AngelFaux (Guest) - Everyone should thank this person because they're the reason I'm currently updating. Also, I am planning on having there be more interactions between Naruto and the family, just not yet.

wildtrance - Yeah, I was planning on it. I re-read everything just before writing this chapter and… ugh

Radurai - Haha, I totally agree!

109876543212015 (Guest) - what's better than a protective older brother who just happens to be an assassin?

Pink Blood (Guest) - I'll do my best to update more often! I promise you!

Bard of Breath (Guest) - hehe, nope!

Guest - I'm not sure what your talking about… you only read the first chapter? And no, I'm not insane… much XD

WhatMortal - sorry, not explaining again. Look at the start of the last chapters if you want to know.

Alucard Bellsing - … that's true. I've actually been puting a lot of thought into this, so...

The Flaming Darkness, Lunaconspiracy365, Nycel, HeartlessNobody13, SarahKuder2 (Guest), WhiteWhisperingWind, angelotaku99a99taioAZ, Consulting Stripper, 917brat, Guest, Illumi's Wife (Guest), kyothefallenkit, rentamiya, firestarandwolves, Anamaria275, random person (Guest),Scribleyellow, leofrick - Thank's for your continued support of my story!

Chap. 4

That boy… there's something different about him. Illumi said he was an adopted brother that their dog found, but there must be something more. He is faster than most could hope to be at his age. However, that could be due to him being an assassin.

He has already accessed nen, which could be thought to be spectacular. But that means he will not grow much further.

Or, maybe he could. That might be what's so drawing about him. His ability to grow ever farther than what he has so far.

Hisoka grinned madly, scaring what few people were running next to him as an even greater bloodlust than before swished around the area. A few ran further ahead while some fell behind. Hisoka didn't care. They were all weak. As long as he didn't get side tracked, Hisoka knew he would be able to face the intriguing boy. It seemed like there would be no killing… for now.

"Gon, this is dangerous. There's no way we can let Naru-chan win! She'll eat everything and by the end you won't have a wallet to even speak of! I'm serious, that kid eats a ton!" Killua was near panic by now, sweat beading on his forehead just from imagining the last time someone lost a challenge and was forced to pay for the child.

"Haha, it's fine! He's still small, so there's no way he can eat everything!" Killua's face grew solemn, slowly becoming resigned. With a pat on Gon's back, he turned away and sped up. He warned him, gave Gon a chance. Anything that happened from that point on wasn't his fault anymore.

Gon just stared after in confusion, not fully understanding what was so bad about Naruto winning. Killua had to be exaggerating when he said that such a little boy would be able to eat his entire wallet. Despite the confusion, Gon wasn't one to step down from a challenge.

He was able to catch up to Killua when running full speed, but Naruto was still out of sight. With thoughts in sync, the two let loose a burst of speed, sending out dust behind their feet.

To Gon's surprise, it took far more effort to catch up to the younger boy than he expected. Killua was fast, but Gon was just a tad faster when it came to going up stairs. Killua tended to hit the stairs six at a time, while Gon, used to jumping in trees at least ten feet tall, and up to twenty, was able to go ten or more steps without losing balance, aiding in his advance on Killua. Naruto, on the other hand, was still too far ahead to catch when running up stairs. The blond had managed to get ahead of Satotz, the examiner, using the same method Gon was using, though not to the same extent.

Gon felt the tiredness leave him as his second wind came, picking up more speed as Killua reached his place on the stairs. Both of them accelerated, managing to stay neck in neck until the end of the staircase. When the ground leveled out again, Killua pulled ahead by a couple inches. Naruto had re-entered their line of sight, once more causing their spirits to burn with the need to win. As Gon began to tire once more, Killua hit his third wind. There was only half a kilometer before reaching the last set of stairs, and he needed to catch Naruto now or there wouldn't be any money left between him and Gon. Both Killua and Gon passed Satotz, now within three arm-lengths of Naruto, Gon still behind Killua.

At the foot of the stairs, Gon's third wind hit and he bounded past Killua and up the stairs, fourteen at a time. Towards the top, he reached Naruto's side, with Killua barely an inch behind them.

It ended in a three-way tie.

Killua breathed a sigh of relief before Gon began questioning how everything would work. The three were in deep discussion by the time Satotz reached the end of the tunnel, Naruto suggesting they all just pay for him because he was in the lead the longest. Killua and Gon were in no way happy with that decision, leading to Naruto ending up with two bumps on his head. Satotz made a mental note to see what these three ended up doing in the future, and if they passed the test to become hunters. Speed doesn't mean they pass, but the heart they placed into their efforts convinced him of their success. As long as they didn't die during the exams, of course.

"Gon, Naru-chan, we should speed up." Killua was watching Hisoka, tracking every millimeter his grin increased in size. "He's bad news, and he looks excited." The two agreed, and Gon shouted back to Leorio and Kurapika to hurry up. Naruto watched as his nii-san scolded the green clad boy, smiling slightly at Killua's cheerful attitude (no matter how much Killua was trying to hide it).

They had already gone through the entire scene with the fake examiner with his monkey, and Hisoka's outburst and near killing of the real examiner. Now they were running through the Swindler's Swamp, Hisoka not far behind them surrounded by a group of other examinees as well as Leorio and Kurapika.

Following his nii-san's orders, Naruto followed him along the path and closer towards the examiner, Gon not far behind them.

"Will I get to fight him later, Nii-san?" Naruto asked, noting how Gon had turned back without saying a word to either of them. Naruto and Killua jumped over a frog that was laying underneath the ground. "You know that I can. Don't think I missed how you were trying to protect Gon." He saw how Killua blushed a thin shade of pink at his words.

