I've just got one thing to say about last chapter before we begin. IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!!!!! If you don't know what this means then you fail. Good day.
Kakashi took a quick scan of his students and was disheartened by what he saw. Both Sasuke and Naruto looked like they'd been through hell. Well, Sasuke did anyways and the only way he could tell with Naruto was by the state of his clothes, and that is what had caught his attention as there was a massive hole in Naruto's shirt over his right shoulder. He gave Sasuke what could only be interpreted as a disappointed look. It didn't take a genius to figure out what technique had created that hole after all, though it was beyond amazing that Naruto showed no signs of any injury having been there, even with his amazing healing ability.
"So you tried to kill Naruto did you?" He received no response from the Uchiha, who was too busy studying the water below him with an intense look on his face. Kakashi wondered what had transpired here to make Sasuke look so cowed and.....was that a bit of shame he saw? He shoved the thought aside for the moment, as regardless of how Sasuke felt now he'd still have to answer for everything he'd done and attempted to do.
"Well, either way you still tried to abandon the village so I'm going to have to ask you to stand down and put your hands behind your back." Sasuke wordlessly complied with the jounin's request and his wrists were quickly and tightly bound with ninja wire even as he allowed his cursed seal to recede. Seeing that Sasuke was coming along quietly Naruto followed his example and pushed the Kyuubi's chakra back into the seal.
"Since it seems like everyone is in pretty good health we should probably go meet up with Lee and escort Sasuke back to the village. I've already sent for retrieval teams to find the others just in case they need help, so we won't need to worry about that." Everyone made their way back to the area at the feet of the Shodai Hokage's statue, where Lee was doing vertical push ups while he waited. When he saw them approaching, he performed one last push up and with a dramatic flip landed on his feet and grinned at them, pleased with the success of their mission. He flashed Naruto a thumbs-up and gave his brightest grin, which would have blinded everyone present had they not covered their eyes at the last second. Conveniently, Lee did not notice this, as he was too intent on congratulating Naruto.
"Yosh! Naruto-kun has once again proven how brightly his flames of youth burn!" While Lee poured his praises onto Naruto, the very target of his passionate outburst gestured towards Gohan, wanting to share the horror.
"Don't forget about Gohan, he helped out a lot." Naruto received a look of betrayal from Gohan just as the half-saiya-jin was wondering if he should dump some water on the green clad oddity in order to put out the fires that seem to have spontaneously overtaken his eyes.
"Yosh! Gohan-kun is as much of an inspiration as Naruto-kun! I can't let myself fall behind in the ways of youth, so when we get back to Konoha I will run 30 laps around the village. If I cannot do that I will perform 500 squats. If I cannot perform 500 squats then I will....." Lee was promptly tuned out as he went on one of his usual rants. Kakashi sweatdropped and wondered not for the first time what the Sandaime had been thinking when he'd allowed Gai to take on a team of his own.
"Alright, as.....inspiring as Lee's little speech is, we should probably start heading back to Konoha....." Kakashi trailed off when he noticed Gohan's posture stiffen and the boy began staring off into the distance as though waiting for something.
"Is everything alright Gohan? You look a little distracted." His newest student gave what sounded like an annoyed grunt and though he didn't avert his gaze it was obvious that it was Kakashi he was addressing.
"I'd hoped that they wouldn't come after me again after I sent them away last time, but I guess my Mom isn't going to give up that easily." He gave a resigned sigh and actually looked Kakashi in the eye when he spoke this time.
"I'm about to get some unwanted visitors, so you guys should just go on ahead of me so you don't get caught in whatever crossfire comes about." He immediately turned his gaze back to the horizon, and so missed Kakashi shaking his head.
"It's alright, Sasuke has made it obvious that he isn't going anywhere and besides, you're part of the team now and we're not going back a man short. Isn't that right Naruto?" He gave an eye-smile to his most energetic student.
"Kakashi-sensei's right! You helped me get Sasuke back and now it's my turn to help you fight these bastards off!" Naruto was surprised when Gohan turned on him and Kakashi with a glare.
