Don't Leave!

"Useless."

Another capsule was pitched to the ground.

"Useless."

K tossed another capsule to the floor as he tried to find an advantage in the impending battle waiting on them outside. He nearly crushed the next 'useless' capsule he drew but he didn't have enough strength to do so. The man was too infuriated to actually get the crying heap that was Bulma to get him a useful capsule, he was also too stubborn to do so.

Goku watched quietly as he rocked Happa back and forth, as the little green haired baby was upset by the tension created by Bulma and K. The alien boy was simultaneously trying to think of a way to escape, "Can I see the capsules, K-sensei?" The case of capsules was almost instantly chucked at his head and he caught it with nice reflexes. He read through the labels while K shifted his attention to something else.

The black haired jonin slowly walked toward the window and still saw three shadows waiting out in the distance, "If this house is a concealed, which it's not," K turned to the room full of Kumo-nin and started digging into the obvious. "That would mean they're staring at an empty space, waiting."

"Yeah that's pretty insane," Chi-Chi chimed in. "They would look like mad men to anybody else."

"What do we have that's worth waiting for?" It was a loaded question on K's end, because all eyes averted to Happa in that instant. "We hand it over, we're done here."

Goku looked up from capsule hunting and prepared to interject but all eyes shifted to the stairs now once they heard footsteps.

Bulma wiped tears from under her eyes as she placed her barefoot against the wooden floors of the capsule home. She walked up to Goku and took the case of capsules from him, "Subterrene. Exploding subterrene actually." The teenage girl looked at K with hate filled eyes as she added in her last point, "No chakra needed."

"Untraceable?" K questioned, because he was in no condition to fight, even when his chakra was restored.

"Of course," Bulma said as she popped open the capsule and nearly buckled to the ground when the heavy drilling device was plopped in her arms. She pushed it into the arms of Master Roshi who accepted and waited for further instruction. "It'll drill under the ground and explode when I detonate it. When it explodes, we take off in the opposite direction. Since we have vehicles we can cover good amount of distance."

"Good, five minutes," K did a pained waddle back up the stairs because he never officially took the piss he got out of bed to do.

"When we get far enough, we go our separate ways," Bulma added in, which shocked everyone. "You can have the capsules." She offered dryly as she followed K up the stairs to gather her things.

Mao frowned as she turned to look at the drill and then back at Happa, "Maybe we should just hand over Happa-chan?" The girl said in a shy tone, not too sure of what she just said. "I think it would cause less trouble."

"They're planning something evil for Happa and I'm not going to let it happen!" Goku shook his fist in the air and Chi-Chi raised a curious brow once he revealed his sentiment.

Master Roshi had the drill in his hand, torn between both sides, "That's true, but the baby could end up being useful." Goku was a baby Kumo had found and he was turning out to be an extremely useful asset.

"What for?" Mao wondered, honestly.

Roshi lowered his sunglasses and raised his eyebrows with a devious smile, "Someone is going to have to breastfeed him eventually and I'm going to be there to see, hehehehehehe~!" His nose gushed with blood and he smiled big while looking into the sky, imagining the perfect candidate to feed the new baby in tow.

Chi-Chi deadpanned at Roshi, thinking he actually had a profound reason for wanting to keep the baby but it was just another plan to see naked women.

"Won't an explosion give up our location to whoever we were avoiding in the first place?" Mao asked in a worried tone.

"In the forest, one of those sound ninja said something to me," Goku started to admit as he rocked Happa to sleep. "It was weird." He also added in before he continued, "There was this genin with glasses, saying all this weird stuff about rabbits, and nourishment, and how I'm a carrot! I think he had something to do with Otogakure, and those are Oto-shinobi out there! So I don't think just handing Happa over is going to get us what we want!"

K had returned from the bathroom, hearing the last tidbit of info Goku just spilled, "Weird indeed." He agreed with his student for once and hobbled over to the center of the room. "That's why we'll… run," It pained him to say that he was retreating in the same fashion Doctor Briefs did, which ultimately led to his death, but he knew things would be different this time around. "Getting Goku home is top priority."

