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Tanzaku castle had been witness to many things. It had seen the rise of the shinobi, the fall of the samurai, the rise of the Five Great Countries, and with them the rise of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It had stood for a long time, longer than anyone could remember, and had been a symbol of stability the world over. Today had changed the face of Tanzaku castle forever.
The castle was trembling.
It shook from capstone to cornerstone and every stone in between vibrated in what looked like terror. In its grand courtyard raged a battle of epic proportions. One not seen since the chaotic days before the rise of the countries, a battle not seen since Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama squared off at the Valley of the End to decide the fate of Konohagakure.
In the majestic and huge courtyard stood two tremendous beasts. One was a purple anaconda, and the other was an orange toad with a haori and a sword. Another snake, smaller than the purple one, and with mud-brown scales, writhed beneath the toad, but it was futile and the toad's bulk simply pushed the struggling reptile deeper into the swamp that had immobilized it.
Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head, watching Manda and Orochimaru with a mournful expression. It had finally come to this. This was the day that he'd been dreading for years. Orochimaru and Jiraiya had been friends. Comrades. Brother-in-arms. They were so different but had been inseparable. It was a remarkable dichotomy. When Orochimaru had finally left Konoha, Jiraiya had been devastated, but he'd gone after the other Sannin to try and bring him back. To make him see reason.
The battle between them had been vicious and had nearly cost both their life. Jiraiya had told himself then that he'd lost his best friend forever and he would never return. For that reason, the sage had thrown himself into tailing Orochimaru and logging every scrap of information he had dug up over the decades. But deep down, in his heart of hearts of hearts, Jiraiya held out hope. He held onto the futile ember of stupid, childish, infantile hope that Orochimaru could be saved, that no matter how far the pale man fell, he could find the rope that led back to the light.
Today was a day Jiraiya had been dreading because he knew that if it came, Orochimaru would be beyond hope and they would have to finish that battle they started so long ago. The day had arrived, Jiraiya thought mournfully. It had arrived, like his logical side had known, and now it was time. Time to end it all one way or another. When he'd woken up that morning he'd known…
Jiraiya awoke with a yawn and a stretch. Outside his window, the sky was gray, heavy with clouds. It threatened rain and the smell of it hung in the air as a warning to all that it was going to be a shitty day. It fit with what he had to do, Jiraiya supposed as he stood and pulled on his gi, haori, and old-fashioned wooden clogs. He would have to forgo the scroll. If it got damaged in battle, it would be a pain in the ass to replace.
He stopped and looked next to his futon and smiled, despite the seriousness looming outside his cozy little hotel/apartment room. Naruto and Gohan, having apparently rebounded from their little spat three weeks ago, were sharing a futon, both splayed out and taking up as much space as humanly possible. Somehow, they'd inverted their positions in their sleep. Gohan's feet were only inches from Naruto's head and vice versa.
"Brothers in everything but blood," he said with a grin and a shake of his head. He picked Naruto up as gently as he could, trying not to wake the boy, which actually wasn't that hard. Most shinobi slept like feathers and would awake if you dropped a needle anywhere within twenty yards of them, but Naruto and Gohan were both out and sounding like they were sawing enough lumber to build Konoha three times over.
Each.
Jiraiya laid Naruto down on his vacated futon and pulled the blanket over the blond. He stirred and rolled over, but slept on. Jiraiya grinned again. Without the hirai-ate he bore a super-strong resemblance to his father, Namikaze Minato. That resemblance would only grow stronger as he grew. If Naruto ever decided to grow his hair out, then the only way to tell the difference between Naruto and Minato would be the six whisker scars on his cheeks.
The Sannin stared down at Naruto for a little longer, reflecting on how they'd met. Naruto had caught him peeping in the women's bath as the genin had tried to master the water-walking technique. After watching Jiraiya decimate Ebisu, the odd ninja tutor, Naruto had chased Jiraiya all over the village until he'd relented and agreed to train the blond. Not that Jiraiya would've refused. He knew who Naruto was the moment he laid eyes on him. After all, it was impossible to miss that resemblance. In fact, when Jiraiya had first seen him, his knee jerk reaction had been to call Naruto Minato.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," Jiraiya said to the sleeping boy, "I haven't been the godfather you needed. Minato named me your godfather, trusted me with your care and well-being. I've failed at that, just like I've failed at everything else in my life. But I'll make it up to you, I promise. Starting here and now, with Orochimaru's death." He smiled fondly, remembering all the fun times he'd had with Naruto and Naruto's father before him. Despite everything that he'd failed at, and the laundry list was long, his time with Naruto and Minato was something he wouldn't trade for the world.
The door clicked shut with an eerie finality.
Shizune was waiting for him outside the room. She looked just as nervous as Jiraiya felt. "Ready?" Jiraiya asked. The aide nodded with a gulp. Jiraiya couldn't blame her. She was going into a battle where she really didn't belong, against an enemy who would terrify an ordinary person into hysterics. She could very well be betraying her oldest friend and mentor. It was long past time for second thoughts. The time to act was now and there could be no turning back. "Then let's go."
