens-"

Out of nowhere, bird poop hit Naruto on the head and he fell backwards off the railing with a yelp.

Sakura and Sasuke got to the railing in time to see Naruto plop into the water, Make-Out Paradise book still in hand.

At that moment, they both felt a malicious intent from behind them. They turned to look back at Kakashi, but the man was already gone. They then turned back to the water when they heard a splash but saw nothing there.

"You have five seconds to start running."

Sakura and Sasuke flinched, turning around once again to see a soaked Kakashi with an unamused expression holding a wet Make-Out Paradise book in hand. At his feet, an equally soaked Naruto was furiously wiping at his head.

"Wait a minute sensei—"

"Five."

Sakura shivered. What was with the scary mood shift? Is he for real? Or is this another test?

"Four."

Sakura grabbed Naruto by the collar and began dragging him away, channeling chakra into her legs.

"Sakura? What are you—"

"Get up idiot!"

"Three."

Naruto got up from the ground and began running beside them, still trying to wipe the bird poop off.

"Two."

Sakura glanced behind her to see Sasuke in tow with an annoyed expression directed at Naruto. Honestly, she was on the same page as him.

Pouring chakra into her legs, she mentally prayed that this would at least bring them together more as a team.

"One."

And about forty minutes later, they're alive, but still running. She could tell Kakashi was taking it easy on them, and she was grateful to know he hasn't completely lost it.

But still, the fact that he was barking commands at them and throwing kunai tells her that he's at least lost it a little.

"Scratch that! A LOT!" Inner Sakura exclaimed.

Sakura had to agree, but she couldn't help but place some of the blame for their predicament on her blonde teammate. She turned to him with annoyance showing in her expression.

"Why the hell did you have to take the book, idiot?!" She'd already asked that question multiple times in the past forty minutes, but she had to ask again.

Naruto, who was fearful to an extent and had just dodged another kunai, turned to face her. "I'm sorry, okay?! It's the damn bird's fault!"

She sighed. Holding on to her annoyance helped her run faster, but it was hard to stay mad at the boy.

"Don't blame the bird loser. Why would you stay on top the rail anyway?" Sasuke said with a scowl as he weaved another kunai.

Naruto glared at him and put up the middle finger. He quickly retracted his hand and yelped as a kunai flew right by it.

"Faster kids!" Kakashi chirped in a false kind voice that made the three of them shiver.

"This guy is just too weird!" Sakura exclaims, forcing herself to run faster. "He's usually all laid back and uncaring! Then there'll be times where he switches up and decides to get serious and intense! Now he keeps switching from an angry drill sergeant to a damn psycho!" She tried to take a deep breath to stop her heavy panting, but to no avail. "What's next?!"

Sasuke scoffed, wiping sweat off his brow. "Weird is an understatement. He's a character."

"He's not that bad!" Naruto protested. "It's my fault he's mad anyway..."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why are you defending him?" He hasn't even been their sensei for five days yet!

Naruto looked at her with an honest expression. "He's a good sensei." She saw Sasuke roll his eyes next to Naruto.

She understood where Sasuke was coming from. It was far too early to come to that conclusion—especially when the man has been chasing and throwing weapons at them for almost an hour. The mood shifts he displays are perplexing to say the least.

"If you say so..." Sakura replied.

"Save your breath. Talking wastes energy," Sasuke told them, running further ahead.

Naruto yelled out at the unspoken challenge and ran after the boy.

Sakura mentally sighed. She didn't have the energy to keep up with them. Her stamina was very low, and she was almost drained. If it wasn't for her training with Gon and Killua as well as the studying she did on chakra enhancement yesterday, she would've fell behind a while ago.

Focusing more chakra into specific parts of her legs, she amplified the muscles and bones, allowing her to speed up and race after the two.

The thought that Kakashi didn't intend to stop anytime soon haunted her.

An hour later, around 2 PM, Sakura lay panting on the forest floor and close to losing consciousness while Sasuke sat panting against a tree. Kakashi was standing above Naruto, who was on the ground doing push-ups as further punishment.

"497...498...499..." Naruto's arms shook severely on the last push-up as he slowly extended them. "500!" He collapsed face-first, rolling over onto his back to peer up at Kakashi.

"Was that... enough sensei?" He panted.

Kakashi watched him with an unreadable expression. "I didn't expect you to do all of them," he said after a while.

Naruto chuckled a bit. "Yeah... well I said I would do it... so I did it... that's my ninja way after all..." He closed his eyes. "Besides... I kinda deserved it... Sorry about the book sensei... I can buy it back if you want..."

Kakashi said nothing for a while, just watched him with an appraising eye. Sasuke was closely watching the exchange while Sakura was listening nearby, trying to stay awake.

After a few moments, Kakashi kneeled down and ruffled the boy's hair. "No. It's fine, you did good Naruto. It's just a book after all."

Sasuke and Sakura both felt anger and confusion build up in them at those words, but they said nothing.

"He couldn't have come to that conclusion two hours ago...?" Inner Sakura thought.

Sakura mentally agreed. "I really don't know what to make of this guy... he's an enigma." She opened her eyes to lazily look over at him and Naruto. Naruto was looking up at Kakashi with a happy grin. He seemed a bit too happy for someone who just finished being forced to run for over an hour and then do 500 pushups.

She dragged her gaze over to Kakashi. "He has a dangerous effect on Naruto..."

Since Naruto isn't used to receiving love or any type of care from most adults, having a sensei like Kakashi is playing on one of his weaknesses. He clearly looks up to the man, to the point where he thinks highly of what he thinks of him and tries to make a good impression. Like a student trying to get straight As to impress their favorite teacher.

She heard that this was common for orphans, but it made Sakura uneasy.

Not because she thought Kakashi would purposely take advantage of him or anything, no. She could tell that their sensei was genuinely a good guy at heart. But the man seemed to have quite a few issues himself, and she's wary of the effect he could unconsciously have on Naruto. The fact that he doesn't seem to know how to deal with genin or kids in general doesn't help.

It would be so easy for him to hurt Naruto feelings, especially when the boy already seems to have issues with adults. She remembered how withdrawn he was yesterday after he was treated harshly by the clothing store owner. How he tries to hide behind a smile whenever he's walking through the village and the villagers are throwing him looks. Even if he tries to hide it, stuff like that really gets to him. She knows that much.

She might have to talk to Naruto about this later, but she doesn't want to address it randomly. It's not like Kakashi poses danger to Naruto.

"Well, that isn't exactly what I had planned for today, but I guess that wraps up your training." Kakashi said, turning to Sasuke and Sakura. "Meet up tomorrow, same time. You'll have another D-rank."

Before Sakura could even groan, she remembered something important. "Wait!" She groaned from her spot on the floor.

Kakashi, who had just been about to leave, turned to face her. Naruto and Sasuke were waiting for her to speak too.

She took a deep breath. "My mother wanted me to invite my team over for dinner tonight... including my sensei." She knew she didn't sound quite happy about it, but she didn't have the energy to pretend. "So... will you come?"

Kakashi eye-smiled but shook his head. "I appreciate the invite Sakura, but no, I can't unfortunately. I have something to do today. Maybe next time."