"What why? I can protect myself!" Goku flexed his free arm and a little muscle bulged.

"You're important," Even more important than Chi-Chi and Mao. He would openly admit that too if it were just adults, but he was sincere enough to think about their confidence. Regardless; Goku was a weapon in Kumo's eyes. You don't lose weapons. "When Briefs returns we leave."

XxX

(Outside W/ Orochimaru and The Gemstones)

Lapis scrunched up his nose, as he folded his arms over one another and slowly paced in a circle around Orochimaru.

Lazuli was lazily sitting on top of a stump, while Orochimaru himself stood in between the two as he stared in the center of the empty clearing.

"How much longer do we have to waaaaaaaaaait," Lapis finally cried out and stopped in his tracks. The Sannin's eyes didn't even flash a glance in his direction. He frowned and approached Orochimaru, poking him in the stomach. "Orochimaru-sama."

Poke.

"Orochimaru-sama."

No response.

"Orochimaru-sama."

Poke.

"Orochimaru-sama."

Poke.

"Orochimar-"

"WHAT?"

"Hi," Lapis grinned and jumped back when he saw Orochimaru flinch in his direction. He spun on his heel and joined his 'father' in the bland activity of staring at an empty clearing. "How can you be so sure that he's here? I can't feel anything."

"You're not searching hard enough. It's as clear as day, they're even mobilizing as we speak," Orochimaru alerted both Lapis and Lazuli with his statement and they both put their guards up to a degree. "Shinobi like to hide in plain sight. They know we're here, we know they're here. It's only a matter of time before they try to make a break for it," Orochimaru hissed quietly as he drew Kusanagi in preparation.

He also bit his thumb lightly and summoned a mid-sized snake summon that slithered off wordlessly.

"Why don't we just take 'em head on then?" Lapis asked as he walked deeper into the clearing, approaching the actual center. He winced when he stabbed his foot on something minor, stepping back a bit to see something poking out of the ground. The top of it looked like a cone, with spiraling blades protruding from the sides, "What the hell is t-"

"GET BACK!" Orochimaru yelled out in that instant, but it was futile, because the entire area was blinded by white light, and he could only see the shadow of Lapis trying to guard himself, but ultimately failed. A terrible ringing filled his ear drums as everything in his line of vision flared to life and exploded, sending the sound trio flying backward.

Lapis was propelled back into Orochimaru's arms and Lazuli was blown off in a completely different direction. The duo tumbled harshly and quickly through the forest, knocking over a tree once they crashed into it; showing exactly how powerful the subterrene was. Orochimaru fell forward, holding Lapis close to his chest.

They were both covered in blood and debris, their ears ringing terribly and the rest of their senses in a complete frenzy. Orochimaru released Lapis out of his hold and tried to move forward, but he felt an immense pain stemming from his back. The impact from crashing into the tree had broken it, and unlike 19 he wouldn't be recovering as quickly.

Lazuli approached their area, rubbing dirt off of her body, but completely froze when she approached her family.

Lapis looked up at her and arched a brow, "What?"

She covered her mouth and then ran to her brother, cusping her hands around his cheeks and looking his face over, "You don't feel that!?"

"Feel what?"

"Your…" Lazuli pulled out a mirror she kept on her for vanity reasons and revealed Lapis' gruesome injury.

"Oh fuck," Lapis mumbled to himself, placing a finger under his right eyelid and pulling down playfully. He stuck his own tongue out at himself in the mirror despite his appearance, blood dripping all the way down the right side side of his face, and an empty socket where his eyeball used to be, "How did I not notice that?" The adrenaline rush from the explosion distracted him from the shrapnel taking his eye out.

He wasn't exactly the average child either.

Both children began laughing, as Lapis came to a stand and removed the tattered bandana from around his neck to make a makeshift eyepatch. He turned to look at Orochimaru, who was still on the ground, "Come on old man. Spit out a new body. Those fuckers owe me an eye."

