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"No no no!" Naruto growled, sinking to his knees as the ball he held resumed its shape. Naruto had been trying for the better part of this week to burst the ball, having succeeded with the balloon earlier but the ball, a solid object as opposed to the hollow, water-filled balloon, was proving a much more difficult challenge. Naruto's chakra lacked the power to force the solid matter to rend itself asunder and still keep the energies inside flowing in a chaotic spiral. "Dammit! I still can't do it!"

He massaged his aching arms. They hurt like hell, like every bone in them had been broken, healed, then broken again. His hands shook from the exertion, trembling, his flesh feeling like it was simultaneously being pricked with needles and walked on by ants. Any medic shinobi would tell the blond that he was overworking his inner coils, the network of pathways that were the chakra version of veins. They worked in the same manner, conveying chakra from the source to all the muscles, bones, and internal organs of the body. The tingling and pain that the blond was feeling right then was his tenketsu, or the opening points through which chakra exited the body, being strained. The inner coil's pathways were of a 'fixed' diameter, like a firehose. The amount of chakra flowing through them was not. Normally, this wasn't a problem, since the jutsu being performed was the required outlet, like the nozzle of hose, but Naruto wasn't doing a jutsu now, he was simply forcing a tremendous amount of chakra from his body into the ball, which was akin to putting a rock in the way of the nozzle. The chakra had little room to maneuver and was backing up, straining the tenketsu and the inner coil system as a whole.

Naruto didn't remember this pain when he was learning to walk up and down trees and on water, but Jiraiya explained it to him.

"All living things have chakra," the Sannin had said, the day before, when he'd been watching his pupil and the blond had complained about the pain. Jiraiya had explained the concept of the ball 'blocking' the chakra to him and Naruto had asked why it didn't hurt when he walked on trees and water, which was also forcing chakra from the body into an obstruction. "Trees and plants are inanimate objects, but they still live, and therefore, still have chakra. Your chakra runs from your feet and into the tree then links with the tree's chakra and holds you to it, like a magnet would attract iron filings."

The pervert bent, picked up a stick, and poked a series of dots in the ground. One drawing was a square of tightly compacted dots and the other was a looser box. A third box joined the first two, but this one had next to no dots in it, only enough to show that it indeed was a box. "Solid, liquid, and gas," Jiraiya explained, pointing to each one with his stick. "Each one has a different resistance to chakra, like a wire has little resistance to electricity but rubber almost blocks it entirely. The reason your chakra doesn't back up and cause you pain when you're walking on trees is because of the magnet-like attraction between the two. Water is different. Chakra can easily flow through it and manipulate it. When you walk on water, you draw molecules of water together, bringing more into one place and increase the surface tension to the point where it can bear human weight.

"However, the water molecules don't have chakra and shift around a lot. It's like trying to keep oiled balls in a shape. They'll always shift around and slide from the structure you're making with them. That's why you must constantly adjust your chakra flow in response to the ebb and flow of the water and the water molecules you've gathered under your feet.

"Air is even easier to move chakra through, since the resistance of the air against the chakra is negligible. A solid, though, very hard to punch chakra through, since the space between molecules is very very small, meaning that the chakra has much less room to move." Jiraiya took a breath, finally stopping his lecture. "Get it?"

"Kinda, but how can we cling to rocks and things if they're not alive?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya looked surprised.

"So you can ask an intelligent question."

"Hey!"

The Sannin laughed. "Well, that's one of the big mysteries of the shinobi world. No one's sure how we can walk on sheer cliff faces and rocks with no hand holds or climbing gear, but there is one theory. It says that when we walk on boulders and cliffs, we're not actually using our chakra like a magnet, like we do with a tree, but we're actually making a sort of climbing gear out of chakra, which allows us to climb rocks and things, like how a fly or an ant sticks to a wall. I don't know about any of that and I don't care. I just know it works and that's all good for me."

Naruto snapped out of his reminiscing at the sound of a bush rustling. Jiraiya, who was again watching Naruto in between his visits to the brothel in town, glanced over his shoulder, eyes sharp, as the rustling got worse. The sharpness left when Gohan stumbled out of the trees.

"Gohan!" Naruto crowed, dropping the white rubber ball in his hand, Rasengan training forgotten as he dashed over to one of the people he considered a brother. "You're awake! It's about time you woke up! You've been out for almost two weeks and I was starting to think that that Uchiha bastard had killed you and…" Naruto trailed off, suddenly noticing Gohan's haggard look. His face was pale and his eyes were clouded and downcast, staring at the grass in front of Naruto's feet. There was no confidence in the way he carried himself and his good arm hung slack. "Gohan? You alright?"