Tsunade glanced over her shoulder as she ascended the huge steps towards Tanzaku castle. The enormous white and dark blue color of the towers made it glint, even in the low light that the heavy overcast let through. She found him in the courtyard, just where he'd been last time. He was even standing in the same exact spot, as if he hadn't moved all week. Kabuto was with him, standing off to the right and a step or two behind.
"Tsunade," Orochimaru purred, a satisfied expression on his face. "Returned at last."
"Spare me," Tsunade snapped.
"Well then I'll get right to the point," the pale shinobi said as Tsunade continued to advance, stopping when she was only a handful of paces away. Kabuto apparently sensed danger because he stepped in front of Orochimaru protectively. "What is your answer? Will you kill Naruto-kun for us?"
"I don't see why you couldn't do it yourself," the Slug Princess replied coolly. "You're more than powerful enough to squash one genin like a bug. I don't see why I have to be the one to do it."
"Oh, I have my reasons."
"You're just manipulating me. I know that you want to kill Naruto for some reason and I'll bet you're just setting me up to take the fall."
Orochimaru cackled. "Kukukuku. As perceptive as ever, I see, but then, I never did say why I wanted Naruto-kun dead, only that I did and I offered you, quite graciously I think, the rather handsome reward of your dead lover and brother." He raised one deceptively slight eyebrow. "Well I believe that brings us to the matter at hand. Tsunade, what is your answer?"
Tsunade glared for a second longer before she slumped, the fight going out of her. "Alright. I'll do it. But you'd better live up to your end of the bargain or I swear that I will make your life a living hell if you renege on our deal."
"Of course," Orochimaru answered smoothly. The snake man made to take a step away from her, probably to leave without fulfilling his end of that bargain. He thought he had Tsunade in his power, so he didn't expect Tsunade to explode into motion and bury her fist in the side of his face and twist his head around more than a few times, bone crunching loudly.
Surprised, Tsunade stumbled back as Kabuto smirked at her shock and Orochimaru began to laugh himself. "Kukukuku. That hurt, Tsunade," he said with a sneer, his head slowly rotating back to where it belonged, the bones sounding like a hundred people all cracking their knuckles at once. "I see you haven't lost your inhuman strength after all these decades."
Orochimaru rolled his head a few times, popping the remaining vertebrae into place.
"You've gotten creepier haven't you?" Tsunade asked, rolling her shoulders and letting her haori slip to the ground and blow away on the breeze. It tugged her ponytails and Orochimaru's long black hair out to one side. "Don't know why I'm so surprised." She stopped limbering up and glared. "Shall we begin?"
"Actually," Orochimaru said, "I figured I'd let Kabuto fight you before you get to fight me. I believed you could use the warm-up."
"Not like I have a choice," Tsunade grumbled. "He'll just keep getting in my way if I go after you directly."
"True enough," the other Sannin agreed, backing up a few feet and letting Kabuto take his place.
"I hope you know I won't hold back, kid," Tsunade said sharply, glaring at the medic.
"I'm prepared for it," Kabuto answered, pushing up his glasses. He drew a small and simple scalpel. "And I believe, Tsunade-sama, that you will not be able to lay a finger on my."
Now it was Tsunade's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh? And why's that?"
Kabuto's mouth twisted into a menacing grin. "Because you're shaking too badly."
"What are you blabbering about? I'm not…"
Kabuto's scalpel flashed silver in the wan sun and something warm and sticky splattered all across Tsunade's face and chest. Tsunade's heart suddenly froze in her chest, as her eyes found Kabuto's wrist and the vicious gash that he was already setting about healing. The blood was still fresh on his hand and it dripped to the grass with a silence that still screamed in Tsunade's face.
Tsunade touched her cheek gingerly and flinched with a small gasp as she felt the sticky mess there. Her pale fingers came away crimson and the terror that she'd lived with for so long, the hemophobia, the fear of blood, began to take hold. She felt her pulse and breathing rate begin to speed up, each one trying to see which one could outdo the other. She began to shake uncontrollably and her feet gave way underneath her sending her crashing to the ground. Her knees ached now but Tsunade hardly felt it. She just couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from her bloody fingertips as horrific and gruesome images of Dan's death played in mute fast forward in front of her eyes, followed quickly by Nawaki's death.
"No," she rasped. "No!"
"To think all it takes is a little blood to reduce the great Sannin Tsunade to a quivering and helpless mass that even a genin could finish in his sleep," Kabuto marveled. "Honestly Tsunade-sama, I thought it would've been tougher than this to kill you." He held up his bloody scalpel as he did. Tsunade managed to glance at the medical instrument but the blood on the small and keen edge quickly forced her too look elsewhere.
"I think I'll take some pity on you and just slash your throat," Kabuto said conversationally. "Good-bye, Tsunade-sama." He raised the deadly and sharp blade.
The air whistled behind the knife as it raced down.
A blur shot from out of nowhere and tackled Kabuto. The startled shinobi dropped his knife, which landed only inches from Tsunade's knee. She regarded it numbly, still detached from reality. Kabuto meanwhile had managed to shake his assailant.