"You don't get it! One of the guys that's coming won't hesitate to kill either one of you if you get in the way! This fight is going to be way beyond both of you. You can't fight someone like Vegeta." Before either of his teammates could respond two dots appeared on the horizon and quickly grew into six people, who revealed themselves to be Vegeta and Krillin holding an irate Chichi and a rather uncomfortable looking Bulma, both of whom were carrying their rather excited boys. The four landed several feet away, with Chichi and Bulma setting Goten and Trunks down on the rocks to play while Bulma watched over them. Once Chichi was sure the boys were okay she stormed over to a shocked Gohan, who hadn't expected her to actually show up. Vegeta stood back and smirked at what he knew the brat was about to go through. Serves him right for leaving his harpy mother to show up on his doorstep every day to bother him about bringing her "delinquent" son home. In fact, Chichi had brought Goten over to play with Trunks when Vegeta had felt Gohan's power rise and had muttered his usual insults under his breath, and yet Chichi had heard him and demanded to be taken to Gohan so she could convince him to come back herself since he and the other fighters were obviously incapable of bringing a mere child home. Never mind the fact that said child could blow up the planet or kill every single one of those fighters with the barest amount of effort. Gohan's shock quickly turned to anger which he barely managed to keep off his face but caused his seal to throb painfully, begging to be released.
"What are you doing here mom?" He managed to keep the anger out of his voice, and somehow even managed to keep his face impassive, but Chichi was oblivious to his internal struggle.
"What am I doing here? WHAT AM I DOING HERE?! You have the nerve to ask me that after you just up and disappear one day?! You are not going to be asking me any questions young man. You are going to come back home with me." Her tone left no room for argument and promised pain to anyone stupid enough to try.
"I'm not going home Mom. I made it clear in my letter that I'm not going to be coming home for a while. I don't have time to sit around and study all day like you want. This is the way it's going to be, and I'm not asking for your permission, not anymore." Gohan watched as his mother took on a look of such fury that it nearly made him wince. He hated doing this to his mother but she obviously wouldn't listen to reason, which is why he'd had to sneak out in the first place. Chichi made to smack him, but found her fist caught in a much stronger grip. She looked up to notice that the person keeping her from her son only had one eye. He spoke with a polite tone, but his one visible eye was colder than ice.
"That's quite enough ma'am. You've made your point already and Gohan's made it quite clear that he has no intention of going with you. As his sensei and commanding officer I cannot allow you to force your will upon him. Now, if you'll please leave quietly we can all pretend like nothing happened." As Kakashi looked into her eyes he could see the determination and confidence that radiated off of her, and realized that she was a trained fighter. She wrenched her hand out of his grip and glared up at him.
"Nobody is keeping me away from my son. Vegeta, you know what to do." She turned the barest of glances at the Saiya-jin prince, who very nearly lost his cool at being ordered around like some flunky, but the idea of fighting the brat was enticing enough to let it slide, so he gave a predatory smirk to his target.
"Alright brat, I've been bored for too long now and it's time for me to let off some energy." He eyed Gohan expectantly, knowing that this time there would be nothing to keep the clown's son from fighting him all out. The only problem being that Kakashi now faced him instead. He no longer sounded so polite when speaking.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. Gohan isn't going anywhere that he doesn't want to right now. If that's a problem then I'll gladly be your opponent." He glared daggers at Vegeta and Chichi, daring either one of them to make a move when Vegeta broke out in amused laughter.
"Fool. I have no interest in fighting weaklings. Whether or not you stand in the way and whether or not he gets taken somewhere against his will matters not as I will not be denied this fight. Do not get in my way." He took a step forward and instantly found himself stepping to the side to avoid several shuriken and then immediately taking to the air as Kakashi was suddenly behind him and launching a giant fireball his way. Chuckling to himself Vegeta disappeared and reappeared behind Kakashi.
"You're fast for a human, but against a Saiya-jin you're nothing." Vegeta watched as Kakashi quickly turned around only for Vegeta's fist to meet his gut harshly, doubling the jounin over his fist only for Kakashi to disappear in a puff of smoke to reveal a shattered rock in his place. Vegeta scowled angrily at the rock's remains and returned his attention to Gohan, of whom he now had an unimpeded view.
"Alright brat, it's just you and me now." He didn't get to say or do anything else as a gigantic pillar of water rose up out of the lake and formed into a feral looking dragon before rushing right at Vegeta, catching him unaware and smashing him up against the Shodai's leg. He recovered quickly and took to the air, beckoning for Gohan to follow, completely ignoring Kakashi. Gohan gave a resigned sigh and followed after him, knowing full well that it could turn ugly for the others if he didn't comply.
"Let's just get this over with Vegeta. I've got training to catch up on." He could feel the smirk his Saiya-jin half was giving off at the indignant scowl he'd gotten in response to his thinly veiled insult.
