The Konoha Project
By: Lone Ronin
Chapter 4: Roll of the Dice
Neji and Shikamaru quickly got dressed and left Kyuubi, entering the hangar of Jiraiya's docking station. It was a short walk to the main living space, which had a huge computer console with monitors that took up the walls, constantly sending Jiraiya streams of information. His finances as people purchased his porn, communications from his associates, areas on earth and throughout the galaxy that he secretly monitored with computer probes, as well as a few of his favorite movies with questionable content were all coming in at once to the main computer, playing on different screens.
The two shinobi entered the living space to find everyone else already making themselves at home.
"There must be some kinda way out of here, said the drunk man to the thief. There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief…" without a hint of irony to their current situation, Kiba tried to impress Narutina the fembot with his impression of Jimi Hendrix; she appeared charmed by his attempts sing to her.
"You should save your energy until I update her software. She can't process what you're trying to do, so she's programmed to humor you." Shino informed Kiba as he hooked the robot up to his laptop computer.
"Is it safe to watch now?" Hinata covered her eyes and clutched Sakura's arm as she and much of the rest of the team sat before another screen with a classic movie playing.
"I'll let you know when the alien bursts out of his chest." Sakura said, her eyes fixed on the screen as it reached the scene with the facehugger.
"Parasitoid aliens coming out of people's chests; this is as creepy as it gets." Ino mused.
"At least they're not real, Hunters are." Chouji said as he, Lee and Tenten slurped soda and munched on popcorn and chips, as Naruto sat at the kitchen table with Jiraiya as they looked over the bag of diamonds.
"Hm, these are quite nice." Jiraiya said, eyeing the emerald with a magnifier.
"Well, how much can you get for me?" Naruto said impatiently.
"You could fence them, but that would take some time, they're still quite hot." Jiraiya commented as he inspected the gems with a magnifying glass as Neji and Shikamaru approached them.
"Actually, I've got a much better use in mind for these diamonds. We'll talk about a plan to get some money later." The old pervert whispered before turning to the pair.
"Can you tell me what you remember from when they captured you?" Jiraiya asked as he poked through Neji's scalp, examining the faint scars.
"Not too much..." Neji started, then swallowed, looking uncomfortable.
"After about a week of the brainwashing equipment, it was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't." he started to break out in a cold sweat, as memories that he would sooner forget began to rise to the surface.
Seeing him visibly upset, Jiraiya decided not to push the subject any more.
"Hm, I see. They put some rather elaborate equipment into you." The old man finished looking at the implants and let Neji fix his hair back into place.
"The implants you have do a number of things. First off, they're tracking devices. You're safe right now as the equipment on my ship scrambles the signal, but the moment you leave here, they'll be able to find you any time you're in range of their computer network, and it covers a considerable part of the galaxy. They also prevent you from harming certain individuals."
"What would happen if I tried?" Neji asked.
"Let's just say you're not going to like it." Jiraiya answered.
"So can you take them out?" Shikamaru asked.
"Just because I know what they are, doesn't mean I can remove them, they're quite grown in at rather important parts of your brain. I was the The Konoha Project's programmer, not a brain surgeon, but I know someone who is."
"Who is he?" Naruto asked.
"She comes from a wealthy and powerful family of doctors, businessmen, researchers and surgeons, much like the Hyuugas, as close to a modern day princess as you can come." Jiraiya replied.
"Shino's been looking for her since Kyuubi docked. How are you doing with the last known coordinates that I gave you?" he turned to the insect user.
"She just sent an email, says she'll call in a few minutes." Shino answered, not looking up from his typing.
A nearby screen flickered on, revealing a rather annoyed blond woman with gold eyes and very ample breasts.
"What do you want Jiraiya? Trying to make another voyeur video for your site?" she glared at the camera.
"What ever would give you that idea?" Jiraiya asked as innocently as he could.
The woman was having none of it.
"Don't get cute, you never call me unless you want something."