It was Jiraiya, glaring dangerously at Orochimaru, who had been watching the proceedings with an amused smirk and folded arms up until this point. He was no longer smiling and no longer standing with folded arms. "Jiraiya," he snarled.
"Dammit, you lived," Jiraiya answered with a smirk. "I suppose it was too much to hope that you would bleed out from that Rasengan wound I gave you back in the village huh?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of his defeat at the hands of Sage Mode Jiraiya.
"As if an insignificant wound like that could destroy me," the other answered.
"Insignificant?" Jiraiya repeated incredulously. "Losing a lung is hardly what I'd call insignificant. Besides, when I'm in Sage Mode, I can sense chakra better than a person trained in it could ever do." Jiraiya held up two fingers an inch apart. "You were this close to dying. Don't try to be all cool and say I didn't hurt you."
Orochimaru's scowl deepened. "Then shall we replay that battle?" He asked. "Shall we see how you fare now that I know what to expect from you and it's not two on one?"
"I think the Hime over there would qualify as a second person," Jiraiya answered casually. "As soon as she gets her head out of her ass and actually realizes that blood isn't something to be afraid of." Jiraiya settled into a stance. "But since that won't happen anytime soon, let's see what happens when we go at it mano-a-mano huh?"
Orochimaru reached down his own throat and drew the Kusanagi.
"Then shall we begin?"
"Yeah."
The two ran at each other and collided with dull thuds.
Kabuto watched the two blurs of color and sparks with wide eyes. He couldn't even follow the action. Orochimaru-sama would have to deal with Jiraiya on his own. There was no place for Kabuto in that battle. He turned his gaze to Shizune, who'd arrived with the Toad Sage, pushing up his glasses. "Oh well," he said, making Shizune freeze. She'd been cleaning off the blood on Tsunade, whispering comforting words to try and bring the Slug Princess back into the fight. "I guess I'll just kill you and Tsunade-sama and call it a day." He produced a more sinister-looking knife with a sharply curving blade.
Shizune could feel the sting of the weapon just by looking at it. She stood and stepped protectively in front of Tsunade as Kabuto began to advance. She sprang into motion when he took three steps. Shizune pulled up the sleeves of her shirt and exposed five or six small senbon launchers strapped to her arm. A deft pull of a wire was all it took to fire the contraptions, sending five, poison-laced, needles speeding for Kabuto's face. The other medic spun, knife flashing.
He intercepted each one and they fell harmlessly to the ground. "Nice try, but not good enough," he said, pushing up his glasses. Shizune wasn't there. A soft noise behind Kabuto drew his attention and he whirled, dark eyes going wide as he realized he'd completely underestimated Shizune's speed. He dove into a roll and Shizune's fist smashed hard into the unforgiving earth. To everyone's surprise, it gave way and buckled just as effectively as if Tsunade herself had hit it.
"Looks like I underestimated you again," Kabuto said as Shizune stood. "I don't think my information told me you had mastered Tsunade-sama's great strength."
"Did you really think that after traveling with Tsunade-sama for all this time I wouldn't have picked up a trick or three?" Shizune asked, molding hand seals. She took a deep breath. "Ninpou! Dokugiri!" She exhaled a huge purple cloud of foul-looking gas. Kabuto didn't need to know what was in there and he didn't want to know. The name of the jutsu quite clearly implied that it was certain death for him. He backpedaled, trying to outdistance the cloud, and succeeded, but he nearly lost his life right then and there when five more senbon flashed from the cloud. He ducked and gulped when he felt one snag in the collar of his shirt.
Gingerly, he eased it out, so as to not accidentally prick his skin, and drew chakra into his hands, forming the chakra scalpels with which he was so proficient. The poison cloud had dissipated enough to not be harmful to him anymore and with glowing hands and furious eyes, he charged right at Shizune, who drew a pair of smoke bombs and threw them at her feet. The area was enveloped in a thick white cloud of smoke and Kabuto couldn't stop in time, so he barreled right into it.
Almost instantly he realized his error, a part of his mind noting the rotten eggs stench of the cloud. It wasn't a smoke bomb that Shizune had thrown! It was a gas bomb!
"Oh shit!" Kabuto yelled as a new sound met his ears. It was the distinctive hissing of an explosive tag about to go off.
The ensuing explosion rocked the grounds with all the violence of a bomb ten times the size going off, throwing Kabuto out of the cloud. He yelled out in pain as he landed hard and started rolling to try and put out all the small little embers that had taken root on his clothing and had started to smolder. He managed to pre-smother any fire and stood up with a long-suffering sigh. "What is it with my enemies wanting to burn me alive?" he asked to no one. "First Itachi-san tried to set me on fire using Amaterasu and now this? Have I angered the god of fire or something?"
"I don't know about that," Shizune answered, drawing a pair of kunai, one for each hand, "but you'll be able to ask him in the next life!" Kabuto's chakra scalpels faded and he drew his wicked-looking knife and its twin. Chakra scalpels wouldn't block a physical attack. He would need steel in order to do that.