"Don't dismiss me so easily! Do you think I've been sitting idly by while you've been away? I'm going to crush you into the dirt and show you your place!" Vegeta's power shot through the roof as he brought out his maximum without transforming, forcing those below with the exception of Piccolo to take cover from the debris blowing about in the massive winds that had picked up. As Gohan watched Vegeta settle into an attack stance a plan settled into being in his mind and he nearly laughed at what he was going to do, but kept it to himself so as not to draw suspicion.
"What, do you think I've been slacking off Vegeta? I may not have had much time for physical training but I've been learning some techniques that could come in very handy. For instance...." One giddy laugh and a hand sign later Gohan was gone and in his place stood......
"K.....Kakarrot?" Vegeta was at a loss for words, and he couldn't keep from imitating a fish at the sudden appearance of his hated rival, who chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.
"Hey there Vegeta! Long time no see huh?" "Goku" gave Vegeta a big grin before settling into his own stance, though Vegeta had obviously forgotten his own in favor of gaping at the impossible sight before him.
"What is the meaning of this?! You're supposed to be dead!" The Saiya-jin prince had overcome his shock, but overwhelming confusion had taken its place. There was no way that the idiot could have come back to life, as the dragon balls hadn't been used and even if they had the clown had decided once again to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of the planet and remain dead this time, something that Vegeta still had trouble understanding. The low class Saiya-jin before him arched an eyebrow in concern.
"Wow Vegeta, you're really chatty today. Usually we'd be tearing up the countryside by now." Excitement shone in "Goku's" eyes as he waited for Vegeta to compose himself and regain his usual stubborn attitude. Vegeta didn't keep him waiting long.
'Hmph, the idiot's right for once. Questions can wait for later.' A savage grin broke out on his features as the excitement of fighting his long time rival ignited the battle lust in his veins. Without preamble he shot forward with a right hook to wipe that idiotic smile off of Goku's face, which of course was dodged.
"That's more like it Vegeta!" In the blink of an eye Goku was gone from sight and his boot was heading towards his opponent's unguarded back. Vegeta wasn't going to be taken out that easily though and spun around to bat the taller Saiya-jin's foot aside and thrust his free arm forward to launch an energy blast right into his face, temporarily blinding him and leaving him vulnerable to attack. Vegeta capitalized on this by slipping around behind his rival's back and bringing his fists down at Gohan's neck in what was supposed to be a hammer blow, but Gohan had expected such an attack and was already gone by the time Vegeta's fists should have impacted with him. Vegeta was quick to whirl around and knock away the energy blast he'd sensed from behind, but he was left unable to block the elbow that found its way to his rib cage. Ignoring the brief pain in his ribs he quickly brought his arms up to block the axe kick that came at him from above and shifted his position so that he could grab on to the extended leg. Vegeta didn't hesitate to make use of his new advantage and swung "Kakarrot" around, building up momentum until letting him fly and launching a medium sized energy blast. The blast connected with his rival's midsection and engulfed him in a cloud of smoke, bringing a victorious smirk to his face. His smirk faded into nothing very quickly however when it wasn't Goku that fell from the explosion but a singed looking Gohan, confusing him beyond belief. Gohan recovered quickly enough, but approached him with a concerned look, though mentally both halves were laughing their metaphoric heads off at his bewilderment.
"Are you alright Vegeta? You look like you've seen a ghost." It was becoming more and more difficult for Gohan to contain his laughter, but for the sake of continuing the prank he maintained his composure, if only barely. He briefly wondered if some of Naruto's personality was beginning to rub off on him. Vegeta meanwhile maintained a look that suggested he was about to lose his mind.
"W...what is going on here? Is this some sort of trick?! Who are you?!" He'd started out sounding unsure of himself, but it obviously hadn't taken long for him to return to his usual demeanor and demand answers, but Gohan wasn't done toying with him just yet.
"What are you talking about Vegeta? I'm Gohan, the same person you came here to fight, remember?" He could tell that Vegeta didn't particularly care for the way he'd worded that but then again, that was the entire purpose. Riling the Saiya-jin prince up, as he was currently discovering, was not only easy but also very enjoyable. And so, with that in mind, he pressed on.