Sakura nodded easily. It's not like she particularly wanted him to come. If it were up to her, this dinner wouldn't even be happening. But she knew if nobody came, her mother would do something like show up to one of her team meetings...

The thought made her cringe.

Moving on, she turned to her blonde teammate. "What about you Naruto?"

Naruto, who was still drenched in sweat, looked nervous. "Uh... are you sure your parents want me? I mean... your parents do know that I'm on your team right?"

Sakura nodded with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Yeah...?" She sat up to look at him more closely.

He looked confused. "They do? Really?" He scratched his head. "You sure they know that it's Naruto Uzumaki and not a different Naruto or different Uzumaki?"

"What are you getting at Naruto? Yes they know it's you..." She mentally reasoned that he probably thought her parents hated him like the other villagers.

"Well he's not wrong," Inner commented.

Kakashi, who had been listening, put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Trust me when I say your name is unique, and I doubt they found another Uzumaki." Kakashi told him. "Anyways, enjoy dinner kids. I'm off!" Just like that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

What. The. Hell.

Why did he sound so cryptic? Why did he seem to try to comfort Naruto? Why did he vanish so quickly?

This man gave the exhausted Sakura a headache, but she couldn't take her eyes off Naruto. The boy was grinning at the spot Kakashi just was.

Sasuke huffed and stood up, looking ready to leave. Sakura had almost forgotten he was there with how quiet he was.

"Sasuke! What about you?" Sakura said hurriedly, not wanting him to feel left out. "Would you come to dinner?"

She already knew he would say no, but at least she asked, right?

"Hn."

Sakura had no idea what that meant.

"She doesn't speak your language, bastard," Naruto said with a small smirk.

After scowling at Naruto for a moment, Sasuke schooled his expression and turned his gaze to Sakura. "Fine."

Sakura and Naruto both tried and failed at hiding their surprise.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and shifted his weight to his other leg. "Just tell me the address so I can get out of here. I have things to do."

After telling both Sasuke and Naruto where she lives and telling them to come at 7, the three all went their separate ways. Naruto offered to accompany Sakura home because she was so tired, but Sakura refused. Instead, she just picked up a nearby wooden stick and used it as a cane to help her walk home.

And if she saw Ino on her way home, it didn't matter.

And if Ino walked past her with no acknowledgement whatsoever, it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that she needed a nice, long bath.

Naruto was panicking.

No, panicking didn't even describe it.

Naruto was freaking out.

First, he gets invited out with friends.

Then, he gets invited to a sleepover.

Now, he's getting invited to a friends house for dinner?

Woah, woah, woah! Things were happening really fast! He only started being friends with Gon, Killua and Sakura less than a week ago!

He had to wonder if this was all some sort of sick joke.

It's not like it'd be the first time he got tricked into thinking he had friends...

Shaking his head, he forced down the bad memories and continued to pace back and forth on his apartment rooftop. Coming up here helped him calm down and think. And right now, he really needed to think.

Because should he even go to the dinner? Would it be rude to not show?

Naruto has never been to a friends house for dinner to meet their parents... what if he makes a fool of himself?

What if they hate him like the other villagers?

Or worse, what if they don't hate him but he screws up and makes them hate him?

What if-

"Hey Naruto!"

"Ah!" Naruto yelped, jumping away from the source of the sound.

"Hey idiot."

Naruto yelped even louder, jumping away from the person that was behind him.

"I think we scared him Killua."

"Duh."

Naruto blinked. Gon and Killua were walking over to him and waving in his face.

"Naruto? You ok?" Gon asked in slight concern. "We didn't mean to scare you. We just wondered what you were doing and came to talk to you."

Naruto, whose heart rate was starting to slow, looked at them in confusion. "How did you know I was up here?"

His building was pretty high, people shouldn't be able to see him from the ground. That's why he came up here, so none of the villagers would bother him.

"We sensed you," Killua said simply.

It took a moment to process, but Naruto looked at them in awe. "Wow, so you guys can do that too?" He asked with a grin. "Kakashi-sensei told me about that."

Gon nodded but Killua spoke up. "So... you gonna tell us why you're up here having an aneurysm?"

"An ana-what?" Naruto asked with a confused face. Gon looked lost too.

Killua sighed. "Nevermind, just spill."

A few minutes later, Naruto had filled them both in on the dinner situation as well as his nervousness and anxiety about the situation.

"You'll do good Naruto!" Gon told him, patting him on the shoulder. "There's no reason Sakura's parents shouldn't like you after they get to know you."

"Well, unless they know about the whole fox seal thing, which I'm sure they do. There's no way they could've lived in this village for so long and not hear about it," Killua said. "The only ones who don't know are the younger generations."

Naruto sat at the edge of the roof and pulled at his hair. "I know! This stupid fox is messing things up for me!" He sighed and put his hands on his knees. "Why can't it bring good luck my way like it did that one time with Mizuki?" He asked rhetorically.

Killua and Gon both raised their eyebrows at that.

"One time with Mizuki?" Killua questioned.

"What do you mean?" Gon asked.

"...I said that out loud?" Naruto asked incredulously. Both boys nodded, causing Naruto to look away. "Look, I didn't mean to keep a secret or anything, I just didn't want you two to be... scared of me or anything. It was just a one time thing, didn't hear from it again after. Swear!"

Killua's eyebrows got higher. "Hear from it? It spoke to you?"

Gon looked shocked, surprised at the implication that it could even communicate with Naruto.

Naruto nodded slowly, putting a hand on his stomach. "When Mizuki put us all under the genjutsu, it was the fox that got me out. It said it couldn't let me die and that I owed it. I tried to talk to it again after that, but I never heard anything. It gave off this weird feeling at the time too, but it only lasted a few seconds. It was kind of... burning? But didn't hurt?" He scratched his head, racking his brain to explain it better. "It'd be red if I gave it a color."

He looked down and clenched his fist a bit. What he didn't tell them was that he had felt that same feeling one time before... and it didn't end well.

The boys just looked at him as if he were something to study instead of something to fear. He didn't know if he should be offended or grateful.

"So basically, you've got a pet demon fox living inside you..." Killua said.

"That can speak to you and give you power..." Gon added.

The two boys looked at each other before grinning. "Cool!" They said together.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at them. Normally people would be afraid of something like this, but they thought it was cool? A small grin spread across his face when he heard Killua say it sounded like something from a manga storyline.

"Anyways," he started, "The point is, I don't know what to do. Even if I go to the dinner, they might never except me because of the fox..."

Killua shrugged. "Then there's nothing you can do but go. It'll make you seem worse if you don't show up."

Gon nodded. "And Sakura might get mad if you don't show up after saying you would come."

Naruto shivered slightly. He really didn't want Sakura to get mad at him, it had been a few weeks since she'd hit him. He forgot how much her punches hurt.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll go, but I don't know what to wear." He looked down at his orange jumpsuit. "This isn't something you should wear to dinner... right?" He asked Killua.

Killua raised an eyebrow. "You're asking the wrong person. I wouldn't know what to wear to a dinner." He nodded his head in Gon's direction. "Ask him."