He braced himself for Shizune's next onslaught, wondering just what move the wily kunoichi would pull out of her bag of tricks this time.
The rumble of thunder was what woke Gohan. He sat up with a start, looking out the window. It was that kind of gloomy dark that seemed to calm the soul more than bring about any real apprehension. The saiyan boy stood and stretched, feeling his muscles still softly burning from the workout the night before. He clenched his right hand into a fist and snapped out a few rapid punches. He grinned, satisfied. It seemed like his heritage and inhuman training regimen had really worked in his favor in the week or so since he'd regained use of his arm. It still wasn't fully up to snuff, but it was so close that Gohan could taste it and he, if truth be told, really didn't notice the difference anymore.
He glanced out the window again. It was going to blow pretty good around here pretty soon. Gohan didn't know if he would go out to train today. A break would be good, to allow his body a little rest, and if there was any day to do it, now was the perfect time. He glanced at Naruto, who'd some how gotten himself into Jiraiya's futon and rolled himself up in the blanket. It was probably a good thing Jiraiya himself wasn't here otherwise he would've made a big fuss and probably would've woken up half the apartment with the argument that would've followed.
Speaking of Jiraiya, where was he? He wasn't anywhere nearby, that much was certain. Maybe he was out in the village somewhere. Gohan began to look, closing his eyes and extending his senses outwards. Had he been fully awake, he would've been able to feel out the entire city, no problem, but like everything else in a human or saiyan body, it needed time to wake up and get ready for the day. Gohan caught a faint flicker of Jiraiya's ki, far out there, on the other end of town. With him were two that were sort of familiar, which was probably Shizune and Tsunade, and two more that…
Gohan's eyes snapped open as he felt the bucket of ice water dump itself down his spine. Goosebumps broke out up and down his arms and he suddenly felt very, very, cold, like a ball of ice had taken up residence in his gut. It was Kabuto and Orochimaru. They were the only two with ki that foul, Orochimaru's especially was like a bad odor, like someone had taken eggs, left them in the sun for three days, then taken a whole mound of week-old soiled baby diapers and dumped them on top of the eggs.
Gohan had apparently made some type of noise because Naruto opened one bleary eye and sat up. "Gohan?" He asked, wiping sleep from one bleary eye. "Wuzz goin' on? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Worse," Gohan answered, looking towards where Jiraiya and the others were. He could feel Orochimaru and Jiraiya's ki clashing again and again as Shizune's clashed with Kabuto's. Tsunade's wasn't moving at it was wavering. Not like she was dying or anything, but more like she was uncertain. It was like her very soul was hesitating to enter battle and after what Gohan had seen a week ago outside that bar, it didn't seem like confident, arrogant, coarse Tsunade at all. "Orochimaru's in town."
"Orochimaru!" Naruto repeated, looking dumbstruck. "Are you sure!"
"Hell would freeze over before I forget what that ki feels like," Gohan answered, brow knitting. "He's fighting Jiraiya-sama…near that big castle I think. Shizune-san and Tsunade-sama are there too. Shizune-san's fighting Kabuto."
"What's the Old Hag doing?" Naruto demanded. "She should be fighting Kabuto, not Shizune-nee-san."
Gohan's frown deepened. "I don't know. She's just…sitting there, like she doesn't want to fight."
"What? After she was all ready to kick my ass the other night? You sure we're talking about the same old lady here, Gohan?"
"Positive. Who else could it be?"
"Then there's only one thing to do," Naruto declared as he stood and started pulling on his clothes.
"What's that?"
Naruto grinned. "We'll go and see for ourselves."
"What? Are you nuts? This is Orochimaru we're talking about," Gohan replied in protest. "If we went, we'd just get in the way! It's better if we stay here. We can wait until they get back." Naruto ignored his friend and went to the window and yanked it open, letting in the chill breeze and the sweet scent of rain.
"Suit yourself," he said over his shoulder, "but I'm going and that's that." Without waiting for a reply, he vaulted out over the rooftops of Tanzaku.
"Naruto!" Gohan called, his voice echoing off the buildings, but the orange dot that Naruto had become didn't slow down or even falter. It kept a steady course for the castle. Gohan felt like he'd touched a live electric wire as Shizune's ki suddenly wavered and faded a bit. "Shizune-san!" He yelled, despite himself. Wavering ki was okay. That could mean shock or indecision. Fading was bad. There were only two things that fading ki meant. Either the user was powering down, unlikely in this situation, since Kabuto was still like a beacon to Gohan's sixth sense, or Shizune had taken a bad hit and was one step closer to death. "Damn!"
Gohan didn't even remember throwing himself out the window and zooming off after Naruto. He didn't even give the blond a warning before he'd swept him up in one fast pass, slung Naruto over his back, and poured on the speed, bathing the both of them in an aura of blue-white light as Gohan went even faster.
