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Team Seven assembled at the gate out of Konoha, all looking like rather bedraggled, like they'd just crawled out of the sack. And in fact they had. It was almost midnight after all and all three had decided to turn in early, since they'd expected Kakashi to have some rather grueling exercises lined up for them the next day or something. None had expected Kakashi and some creepy-eyed friend of his literally drag them out of bed and make them get dressed and traipse to the village's exit.
"Whaz goin' on Kaka…" Naruto didn't get to finish as a giant yawn cut off his next words. Next to him, Sakura was looking equally bleary eyed, pink hair ruffled and unkempt, a rarity for her. She was even too tired to be mortified that Gohan was going to see her looking at her worst.
For his part, Gohan looked fully coherent and alert, like he was used to getting up early and indeed he was. It was a habit of his from both his need to do chores back home and to train when his mother wasn't looking in an effort to keep his strength up. After all, the fate of the world rested on his shoulders and after Bojack and that whole fiasco, he wasn't about to slack off and just himself get into a slump. Well, that was what he told himself. It was getting harder to do, both because of Chichi's constant nagging to study and because he really didn't see the point of training himself into the ground like Piccolo and Vegeta did since there really hadn't been a severe threat to the world in quite a while.
Gohan smoothed the fabric of his gi, which looked just like the orange and blue one his father used to wear. Naruto had taken an instant liking to it, if only because of the inordinate amount of orange that it possessed. "Is something wrong?" He asked.
Kakashi and the other jounin with him traded glances.
"You could say that," Kakashi replied, "but before I go into that, I want to introduce you to someone. Team Seven, this is Yamato. He's an old friend of mine. Yamato, this is Naruto, Sakura, and Son Gohan."
"Son Gohan," Yamato murmured with a smile and a nod. "I've heard of you."
"You have?"
"Oh yes. The jounin who've seen you fight speak rather highly of your skills as a warrior and there are already tales going around the village that you've managed to kill off Orochimaru." Gohan laughed, embarrassed, and scratched at the back of his head.
"Now I'm sure you're wondering why I called you out here," Kakashi broke in.
"Hey!" Naruto interrupted, looking around. "Where's Sasuke?"
"You're right. I thought he would've been out of house arrest by now," Sakura agreed, looking around for the brooding Uchiha. "It's not like him to skip out."
"Is something wrong with him, Kakashi?" Gohan asked.
Again Yamato and Kakashi traded glances. "You could say that," Kakashi replied delicately. "Actually, Sasuke's the reason why I called you out here this late. Our mission concerns him."
"Mission?" Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded and took a deep breath, looking world-weary for the first time that anyone present, Yamato included, could remember. "Sasuke's left the village," he said finally.
The effect was immediate. All of Team Seven looked alert and startled the second Kakashi's words settled in. "What!" Naruto and Sakura said together.
"Wait. He's left the village?" Gohan asked. "Doesn't that make him a missing-nin like his brother Itachi?"
"Right," Kakashi answered. "Which is why we have a mission." The jounin sighed. "If it were up to me, I would leave you out of the loop until you absolutely needed to know, but Godaime-sama wants me to be up front about it if I'm taking you all with me and, to be truthful, I think you've all grown tremendously since that first mission to Wave and you deserve the truth." He squared his shoulders and looked them all in the eye in turn, a heavy gaze that all of them met and returned without flinching, much to Kakashi's pleasure. If they'd looked away, he'd questioned the wisdom of taking them along. "Uchiha Sasuke has gone missing. It's believed his mind has been influenced the Curse Seal that Orochimaru placed on him."
"But I killed Orochimaru," Gohan said, frowning. "Shouldn't the seal have gone away?"
"You'd think," Kakashi replied.
"The problem is that we know so little about the seal itself," Yamato interjected. "Even with three seals to study, well, two know that Gohan-kun has dispelled his, they've proven highly resistant to any attempts to analyze or remove them."
"You got rid of yours, Gohan-kun?" Sakura asked, looking at the boy, who tugged his gi top and blue undershirt lower in response, baring the patch of flesh now devoid of any inverted raindrops. Even the Fuuja Houin, with nothing to seal anymore, was gone. She looked at Yamato. "Doesn't that mean that we have a way to remove it?"
"We think," Yamato answered, "that when Gohan-kun ascended to his next level of power, it somehow canceled out the effect of the Curse Seal, like when you try to put magnets of the same polarity together."