"Maybe we should just quit for now. You don't look like you're feeling too good." Gohan really hoped Piccolo was able to listen in on this. He knew without a doubt that his former teacher would get more amusement out of this than anyone else, considering the friction that always existed between the two whenever they were around each other. The look of impotent rage on Vegeta's face was more than rewarding enough on its own, but the indignant explosion that followed made it just so much more fun.
"I don't need your pity! I'm going to crush you regardless of who you look like!" Vegeta didn't even give Gohan time to retort before he was gone from sight and already swinging his fists at Gohan from behind, but the prince was already becoming sloppy in his rage and Gohan took full advantage of his distracted state of mind by easily dodging each blow that was sent his way. He twisted around a particularly vicious blow that would've shattered his nose and used the extended arm to pull Vegeta down while bringing his knee up into his abdomen before elbowing him viciously in the face, sending him spinning away. Gohan quickly thrust his open palm forward and with a bright flash of light and a small explosion Vegeta was sent hurtling down into the lake below. He briefly pondered following after the Saiya-jin prince but decided to allow his arrogant nemesis time to collect his thoughts. He quickly stole a glance down towards the others and wasn't surprised to see Kakashi and the others openly gaping at him with Krillin giving him a thumbs-up. It seemed the bald midget was only along because he feared the wrath of Bulma and Chichi, though Gohan surmised that Bulma was only along to give his mother emotional support rather than actually agreeing with her actions. After all, the blue haired genius had often made sure to give him her sympathies at having to live under the thumb of such an overprotective woman. After all, even as overprotective as Bulma could be of Trunks at times, even she understood that children should be allowed to pursue their dreams, even if she didn't necessarily agree with their choices.
'Hey, pay attention to the fight imbecile! There's no time for distractions right now!' Gohan cursed himself under his breath and for once was thankful for his other half, especially since he barely managed to bat aside the sphere of energy that had been coming at him from below. Unfortunately for him, Vegeta had been right on the tail of the blast and struck his head right into Gohan's midsection, forcing him higher into the air and onto the defensive as the prince launched a vicious assault of punches and kicks that Gohan had been left unprepared for. Gohan let out a grunt when a particularly hard kick made it past his defenses and struck him directly in the throat. The force of the blow not only sent Gohan sailing, but caused him to instinctively bring his hands to his injured wind pipe as he coughed and gagged, leaving himself completely open to attack, and Vegeta wasted no time in using this to his advantage. He smirked maliciously as he teleported underneath a falling Gohan and brought his knee up to connect harshly with the younger Saiya-jin's back and forcing him to bend backwards at a near unnatural angle.
Gohan could only groan as his world exploded in pain and he vaguely registered the feeling of the prince's hand around his throat before he was sent soaring into the air and a massive amount of energy began building up below him.
Down below, Naruto was nearly panicking at the sight of the blast of purple energy he could see forming between Vegeta's cupped hands.
"Kakashi-sensei we have to do something! That bastard's taking the fight way too seriously!" Naruto really wished he knew how to fly like that, then he'd go show that bastard not to mess with one of his friends, but unfortunately he didn't know any ranged attacks and so he was hoping his sensei could come up with something. Kakashi sighed despondently. He wanted to help Gohan too, but even he was at a loss as to what to do in this situation.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but there's really nothing we can do from here. If there were some way for us to get close to him then we might be able to distract him long enough for Gohan to recover, but as it is the terrain here has us at a big disadvantage." He shook his head sadly. He wanted to help Gohan just as much as Naruto, but even with his vast repertoire of jutsu he couldn't do much to an opponent that could seemingly defy the laws of gravity. Even Lee was looking disappointed despite his normal passionate behavior. Naruto seemed to remember something and brightened up for a moment.
"What about Gaara?" All eyes turned to the red headed Jinchuriki but were disappointed when he shook his head negatively.
"While I could use my sand to carry me to those heights, those two are moving at speeds that I could not keep up with, which would render any assistance I could give ineffective." Thus, they could only watch on anxiously as the battle continued, hoping that Gohan could pull himself together before Vegeta did something drastic.
Meanwhile, Vegeta was grinning with excitement as his attack finally reached full charge and he uttered words he'd only spoken once in the years he'd been on Earth.
"Looks like I win this round brat! Gallic Gun Fire!" As Gohan reached the peak of his ascension Vegeta released a massive wave of purplish energy that quickly overtook Gohan in the instant before he began to fall, but Vegeta was left confused and disoriented when he suddenly found himself right in the path of his own attack without any hope of evading or even putting up any kind of defense. The next thing he knew he was hurtling through the air and was stopped from out of nowhere by a strong arm wrapping around his neck from behind and keeping him in a choke hold. He tried elbowing Gohan in the gut but his young opponent shifted to the side.
