Author's Note: FINALLY! FF net's gonna let me post it! Anyway, sorry for the long break, everybody! I was sick, went on vacation, got sick again with bronchitis/pneomonia... it's been a crazy month or two. So, here's a new bit for you, the concept having sprung up from ANOTHER fanfiction I've been working on for ages. Enjoy!
"You are such a complete and total idiot! If I thought beating it into you would help, I'd do it! How many fucking times have I told you to THINK before you act? What in the hell were you thinking when you did that? Never mind... I don't want to know. For the love of the gods, Goku, do you have any idea what kind of trouble you've stirred up?"
Goku cringed as Sanzo continued to pace back and forth in front of him, shouting louder than he'd ever thought the man could. His fingers were curled and worrying his pants into messy knots as the monk continued to rant with blazing violet eyes. Sanzo was beyond really mad at him. Sanzo was SCARY mad!
"As if I didn't have enough to do, now I've got all your shit to clean up," Sanzo snarled, pausing to slam his palms down hard enough on his desk to set the papers jumping. He picked up a stack and waved them an inch from Goku's nose. "See these? These are all complaints registered against you to the town magistrate! And these?" He dropped the first pile and offered up another, thicker stack. "These are all the bills the temple is now going to have to pay because of your goddamn ignorance! And these?" He lifted yet another stack, this one not quite as big as the other two. "These are all the fucking morons I'm now going to have to apologize to because YOU DON'T FUCKING THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!"
Goku cowered away at the new volume Sanzo was demonstrating, tears stinging his eyes as he looked away from his friend. His entire body was trembling sharply as he scrunched his eyes closed, tucking his head down to his chest so Sanzo couldn't see him cry. He really hadn't meant to cause so much trouble. It had been an accident, honestly! He opened his mouth to say so, but all that managed to come out was a little squeak of sound.
Sanzo hadn't heard the noise and continued shouting at him. "And then you ran away for three days! Three FUCKING DAYS! No one knew where you were! You weren't coming back for meals! I searched the entire goddamn forest by myself for your sorry ass, and what did I find out? You'd been hiding in the forest the whole fucking time! I want to know why the hell you didn't come straight to me when this happened!"
Once again, he tried to find his voice, but it had disappeared. He'd never felt like this before with Sanzo! It was fear, something he didn't like at all, and it was worse because it was his very best friend who was making him scared. It wasn't just that, though. It was something else... like he was sad that he'd made Sanzo so angry, and that Sanzo had to do all that just because of him. He wanted to run away again, somewhere far away where he didn't have to bother Sanzo any longer. He ventured to peek through his hair up at Sanzo. He flinched when he saw the really hot anger in his eyes, but there was something else there too that he'd never seen before. Something... that wasn't angry.
What was that? He didn't know what to call it, but it wasn't mean or angry. It almost looked sad, like Sanzo's feelings were hurt. It made Goku feel a hundred times worse to think that he'd made Sanzo sad. The look he couldn't name disappeared as Sanzo raised one eyebrow (something he really wished he knew how to do!) and let the anger take over completely. "I'm waiting. Are you going to start talking, or am I going to beat it out of you? Why the hell did you run away?"
Goku opened his mouth. He opened his mouth and tried to talk and it was like his voice wouldn't work. It was like his tongue was all dry and his throat was all tight. It hadn't happened until he'd been brought in front of Sanzo and been yelled at and seen how upset his friend was. Suddenly, Goku understood why he couldn't talk. It was because he was looking at Sanzo! If he didn't have to look at Sanzo, he could talk! Eager to test his idea, Goku began to shuffle quickly for the door.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going? Hey! Get back here, Goku, I am NOT done with you yet!" Sanzo's quick footsteps came after him. Goku cringed and whined as a hand closed hard on his shoulder and spun him around hard. The long fingers dug in almost painfully, but they eased when Goku began to shiver uncontrolably. "No more running away, Goku. Start talking now!" Sanzo's voice was still angry, but he wasn't shouting anymore.
Swallowing even though he didn't have any spit or food in his mouth, Goku tried twice before he managed to squeeze out, "I...just wanna stand on th' other side of th' door."
Sanzo's eyes narrowed as he gave Goku a really confused look. "What? Why?"
"C-Cuz... cuz I wanna. Can I? Please?"
Violet eyes narrowed even further briefly before closing as he released Goku, shoulder sagging as if he was worn out. "Fine. But if you pull any of that running away shit, you better hope to the gods I don't catch you!"
Goku nodded and swallowed again as he continued to the door, opening it just enough to slip out before shutting it again. He pressed his back to the wall with the pretty picture stretched all across it and waited until he heard the creaking of the floor boards that meant Sanzo was by the door. Slowly, he slid down the wall until he was hugging his knees, taking a few deep breaths like Sanzo always told him to so that he could calm down. He couldn't see Sanzo glaring at him now. He didn't have to see how upset he'd made Sanzo. Slowly, he opened his mouth to try speaking again and was happy when his voice finally came out.