"Of course he's not alright," Jiraiya said, seizing Gohan's shoulder and guiding him to a stump where the boy slumped onto the wood without a change in expression. "He was tortured by Uchiha Itachi and the Mangenkyou Sharingan. There's no one in the world who would be alright after that."

"Why not?" Naruto asked. "It was just one ass-kicking. It's nothing to make a big deal out of. I get my butt kicked every other day."

Neither shinobi noticed Gohan flinch at the mention of his defeat at the hands of the elder Uchiha brother.

"It's a different story for someone like me or Gohan," Jiraiya answered. "We're not used to losing. Every defeat for us is like a personal failure and…"

"Stop it!" Gohan's sharp voice interrupted. Both shinobi fell silent and looked at the boy with surprise. "Please. I don't want to talk about it."

"But you did come out here to talk about something, right?" Jiraiya prodded. Gohan nodded mutely. "Alright then. Out with it."

Gohan heaved a sigh and looked Jiraiya in the eye. "I want to go back to Konoha. If I keep going with you, I'll just bring you down. You'll do better without me."

There was stunned silence for all of two seconds then Naruto erupted. "WHAT!?"

While Jiraiya and Naruto tried to process what the other person in their group had said to them, in an entirely different dimension, Bulma was hard at work on her portal machine, trying to repair the mechanism so they could reach across and bring Gohan back from the world he currently found himself trapped in. The genius sat back from podium that had been the control panel for the first version of the gate. She'd finally been able to reconstruct the controls and power supply for the machine and it had only taken her two and a half, maybe three, months. Her progress was good. It had taken her twice the time before when she'd first built the damn thing.

She wiped her forehead with a sigh and a smile. Now she had to get the main part of the machine back on track. That would be a more difficult task than she'd originally imagined because now she had to pull Gohan back, which wouldn't be easy in any case, and there was a huge possibility that Vegeta or Piccolo would have to cross over to guide the kid back. It was entirely possible that Gohan wouldn't even be aware that the portal was open again until he felt the ki of one of the two warriors in a place where it shouldn't be. Bulma had no way of knowing that the generator made a very obvious hole the in the sky when it tore the fabric between dimensions.

"Hey! No slacking!"

Bulma ducked a vicious swing from the Frying Pan of Death.

"You're not quitting until my baby boy is back in my arms!" Chichi growled, brandishing the pan, a content Goten asleep on her shoulder. "Now get back to work!"

"But Chichi…" Bulma started.

"No buts!"

Another swing and a miss, but only because Bulma had thrown herself flat on the ground as soon as she'd noticed the throbbing vein in other woman's forehead. "She's gonna get premature wrinkles if she keeps this up," Bulma muttered, turning back to the console and quadruple-checking every connection, every solder, every circuit in the guts of the thing, making extra-sure that the mistake she'd made those weeks ago that had started this whole fiasco wouldn't be repeated.

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing nothing!" Bulma answered in a rush, burying her nose in the guts of the portal and hoping beyond hope that Chichi wouldn't swing for the hell of it.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru sat in his lair in Rice Country, brooding. He was replaying his battle with Jiraiya and Sarutobi. He ground his teeth in anger, one hand convulsing on the snow-white bandages that wrapped his chest. Those two bastards had ruined everything for him. If it hadn't been for Jiraiya's interruption, Orochimaru would've killed the Sandaime and the Leaf would've been crippled. Instead, from what the Snake Sannin's spies were telling him, Sarutobi had announced his resignation as Hokage and had sent Jiraiya to retrieve Tsunade.

Orochimaru snorted in derision. Tsunade as the Godaime? Tsunade? Gambling, coarse, cowardly, renegade Tsunade as a leader of one of the great shinobi villages? The very idea was laughable as it was impractical. Tsunade had, for all intents and purposes, gone to ground as thoroughly as a shinobi could. Finding her would be like trying to find a needle in several countries' worth of haystacks.

Of course, to be fair, if Jiraiya was able to find and convince his former teammate to return to the one location she hated more than the Hero's Stone, which was in Konoha to start with, the big-breasted healer would be quite the formidable adversary, both politically and physically.