"Aw, don't be that way, after all the fun we've been through? Actually, I have a rather nice proposition for you. I'm sure it would go a long way towards paying off those debts you always seem to owe, we both know what sticklers those lenders are about money." The old man hinted at the prospect of a payday.
"Fine, but this better be good. If you want to see me, then here's my coordinates, I'll be waiting."
"Wow, did you see those knockers?" Kiba practically drooled after the transmission ended.
"Will you stop thinking about trying to get laid all the time? They're probably not even real." Ino reprimanded him.
"Don't be blindsided by her appearances. She may be beautiful from years of the finest anti-aging treatments and plastic surgeries of our time, but inside, her personal tragedies and lifestyle have made her a bitter old hag inside." Jiraiya warned them.
"What made her that way?" Sakura asked.
"All the men she has ever loved have predeceased her, not just her boyfriends, but also her father and younger brother died tragically. For a time, she joined the Konoha project I believe partially to escape her anguish and into my comforting arms, before leaving the project over disagreements with a number of issues, particularly the way Orochimaru did his work and my own, professional conduct. As of late, she's been drowning her sorrows in her research, when she's not trying to drink and gamble herself to death." He did his best attempt at being poetic.
Very aware of the dynamics between men and women, Tenten saw where this was going.
"Your relationship with her didn't end well, did it?" she asked.
"No." Jiraiya hung his head.
"Just so you know, Orochimaru knew I would probably all call her, so she's being watched against her will and we're being drawn into a trap." Jiraiya quickly picked himself up.
"How do you know?" Shikamaru asked.
"She was actually rather happy to see me." He explained.
Naruto and the rest of the group wandered into the entertainment complex known as Rumors on the colony New Las Vegas, a satellite which orbited one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. The lavish club was packed with well dressed people in their teens and twenties. Dressed in stylish clothing to blend in with the crowd, Naruto and the rest of his crew were let in without a problem. Jiraiya had tried to get into the club, but the bouncer wouldn't let him go in, probably because he was so old.
Jiraiya had claimed that this was her favorite place to hang around and they were sure to find her in this particular club because apparently it was the most notorious gambling colony in the galaxy, where she liked to gamble big, but often seemed to lose big almost as often.
"So she's somewhere in here?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah, Jiraiya gave Akamaru a coat with her scent, he says her smell is all over this place." Kiba said as Akamaru followed quietly at his feet.
"I just hope this old hag can really do what Jiraiya says she can." Naruto said as they began to fan out into the crowd.
"Don't talk about her that way! We need her to treat Neji!" Sakura reprimanded Naruto as she took a warning swipe at him.
"Well, that's what he calls her!" Naruto said as he dodged her.
As they entered the balcony area, they couldn't help but take in the amazing view. Overlooking the lavish casino on the lower level, there was also a nearby bar and restaurant stocked with the best food and liquor money could buy, as well as an arcade and dance floor, packed with patrons and laid out in an open style. Neji discreetly used his abilities to look around.
"She's not on this level, but there seems to be a lot of rooms underneath the lower floor, not open to the public." Neji said as he scanned the building.
"Are there people down there? What about any stairs leading to the hidden lower floors?" Shikamaru asked.
"I'm not sure, it's hard to look around with so many people. We'll have to go down to the floor." He replied.
"There he is. How did you get past the bouncer?" Ino asked as Jiraiya caught up with them.
"I bribed him with some free porn subscriptions." she rolled her eyes at his reply.
"Okay, let's get to it." Naruto said as they spread out to various parts of the casino.
Pretending to be on a girl's night out, Sakura, Hinata and Ino approached the card tables. It was true they were looking for Tsunade, but the hope was to make some much-needed money while they were there as well. Normally the odds favored the house, but having ninja abilities gave them a distinctive edge.
"Sakura, how do you play Blackjack?" Hinata asked, having never been much of a gambler.
"Face cards are ten and aces are one or eleven. You need to get closer then the dealer to twenty one in order to win." Sakura answered.
