Well it was unanimous in what you guys wanted. Time skip! I'm not time skipping. Now now, don't form an angry mob. Please put the pitchforks and torches down. Let me explain.
I think you guys were mainly worried about seeing movie filler and/or filler in general. I won't be adding any filler. The problem was that once I thought about it I have a bunch to explain during this time frame. So it was either a fairly short arc with smaller time skips throughout or a whole bunch of flashbacks. I went for the small arc. Hopefully it's short and entertaining enough that you guys won't mind.
There won't really be any review responses this time as most of them were responses to my notes at the end of the previous chapter.
Chapter 15
(Orochimaru's Base)
Menma and the four Sound ninja had finally reached their destination. They quickly moved to a large room with ornate furnishings. It was empty, but they didn't have to wait long before someone else showed up.
"Kukuku. Menma-kun, I didn't think we'd be entertaining you."
Menma turned to the voice with a frown. "I did what I had to do. Besides, this gives me the chance to kill you like I said I would."
"Kukuku. Train hard, we'll see if you grow strong enough to defeat me in the time that you have left. Tayuya will show you to your room."
Orochimaru turned to the other three as Menma and Tayuya left the room. "Go fetch Karin. She will be taking over Kabuto's duties."
After being shown to his room Menma had started wandering around the base. It served several purposes. First and foremost, the base was a fairly large one with numerous people. He had no idea how long he would be staying here and was hoping he would come across a certain man before anything came up. Second, was the fact that just because he threw himself into the viper's den for Sasuke didn't mean he would just roll over and die. He hoped to find something he could use to his advantage while wandering around.
Before long Tayuya tracked him down. "Come on, shithead. Time for some training."
Menma briefly hoped it would be sparing. Maybe if he beat the hell out of her she'd learn some manners.
1 week after joining
Two important events happened to Menma today. First, he happened across one Uchiha Eiichi eating food after a mission. Menma would have made his sensei proud. He followed her teachings and stabbed the man in the back with a kunai before viciously ripping it out the side, cutting through the man's lung.
As the man rolled around on the floor bleeding he looked up and coughed out a bloody "You!"
Menma stared down at him coldly. "You didn't really think I'd let you get away with killing her, did you?"
"Orochimaru... won't let you... get away with this," the man choked out.
"Actually," Menma said nodding towards a certain shadowy figure that had come to watch. "I don't think he really minds."
The man turned to find Orochimaru watching the events unfold with a sinister grin on his face. He could only stare in shock as he slowly bled to death.
Menma ignored the bleeding man and turned to Orochimaru. "There's another man I'm after, Itachi."
"Are you going to deliver him to Sasuke-kun? Kukuku. Having a family is so nice, isn't it?"
Menma frowned and left after making sure Eiichi was dead.
It was later that day while he was exploring the base when he found another man. This man was very pale and sickly looking. He had white hair with two red dots on his forehead.
Menma found him staring blankly with tears dripping down his face. He was about to turn around and leave when he heard him mutter something. Thinking the man was talking to him he responded cleverly. "Huh?"
The man turned to him with a blank gaze before focusing on him. "You are... Orochimaru-sama's next vessel?"
"Er... Menma. I don't plan on becoming a vessel."
"You should be glad you have that honor. I am no longer needed... no longer wanted. My existence serves no purpose."
"You think you exist solely to be a vessel for him?" A nod. "And... you can't do that anymore?" another nod. "So find a new one."
The man's gaze turned to anger.
Menma held up his hands. "You said it yourself. Orochimaru no longer needs you and has no purpose for you. Find a new purpose, a new master."
"I am useless. No one would want me."
"Why are you useless?" Menma asked him.
"I am sick, and I will die soon."
Menma paused for a bit. He had heard something about one of Orochimaru's most favorite underlings being sick and tossed aside. "What was his name again? Kimi... Kimigayo?"
"Kimimaro," the man responded.
Menma flinched realizing he had spoken aloud. "Right. Why hasn't he healed you yet?"
"I have heard that Kabuto, the one that supplied my medicine, is dead. His medicine only slowed the disease down though. I can't be cured."
"That's..." Menma shook his head. "Even then, if I were Orochimaru I wouldn't throw you away like that. I'm sure you're still useful. You just need someone or something to give you a new purpose."
Kimimaro stared at him intently. "Would you give me that purpose?"