Pain wracked Orochimaru, doubling the leader of the Sound over in his simple stone throne. He tried to clutch at his chest, but his arms only twitched and convulsed feebly on the armrests. He began to cough violently, soon bringing up blood and splattering the roughly hewn stone at his feet. Kabuto was in the room in mere seconds. The medic passed green-glowing hands over the wound in Orochimaru's chest.

"It's happening again," Kabuto said. Not a question.

"Of course it is," Orochimaru snarled, not exactly in the best of moods. "The time limit is fast approaching. I'll have to switch bodies in another month at best." The seizure-like quivering in the Sannin's borrowed body passed, allowing the pale man to sit up straight. The coughing continued and he spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor.

"Your lung isn't helping either," Kabuto added, probably taking his life into his hands with that remark, but knowing all the same that Orochimaru wouldn't kill him, not at this point in time. Without Kabuto, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to prolong his tenure in his current host and would probably be forced to switch all the sooner and they both knew it. "You insisted I close the wounds the second we left Konoha. Even with my skill, there was no small amount of scarring, both internally and externally."

"A necessary precaution to facilitate our escape," Orochimaru snarled back, the coughing fit finally passing.

"All the same, your right lung has lost nearly half of its capacity. Given that and your…issues with your current host, you won't be able to last more than a month in this body and neither Gohan-kun nor Sasuke-kun are ready to be your hosts."

"Who then?" Orochimaru demanded angrily, killing intent rolling off him like breaking waves at a beach. Kabuto managed to keep from showing weakness in the presence of that overwhelming bloodlust. Anything less would invite certain peril. "Kimimaro? The boy's only living because of your medicinal skills, Kabuto!"

"Yes, but perhaps there is another way," The medic muttered.

"What? You can restore Kimimaro to his previous vitality."

"Impossible," Kabuto chuckled. "That kid is too far gone for even someone of Tsunade-sama's caliber to heal. He has two years left in him at most, less if he were to leave his bed. If he does that, he'll last maybe a week if he's lucky. I was thinking it would probably be a prudent time to take a more…overt role in Sasuke-kun's development into your host."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we could bring Sasuke-kun to us and mold him into what you need."

"And Gohan-kun?"

"Not now," Kabuto answered promptly. "The boy is loyal to Konoha, almost as blindly fanatical as the Konoha-nin themselves. His heart is pure, devoid of any lasting dark emotions that the seal could make blossom. The Curse Seal won't be able to corrode him for a very long time. Sasuke-kun, however, is consumed with the desire to kill his brother and take revenge for his clan. Much easier to coerce."

Orochimaru sat back, rubbing his chin. "Very well. I shall take a new host in one month and we will bring Sasuke-kun to us and begin his training. Sakon!"

The silver-haired shinobi was in the room in seconds. "What is thy bidding, my Master?" he asked with a grin. Kabuto punched the teen in the jaw, flinging him to the floor.

"You will show respect, Sakon-kun," Kabuto said, glasses glinting dangerously.

"Now now," Orochimaru chided, chuckling, chin propped lazily on one hand. "Let Sakon have his little joke. Sakon, I have a mission for you."

"I live to serve, Orochimaru-sama," Sakon intoned, resuming his submissive kneeling.

"Go to Konoha," Orochimaru said bluntly. "Retrieve Sasuke-kun for me. I wish to make him my next host."

The effeminate boy nodded once then vanished with a whisper of rubber on stone.

"Do you think they'll be able to do it?" Kabuto asked as Orochimaru stood and rolled his neck, trying in vain to massage out the stiffness that was beginning to pervade his entire body, another sign that it was fast becoming time to switch hosts.

"Yes. The Sound Four are more powerful than many jounin that are twice their age. They will accomplish this task or suffer my…displeasure." Kabuto smirked at his lord's answer. Abruptly, the air flickered and distorted, like a TV with bad static, then settled out again. When it cleared, Uchiha Itachi stood in the entrance to the throne room. Orochimaru's gold eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the stoic missing-nin standing so casually in his lair, but made no move to attack the intruder, seeing the windmill-shaped markings in Itachi's crimson eyes and the bloodshot sclera, all hallmarks of the infamous Mangenkyou Sharingan.

Kabuto lunged at the Akatsuki.