XxX

A fleet of ATVs were driving speedily through the forest, heading in the opposite direction of where they were stationed. For the most part, it was silent. Bulma had nothing more to say to the Kumo-nin, Goku didn't know what to say, and K never talked anyway. Everyone else felt the awkward tension between the trio that had met in Iwagakure and didn't want to make it worse.

A few hours had passed since they set the explosive off, now they were heading toward the Land of Hot Water. They were making excellent time since the border could almost be seen in the distance. With the surrounding area in such flux, surely security was also in a frenzy, and passing through probably wouldn't be simple. If even possible at all.

This was an actual concern in Mao's mind, finally deciding to break the silence, "How do we know we'll be able to pass through the border as easily as we did when we came?"

"Only Konoha's best would be able to make it to the border as fast as we are," Bulma spoke up in a slight brag for her father's behalf, "And they're tied up protecting their village."

"Border patrol is dead," K concluded.

Happa immediately started crying upon hearing K speak.

"Why do you think that?" Goku wondered as he took one hand off of a handle to console his new baby companion.

"An invasion doesn't start at the gates of the village," K said simply and didn't indulge anymore into the conversation.

Silence took over again once K erased the doubt from their destination.

As they traveled at such high speeds, the border was growing even closer, and the elephant in the room getting even bigger; Bulma who was in the center of the group began lagging behind. She said she was leaving. The others were so focused they didn't notice. All they cared about was getting back home after things turning into such a disaster.

Goku was focused on keeping Happa cheerful, keeping one hand ready to stroke his friend's lush green hair. As they approached the border, Bulma's words from earlier replayed his head, and he looked away to check on his friend. There wasn't a strand of turquoise hair in sight and he frowned. Somehow she managed to sneak away, and no one noticed but him.

How was that possible?

Now he was wondering how he could do the same thing, especially with such a hawk like K watching over him. The man was constantly checking to see where Goku was and what he was doing. There were limits and boundaries to it, and he had to do something that he would absolutely want no business being apart of.

He looked down on the now diaper clad Happa as he operated his ATV with a raised brow.

Goku slowed down to a stop before everyone else could catch on and did a quick combination of hand seals. Immediately, the entire area started to 'stink.' He was no genjutsu expert, but he knew the basics.

He pinched his nose to play up his ruse, "Oh no, ha!" Goku laughed out loud as everyone now noticed he had stopped. There was collective of frowns staring at him, "I think Happa-chan needs to use the bathroom."

"He already did," K said with distaste.

"Let's take a break, for now; I'll go wash and change this lil' guy," Goku insisted, getting nothing but a cold stare in return from K.

"I could use a break too, K-sensei," Chi-Chi said as she slumped over the handles of the ATV.

K turned, the border was so close. He was almost angry with how insistent they were about too, but he was also in no condition to over exert himself. The man sighed, "Fine." He pointed at Goku, "Do not go far."

Goku nodded graciously and jumped off of his ATV and dashed off like a mad man, with Happa in tow.

The hardest part was over, now he just had to find Bulma. Where would a girl with virtually no family left go?

She could make a home literally anywhere, and she had the ATV on her side; she could cover a lot of distance for however long she had been gone. There was no telling what other technology she had under her sleeve either.

Goku had only been walking for a few minutes, feeling determined to find his friend, but a light tap on his cheek reminded him he had company. When he looked at the smiling baby, it's other hand was waving in another direction. He looked to where he thought the baby was 'pointing' and raised a brow, "What is it?"

"Ka-cha-ka-cha," was all he got in response.

"You think so?"

Goku changed his focus as he went to investigate whatever Happa was trying to point out, and he heard muffled sobs coming from behind a tree. He slowly walked up, placing his hand on the tree as he cautiously walked around it, and he frowned when he saw what was on the other side.

With her head buried in her knees was the very girl he was looking for.

"Bulma," Goku took a seat across from her, tapping her slightly trying to get her to look up, "Things aren't always going to be this bad, y'know?"