"However it happened," Kakashi added, "it doesn't matter now. The fact remains that even though Gohan was able to remove his seal, we still have no other way of being able to do it, aside from becoming Super Saiyans ourselves, which is impossible. So we're back to square one. Sasuke's mind has been corrupted by the Seal's influence and he's gone rogue." He looked at everyone gathered. "Our orders are to retrieve Sasuke by any means necessary."
"Even…" Naruto said, breaking off, not needing to finish. The look Yamato and Kakashi gave the blond boy was enough. He went pale and looked horrified that he might need to kill one of the first people he'd ever considered a friend. "But…"
"It's what has to be done, Naruto," Kakashi replied before pressing ahead. "Now, there's one other thing you all need to be aware of. Sasuke left with some of Orochimaru's henchmen. We think that they were dispatched to collect Sasuke before Orochimaru's little…vacation so they have no idea what's going on back home."
"So in other words, they're carrying out a mission for a dead master," Yamato added. "They've denied that Orochimaru's gone, so that's why we think they'd been gone before Orochimaru died."
"The point is that they're extremely dangerous," Kakashi said. "It's highly probable that we're going to end up fighting all four of them, plus Sasuke, at some point in time. I want you to all be aware of that and to be on your guard at all times for some kind of trap, ambush, or other unpleasant surprises. Keep in mind that it could very well be that Yamato and myself will get tied up in combat and you three will have to continue the mission on your own."
"But what if that happens and we catch up to Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
"Our orders are to capture or kill," Kakashi answered flatly. "Sasuke, under no circumstances, is allowed to make it to wherever Orochimaru might have been hiding. If he does, then he'll be beyond our reach. Even dead, you can bet that Orochimaru's lair will be filled with too many unpleasant things to just go charging in recklessly." He looked at the three teens severely again. "Am I clear."
They traded nervous glances and it wasn't enough for Kakashi.
"Am I clear!" He barked again.
"Yes sir!" Sakura and Naruto shot back, by instinct. Gohan looked indecisive for a second longer before his onyx eyes steeled and he nodded.
"Good." Kakashi drew a kunai, sliced his thumb and molded a handful of seals. "Ninpou! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Pakkun appeared in a puff and pop.
"Kakashi," the pug said, though it was hard to tell because he was currently gnawing on a bone. "Need somefin'?"
"I need your nose, Pakkun," Kakashi answered, tugging the bone out of the dog's mouth and did something to it that made it vanish like it had appeared. "We need to track Uchiha Sasuke."
"Oh you don't ask for much, do you?" Pakkun replied sulkily. "Do you expect me to just magically follow him with nothing to smell first? I'm a dog, not a miracle worker here."
Kakashi drew out Sasuke's hirai-ate and held it to the dog's nose. The pug took a few whiffs then put his nose to the ground and turned in a slow circle, snuffling. Pakkun's ears pricked up and he looked up, wrinkled face pensive. "That's the way," he said, pointing with one dainty paw. "It's hard to make out under the scents that are surrounding it, but it's him alright."
"Lead the way," Kakashi said. Pakkun took off for the forest outside Konoha and the others followed him. Something clinked to the ground and made Naruto stop. It was Sasuke's forehead protector. It had fallen out of Kakashi's pocket with the sudden movement. Naruto picked it up, looked at it for a second, then stowed it in his jacket pocket and hurried off to catch up to his team.
Ahead of the pursuing team, the Sound Four plus Sasuke stopped their headlong dash from the village and dropped to the forest floor. "This is a good a place as any," Sakon said, massaging the leg that had been injured by Kakashi back in the village. He'd used Ukon's leg as a fast replacement for the injured limb but it was very ungainly at best and he looked like someone with a prosthetic leg every time he took a step with it because Ukon couldn't get it together. He sat down, awkward because Ukon didn't get it right away, the leg receded into his body and was replaced by his gashed leg.
If Sasuke thought it was unusual or disconcerting, he didn't show it. Tayuya came over openly laughing. "Damn," she said, looking at the wound. "That asshole really did a number on you didn't he?"
"Shut up," Sakon grunted, showing the strain of injury for the first time as a cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Kidoumaru, can't you do something about this?"
"Like what?" the six-armed teenager shot back. "I have first aid skill, remember. I can't do a full blow surgery in the middle of the field like this! I'm not Kabuto you know."