Shizune cried out as her ankle caught fire. She'd tried to leap out of the way of an attack, but Kabuto had been faster than expected and just barely managed to tap her ankle. Unfortunately, with a chakra scalpel, that had been all that was needed and it gave out under her, driving her to her knees the second she put weight on it. A sharp backhand threw her to the ground in front of Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, please, help us!" Shizune pleaded with her mentor. The Sannin didn't budge, only shaking her head like a scared little kid, ponytails flying, and hugging herself, still trembling violently. "Tsunade-sama!"
"It won't do you any good," Kabuto said with a laugh. "She's too scared to do anything. You're going to die defending her and then I'll kill her without any trouble at all." A huge dual explosion touched off in front of them as Gamabunta and Manda appeared on the battlefield. Kabuto's smirk widened. "And it looks like Orochimaru-sama's closing in for the kill."
Kabuto's world exploded as something fell from the sky and blasted him right off his feet. He was sent tumbling out of control over the ground until he smashed into a rock and came to an abrupt and painful stop. He clambered back to his feet wincing as he beheld just who'd hit him. His shock turned to amusement. "Well well, if it isn't Uzumaki Naruto-kun. It's been a while." He looked up and saw the restored Gohan floating above him. "And Gohan-kun too."
"Kabuto," Naruto growled. "What the hell are you doing to Shizune-nee-san?"
Kabuto pushed up his glasses with one finger. "Killing her," he answered frankly. "But I will be more than happy to kill you first if you would like."
"Che. Like you could," Naruto said, puffing out his chest. "I'll kick your ass with my new and awesome technique!"
"A new technique?" Kabuto asked, smiling condescendingly. "Isn't that interesting. I wonder if you could even touch me with it?" Naruto's brow twitched. Kabuto saw it and went on, knowing he could easily goad the blond. "Of course, that is assuming you are not bluffing and have indeed developed a technique to defeat me, which I doubt. Don't forget, please, Naruto-kun, that I have stood on equal ground with Kakashi-san. He was unable to kill me, so what gives you the idea that you, the worst in your class, can?"
"Don't underestimate me," Naruto growled, flinging a kunai at Kabuto's head. The silver-haired traitor simply leaned to one side and snagged the knife by the ring as it whizzed passed.
"Thank you for the weapon, Naruto-kun," Kabuto said conversationally.
"You…" Naruto growled.
"Please be patient," Kabuto said soothingly, stowing the knife. "I'll kill Tsunade-sama right now and then we can commence our battle." He lunged forward. His fist flashed, heading straight for Tsunade's head.
"Tsunade-sama!"
"Baa-chan!"
Kabuto's face was a mask of triumph. His fist slammed hard into a head, but Kabuto's eyes grew wide when he realized just what had happened. Naruto had thrown himself in front of the attack, taking the blow meant to split Tsunade's skull. Blood ran down his face from behind the hirai-ate, but the pain, if he even felt the pain, didn't diminish the fires in Naruto's clear cerulean eyes. "You!"
"Yeah me," Naruto answered. "If you want to hurt the old lady then you'll have to go through me first!"
Tsunade flinched at Naruto's voice, showing the first signs of life in a very long while. "Naruto," she whispered as Shizune dragged herself over to Tsunade's side and began healing her disabled ankle. "Why?"
Naruto grinned dangerously. Kabuto pulled his fist back and took a step or two away from the blond, eyes calculating, reevaluating Naruto. Apparently he'd underestimated the Jinchuuriki and by a fairly decent amount. "We've still got a bet going Baa-chan," Naruto answered, not loosing his grin. "And I think it's time I collected!" He made a cross-shaped hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
He made only a single clone and held out his hand. When the clone began to pat the air around the original's palm, Kabuto wondered what the boy was up to. When the air began to swirl and condense, pulling tighter and tighter into a globe of spinning hand-held mayhem, Kabuto knew. He was over twenty years old. He was old enough to remember the night the Kyuubi attacked and, more importantly, he remembered, faintly, seeing that jutsu used before, except it'd been used by another blond-haired blue-eyed person, but never would Kabuto forget the effects.
"No! I won't let you!" Kabuto yelled, rushing forward, pulling out the knife he'd taken from Naruto only a minute or two ago. "I won't let you use that!"
"You don't have any say in the matter!" Naruto answered. Kabuto stabbed.
Blood flew and sprayed Naruto's face, making him squint, but he clamped down, the kunai's blade slicing right between his middle and ring fingers, gashing the skin in between with a vicious cut. Kabuto's eyes grew wide as he realized that Naruto's grip was unmovable and it would take a second to break his grip. Kabuto didn't have a second.
Tsunade's face was a mask of surprise and disbelief as she watched Naruto complete the technique. This time there was no wind peeling off from the shell of chakra he held in his hand. There was no howling wind assaulting her. It was perfectly still. But in Naruto's hand, he held a maelstrom, more chaotic than a hurricane, moving faster than a tornado. The clone dispelled itself. "It's not possible," she breathed. "There's no way he could've completed it in such a short time!" Then she remembered what Jiraiya had told her a week ago.
"And I'd pay attention if I were you. I've seen what happens to people who end up underestimating him. It's not pretty."
