Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing well since I'm ecstatic because it's the happiest time of year for every child in school-Summer Vacay! =D
And what's a better way to start summer vacation than with an update from this story!? And like I said after this chapter, this story branches off into an identity of its own so I hope you all enjoy the story!
Now then, let's begin the chapter and end all the small talk, already! ^_^
Everyone within the Tournament's vicinity was shaken by the sound of an explosion as a wave of smoke slowly rose to the air.
"What the? What's happening?" Sakura asked as Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
Gohan then ran out of the spectator railing before he looked to see what appeared to be a purple dome of smoke completely encompass the tower of where Hiruzen was.
"What's happening?" Gohan asked as Kakashi walked to where Gohan was.
"It looks like the village is under attack." Kakashi answered with narrowed eyes.
"Hey wait, isn't that where Mr. Hiruzen is?" Gohan asked, pointing to the purple dome like formation.
"It is….wait a second! Could it be because of that Orochimaru guy?" Sakura asked, remembering how Orochimaru informed the young ninja of his plans to crush the Leaf Village.
"Orochimaru, huh? This isn't good. And it looks like he's started his invasion by knocking out everyone." Kakashi said as he gestured to all of the unconscious people in the stands.
"Just great." Neji said as he walked to Kakashi and his team.
"So what's the plan?" Shino asked.
"First of all we protect all of the unconscious civilians so there won't be a large number of casualties." Kakashi said before an enemy ninja tried rushing him from his backside, only to meet a very swift end via Kakashi's Kunai.
"Gohan, you go and get Naruto and Lee from down there." Kakashi said.
"Right!" Gohan nodded before he flew down to pick up his friends. However….just before he was able to get to within an inch of their location….
"Not so fast!" The voice of Baki yelled as he attempted to blindside Gohan who cut him off with a harsh punch to his jaw, sending the sand shinobi skidding several meters back.
With Baki seemingly dealt with, Gohan quickly made his way to where his friends were before picking them up.
"Naruto? Lee? Hey guys, pull yourselves together!" Gohan said as he lightly tapped their cheeks, waking up the unconscious boys.
"Ugh…Gohan?" Lee muttered, obviously in a daze.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked before the sound of a huge explosion woke him up.
"What the hell is that!?" Naruto asked, ready to go defend his village.
"Remember that Orochimaru guy? He's attacking the village as we speak and he's attacking Mr. Hiruzen." Gohan explained as Naruto and Lee's eyes both widened in dread.
"The old man!?" Naruto exclaimed as he tried getting up before the exhaustion from the previous battle started kicking in.
"We have…to…stop him!" Lee tried getting up before his body protested against him even more so than Naruto thanks to the after effects of the inner gates.
"I've got it!" Gohan suddenly exclaimed getting the attention of the two boys.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked before Gohan charged what appeared to be a ball of energy in his hands. Before both boys could say anything they were both incorporated with the effects of the ball as they started feeling better.
"Whoa! What'd you do!?" Lee asked as he felt way better than how he felt just a couple of seconds ago.
"Using some of my energy I gave it to you in an effort to heal you. My friend Dende could do it way better though!" Gohan grinned as Naruto flexed his muscles.
"Wow, thanks!" Naruto thanked grateful he wouldn't be out of the action.
"Of course. Now c'mon, let's get up there!" Gohan said.
"Right!" Naruto replied as both boys slowly levitated into the air as Lee stared with wide eyes.
"Wait, how are you even doing that!?" Lee yelled out in utter amazement before both boys immediately flew back down, remembering that Lee couldn't fly.
"Oh right, you're not like us, you can't fly." Naruto laughed in embarrassment before he slowly picked Lee up.
"Okay…you both have to show me that when all of this is over…" Lee muttered.
"Haha sure." Gohan laughed as Baki regained his surroundings as he rubbed his sore jaw.
"Just a minute you brats!" Baki yelled as he attempted to go after the three before he was cut off from a flying kunai from Genma.
"Heh sorry but you're dealing with me." Genma smirked as he twirled the pine straw in his mouth as Baki grit his teeth.
"Damn pessant." Baki growled in frustration as Temari appeared right by Baki with Kankuro.
"Baki?" Temari asked.
"Just go with Kankuro. After all, we can't forget the mission." Baki ordered.
"Right." Temari nodded before fazing out.
Gohan noticed this from his peripheral vision and was about to go after Temari but he decided to touch base with Kakashi first.
"Oh Naruto you're up. How do you feel?" Kakashi asked as he kicked away an incoming sound village ninja.
"Way better thanks to Gohan!" Naruto proudly grinned.
"As do I! My flames of youth have been restored!" Lee proudly bragged as he punched his palm in his fist.
"Glad to hear that. Because we're gonna need all the help we'll get." Kakashi said as he nailed another sound village ninja dead in the chest with a kunai.
