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Kakashi leaped back, throwing shuriken to cover his retreat. Kimimaro wasn't dissuaded, his sword knocking the stars from the sky, some of them shorn right in half when they met the keen blade of Kimimaro's unusual sword. The jounin's eyes narrowed he plotted, trying to find a way to get around the other fighter's Kekkei Genkai. A kunai, thrown right in the right instant, had done nothing but stick in Kimimaro's skin, not going in much further than a centimeter.

The meager wound hadn't even bled. Obviously it would take a Futon, with its cutting power, or a piercing Raiton to breach that hard armor. Kakashi was confident that the Raikiri could handle it, but he needed preparation time and he was most certainly not going to get any in this fight. "Is this all the great Copy-Nin Kakashi can do?" Kimimaro asked, speaking for the first time since beginning his little Tsubaki no Mai. "All you can do is run away and harass me with meaningless toys?"

Kakashi's answer came in the form of a kunai that took Kimimaro right in the middle of the forehead. Anyone else would've died right there. Not Kimimaro. Like its brother before it, Kakashi's knife dropped harmlessly to the ground, no smear of blood on its blade and Kimimaro was totally unharmed.

"If you will not come to me," Kimimaro said finally, "then I will come to you. Teshi Sendan!"

Finger bones shot at Kakashi, almost faster than he could dodge. Almost. Kakashi moved as he had never moved before, counting on his Sharingan's predictive abilities to keep him alive through the hail of speeding calcium. He didn't miss how the ground roiled when the bullets finally landed. 'Wonderful,' he thought woefully, 'one of those hits me and it's bye-bye Kakashi.'

Kakashi's chest burst open, a long white blade spearing him clean through.

"You were careless," Kimimaro said from behind the jounin.

"So were you," Kakashi replied and exploded.

"Kage Bunshin," the Oto-nin observed emotionlessly.

"Doton! Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!"

Kimimaro was visibly taken aback as he looked down at the arm bursting from the soil to try and snare his ankle. He slammed a palm down, a long, thin, bone protruding from it, his other palm, his shoulders, elbows and knees. "Yanagi no Mai!"

The arm popped, replaced by a log.

"Kawarimi? Elementary."

"Raiton! Raikiri!"

The ground exploded again, Kakashi bursting from below, catapulting into the air, haloed against the sun, a ball of blue-white lightning screaming in his hand. Kimimaro crossed the bones of his palms, clearly intending to block the strike that Kakashi was bringing down on him.

Whatever Kimimaro expected, it wasn't for the bones to snap as if they didn't exist, shattering into a thousand tiny fragments as the Raikiri continued on, unabated.

The Oto-nin threw himself into his dodge.

SLASH!

Kakashi cut him, a vicious gash across the chest. 'Didn't work,' Kakashi though grimly. 'He dodged at the last second. Saw that seal of his start to activate. This is about to get a whole hell of a lot harder.' He followed through, landing, moving his body to switch into a spin. The world was a blur as Kakashi smoothly went from jumping to running.

In a moment, Kimimaro was right there with him, both of them sprinting across the field for all they were worth, arms and legs pumping, mere blurs to the average eye. White bullets flew from Kimimaro's fingertips. Kakashi's Sharingan seemed to spin as the jounin closed his normal eye and relied solely on the gift given to him by Uchiha Obito. Kimimaro frowned as he watched Kakashi flip, roll, dodge, and contort, slipping between the gaps in the bullet's coverage. Not one came closer than an inch to him.

They slammed to a stop, each one breathing hard, harder than they should have in Kakashi's opinion. 'Why am I so exhausted?' Kakashi wondered. 'Yeah, I've been running for hours but I've done worse…so why?' He stopped and took stock of his situation. It wasn't just that he'd been running for hours, it was more than that. He'd just had a fight with Sasuke and before that, he'd been trapped in that chakra-eating dome and, here was probably the real reason, he'd just gotten out of the hospital not more than two days ago. It was a miracle he was still moving, much less fighting and deep down, in his very bone marrow, Kakashi could feel lingering pain brought on by the Tsukuyomi that Itachi had used on him. 'I have to end this quick, or I won't last much longer.'