Naruto turned to Gon with slight surprise. "Gon…?"

Gon sheepishly scratched his cheek. "I went with Aunt Mito over to other people's homes for dinner a few times back on Whale-"

"Wave. As in Land of the Waves," Killua cut in, looking pointedly at Gon.

Gon nodded quickly. "Yeah."

Luckily, Naruto didn't look too much into the slip up.

Instead, he asked, "So what do you wear to a dinner?"

Gon tilted his head and looked up, his finger on his chin. "Well, I don't think there's any rule for it... but Aunt Mito said I should just make sure I look presentable."

Naruto's expression became even more lost. "And how do I do that?"

"Ah, well, since you're trying to make Sakura's parents like you... maybe you should wear clothes more like the villagers are wearing?"

Naruto blinked. "Like some of the clothes I tried on last night?" Most of them had been outfits for ninja work, but there had been a few shirts and pairs of pants that were more on the civilian side.

Gon nodded. "Yeah. Sakura's parents are civilians right Killua?"

"Yeah, that's what she's always told us." Killua put his hands in his pockets and turned to Naruto. "What Gon's saying makes sense. Since they're civilians, they'll appreciate it more if you come into their house with something less..." He looked Naruto up and down. "...bold."

Naruto's eye twitched. "I feel like 'bold' really means you think it looks stupid, but ok." He huffed and stood up. "I forgot my clothes over at your apartment anyway. Should we go right now?"

Gon and Killua looked at each other and shrugged before turning back to Naruto.

"Yeah, let's just hope we don't run into our teammate. She might want to help play dress up with you," Killua said.

Gon laughed at that.

"You mean the blonde girl?" Naruto asked curiously, turning and jumping from his apartment roof to a lower level house.

Gon and Killua were right behind him.

"Yeah," Killua responded, him and Gon having easily caught up. "Like you, she seems to have a taste for some... unusual clothes."

"Maybe it's a blonde thing..." Killua thought to himself, Kurapika's Yorknew outfit coming to mind.

Naruto scoffed. "Oh yeah? Those sneakers you wear are pretty unusual... and those green short shorts Gon usually wears too!"

"What's wrong with them?" Gon mumbled to himself in confusion as he leaped along rooftops.

Killua sighed. "My sneakers might be weird to you, but they're not an unusually bright color. Neither are Gon's shorts. And calling them short shorts is Shikamaru's thing."

Naruto pouted at that, jumping further ahead. "We're all thinking it..."

"Anyways," Killua started, "Gon's shorts aren't really unusual for kids where we're from... I used to wear shorts about the same length too." He pointed his thumb at Gon. "And if you haven't noticed, he's wearing longer shorts today, and a whole new outfit. He's stepped up. Time for you to do the same." He looked pointedly down at Naruto's jumpsuit.

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Time for you two to step up!" He began jumping farther, trying to leave them behind. "Race ya!"

Gon and Killua followed him at the same pace for a few moments, watching Naruto get further across the village.

Suddenly, Killua grinned mischievously and pushed down on Gon's head before jumping away. "Last one there does 1000 push-ups later!" He called to Gon.

Gon looked up with a challenge in his eyes. "You're on!" He said, leaping after Killua with a smile.

A few hours later, after the sun had set, Naruto and company arrived in front of Sakura's house. It was a plain-looking two-story home in the middle of the civilian district. Even so, this did nothing to reduce Naruto's growing anxiety. In fact, the light shining through the windows made it worse.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned slightly to face Killua, who was smirking mischievously.

"What now? Got cold feet?"

Naruto huffed and turned away, accidently coming face-to-face with a curious Gon.

"What's wrong Naruto? You're gonna ring the doorbell, right?"

"U-uh, yeah... of course..." Naruto stuttered out. "It's just..."

"We didn't spend the last few hours helping you for you to chicken out now," Killua told him. "You might as well get it over with."

"Yeah!" Gon chimed in, moving to stand in front of Naruto. "Besides, you look great!"

Naruto looked down at his attire. He was wearing a white-button up shirt with the top button loosened, black pants, and black sandals(Killua said shoes would make him look like he's trying too hard). He absentmindedly rubbed at his bare forehead where his headband usually was.

"I agree with Gon. It's simple, but seems appropriate," Killua said.

Naruto looked at him skeptically. "How would you know what's appropriate? You said you've never been over to a dinner like this. And you're not even from this village..."

Killua smirked easily. "I know well enough to not show up wearing one of those kimono outfits like you were trying to do..."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "Wearing that would be more respectful! It would make a better impression... right?"

"For the last time, no. It's too formal, and it would just look like you're trying too hard." Killua rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you're acting like this is the most important dinner in life. Sakura's parents want to meet her teammates, big deal. If they don't like you, who cares?"

Gon nodded. "Yeah. I told you, you just need to look presentable. And you already do."

"Exactly, what Gon said," Killua agreed. "You're already wearing something you wouldn't normally wear. Don't push it."

Naruto sighed and looked down, nodding at his friends' advice.

Gon patted him on the shoulder, and Naruto looked up to a comforting smile. "Just be yourself!"

Killua coughed. "But not too much like yourself... remember to talk quieter. Oh and eat normally, you eat like a beast. And try to avoid screaming out how you'll be Hokage too."

Gon laughed good-naturedly at Killua's comments and Naruto felt some of his nervousness receding.

He grinned slightly and nodded. "Yeah, got it. I'll do my best."

"Are you going to ring the doorbell or what?"

Naruto along with the two other boys turned to see none other than Sasuke Uchiha. He clearly wasn't taking this nearly as seriously as Naruto, because the only thing that changed about his attire was the black long-sleeve sweater he now wore and the absence of his Leaf headband. He had a slightly annoyed expression with a raised eyebrow, looking Naruto up and down.

Naruto saw the exact moment Sasuke's lips twitched, stifling laughter.

"Trying to make an impression, loser?"

Naruto's eye twitched and he felt the anxiety returning.

This could be bad. He didn't know if he could make it through the whole dinner without letting this nice boy act slip. Sasuke always found a way to get under his skin.

At that moment, Gon walked up to Sasuke, who looked at him with questioning eyes.

Gon held out a hand. "Hi! I'm Gon Freecs! You're Sasuke, right?"

Sasuke looked from Gon's face, to his extended hand. "Yeah," he replied, not taking the hand. He met Gon's eyes coldly. "What do you want?"

"Rude as usual duckhair," Killua commented, drawing Sasuke's gaze to him. "Here Gon is trying to be nice and you have no manners at all."

Sasuke said nothing for a moment, just staring, scrutinizing. Then, he turned his gaze to Gon and did the same thing.

If it were most other people, they would get uncomfortable. But Killua simply raised an eyebrow and Gon tilted his head curiously.

Behind them, Naruto was watching the weird exchange while scratching his head. He didn't really know what was going on right now, but he knew he didn't want to be late for the dinner.

"Guys, I'm going to ring the doorbell," he said to Gon and Killua. "Thanks for all the help. I owe you one."

Gon smiled and Killua just waved him off.

"You don't need to thank us," Killua told him. "Friends are supposed to help friends. It's just what we do." Gon nodded in agreement.