"Now Baa-chan!" Naruto crowed as he yanked Kabuto towards him. "It's time to show off my new jutsu! RASENGAN!"
Kabuto howled in pain as he felt the technique of the Yondaime begin to dig into his stomach. Flesh ripped and tore, blood was flung everywhere and Kabuto could feel himself begin to lift off his feet as Naruto pushed even deeper. With a wordless yell, Naruto set his feet and pushed. Kabuto's world became a sea of red blood and white-hot pain. He was only vaguely aware of being thrown away, the world spinning wildly around him, then all that came to an abrupt end as he slammed hard enough into a boulder to hear his back crack and send lances of lightning up his spine.
The silence on the battlefield was complete.
"Holy shit!" Naruto swore, having no other words to describe his shock. He'd known that since it was the Fourth's technique it would pack a wallop, but this…this was just damn impossible! Kabuto was laying a good thirty yards away, limp and motionless, his shredded skin bleeding profusely. "Damn! I didn't think it would be that strong!" He looked at his right hand, which was still tingly from holding so much power. "I think I just found my new favorite technique!"
'Unbelievable,' Tsunade thought, awestruck. 'He really did it! He mastered a technique that took the Yondaime three years and he did it in a week! What the hell is he!'
"That was incredible!" Gohan crowed, landing beside his friend. He'd been watching from up in the air, deciding to leave Kabuto to Naruto and Orochimaru to Jiraiya, who was better qualified to handle the Sannin in the first place. "Wow! What power!"
"I know!" Naruto agreed, just as amazed. "I still can't believe it! A one hit KO?"
"Looks that way," Gohan agreed, looking over to the line that Rasengan had bored into the hard ground when it had taken off with Kabuto along for the ride. "Man, I'd kill to have known that technique during the Cell Games."
"Kabuto was defeated?" Orochimaru asked, incredulously from atop Manda's head, having seen the stunning victory out of the corner of his eye. "Impossible."
"Not for Naruto it's not," Jiraiya answered with pride in his voice. "That kid'll climb mountains to protect someone and to achieve his dream." He grinned as he looked Orochimaru in the eye. "You're not going to win here."
"Oh really? We'll just see about that!" Orochimaru pulled out the Kusanagi again, which he'd sheathed when the battle had gone into the ninjutsu area. "Let's see how he fares when he's dead! I will teach him to mess around in a battle that he doesn't belong in!"
Orochimaru hurled the sword as hard as he could.
"No!" Jiraiya called as the sword whipped past, just out of reach. "Naruto!"
Naruto had his back to Orochimaru and Manda, since he was helping Shizune with Tsunade while Gohan looked on and he didn't hear the warning until it was too late.
Didn't turn until it was too late.
Gohan was laughing at something Naruto was saying when the blond lurched suddenly. "Naruto?" Gohan asked. "You okay…" He trailed off and three sets of eyes went wide when they noticed the finely edged blade of the Kusanagi no Tsurugi protruding from Naruto's chest.
The blond had just enough time to cough up blood, splattering Tsunade again, who looked horrified, seeing someone who bore such a striking resemblance to Nawaki get so grievously injured.
Naruto didn't even have time to do more than register the huge pain in his chest before his eyes rolled back and he keeled over sideways, unmoving.
"Naruto!" Gohan shouted, dropping to his knees at his friend's side. He shook the blonde's shoulder. "Naruto!" He recoiled when he felt how clammy Naruto's skin was. And there was one more problem.
Naruto's ki was fading fast.
Jiraiya arrived next, staring down at the body of his godson, horrified.
While the Konoha-nin clustered around the body of one of their own, Kabuto clambered back to his feet, focusing chakra into his hands and pressing them to his stomach, healing himself of the grievous injuries that the Rasengan had dealt to him.
Orochimaru began laughing, but no one heard him, since they were too focused on the tragedy lying on the ground before them. The Snake Sannin made a gesture, like he was beckoning someone over to him and the sword in Naruto's chest ripped itself free, floated back a few inches, then turned into a small, white, blood splattered snake that slithered away and crawled up Orochimaru's leg to coil in his hand and turn back into the sword.
"Naruto!" Gohan called again when the sword left and blood began flowing freely from Naruto's chest. The blond did give a feeble cry of pain when the sword was pulled free but that didn't mean much in this situation. Gohan felt the world open up and his knees give out. The skies rumbled menacingly and rain began to hiss down. It soaked everything in seconds, but no one cared. They were concerned with other things.
"Naruto please," Gohan whispered, tears burning hot in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks to mingle with the rain. "This isn't funny anymore. Get up!"
There was no answer.
"No!" Gohan moaned, pressing his hands to his eyes. "No! Not again! This can't happen again!" He looked up at the weeping clouds above him. "I promised myself I wouldn't let it happen! I promised! I swore I wouldn't let anyone hurt my precious people."
"You can't protect everyone," Jiraiya answered, putting a soothing hand on the other's shoulder. "People die. Naruto knew the risks of being a shinobi."
Gohan didn't answer. Instead he began to shake, but Jiraiya didn't know if it was with anger or sorrow.