Kimimaro was equally concerned. 'My sickness is accelerating,' he noted clinically. 'The Cursed Seal is making it happen, eroding my body. But it doesn't matter. All this I do, I do for Orochimaru-sama. If that means death, then so be it.' But, some weaker part of him pointed out, he didn't want to die. Did anyone, even those who claimed so? Kimimaro didn't know and it didn't matter. He was here to safeguard Orochimaru-sama's body and he had to defeat Sharingan Kakashi in order to do it.

With that in mind, he opened himself again to the Cursed Seal. His body seared as the lines all over his body began to expand and cover him completely. Sickly purple chakra welled up at the bottoms of his feet before roaring into the sky, forcing an ominous wind to move over the plains. Hatake Kakashi didn't look concerned, Kimimaro thought. No, if anything, he looked ready. He wasn't such a novice that he could be taken off guard by this kind of thing.

Pain ripped through him as the changes began to happen. Kimimaro ignored the searing that raged through his entire body. It was nothing special. This pain would be nothing compared to the pain that came with failing Orochimaru-sama. If it meant being useful to his master, then Kimimaro could and would endure anything.

Kakashi prepared himself as he saw the seal glow on Kimimaro's chest and being to cover him. 'What now?' Kakashi wondered. The boy's skin roiled and writhed like it was its own entity. It had to hurt but Kimimaro made no noise, no acknowledgement of the pain that had to be wracking him even then.

And then the world exploded.

The fireball roared in Kakashi's ears, deafening him, the shockwave blowing him right off his feet, the heat searing his skin almost to the point of burning. The earth bucked and kicked like it was alive, slamming him again and again. Kakashi didn't know when he fell but he did, landing painfully on one shoulder. The explosions didn't abate but continued on for an eternity of seconds.

Finally, after a lifetime, silence fell over the battlefield. Kimimaro had vanished. In his place was a pockmarked and tortured earth. Dust hung over the blasted landscape like smoke, small rocks and pebbles still raining down. Kakashi staggered upright, not believing what had happened, trying to figure it out. It took a second for Kakashi's disorganized mind to come up with the solution.

He looked up.

Sure enough, Gohan hung over them. Kakashi could see his head swiveling back and forth, as if he was looking for something. Kakashi dove forward, right as the earth burst apart, a thin bone spike filling the space where his head had just been. Kimimaro shot over the top of him, not expecting the dodge. Kakashi was luck he didn't follow up and lay his back open.

Kakashi sprinted in the other direction when he had a second, having heard a faint "Masenko" being uttered above him.

KABOOM!

The pillar of yellow-white light hammered down a second later, throwing Kakashi off his feet again. This time he was ready and landed cat-like, facing Kimimaro. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as Gohan landed beside him, dark eyes tense, muscles tensed for action.

Kimimaro was all fours, a bone dome above him, sprouting from thick stalks that came out of his shoulders, all down his spine, back of the skull, and pelvis. The actual dome itself was a shattered and broken mess, falling apart in chunks. It fell away altogether when the bones slurped back under Kimimaro's skin and the Oto-nin stood up.

"I'm really starting to hate these Kekkei Genkai things," Gohan said from beside the jounin.

"It'll happen," Kakashi replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you," Gohan replied. "Where's the rest of the team? I know Sakura's fine, but where's Yamato and Naruto?"

"Naruto's fighting another one of these guys in the trees over there," Kakashi pointed in the direction he'd come from. Maybe it was his imagination, or wishful thinking, but Kakashi was almost sure he saw movement in the distant trees. "And I wouldn't worry about Yamato. He can take care of himself."

"So who's this?" Gohan asked.

"No idea. Sasuke's out of that barrel thing and he's heading for the Valley of the End. This guy showed up right when I caught up with him and tied me up. Sasuke's been gone for nearly an hour, forty-five minutes now." Kakashi sighed. "This has turned into a big snafu."

Gohan nodded. "Go," he said, "I'll handle this guy. You stop Sasuke."