"That's a lie and you know it," Sakon ground out. "Now do it!"
"Fine fine," the other answered, coming over, suddenly sporting a sharp-edged scalpel made out of some golden material. Sasuke felt his interest sharpen as he watched the other member of the Sound Four get to work on Sakon, the scalpel slicing skin and tissue like it was paper.
Tayuya caught him looking. "Nice, isn't it?"
Sasuke shrugged, noncommittal.
"Fine. Play the haughty bastard for all I care." She turned away and stormed off, pursued by Jiroubou, who started hounding her for her foul mouth. That only led to a hot string of profanities being thrown back in his face. Kidoumaru straightened up after only a slight amount of time, perhaps twenty minutes. Sasuke supposed the six arms and gold stuff made medical work go faster.
"That'll hold for now," he told Sakon. "Still, we'd better get a move on. I'm sure the Leaf has sent out some kind of hunter-killer team for this guy." He jerked his head at Sasuke to underline his point. "I don't know about you all but I don't want to tangle with some pissed off ANBU."
"Right," Sakon grunted as he stood up. He winced as his leg seared with pain but thanks to Kidoumaru medical work, which while hasty was thorough (he'd been trained by Kabuto after all) would allow him to move at a much faster pace. "Then let's do the ceremony now."
The three nodded and surrounded Sasuke, who watched with apprehension and an active Sharingan. He wondered, for the first time, if going with these guys had been the right decision before squashing it. This was the path he had chosen. There was no turning back now. He would turn his back on the light and walk in the darkness. He could not look back.
"Easy," Sakon said, not sounding very calming. "This is just to activate the second level of your seal."
"Second level?" Sasuke asked. Sakon nodded.
"Yep. There's two levels to the Seals. The first is one you've already experienced, the part where the seal just covers your entire body and enhances your chakra and physical form. There's another level past that one, one which allows us to take on certain physical changes, allowing for more tricks in combat and it increases the effects of the first level. In other words, you get faster, stronger, and more durable and you gain a few new tricks to boot."
"So how do we activate this supposed second level?" Sasuke asked, the Sharingan fading from his eyes.
"Oh that, that's the easy part." Sakon grinned a feral grin as he looked Sasuke dead in the eyes. "You just have to die." He held up a small vial of black pills that looked a lot like soldier pills, but Sasuke could tell somehow that these pills were…wrong. Evil in some way he couldn't describe. Again he felt a twinge of apprehension, this one harder to ignore. "Take one of these babies," Sakon went on, "and you die."
"Somehow I think there's a way to survive," Sasuke replied dryly. Sakon laughed outright.
"You got it. I'm starting to like you, Sasuke. We have a jutsu we'll use to seal you away so you don't die and it'll keep you safe while the seal is taking its effect. When you come out of it, we'll crack the mold and you won't recognize yourself." Again that savage grin. "So. You ready?"
"How do I know I'll survive?" Sasuke asked.
"You'll just have to our word for it, bastard," Tayuya shot at him.
"We all went through the procedure," Jiroubou said softly. Sasuke found it hard to believe that he was one of Orochimaru's elite servants. He hardly spoke and was almost as rotund as Chouji. "We are quite literally living proof that it works."
Sasuke was nervous. He could admit to that much but he also could see the obvious advantages of such a fake death. And, he added mentally, this talk of levels and powerups was beginning to sound a lot like Son Gohan. A startling thought occurred to him. If this transformation put him on par with Son Gohan…Sasuke felt the hairs on his arm stand at the mere thought. It was also enough of a temptation to risk the fake death.
"Let's do it," He said calmly, sure of his decision. Sakon quirked an eyebrow, possibly guessing at Sasuke's thoughts then nodded and handed the boy one of the small, deceptively innocent pills. Sasuke looked at it for a second then gulped it down. For a moment there was nothing. Then liquid fire seared through him. He dropped to his knees as his insides erupted like volcanoes. Sasuke's skin actually steamed as the Cursed Seal burst its boundaries and surged over him like a wave.
He was only vaguely aware of the vibrations in his throat that meant he was screaming. His vision shut of and his ears went deaf and then he knew no more.
"Done," Sakon said as he placed the final seal on the barrel-shaped coffin that the Sound Four had sealed the last of the Uchiha into. "That's it."