And so the conscious genin engaged in battle against the various ninja that dared step foot into their village with Neji using his rotation to blow away the sound ninja, Hinata using her trigrams, Shino using his bugs, Kiba using his ninja beast mimicry, Tenten literally turning the ninja into pincushions, Sasuke using the ninja as fire ball practice, Naruto beating on the ninja with his Shadow Clones, Lee kicking the ninjas away, Sakura punching them to Kingdom Kong, Ino using her Mind Transfer Jutsu and Choji using his expansion to battle and deal with the ninja as Gohan blasted the ninja away.
"Sheesh just how many of them are there?" Kiba grit his teeth, obviously not expecting to deal with a war when he woke up this morning.
"They're so persistent!" Ino said as she knocked a nin away from her.
"Don't get relaxed you guys." Asuma said as he viciously slashed one sound nin through the chest.
"Yes. We are at war after all." Kurenai narrowed her eyes before using genjutsu to knock her enemies out.
Naruto and Gohan stood back to back as they dealt with the oncoming sound ninja.
"Naruto Uzumaki Barrage!" Naruto yelled as he kicked away the enemy ninja.
"Masenko-Ha!" Gohan yelled as he fire off his signature energy technique.
"This is something I really didn't wanna deal with!" Naruto glared at the ninja.
"Tell me about it." Gohan agreed.
"Both of you, duck! Fire Style-Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he charged Ki into his jutsu as he hit several ninja with his flame style jutsu.
…Not without nearly burning Gohan and Naruto though, much to their anger and irritation.
"You trying to kill us!?" Naruto and Gohan yelled in annoyance as Sasuke scoffed at their anger.
"I said 'Duck'." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he couldn't understand why they were angry at him.
"TALK LOUDER!" Gohan and Naruto barked as Sakura rolled her eyes as she saw all of this.
"Morons." Sakura sighed as she smacked her enemies away.
"Cherry Blossom Clash!" Sakura yelled defeating her own enemies.
"Team 7!" Kakashi yelled, getting the attention of his teammate.
"Yeah? What's up?" Gohan yelled as he and his team jumped to where Kakashi was along with his teammates.
"All of you, I think you mentioned you saw Temari leaving the stadium?" Kakashi turned his head to Gohan as he knocked away a sound nin who was a mere fly on the wall compared to him.
"Yeah that's right." Gohan confirmed as he knocked away his own enemy ninja.
"Well then this will be your first A-ranked mission since the Land of Waves. I suspect Gaara will be a key role in today's invasion." Kakashi narrowed his eyes as his team remembered his monstrous transformation during the preliminaries of the Chunin Exams.
"Yeah I can see what you mean." Sakura shuddered a bit as she remembered how scary Gaara looked in his raccoon like appearance.
"But what about Mr. Hiruzen?" Gohan asked as Kakashi smiled.
"Don't worry, Lord Hokage will be fine. He's not the Hokage for nothing after all." Kakashi reassured as Gohan decided to place his trust in Hiruzen.
"Okay." Gohan smiled before turning to his friends.
"Let's go guys!" Gohan said.
"Hell yeah! I get to show off my new jutsu I learned with the Pervy Sage after all!" Naruto grinned before he and his team flew off.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen gazed with narrowed eyes at his former teammate as their body languages strongly contrasted with each other. Hiruzen's body posture was one of distress and anger while Orochimaru's was of a more cordial and casual one.
"Why?" Hiruzen asked as Orochimaru feigned confusion.
"Whatever could you mean Hiruzen-Sensei?" Orochimaru tilted his head as Hiruzen grit his teeth.
"You know exactly what I mean Orochimaru! Why attack the Leaf? This is something I never could have expected from you back in the old days." Hiruzen argued as he remembered Orochimaru's fall into darkness as memories of the day he caught him conducting his human experiments came racing through his mind.
"If only….I stopped you that day….." Hiruzen bit his lip as regret coursed through his veins. If only he hadn't let his emotions sway him, none of this would have happened.
"But you didn't because you're weak. And now…I shall show you just what that weakness has cost you!" Orochimaru said as he charged Hiruzen.
"Yes and today I will right my past wrong! You will be stopped Orochimaru!" Hiruzen vowed before shedding his hokage robes, revealing the battle armor he wore underneath before charging back at the rogue ninja.
Team Seven had passed through the village gates but not without taking note of all the death and destruction around them.
"Damn it…if only I didn't let my guard down…I could've stopped Orochimaru!" Gohan grit his teeth as Sakura put a hand on Gohan's shoulder.
"Hey it's okay. Lord Hokage will deal with him." Sakura comfortably said.
"Yeah…I guess you're right." Gohan said as Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"We're being followed." Sasuke informed everyone.
"How many?" Naruto asked.
"Eight…no nine ninja." Sasuke explained as Gohan said as the team touched down to deal with them but Team Guy had body flickered right in front of them.
"What're you guys doing?" Gohan asked.
"Why don't you let us deal with these guys?" Tenten grinned, excited to test out her ninja tool skills.
"Yes besides you helped us so let us return the favor!" Lee grinned as Neji nodded.
"You guys. Thanks, we owe you one!" Gohan grinned before he and his team continued their flight.
