A/N Wow, I can't believe I'm finally doing this! ^.^ My very first fanfic… ever. SO THANK YOU FOR STOPPIN' BY! I've always loved reading and writing, so what better place is there to start? I've read a few of these and only one other Gohan-centric story. I didn't want to get any ideas from them or latch on to some specific personality in one of the other fanfics with the same basic premise, so I decided to steer clear from them. I've got a good idea of how I want the story to go, I've got some plot points mapped out and some scenes that I'm really excited to make. :) There will also be some personality changes of characters (shocking I know), but they will be consistent and important to the story. That being said, I would love any and all input or opinions, reviews, anything to help me grow as a writer. I promise, I'll take advice to heart and work my ass off to improve and meet everyone's standards. Hope you all enjoy!

Updates will hopefully be weekly on average, but I'm really inspired right now, so I think there'll be a few more before the week's up. :3

It's a Hard Knock Life

Chapter 1

"It's all your fault Gohan, why didn't you destroy Cell earlier? I'd be alive and your mother and brother wouldn't be so alone. I had faith in you son… What were you thinking?" Goku's voice chimed out with a slight echo. "Yeah, bro what were you thinking?" This time Krillin's voice came forth.

Guys.. no, please…

"Gohan, really why would you fail us like that? You took everything away from us. Everyone's savior is gone now and we're stuck with you. Vegeta doesn't even fight anymore either, you took his will to live. Such a disappointment." Piccolo's harsh voice was the next to pierce Gohan's psyche.

Piccolo! Not you too, why does no one understand!? I hate myself for what happened.. I.. I wish we could have traded places!

"Gohan, how are we going to raise your brother now. He needs a father! Oh, if only Goku were here…"

Mom… why.. I can't take it back! I failed everyone! I'm worthless! I hate myself.. I let Dad die, took Vegeta's will to live, took everyone's best friend, widowed my mother, and left my little brother without a father.. Why… Why.. WHY AM I SO WEAK! ARGHH WHYYY!

A golden yellow aura pulsated around a sleeping boy, growing larger and larger until it eventually covered the entire mountainside he was sleeping on. The harsh darkness of the midnight sky was suddenly shattered as the aura took on a flamelike appearance, with lightning snapping endlessly around the sleeping child. "ARGHH WHYYY!" The child's screams pierced through the night like a needle through cloth, his turquoise eyes snapped open and the light around him intensified. The golden aura now spiked out in every direction, expanding once again from the child, disintegrating everything in its path. The grass, dirt, rock, and any life in the area was immediately wiped from existence as the aura grew. After 30 feet of matter had been disposed of, the light halted and the boy finally came-to. "What—wait—where am I? Oh.. NO, NOT AGAIN! GOHAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Damnit, I'm such an idiot! I couldn't control my power then and I still can't now. I'm sorry everyone.. I really am." Tearing up, young Gohan slowly drifted back into his uneasy slumber, haunted by nightmares of that fateful event four days ago.

-Morning, 5th Day After Cell Games on an Unknown Mountain-

The events of the Cell Games have came and went and Gohan was the eventual savior of the planet.. At a heavy price. The original hero, Goku was now dead, unable to return to life, and his rival, Vegeta, lost the will to fight. The Z Warriors were in shambles and their only hope for future fights, Gohan was in mental turmoil from those events, able to do little more than eat, sleep, and cry.

-Flashback to the End of The Cell Games-

"Quick, Yamcha, get Gohan to the lookout! Dende needs to get to him before Other World does! Tien, follow him with Trunks' body and Krillin—" the bald monk slowly looked up to the alien with huge, pleading eyes and back to the stunning blonde woman laying covered in saliva on the ground "—do what you have to." Piccolo's deep, commanding voice rang out. "Right Away!" "Yes sir!" "On it!" The three Z warriors yelled back to their new stand-in leader and flew off with a burst of nearly transparent energy.

Blood stains marked the two spots where the warriors once laid. The larger of the two had once housed Trunks, with a gaping hole in his chest and cuts everywhere else. The purple-haired teen had been caught off-guard and paid for it with his life. A few yards away, Gohan's patch of blood stained sand was also freshly unoccupied. The 11 year old phenom that used to lay there had been beaten worse than anyone Piccolo had seen in his short life. Gohan had cuts and bruises in more places than Piccolo cared to count. Dende could heal most if it, however Gohan was in much, much worse condition than a few cuts and bruises. The boy had multiple cracked ribs on his right side and a few on the left. He had more than a couple cracks in different vertebrae from the beginning of the fight and a gaping gash across most of his forehead, down to the bone, which was fractured as well. The bone above his right eye was also broken and his jaw wasn't in much better shape. But none of that could really compare to the child prodigy's right arm and shoulder. Most of the muscle and ligaments had been ripped away and burnt off from Cells blast. It hit so hard that the shoulder bone tore through the skin and left the rest of his shoulder exposed to the elements. Essentially, his shoulder was gone, yet the boy still fought on and killed Cell. Piccolo scowled and grimaced at the pain his pupil must have went through, but couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sense of pride in Gohan.