"I... I'm sorry about what happened. I was only tryin' ta help that guy with his field! He said ta pull up all th' plants, an' I didn't know that th' stone fence meant I was in someone else's field. An' I didn't know I wasn't supposed ta eat th' stuff either. I was really hungry after pullin' up all those veggies, an' the carrots looked really good. Then, when they got mad, I left an' I saw another guy in another field, only it was different than the other two fields, an' he was hurtin' that poor horse! He kept beatin' it an yellin' at it, an' I felt really bad for it... so I snuck in an' let it outta th' barn. Th' horse looked so happy, Sanzo! But... th' guy wasn't and he chased me with those really big fork thingies.
"An' when I was runnin' from him, I met that old lady on th' road an' she asked if I could get her cat outta the tree. Well, you told me cat's always land on their feet, so I figured if I climbed up an' threw the cat down it'd be okay cuz it'd land on it's feet. It landed on some other lady walkin' by, an' it really scractched her bad. But it landed on its feet, just like you said! I felt REALLY bad about th' lady, cuz she'd been really pretty before th' cat went an' scratched her, an' I told her that. Then she hit me with her umbrella! Sanzo... I've gotta big hole in th' back of my head cuz of that stupid umbrella! An' then SHE started chasin' me, so I had to run through that fancy bath tub place. It was full of naked LADIES! Sanzo, have YOU ever seen a naked lady? They're scary, an' they got so mad at me! They started screamin' an' throwin' stuff at me... an' that's when those guys showed up tellin' me my name was Tom an' that I was a dirty sumthin'-or-other. I tried tellin' them that my name was Goku an' that I'd just had a bath but I'd been helpin' out those farmers, but they wouldn't listen to me an' said they were gonna lock me up for good! An' Sanzo... I didn't wanna get locked up again. I don't ever wanna be locked up again! So... I hit 'em both an' went into th' forest to hide.
"I didn't mean ta get lost in th' forest, either. Honest, I didn't! I heard you callin' me, an' I tried to follow your voice but it was gettin' dark an' I... I was scared. So, I hid in a cave an' figured you'd come find me tomorrow cuz YOU knew where I was. Then, ya didn't come an' I got really scared an' started walkin' around. An' that's when th' monks found me an' brought me back. I'm really, really, really, REALLY sorry! I know I'm stupid an' I do stupid things, but I really did try an' think about what I was doin' an'-,"
Goku gulped and flinched as an afterthought when he felt Sanzo slide down to sit next to him on the floor. His eyes went really wide as he began to shake all over again. When did Sanzo open the door? Why was he sitting next to him when he was angry? Was Sanzo going to send him away for good this time? Goku glanced over nervously as the familiar sounds and smell of Sanzo lighting a cigarette filled the narrow hall way.
"First of all, you're not stupid," Sanzo said in the tone of voice that meant Goku was to listen and pay attention. "I know you can be smart when you want to be, you just make some really bad decisions sometimes. Second of all, don't EVER throw a cat. Cat's are nasty creatures anyway, and throwing them just pisses them off. Third of all, what the hell makes you think I've seen a naked woman, or that I even want to? They're scary enough with their clothing on."
Goku couldn't help the snicker that snuck free from his mouth at that. He shot a quick, worried glance at Sanzo and was relieved to see his friend smiling just slightly. Okay... Sanzo had meant it as a joke. That meant he wasn't mad any more. Good! "Fourth," Sanzo continued, the smile leaving his face so that his look was now very serious. "If anyone says they're going to lock you up for good, they're going to have to go through me first. I took you out, and I'm not going to let anyone put you back in, understand?"
He nodded as tears came to his eyes again at the thought of being put back in that horrible, dark cave. He believed Sanzo when he said he wouldn't let that happen. Sanzo always did what he said he was gonna do.
"Last thing before I start cleaning this shit up; the minute you get in trouble, you come immediately back to the temple. No more running away. No more hiding. You come and get me."
"I didn't run away or hide on purpose though, Sanzo. I got lost!"
"In which case you need to scream louder so I can hear you, monkey. Now, get up and get cleaned up. You smell like shit."
Goku stuck his tongue out at the monk before quickly rolling across the ground to avoid the fan that slapped against the wall. "Haha! Ya missed me!"
"You little... You've got ten seconds to get in that tub before I papercut your ass with the fan!"
As Goku hurried down the hall with a yip in response to the threat, Sanzo's head thunked back against the wall as a low, agonized groan broke from him. He thought about all the stacks of papers waiting for his response... and decided to fuck it off in favor of getting even with the brat for giving him a raspberry.