Tears were still streaming.

Goku scooted next to her and offered Happa, which she slowly accepted and hugged the baby close to her chest. The tears started to slow down once Happa's naturally happy energy started to creep into her as well.

Bulma rested a head on Goku's shoulder, "I'm sorry, Goku." She offered an apology, "I'm just going through a lot right now. My whole life has been turned upside down."

"Mine too," he related to her. "That's why you can't leave. We can help each other."

The teenager didn't even consider what Goku was going through. She knew he had only recently discovered he wasn't a native of Earth, and he had learned his grandfather was killed before being shipped out to Iwagakure. He hadn't had much time to sit with it, "You think so? You're just a kid, what do you know?" She teased, with a smile now.

"I know so, that's how friends become strong; together. We're like knives, we can use each other to make one another sharper." Goku took Bulma's hand and smiled hard at her, "As long as you have me, you'll never have to worry. I'll protect you."

She smiled softly, "Thank you, Son-kun," Bulma looked up to the sky, "It's going to be hard getting over losing my parents," She started to choke up because the gravity of it was really starting to set in, especially since Tights left her once again to go do her work. "I feel lost, rejected, and I don't know where to go from here."

Before Goku could speak, another sly voice interjected, but didn't change the subject.

"Your father was a genius," a low voice hissed. "He taught you a very important lesson, he's a scientist like I, so I know he did. Energy cannot be destroyed, it simply changes form. He lives on through the same energy you knew him as, watching over you, and will still teach you from this point on."

Bulma was frozen. The aura was ominous, and the killing intent was thick, but the words were sincere and meaningful. She didn't know what to feel.

"I want to give these same lessons to my children," The voice from the shadows was now being put to a face as a man emerged. His pale skin and yellow eyes looked between the trio, "But how can I do that if you won't return me my greatest creation; my son?"

Goku was quick to jump up, "You're not talking about Happa, are you?"

"Happa?" Another voice joined the fray, it was Lapis. His face half covered by the bandana to hide his gruesome injury, "Who told you you could name him?"

"Happa," Orochimaru let the name roll off of his tongue for a moment, and it was followed by silence. He liked the meaning it gave to the child, and he also liked the juxtaposition it could represent for himself, but he still stood to correct the young saiyan. "His name isn't Happa."

Goku furrowed his brow. When he saw Lapis and Lazuli standing with the man, it confirmed what was going on in the forest and the arena. He was the man behind it, "It doesn't matter. You're not using him for whatever sick plan you have, he deserves a normal life."

"To be a weapon in your village, like you?" Orochimaru sneered when he saw Goku want to say something else, but he was at a loss. "You don't even know what a normal life is, child. You still have much to learn."

"It'll be better than my life!" Goku protested, but he and Orochimaru's war of words would lead nowhere. He was actively thinking of escape plans, because at the end of the day; he wanted no harm to come to Happa. Regardless of how confident he was in his ability to fight, he knew the baby and Bulma had no business raising a finger to the likes of Orochimaru.

"How about we let the baby choose where it wants to go," Bulma, who was holding Happa got up and walked a safe distance; placing him in the middle of the clearing. She walked back to the tree where Goku was, and despite his now worried expression she nodded reassuringly of her own plan.

Happa's big eyes were now looking between a trio of shinobi he had never seen before, and the two Kumo residents that he had spent what was a good amount of his life outside the womb with. Everyone in attendance watched as the baby got confused, and looked as if it were about to start crying, but once he got to that point he saw Goku smiling at him.

Orochimaru was silent, actually interested in where this little game would go. Unbeknownst to the baby, he spent years machinating to make sure his existence came to be. His speech about energy, he truly believed that, and surely this child could feel how he felt about him. That's why it hesitated and still hadn't made a decision.

Happa continued to sit in the clearing, neither party was expecting a baby that was hours old to make any real movement, but it was also no normal baby; and they would be getting at least some form of indication.