Temari jumped her way through the forest as she was sure that she was being followed before reaching as she tried making her way to where Kankuro and Gaara was.
After literally being ejected from Gohan and Naruto's apartment via a blast from a curse mark powered Gohan, it was a miracle that Gaara was even still alive.
However despite not being able to sense Ki, she could tell the team was turning in on her fast before she could even reach her siblings.
"Geesh they're fast." Temari grit her teeth before pulling her fan out as Team Seven touched down right when Kankuro and Gaara left.
"So you're all here." Temari said getting her fan out.
"Why don't you let me deal with her guys?" Sakura smirked.
"Haha what is this? A battle of the Kunoichi?" Naruto joked as Sakura snorted.
"Haha sure. Now get going, I can handle her!" Sakura smirked as she hit her fist in her palm.
"Okay, you better catch up to us afterwards!" Sasuke said before he and his team flew off.
"So you think you can beat me, pinkie?" Temari snorted as Sakura huffed.
"Damn right. I won't let all of you hurt our home." Sakura grinned in confidence.
"Oh yeah? Well what's that in your chest?" Temari asked as Sakura raised an eyebrow before her eyes widened as she looked down to see a Kunai protruding from her chest.
"Uhn…you…." Sakura tried rasping out before she coughed a mouthful of blood as it spilled onto the forest floor below.
"You let your guard down. Sorry it had to end this way like this for you but just remem-"Temari tried lecturing before "Sakura" poofed away.
"Huh?" Temari asked before she narrowly dodged a fist from the irate pink genin.
"You should never underestimate me! I thought you'd learn that from watching my fight from that wannabe mummy!" Sakura yelled as Temari blocked one fist with her fan but she was sent flying away from a sharp hook that collided with her cheek.
"Why you! Okay consider the kid gloves off!" Temari yelled taking her fan off entirely.
"You definitely won't survive this!" Temari yelled as she attempted to use her fan before she stumbled on her feet before falling on a knee.
"Damn it…what happened? Did that Hyuga brat injure me more than I thought?" Tenten thought in dread before she looked up in complete astonishment to see Sakura collide her fist with her gut before she raised the taller girl up with one hand as she charged her other fist up with Ki.
"Take this! THE SAKURA HARUNO DELUXE EXPRESS!" Sakura yelled as she slammed her fist dead into Temari's face sending her flying into several trees away.
"Heh that'll teach that dumb bitch." Sakura smirked in glee as she reveled in herself and how proud she had gotten over these last few months.
"Okay now to fly to my friends now!" Sakura said before flying off to re-meet her friends.
Kankuro was with his brother as he could tell they were being followed.
"Oh great. We're being followed." Kankuro narrowed his eyes as Gaara's eyes widened in insanity.
"Is it…Son Gohan?" Gaara asked, uncharacteristically smiling all the while.
"…Yeah…no doubt…" Kankuro replied, not doubt unnerved with Gaara's change in demeanor. After his two defeats at the hands of Son Gohan, Gaara had gotten even more unstable and the pacifistic Saiyan was all that was on Gaara's mind.
How he retained the beast inside of himself was beyond him.
"Tell you what, you go on ahead and I'll handle his teammates." Kankuro said.
"You telling me what to do weakling?" Gaara growled as Kankuro started sweating as he tried his best to formulate his response. Kankuro knew if he said the wrong thing he would be killed….
"No it's just that way you can enjoy Gohan all to yourself." Kankuro tried showing no fear.
"Hmph, you pussy." Gaara said before going off as Sasuke, Naruto and Gohan touched down in front of the puppeteer.
"What's this? Some sort of levels before the final level?" Sasuke asked.
"That's right. Gaara's our trump card and we won't let you all stand in our way." Kankuro said as Sasuke stepped up to meet Kankuro.
Naruto, Gohan, you two go ahead to red head. I'll deal with his makeup wearing brother." Sasuke joked as Naruto and Gohan snickered while Kankuro glared at Sasuke.
"IT'S WAR PAINT! That's it you're dead, Uchiha." Kankuro narrowed his eyes as Sasuke activated his Sharingan.
"Yeah whatever." Sasuke dismissed.
"You better come back cause if you don't I'll go into hell and kick your ass myself!" Naruto warned.
"Like you could find where hell is." Sasuke snorted as Gohan and Naruto flew off.
"How would you like to die today?" Kankuro rhetorically asked as Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"How about this ends with me kicking your ass instead?" Sasuke snorted as Kankuro charged Karasu at Sasuke.
Sasuke immediately avoided getting caught by the puppet, remembering what the puppet master had displayed all too well one month ago.
As Sasuke knocked the end of the puppet away from him, his eyes widened as a greenish fog emitted from the puppet's mouth.
"Poison?" Sasuke asked as he tried jumping back.
"That's right. You see I wanted to use this on that Son Gohan brat but you'll be a fine test subject for it. I've been experimenting with puppets over the last month. I hope to be better than even Sasori of the Red Sand…" Kankuro grinned.