"Your personality really changes sometimes, Naru-chan. Sometimes I think you might be like Alluka and Nanika." Naruto grinned in response, allowing Killua to change the subject. It was clear he didn't want Naruto to fight Hisoka any time soon. Killua acts more like a parent to Naruto than a brother sometimes, unsurprising seeing how he all but raised Naruto from a child of six years, even though he himself was only eight. It was the same with Alluka.

"My personality is always the same! It's just that I can be serious too, you know! Tou-san always said that I can't always act like a brat, so I had to grow up." Naruto always did stuff like this. He'd drop hints about what happened in his time before becoming a Zoldyck, but never shared anything about what happened when prompted. Killua was always curious about what caused Mike to find Naruto. There was no way a normal boy would be able to cause such a wild beast to act in such a kind mannar.

He'd always just change the subject.

Even when Naruto had nightmares about his past, when he'd wake up in the comfort of Killua's arms, he's smile up at his big brother and say a hello before falling back asleep. All Killua knows is that there were humans and monsters and fox, and bad things happened with each of them.

"You haven't grown up a bit. You're still my little imoto."

"But Nii-saaaan! I have grown up! I can defend myself, and write, and even make food! So you can't say that I haven't."

"Ah, but you still play hide and seek, and you use puppy eyes, and you whine about everything. You haven't grown up a bit." Naruto pouted and ran a little ways in front of his brother. Killua laughed and followed behind, not trying to catch up. Naruto just needed a little bit of cool down space. Getting too close while he's pouting could end with Killua doing whatever it was he was asked to do. It was one of the traits that Naruto and Alluka both shared.

He didn't remember that this ability only worked on himself.

When they walked into the clearing before a giant gate many of the people who were still alive were already there, including Illumi. It was then that Killua noticed Gon's absence.

"That idiot! When did he disappear? Why? Ugh, Naru-chan, why didn't you say anything?" Naruto had a mischievous look in his eye as soon as Killua found Gon missing. His face shifted to an innocent one, and Killua could all but see the fox ears and tail form on his body.

"But I didn't know, Nii-san. I thought you didn't care what happened to him." Killua looked down, berating himself for getting mad at Naruto. Of course Naruto didn't know he did anything wrong. Naru-chan's the perfect little sister in the world. Why would she-

Wait.

"Naru-chan! Stop that! I can't think straight!" Naruto grinned a mischievous grin and Killua knew it was his fault for falling into Naruto's trap. The guilt of a brother/parent is too strong to fight against, and Naruto just loves using that in his favor.

The manipulative little fox.

The cute atmosphere that Killua thought he was seeing disappeared, leaving only a fox child grinning at him, eyes glinting. Killua growled and went to pick Naruto up and swing him around. It was his normal punishment for when Naruto would do something like this. Something about how it made Naruto dizzy and he wasn't able to focus on making Killua do what he wanted.

Naruto bounced out of his path and up into a tree. With a forlorn sigh, Killua gave up and went looking for Gon. Naruto probably wouldn't do anything to cause too much damage, and even Killua needed a break from his little sister.

At least, that's what he told himself.

While Naruto sat in his tree, he thought back to the conversation him and Killua had. His Tou-san said to grow up, because the world was a dangerous place and a fox like himself wouldn't be able to live without understanding how the world works.

His dad knew everything, understood everything, but even he wasn't immortal. And as he explained this to Naruto he made sure that Naruto knew how to survive without his beloved tou-san.

Naruto learned early that transformations were important, and that he should be able to keep up a transformation for days before taking a break. He learned human language and how to tell when someone wasn't happy with him. When they might do something to harm him.

When his dad was sick, neither of them were safe. Naruto was still only learning how to control his magic.

There were monsters. There were humans. Only one fox escaped.

"Naru-chan, over here!" Killua called, having found Gon. Naruto left his thoughts and jumped out of the tree, landing next to Killua. "What do you think the next stage is? I can only smell machinery and body odor." Gon nodded frantically. If Naruto were to guess, he'd say that both of them had made a bet on what the next test would be. There was probably some prize, but he had no clue what it was.

"There's also fire. And oil, probably for burning." Gon furled his eyebrows before doing something to his nose and lifting it up into the air. After a few sniffs his eyes opened wide.

"You're right! I almost didn't catch that. It's amazing how strong your nose is!" Gon was grinning and everyone was pretty sure sparkles were floating mysteriously behind him. Naruto wasn't entirely sure what to do with the knowledge of a human being able to smell such a well-hidden scent - and he's sure Gon's human. From how Gon acts, he's a normal civilian with a fairly easy life, maybe a little wild. The boy smells of the forest, but at the same time was surrounded by human objects and a naive air.

He settled on a reaction that many people would take without question. A small smile. Gon, for all of his wild instincts, didn't sense the smile wasn't full of happiness but rather confusion.

Tou-san said that most humans weren't able to do the same thing that he could do, and that's why he had to stay hidden. People would use his abilities, or just think of him as a rare creature they could control. Only someone who was extraordinary was allowed to meet him and live. The only group of people who reached this were the Zoldyck, and now there was this boy.

It was a confusing new concept. There were actually people in this world that wouldn't try and harm him for his abilities. They were able to accept what he was able to excel in because they were just as able to do the same task.

Or maybe it was just Gon.

wildtrance just questioned me about where Naruto is from. For him this isn't anywhere close to cannon, and everything is taking place in the HxH universe. So no jinchuriki or Elemental Nations