"Go ahead and try it." Ino said.
"You ladies new at this?" the dealer asked the attractive ladies as they sat down.
"This is just our friend's first time here, so go easy on her." Ino smiled and winked, flirting with him.
Although they simply appeared to be friends out for some fun, Hinata was really checking the cards in the deck with her abilities and signaled to either Ino or Sakura if they should ask for a card and when to bet big.
Over at the roulette wheel, Kiba was on a streak as Shino sat by and quietly watched.
"Black 24, you win again." The worker said in amazement as he passed Kiba his chips, who smiled as Akamaru barked at his feet in approval.
"What can I say? Must just be a good day." Kiba mused.
He appeared to be placing his chips randomly, but Shino's insects moved the ball either onto his color or his number bets each time. After a few minutes, Shino leaned over.
"I'm going over to the slots. Don't be too concerned if you lose now and then, the camera and pit bosses are watching us." Shino whispered to him before walking to the machines.
The insect user didn't acknowledge Chouji as he walked by the slots, or react when a number of the slot machines including the one Chouji was using hit jackpots all at once.
"I won! All right!" Chouji cheered with the other winners.
"Lee, hurry up and pick something, the others are having a great time." Tenten complained, not sure what they could actually play and win at without any bloodline abilities.
"Dance Dance Revolution! And they're having a contest! Oh, oh, Tenten, Tenten, please, please, please, can we…" Lee tugged at Tenten's arm as he pointed excitedly towards a nearby video game contest at the arcade section.
"Okay, relax Lee." Tenten tried to keep him from getting too excited as she turned to the rest of the group.
"We'll make a distraction and pocket some cash. Just creep by while we win the DDR freestyle tournament hands down." The female ninja instructed Jiraiya, Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru.
"Can we do Butterfly? And Cow Girl? And Paranoia Max 300? And…" Lee listed off all his favorite songs.
"We're going, we're going." Tenten said as she and Lee quickly hurried down the stairs to enter the contest, selecting the fastest songs and hardest settings.
"Now remember Lee, we don't want to start talking with anyone too much before they start asking difficult questions about where we're from or how we learned to play so good."
"Remember to practice every day, and try your hardest!" Lee called to his students as they began to leave the dojo at the end of their lesson.
"See you next week, Lee-sensei!" The kids said as their parents came to pick them up.
The performance studio fell silent, with classes finished for the day as Lee tidied up before retiring to the tiny apartment he shared with Tenten above where they worked. They had adapted their taijutsu abilities and become successful martial arts and dance instructors at a martial arts, dance and gymnastics studio and found they loved to teach. But knowing nothing about the history of their new home as well as Lee's personality had earned them a reputation in the neighborhood as 'those weird kids'.
As Lee opened the door to their apartment above the studio, he found the door wouldn't completely open because of the stacks of disks and other piles of books and old game consoles Tenten had made.
"What's all this?" he asked.
"There you are, Lee, I thought we'd try to learn about the history of pop culture today. We can play some video games, I also rented a whole set of movies from the turn of the 20th century. Do you feel like 'The Matrix', or 'Kill Bill'?" Tenten answered.
"I don't feel like watching TV or playing video games, I need to train." Lee answered.
"Lee you have to at least know something about the culture of this place if we want to blend in. People talk about things like how croc shoes have come back in style and I don't even know when they first went out. When you said you had never heard of Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, everyone looked at us like we were from outer space!"
"But we are from outer space." Lee answered.
"Yes, but we don't want anyone to know that." Tenten sweatdropped.
"What the heck is that?" Neji asked as he watched Lee and Tenten hurry over to the arcade, having no idea what they were doing.
"Oh that? It's called Dance Dance Revolution. You step on the corresponding arrows as they appear in time with the music. A freestyle contest is where they try to get more points by performing other dance moves during the song, such as hitting the pad with their knees and hands." Shikamaru explained.
"And they pay money if you can do it better then others?" Neji asked.