"I'm done playing games with you Vegeta. You should know by now that you're no match for me. Either give up now or prepare for the worst humiliation of your life." Gohan of course knew that Vegeta's pride would never allow him to admit defeat so easily, but he really just wanted to get back to Konoha so he could learn more about chakra and its possible uses and Vegeta was wasting his time. Predictably, rather than give up Vegeta growled at the mere suggestion that Gohan was superior to him and began violently thrashing about in order to force Gohan to release him. With a shake of his head Gohan released the rampaging Saiya-jin and resigned himself to his fate. He'd just have to make it quick and he knew just the technique for that.
"Fine then, have it your way. Kaio-ken times ten!!!" He grunted and doubled over as he nearly lost control of his energy from the sudden influx of such a massive amount of wild power but regained himself quickly enough to catch Vegeta off guard and send him hurtling through the air with a powerful kick to the midsection. Before Vegeta could even think of recovering Gohan was behind him and launching a nasty sphere of energy right into his back that knocked him back the way he'd come. Gohan didn't let up the offensive and returned Vegeta's earlier favor and delivered a vicious uppercut to his back before letting loose an explosion of energy point blank that sent him rocketing up at amazing speeds. Of course, Gohan was faster and delivered his doubled up fists into Vegeta's sternum with so much force that the water didn't even slow him down and he left a large impact crater at the bottom of the lake. Gohan followed after him quickly, still struggling to keep a hold on the Kaio-ken and quickly got Vegeta back onto dry land, still recovering from that last blow.
"Do you still wish to continue this Vegeta? Or would you rather I toss you around like a rag doll some more?" Vegeta could only give him a pained yet defiant grunt due to his no doubt cracked sternum. Gohan stalked forward with a hateful snarl on his face, and a dark feeling began to overtake his energy as he let the kaio-ken dissipate. He was beginning to lose control of his anger and battle lust in part due to the whisperings of his cursed seal, which had only been muffled and not completely muted, but also due to his mounting frustration at being bothered yet again for not only his Mother's overprotective and somewhat selfish agenda but also Vegeta's own foolish pride.
"I grow tired of this Vegeta. Time and again I show you who is superior and yet you continue to pester me with these pointless challenges." He gave him a hard kick to the ribs, cracking a few and getting a pained moan from Vegeta. He did not allow his cursed seal to activate, but used the thoughts it gave him to enhance his anger and give him the willpower needed to literally beat some sense into Vegeta and then hopefully intimidate his Mother into leaving him alone. At least, that's what he'd intended to do until he realized with an annoyed huff that doing such things would only antagonize them into bothering him even more. So with a dismissive wave he returned to where Kakashi and the others were gaping at him openly, having felt his chakra increase exponentially when he'd pulled out the kaio-ken.
"Let's head back guys. He won't be fighting for a while." He hadn't looked any of them in the eye, but knew they agreed when he felt them getting into formation to head back to Konoha. It wasn't to be though because Vegeta suddenly appeared in their path, miraculously healed. Apparently he had a spare senzu bean with him. Just wonderful.
"You're not going anywhere brat! I'm nowhere near finished with you!" The look on Vegeta's face made it clear that he wasn't going to be satisfied with anything less than an all out brawl between Super Saiya-jins. That was the last straw. With an outer calm that showed no hint at the rage boiling within, Gohan brought both arms in front of him and unleashed a wave of energy of such magnitude that Vegeta stood no chance of getting out of the way and was blasted back several miles into the forest followed by the ashes of hundreds of trees that had been unlucky enough to be standing anywhere near Gohan's line of sight. For several moments afterwards there was an eerie calm until a massive wind that none of the shinobi present had ever witnessed before tore through the area with such force that it uprooted several more trees and tossed boulders about as though they were mere pebbles. The shinobi themselves were forced to anchor themselves to the ground with chakra to avoid being blown away like much of the debris they were now being pelted with, but even that was nothing compared to the enormous dome of blinding light that rose up in the distance to mark where Vegeta had landed. Everybody present, Piccolo included, could do nothing more than stare at Gohan in stunned silence, though the shinobi shared looks that were a mixture of utter horror and absolute wonderment. Piccolo though began to worry for Gohan's mental stability. This was so far out of Gohan's normal character as to be inconceivable and yet, he'd done so without any warning or even a single word in advance.