Kakashi smiled. "I'd love to, believe me, but I don't think I'll be in any shape to by the time I catch him."

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, looking up at him. Kakashi could see that Gohan had suspicions about what Kakashi was about to say but wanted to hear it from the jounin's own lips.

"It's going to take everything else I have left to beat this guy," Kakashi answered. "That said, I'll be in no condition to stop Sasuke and I have a feeling Naruto, Sakura, aren't going to be either and Yamato can't fly so it's going to take him too long to get here. You can catch Sasuke and you're the freshest of all of us." He looked the younger warrior in the eye. "Gohan, I know what I'm asking is a little selfish but I'll say it anyway. I want you to go and stop Sasuke."

"I thought you'd say that," Gohan murmured.

"I realize it's not something I should be asking you to do, but of us all, you're in the best condition for it and you don't have any really close bonds with Sasuke like the rest of us do. So go, fight him, stop him if you can but stall him until Yamato can get here at least. Get going. I'll stall bone boy over there."

Gohan was silent for a moment before he finally nodded. "Alright, I understand." A blue aura flared up around him as he crouched, muscles coiling. Kakashi nodded as well.

"Thanks, Gohan. Now go!"

Kakashi sprinted forward as Gohan roared into the air. Kimimaro made to fire some of those finger bullets at him, but Kakashi was on him before that, kicking, punching, and slashing like a man possessed, driving the Oto-nin back through sheer virtue of ferocity.

In only seconds, Gohan was far out of range, now only a white dot in the sky.

Kimimaro kicked at Kakashi, but he was already predicting the move just as Kimimaro began to move, dodging by the time the kick was where it should've been.

They faced off again.

"That Sharingan is most troublesome," Kimimaro said, a hint of aggravation in his tone.

"It's a habit," Kakashi answered, raising a knife, eyes glinting dangerously. "Now, where were we?"

They charged at each other again.

Naruto screamed and writhed on the ground, Ukon's face leering at him from out of his stomach. The blond couldn't believe how much pain he was in. It felt like his every nerve was on fire and he didn't even realize that someone was screaming. Or maybe he did. Was someone screaming? Naruto didn't know. He was too consumed with the fire racing over every nerve, oozing out of every pore.

Ukon cackled as Sakon stood by grinning. "He screams pretty well," Sakon said.

"Hahaha!" Ukon laughed as Naruto's screams began anew, louder this time. "Whoops. Maybe I shouldn't have cut that muscle, huh?"

Naruto finally ran out of breath and fell silent, chest heaving. A sudden surge in his adrenalin cleared his mind for just a second. Naruto yelled again, a scream of anger this time, and lashed out at the face rising from his stomach. Ukon vanished back into Naruto's skin before the blonde ever made contact and reappeared out of Naruto's extended forearm.

The pain tripled and Naruto was screaming again.

"Oi, oi," Sakon said impatiently. "Hurry it up, will you? I want to make sure that Sasuke didn't get caught by that jounin."

"He's just one jounin," Ukon replied dismissively. "Sasuke's improved a lot with the new seal, more than anyone we've ever seen. He'll wipe the floor with a single jounin."

"That wasn't just a jounin, you dumbass," Sakon shot back. "It was Hatake Kakashi. The Hatake Kakashi! The Copy-Nin, Sharingan Kakashi, the Human Photocopier! Whatever nickname you want to use!"

"You're sure?"

"Positive. We've seen his dossier, Ukon."

"He could be…problematic," Ukon admitted.

"You think?" Sakon asked sarcastically.

"Alright, alright, I got it," Ukon said, turning back to Naruto. "Hey, can you hear me, kid? Yes? Okay, good. Listen, I'm really sorry about this, but we've gotta go make sure Sasuke gets away from the Copy Ninja, so I'm gonna have to kill you now. Sorry."

Naruto screamed again, longer and louder than before slumping, finally, mercifully, unconscious. Ukon was laughing the entire time, just as loud and long as the screaming before something inside Naruto made him stop, wondering what it was.

"What was that?" Ukon wondered. It was as if he'd been floating in an ocean and something had brushed his toes from below before darting back into the depths. He was suddenly unnerved.