Orochimaru didn't even have time to yell at his subordinate to stop before Itachi's eyes were on Kabuto. "Amaterasu," the Uchiha snarled, voice thick with wrath. Black flames roared out of Kabuto's chest. The medic-nin screamed in pain and horror, swatting futilely at his chest, but to no avail. The eternal black flames just latched onto his arms and began to burn him up all the quicker. In seconds it was over and the only thing remaining of Yakushi Kabuto was a small pile of ash adorned with flickering black tongues of flame.

Orochimaru frowned as Itachi glared at him.

"Uchiha Itachi," he said silkily, cordial but there was no mistaking the venom in the undertones. After all, Itachi had humiliated Orochimaru when the Sannin had been affiliated with Akatsuki after a failed attempt by the pale shinobi to take the Sharingan by occupying Itachi's body. "To what do I owe this honor? If you are here for my ring, it's right over there." He gestured to the withered hand that bore the ring in question. The hand had been severed by Itachi himself as punishment for trying to steal the Sharingan.

"I'm not here for the ring," Itachi whispered. It was even more menacing than if he'd shouted. The former ANBU's killing intent was sweeping the room like a low-riding fog, barely on the edge of perception, but impossible to ignore. "I'm here for you, Orochimaru."

"Me?" Orochimaru asked, feigning surprise. "Whatever for? I've done nothing to incur the wrath of Pain and Akatsuki. I've kept my nose clear of the organization's business since I left it." Amber eyes scanned the room, as though only now noticing Kisame's absence. "Where is Kisame-san? He is your partner is he not? Or has the organization changed its methods of operation since I left?"

"Shut up."

The simple command made Orochimaru's next question stall on his lips and die away. With it went Orochimaru's falsely cordial mask. "I'm not here on Akatsuki business," Itachi went on. "I'm here to deliver a warning."

"What warning?"

"Stay away from Sasuke," the Akatsuki said flatly as the killing intent doubled. Orochimaru, in his weakened state, felt himself break out into a cold sweat. "I have heard you have marked him with one of those ridiculous seals of yours. Touch one more hair on Sasuke's head and I will kill you. The Sharingan is not destined for your hands and I will not let anyone not of Uchiha blood possess it." Itachi pointed at Orochimaru. "Should I find you've ignored this warning, I will make Tsukuyomi be something for you to beg for."

A kunai flew from Orochimaru's robes into his hand, leaving the hand only a half-second later. It struck Itachi in his center of mass, knocking him off his feet. Itachi fell back, as if in slow motion, slate bangs flowing in the wind, then he stopped abruptly, hanging in the air without any visible means of suspension.

The renegade Uchiha's body burst apart into a flock of crows that flapped around the room, cawing and shrieking, scattering feathers before vanishing into thin air. Orochimaru's lips twisted into a snarl. "I see Itachi's skill with genjutsu hasn't deteriorated," he growled. "You can come out, Kabuto."

A hidden panel in the wall opened up, revealing the medic-nin unharmed. "So that is Uchiha Itachi," Kabuto said lightly. "Terrifying isn't he?"

"We leave immidiatly," Orochimaru said. "If Itachi knows about this base, then it's a sure bet that the rest of Akatsuki know too. Go get Gen'yumaru. I'm doing the switch now. When that is done, gather everything of value that we can send via a jutsu or carry ourselves and send it to the next base. When that is done, return to me. We have a small task to do."

"What would that be, if you don't mind me asking?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru's lips curled into a sadistic smirk. "We are going to make Uchiha Itachi fail."

"How?"

"We are going to make him fail at the task he has been given by Pain." Orochimaru's gold eyes found Kabuto's dark ones. "We are going to kill Uzumaki Naruto."

"That would bring down the retribution of Akatsuki on our heads."

"Certainly, but it should also kill Itachi as well. Pain is not tolerant of failure. His reasoning will be that Itachi should've stepped in to protect the fox, because without it, Akatsuki cannot succeed in their plan. We kill Naruto, remove Akatsuki as a threat for the time being, and kill Itachi without lifting a finger."

"As good a plan as any, I suppose," Kabuto admitted, leaving the throne room, privately thinking that Orochimaru was consigning them all to a slow and grisly death.

Less than four hours later, Kabuto and Orochimaru stood outside their abandoned base. The Sannin made a fast series of hand signs and the ground rumbled then went silent for a second. The entrance to the underground complex belched a huge plume of searing flame and choking smoke. When it faded, the ground rumbled again as the ruined base fell in on itself.

"Let's go."

"Where?" Kabuto asked.

Orochimaru flexed his fingers, relishing the vibrancy that always suffused him after transferring to a new host. "To find another of my old teammates."