"Gohan are you....." He reached out and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, only to flinch back at the feeling of how tense he was and the look he'd given him over his shoulder. Normally, he could read his former student's face without the slightest difficulty regardless of how hard he tried to hide his feelings, yet the look he'd just been given...It was completely unreadable. He gazed hard into Gohan's eyes but he could see nothing. There was no emotion, no feeling in those eyes. It was just the dead, flat stare of a corpse. Piccolo shivered involuntarily.
"I'm fine Piccolo-san. Let's go." His voice was no better than his eyes had been, but what was even scarier was when he pulled a complete one-eighty and acted as though nothing had happened.
"So.....anybody else hungry?" Gohan received odd looks from all around as they headed out of the valley of the end and back towards Konoha. Oddly enough, or maybe not so much, there were no other obstacles, and nobody really noticed when Kakashi created a kage bunshin and sent it to survey the damage from Gohan's last attack.
It hadn't been hard for Kakashi's clone to find the path that the blast had followed as it had left a wide swath of destruction where it passed, incinerating and uprooting trees as well as throwing dirt and other debris all over the place. Not that Kakashi really cared all that much, but it didn't seem likely to him that Vegeta would be able to survive an attack that could cause this much of a disturbance where it had only passed by. He shuddered to think of what the blast crater would look like. After a good seven mile trek, he came upon a gigantic wall of dust that completely blocked his view of where he assumed ground zero to be, so the kage bunshin leaped up into the nearest tree and ran his way up to the top in order to try and see over the cloud, but it was useless as the dust cloud extended up even past the canopy of the forest. The clone pondered his options for a moment, thinking through the extensive list of jutsu at his disposal before coming to a decision and going through a short string of handseals.
"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" The clone put as much chakra as he dared into the technique without risking further destruction of the area or even accidentally dispelling himself. The resulting blast of wind completely dispersed the dust cloud, giving the kage bunshin a clear view of the damaged area. As the last of the dust cleared out, the clone let out a gasp and went completely stiff at the sight before him.
"Th...this is....." The clone couldn't even begin to put words to the scene of devastation before him. To put it simply, it looked as though a meteor had fallen from the sky and hit the ground going several hundred miles an hour. The crater, for there was no other word that could possibly fit this, had to be at least three miles in diameter and several hundred feet deep. What was nearly as surprising to the kage bunshin, though not nearly as awe inducing, was the fact that Vegeta had somehow survived such a massive explosion. That isn't to say of course that he'd escaped unharmed as he seemed to be covered in small cuts, gashes and burns. His armor though had taken the brunt of the attack, as the entire left side had been completely obliterated with the spandex jumpsuit underneath faring no better, revealing a torso nearly covered in nasty looking battle scars on top of the obvious more recent injuries. Vegeta turned his attention to where that large blast of wind had come from and scowled upon seeing that it wasn't Gohan, though with a quick zanzo-ken he teleported over to the shocked imitation in order to force some answers out of him. Before the kage bunshin could even blink he was in his face and glaring it down, seething anger clearly burning within.
"Where is the boy? He'd better not run away from me!" He was clearly still itching for a fight, which Kakashi couldn't quite understand, considering that he shouldn't be anything more than scattered ashes by now.
"How...how are you still alive?" Kakashi had to wonder just what these people were to be able to dish out and receive such overwhelming power with such apparent ease. Vegeta only laughed at his ignorance.
"Ha! As if such a weak attack could have killed me. That fool is capable of far more than that!" He was becoming visibly excited just thinking about training with the brat. Kakarrot's eldest was still so many leagues above his own strength it was maddening, and only by training and fighting with the child could he even hope to approach his strength. And damn it all, Vegeta was bound and determined to surpass the boy and prove his superiority to that clown Kakarrot's bloodline. Vegeta's rant left Kakashi speechless.
'That was weak? Just what is Gohan capable of? Something doesn't add up here. If this is a minimal show of strength then just how did Orochimaru manage to infect him with the cursed seal? Orochimaru is powerful, but this is way beyond even him.' The kage bunshin didn't even bother replying to Vegeta and simply dispelled itself with a cloud of smoke, leaving Vegeta dumbfounded and very much pissed off.