Naruto grinned and nodded at them, missing the slightly confused look on Sasuke's face as he turned to the door.

Before he could even ring the bell, the door swung open. A middle-aged woman with brown hair and a white dress stepped outside. She had a strong posture and when she met his eye, he took a step back at the power in her gaze.

"Are you kids going to stand outside all day?" She questioned with a clipped tone.

"A-ah, no, we were just, I mean..." Naruto stuttered.

"What Naruto is trying to say is that he wanted to wait for Sasuke to get here. Sasuke just arrived," Killua explained easily.

Naruto sighed in relief. Even if that wasn't the reason, he was grateful for the save.

The woman's eyes turned to Killua and gave him a once over before doing the same to Gon. Finally, after sparing a glance to Sasuke, she looked back at Killua.

"I'm guessing you and the boy in green shorts are Gon and Killua, correct?" She asked.

"I'm Gon!" Gon said with a smile and a wave. "Nice to meet you."

The woman stared at him for a moment. "The pleasure's mine." She turned back to Killua. "Then that makes you Killua, correct?"

Killua nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. He didn't know where she was going with this, but he didn't like her vibe.

"I'm sorry, but you're not welcome to this dinner. This is strictly for my daughter's teammates, which you are not," she said, staring him in the eye. "I'll have to ask you to leave."

"We were just leaving," Killua said, turning around. "We just wanted to walk Naruto here."

The woman looked between Killua, Gon and Naruto. "I see."

Suddenly, everyone heard footsteps coming from behind the woman.

"Mom? What's going..." Sakura stopped and looked around her mother to see the three boys standing outside. "Hey guys," she said in confusion, looking specifically at Gon and Killua.

"Naruto asked us to help him get ready," Killua explained with a smirk.

"And we walked him over here," Gon added with a lifted finger.

A smile spread across Sakura's face, even if her mother finally seeing the boys in person made her nervous.

She turned to Naruto and looked him up and down with a surprised face. "Wow, Naruto. You look nice!"

Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "T-thanks Sakura." He wasn't used to getting complements.

Sakura felt her mother's eyes on her but ignored it.

She looked towards the back of the group to see Sasuke and waved slightly. "Hi Sasuke, glad you could make it."

Sasuke gave her a nod, but otherwise said nothing.

"My daughter spoke to you, boy. Have some respect," Mebuki told him.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Mom!" Sakura whisper-shouted.

Killua turned his head and hid a chuckle behind his hand and Gon was just looking around with an interested face. Naruto looked at Sasuke and noticed that the boy's hands were clenched in his pockets. He seemed to be keeping his emotions in check.

"Thank you for having me," Sasuke forced out in a low tone. He schooled his face into a blank expression.

Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't want conflict before the dinner even started!

Changing the subject, she turned to Gon and Killua. "Since you're already here, do you want to stay for di-"

"Actually," Mebuki cut in, waiting for Sakura to meet her eye. "I believe your friend Killua said they were just leaving." She turned to Killua. "Right?"

Killua narrowed his eyes. "Yeah." He looked at Sakura and Naruto, his expression relaxing slightly. "Later Sakura, Naruto."

Sakura and Naruto both nodded and said "Later." Both were wishing the boys didn't have to leave, especially Naruto. He felt like he was being left to his death.

Killua turned and began walking away. "Come on Gon." Gon looked between Killua and Sakura's mother before waving and following Killua.

"Bye Naruto, bye Sakura," he said. "We'll talk later!"

Naruto nodded and gave him a thumbs up, a nervous grin on his face.

Sakura gave him a small smile and a wave. She could always just drop by their building to have dinner with them and Bisky.

Killua locked eyes with a slightly-smirking Sasuke. He bumped shoulders with him and kept walking, not bothering to look back at the annoyed expression on the Uchiha's face.

Gon tapped Sasuke on the shoulder and smiled when Sasuke's eyes turned to him. "Sorry about that, he's just a bit tense. See you around Sasuke!" Just like that, Gon jogged after Killua.

Sasuke watched in confusion as the boy walked away with Killua. Naruto figured he probably was wondering why Gon even bothered being nice to him even though Killua clearly didn't like him.

That's just the type of guy Gon is.

"Well, come on in," Mebuki said to Naruto and Sasuke, standing aside so they could pass. Sakura moved aside too.

Naruto took a deep breath and walked forward with Sasuke right behind him. Sakura met Naruto's eye and gave him a reassuring smile. That eased his nerves a bit.

Walking along the wooden floor of the walkway, they reached a mat to place their sandals on. Naruto and Sasuke began taking off their sandals while Sakura waited for them and Mebuki walked further into the house.

Once she was sure Mebuki was out of earshot, Sakura turned to them. "Look, I'll be honest. This is gonna suck. My mother is very... hard to deal with, and my father will always follow her lead. But no matter what, can you two try not to act up? Please?"

Sasuke scoffed and looked annoyed for being told what to do. "Whatever."

Naruto gulped and nodded.

"That means eating like a normal human, Naruto." Naruto flinched. "That means no disrespectful remarks either Sasuke." Sasuke scoffed once again and turned away. "My mother may be a civilian, but she isn't someone to make an enemy of. She can get kind of... crazy."

"How crazy?" Naruto asked fearfully.

Sakura regarded him for a moment before an evil smirk broke out on her face.

"Pretending to find a bug in her ramen to get Ichiraku shut down crazy."

The horrified look and gasp Naruto gave was priceless. Sakura couldn't keep her composure and busted out laughing. Even Sasuke couldn't keep a small smirk off his face. After Naruto realized it was a joke, he chuckled a bit and blushed in embarrassment.

Sakura sobered up after a few moments. "No, but seriously. Try to behave."

Naruto nodded and Sasuke replied with "Hn."

Sakura led them through the house until they made it to the dining room where her father was already seated at the far end of the round table. Sakura took a seat directly across from him and her teammates sat on either side of her. She could tell they just didn't want to sit next to each other.

She was relieved, it was less likely for them to start bickering this way.

Her father regarded her teammates with a critical eye, leaning forward and folding his hands under his chin. His intense gaze focused especially on Naruto.

Naruto gulped and put a hand on his chest. "Goodnight M-mr. Haruno. I'm-"

"I know who you are," the man cut in, his eyes turning to Sasuke. "I know who you are too Uchiha."

Sasuke had to stop himself from making a cocky remark. "Hn."

Sakura put a hand over her eyes. The tension was already mounting... and her mother wasn't even in the room. She was in the kitchen getting the food.

Normally, when guests are over, Sakura is supposed to help her mother in the kitchen. But she really didn't want to leave her teammates alone with her father. Especially not with how nervous Naruto clearly is.

Her father's eyes turned to her. "Sakura," he said steadily. "Why don't you go help your mother? She has a lot of food to bring out after all."

Sakura looked down and bit her lip before nodding. She wanted to stay, but she really didn't want to disobey her father. Arguing with her mother was regular, but she had never had a falling out with her father before.

She felt Naruto's pleading eyes on her as she walked away and felt guilt pool in her stomach. She was leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone with someone who would no doubt interrogate them during her absence.