"Then I'll just have to destroy that puppet then! Fire style-Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he spat a ball of flame at the puppet as it dodged the attack before firing needles at Sasuke as Sasuke using a Kunai to flick the blades away.
As Sasuke touched down, he readied himself to go after the sand puppeteer again before he was suddenly brought to his knees as his vision suddenly was going slightly hazy.
"What the…how….?" Sasuke breathed out as Kankuro stood over Sasuke, seemingly triumphant.
"You see, you got too overconfident in yourself, Uchiha. Those needles were merely a distraction but you missed the secret poisonous needles I concealed." Kankuro gleefully explained as Sasuke looked over in horror to see needles embedded in his shoulder.
"Damn it…I got….too…careless…" Sasuke muttered as his skin was being noticeable paler.
"And I'm not gonna leave you thinking I killed you. Oh no, I'm gonna make sure you're one hundred percent dead." Kankuro finished in bloodlust as Sasuke grit his teeth.
"Damn it…what do I…wait!" Sasuke said as an idea came to his mind as he remembered one certain technique from Gohan's memories.
"That's it…" Sasuke said as he raised his hands to his forehead.
"What's this? Some sort of surrender?" Kankuro snorted.
"SOLAR FLARE!" Sasuke yelled as the entire area was enveloped in a bright white light as Kankuro screamed while grabbing his eyes.
Sasuke used this opportunity to go to a nearby forest as he bided his time for the light to die down.
"Damn it…With this poison in me….I'm kind of limited in my abilities…" Sasuke grit his teeth as he refused to die.
With these thoughts in mind, a certain person materialized in front of Sasuke. This person was an older looking version of Sasuke with creases down his face as he looked down on Sasuke.
"Foolish Little Brother. You could never beat me anyways…" The image of Itachi gazed down at Sasuke with an expression of complete and utter disdain.
"NO!" Sasuke yelled. After everything he went through, being poisoned would be a tragic end to his story.
"I've got it." Sasuke thought as an idea hatched as he immediately went to his ninja pack.
"Where did you go!? Come out, Uchiha!" Kankuro yelled as he wished he had Temari's fan on him.
Almost as if granting him his wish, Sasuke walked out, seemingly admitting his defeat.
"Glad you're out to meet you're maker, kid. Now then, how about we wrap this up!?" Kankuro exclaimed as he charged at Sasuke before finding himself restricted.
"What the?" Kankuro asked as it was Sasuke's turn to smirk.
"Looks like….you're…the one….who let…his guard down…" Sasuke smiled despite his condition as he readied his handsigns for his Chidori.
"Wait, what're you!?" Kankuro demanded as Sasuke weakly ran to Kankuro.
"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled as he slammed the lightning jutsu into Kankuro's center.
As Kankuro screamed in agony, Sasuke took this chance to smirk.
"Never…underestimate….me…"Sasuke weakly smiled as he tried flying as he managed to do so before he stopped at a nearby branch.
"Whatever poison Kankuro had used on me…it's sure working…" Sasuke said as he was about to fly back to the Leaf Village. He was sure Naruto and Gohan could handle Gaara.
And speaking of his team…
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke looked up to see his pink haired friend touch down on him.
"Hey…" Sasuke weakly greeted as Sakura gasped at Sasuke's condition.
"Oh my god, Sasuke!" Sakura covered her mouth. Sasuke's already pale skin was considerably paler and he had dark circles under his eyes.
"You look like crap!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Well that's what happens when you deal…with poison…." Sasuke weakly laughed as Sakura took a kunai out.
"Well I can help you but….it's gonna hurt…" Sakura winked as Sasuke internally groaned.
"You can't be serious. I can fly back to the village you know…" Sasuke sighed.
"Well if you go back to the village you'll be ganged on my sound nin." Sakura shrugged as Sasuke sighed realizing Sakura was right.
"Okay…do it." Sasuke said as Sakura began her "operation"…..
As Kabuto traversed the outskirts of the Land of Fire, he smirked.
"I'm sure Lord Orochimaru will be fine….After all the Third isn't in his prime anymore." Kabuto shook his head before raising an eyebrow as he came across something very….interesting for a lack of better words.
"Well aren't you a very interesting looking specimen?" Kabuto raised an eyebrow.
As Gohan and Naruto flew through the forest, the entire area around them rumbled as the sky turned pink for a few seconds before returning to its normal blue.
"Whoa what was that?" Naruto asked.
"Wait that was where the Third was!" Gohan exclaimed.
"Don't worry, the Old Man will be fine, I promise!" Naruto smiled as Gohan sighed not wanting the man who was kind enough not to throw him out of the village after his rude entry to die.
"Okay you're right. I guess I'm worrying for nothing. After all, he's not the Hokage for nothing." Gohan smiled.
"That's the spirit! Now c'mon, that Gaara creep is just above!" Naruto said as Gohan narrowed his eyes.
"Right." Gohan nodded as the two nodded before the two were greeted by the sight of Gaara smiling, however unlike the warmth that would be in a regular smile, Gaara's smile unnerved the two.