"Tsunade-sama?" Kabuto asked, the awe evident in his voice. As a medic he, like everyone else who called himself or herself a medic, nurse, or doctor, revered the legendary Sannin, holding her on a pedestal that was close godhood.

"Yes. That old fart Sandaime is stepping down as Hokage and has named Tsunade as his successor. To that end, he's dispatched Jiraiya and Naruto-kun to find her. If we can get to Tsunade before Jiraiya does, we can set a trap and remove Uzumaki Naruto from this world."

"And do we know where Tsunade is?"

Orochimaru laughed outright. "As a matter of fact, we do."

Both shinobi vanished into the trees.

Gohan fell down, hard. His cheek was already sporting a rather impressive red mark that was sure to turn black and blue and swell up in the next few minutes.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya said sharply, trying to warn off his student, but his command fell on deaf ears.

"What the hell do you mean you want to go back to Konoha!?" Naruto demanded, grabbing his roommate by the front and hoisting him clean off the ground, displaying a surprising amount of strength for someone who was so small. "Huh?"

Gohan made no move to dislodge the irate genin, instead averting his gaze. "I'll just slow you down."

"What because of your arm?" Naruto let Gohan drop, the other boy collapsing into an unceremonious heap on the ground. He stood gingerly and dusted himself off, still refusing to meet Naruto's, or Jiraiya's for that matter, gaze. "That's a bullshit excuse and you know it!"

"It's not that."

"Yeah?" Naruto sneered, "then what is it? Tell me!"

"I'll just slow you down, Naruto," Gohan repeated.

"And I still don't get it!" the blond raised his fist to belt the other teen one again, but Jiraiya's powerful grip stopped it. Naruto glared up at his master, who shook his head slowly before letting go. "How are you slowing me down? Do you know the number of times you've saved our asses?"

"I got lucky. I'm no good, Naruto. I can't protect anyone. Not you, not Sakura, not any of my friends back home, not anyone."

"Are you kidding? What the hell do you mean you can't protect us? What about Zabuza…"

"He wasn't expecting it," Gohan muttered.

"The snake bastard!"

"I couldn't stop him. I just got lucky with the transformation."

"Gaara!"

"If Piccolo-sensei hadn't shown me the Makankosappo."

Naruto pulled at his hair, snarling incoherently, before sprinting over and smashing his fist into Gohan's other cheek, again throwing the other teen into the dirt. "What the hell, Gohan! Why the hell are you making all these lame ass excuses? Huh? Tell me! You're one of the most badass people I know and you're acting like a big wuss!" He hauled Gohan to his feet again, not knowing if he should keep pummeling Gohan or not. "What happened to the powerful guy I used to know?!"

"He never existed!" Gohan shouted back, shoving Naruto away, getting angry for the first time since he'd woken up. "I was never a badass or a powerful fighter or anything like that! I'm just some little arrogant bastard who keeps scraping through his fights by luck and more powerful friends! I can't compare to my Dad, Vegeta, Sasuke, Sakura, the Sandaime, Piccolo, Jiraiya or you!" Naruto blinked at that. Gohan didn't think he could compare to Naruto? How the hell did he get that into his head, Naruto wondered? It was really the other way around. No matter how strong Naruto felt himself getting, Gohan always seemed to be so far ahead of him, in a class that Naruto never thought he would be able to reach as long as he lived. "I'm not some great warrior," Gohan went on, tears in his eyes now. "Whenever I try, I always fail and the people around me pay the price! I can't protect anyone!"

A ringing silence followed that pronouncement and Naruto finally felt the realization dawn in him that Gohan was beyond his ability to help. "F-fine!" Naruto shouted back, voice cracking with sorrow for his friend. He turned his back on Gohan. "If you're going to be like that, then go away! I don't want to see your sorry ass again! Leave for all I care!"

There was silence then Gohan's voice, once again subdued and timid, reached Naruto's ears. "Right. I'll see you later, Naruto. I'll be waiting for you when you get back to Konoha." Naruto heard the scuff of shoe on dirt as Gohan turned to leave.

"Wait!" Naruto called over his shoulder, staring at the dirt off to his left.

"What?"

"When you get back, move all your crap out of my apartment. I'm not going to put up with your emo shit all the time."

"Alright."

Gohan's footsteps started again and faded fast. When silence reigned again, Naruto's eyes burned suddenly and he wiped furiously, feeling the tears streak down his face.