It could've been worse though. At least it was her father and not her mother.

After Sakura left, Kizashi's eyes turned to her two teammates.

Naruto gulped and averted his eyes downward while Sasuke calmly met the man's gaze.

Silence ensued for a few moments before Kizashi sighed. "You can relax, kid."

Naruto glanced up and saw the man was staring at him with amusement.

A confused expression broke out on Naruto's face. Wasn't the man supposed to be hating him?

"You know, you don't seem as bad as the rumors say. You're not at all what I expected," Kizashi commented. "You just seem like any other kid to me, it's hard to feel any hate towards you. If this is an act, it's a damn good one." He brushed a hand through his hair and sighed. "I always take rumors with a grain of salt anyway."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wondering what rumors the guy was referring too. He figured it tied into how the villagers acted towards Naruto during their painting mission.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't know what to say. Doesn't the man think he's a demon? Why would he be so willing to trust him?

After struggling for a few seconds, he said, "Uh... thanks? Mr. Haruno? Sir? Can I call you sir?"

Sasuke turned away to hide a smirk and Naruto felt his face heating up in embarrassment. Even Sakura's father was chuckling at him.

"Go ahead," Kizashi replied amusedly. "No need to be so nervous. I'm just a civilian and I don't necessarily have a problem with you two yet, I've just been wary." His eyes moved towards the kitchen behind them. "It's my wife you should be concerned about. She says it's a dinner, but it's really going to be more like an interrogation." Naruto gulped at that while Sasuke scowled a bit. "I hope you're prepared—she won't be nice about it."

Maybe Naruto should've stayed home after all.

Meanwhile, Gon and Killua were walking around bored.

"There's no use getting mad over it Killua," Gon told him. "We weren't planning to stay anyway."

Killua huffed. "I know. But when Sakura told me her mother was annoying, I thought she was just being rebellious. But no, her mother is actually a bi—" he cut himself off when he met Gon's innocent eyes.

"A what?" Gon asked curiously.

"...A big problem."

Gon chuckled at that. "Not really. She just seems protective of Sakura."

Killua nodded. "A bit too protective." His mind wandered back to his own mother, and he shivered when he noticed the similarities, even if Sakura's mother wasn't as intense.

"Well what happened, happened. No use getting upset over it," Gon said easily. "How do you think the dinner's going though?"

Killua smirked. "Terribly. The fact that Sakura's mother is like that won't mix well with duckhair. He was already about to give her an attitude back there."

Gon hummed and put a finger on his chin. "I hope Naruto's okay though. He seemed pretty worried, and Sakura's mother might say something mean."

Killua nodded. "No doubt because of the whole fox demon thing. But Naruto's tough, he'll be fine. If her words really start getting to him, he can just leave, right?"

Gon nodded but looked away in thought. "Hey... you think Sakura's mother will out him?"

Killua raised an eyebrow. "Out him?" That phrase could refer to a lot, but he was sure him and Gon weren't thinking the same thing.

"Like, tell Sakura and Sasuke about the fox," Gon said, turning to meet Killua's eye. "I mean, if she really doesn't like Naruto and thinks he's a demon, wouldn't she try to expose him to his teammates somehow? Especially since Sakura's her daughter?"

Killua closed his eyes and shrugged. "Who knows. That woman's more troublesome than the old hag, I'm not even going to begin to try and figure out what she'll do." He turned to Gon. "I don't know about the Uchiha, but I'm sure Sakura won't hate Naruto for a stupid reason like that once she understands the whole situation. If anything, it'll make her more angry at her mother."

Gon smiled at that. "Hmm... you're probably right." He turned away and looked at the night sky. "Hey... how about we go find Shikamaru and Choji to play shogi?"

Killua pondered that for a moment. "I think they have an off-day tomorrow, so they won't have to go to sleep early. But then again... knowing Shikamaru…" he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," Gon chuckled. "He's probably already asleep."

"Guess we'll just have to wake him up." Killua sighed, turning to smile at Gon. "I remember where Shikamaru lives. Let's go kick the bastard out of bed."

Gon chuckled but nodded. He paused and then remembered something. "Oh! I forgot to tell you what I was thinking about earlier."

Killua's eyes gained recognition and looked at Gon curiously. "So tell me now." Gon's ideas were always interesting after all.

Gon grinned. "Well..."

This dinner was a disaster.

Despite knowing things would go this way, Sakura was not prepared for the overwhelming tension in the room.

As soon as her and her mother brought the food and sat down, Naruto had began to eat immediately.

Mistake number 1: Naruto began to eat without giving grace.

Sakura's mother sharply reprimanded him, causing the boy to sink into himself more.

Also, she could've sworn her mother mumbled something like "Of course demons don't pray..."

They've been eating their food in relative silence for the past few minutes, with a bit of small talk that her father initiated with the boys. He would ask them things like how well they did in the academy and what their ninja experience has been like so far.

Sasuke kept his replies short and to the point, but Naruto, under the scrutiny of her mother's gaze, had difficulty answering questions without stuttering.

Her father looked at him sympathetically, but Sakura knew he would never oppose his wife. Her mother was controlling like that.

Finally, her father got to the grand prize question:

"What are your plans for the future?"

Sakura tensed, remembering both of her teammates goals, and seeing how both of them could negatively affect her mother's opinion of them. Especially Sasuke's.

But thankfully(or not), it was Naruto who answered first.

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" Naruto proclaimed, seeming like his regular self for the first time that night.

After a moment of silence, he realized what he said and quickly covered his mouth in shock.

Sakura sighed. He probably just blurted that out of habit and didn't realize. She glanced at her father and saw him gazing with interest, but her mother still had her trademark poker face.

"...You? Hokage?" Mebuki questioned.

"Uh... yeah?" Naruto said unsurely. "It's always been a dream of mine."

She scoffed. "Then you should wake up. Or at least drop the act, because there's no way someone of your kind could truly believe that."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Your kind?" She wondered. Glancing at Sasuke, she saw his eyes narrowed in slight confusion.

Naruto had widened eyes fearfully, as if he understood what her mother was referring to. What was going on?

"I do believe it," Naruto said, looking away. "You don't have to, but I'll show you some day." He met her gaze in mild defiance.

Sakura couldn't help but smile slightly at that. "That's the spirit Naruto, don't let her take away your dream."

Mebuki narrowed her eyes. "Is that so?"

Kizashi was looking between her and Naruto with apprehensiveness. He didn't like conflict, especially now that he sees Naruto as a kid instead of a threat.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Look, I don't mean any disrespect, but what do you really want?" He asked quietly. "You told Sakura to invite us over here to break my will and get me to quit being a ninja or something? Because it's not happening." He met her eyes again. "Many have tried it before."

Sakura's mouth parted. Naruto was just a nervous wreck a few minutes ago, but he was starting to get bold.

Maybe he forgot what she said about her mother getting Ichiraku shut down.

Mebuki eyed him for a moment before looking down at her food and going back to eating as if nothing happened. Slightly thrown off, Naruto looked at Sakura with a confused expression.

Sakura just shrugged. Hell if she knew what her mother was thinking. She has to be the most ninja-like civilian Sakura's ever seen.