Back with the group, Kakashi suddenly tensed up and had to stop as he nearly lost his balance as the group hopped from tree to tree on their way back to Konoha. Of course, this caused the rest of the group to stop as well.
"Are you alright Kakashi-sensei?" Gohan inquired as he floated over to where the jounin stood. Kakashi hesitated but gave him an eye smile.
"I'm fine. I just sent a clone to check something out and it found something interesting is all. It's nothing you need to worry about." He gave him a reassuring pat on the head and signaled for the group to continue on their way though he now stayed near the back of the group so he could think with a smaller chance of being interrupted. After all, what his clone had just relayed to him was very worrying. His first instinct was to report it to the Hokage, since it could possibly mean that Gohan was collaborating with Orochimaru, but Kakashi wanted to get more information first. He would observe Gohan's words and actions closely and if he looked suspicious Kakashi would question the boy first. After all, the elite jounin prided himself on being able to read people nearly flawlessly with few exceptions.
Once the village gates were in sight the entire group minus Sasuke let out a relieved breath. Though he wasn't showing it, Sasuke was nervous about his fate now that he'd had some sense knocked into him. Essentially, he'd just left Konoha to join one of its greatest enemies, a crime that could very well lead to his being tossed in a jail cell for the rest of his life or even executed. He was taking a big gamble here and he knew it, but Gohan's words had forced him to think things through and he had to admit he'd been acting rashly. He also realized with no little shame that he'd allowed his quest for revenge to control him so completely that he'd completely neglected the other part of his ambition. As the group checked in at the gate and headed to see the Hokage, Sasuke's thoughts shifted to what Gohan had tried to tell him about the Uchiha massacre during their fight.
Flashback
"Sasuke, your brother massacred the Uchiha clan that night, that much you already know, but what you don't know is why he did it." He could see the growing tension in Sasuke, but he had to tell him, had to convince him that he didn't need to go to Orochimaru for power, that his brother wasn't the evil monster that he thought he was.
"The true reason behind the Uchiha massacre has been kept a secret from you and the entire village, for your protection and the village's as well. I know what Itachi said that night, that he'd killed off your entire family to test his capacity." Gohan watched as Sasuke visibly reeled upon hearing his brother's words thrown back at him once again. There's no way Gohan could know such things, and he wasn't shy about letting him know.
"And why should I believe what you're telling me? If this really happened and was kept from me and the rest of the village, then how did you find out? The way I see it is that either you're lying to me, or you're in league with Itachi. Either way you're giving me an excuse to kill you." He crossed his arms and waited to see how Gohan would react.
"You remember that Itachi used his eye technique on me right?" An impassive nod was his only response.
"Well, I suppose to help explain this I should probably tell you that there are two distinct personalities in my mind." Gohan refrained from giving any more information than that, as Sasuke was the last person he wanted to reveal his secret to right now.
"You're probably thinking that I'm crazy, but I guess the best way to put it is that my split personalities are the result of what you could probably call an advanced bloodline limit. The only problem is, I haven't exactly allowed myself enough balance in my own mind and have pretty much forced that other personality to develop a consciousness of its own. The result of this, of course, is that my other personality doesn't like me very much and for most of my life has been fighting me for control of my body."
"So what exactly does that have to do with my brother? If you're just going to waste my time then get ready to fight me." Sasuke's impatience elicited an exasperated sigh from Gohan, but he quickly continued before the broody Uchiha flew off the handle.
"I'm getting there, just let me finish." Gohan waited for Sasuke to relent before he continued.
"As I was saying, this other personality was constantly fighting me for dominance, and when Itachi used Tsukuyomi on me, my other personality saw into Itachi's memories and reached into his mind to take some of them to attack me with, specifically memories of the day that he killed his best friend for the Mangekyo Sharingan and the night he slaughtered your clan."
End Flashback
There were a couple of things about what Gohan had said that bothered Sasuke more than a little, such as the insinuation that there was more to the Uchiha massacre than he knew. Then there was this Uchiha Madara that supposedly had helped his brother with the massacre. He'd never heard of an Uchiha Madara outside of when Shikamaru had explained the statues at the valley of the end, but at the same time there was no way it could be the same man simply because that would make him at minimum about ninety years old, possibly even pushing a hundred. Of course, that was ignoring the fact that Madara had supposedly been killed by the Shodai Hokage when he tried to leave the village. He had questions for his dark haired teammate and if the Hokage didn't have him executed, he would get his answers one way or another.
Somewhere within Rice country....