"Our mission is complete," Orochimaru said to Kabuto.
Gohan stiffened, his back going rigid. He shook off Jiraiya's hand and stood, glaring death at Orochimaru. It was lucky looks couldn't kill. If they could, Orochimaru would've died right then. "Your mission?" Gohan repeated, voice dangerous. Deadly. Killing intent was beginning to pound off him in crushing waves. "What mission?"
"Naruto-kun has been our objective this entire time," Orochimaru replied frankly. "Thank you for bringing him here, Gohan-kun. Without your cooperation, we would've had a much harder time finding him."
Rage like Gohan hadn't felt in a long time erupted within him, a hot rage that brought him to boiling in seconds. An anguished roar of rage tore itself from his throat, reverberating off the empty expanse of boulders and rolling hills. The anger, self-hatred, and the loathing of Orochimaru all sat in his stomach like a ball of white-hot magma as he transformed in a blaze of light, his aura roaring higher than ever.
"This again?" Orochimaru asked with a snicker. "Surely you jest, Gohan-kun. You weren't able to do me any lasting harm in this next form of yours."
"Shut up," Gohan growled. But inside he knew that Orochimaru was right. Then he thought about it. No. He was wrong. Dead wrong. There was one more way to overpower Orochimaru. The Cursed Seal in Gohan's neck seared like fire, but the saiyan welcomed the pain, used it to reinforce the burning emotions he was experiencing right now. It was a seal the contained Orochimaru's own power. Gohan's lips curled up in a cruel smile. He would kill Orochimaru with his own power.
The Fuuja Houin around the three raindrops vanished as if it had never been there. Gohan threw himself open wide to the power, allowing it suffuse him. New strength raced through him like a drug, waking him up. The world's colors were suddenly more vibrant, the details crystal-clear, the movement of everything and everyone slowed to inhuman crawls.
"Gohan no!" Jiraiya shouted when he saw the marks race over Gohan's body.
"Shut up," Gohan told him flatly.
Orochimaru began to laugh. "Using my own seal against me? You have guts, Gohan-kun, but it will do you no good. The Cursed Seal was created by me. It was administered by me. Do you really think that it will disobey its true master? The second you try to attack me, its power will flee you and you'll be nothing again."
Gohan didn't answer, but Orochimaru knew that the boy saw the truth.
"And you would corrode your own body and soul with this dark power for one boy? I've underestimated you, Gohan-kun. You're nothing but an irrational little boy. You were irrational in bringing Naruto-kun here. You were irrational in believing that my own Cursed Seal would defy me." Orochimaru grinned horribly. "And you were most certainly irrational when you thought you could save Naruto-kun."
Gohan stiffened at the words and suddenly his mind was back at the horror of the Cell Games as Cell, the inhuman android killing machine, smashed 16's head underfoot.
"Yet another fighter you could've saved."
A new yell of anguish erupted from Gohan and with it came power as the Cursed Seal drew out more and more of his ki.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gohan wailed. His aura flared brighter and wider. Bioelectricity began to peel off him in waves, growing in intensity until each flash was brighter than lightning, each bolt accompanied by a clap of thunder. The ground around him shattered, pulled up against gravity, soaring away into the sky like missiles. The world was all blinding golden light and flashing lightning.
Everyone was knocked off their feet as the very earth beneath them began to tremble as if the planet itself was quaking in fear of Gohan's might. Ever higher his power soared, past whatever anyone had felt from him yet…and it kept going, shooting higher and higher.
On the other side of the country, the Sandaime stood in his office, thinking of the events of the last month and mourning his age, not for the first time, when the cup of tea on his desk began to rattle. It danced faster and faster on the wood surface until it tipped over and spilled its contents before rolling off the desk and shattering.
The entire office began to shake as the ground began to rumble, as if it was a monster awakening from a slumber of an indeterminable time. The venerable Hokage tripped and fell as the boards under his feet bucked like a bronco, spilling chairs, papers, and potted plants all over the place. Sarutobi stood up, wondering just what in the hell was going on, then threw up an arm to shield his eyes as the windows of his office cracked and blew inwards. Rickety buildings in town that had yet to be demolished crumbled like houses of cards, throwing debris everywhere. People ran through the streets screaming, looking for any cover they could find as bookshelves fell over, plates in homes spilled out of their cabinets and shattered on the floor and windows and streetlights blew out all over the place with loud pops. A wind, visible by the movement in the trees and the bending of the grass, roared over the town, stripping entire rooftops of their shingles in seconds before moving on.
A golden glow spread from one end of the horizon to the other and Sarutobi suddenly realized what was going.
"Gohan-kun!" He breathed as he began to feel the boy's intense spirit from all the way out here, even as far away as he was. "I don't believe it! For me to be able to feel him all the way in Konoha! What is it that he's done?" The answer to that question was quickly obvious to the venerable old leader. "The seal! The second seal is breaking!"
In the center of the maelstrom, Gohan's anguished cried reached a higher pitch, the ground shaking so violently that only chakra kept Kabuto, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru on their feet. Winds were whipping everywhere, painful in their intensity, terrible in their power.
