The clock was ticking as the seconds continued to pass. Kakashi's forehead was covered by sweat accumulated from his short but intense participation in the skirmish; though also because of his stress in trying to devise a plan to get out of there with all of his students alive.

He was not even certain that the genin were still alive.

Piccolo had already sensed the energy of the jounin, but had no real reason to chase him. Both he and his student were aware that they had the upper hand, and therefore the initiative in that confrontation.

Gohan was checking the vital signs of the three genin. He was especially worried for the black-haired one, as he was the most severely injured. His right arm and both of his legs were noticeably broken, and it was hard to tell how much damage his spine had received in the collision against the trees. The half-blood let out a sigh of relief once he confirmed that they were all alive.

"See?" The Namekian cracked his knuckles. "You know we can hold ourselves back."

"I was not sure if we could do it to such an extent. They're far weaker than our usual enemies." Tried to explain the teenager.

"You're just like your father. You care too much for the enemy."

Gohan laughed nervously at the comparison. He hadn't thought about his family in a while, mainly because when he did, he got homesick and began to cry.

Suddenly, both of them turned their heads straight to the blonde boy. His energy suddenly increased by about five times, and an orange aura of bubbly chakra completely took over his body.

Naruto stood up like a zombie, as if his limbs had an independent will of their own. His eyes were closed until he stood firmly. They opened to reveal the burning red eyes of a fierce beast. The leaves of the bush began floating around his aura, which soon began to form two fox ears on the boy's head, and a single tail behind him.

"So you had more to give, eh kid?" Piccolo adopted his fighting stance.

Gohan was not so sure. "His Ki seems very different."

"We know that since we arrived here. Their Ki is not like our own."

"No. I meant this orange Ki is different from the kid's own." The half-blood struggled to understand what he was sensing. "This one is not only far larger, but it also feels… excessively violent and hateful."

Piccolo closed his eyes to carefully sense the boy's energy, looking further than the mere increase in his power. He nodded as he finally understood what his student meant. Even from a considerable distance, the killing intent in this new energy was evident.

Naruto yelled. Screamed, even. The nature of it was somewhere between pain and anger. Somewhere between animal and human. The bubbles of his aura became more abundant as the orange tone of it turned to red. A second tail appeared before the blonde boy finally jumped on the two Z warriors.

Kakashi had been watching as the fox took over Naruto, but chose not to intervene. He knew that, given the circumstances, it would be a good distraction for them to retreat. From his current position, the one furthest away from him was Sakura, and the closest was Sasuke. But to go for the latter, he would need to run next to the green demon.

It was better to go for Sakura first.

Gathering his remaining energy into his hands, he prepared his body flicker jutsu. He let out a sigh before seemingly vanishing.

Kakashi ran at his top speed towards the bushes where an unconscious Sakura rested. He glanced at the battlefield to see Naruto being launched into the woods just like he had been before. Almost as if not even the fox could match those demons.

His distraction cost him his plan, however, as his head hit something as hard as stone. He crashed into the ground, and his head was concussed. He desperately tried to stand up, while his blurry vision could only distinguish a few colors.

Gohan had been the one to stop him with a kick straight to the head. The boy made sure it was just enough to knock him down, but not to kill him. He quickly checked on him, but as soon as he touched the jounin, the man vanished into a cloud of smoke.

Piccolo quickly pointed his arm at the tree where the pink-haired girl was lying. There, the silver-haired jounin was already holding her in his arms. Yellow energy began to accumulate on the Namekian's hand.

Kakashi only then noticed that he had been spotted. He swiftly replaced himself with a random log, heading for the Uchiha.

Naruto once again emerged from the bushes. He grabbed onto Gohan's back and began furiously slashing and punching it. The saiyan was caught off guard, and charged his aura into an explosive wave.

The blonde genin was overwhelmed by the massive burst of Ki, which burned through the chakra of the fox. Once he was off him, Gohan turned around and landed a powerful hit straight to his jugular vein. As a result, the genin fell down unconscious like a ragdoll.

Piccolo had never really lost the jounin, whose energy he had been tracking down. For such, he suddenly moved the target of his arm just as Kakashi was about to reach Sasuke's unconscious body.

The jounin gasped as a Ki attack was launched at him. He barely had time to drop Sakura, but took the hit directly.

