Me: Update!
"KABUTO!" Orochimaru yelled, looking through a book in front of him. Kabuto came running in, Orochimaru looking up. "Migoto Bara. I now know why it sounds familiar. Do you remember when I first ran from Konoha? When they found my lab?"
"Yes, I believe I recall," Kabuto said, pushing his glasses back onto his nose.
"Two of my men came back, reporting that they had been found. They said that a girl that they had identified as Migoto Bara had followed them and her netnavi, Blademan, had somehow appeared in the real world with her."
"Ah. Would you like me to pull up any records we have specifically for that incident?"
"Yes. Do that. I may find some use for this tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, sir?" Kabuto was confused, once more pushing the glasses up on his face.
"Come now, Kabuto. He came at me with every intention of killing me. Do you honestly believe that he wouldn't tail Tsunade for the chance to kill me?" He let it sink in and Kabuto nodded.
"I shall begin research right now." Kabuto walked out, once more pushing the glasses up.
Blademan yawned, stretching out his body as he awoke, his back popping as he arched it. "That sounded lovely," Lan said, already up, a mug of some warm drink in his hand, his face towards the rising sun. He had been getting more accustomed to his heightened senses as the week had passed and had, for the most part, memorized the layout of the room.
"It felt lovely," Blademan replied, grabbing his weapons. He did his best to avoid tripping over Sasuke and Naruto, but ended up tripping over Jiraiya, waking the white haired man up. "Damn it, Jiraiya. Why the hell do you feel the need to sleep right at the doors?"
"Unh," Jiraiya grunted. "Five more minutes, please." He turned over, returning to his snoring.
"…Is he sucking his thumb?"
"If he is, grab a picture for me," Lan said. Blademan slid the door open and walked out, all of his weapons in their place. "I guess I better wake everyone else up." He walked over to his brothers, shaking them gently to wake them up. Sasuke proved to be easier to wake up, while Naruto presented a…rather interesting challenge. It ended up taking Sasuke's fireball jutsu to wake him up, his pajamas set alight at the rear end. He jumped up, beating at the flames. Lan quickly ran to the restroom, grabbing a glass on his way and filling it up with water. He came back and threw it, but missed…by a good three feet. The water hit Jiraiya, waking the man up. "Did I get him?"
"No," Jiraiya snapped, his arms folded, his hair plastered to his head. "You got me."
"Naruto, try stop, drop, and roll," Sasuke suggested. Naruto quickly complied, rolling around on the floor. The flames were soon out and Naruto went into the restroom, coming out later with a change of clothes. "Better?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "Much better." He looked around, noticing that the room was short one occupant. "Where'd Blademan get to?"
"Dunno," Lan said, sitting back down to face the window. "He left a few minutes ago. Don't know where to, though."
"Wait, you said he left?" Kyuubi asked from Naruto's PET, now wide awake.
"Yeah."
"Shit. We need to find him," Kyuubi said, jacking into one of the waiting Copybots. He turned to the others. "He's going to tail Tsunade to her meeting with Orochimaru. We need to stop him. Before he does something stupid."
"Like what?" Jiraiya asked, wringing out his hair over a bucket.
"Like get himself killed. So, first things first. We need to find Tsunade or at the very least Shizune. She should know where Tsunade would be. We'd better split up. The netnavis are gonna take the net again, you guys take the roads. We stay in constant communication. Uh….anyone see the generator kunai he loaned me?"
"I think he took them with him," Lan said.
"How can you even tell? You're blind."
"They sound different from other kunai."
"Sound?"
"Well…they just make a different noise when they rub against something than a normal kunai does."
"Say….kid, do you think you could track him by noise and smell?"
"Well, maybe. I mean, it's a long shot, sure, but there's a small chance I could. Depends on what I have to smell first."
"Something that I'm sure he would carry on him. Or would at least permeate the mask on his armor." Kyuubi pulled out a bottle of liquid, popping the top off of it. "Take a whiff of this."
Lan sniffed it, inhaling deeply. "That smells nice. What is it?"
"A perfume that an old friend used to wear. It's a long shot, but there must be something on him that still has that smell." Lan started toward the door, giving little sniffs as he went. "Well?"
"Yeah…yeah, I can smell something. It's really faint, but it's there. There are gaps all along the hallway, but there is definitely a smell of that perfume." Lan walked down the hallway, the rest of the group following him.
"AH! DEMON FOX!" The group ran back into the room, slamming the door behind them, panting hard.
"Kyuubi, now might be a good time to either use the henge or jack out of the Copybot," Jiraiya said between breaths.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Kyuubi panted. He chose to jack out, Naruto storing the bot into its storage scroll. "Alright, shall we try this again?" The rest nodded and slowly slid the door open, peeking out of the crack to make sure the coast was clear before leaving the room again.
"Lady Tsunade, I don't think you should go," Shizune said. She was currently latched onto the back of Tsunade's shirt, Tsunade dragging her along.