Naruto went back to eating, glancing up warily ever so often, and the whole table had lapsed into silence that stretched on for minutes.

Until Mebuki decided to break it.

Putting down her fork, she said, "I don't have to do anything to break your spirit." She met his eye. "It'll break itself."

Every one gave her confused/bewildered looks at that, but she didn't stop.

"You might have a few 'friends' right now, if you even consider them that. But we both know it won't last. It's not in your nature." She wiped her mouth casually with a napkin. "Nobody knows who you really are, not even the ones closest to you. But guess what? Everything that's in the dark will eventually come to light. And when it does..." She met the boy's eye with intensity. "You'll lose everything, everyone. And not only that, you'll realize you never had anything to begin with. You never deserved anything to begin with."

Naruto's expression slowly morphed into horror at the woman's words, sweat trickling down his face. She was getting inside his head, messing with his mind.

"Do you really think you would be allowed to become Hokage? With the danger you pose?" She scoffed. "The Hokage doesn't even trust you enough to leave you unsupervised. Have you really not noticed that you're monitored at almost all times?" Kizashi put his hand on hers, but she slipped in one last comment. "You'll never change your fate. This village is your prison, and you'll do time for everything you've done."

There was a long, silent pause. One in which Sakura could only look at her mother with a mix of confusion, horror and outrage. What gave her the right to say all those things to Naruto? What was she even talking about? What danger does Naruto pose? Why was he monitored?

She slowly glanced at Naruto and saw the boy was looking down with his hair hiding his eyes from view. His mouth was a straight line, not giving away any emotion. She saw that Sasuke was also watching the boy carefully.

After what seemed like hours, Naruto looked up with a forced grin. "Yeah, you're probably right Ms. Haruno." He bowed slightly to Mebuki and Kizashi. "Thank you for having me and thanks for the food, but I just remembered something. Sorry, I have to leave." He slowly got up from the table as everyone watched. Kizashi regarded the boy solemnly, Sasuke had an annoyed expression, Sakura was concerned and Mebuki just continued eating as if nothing happened.

Naruto turned and Sakura knew she had to speak up.

"Wait Naruto!" She called out, turning in her chair to look at him. The boy stopped walking. "You don't have to go! My mother is just a little intense, but you don't have to-"

"It's fine Sakura," Naruto said, giving her a closed-eye grin. "I just... I remembered something I had to do for Iruka-sensei. I'll see you guys tomorrow, right?"

Sakura swallowed but nodded slowly. "Right."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up and bowed once again to her parents before walking out into the hall. After a few moments, they heard the front door close.

For those few moments, Sakura was looking down with her fists clenched painfully in rage.

"...Are you happy now?" Sakura questioned.

She didn't have to specify who she was speaking to, everybody knew.

Mebuki sighed. "Sakura-"

"Are you?" Sakura demanded, lifting her head to meet her mother's eyes. Mebuki looked at her neutrally, no sign of guilt on her face.

"Yes, I am. He's not someone you want to get to involved with," Mebuki told her. "He's dangerous. It's bad enough he's your teammate. This way, it's less likely that he'll try to get close to you."

Sakura slammed her hands on the table, standing up. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, shaking her head. "You know what, I can't deal with you right now." She turned and walked out into the hall. "You're the one who told me invite my teammates, but you clearly did it just so you could antagonize Naruto. I can't believe you."

"Sakura, wait!" Kizashi called. By the time he stood up to follow her, they heard the front door shut once again. Sakura had ran after Naruto.

Mebuki and Kizashi both turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed and got up, beginning to walk out. Right before he left the room, he stopped and turned to meet Mebuki's eye.

"In what way is Naruto dangerous?" He asked. It didn't make sense to him, no matter how much he thought about it.

Mebuki narrowed her eyes at him before closing them and turning away. "You're supposed to be a smart boy, a prodigy right? I'm sure you can figure it out."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and turned, walking into the hall. As he was putting on his sandals, he heard Mebuki say one last thing addressed to him.

"The Uzumaki isn't the only one of my daughter's teammates that's dangerous," She called out from the dining room.

Sasuke scoffed and walked out the Haruno household.

People considering Sasuke dangerous? Now that made sense.

Naruto? Not so much.

Sakura ran through the village streets, wondering where Naruto could possibly have gone. She didn't know where the boy lived, so she decided to check Gon and Killua's apartment instead. Even if he wasn't there, she could ask Gon and Killua to help her find him.

It had taken her a few minutes to get there, but nobody answered when she knocked on the door.

She chewed her bottom lip. "If he was planning to come here, he would've gotten here already." She closed her eyes and tried to feel for any presence inside, but she didn't sense anyone. Not even Gon and Killua were home. She walked across the hall to Bisky's apartment and sensed two people inside. One of them had to be Bisky.

She knocked on the door a few times and waited. After a moment, the door opened and Sakura was greeted by Bisky.

"Hi Sakura!" Bisky greeted with a smile. "How are you doing? Come on in."

Sakura shook her head. "Sorry Bisky, no time. Do you have any idea where Gon and Killua are?"

Bisky shrugged. "If anything, they're probably walking around. They haven't been back in their apartment since they left with your teammate earlier." She turned to look behind her. "Kite! Come over here!"

If Sakura weren't so worried about Naruto, she would've chuckled at the way the woman made demands.

From behind Bisky, she saw the tall, long-haired man walk over with a book about 'Nen theory' in his hand. "Yes?" He said to Bisky.

"Got any idea where Gon and Killua might be?" Bisky asked.

Kite shook his head, now looking at Sakura. "I'm afraid not."

Sakura sighed but nodded at them. "Thanks for your help."

She bid them farewell and Bisky shut the door. She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, wondering where to go next. Before she left the hall, she heard Bisky and Kite engaging in a mild argument, with Bisky scolding Kite. Something about Nen theory and how Kite was 'thinking about it wrong.'

"Is Bisky TEACHING Kite?" Sakura wondered in amusement. It was even more hilarious because Kite was the jounin sensei of their team. "She's teaching the sensei AND the students...?"

As she descended the stairs, she heard a crash coming from behind her as well as Bisky's loud voice.

"Scary! She might be worse than Kakashi with his mood shifts!" Inner said.

She wasn't sure whether to doubt that or not.

She ran outside the building, wondering where to go, when a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"Hey."

Sakura whirled around and saw Sasuke leaning back against the front of the building with his arms crossed. She had forgotten all about how she left him back at her house.

"Sasuke? You followed me here?" Sakura asked in confusion. She didn't notice him following, but then again, this was Sasuke.

She wondered why he followed though. She would have expected him to just go home.

Sasuke scoffed. "You ran off too quick to follow. By the time I got outside you were gone." He leaned off the wall and put his hands in his pockets. "I just had a feeling you and the loser would end up here."

Sakura blinked. "You knew that Gon and Killua live here?"

Sasuke tensed slightly but looked away. "I saw them walk into this building once."

Sakura wondered what Sasuke was even doing over here in the first place, but shook the question out her mind. Naruto was more important right now.

"Ok, well, do you have any ideas where Naruto would have gone?" Sakura asked.