It reminded Gohan of when Frieza had went crazy on Namek before Goku used the Spirit Bomb on him.
Too bad the technique didn't take out the tyrant.
"I'm so happy….you're here…..SON GOHAN!" Gaara exclaimed as all the sand from his gourd molded around his body before in an instant, he was the transformed monster Gohan had fought against in the prelims a month ago.
"NOW…GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD!" Gaara yelled as he charged at the two boys.
"Hey don't ignore me!" Naruto yelled as he charged at Gaara.
"Get lost!" The transformed Gaara yelled as he impaled Naruto with his tail before that Naruto poofed away.
"How about you get over yourself!?" Naruto yelled as he summoned nearly a hundred clones.
"NARUTO! UZUMAKI! 2K! BARRAGE!" Naruto yelled as the raccoon like-alike was pummeled by several tens of thousands of Narutos.
Gaara spat blood as he glared at Naruto.
"God damn you…I just want Gohan!" Gaara yelled as Naruto tossed himself over to where Gohan was.
"Hey Gohan, can you hold him off for a bit? I have a jutsu I wanna try on him." Naruto said as Gohan deadpanned.
"I swear if it's a sexy jutsu…" Gohan trailed on as Naruto glared at him.
"No! It's a jutsu Pervy Sage taught me! Just do it for me, okay?" Naruto asked as Gohan shrugged not seeing the harm if it wasn't one of Naruto's perverted shenanigans.
"Okay-"Gohan tried saying as Gaara abrupdly ended their conversation.
"Enough talking! Wind Style-Air Bullets!" Gaara yelled as the sides on his body opened to revealed mouths as both boys were suddenly assaulted with air bullets, while Gohan was able to avoid them, Naruto wasn't so lucky as the bullets opened up cuts on his face and hands.
"Gah damn it, what the hell was that!?" Naruto grunted as Gaara laughed at the two boys.
"Well have you felt pain yet!? Because there's more where that came from!" Gaara gloated as Gohan narrowed his eyes at Gaara.
"Alright, I'll do it. Besides I'm curious what this jutsu of yours is." Gohan said as he fazed from site before appearing right in front of Gaara before pulling his gut with several different blows.
Before Gaara could even look up, Gohan had powered up a powerful blast in the palm of his hand as he jerked it back.
"Bakuretsu Ranma!" Gohan yelled before Gaara was enveloped in a yellow energy blast.
As Gohan's blast cleared, he saw that the sand was slowly picking itself up against Gaara as he gazed upwards at Gohan. No doubt he had been toughening himself over the last month.
However before Gaara and Gohan could say anything, the sound of a spiraling ball was hard.
"What the?" Gaara turned to see Naruto charging right at him with a blue ball of chakra in hand.
"Eat this-RASENGAN!" Naruto yelled as he slammed the rasengan dead into Gaara's chest sending him skidding through the forest floor. With Ki added, the jutsu was even more deadly.
Gohan could stare agape as he touched down to where a triumphant looking Naruto gloated at his victory.
"Haha how you like that!" Naruto grinned as Gohan touched down to where Naruto was.
"Naruto…how on earth…did you?" Gohan stammered out as Naruto laughed.
"I was inspired by the Kamehameha technique I saw in your memories and so when I went to Pervy Sage about it he taught me the Rasengan. Though it wasn't a joke!" Naruto gloated as Gohan blinked before smiling.
"Well glad to see you got a destructive technique of your own." Gohan laughed before Gaara slowly arose from the small crater he was forced into.
"You….I….will not…..LOSE HERE!" Gaara yelled before a wave of sand suddenly enveloped Gaara as the forest clearing around him was cleansed as both Gohan and Naruto could only stare in shock at what replaced the tiny raccoon lookalike.
"Holy…." Gohan began.
"Shit." Naruto finished as both boys looked to see an enormous sized sand raccoon. This….was the one tailed beast, Shukaku.
The sand raccoon took a deep breath as an insane smile adorned his features.
"OH YEAH I'M BACK! AND IT'S THANKS TO YOU TWO!" Shukaku grinned as Gohan and Naruto could only stare at the one tailed beast in astonishment.
"That…is one funky demon…." Naruto could only mutter as Shukaku's eyes narrowed as it heard Naruto's comment loud and clear.
"….What?" Shukaku muttered.
"Oh I'm definitely saving you for last blondie…" Shukaku vowed as it sucked in a deep breath.
"WIND STYLE AIR BULLETS!" Shukaku yelled as humongous sized air bullets launched at both Gohan and Naruto.
"Kamehameha!" Gohan yelled as his blast was able to cancel out the Shukaku's.
"Hehe I like you kid! I'll have some fun with you!"Shukaku grinned as it swung at Gohan who dodged it, leveling the portion of the forest where Naruto and Gohan were.
"Tch, that thing is fast!" Naruto grit his teeth as Gohan flew beside Naruto.
"You okay?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah but that thing is gonna be a pain in the ass!" Naruto said as he and Gohan dodged another swipe from Shukaku.