"Yeah. I've done it a couple of times, it's kind of fun." Shikamaru replied.
For a few minutes, they both watched people begin to take notice Lee and Tenten's knee drops and other trick moves, putting their ninjutsu skills to work.
"I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it. You like to-" Lee sang with the song's opening line.
"Move it!" the crowd finished.
Cheers went up as if they were rock stars. Shikamaru held back a laugh as Neji looked at his teammates as if they had lost their minds.
"They look like they're having seizures." Neji commented.
The crowd began to swell, providing a convenient cover for them to slip through unnoticed. With everyone screaming and cheering as Lee and Tenten performed a difficult song while facing backwards, doing jumps, turns and knee drops, Naruto, Jiraiya, Neji and Shikamaru were able to make their way to the floor.
"Hey, it could be worse." Shikamaru said.
"How?" Neji asked.
"It could have been a karaoke contest." He shrugged.
"I'll have to give you that one."
The entire group carried on, unaware that the security cameras were zeroing in on them.
"Something's not right." The guard at the monitoring console in security called his supervisor over.
"These twelve individuals with a little white dog who all came in together. The ones gambling are winning a lot more then normal, I think they're doing something screwy." He pointed out as they reviewed the tapes.
The camera zoomed to Ino, Sakura and Hinata as they played blackjack, followed by the others at various parts of the casino.
The supervisor rewound and replayed their recorded actions in slow motion.
"They are winning a lot, but I can't tell how. No sleight of hand, and they don't appear to have any electronic devices. The microchips in the cards and chips all appear to be normal." The supervisor wondered out loud.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter anyways." He said as the computer finished scanning their faces and returned matches with its database, revealing that they were all wanted fugitives, and the bounties offered for their capture, amounts of money that were enough to run the casino for months.
"Get everyone from security and use our best weapons, they're all classified as-" the supervisor started before a blade was put under his throat.
The novelty of watching Lee and Tenten playing DDR finally wore off as Neji and Shikamaru began to walk down to the floor and past the arcade with Naruto and Jiraiya close behind. As Neji scanned past the restaurant area to the arcade, something caught his eye.
"I see her, she's sitting with a younger woman who has short black hair who's pouring her tea, in a hidden chamber underneath the bar." Neji said to Shikamaru, Jiraiya and Naruto.
"Ah, that's Shizune, her graduate student. How do we get in?" Jiraiya asked.
"There's a trapdoor under the floor behind the bar."
Sure enough, there was a discreet trapdoor that was hardly noticeable in front of the bar to patrons unless you knew what to look for, but was easy to see from behind the bar.
"You two stay out here by the bar and let me speak to her first, or she might run off. Come on, Naruto." Jiraiya instructed them.
"That was our escape shuttle, they said they would be here in about a half hour." Shizune said as she turned off her wrist communicator.
"Relax a bit, Shizune. Orochimaru won't catch us." Tsunade reassured her.
"How can you be sure?" Shizune asked.
"I lost almost 30 000 tokens at the slots and tables today." Her teacher replied.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It's only a bad omen when I win a lot." Tsunade answered.
"If you say so." Shizune sighed as she poured some tea for Tsunade in the opulent hidden chamber.
They both looked up in surprise as the trapdoor opened above them and a brief confrontation took place.
"Hey, this area's off limits." The bartender tried to stop whoever it was.
"I'm here for a prearranged meeting." Jiraiya replied as he handed the man a porn DVD and a small stack of cash.
"Right this way, sir." The bartender accepted the bribe and let the old pervert into the hidden room.
"Hey, this is a private room, what do you think you're doing?" Shizune demanded, pulling a switchblade.
"Don't worry, I know him." Tsunade had her student stand down.
"I can't believe you came here to save me, even after I warned you that it was a trap." Tsunade said to Jiraiya, she clearly didn't appreciate the rescue.
"You know how cute you are when you're angry?" Jiraiya ignored her statement and tried to change the subject.