He raised a brow at her as if to say 'you're asking me?'

Sakura gave a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead. "He acted all happy, but I know my mother's words got to him. She knows how to get under people's skin and in their head." Very ninja-like indeed.

Sasuke said nothing, just watching her.

Sakura suddenly jolted and met his eye. "Wait! Did she say anything to you? After I left?" She silently hoped that wasn't the case. She just started to make progress with Sasuke, she didn't want it to be ruined so soon.

After a moment, Sasuke shook his head. "No." He turned away from her and began walking. "Come on. I think I know where he might be."

"O-ok," Sakura said, fast-walking to catch up. She considered asking Sasuke what gave him an idea, but decided against it. Sasuke didn't seem to want to talk right now.

And so, they walked in silence, with Sasuke leading and Sakura following. After a while, Sakura recognized the route they were going.

"Hey..." she started, seeing a very familiar building come into view. "You think he's at the academy?" Sakura questioned, glancing at Sasuke. "I mean, I know he mentioned Iruka-sensei, but I thought that was just a lie. You think he really did go to him?" Maybe Iruka-sensei was another adult figure that Naruto looked up to? The man would be a better influence than Kakashi, that's for sure.

Sasuke shook his head and came to a halt. When Sakura looked at him in confusion, he pointed to a tree across the road from the academy.

Sakura didn't understand why he was pointing at the tree until he looked closer. There was a swing hanging from a branch, with a certain blond boy sitting on it, head bowed.

Sakura's feet started moving before she even thought to ask Sasuke how he knew to look there.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, running across the grass to reach the boy.

He turned his head to look at her in shock. "Sakur-" He was enveloped in a hug before he could even finish. "What are you doing here?" He asked in shock.

Sakura flicked him in the forehead. "Coming after you idiot." She huffed. "I knew you didn't have anything to do for Iruka-sensei. What a liar."

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Yeah... sorry. It was really awkward... I didn't want to mess up the rest of the dinner."

Sakura sighed and leaned against the tree next to him. "Listen Naruto... I don't know what my mother was talking about. She said things like 'what's in the dark will come to light' and you being 'dangerous' but I really don't get it. I'm sure you know what she meant though, right?"

At that, Naruto's face grew grim and he looked away.

Sakura patted him on the shoulder. "Look, I'm not going to ask about it. I know it makes you uncomfortable. But, I want you to know that I'm your friend and I trust you. So if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

Naruto regarded her for a moment before smiling genuinely. "Yeah. Thanks Sakura." He was about to say more but then he saw their black haired teammate walking their direction. Naruto's expression grew a bit guarded. "What's he doing here?" He whispered to Sakura.

Sakura shrugged. "He wanted to help find you, I guess. He's the one who even told me to look here." At Naruto's surprised expression, she smirked. "Seems he knows you better than you think."

"What are you two mumbling about?" Sasuke questioned as he stopped to stand in front of them.

Naruto huffed. "Wouldn't you like to know bastard?"

Sasuke met his eye. "I'd like to know a lot of things. Things about you in particular." Naruto flinched, ready to get defensive until Sasuke spoke again. "But I'll figure it out myself. I'll judge you with my own eyes, not the words of others."

Naruto blinked, watching the boy carefully for a few moments before he smirked good-naturedly. "Right back at ya princess."

While her two teammates were bickering, Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile fondly. These were definitely her teammates, and she could already imagine the crazy adventures she would have with them.

But still, she could tell that her mother's words have affected Naruto. He was a bit more subdued, and he seems to be faking some of his usual personality. She felt anger stir within her.

She wouldn't let anyone break up her growing bonds with her teammates, nor her bonds with Gon and Killua. No matter the reasons.

Naruto, on the other hand, was thinking very different thoughts. His mind kept going through Mebuki's words over and over, even as his mouth was focused on banter with Sasuke. The woman's words went straight to his core, almost like she could see right through him.

"Everything that's in the dark will come to light."

The idea didn't surprise him at all, but made him infinitely fearful.

"You'll lose everything, everyone. And not only that, you'll realize you never had anything to begin with."

He had only just started making bonds a few days ago, and now he realizes that it's very likely he'll lose them one day. And that the only reason he had them in the first place was because of all the secrets he kept.

"Nobody knows who you really are, not even the ones closest to you."

The woman cut right through him with those words. Gon and Killua may know about the fox, but they still don't know his deepest, darkest thoughts and secrets. As much as Naruto would love to blame everything on the fox, he knows that most of the darkness inside him is all his.

He's constantly struggling to stay away from the darker sides of himself, but one day... he might lose. He might break. And that'll be the day that Mebuki is proven right, and everyone he cares about will look at him with disdain. Iruka-sensei, Gramps, Gon, Killua, Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, Kakashi-sensei, even Sasuke. They'll all hate him, and it'll be all his fault, not the fox's.

After turning away from Sasuke and looking up at the sky, he swore he saw a streak of silver on top of a building before it disappeared. Was there someone there just now...?

"Have you really not noticed that you're monitored at almost all times?"

Figures. That would explain why every time he pulled a prank, ninjas showed up so quickly to chase him. Sometimes they even showed up beforehand to stop the prank.

And then there was the time with Mizuki. Killua and Gon showed up out of nowhere. Did Gramps put them up to following him? Is that why they bothered trying to get close to him to begin with? To watch him close instead of at a distance? The thought made his stomach drop.

How much of his life was even his own?

"The Hokage doesn't even trust you enough to leave you unsupervised."

He stifled a bitter chuckle. It makes sense that Gramps doesn't trust him... not after everything that happened a few years ago. So the man puts ninjas up to following him and monitoring him to make sure he doesn't become a threat to the village again. It'd make sense for Gon and Killua to be in on it too, they're not exactly normal genin. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if they weren't genin at all, just undercover.

"This village is your prison, and you'll do time for everything you've done."

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that it's true... the village really is like a prison. Locked up in a place where nobody really cares for him anyway... and the ones that do only do so because they don't know him...

Maybe he should just go away? If he's not wanted here, and this is a prison for him, he could just break out, right? He could find a way to sneak out-

"No," Naruto thought, his eyes resolved. Gon's, Killua's, Sakura's, and all of his friends' faces flashed in his mind. "No. I'm not gonna run away, that's the coward's way out. Just because Sakura's mother is right doesn't mean I have to accept it." He stared resolutely forward. "I'll change everything and become Hokage. Prove everyone wrong. I won't let any of my friends down. Even if there's a chance they might turn on me."

He told himself these words, but it didn't stop the darker thoughts from lingering in the back of his mind. Struggling to push their way forward and make him take a turn for the worst.

All he could do was continue the fight.

"Hi Mr. Nara!"

Out of all the things Shikaku expected to happen tonight, finding two children caught in one of the traps set up around his house wasn't one of them. Much less one of them greeting him easily as if he wasn't tied up tightly by ninja wire.

"Uh... could you maybe help us out old man?" The white-haired one asked calmly, also seeming unaffected by the ninja wire wrapped tightly around his body.

Shikaku sighed, lazily putting away the kunai he had taken out to be on guard. "What business do you have here?"