"Will it move already?" Lazuli complained, and of course nothing happened upon her doing so.

Goku continued to smile at Happa, hoping he would start crawling in his direction.

Orochimaru watched closely for what happened next.

"Ka-cha-ka-ch-" Happa tried to crawl, but he wasn't that advanced yet; instead falling flat on his stomach and bursting out in tears. In that moment, he reached out in the direction of Goku, and the saiyan boy took that as his victory. As he tried to walk up and scoop the baby from the ground, a dozen shuriken were precisely thrown in front of Happa. It prevented Goku from taking another step forward.

"That's enough," Orochimaru finally sounded off and walked forward, kneeling down and picking the baby up gently from the grassy terrain. He tickled 'Happa's' nose and got a laugh from the baby boy, "It's okay, Cell, you can come home now." The legendary Sannin turned his back to Bulma and Goku. "I'll forgive you for stealing my infant child, and harming my son… for now." He began to walk off.

"If you know what's best for you, you won't follow dickhead," Lapis gestured his middle finger at Goku, using his other hand to lift his bandana and flash his missing eye. "Unless you want to deal with me."

Goku was about to lash out, but Bulma ran up and grabbed him; letting the three sound shinobi disappear into the shadows.

"WHY'D YOU LET THEM LEAVE!?" Goku immediately yelled out, but Bulma pinched him.

"Trust me, I have a plan," Bulma whispered quietly.

"Wait so we're gonna follow them?"

"No it's going to take a while to make happen, I'll have to stay in Kumogakure until it's done," She told Goku and he nodded in understanding. "We're gonna get him back, I swear."

XxX

(With K & Company)

The black haired hawk of a shinobi sat quietly, leaning against his ATV while waiting for Goku to return to the area. He had been gone for a while, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt since he knew the boy had no idea how to deal with a baby, and on top of that; he was foolish.

Chi-Chi and Mao were just now returning from their bathroom break, while Master Roshi was reading porn with no shame, and ….

K looked over the squad once more. Someone was missing.

The jounin shut his eyes for a long time, accumulating enough air to make the longest sigh ever, but he stopped himself short.

The air still reeked horribly, and that was far from normal. Once the baby left the smell shouldn't have lingered.

He let his condition get the best of him and things started to add up. The Briefs girl had left and Goku pulled a trick to go find her, much to his dismay.

With a simple hand sign he ridded himself of smelling a child's feces and now something else popped up after his reality was done being altered.

In the center of the road Chosa was floating idly, making him raise a brow, "The robot. It's back." He stated simply and everyone turned to look at Chosa, waiting for an update.

Instead they were sitting in silence, then Chosa suddenly clattered to the ground.

Chi-Chi was already moving in to observe, K getting ready to move after her cautiously.

The helpful bot they knew as Chosa started to whittle away into shards of floating paper. Master Roshi even lowered his favorite book, raising a brow once the situation started to materialize. With K in the state he was in, he knew it was up to him to protect them; and before anyone else realized what was going on the old man launched his walking stick across the road to knock away 'Chosa.'

The fake copy of the device tumbled a safe distance away and everyone furrowed their brow collectively when it exploded.

Having narrowly avoided that, Chi-Chi covered her mouth in surprise, but when she touched her faces; she felt that her finger tips were covered in blood. She looked up and saw even more paper drifting slowly through the air, and the entire squad of Kumo-nin had some form of nick or cut on their body.

They were being attacked.

"It was a feint!" Mao screamed out as she pointed into the sky. A figure reminiscent of an angel blocked their view of the moon, wings flapping slowly as she descended toward the ground. As she came into form, her distinct look became obvious to the invasion escapees. Blue hair started to lay still once more as her feet touched the pavement, and her strong grey eyes were searching the area intently.

"Tell us what you want." K was not the one to waste time, recognizing the black and red clouds on her cloak from their first encounter with the group.

"Son Goku," Konan's voice was almost as monotone as K and the two quiet powerhouses locked eyes in that moment.

XxX

Enjoy.