Menma stared back at him for a bit. 'Even if he's going to die soon there must be something he can do. If he was close to Orochimaru he could have information that would be helpful. I'll have to be careful though...' With a nod he replied. "Yeah, I can give you one. It will take some time to get to it though, so don't give in to that disease just yet."
Kimimaro nodded and bowed briefly. "I will cling to life as long as you find me useful."
Menma nodded before leaving. "Good. I'll visit you again soon, Kimimaro."
'I'll make sure to visit him regularly. I wonder how long it will be until he'll tell me about Orochimaru.'
1 month after joining
Menma was on his way to his second 'date' with a girl by the name of Karin. When he had originally met her she had been fairly cold and professional towards him. A week ago that had all changed. They had been sent to round up a group of ninja for one of Orochimaru's facilities. During the mission Karin had made a mistake that would have resulted in her death if he hadn't intervened and taken a heavy wound in the process. Since then she had been fawning over him like a fangirl when they were alone, while keeping her professional attitude when around others.
As he entered the restaurant they had agreed to meet at he saw her sitting in a booth off in a corner waving to him. He noticed she was dressed nicely again and shook his head. 'I don't know why she insists on calling these dates, all we're doing is eating together.'
His own clothing hadn't changed much yet. He had dropped the red and went straight black. Black sandals, black pants, black shirt. He had taken to wearing bracers that covered his forearms to hide his summoning tattoo and altered curse seal.
As he sat down Karin immediately swapped to his side and scooted across the bench until she was pressed right up against his side.
"You're going to make it difficult to eat, you know."
"Then I'll feed you," she said huskily.
He frowned and turned the discussion away to other things before she could go any further. She talked a bit about the research Orochimaru had her doing but most of it didn't interest him. Eventually she got around to talking about herself and mentioned her ability to heal others.
"Wait, you can heal others by biting them?"
"No! They have to bite me... I don't like to use it very often... it leaves marks."
"Marks?" Menma looked at her curiously.
She hesitated before rolling up her left sleeve revealing a few scattered bite marks on her arm. "I've kept it hidden. Even though it's really powerful, the bite marks never go away."
"Does Orochimaru know about it?"
"Of course! I think it's one of the reasons he wanted me."
Menma sat silently staring at the bite marks for a minute. "Has he asked you to use it on his followers?"
Karin shook her head. "He's only really used it himself, that's why there aren't that many yet."
"Would you use it for me?" Menma asked.
"I... I don't..."
Menma grimaced. "What if I took you on a date each time I asked for it to be used?"
"Ok!" She chirped before latching on to him and hugging tightly.
"You really should tone down your fangirl attitude a bit," he frowned. "I can't stand fangirls. Anyways, there's someone I want you to meet after this, alright?"
She nodded happily and rubbed her face against his chest.
'If she's going to spend any time around me I'll break her fangirl tendencies,' he sighed at her actions. 'One step at a time, I guess.'
They had gone to see Kimimaro after their dinner. Karin had been her usual professional self. They had both confirmed that Orochimaru had never tried this to heal him.
"I... feel better. Not cured yet, but... better," Kimimaro had said afterwards.
Menma nodded. "Multiple treatments should fix it then. Remember where you bit her then. From now on that's the only spot you'll use."
Karin gave him a grateful look at that.
"I'll see you again soon, Kimimaro." With a wave, Menma and Karin left him.
Kimimaro was happy. He was useful again and his new master was even trying to keep him around longer.
1 week later
Menma finished the last mark and sat back as the ink dried on the scroll. He had returned the next day to visit Kimimaro after Karin used her healing on him to convert his curse seal. Just as he was about to convert it he figured out why Kurama had seemed so pleased when he asked if he could use it on others.
The seal stores a piece of the user inside it. Kurama had told him he would leave behind a piece of him whenever he charged or converted one.
'What would have happened if I had tried to give someone power without blocking him? Would he have gained enough control over them to make them act as a puppet?'
He shook his head. It didn't matter. He had the seal to block him now so he could convert curse seals as he wished.
When he arrived at Kimimaro's room he braced himself. They entered and sat quietly for a few minutes.
"Kimimaro, who are you loyal to? Orochimaru or myself?"
"Orochimaru no longer has a use for me. You do. There is no need to pick between you."
Menma stared at him. "And if you had to pick? If what I wanted directly opposed what he wanted?"
Kimimaro fell silent for awhile. "I... I think I would choose you. You helped me when he threw me aside. It wouldn't matter though, I have his mark, he will always control me."