"Ah, we just wanted to see Shikamaru," the black-haired one said. "We were gonna get him to go out with us."

"He told us his mother would get on his case for going out late," The white-haired boy added.

Shikaku looked at them dryly. "So... you thought trespassing on a ninja clan's territory to break him out was the logical option?"

The two boys looked at each other before looking back to him.

"Pretty much, yeah," the white-haired one said. "Anything sounds like a good idea when you're bored."

Shikaku sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. When did his son get such troublesome friends?

"Hey, dad," A familiar voice called from inside the house. The door slid open slowly. "Mom wants to know if..."

Shikamaru cut himself off when he saw the situation in his backyard. His father was looking at him with a tired gaze while two boys he knows all too well were tied up in ninja wires against a tree.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Gon called, trying to move his hand to wave.

"Sorry to pop in like this," Killua supplied. "Just couldn't stay away."

Meeting his father's eye, Shikamaru let out a long-drawn sigh. "What a drag..."

From behind him, Choji's head popped out. The boy's eyes instantly locked onto his two friends and he laughed. "Gon! Killua! What are you two doing here?"

"Ah! Choji! We were gonna go find you next!" Gon said.

"Guess you saved us the trouble," Killua commented.

Behind Choji, a bigger man stepped out and looked at the situation, chuckling slightly at Shikaku's expression. He looked down at Choji. "Son, are these yours and Shikamaru's friends?"

Choji nodded while Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately."

"That's Gon, and that's Killua," Choji said, pointing at both boys respectively. He then turned to the boys and put a hand on his father's shoulder. "Guys, this is my dad and that's Shikamaru's dad."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Nara and Mr. Akimichi!" Gon said, once again trying to wave. Killua just nodded his head at them.

Choza smiled at them. "The pleasure is ours, and you can call me Choza." He turned to the silent Shikaku. "Shikaku, release the boys and invite them in for dinner. They're right on time anyway."

"Seems Naruto's not the only one getting invited over for a friendly dinner," Killua whispered to Gon jokingly, causing them to share a laugh.

Shikaku looked at the two boys and sighed, going over to undo the traps. "I'm definitely not telling my wife the real story of how you got here. You'd better go around to the front door."

After they were released, Killua turned to the man with his hands in his pockets. "Nah, we shouldn't intrude. We'll just leave."

"You wouldn't be intruding!" Choji protested.

Choza nodded in response. "Friends of these two are always welcome."

Killua looked away. "Yeah, but..."

"Dad," Shikamaru called out. "These two are the ones me and Choji are always playing Shogi with."

Shikaku's eyes grew interested at that, turning back to look at the boys. After regarding them for a few moments, he nodded.

"Go around the way you came and knock on the front door," he said. "I'll explain to my wife that Shikamaru and Choji invited you over. After dinner, we usually play shogi. You could join in if you like."

Gon beamed while Killua smirked. "Is that a challenge old man?"

Shikaku smirked at him and turned to walk back into the house past the others. "I'll be waiting."

Choza smiled at them. "See you at the table, boys." He turned to followed Shikaku.

Now, it was just Gon, Killua, Choji, and Shikamaru. There was a long pause before Shikamaru broke the silence.

"...What a drag."

The three other boys busted into laughter before Gon and Killua hopped back over the wall, making their way to the front entrance.

"This'll be fun! We'll have to tell Naruto and Sakura about it later," Gon said to Killua.

Killua nodded. "Yeah. I'll have to give them the whole story on how I beat your's, Shikamaru's, Choji's, and their father's asses at Shogi."

The best friends shared a laugh before they arrived at the front door. It seems they were in for a fun night.

For what seemed like the 100th time that day, Kurapika's phone was ringing. Him and Melody were alone in one of the break rooms due to Melody's goading of him to relax occasionally. She had been using her flute to help relieve some of his stress, but now it seems like even more stress was incoming.

"Who is this?" He answered quickly, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Hello? Is this Kurapika?" A female voice asked over the line.

Kurapika raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with a curious Melody. "Yes, and you are?"

"Canary. Apprentice Butler for the Zoldycks." Kurapika's eyes widened in recognition. "I'm not sure if you remember, but we met when you visited the Zoldyck Estate. I got your number through the Hunter Association."

"You'd be hard to forget," Kurapika told her. "You made quite the impression and you helped us get to Killua. So thank you for that."

"No need, I was simply helping Master Killua's friends."

There was a brief pause before Kurapika asked, "I take it this call isn't for reminiscing?"

"No... it's about Master Killua and his friend Gon. Have you heard about them being missing?"

"Yes, I found out a few days ago. Is there something else I don't know?" Kurapika asked, hoping he was wrong. This situation was already complicated and added unwanted stress, he really didn't need more layers.

"Yes. As far as I know, only three people, including me, know what I'm about to tell you."

Kurapika braced himself for the important news and Melody put a comforting hand on his knee. "I'm listening," he said.

He heard Canary take a breath before she spoke again. "Master Killua and Gon are both in danger, but for two very different reasons. All because of Master Killua's older brother."

Kurapika's eyes widened. "Illumi?"

"Yes. I overheard him speaking to his mother, Lady Kikyo. They both want to drag Master Killua back home and keep him on lockdown, forcing him back into the assassin lifestyle. They said it's safer for him this way because he's been in unnecessary danger ever since he left. Master Illumi even mentioned something about him along with Gon being captured by the Phantom Troupe twice."

Kurapika flinched and Melody's hand on his knee squeezed. "So they want to take away his freedom to ensure he stays safe. And him going missing and ending up in an unknown land was the trigger for this." He understood where the family was coming from, but they had a real messed up mentality. How was forcing the boy to be a killer keeping him safe? "But... how is Gon in danger?"

There was a long pause before Canary spoke again, more quietly. "Master Illumi… considers Gon a threat to Killua's safety, bringing up the reasoning that he's the one who goaded Master Killua to leave his home and that he's the one who gets them into dangerous situations in the first place."

"Not true," Kurapika thought, clenching his fist. "Them getting captured and held hostage by the Troupe was my fault. I'm the one who let them try to help me... and then my carelessness lead to them willingly getting taken to try and protect me."

Without him even speaking aloud, it seemed like Melody knew what he was thinking. They made eye contact and she shook her head as if to say 'It wasn't your fault. They were already trying to go after the Troupe.'

But Canary wasn't done.

"He brought up the fact that Gon is the one that brought them to Greed Island to begin with, and that's how they ended up in this situation. He says that if Master Killua keeps following Gon… he'll eventually end up laying down his life for him."

That was a scary thought. But what was even more scary is that Kurapika is pretty sure he sees where Illumi's logic is going.

"So..." Kurapika took a breath. "What exactly is Illumi planning to do if he encounters Gon while he's trying to find Killua? They're always together."

"It's not a matter of if. It's when. Master Illumi has taken it upon himself to hunt down both Master Killua and Gon, even if they're separated."

Kurapika's eyes widened, even though he had a feeling this was coming. "You don't mean..."

"I'm sorry, but... Master Illumi…"

Kurapika's eyes bled red.

"He's planning to kill Gon."

Chapter 14 End

Thanks for reading!