You did damn well kid, your father's proud.

Noticing Vegeta was still floating above the battlefield, Piccolo decided to approach him. "You alright?"

"Fine. I need no one to take care of me." The Prince's smug voice came out strained with held back emotion and Piccolo took notice.

"No one was prepared for what happened today Vegeta. Gohan is a freak of nature, how any single being can be that strong, I'll have no idea. Don't blame yourself. Goku can be revived, so don't beat yourself up too much. You'll get your chance."

Vegeta scowled for a second, grunted and then took off towards the lookout. Heart heavy from the events of the day, Piccolo finally focused his attention on the few humans still present.

A rather large man with an unkept afro and singed facial hair hobbled up to Piccolo and proclaimed in a loud, dimwitted voice, "Uh-uh-yeah big green man, you see that? Cell got scared with his cheap tricks and ran off! Big idiot thought he could beat the champ! HAHAHA"

"Wow Mr. Satan, that's incredible! You're truly a hero, the world is saved! I've gotta go report on this, the people deserve to know what happened!" A mustached news reporter ran off in the direction of a capsized van and began to bustle about.

Next it was the three lackeys of Hercule's that decided to ham up the champ, praising him with compliment after compliment, even going so far as to compare him to Kami. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, they grew bored of lauding over him and Hercule waved the trio off to go over and help the news team.

He then looked over at Piccolo, and with a smug grin plastered on his face, asked the larger green man, "Well, whaddya think? I was pretty good, huh?" Seething with anger, Piccolo deepened his scowl and glared into the weaker man's eyes. Fury written all over his face, Piccolo closed the gap between them and swiftly clutched the man by the throat and lifted him a foot off the ground. His voice dripping with venom and barley contained hatred, Piccolo growled, "Out of respect for the privacy of Gohan and his family, I'll allow you to take credit for what has happened here today."—Hercule, now with eyes wide and full of terror vigorously nodded his head—"HOWEVER, you will not forget that you owe your life to Gohan and his father, Goku. They are the ones who saved the earth today. Not you. You're scum. Got it?"—again, vigorous nodding—"Good. Now, I'm off to go check on the real champion of the planet. Don't forget what truly has happened here today." Shooting Hercule one last death glare, Piccolo threw him a yard to the right and flew off with a blast of energy, to the lookout.

Piccolo arrived at his new home just in time to watch Dende start healing Gohan. The others were out of critical condition, due to a quick boost from the new guardian of Earth and began to rest. Those that weren't resting were staring at the young Son kid with watery eyes and unmasked sorrow, feeling for the warrior that saved them all and was no doubt in more pain than any of them could comprehend. ChiChi was the first to call out and break the uneasy silence, "DENDE, HEAL MY BABY BOY!" He simply nodded and looked down at Gohan, who was still breathing in short, ragged breaths, coughing up blood every so often and letting out involuntary groans whenever he was forced to move. Dende sighed and let the others know that he would do everything he could, but he'd never healed anyone nearly as strong as Gohan, so the results were a shot in the dark.

After an hour or so of healing, Dende proclaimed that Gohan was out of critical condition and well on his way to recovery, much to the relief of everyone present. The young Namekian wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at his handiwork. Apart from the many scars that decorated his body from other battles, Gohan had only acquired two more major trophies. One light mark across his brow that was set at an angle, slightly wider in the middle than the edges, but no wider than a quarter of an inch. The other was a jagged oval shape about three inches in diameter. The scar had a tail that went down few inches towards the bicep and ended. Once again, ChiChi broke the silence, "Can't you do anything about those marks? He'll look like a delinquent and never get into a good college and then what'll he do!?" Shaking her head, she pointed a finger at the healer, "FIX IT!" Staring at the ground, Dende said with a pleading look in his eye, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I really can't do anything else right now. My ki is completely gone and I barely have enough to stand up."—One look from ChiChi was all she needed to confirm that this was the truth, the shorter Namekian had his shoulders slumped forward, knees wobbling, sweat pouring down his face, and was breathing in short gasping breaths.—"Your son is incredibly strong and it took everything I had to heal all of his wounds without any negative side effects. I started from his muscle tissue and bones and worked my way out. I simply didn't have enough power to finish regrowing his skin perfectly. If he wants to, we can recut open the skin and grow it back again once my power has restored, but personally, I don't want to put Gohan through anymore hardship than he already has." ChiChi only nodded and sat back down, white faced and shaking, longing to comfort her baby boy.