As Naruto jumped to a nearby branch, the tree broke behind him as it revealed the wide humongous face of Shukaku, something that would be a nightmare to most people.
"Peekaboo…" Shukaku joked as Naruto grit in teeth as he formed a handsign for a Shadow Clone.
"Rasen-"Naruto tried forming before he was knocked back with an air bullet.
As Naruto slowly got back up, he ran up to Shukaku who extended its arms as it tried impaling Naruto.
"Alright that's it!" Naruto yelled before he was suddenly enveloped in sand.
"Oh this is definitely it now….now to pay you back for that dumb comment earlier!" Shukaku grinned.
"Naruto!" Gohan yelled as he was about to run to Naruto's aid before…
"SUMMONING JUTSU!" Naruto yelled before the humongous toad of Gamabunta summoned, landing both Gohan and Naruto on his head.
"Heh, nicely done Naruto." Gohan complimented his brother as Naruto chuckled in response.
"Well looks like things have really turned up now."
Both boys looked to see both Sasuke and Sakura touched down however both boys noticed Sasuke's slightly disheveled appearance.
"Hey Sasuke, you okay?" Gohan asked as Sasuke raised a hand.
"Yeah I'll be fine but more importantly, what's going on with that sand raccoon thing?" Sasuke pointed at Shukaku.
"Well that was once Gaara." Gohan explained as he narrowed his eyes before noticing Gaara protruding from the top of Shukaku's head.
"Hey is that Gaara? Why's he asleep?" Naruto asked as Gamabunta took a deep breath from his pipe.
"It must be a spiritualist medium…those who contain the Shukaku within themselves can no longer sleep peacefully at night for if they do…the Shukaku will take over in its vicious bloodlust." Gamabunta explained as the four members of Team Seven slowly took in this information.
"So basically we have to wake him up then?" Sakura theorized.
"That's right. That'll help to get rid of this demon." Gamabunta confirmed before looking at Naruto.
"I'll be honest the last thing I wanted to do was deal with this oversized raccoon but if I refuse you'll just keep pestering me so I'll help but you owe me later." Gamabunta narrowed his eyes as Naruto grinned, that was good enough for him.
"Thanks boss! Now let's go!" Naruto grinned as Shukaku readied his defenses.
"Wind Style-Air Bullets!" Shukaku fired Air Bullets as Gamabunta readied his own jutsu.
"Water Style-Liquid Bullets!" Gamabunta fired water bullets as the two jutsus collided, sending what appeared to be like rain over the forest.
"Whoa…cool!" Naruto exclaimed as Gamabunta took out its blade and cut off one of Shukaku's arms before it slowly reformed.
"Geez, it likes to come back from everything. So irritating, just like Cell." Gohan shook his head as Gamabunta tried reaching and grasping Shukaku only to fall and jump back.
"What's wrong, boss?" Naruto asked.
"I can't grab it right! I need something that can give a nice hard grip." Gamabunta dreaded his loss as an idea hatched in Naruto's mind.
"I've got it! Get ready guys!" Naruto grinned as Shukaku lunged itself at Gamabunta.
"Transformation Jutsu!" Naruto yelled before the form of Gamabunta changed from being that of a giant frog into….
"ROAR!"
Where Gamabunta once stood, a ginormous sized ape with a tail roared with an ear piercing scream that could be heard for miles.
"What the hell is that!?" Shukaku muttered as Gamabunta grinned at its new appearance.
"Amazing! I can definitely get a good grip on that sand bastard like this!" Gamabunta as a great ape yelled as Team Seven stared at Naruto in shock.
"You turned Gamabunta into a Great Ape?" Gohan asked.
"Well I got the idea after seeing you defeat that Vegeta guy in this form so I figured it'd be good in this fight!" Naruto proudly grinned as Gohan blinked before laughing.
"I guess I can't argue that." Gohan joked.
"I wonder how powerful one would be if they combined Super Saiyan with the Great Ape form?" Sasuke asked as Gamabunta lunged at Shukaku with everyone holding on tight.
"I won't let some overgrown chimp beat me!" Shukaku yelled before deciding to once again spam his favorite jutsu.
"WIND STYLE AIR BULLETS!" Shukaku roared.
"Boss fire a lazer from your own mouth!" Naruto said as Gamabunta/Great Ape looked at Naruto quizzically before sucking in air before he was able to fire what appeared to be a laser beam at Shukaku's air bullets, cancelling out his attack and even sending him backwards.
"Whoa, so strong..." Sakura observed as even Shukaku was taken aback by the Great Ape's power.
"What the hell? How could some dumb monkey have so much power?" Shukaku glared as Gamabunta smiled.
"Alright, I feel stronger..." Gamabunta smiled as he clenched his giant fists.
"Just how strong were Saiyans?" Naruto asked.
"Believe me you'd be surprised!" Gohan laughed as Gamabunta made its way to the surprised tailed beast.
"Alright, now stand still you dumb raccoon!" Gamabunta yelled before using its gigantic hands to get a tight grip on Shukaku.
"Now brats!" Gamabunta ordered as Sakura lunged off of the Great Ape before channeling chakra into her fist.