"Shizune, would you let go already?" Tsunade asked, looking at her assistant. "Don't even try to stop me. We both know that we'll regret it." Shizune reluctantly let go, knowing that Tsunade was right. "I'll be back later. Maybe two or three hours." She left the hotel that they were at, never noticing her silent green escort. Shizune watched her go, but her breath caught when she saw Blademan wink at her before going after Tsunade. She stood there for a bit before leaving to find Blademan's friends.
"Lan, that's the third shop you've led us to," Jiraiya said.
"Like it's my fault Blademan spends so much time in stores," Lan bit out. "What kind of shops are they, anyways?"
"Looks like weapons shops," Kyuubi said. "Probably old contacts he knows. That would definitely be Blademan. Always looking for information he may or may not need." Lan then stopped in front of a tea shop, surprising even Kyuubi. "Although, I didn't know he liked tea…"
"There you all are!" The group turned around to see Shizune running up to them. "I've been looking all over for you."
"Well, you found us," Jiraiya said. "What's wrong?"
"Lady Tsunade has gone to meet with Orochimaru. And Blademan-san was following her."
"Damn it! I knew this would happen," Kyuubi said. "Shizune, do you have any idea where they would meet?"
"Well, the only place that they could meet that's private is either the castle walls or the outskirts of town." Everyone looked at the other and all nodded.
"We start at the outskirts," Sasuke said. "Any objections?" There were none and the group headed off, although they had to slow down for Lan, who had sadly run into another light pole, his fourth one since they left the hotel.
"Orochimaru, you stupid snake, where are you?" Tsunade yelled, looking around the field. There were large boulders everywhere, sparse grass, and only one tree that was withering away.
"Geez," Blademan said to himself, hiding behind one of the boulders. "As conspicuous as ever, I see." He was careful to stay quiet, trying to avoid unwanted attention. At that point, there was a squirrel giving him just a bit too much attention and he was debating whether he should kill it, spook it, or just knock it unconscious. The way it kept running to him and then from him was making the first choice very appealing. He was about to grab it when he heard a twig snap. His head snapped around to face Tsunade's position to see Orochimaru and Kabuto walking to her. "Finally," he said, forgetting the squirrel. He slowly drew the katana from its sheath, the chainblade from its position on his belt. He stood up out of his crouch, careful to stay behind the boulder.
"So, Tsunade," Orochimaru hissed, looking her over. "Have you made your decision?"
"Yeah…yeah, I have," she answered. "I've decide…to reject your offer."
"What?"
"You heard me. I'm not taking the offer." Tsunade turned away from him and began to walk off. She stopped when he started to chuckle, the chuckle turning into a full blown laugh.
"Oh, that is rich. Rich, I tell you," Orochimaru said. "Do you honestly believe I'll just let you go?" He looked at Kabuto, nodding. "You know what to do, Kabuto." Kabuto nodded, drawing a kunai.
"You'll have to go through me to get to her," Blademan said, jumping from the boulder between Kabuto and Tsunade. "I came for Orochimaru, but I can't let you attack her either. Damn my sense of ethics," he added to himself, keeping his voice down so that only he could hear the last sentence.
"If I must go through you, then so be it," Kabuto said. "But I will not hold back."
"RASENGAN!" Kabuto jumped out of the way of Naruto as he landed, leaving a fair sized crater in the spot Kabuto had been standing. "Damn. Maybe I shouldn't yell out my move when I'm trying to sneak up on people."
"I could have told you that," Shinobi said. "Baka."
"Oi, don't make me come in there!" Everyone sweatdropped at that comment, even Naruto and Shinobi. "Did I really just say that?"
"So many nuisances," Orochimaru sighed. "Kabuto, perhaps it is time to even the playing field. Do it." Kabuto nodded, signing. He slammed his palms to the ground, two large coffins shooting out of the ground. "Get ready for a blast from the past, Blademan. I'm sure you remember these two gentlemen." The coffins opened to reveal two men. Both of them wore face masks, leaving only their eyes showing. Their eyes were the same color, a deep green. Both wore the same ensemble, a simple shinobi outfit, a headband with only a strip of metal and a music note on it. The man on the left had a katana, which looked very much like the one that Blademan was holding, while the one on the right held a chainblade, again looking very much like the chainblade in Blademan's possession.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Blademan said, his eyes facing the sky. "Did I do something to piss off someone up there? Or is it just my rotten luck?"
"Blade, are those the men who…" Kyuubi began, but didn't finish the question.
"Yeah. They are." He tightened his grip on the bladed weapons in his hand, looking at the two men. "Back from the grave to haunt me."
"Well, I believe that has helped to even these odds a bit," Orochimaru said, turning back to the remainder of the group. "What about the rest of you, I wonder?" He continued to study the group. "Yes, what shall we do with you?"
Me: Another chapter down. Also, Maxforce wrote this chapter.