"Okay everyone, this is what's going to happen. We take Gohan to a bed and let him sleep for a while. Once he wakes up, we can summon Shenron and wish all the madness caused by Cell to be undone. It'll be a bit of a struggle, but I think we can get Goku back, if we go to New Namek. But for now, let's wait. We can all stay here until then." Piccolo once again too the position as leader and instructed the group on how to go forward. Glancing at the group, he smirked at all of the hopeful faces, took one last look at Gohan and flew off to go make sure the world was as it should be.

~~~~~—~~~~~

A while later, Piccolo felt Gohan's ki spike, signaling that he was regaining consciousness, so he quickly began the short journey back to the lookout. Upon arrival, he witnessed a scene that almost made him smile. Gohan was on his ass in the center everyone, with a bewildered, half awake look as his mother doted on him, praising him and hugging him, in an almost frantic over loving manner. The rest of the crew just sat back and watched, some with small smiles, others barely containing laughter. Spirits were high, Cell was dead, Gohan was alright, and everything made it through… except for Goku, who could be brought back without much trouble.

Clearing his throat, Piccolo called for Dende to grab the Dragon Balls and everyone naturally gathered around. With a quick glance at Gohan and a small smirk, Piccolo made a statement, "Gohan, you did great kid, so we'll give you the honors of calling forth Shenron and making the wishes." A small nod from the kid showed he had heard, and after a brief pause, he called out in a voice more powerful than any 11 year old should have, "Shenron, O mighty dragon, I call you forth!"

The seven orbs began to glow with a deep golden light. The stars shone with a brighter yellow, eventually expanding out to encompass the entire cylinder, before magically forming a perfect circle. A split second later, a single bolt of lightening flowed through the circle. As this was happening, unnatural pitch black clouds flowed overhead, seemingly from nowhere. Then, another single bolt screamed down from the heavens and struck the center of the ring. A blinding light followed and then the dragon was there.

In a deep booming voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once, the dragon stated in a neutral tone, "You who have awakened my slumber, I shall grant you two wishes. State them now."

"Yes Shenron, uh… I would like to wish that all of the people killed by Cell back to life!"

The towering dragon's red eyes intensified into a bright red that would too bright to directly look at.

"It is now done. State your next wish.

This time Piccolo stepped in. "As I expected, this dragon had the same model as the last, so Goku can't be revived again."—terror clawed at Gohan's face and he let out an involuntary wimper—"However, I have an idea. We ask the dragon to wish a few of us to New Namek and we revive them there." The boys eyes quickly lit up, full of fire and the color back in his face and he began to speak again "Alright Shenron I want you to—"

"Wait, guys, I don't think that'll work.." Goku's voice also seemed to come from everywhere at once. The entire crew, save Gohan, looked around with questioning faces, in shock. "Well why not!?" ChiChi practically screamed, panic edging into her voice. "Well, there's a couple reasons. I've actually been thinking and you guys know how basically every major threat to earth was after me? Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Frieza, the androids, Cell, and pretty much everyone else from the early days. Well if I'm not there, they won't really have any reason to attack. Plus, if they do, Gohan will take care of 'em easy! He's way stronger than I am now, and I have nothing to teach him. I'm proud of you, son."—Gohan sat there, shell shocked, tears flowing freely from each eye. His blood ran cold and the pit in his stomach expanded almost made the boy double over in emotional pain. All he could do was nod.—"The second reason is that the higher-ups here won't let me go back. They say they have some plans for me, something about atoning for me killing a Kai. They say I owe them some service to balance everything out, but that's about they've told me.." Goku's voice trailed off and even though the Saiyan tried to his best to keep his voice upbeat and happy, there was no masking the enormous weight of the sadness that he felt.

The mood took a sudden downturn and everyone turned to Gohan, the tension so high it was almost suffocating. Waiting for his reaction, no one made a sound. Realizing this, Gohan simply looked at everyone, with red eyes and tears still present. He attempted a smile but ultimately failed. After a few tries at a sentence, he eventually choked out a few words,"I…I'm sorry ev-v-veryone… Its my fault… Mom, I'm sorry" His voice trailed off and he looked down at the tiles on the ground.

"Gohan, no don't say that. None of this is your fault. If it wasn't for you, none of us would even be here right now. You can't do this, you need to be strong for me, your mother, everyone here, the entire earth,… and"—Goku hesitated here, wondering if he should continue. Ultimately, he chose to have faith in his son—"your little sibling that'll be here soon… You have a responsibility now, okay?" Gohan's eyes snapped open, in terror and he desperately looked at his mother, who gave him a small, sad smile.