"What was what?" Sakon asked.

"You didn't see anything unusual?"

"Oh no, I'm just watching a talking head poking out of some kid's stomach. Perfectly normal," Sakon retorted sarcastically. "Why?"

"There's something up with this kid, I don't know what and I don't like it. I say we kill him the old fashioned way."

Sakon shrugged. "Have it your way." Nothing happened. "Well? Aren't you going to get out?"

Ukon grunted and strained. "I can't." He sounded puzzled.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I mean I can't undo the Kekkei Genkai!" Ukon said, sounding panicked. "This is new! We've never had this problem before." That toe-brushing feeling came back, stronger than before now. "There it is again! You're sure nothing's going on?"

"Positive, Ukon, look around you. Nothing's happening. But if you can't get free…then who is this kid?" Sakon asked, frowning down at Naruto's limp body. "I know I've seen this kid before, somewhere…where was it." He closed his eyes, thinking. His head snapped up, suddenly remembering. "Oh shit! Ukon! Get out of him now! He's…"

Ukon screamed and vanished into Naruto's body, as if a shark had dragged him under.

"Ukon!" Sakon shouted, kneeling next to Naruto. "Ukon!"

Ukon plummeted down a black abyss. His throat constricted as he fell for far longer than he should have. He closed his eyes, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly his surroundings felt different. He risked a peek.

Ukon stood in a long corridor, dimly lit, the floor covered in water. It fairly deep, up around Ukon's lower calves. Rusting metal pipes crawled over the walls and ceiling, a haphazard mess that had no discernable purpose. Ukon even saw one or two that just flat out dead-ended.

"Where am I?" he asked, but received no answer. He set off down the corridor, which branched off in different directions, some of them had doors of a heavy wood or steel, other stretches were completely barren. "I'm still inside that kid, but I'm fairly sure no human looks like this inside. And what was Sakon trying to tell me, anyway?"

A noise caught Ukon's attention and he stopped, listening. It sounded like a voice, a familiar one. Ukon recognized it as the kid's. So he was still around, Ukon realized with a grin. Well then, if that brat was here, then he ought to know the way out of…wherever here was.

The Oto-nin grinned evilly, setting off down a new route, following the voice. Ukon walked for what felt like hours, the voice of the kid never seeming to draw closer. Finally, long after Ukon had started contemplating turning back and finding another way, he came to the end of the hall.

The end of the hall opened into a massive chamber. There was something inside it, but Ukon couldn't see what it was. He could've sworn it was bars though, but that made absolutely no sense. "What's with this guy?" Ukon wondered as he advanced into the chamber.

The temperature spiked up almost instantly, climbing from cool and clammy to uncomfortably hot and dry. The walls were again covered in those ubiquitous and pointless pipes, most of which snaked into the black cage on the other end of the room, because that what was set against the far wall. Ukon hadn't been wrong when he'd said those things were bars. That was exactly what they were.

Bars.

Bars to a massive cage that stretched from the water-soaked floor to the shadowed ceiling, which Ukon couldn't see because it was so far above his head, as opposed to the claustrophobic hallways he'd just come from. He'd had a bit of vertigo, to be honest, when he'd stepped into the room. The gargantuan doors were held closed with a simple scrap of paper that read 'Seal'.

Ukon squinted when he thought he saw something shift in the shadows on the other side of the door. The dim light in the room caught on something that vanished just as fast as it had appeared. "What the hell?" Ukon whispered, suddenly feeling like loud noises were a bad idea. He crept closer to the bars, each one thick and gleaming.

WHAM!

Ukon screamed and leaped back as a huge set of claws, more massive than anything Ukon had ever seen, smashed into the cage hard enough to rattled the enormous doors. The Oto-nin had been a good four feet away from the doors when those monstrosities had appeared and they'd damn near reached him. Whatever this thing was, it was huge!

Then, to Ukon's horror, sinister red chakra began to curl up around the thing in the cage, outlining a massive face, grinning horribly at him, red eyes with feline-like pupils leering down a long muzzle. The chakra's light intensified until it weighed down on Ukon like an evil weight, the temperature now almost unbearable. The air around Ukon was beginning to boil, as if he was totally immersed in water.