Kidoumaru's finger twitched. He looked at it with mild interest. "We should get going," he said, showing the others the small gossamer strand that trailed from his finger into the bushes. The others knew there would be others just like them, strewn all over the area, in both obvious and covert locations. The idea was that for every web strand you saw and bypassed, there were tens of others you didn't see. "We've got company."
"Let's move!" Sakon said sharply. Jiroubou hefted the barrel containing Sasuke onto his back and nodded to his leader. Sakon returned the nod and led the others into the trees.
Pakkun's nose twitched and the pug's eyes narrowed. "They're on the move!" He called back to the four humans and one saiyan trailing him. "Heading away from us."
"What direction?" Kakashi asked.
"Northish," Pakkun answered. "I'd say they're heading for the border."
"If they make it that far, there's a good chance they'll find some collaborators and disappear," Yamato said to his leader. "Kakashi-sempai, we have to catch them before then or it will have all been for nothing."
"I agree," Kakashi replied. He looked back at his students. "Pick up the pace!" He called to them. "They're on the move and we have to catch them quick!" The three nodded and Kakashi had to admit he was impressed by them so far. Not once had any of them uttered so much as a complaint about the pace they were moving at, which would've tired out most genin their age a long time ago. Gohan was no real surprise, since he was abnormally tough to begin with, but Sakura and Naruto weren't even sweating yet, a testament to just how hard they'd trained.
'Probably don't even realize just how far they've come,' Kakashi thought as he pushed them even faster through the trees. 'Hope they hold out until we catch the guys that Sasuke went with.'
Gohan's eyes narrowed as he watched the trail ahead of them. Ordinarily, he would've flow off and begun fighting himself, but Kakashi had asked him after they were on the move if he would tone it down and move at the shinobi's pace for now, because splitting the team like that was dangerous and they couldn't afford the distraction right now. Gohan had agreed but now was regretting that decision.
Not too long ago, Sasuke's ki had dropped to dangerously low levels and was even now winking in and out of existence. Gohan had never felt anything like it before and so he had refrained from mentioning it, since he didn't want to raise an alarm until he was absolutely sure he knew what was happening. It was almost like Sasuke was dying and returning to live about once ever minute or so. Sasuke's ki vanished then flared again before dimming, like a candle that was sputtering, on the verge of going out.
"Wonder what it means," he muttered.
"Did you say something, Gohan-kun?" Sakura asked. He shook his head.
"No. Don't worry about it, Sakura," he replied quickly. She gave him a look that told him she didn't quite believe him but she let it go and didn't press him further. The Konoha-nin bounded through the trees in hot pursuit of their quarry but didn't get any closer to them. Of course, they didn't get any further away either. But at this rate they would never catch them before the border.
"We're not shaking them," Kidoumaru said in an undertone to Sakon, like they could be heard, even as far away as they were. And truth be told, there was a very good chance that they could be. Who knew what kind of Kekkei Genkai those guys had?
"We need to turn the hunters into the hunted," Sakon replied.
"How?" Tayuya asked. "Those bastards are probably ANBU. Those guys won't be so damn easy to fool. If we can fool them."
Sakon got his wolfish grin again. "Oh we can get them."
"How?"
Sakon's grin was ear to ear now. "We give them what they want."
Pakkun's nose twitched again. "They've stopped," he reported.
Kakashi nodded as the team bounded through the boughs of the forest, his mind whirling as he contemplated reasons for the enemy stopping. He didn't think there was anything to worry about right then but nevertheless, he was wary. The team had Sasuke with them. They had to know that a hunter team was coming after them. They were probably expecting ANBU, and to an extent they were right. Kakashi was former ANBU and Yamato was current.
'The weak points for us right now are Sakura and Naruto.' He thought. 'I don't think I have to worry about them, but still…the enemy isn't your average shinobi. I hope they're up to the challenge.'
"Kakashi-sempai," Yamato said softly a few minutes later. Kakashi nodded and made a fast hand signal. The shinobi dropped for the forest floor as one coordinated unit, Gohan floundering for a second since he didn't know what the signals meant, but he fazed out when he realized what was happening and reappeared near his companions at almost the moment they reached the ground themselves.
"Scout them out, Yamato," Kakashi whispered.
Yamato nodded and molded a few hand seals. Then, to the surprise of everyone but Kakashi, Yamato's skin turned brown and tough, flaking in places, like the bark of a tree. Then the analogy was complete when Yamato stepped up to the nearest behemoth of a plant and merged and melded with it.