The kanji for the number two appeared on Gohan's chest and began to flare with light, shining like the sun, even in the blinding light already present.
"Gohan stop!" Jiraiya shouted. But he was drowned out by the cacophony of Gohan's rage and it sounded like he'd whispered even when he'd shouted at the top of his lungs. "You'll get knocked out!"
Gohan was barely visible in the center of the conflagration of power, a shadow with bright white marks all over his body. Gohan felt like he was on fire, burning up from the inside out. He felt the pain of the Cursed Seal, felt the pain of the dimensional seal that had been placed on him months ago when he'd arrived in this world. He felt the terrible burning of the two seals interacting. He felt the pain that came from failure to protect Naruto, and felt the pain of loss. Loss of Naruto, and the loss of his father.
But the mostly what he felt was the indescribable rage that was boiling within him. His own screaming voice was deaf in his ears. To his eyes, the bright gold and white light he was throwing everywhere was nothing but crimson rage. He felt the pain of the dimensional barrier trying to rebuff him, deny him, but he pressed forward, determined to drive Orochimaru into Hell with every ounce of power he possessed! He threw back his head and howled with renewed rage.
The raindrops of the Cursed Seal shone brilliant white against his shadow, flaring bright white like the number two on his chest. The number interacted with the markings and both flared out. The concussion knocked everyone to the ground. Shizune, who'd crawled to Naruto's side to treat him when Tsunade wouldn't, grabbed blindly and managed to keep the boy's body from flying away and probably get injured beyond repair.
Everyone was pelted with flying rocks and debris.
For an eternity it seemed to last, a timeless time.
The light suddenly compressed, crackling and sparking madly before it shot into the sky and into the concealing thunderclouds overhead. It shrieked as it climbed, like a banshee was climbing from the depths of Hell. When the shrieking ball of energy was out of sight, the silence was almost eerie. Only ravaged ground remained where Gohan had once stood. Abruptly, a gold spear of light shot from inside the heart of the thunderstorm and streaked straight down, retracing the path that the mass of energy had followed almost exactly. It smashed to earth with enough force to make the very foundations of Tanzaku castle tremble. A few tiles on the venerable castle's roof slid of and rained down on the shrieking tourists. A mote of gold light glowed like a coal from the heart of the sun itself then popped out with a weird ringing noise.
It was Gohan.
There were stunned looks on every conscious face present.
Gohan had changed again. The power rolling off him was unbelievable. It was almost tangible, a power so great that you could taste it in the air. His aura was brighter and sat farther out from his skin. No longer did it hug him like a flame. There as a very substantial gap between his flesh and the flames of gold. Electricity crackled and sparked all around him. He was much more solid now and almost…taller somehow. The most substantial change was in his hair and demeanor.
Until now, Gohan's hair had turned gold, but hadn't changed much beyond his usual mop top. Now every spike stood straight up at attention, except for one bang that swept across his face. The effect should've been comical. He should've looked ridiculous, with his hair standing up all over the place. The effect was the exact opposite. He didn't look funny or weird. If anything, the inhuman power rolling off him and the crushing waves of killing intent in the air made it seem even more intimidating than his previous transformation.
His demeanor was different as well. Kabuto had fought Gohan before, when he'd done his little transformation and he'd managed to best him by disabling him. But there had been something else that contributed to it. It was Gohan's gentle nature. Gohan's gentle nature, even in the powerful and deadly form of a Super Saiyan, had limited him. His reluctance to kill, reluctance to hurt someone, had stayed his fist, stopped him from unleashing all hell on his enemies.
Kabuto could tell by his carry and the cold ire in his eyes that Gohan-kun wouldn't be holding back here. Every punch he threw during this battle would be to kill, to hurt, and to make blood fly and bones shatter. He would unleash the frightening power of a Super Saiyan on them all. How much more frightened would Kabuto have been if he'd known that this was Gohan at his peak? This wasn't a simple powering up. Saying that it was a simple power up would be like comparing the small flame of a match to the fury of the sun.
This was the power that Gohan had borne within him all his life, the power that only came out when he was driven into a corner or made exceptionally angry. Cell and Bojack had both made the mistake of drawing out this particular form and each had paid dearly for it, dying at the hands of the young teenager that had stood up to them. Goku had seen his son's dormant power and worked to draw it out.
And Gohan had just released it once more, this time in a world not his own, in a place that shouldn't have even known he existed.
Super Saiyan 2 had returned.
And I think we'll end it there ^_^. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter so far. Congrats to TobiGB, who called this particular scene way back when in something like Chapter 28. I was really impressed by that. Like the first transformation to Super Saiyan, I've had this particular chapter written out in my head almost since the beginning. I couldn't wait to write it and I hope I did it justice! Look forward to next chapter!
~WingedFreedom622
Glossary
Ninpou: Dokugiri no Jutsu (Ninja Art, Poison Mist Technique): The user makes special compounds out of their chakra inside their body and exhales it. What comes out is a big cloud of purple smog that can kill someone just by inhaling the slightest whiff of it.