Menma pulled off his left bracer and held up his arm so his mark was visible.
"Is that... a curse seal? It looks different." It looked almost like the cursed seal of heaven. Instead of three tomoe it looked like three fireballs.
"Originally it was. I used Kurama to change it to something else. Orochimaru's soul shard was destroyed."
"Can you change mine?"
Menma nodded and held up a scroll. "That's what I came here for. If you choose me over Orochimaru I'll free you from him."
"And you'll continue healing me? You'll give me purpose?" Menma nodded. Kimimaro took a minute to think before looking at him with determination. "Please free me."
Menma sacrificed one of his own power ups to burn out Kimimaro's seal. It would delay his own growth a bit but he got a powerful ally in exchange. Not a bad deal in his opinion.
1 year after joining
Kimimaro had made a full recovery after multiple treatments from Karin. As instructed, he used the same spot on her arm each time so she didn't get it filled up with bite marks. Something she was very grateful for. Menma had sacrificed a second power up to give Kimimaro access to a second stage of his seal, just like before. Kimimaro had explained all he knew about Orochimaru and his body snatching. He was fairly well informed after having been set as a host before his disease ruined that for Orochimaru.
Kurama was displeased greatly by Menma's actions. The boy had been unknowingly delaying his freedom from the seal. He had also found a way to counter any influence he might have on other seals he converted. Luckily the delay after each sacrifice was only one month, as he was using the tails of power he had previously gained to grant them to Kimimaro, resetting the counter for his own. Menma was currently at five tails worth of power in his seal, and had just started the timer for his next. Five months from now he would gain a sixth tail worth of power.
Karin had also been brought to his side. After continuously 'dating' her to help cure Kimimaro she had calmed down. Her fangirl attitude had all but vanished by this point. Menma had convinced her to produce a toxin for him that was undetectable by normal means. He had been secretly administering the poison to Orochimaru via his food for several months now. Orochimaru, after having been forced to quickly transfer to that body because of his fight with Hiruzen, simply thought it was the low quality body rejecting him faster than others.
Menma sat in his room late at night. He was blankly looking down at a scroll without really reading it. He had been told earlier that day about Itachi and Akatsuki.
'So they're after Kurama. Itachi himself was even assigned directly to me.' He clasped his hands in front of his face. 'It's convenient that one of my goals will come to me. Akatsuki, huh? I'll have to deal with them after Orochimaru. I should expand my power base. The more people I have on my side before I deal with Orochimaru the better off I'll be to deal with them when the time comes.'
He leaned back in his chair and looked around the darkened room. "Plotting in the shadows,' he snorted. "Sensei would be proud."
He thought back to the picture he had found in her house that night. 'Uchiha Honoka...' He mused. 'Maybe I should pay Konoha a visit.'
He stood and rolled up the scroll that had everything he could find out about Itachi. "I think I will. Sasuke will want to know this and I miss my fan..."
A few days later Sasuke jerked awake in the middle of the night. Jiraiya and he had stopped in Konoha shortly to report some things they had found while wandering.
'What woke me?' He glanced around for a bit before he heard some noise coming from down the hall. 'Menma's room!'
Jumping out of bed he flew down the hallway and threw the door open. The window was broken and he noticed the giant fan that used to hang above Menma's bed was missing. He was about to jump out after whoever it was when he noticed a scroll on the bed. It had a note attached to it.
He picked up the note and read it before skimming over the scroll. He dropped the note and looked out the window before quietly leaving the room to go back to sleep.
The note had two simple words on it.
Be patient.
End Chapter 15
A/N:
First - I have not set this as a Naruto/Karin pairing. Yes, she's the most visible girl this chapter, but that doesn't mean she'll be the one. Those that were worried about Konoha girls not fitting the bill, there will be changes in the future that makes them acceptable. Although it'll likely be girls being attracted to a 'bad boy' image, so yeah. I'd turn it into a poll, but doing it this way tricks people into reviewing.
Second - As you can see we're already a year through the 3 year gap between Naruto and Shippuden. I'll probably wrap up this mini er... Sound arc? next chapter.
Third - Yes, Jiraiya and Sasuke went on a training trip. However, Sasuke isn't being hunted so they can afford to stop in towns and Konoha and such, which they did. Chalk it up to stopping to see if Konoha found anything out about Menma.
Fourth - The final bit, for those that are interested Kimigayo(君が代) is the Japanese National Anthem. It's ridiculously short. Like 5 lines short. Go look it up some time.