"Gohan," Kakashi whispered. "How fast can you fire that Kamehameha thing of yours?"
"Pretty fast," Gohan replied. "Why?"
"We made need it. How strong can you make it? Somehow I don't think we've seen the full extent of what you can do yet."
"Are you talking about how strong I usually make it or how powerful I can get it?"
"How strong can you get it?"
"I could blow away the planet without too much effort," he replied. "But I don't think you need that much…and I don't like using that kind of excess if I can get away with it."
Kakashi was stunned by just the knowledge of how much destruction Gohan could cause but shook it off. "Never mind then. When Yamato comes back with some intelligence, we'll start the surprise attack," the jounin told his charges. "Gohan, you'll lead off. I think they've made camp for awhile while they rest up. We'll hit them fast and hard and get Sasuke back. Once we have him, Sakura and Naruto will head back to Konoha. Gohan, you'll take Sasuke and fly him back, fast as you can. Yamato and I will handle the mopping up."
"But we can't leave you two out here alone," Naruto protested, to which Sakura nodded.
"Yamato and I'll be fine," Kakashi reassured them. "Don't forget, we're jounin. You're genin. I brought you three along because this problem involves our team, our family, and I wanted to keep it in the family, but you'll just get in the way if the two of us have to fight and I'll have better things to worry about than protecting you."
"But…" Sakura started.
"No!" Kakashi said sharply. "No buts! I am in charge of this mission. You will listen to me. This is easily just as dangerous as fighting Gaara or Zabuza. There's no room for mistakes here. One mistake and you die. And I don't want to add any more of my important friends to the Hero's Stone. Understand?"
"Yes sensei," the two shinobi replied sullenly. Gohan nodded.
"I'll keep an eye on them on the way back," he said.
"I don't doubt that," Kakashi replied.
"You'd let Gohan stay," Naruto muttered. Kakashi heard him.
"Gohan is capable of things that put him on the level of the Kage and the Sannin. He's jounin level even without his transformations and from the stories he tells, he's saved his world more than his fair share of times. So yes, I'd let Gohan stay because he has the experience. You two, as much as you've grown in the short time we've known each other, don't have the experience."
That took the wind out of Naruto's sails and the team sat in silence until a stirring in the tree made them look over. Yamato pulled himself free one limb at a time, like he was climbing out of a thick clay, color returning to him as he did.
"Well?"
"They're there alright," Yamato murmured. "But I didn't see Sasuke."
"That's odd," the other jounin murmured. "I thought for sure Sasuke would've been with them. They're his escort after all. It's not good practice to let your target go."
"There was one other thing that none of the other reports mentioned."
"What?"
Yamato walked back over to the tree, made the sign for Tiger, then slammed his hand to the bark and pulled. Like putty, the tree warped and deformed, shaping to Yamato's will and chakra. In moments, he set down a perfect replica of the wooden barrel coffin that, unbeknownst to them at the time, held Sasuke's dying and reviving body. "I don't know what this is," Yamato told them, "but I do have some rudimentary training in sensing chakra, just enough to cover the basics. And even I can sense the power that's coming out of this thing." He looked serious. "Whatever they're using it for, it can't be good."
"What are they up to now?" Kakashi asked.
"Talking, arguing, generally belittling each other," Yamato answered. "They don't seem to be a very close-knit team from what I saw."
"That would fit with what I saw as well," Kakashi agreed. "Well then. I guess it's time we put our little plan into action."
"Plan?" Yamato asked.
Kakashi nodded and explained it to the ANBU. When the explanation was over, Yamato looked satisfied. "As expected of you, Kakashi-sempai," he said with an approving nod. "I say we go for it."
"And so we shall," Kakashi replied, tugging up his hirai-ate. He glanced over his shoulder at Gohan. "Gohan! Go!"
Gohan vanished like he'd never been there.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Kidoumaru moaned. "I'm getting sick of this."
"Shut up," Sakon snapped. "They're nearby. We know that much. I'm willing to bet they've already found us and scouted us out and are even now planning their attack. We have to be ready." He looked around at his team. "One more time, are we all clear on our plan?" They nodded. "Good. Now stay alert."