"Wake up!" Sakura yelled as Gaara got a very rude wake up call.
As Gaara regained his surroundings, he turned to see Sakura.
If Gaara was irate, Shukaku was livid.
"I won't go back yet!" Shukaku yelled before turning its head up as it fired an air bullet at Sakura, sending her flying off the tailed beast.
"Sakura!" Naruto, Gohan and Sasuke all yelled as Shukaku attempted to grab her with its huge claws but Sasuke in his weakened state managed to fly over and push her out of harms way.
"Heh, you'll do pretty boy!" Shukaku yelled as Sasuke started to roar out in pain despite his best attempts to hold in his screams.
As Shukaku was about to crush Sasuke's body, his arm suddenly blew off as Naruto gave him a death glare.
"Rasengan!" Naruto glared as he caught Sasuke before he hit the forest floor.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked as Naruto looked to Sasuke.
"Gimme your energy. I have an idea that Gohan just told me about." Naruto said as Sasuke decided to oblige, not seeing the harm.
"Alright." Sasuke agreed before transferring his energy to Naruto.
"Why you…" Shukaku was about to go after Sakura with his remaining time left for waking Gaara up before a scream of "HEY SAND FACE!" from Naruto got his attention.
"Oh it's you." Shukaku noticed Naruto who powered up with the nine tails' chakra.
"GIMME YOUR CHAKRA YOU DUMB FOX!" Naruto yelled as a reddish aura surrounded him before Shukaku saw the image of Sasuke within Naruto.
"Wait, you're inside of him?" Shukaku asked before sensing something familiar.
"Wait this kid? Is the nine tails!?" Shukaku gasped out as Naruto suddenly flew at him as the images of Sasuke and Naruto coincided before Naruto flew straight through the gut of Shukaku.
Shukaku growled in pain as it was sent flying back as Gohan flew to where the overhead sun was.
"Great…the sun is perfect!" Gohan said as he raised his hands as he was about to use the technique his father learned from King Kai. That's right. The Spirit Bomb, although this would be the smaller spirit bomb his father used all those years ago against the saiyan prince Vegeta.
"What are you doing!?" Shukaku finally noticed Gohan as it lunged at Gohan before the spirit bomb was ready.
"Alright, this'll definitely work!" Gohan yelled before throwing the spherical ball of destruction at Shukaku before the entire forest around the group suddenly shook and rumbled as a large crater was formed.
"Alright, thankfully that shouldn't have killed him." Gohan smiled as he flew down to where smoke covered the area along with his team.
"Great job Gohan!" Naruto grinned.
"Thanks guys!" Gohan grinned back.
As the smoke died down, there lied Gaara laying in the middle of the crater as he stared at the sky in shock.
"…Three times…three times….Son Gohan was able to defeat me…" Gaara muttered as he wondered just what made Son Gohan so strong as Team 7 landed in front of the fallen sand shinobi as Sasuke made his way to where Gaara was as he readied a Chidori.
"This is it…huh?" Gaara slowly his eyes as he accepted his death.
At least until….
"Sasuke wait!" Gohan shouted as the team ran up to Sasuke.
"You can stop now. He's done." Gohan said as Sasuke glared at Gohan.
"After everything this guy has done you want to let him go? He tried killing you in your sleep, remember? If we let him go, who's to say he won't try this again?" Sasuke argued as Gohan shook his head.
"From what you guys told me I think Gaara is just misunderstood. I don't think it's his fault he's the way he is." Gohan explained as Naruto nodded.
"Yeah…because if I didn't meet you guys and got the wrong influence who knows how I'd be?" Naruto added seemingly agreeing with Gohan as Sasuke grit his teeth as Gaara glared right at Gohan.
"How I am!? Just what do you know about my pain!?" Gaara demanded as Gohan took a knee at where Gaara was.
"You remind me of one of my friends Piccolo. A long time ago he used to be all evil but with friendship he became someone who would literally die for his loved ones." Gohan explained as Gaara looked at Gohan with what looked like-interest?
"You're saying…with loved ones? One can change?" Gaara asked.
"You don't have to be lonely. If you change yourself you will find true acceptance and those who care about you. I promise." Gohan smiled as he extended a hand as Sakura and Naruto smiled at Gohan while Sasuke scoffed before managing a small smile.
"This guy." Sasuke shook his head as Gaara stared blankly at Gohan as the image of his late uncle appeared right by Gohan.
"Can I….have loved ones? People…who…accept me?" Gaara asked as Gohan continued smiling.
"You can. Let's just put all this behind us." Gohan said as what appeared to be on Gaara's face that hadn't appeared for years adorned his lips, a genuine smile. As he looked at Gohan, he saw a bright light surrounding him as a feeling clouded his entire judgement.
For the first time in his life, he could see not bleak darkness in his future but rather….peace and prosperity?
Gaara took Gohan's hand as Kankuro and Temari both touched down.
The two narrowed their eyes at the team as thanks to the damage done to them, they hoped they wouldn't have to fight and hoped they could just escape with Gaara.