"Are you going to just let him go?" Jiraiya asked, slightly surprised by Naruto's willingness just turn his back on Gohan. "I thought he was like a brother to you."

Naruto didn't answer right away, instead picking up the white rubber ball he'd been trying to pop. He began focusing his chakra into it, the pain in his arms flaring up anew, but the blond stubbornly ignored it and pressed ahead, trying to put even the smallest hole in the sphere. The surface of the ball bubbled and rippled wildly, but after a second or two, it resumed its normal shape. "I thought so too, Ero-sennin." Naruto was silent for a second then looked Jiraiya in the eye. "What's wrong with him?"

"His confidence has been crushed," Jiraiya answered solemnly. "You can see it in the way he carries himself."

"I don't get it," Naruto snarled, running a hand through his spiky blond hair. "He got his ass kicked once. So what? That's not any excuse!"

"It's not," Jiraiya agreed, "and I don't know how it happened. Maybe you should tell me. I wasn't there when Itachi knocked him out, after all."

"I don't know. Itachi had him up against the wall, said something to him, and the next thing I know, Gohan's screaming his head off like he was on fire or something. Itachi said it was Tsuku-something."

"Tsukuyomi?"

"That's it."

Jiraiya scratched at the base of his ponytail. "So that's what it was, huh? Now it makes sense. I gathered it was the Mangenkyou from the first time you told me, but I didn't know it was Tsukuyomi."

"What is this Tsuku-something anyway?" Naruto asked. "Itachi said it was for torture, but I don't get how it works."

"It's a genjutsu," Jiraiya answered. "A powerful one at that, one that's inescapable. You see, there's more to the Sharingan that just what you see Kakashi or Sasuke using, much more."

"There's more that thing can do? Doesn't it have enough power already?"

"It does," the sage agreed, "but supposedly there's another form to it. Well," he amended, "I shouldn't say supposedly since I've seen the techniques that it's supposed to be able to use. There's another level to the Sharingan, one that I thought was just a rumor until we ran into those Akatsuki. It's called the Mangenkyou Sharingan and it's got some powers that are pretty scary."

"Like what?"

"Well, the rumors are saying that there are three techniques, Amaterasu, which conjures black flames that will burn anywhere and anything and cannot be put out by even the user. Second is Susanoo. I don't know anything about that one, aside from that it's supposedly for defense. Third is Tsukuyomi. It's a genjutsu, but not an ordinary one. Like I said, it's inescapable. It's the only genjutsu I know of capable of causing physical harm."

"How can an illusion cause physical harm?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know how it does it, but I would imagine that it puts the victim under so much mental stress that their body just can't handle it anymore and shuts down. That's why it's such a miracle that Gohan even woke up. From what I hear, getting caught in Tsukuyomi is like a one-way ticket to a coma."

"No way. But that still doesn't explain why Gohan's so out of it."

"I guess," Jiraiya said slowly, "that Itachi did something to Gohan to utterly destroy the kid's confidence in himself. You and I both know Gohan's not some arrogant little kid who's only playing at being powerful. He is strong."

"So what do we do?"

"There's nothing we can do. Gohan has to gain his confidence back on his own. It's not something we can help him with."

"How long will it take?"

Jiraiya frowned. "No telling. It could be two hours from now, it could be two days from now. Hell, it might take two years or it might not happen at all. There's no way to gauge it. It all depends on Gohan." The sage scooped up the ball and tossed it to Naruto. "Since we got that all cleared up, back to work." He began to walk away.

"Hey! Where're you going?" the blond demanded.

"You've taken up too much of my time," Jiraiya said with a perverted grin. "There're some ladies in town who just can't wait to see me again!" He vanished into the trees, but not before Naruto heard what he was starting to think of as Jiraiya's Ero-laugh and a mumbled "Research."

"Lousy pervert," Naruto fumed. "What kind of teacher just ignores his student?" The blond grumbled and complained for a moment or two then shrugged and got back to trying to pop the ball.

Not much action in this chapter, but that's to be expected, since it wasn't supposed to be. It was more of a transition chapter, to get things flowing in the right direction. Don't worry about Gohan. He'll get his confidence back. Sorry if the scene with Bulma and Chichi seemed to be a little haphazard. A lot of you have been asking about what's happening in the DBZ side of things, so I figured I would put a small snippet in to show just how far along Bulma is with her extra-dimensional portal thingy. See you all next chapter.