Gohan appeared high above the trees and looked down. He could see the spot where he'd just left his team behind and, not more than a half-mile through the trees, he could see the glow of a campfire. He angled his way over, drifting silent on the wind, no excessive ki usage to alert them. This was all about surprise. If they found him now, then it was all over. When he was directly overhead, staring down through the leafy canopy at the small clearing where the Sound Four had made their camp, he turned his back on them and began to gather ki, shielding the light the gathering energy gave off with his body. Its glow intensified when it was complete and Gohan checked to see where he was going to hit one more time.
"Okay then," he whispered. "Let's get this show on the road, KAMEHAMEHA!"
"It's too quiet," Tayuya muttered. "Even the damn crickets aren't making any noise."
"You're right. Get ready," Sakon said. "The attack is probably going to happen any…"
"…KAMEHAMEHA!"
A bright light filled the sky, turning the waning darkness into high noon.
"Oh shit!" Tayuya shouted as she and the others looked skyward.
KABOOM!
The Kamehameha smashed to earth and detonated, shaking the ground like a cymbal, nearly knocking Team Seven off their feet. Gohan's ki flared around his body as blue flame and he dove straight down.
"Let's go!" Kakashi shouted. The shinobi exploded into motion, heading for the camp. They burst from the trees with kunai drawn and fire in their eyes. Almost the second they emerged into the scorched and blasted clearing, Kakashi knew they'd been had.
Jiroubou, the rotund member of the Sound Four, was just finishing a series of hand seals. "Doton Kekkai: Dorou Domu!"
Instantly the ground erupted and engulfed the four members of Team Seven. Gohan, on his groundward plunge, saw what happened to his friends and broke off, zipping back up into the lightening sky. He'd been diving from directly overhead when everyone had been enveloped in that mound of earth and the Sound Four had been so distracted by the ground assault coming at them, they didn't bother to look up, probably chalking up Gohan's Masenko to some genjutsu.
"And so the trash walks into the trap," Jiroubou said with a satisfied smirk as he stepped up to his earthen dome. "And just in time too. I'm not sure how long I can stave off this hunger." He looked back at his companions. "You go on ahead. I'll take it from here."
"Don't take too long, you fat bastard," Tayuya grumped as she hefted the barrel with Sasuke inside onto her back and dashed into the trees, Sakon and Kidoumaru providing cover for her.
"Damn!" Naruto swore from inside the earthworks. "What the hell happened?"
"It's a trap," Kakashi said simply, not sounding thrilled. "And we fell right into it. Damn! I underestimated them."
A voice boomed out of the earth walls surrounding them. "Can you hear me, trash of Konoha?"
"Who is that?" Sakura asked.
"Probably the guy who did the jutsu," Kakashi replied. "Looks like he's got some sort of earth-related Kekkei Genkai. Shit. This keeps getting better and better."
"You have a unique perception for the obvious, Sharingan no Kakashi," Jiroubou said. "Let's see if you can figure this one out."
Nothing happened.
"What's he talking about?" Naruto asked. "Nothing's happening."
"I don't know," Kakashi answered. "But I've had enough of this. I'm getting us out of here." His hands flashed in the darkness, the whisper of leather on leather loud in the dark silence of the dome. There was a second's pause then Kakashi's voice, loud and confident in the gloom, accompanied by the cries of a thousand chirping birds. "Chidori!"
The chirping lost its musical quality, turning to a more electric-like buzzing rasp. "Raikiri!"
Kakashi spun around, a blur to everyone, and smashed his hand into the earth dome. The explosion filled the dome with choking dust and flying fragments. Everyone coughed violently.
"Warn us next time!" Naruto shouted when he could finally breath again. He noticed Kakashi looked less than happy. "What?"
"That," the jounin replied simply, breathing deeply, pointing to the impression he'd made in the side of the earthworks. He panted a few more times. "That Raikiri should've cut right through the dirt, even if it is chakra-enhanced. This is nowhere near what it should be." His Sharingan narrowed as the dirt swirled over the pitiful impression and smoothed over, erasing any trace of damage Kakashi had done to it.
Laughter filled the dome. "Try and try again, trash," Jiroubou mocked. "Do whatever mice like you do to escape a trap. It will do you no good. My technique is impenetrable."
Kakashi tried desperately to still his breathing. 'Damn. Why am I breathing so hard?' he wondered. Then he took stock of his chakra levels and got the shock of his life. 'What? What happened to my chakra?'
"Hey," Sakura said suddenly. "I don't feel so good." She sat down, clearly disoriented and woozy.
"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "I feel tired too."