Then, to Ukon's immense horror, the huge muzzle opened, revealing fangs longer than Ukon was tall, and the monster began to speak!

"So," the monstrosity said, "you are the one who has seen fit to invade my vessel, are you?"

Ukon suddenly felt very small. "Wh-where's the brat?" He stammered. "I know he's here!"

"Naruto?" The thing rumbled, voice deep and rumbling. It began laughing, a bloodthirsty laugh that rattled the very foundations of the room and shook Ukon in his boots. "Foolish little mortal. It wasn't Naruto you heard." That horrid grin got even wider, filling the space behind the bars. "It was I."

"You?"

"Yes, I."

"What…are you?"

"You don't know? Hm. I suppose you wouldn't otherwise you would not have been so foolish as to dare intrude on my home."

"Home?"

"Yes, foolish little mortal, my home. You wish to know what I am? I am something far beyond your comprehension. I am the Lord of the Beasts, the Greatest and Most Terrible of the Bijuu. I AM KYUUBI!"

The crimson chakra in the room flared bright, illuminating the beast for Ukon to see. Ukon felt terror flood him as he beheld the monster before him. The Nine-Tails was enormous. The cage that held it was massive, but it was still too small for the Kyuubi's bulk. The fox lay in the cage, ducking its head to avoid the ceiling, its nine long tails bunched into awkward positions all around its body. Chakra ran and danced all of it and it was still grinning that horrendous grin.

Ukon felt as if he was about to lose his grip on his sanity and turn into a gibbering mass. The light faded, hiding the Kyuubi again, but Ukon would never forget what he'd seen.

"This kid is a…Jinchuuriki?" Ukon whispered. "He's the host for the Kyuubi?"

"Yes," Kyuubi rumbled. "Naruto is my vessel, forced upon me by that damnable Yondaime Hokage." The beast's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you threaten his life. Make no mistake, mortal, I feel nothing for Naruto and would tear him apart myself. But you threatened to kill him, you threatened to kill me, for if Naruto dies, then I die as well. You have forced me to act and I shall show no mercy!"

"Y-you can't get me from in there!" Ukon shouted, defiant, suddenly sure that what he was saying was true. "If you were sealed by the Yellow Flash himself, then there's no way in hell you're getting out!" He laughed. "You can't touch me!"

"Is that so?"

Bright red youki blasted out from under the Kyuubi's door, speeding across the floor before Ukon could even react. It curled around his ankle, swirling up his body and wrapping him tight. The heat was unbearable, torturous.

Ukon screamed long and loud, the yell echoing horribly off the walls of Naruto's mind.

He burst into flames, consumed in an instant, and was gone, nothing more than black ash that faded into nothingness.

"It is done," Kyuubi said, speaking to no one. "I have done my part, Uzumaki Naruto and now you must do yours. I will lend you my power once more, but it will be more than you can handle. I will deal with these insects."

Sakon stood over Naruto's body, wondering what happened to Ukon. It had been a while since his brother had vanished into the blonde's body. Normally, this wouldn't be cause for concern, but Ukon had said that something was wrong and, Sakon couldn't believe he'd forgotten about this, this kid was the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. Who knew what the fox was capable of? Maybe it was responsible for all of this? Sakon didn't know, but all of the intelligence they had on the fox indicated that the Yondaime had locked it away but good.

Red chakra blasted forth from Naruto's body, expelling a charred and blackened husk, which broke into several pieces when it hit. Sakon didn't have to be told who it was. It was his brother.

"You bastard!" Sakon snarled, whirling back around on Naruto, kunai in hand and murder in his heart. He stopped cold when he saw what had happened after Ukon's body had been expelled from the Jinchuuriki.

A beast of black chakra crouched where Naruto had lay. Four tails waved in the air behind it, its mouth and eyes simple white markings on its skin, the mouth a Jack 'O Lantern parody, the eyes perfectly round. Long fox ears stretched up behind its head, framing the hint of spiky hair, the only hint of Naruto left on this new monstrosity.