"Quit the sweet talk, what's this business about money?" Tsunade replied.
"Do you ever remember this little project we once collaborated on, you know, where we spent the better part of our careers constructing an entire world and played God with people's lives, all for our own scientific curiosities, to serve a shadowy elite who only care about money and power?" Jiraiya answered as Naruto followed him down the spiral staircase.
Naruto looked at the blond lady in the green flowing silk dress with a large chest and sharp gold eyes being served tea by a younger lady with short dark hair and a blue full length dress.
"Naruto, this is Tsunade, and her student, Shizune. Orochimaru, Tsunade and I were all Sandaime's students when we worked on the Konoha Project. She had a hand in creating all of you, like a mother, almost." Jiraiya introduced her.
Catching sight of Naruto, Tsunade's expression went from just unhappy to completely sour, as if she were saying 'How dare you?'. For a moment, Naruto wondered if she was going to stab Jiraiya, or at least slap him really hard. He watched her gaze, not sure what to make of it.
Tsunade looked at Naruto for a second, a brief second of horror flashed in her eyes before she turned back to Jiraiya and continued to glare at him. Naruto wasn't sure if her anger was at Jiraiya's presence or his own. But from the expression on Tsunade's face, Naruto could tell she didn't like the fact that Jiraiya had brought him to her.
"So Orochimaru is still working on that Konoha Project, even after the colony was destroyed?" she said.
"You see living proof before you." Jiraiya answered, meaning Naruto.
"Why should I help you? Orochimaru owns practically the world and all you have is that pathetic ship where you beam out your smut into space." The blond lady asked.
Jiraiya responded by producing the bag with the diamonds and letting her have a peek inside. Tsunade's eyes glittered at the gems.
"Now you know if you stay here, that if Orochimaru doesn't catch you, your creditors will. If you come with us, I guarantee we can get you out of here alive and in one piece." He reasoned with her.
Tsunade was silent for a moment, thinking it over.
"Tell you what, let's settle this with a gamble. Shizune?" she signaled her student.
Shizune opened a deck, fanned the cards to show they were legitimate and shuffled it before letting Jiraiya cut the pack.
"High card draw. I win, you get out of my sight and he stays with me." Tsunade pointed to Naruto.
"Deal." Jiraiya said.
"What?" Naruto cried out in disbelief.
"What about if you win?" Tsunade ignored Naruto as she talked to Jiraiya.
"Well, I'm not quite sure what I want right now. How about if I ask for it later?" he answered.
"Fine. Draw your card." Tsunade challenged.
Jiraiya reached in the pack.
"Ah, the knave, something I can relate to." Jiraiya said, he had drawn a jack of diamonds.
Tsunade looked at her card, smirked, and prepared to turn it over. But before she could, Naruto put his hand on hers.
"Hold it, I should draw a card too!"
"Jiraiya and I have quite a history. We've competed since our college days, and worked with Orochimaru for years, since the founding of the Konoha project. What place do you, a space fugitive, and mere genin, have in this?"
"Orochimaru took one of my friends and he destroyed my home, and everyone who I care about and know for a fact is still alive, is on the floor above our heads, about to risk their lives to save you. I've got a stake in this, so I should be allowed to draw a card too." He insisted.
"So what do you want if you win?" Tsunade asked.
"You come with us, fix whatever was done to Neji and tell me how you were involved in the Konoha Project. And we keep the diamonds." Naruto answered boldly.
"That's it? Fine, go ahead, but I seriously doubt you can beat my hand. What will you wager if you lose?"
"I'll leave my crew behind and come with you, no questions asked." Naruto replied.
"That's Jiraiya's wager." Tsunade refused his offer.
"I'm not Jiraiya's to wager!" Naruto protested.
"Then how about this; I'll accept you, plus your cute little frog purse and all your money if you lose." She held up his wallet.
"Hey, when did you take my froggie?" Naruto asked, not noticing when she had managed to lift it.
"Hope you're a better gambler then you are a ninja. Now draw."