"What do you have to report, Kabuto?" Orochimaru leered down at his kneeling servant. He knew the boy had failed him, but he wanted to hear it out of his own mouth before he beat him to within an inch of his life. Of course, should Kabuto prove entertaining enough he may be lenient on him this time. After all, he did so enjoy making the normally condescending teen sweat, and indeed he was sweating right now even if it was only internally. Sometimes the boy just had to be put in his place, after all.
"My apologies Orochimaru-sama, but the mission to retrieve Sasuke-kun has failed. The sound five have all fallen and Sasuke has been taken back to Konoha, apparently of his own free will." Kabuto dare not look his master in the eye at this point. It hadn't been difficult to tell that Orochimaru had known of his failure if only because of the malevolent aura that he'd been exuding since he'd entered his chambers.
"Tell me something I don't already know, like why it is that Sasuke-kun isn't already here at my side." The Sannin put no inflection into his voice, but Kabuto could still detect the underlying hostility in his words. He would have to tread very carefully if he wanted to walk away from this alive. Orochimaru had told him to follow Sasuke discreetly, and to make sure that he made it to the sound base in rice country in one piece. Even though he knew his sound five were competent enough, Orochimaru was not about to leave the fate of his next host to chance and had sent Kabuto as an extra precaution. Kabuto had been watching Sasuke fight Naruto from the shadows of the forest, and had been impressed with the power that both boys displayed. He'd intended to escort Sasuke to Orochimaru once Naruto had been dealt with, but then Gohan and that strange green man had literally dropped out of the sky to interfere with the fight. Things had only gotten worse from there.
"There were some......unexpected circumstances. Gohan-kun and a strange person I've never seen before appeared and interfered with Sasuke's fight. I would have stepped in but more unknowns arrived at the battlefield and one of them engaged Gohan in battle." Kabuto kept his tone blank as he spoke, knowing that if he betrayed his nervousness to his master he would be pounced on like a trapped rat. As his master spoke, he could hear the anger in his voice, but at the same time it seemed to be tempered with curiosity as well.
"Cowardice is unlike you Kabuto. There is more to this than you are saying. Would you care to explain?" Orochimaru's anger dissipated in favor of amusement as he watched his subordinate squirm nervously, knowing that giving the wrong answer would not end well for him. What made it even better for the snake Sannin was the fact that nobody else could get such a reaction from Kabuto. Oh yes, he would let the medic-nin off the hook this time, as he was proving more entertaining than usual this time around.
"Gohan-kun displayed a rather frightening amount of power, even more so than what you claim to have witnessed when you fought him." He paused for a moment, considering how he should go about getting his master to accept what he'd seen. Even he was having a hard time believing it and he'd been there."Hmmm.....at any point towards the end of my absence did you notice any sort of unusual and abrupt disturbances in the weather?" He watched Orochimaru's features shift from mild annoyance to intense curiosity. So the effects of that monstrous blast had been felt out here after all, and apparently the idea of Gohan being the cause of it had the Sannin's full attention.
"Yes, in fact something very strange indeed happened while you were away. I had originally thought that someone had been foolish enough to attack me, but I could not find the origin of the disturbance. Could it be that Gohan-kun was the source of this? I would like to know more about him Kabuto. I wish to know how he has achieved such power." He paused to think for a moment before a devilish smirk spread across his face as an idea came to him. "Do you not have a meeting with your former master soon?" He gave a malicious chuckle at Kabuto's nod. This was going to be fun. "You will give him all of the information you have on Gohan-kun, including the little gift I've left him. No doubt that twice damned Zetsu has already informed them of what has transpired today, and if they believe that he has some connection with me they may move to neutralize him before he becomes a threat to their plans. In the end, he may very well kill a few of them for me which will make things much easier in the long run." The snake sannin couldn't help but smirk as he dismissed Kabuto. It was going to be fun playing his enemies against each other. Of course, it was inevitable that Akatsuki go after Konoha to get at Naruto-kun anyways, but hopefully this way he could plan things out more thoroughly while his former organization put more of their resources into taking care of Gohan and capturing Naruto. He chuckled menacingly as he imagined how amusing it was going to be to watch his enemies destroy each other.
Well, originally I had intended to make this chapter much longer, but no matter what I did it just felt too forced and wouldn't have flowed well, and this seems like as good of a place as any to end it. Hope this chapter doesn't make you want to cut your eyes out too badly lol.