My first Saiyuki fanfic! hope you like it!

Something was wrong with Goku. He hadn't complained about his stomach all day, nor had he fought with Gojyo at all. He simply sat there in the back seat of Jeep and stared at the land passing by.

Now, usually, Gojyo or Hakkai could cheer him up easily; offering food, or something like that. But every time they tried, he'd just shake his head and go back to looking at the scenery. Finally, the two turned to Sanzo, because if Sanzo couldn't cheer the saru up, then the world was probably ending.

So Sanzo turned around in his seat, pulled out his paper fan, and smacked the boy hard. Goku didn't even acknowledge it, not pretending it hurt like he usually did. He didn't want to keep up the façade right now. He just wanted to be left alone to his own thoughts.

Sanzo growled, worried, and said, "You're being a nuisance, Saru! So stop acting wrong and say you're hungry, damn it!" Goku slowly brought his head around to meet Sanzo's eyes.

"I'm not hungry. Simple as that. Leave me alone," he muttered before turning back. Silence ripped through the air. Did Goku really just say that he wasn't hungry? All three looked around for signs of the world ending. Seeing none, but still keeping an eye out for skies to fall, or earthquakes to shake, they looked back to the demon.

Hakkai tried again, asking softly, "What's wrong, Goku?" They received no answer for a moment before Goku sighed heavily and turned back.

"Some people from Heaven came to me last night and demanded that I return to Heaven to fight for them. They're having some problems, and say they need a heretic to help them. I'm the only one on hand, apparently. I tried to refuse them, but they're going to send an army of fighters after us if I don't agree to come in three days."

Shocked silence met his words, and he turned back to looking at the ground passing by. Finally, Sanzo asked, "What are you planning on doing?" He wanted with all of his heart for the saru to say that he'd fight them, that he'd beat them up and stay with them. Gojyo felt the same, wanting to lock the boy to him and never let him leave. Hakkai was just as enthusiastic in his plans to keep Goku there.

Goku sighed and mumbled, "Probably to go with them. They're pretty strong. I dunno." He left it at that and went back to his silence. The other three stopped breathing for what felt like forever before reacting.

"What! You can't just give into them that way! You've got to fight 'em till your last breath!" Gojyo insisted.

Hakkai said, "You shouldn't give up so quickly, Goku! It's very unlike you!"

Sanzo simply looked back at Goku, who eventually turned his eyes to him, and asked softly, "You go up there, and you'll never see us again. Stay and fight, and we'll win like we always do, and continue to eat good things. Your choice," he said, shrugging indifferently and turning back to pull out a newspaper. Goku stared at the back of his saviors head for minutes before sighing heavily.

"Alright. I'll fight 'em. You guys don't get to help, though," he stated and all three turned to look indignantly at him. He just rolled his eyes and said, "I can take 'em all out by myself. I don't need your help. You'd only get in the way."

Gojyo took this in with slight confusion. "If you knew you could take 'em, then why'd ya go through all this? Being quiet and all moody-like." Goku grinned slightly, and didn't answer.

All he said was, "I'm hungry! Can we go and eat already?"

At these words, all three of them realized they'd just been completely played by their saru. Instantly, Jeep stopped and all three turned to attack the saru with outraged cries. Goku simply laughed and slipped out of their reach, showing off his acrobatic skills. He didn't let them know that he'd really been worried. He was content to simply let them believe what they wanted. Sometimes half-truths were better than full truths.

So? tell me if you like it or not!