Pain. Loss. Anger. Hatred. Self loathing. These five emotions consumed the entirety of the child, crippling him, ingraining themselves so deeply that they'd play an integral role in his entire life. With wide, terror filled eyes, he jumped up and stumbled back a couple of steps. The weight of what he'd done had finally hit him dead on, threatening to crush the frightened child. He managed to stammer out in a small voice, "I-I…. I'm sorry…" before he gathered energy and launched himself off the lookout, flying to Kami knows where.

"Damnit son, I'm the one who should be sorry. What kind of a father puts his son in that heavy of a situation…" Goku's depressive tone rang out in the silence. "I know what you were trying to do there Goku, but your son doesn't work the same way you do. He's always been more gentle and for some reason, lacks self confidence."

"I know ChiChi, but I thought he'd react a bit differently…"

"It's okay sweetie, you meant no harm."

As ChiChi's voice trailed off, another oppressive silence overtook the lookout.

"Well guys, I'm sorry, but I've got to go and find out what's going on here. Everyone, I want you to train as hard as you can"—Vegeta spat from the corner he was perched at and shook his head, lifted it and with a dead, emotionless voice stated, "I'm done Kakarot, you've bested me in more ways than one. My pride won't let me fight anymore." And with that he flew off.

"No, Vegeta! You can't just say you're done! You have to train and fight and be there for my son, like I can't be." Goku's voice wavered and he didn't even bother to try to hide the panic creeping into his voice. This time Bulma spoke up, "Don't worry Goku, we'll talk some sense into that pig headed idiot. He'll come around, don't worry about anything!"

A light, humorless chuckle escaped the late Saiyan, "Thank you, Bulma. Okay, now everyone, I've really got to go. I'm sorry and I really do love you all, but I'm leaving you in good hands! ChiChi… please be strong for our son and next kid. You're the pillar and I'm so proud of the mother you've become. I'm way too lucky for my own good, and just know that even from over here, I'll love you until we meet again. Gohan"—Goku mentally kicked himself again, realizing that Gohan could hear every word of the conversation that they were having, due to the nature of the communication. He would no doubt blame himself for Vegeta's pain as well. Just another thing he failed at as a father he thought to himself—"I need you to hang in there buddy. I'm so proud of the person you're becoming. You've earned this time to yourself and I hope things start to fall into place. I love you more than you know, son…. Okay, guys, sorry for the short goodbyes, but I've really gotta go! I'll try my best to keep in touch. Until next time!" Goku sent a mental image of himself, with his signature grin on his face and a golden ring of light above his head, waving one last heartfelt goodbye to everyone.

For minutes that seemed to drag on into hours, no one said a word. No one moved. They all just stood there, shocked, trying to absorb all of the information they had just received. Even Piccolo didn't know what to do, and he just stood there. It seemed that the situation would carry on like this for eternity, until the dragon spoke once again, "Tell me your last wish, mortal."

No one spoke for a minute, then Krillin had an idea and discussed it with the group. There were no arguments, as no one really cared what the last wish was made on at the moment. "Shenron! Can you turn the androids back into humans?"

"I cannot do this, as they are already humans. State your wish."

Krillin's head hung for a moment, before a figurative lightbulb flashed in his head, "Well can you make the bombs inside of them disappear? That should make them be a little more human.."

"Yes, you're wish shall be granted."

The dragon's eyes glowed red once more.

"I've granted two wishes. I shall go back to my slumber once more."

As Shenron finished speaking, another blinding flash of lightning struck the ground. The beast was gone. The ring of orbs then sprung into the air and exploded outwards, streaking across the sky before coming to rest once more, waiting to be found again.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, silence reined supreme. No one had the heart to try and speak, not daring to say the wrong thing, or to preoccupied with their own thoughts to interact with others. Minutes went by and again the silence was shattered.

The winds around the lookout began to whip around, moving much faster than naturally possible. The air became charged with power that even the untrained mind could sense. Immediatley, the Z-Fighters snapped their heads in the same direction. A massive amount of ki was just released and it was climbing at an astonishing rate. "What the hell..?" Yamcha wondered out loud. The ki kept flowing around with more and more intensity, feeling hostile, angry at the world. The amount of power was staggering and if it wasn't controlled, could completely shake apart the planet and right now, no one was in control. "Gohan?" Krillin asked in a shaky voice, already knowing the answer.

"Gohan." Piccolo's grave voice confirmed Krillin's question.

Ending A/N

Wow, first chap and already a minor cliffhanger! Hate me if you wanna, but it needed to happen! :3 In all honesty, I didn't want to make the chapter too much longer and it seemed that here was a sort of natural stopping point. I made this over the span of a couple days, so if you see any inconsistencies or anything, just let me know. Next chapter soon!

Thanks again for reading! :)