The rumbling in the back of the creature's throat made Sakon's neck hair stand on end. He took a few cautious steps backwards, the creature watching him every step of the way.

Sakon spun, sprinting for all he was worth, trying to get away from the monstrosity behind him. He was swift, opening the gap in an instant. In the next instant, a huge black claw, made of that same terrible youki as the beast itself, burst from the ground in front of Sakon and grabbed him.

The Oto-nin howled in pain as he felt the skin on his leg blister and cook. The first held him immobile and in excruciating pain as a second claw erupted from the wrist of the first.

Sakon didn't feel anything after that.

The mini-Kyuubi Naruto had become smiled malevolently and howled its triumph to the heavens, a horrible screeching yell that sent the birds in the area flapping into the sky, trying to flee the beast that had spawned below them.

The monster looked around then finally settled on where Kakashi was fighting Kimimaro. It smiled again; sensing more prey and took one shuffling step forward.

Ten wooden pillars with black spikes on one side sprang up around the tailed form of Naruto. The beast showed one second of shock before Yamato dropped down in front of it, Sakura tied to his back. He slammed his palms together. "Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu! Kakuan Nitten Shuishi!" When he brought his hands apart, the kanji for Sit was inscribed on his palm. "Sorry, Naruto," Yamato said, eyes sad, "but this is the only way." He darted forward, slammed his hand into Naruto's chest and pulled.

Naruto roared in anger, but the beast couldn't move and slowly, over the course of many minutes, the black chakra began to recede. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Naruto's fox cloak was removed, revealing the teen underneath, who was clearly worse for the wear. His skin was red and irritated, the uppermost layers cooked off by the fox's own youki.

Yamato gave one final grunt of effort and pulled hard. The last of the youki vanished as if it had never been there, the pillars vanished into the ground, and Naruto collapsed. Yamato slumped as well. "That was more youki than any of the reports have ever talked about before," he murmured, unlimbering Sakura, whom he'd retrieved from her battle before coming to reinforce Naruto and Kakashi, and laying her against the roots of a tree. "Is the seal weakening? Or did Naruto purposely draw out that much to beat these guys?" He frowned. "Jiraiya-sama has to know." He folded a few hand seals, creating a Wood Clone, scrawled a message to Tsunade and Jiraiya, sealed it, and sent the clone on its way.

Yamato watched his clone go then slipped Naruto a soldier pill and stood back to watch. He'd had a hunch it would work, but Yamato was still surprised by how fast Naruto's outer layers of skin returned. The ANBU sighed then scooped up Sakura again and Naruto and set off.

Gohan blasted over the forest below, the leaves and needles blurring into a single velvety carpet of greens and browns. He frowned as he kept searching for Sasuke's ki but still couldn't find it. The other boy was obviously hiding it and that didn't make Gohan's job any easier. For all he knew, he'd passed Sasuke a long time ago, didn't realize it, and the Uchiha had taken another route to the Valley.

'Speaking of which,' Gohan thought as he caught sight of the vicious fissure in the earth. The howl of water reached his ears, even over the roar of the air rushing by, the white mist thrown high up over the gorge's rims where it hung like a cloud of diamonds. Straddling the waterfall were two towering statues. The first Gohan didn't recognize but he thought the second looked a little like the face of the First Hokage back in Konoha. Maybe this was the site of some battle between the Shodai and that other guy?

Gohan's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of a small black figure scaling the lips and nose of the statue that represented the unrecognizable man. That could only be one person, he knew, as he started down.

"Sasuke!" Gohan shouted as he alighted on the Shodai's forehead. "Sasuke stop!"

The Uchiha did just that, much to Gohan's surprise. He half-turned, facing the Saiyan warrior, a scowl on his face. "Son Gohan," he murmured, the anger clear in his voice. That confused the one who the anger was directed at. "Of course it would be you."

"Sasuke?" Gohan asked.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke spat.

"What am I…What do you mean by that?" Gohan called. "I'm here to take you back to Konoha!"