As Naruto grabbed his card and turned it over to reveal the king of hearts, Tsunade's expression went from sour to teeth-grinding fury.
"Well, what's your card?" Naruto asked, angry about Tsunade handling the entire situation as though it were some big game.
"Tsunade-sama, there's some trouble in the casino." The barkeep called out from above the trapdoor before she could show her card.
She quickly calmed down.
"Let's leave it that you won, Naruto. Shizune, pack our things, we're going with them." Tsunade said.
As the sounds of a commotion came from the floor above and she began to gather their things, Shizune took a discreet peek at the card Tsunade had left behind.
It had been the queen of clubs.
'They're coming, you need to get your friends out of there, right away.' Haku spoke to Neji, although Neji knew he was really somewhere far off, possibly even on another planet.
'Who is?' Neji asked back telepathically.
'An operative of Orochimaru's.'
'Wait, just one?'
'Don't let your guard down just because of that, he's extremely dangerous, if he catches you, you're all done for.'
Sitting at the bar, Neji suddenly became uneasy. He started to fidget and look around.
Seeing his distress, Shikamaru left his spot near the casino floor and moved towards the bar. Before he could say anything, Neji suddenly grabbed Shikamaru and dragged him into one of the booths at the restaurant, pressing their faces close to appear as if they were sharing a tender moment, although he was really trying to hide their faces.
"We have to get out of here." He whispered.
"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.
"Haku told me a bounty hunter is coming." Neji answered.
Shikamaru fought his urge to ask 'Are you sure?', worried Neji would start making a scene before anyone could cash in their casino tokens. Peeking over the booth, he was also able to make eye contact with Kiba and Shino, who quickly walked to the edge of the casino and began to cash in their tokens. As Sakura, Hinata and Ino realized that something was wrong, they left the card table and started to cash in. Unlike Kiba and Shino, the worker at the cash in didn't give them their money, but picked up the phone and seemed to be trying to call security.
Now he was worried. The cash worker seemed to be having trouble with the call and was now talking with a nearby security guard. Realizing they might decide to seal off the area, it was time to leave. Now.
"I'll get Naruto and Jiraiya, you get Lee and Tenten." Shikamaru instructed Neji.
Lee and Tenten were still on the other side of the casino at the arcade, where half the people there didn't even realize something was amiss. Neji quickly pushed through the packed crowd, trying frantically to get their attention.
He moved as fast as he could without being noticed, past the bar, halfway across the casino, as he reached the restaurant area, he could see a pale individual sneaking through the crowd of video game players, reaching for weapons to stun his teammates with.
"Lee, Tenten!" Neji tried to shout over the music, but with the cheering of the crowd and the noise coming from the game, it was useless.
'He already knows where everyone is, don't bother trying to hide yourself.' Haku informed him.
Searching for a weapon, he spotted a shotgun kept behind the bar.
"Lee, Tenten!" Neji shouted again.
Finally hearing him, Lee turned to see Neji with the gun, aiming it right at his direction. Before he or Tenten were able to react, Neji fired, but he wasn't aiming for them. They turned to see Kimimaro keeled over with a giant wound on the back of his right shoulder from the shotgun blast. To their shock, he rose up, still alive and seemingly unfazed as Neji kicked out the spent shotgun shell and ran towards them.
Grabbing some cutlery from the nearby restaurant tables, Tenten used her ninja skills that she had kept in top condition, wielding the knives like they were kunai, she lodged one in the back of Kimimaro's head.
Kimimaro quickly got up and pulled the butter knife from the back of his head. Lee tried to kick him in the chest, but the found his foot stopped by the operative's own ribcage, which he somehow managed to stick out from his own chest. Lee brought up his other foot cracking the operative's head in a roundhouse, but he didn't seem affect by the blow. All hell broke loose in the club as patrons ran screaming for the exits.