The Namekian quickly called the attack off, knowing not much more would be needed to defeat the jounin. He had no intention to kill the man either. However, as the wave dissipated, only a log had been left in his place.

"That stupid technique again!"

Kakashi was now holding Sasuke while hiding behind a tree. His flak jacket had been completely vaporized by the attack, as had his mask and hitai-ate. The rest of his uniform was partially burnt, and patches of his skin showed severe burns as well. However, a small grin appeared on his now uncovered face.

A second Kakashi grabbed the unconscious Naruto, and disappeared into a cloud of smoke alongside the kid. For Piccolo, the energy of the clone and the boy had completely disappeared, and then reappeared very far away.

However, he still knew the real one was hiding behind a tree. Both Z-warriors had sensed it.

"Why hasn't that one left?" Asked a curious Gohan.

"I'm not sure."

Once again, the chirping of the birds became more intense. And it was then that Gohan realized why his master had been hit by the attack previously.

Piccolo grabbed onto his ears, trying to block the sound from his sensitive senses. The sound acted like whistling for the Namekians: it overwhelmed their hearing and made them dizzy.

Gohan stretched his arm and threw a Ki ball behind him. It hit the jounin directly, but he continued his advance.

The half-blood turned around completely. He placed both of his hands on his forehead, and charged a considerable amount of Ki on them.

"Masenko!"

The jounin's red eye was seemingly glowing with intensity. He put his chidori forward and charged straight into the boy's attack. Initially, he was able to pierce through it, and the Saiyan was left astounded.

However, once the attack was intensified, he was overwhelmed and was completely absorbed by the technique. His body exploded into a small cloud of smoke that was dispersed by the Masenko.

"The real one left." Said Piccolo as his ears finally rested with the absence of the intense sound. "He took the kids with him, it seems."

"So that was what he was trying." He sensed his surroundings, confirming that the man had left.

"That guy was more of a nuisance than I expected." Admitted the Namekian. "Very smart, but he was limited by those stupid brats."

Gohan turned around as he sensed a third Ki. One that was unknown to both of them. He walked towards it. It was coming from the bush, so he pushed the branches and leaves around. He turned around and beckoned his master to approach him.

They had left the pink-haired girl behind. She was still unconscious, and was not as injured as the two other kids. Gohan had sensed she was the weaker of the bunch, and so decided to take her out quickly. But since it was him, he was probably more careful than Piccolo had been.

"What should we do?"

"Well, we kill her. They were trying to take us out." Replied the Namekian coldly. "We don't know what she may try once she wakes up, and we certainly don't want more of her friends coming to get her."

"But Mr. Piccolo…"

The green alien rolled his eyes.

"We should help her recover. Maybe she can tell us why they came after us." He rushed to check how the senzu plant was growing. It had been almost a month since they had planted it. It was in good shape, but still had some time left before it gave any beans.

"The senzus will take a while longer, but we can still help her!"

"You take care of that. Don't bother me." He sighed and turned around. The only thing he wanted was to go back to his meditation. "I've had enough of babysitting."

Kakashi swiftly jumped from branch to branch. He knew the village was close, and he was pushing himself to go as fast as he could. His chakra had almost run out completely, and his injuries were making his nerves explode with pain.

In each arm, he carried one of his students. Unfortunately, though, it had not been possible for him to save the three of them. The unexpected level of the threat had forced him to prioritize the two boys, as they were the more important assets for Konoha.

Regardless of his thought process and the validity of his judgment under shinobi principles, the guilt was starting to eat him from within.

"Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum!"

Those damned words bounced in his mind, and he could not think of anything else. The fateful day that marked his entire life. And in the end he learned nothing. He was worse than scum.

He finally jumped out of the woods and landed on the ground. The accumulated weight of his own body and that of his two students made his legs shake, struggling to even keep him up. Two farmers were in the outskirts of the town as they had been looking for wood. They were initially frightened by the sight of the injured shinobi.

"Please take them to… Heal them." He waited for the explicit confirmation from the two men. His vision was only losing clarity, while his lower body was starting to collapse. As the two men reached him to grab the boys, he collapsed on the ground.

The two ran yelling into the town, and Kakashi was left behind. He knew they were looking for more help to carry him as well. But something inside him made him wish he was left there to die and rot. Something inside him desired the certainty of death, so he could stab his own eye and bleed to death.

Something inside was tired.