"An absorption technique," Yamato said quickly. "He's using this technique to steal our chakra!"
"Correct," Jiroubou boomed. "I am absorbing your chakra. My Kekkei Genkai is special. It lets me eat chakra like most normal people eat food." A slurp like Chouji licking his lips filled the unnatural cavern. "So thank you for the meal."
Suddenly the strain on Kakashi's reserves was a lot more noticeable.
"He's increased it," Yamato snarled, voice strained with sudden fatigue. "We won't last long at this rate."
"Then we have no choice," Kakashi whispered to himself as he made a hand seal and brought it up in front of his Sharingan. "I have to…"
The dome shook as if it were in the middle of a tornado and everyone heard a cry of pain from the outside. There was a second's pause then they heard Gohan's voice. "Get down!"
They didn't know what he was planning, but Kakashi figured that if it involved Gohan, it was probably fairly destructive and dangerous. He hit the deck at the same time the rest did. Not a moment too soon either. A blast of yellow energy ripped right through the dome, blasted out the other side like it wasn't there, and kept going into the trees. The earth jutsu crumbled around them and the team got the hell out of there as fast as they could.
Gohan was already clashing with Jiroubou, battering at the taller, bigger, boy's guard but unable to break through, but still driving him back. "Go!" Gohan shouted. He seized Jiroubou's wrists then kicked him in the gut, dropping him to his knees. Another kick sent the Sound Four member bouncing and tumbling over the ground. He pointed into the trees. "They went that way and took that barrel with them! I think Sasuke might be in it!"
"But what about you?" Sakura asked as the others lanced into the foliage.
"I'll be fine," Gohan replied, belting Jiroubou into the trees. He followed up with a blast of ki. The explosion was small, probably because Gohan didn't want to cut loose with friends still nearby. "I know where I need to be. Now get going!" She didn't move. "Sakura! Go already!"
Sakura turned to leave then stopped and turned back. She had a bad feeling about this mission. It felt like they were on a suicide mission for some reason. She bit her lip. Gohan puzzled her in ways she didn't know how to describe, but there was one thing for sure. She didn't want to just leave him here with nothing.
She ran over, threw her arms around her neck and kissed him on the cheek, then was gone after her team before Gohan could fully react to it.
Gohan watched her go with wide eyes, hand going to where she'd kissed him. Somehow, he'd always supposed he would've been embarrassed by being kissed by a girl, but this wasn't that. It made him feel warm inside, happy even. There was also something else there, something that made his stomach leap for joy more than it should've. "What was that about?" Gohan asked the air.
The bushes rustled and Jiroubou extricated himself from a particularly clingy one, glaring death at Gohan the entire time. "Never mind," he muttered, "I've get better things to worry about."
"Trash," Jiroubou snarled, wiping his mouth of the small amount of blood on it. "I will kill you for that!"
He sprinted at Gohan and the other boy prepared to meet him head on.
And there you go. With this, we've officially started on the home stretch. When this arc finishes out, that'll be the end of Gohan's Dilemma, plus or minus an epilogue chapter or two, then we'll get started in on Gohan's Return. Oh, the ItachiKiller thing. Thank you to all who've let me know they've reported him. It means a lot, so thank you very much. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be getting the hint. As far as I know, he's since posted another chapter and claims to have known nothing of Dilemma prior to starting his story. Somehow I doubt that. He also goes on to say that he intends to make a sequel as well. Gee, I wonder what that's going to be like? Anyway, thanks for the support. So yeah. I'll see you all next chapter.
~WingedFreedom622
Glossary
Doton Kekkai: Dorou Domu (Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison): Jiroubou creates a dome of earth with his chakra, which can seal up multiple opponents. He then proceeds to drain away their chakra, filling himself up just as if he was eating physical food and killing his enemies all at one time. Unfortunately for him, his chakra isn't evenly distributed throughout the jutsu, meaning that the side that's farthest from Jiroubou is the weak point. Kakashi didn't get a chance to figure that out because Gohan blasted the dome open from the outside. Also, this technique has the longest damn name I've ever seen! Seriously, look it up. Now you see why I went with the short version.
Shikomujin (Four Black Fog Battle Formation): I described it but didn't name the jutsu. This is its name. It's the barrel thing Sasuke's in.
Fukoku Houin (Dark Sealing Method): The paper tags that Sakon used to seal the top of the Shikomujin. Also described, not named.