Neji fired the shotgun again, knocking Kimimaro back with a direct hit to the chest. Seemingly unfazed, Kimimaro jumped back up and came at Neji as he produced a blade from his forearm. Neji raised the shotgun above his head to block it, bending and rendering it useless. In a surprisingly one sided fight, Kimimaro found himself being beaten back as Neji tossed the shotgun aside and skillfully dodged his blades, only losing about a handful of his long hair as he struck back with Jyuuken.
Kimimaro retreated briefly, but as Lee tried to approach him, Neji lashed out at his teammate, having lost sight of who his enemies were.
Tenten quickly realized this and pulled Lee back as Neji continued to beat Kimimaro back.
A sound behind him made him turn, before he suddenly found himself frozen in place; Shikamaru had pinned him with his shadow.
"Stop, stop Neji! We have to get out of here!" Shikamaru pleaded.
But Neji seemed to be in an altered state of mind as he fought against Shikamaru's shadow. Caught off guard by his sudden strength, Shikamaru struggled to try and hold Neji still.
Hearing the commotion as she came out from behind the bar with Naruto, Jiraiya and Shizune, Tsunade pushed past the crowd to the arcade.
"Does Kyuubi have a landing bay?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya.
"Yes." He answered.
"Then take Naruto and Shizune out of here. I've got my own ship." She instructed him.
Just as Neji had managed to break out of Shikamaru's shadow and knock him back with a strike to the shoulder, Tsunade calmly walked up and whispered something in his ear. Neji suddenly froze as his eyes rolled back in his head before he fell forward, Shikamaru catching his limp form.
"Neji!" Shikamaru shouted as he tried to shake him awake, but he was out cold.
"What did you do to him?" Shikamaru turned to Tsunade.
"A master word. He'll be fine in 30 minutes." she replied.
As Kimamaro tried to resume his attack, Tsunade stuck an explosive note on him before flinging him through a nearby window, turning calmly from the resulting explosion.
"He won't let that stop him, let's go." She said.
"Don't tell me that after two shotgun blasts, a knife lodged halfway into his head, a fight with Lee and Neji, followed by an explosive tag that he's still alive." Shikamaru said in disbelief.
"I'm not even sure he can be killed." Tsunade said as she grabbed Neji and Shikamaru before he could protest, hauling them both off the ground with her amazing strength as they ran for the ship.
It was still chaos in the ship dock as everyone running from the commotion scrambled to his or her vehicles in a fight to leave the area.
"Where's Tsunade and…" Sakura asked Naruto as he and Jiraiya ran aboard the ship.
Suddenly a loud crash shook the ship as Tsunade's smaller ship made a sloppy landing into the landing bay.
"Never mind." She said.
"Floor it Shino!" Naruto said as they hightailed it for the nearest wormhole into deep space.
Unaware of what was going on around him, Neji wandered around in his vivid dream. He looked down and found himself in long white robes, what it was customary for Hyuuga members to wear. He was standing on a bridge, with snow falling around him. Hearing a slight noise, he looked behind and thought he saw Haku fading into the mist, but he wasn't quite sure. He heard a familiar voice calling him on the other side of the bridge.
"Father?" Neji asked.
"That's it, come here." Hizashi beckoned him with a warm smile.
"Stop Neji! It's a trick." Hiashi's voice called faintly.
Who is this person in my dream, Haku?" Neji wasn't quite sure why he said it, but his dream suddenly became a nightmare.
"So he is here. Where is Haku?" the presence pretending to be his father demanded, showing its true intentions.
"Don't let him trick you!" Hiashi called out.
"Don't interfere!" the imposter's fingernails suddenly became long thin razors and slashed at Hiashi, causing him to fade like smoke in the wind.
"You're not my father! Don't come near me!" Neji drew back.
His awareness of his surroundings began to melt around him as he suddenly looked down and realized to his horror that he was restrained again, just like in the lab.
He didn't want to go back there, he felt like a wild animal caught in a trap, helpless as the technicians started prodding him. He couldn't run!
Neji's scream brought Shikamaru running.