"No," Sasuke said simply, facing Gohan fully, who recoiled when he saw what had happened to the young Uchiha. Sasuke's entire left half was covered by the markings of the Cursed Seal of Heaven and the eye on that side was black with a tawny iris. "Why would I turn back when the means to beat Itachi is so close?"

"Sasuke," Gohan said, "I'm getting really sick of saying this, but for your sake, I'll say it once more. Orochimaru…is…DEAD! I was there! I watched it happen! Hell, I'm the one that did it!"

"I won't believe it until I see it with my own two eyes," Sasuke replied, banishing the seal with a thought. It resisted, resenting being told what to do, but in the end it obeyed, retreating behind the Fuuja Houin, leaving Sasuke normal once more. "Now leave. Let me follow my own path."

"Or what?"

Sasuke's answer was chillingly simple. "I'll kill you."

Gohan suddenly had an idea. "You don't have the power!" he shouted. He smiled inwardly as he noticed Sasuke stop in mid-stride. "You couldn't beat me even with the Cursed Seal! Face it Sasuke, you're just a kid!"

Sasuke turned back, eyes dangerous. "Watch your mouth," he said.

'Twist the knife,' Gohan thought. "You heard me!" He went on. "You're just a kid!" He allowed himself a Vegeta-like smirk. "A weak kid!"

"I will make you eat those words!" Sasuke shouted, the Cursed Seal's first stage racing across his skin, covering him completely. "I'll defeat you! Then I'll go to Orochimaru and beat Itachi!" He gathered himself to leap at Gohan then stopped, a realization dawning on him.

'Ah crap, he saw through it.'

Sasuke started laughing. "Psychological tactics!" He chuckled. "I would've never expected them from you!" He turned around again. "Later, Gohan. I hope for your sake, we never meet again."

He started walking away. Sasuke stopped and looked down when a shadow passed over him. He looked up just in time to see Gohan swing. Sasuke ducked the blow on instinct. Gohan hurtled over his head, planting one hand and spinning on it, trying to smash a heel into Sasuke's head. Sasuke leaped, clearing the leg as Gohan followed through, spinning back to his feet.

Sasuke leaped again, landing on the Shodai's head as Gohan watched him from Madara's head, though neither knew at the time that that was who the statue was. "You're going to have to go through me if you want to go to Orochimaru, Sasuke!" Gohan called.

Sasuke closed his eyes. When they snapped open again, the Sharingan was blazing. "Then that's what I'll do!" Sasuke answered as both boys slipped into fighting stances. "Bring it on!"

Gohan closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of pity. True, he didn't really like Sasuke, but neither did he hate him enough to fight him without a second thought. Sasuke was a good guy deep down, but right now he'd strayed dangerously off the light path. Gohan had been charged with dragging him back to that path, kicking and screaming if it came to that, and that was exactly what was about to happen.

"Alright, Sasuke," Gohan said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow. "Get ready. Here I come!"

Whee! And so we approach the finish line. Kimimaro vs Kakashi will wrap up next chapter, Sasuke vs Gohan will heat up in earnest, then we finish up with a few post-climax chapters and an epilogue then Dilemma ends and Return begins. Look forward to it!

Glossary

Teshi Sendan (Ten-Digit Drilling Bullets): The user fires their finger bones as bullets, which do just as much damage too.

Yanagi no Mai (Dance of the Willow): Kimimaro sprouts bone spikes out of his palms, elbows, and knees and proceeds to stab and otherwise impale things with them.

Raikiri (Lightning Cutter): The upscale version of Chidori. Supposedly Kakashi used it to cut a lightning bolt in half, hence the name. Generally thought to be more powerful than a standard Chidori.

Hokage-Shiki Jijun Jutsu. Kakuan Nitten Shuishi (Hokage-Style Sixty year old Technique. Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-bringing Hands): Holy CRAP that was a pain to type out. Anyway, Yamato uses the technique to suppress the chakra of Bijuu, most notably Naruto's. Like his Kekkei Genkai, Yamato was gifted the technique from the Shodai thanks to Orochimaru and his Frankenstein-style experiments.