"Kankuro, Temari, we're done." Gaara said as both siblings' eyes widened at Gaara's tone. It was more….pure and not filled with bloodlust.
With nothing else to say, Temari and Kankuro took their sibling before leaving.
"Kankuro….Temari…I'm sorry…for everything…" Gaara genuinely apologized as the two looked at each other as they never would have expected anything like that from Gaara.
"Uh…" Temari blinked.
"Don't worry about it." Kankuro awkwardly said as Gaara genuinely smiled for the second time that day.
He would definitely look forward to the day he would see Son Gohan again.
"Alright then! I say this is a job well done!" Naruto cheered as Gohan and Sakura cheered also. Sasuke smiled despite the condition he was in.
"I think we should take Sasuke back to the village ASAP." Gohan said as he felt for Sasuke, after nearly getting poisoned and crushed to death, Sasuke had definitely been through a lot today.
"Yeah that sounds good." Sakura agreed as the group flew back to the Leaf Village as Gohan carried Sasuke in tow.
As the group flew back to the village, Naruto informed the group of his new Jutsu.
"And I had to pop a bunch of balloons to do it!" Naruto finished.
"That's an interesting way to learn a jutsu." Sakura blinked.
"Tell me about it." Gohan agreed.
"You had to pop a balloon to learn a jutsu. How ridiculous." Sasuke snorted.
"And I thought you nearly being poisoned would've made you less of a prick!" Naruto glared as irritation overtook the current feeling Sasuke was in.
"You know what?" Sasuke started irritably.
"We're here!" Gohan said as the group touched down. Although the village was wrecked, it wasn't totally destroyed.
Gohan noticed how the destruction wasn't as bad as he worried. Thankfully.
"Hey!" Team Seven turned to see Ino, Shikamaru and Choji running at them.
"What's up guys?" Sakura asked.
"Gohan you have to get to the hospital now!" Shikamaru yelled, uncharacteristically.
"Huh? Why?" Gohan asked as Choji shook his head.
"Just come and see!" Choji said as Ino gasped in horror as she noticed Sasuke's condition.
"Sasuke! Are you okay?" Ino asked as Sasuke was too disoriented to react with his usual amount of annoyance at the sight of Ino.
"Peachy." Sasuke sarcastically said as Ino immediately took Sasuke from Gohan's arms.
Whether it was because of Gohan's influence or because of his current position, Sasuke couldn't push or shove away Ino.
"Thanks." Sasuke thanked as Ino blinked in surprise. In her mind, that was a total score with the Uchiha.
Soon the group made their way to the Leaf Village hospital where Sasuke immediately had his injuries tended to. Thankfully the poison Kankuro used wasn't that deadly.
As Gohan and Naruto watched Sasuke getting treated, they were treated to the sound of footsteps as they turned to see Hiruzen and Kakashi open the door.
"Yo." Kakashi greeted his team.
"Kakashi Sensei! Old Man!" Naruto grinned.
"I see your little mission was a success." Hiruzen huffed in amusement.
"Old Man you look like shit!" Naruto laughed as Sakura whacked Naruto's skull.
"Manners!" Sakura yelled.
"I'm sorry…" Naruto sobbed as Sasuke rolled his eyes while Gohan, Hiruzen and Kakashi laughed at the display.
"Well I would be even worse was it not for the arrival of an unexpected ally." Hiruzen said as Gohan raised an eyebrow.
"Unexpected ally?" Gohan asked.
"Oh yes. In fact, he's someone of great significance to you, Gohan." Hiruzen smiled as he gestured in for the guest to enter.
Before Gohan could even question who Hiruzen was talking about, Gohan, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's eyes all widened as the breath left their bodies.
"….No way…" Gohan gasped out.
"….No…freaking way…." Naruto dropped what he was holding as everyone in the room was face to face with none other than….
"Hey son!" Son Goku grinned his trademark goofy grin.
How many of you expected that ending, haha!? XD
I did tell you that after this chapter this story would branch off into an identity of its own, didn't I? Now how did Goku get to the Elemental Nations?
You all gotta wait and find out in Chapter 31 of course! XP
I hope you all liked how I had Gaara/Shukaku defeated in a group effort and I know some of you might mention Naruto learning the Rasengan early but I did say this story wouldn't follow canon *Shrugs*
And besides, I have a feeling Naruto would be inspired by Gohan's Kamehameha would want his own version of it so….yeah!
Now like I said in the last chapter this story will be going on a three month hiatus. I know some of you might not like that but think of it as my way to recharge so I won't be burned from this story!
But don't be sad because just because this story is going on a small break doesn't mean I'll be MIA from fanfiction for the next three months. I promise to have more stories and one-shots for you all! ^_^
Thank you all so much for the continued support this story has gotten over the last thirty chapters and here's to thirty more!
And with all that said, I'll see you lovely people on Thursday August 15th of the lovely 2019 so until stay awesome and keep on reading! ^_^
P.S: THIRTY FREAKING CHAPTERS! XD
