Dystopia Unleashed

By WhoIsThisDamnAuthor

Edited Ver. 28-6-2016

It has been pointed out to me that I needed a few minor edits in my chapters, starting from this one, so I've decided to finish them off.

I hope it will read a little better by the time I'm done.

Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Training

Goku let out his third massive burp of the meal. Minato, sitting to his left, seemed ready to throw out his bowl of ramen. "Another bowl, kid?" Ichiraku was the only one left who was still enthusiastic about this crazy kid's eating habits.

To be completely fair, the Hokage had personally agreed to pay for the little boy's food expenses, so neither Goku, nor the young businessman who'd started a ramen shop because of a drunken bet, were daunted in the slightest.

"Yes, please!"

The whole line waiting to be served gave out a collective sigh. This wasn't a good day for them. "Coming right up!"

After the monstrous face-stuffing was over, Minato and his new student rose, turning into the street. "So, tomorrow, we'll be going over the more advanced taijutsu moves," Goku simply nodded. He was too full to speak. "Also…" Minato paused for effect. The blush on his face marred the effect. "Kushina said she will now overlook your training along with me," he added.

A cold sweat broke out on the young Saiyan's face. That red-haired she-devil said so? And 'OVERLOOK'? She practically dominated Minato and whopped my ass! Oh damn, Shenron… There just has to be a price, hasn't there?

He waited for the usual shudder that he felt when he thought of the taboo name. There wasn't one. Hmm. Seems like his effect over my subconscious is fading already… Maybe I am free of him, after all.

Wrong words. Without warning, the evening sky darkened. People going about their lives around him on the street seemed not to notice, but Minato did. Goku looked around for the source of the sudden shadow. Not seeing anything covering any light, he looked right up.

OH. MY. GOD.

The sky was swirling, like it was being stirred by a huge ladle. The small flashes of lightning seemed random at first, but after a while, they looked like they were defining a shape in the clouds. A familiar shape.

I just had to tempt fate. Just fucking had to…

The lightning flashes grew denser, now almost covering the green dragon's entire body. The continuous light intensified, revealing his worst fears out into the darkened twilight.

The dragon hovered there, in all his emerald majesty. Its red eyes were bright with what could only be called rage. They smouldered like coals in a furnace. And they seemed focused on him.

What more could he want? I thought the deal was sound. All my Ki in exchange for freedom! Oh, come on… He prepped himself for another round of mental torture and complete fragmentation of his memories. Not wanting to see it happen, he closed his eyes.

That had no effect. For even with his eyes closed, all his mind could picture was that cruel green face, the snout, the red, terrifying eyes, and that disgusting red mane.

Wait. Red mane? Wasn't Shenron exclusively…

GREEN? RIGHT ON, RUNT.

Goku opened his eyes in astonishment. Shenron's reptilian façade had been replaced by the face of the second most feared person on his list. Kushina stared at him, but somehow, she had retained Shenron's blood-curdling gaze.

She had on a nasty, sadistic expression. Wait. What is going on?

Her head seemed attached to the rest of Shenron's form. He tore his eyes away from that debilitating stare, and looked over at Minato. He seemed frozen in place, unable to move a muscle, or even keep his jaw from touching the ground. He looked back. And saw the dragon-girl mess rushing towards him.

Somehow, he knew what part of his body she was aiming for.

"NOT MY BALLS!" Goku screamed and sat up. Keeping his eyes closed, he expected pain to travel up his entire torso once the initial shock of being punched in the giblets faded. There was none for at least a minute.

Slowly, fearfully, he opened his eyes. He was in his allotted room. The ceiling fan slowly turned, giving no breeze at all to evaporate the sweat soaking through his new nightclothes. The half-eaten cup ramen lay on the chair he was using as a makeshift night-stand. His copy of Basic Ninja Techniques was flung down onto the floor, right where he'd chucked it in frustration the night before.

Damn that woman! She's begun to invade my dreams now, too? Can't I get a moment's peace without her presence?

For the first three days of Son Goku's training, here in this new world, had not gone well. First of all, he'd grossly underestimated how much his own body had atrophied in the millions of decades spent inside Shenron. Forget one-finger push-ups in 100G; forget them even in standard gravity. Even the standard one hand routine left him breathless and tired after a hundred reps.

Despite his quite literal handicap, he'd done everything Kushina had said, and more. She asked for thirty taijutsu katas, he did forty-five. She set traversal of the village skyline from point to point time limit to a gruelling two minutes, he found a path, through maybe an unused alleyway, or a chance open window, to shave twenty seconds from that as well. Yet, she never gave him a word of appreciation. Not even a glance of acknowledgement.

It didn't faze him, for he was used to setting insane training standards, but the constant lack of approval made her into a respected, if not totally feared, teacher. Every kunai he'd thrown, in practice the day before, earned disappointed glances if they were so much as a hair's breadth from the minuscule cross drawn on the bark of a tree fifty metres away. Every day he trained under her became absolute hell before the sun set. But even then, she wasn't done. She would keep him there, without any food or water, for a dozen hours at a stretch, with a total of barely five minutes of rest.

He did not fear the training as much as he feared her disapproval. The fact that there was someone other than Vegeta who had such extreme expectations of themselves and others was astounding. Goku detested Kushina deeply, but was always at the training ground fifteen minutes before the stipulated time, doing an extra kunai drill, or a little sprinting speed workout.

It was working better than he'd ever expected. His body, having already been in a state of high muscle mass, was readily returning to its pre-Shenron state. The unlimited food decree given by the Hokage worked in his favour as well. The meat protein, plus the crazy training had already brought his biceps back, and his thighs felt like rocks under his ochre gi.

The best part of the training, he felt, was the half hour Kushina allotted for interaction with his original sensei. He and Minato would discuss theory, such as the concept of Instant Transmission using kuchiyose scrolls on specially constructed kunai. Also, Minato showed him advanced Chakra moves, to keep him interested. The rasengan was definitely the first move he was going to learn, as soon as the devil taught him how to mould his own Chakra. The Kage Bunshin came a close second, for Goku knew that when his Ki returned, it divided amongst even a thousand of his clones would be devastatingly huge. More was definitely merrier.

But all that for later, he reminded himself. First let's learn about Chakra. He reached over, and pulled the book on basic ninjutsu towards him. Opening it to the section labelled 'Chakra', he started description in the basic book was very vague. Chakra usage had a lot to do with feeling your way around to find your physical energy, or something. Also, some mental energy was needed as well. Combining those gave rise to the basic requirement of all Ninjutsu.

He had concentrated to find this physical energy, but it was useless. Apparently, it had to be extracted from every cell in the body. He closed his eyes, ready to try again. This time, he sensed the presence of a certain pipeline throughout his body that wasn't there before. It is probably because it is so weak compared to my Ki. Now that I have no Ki, this Chakra now becomes my lifeline.

He had no trouble finding his mental energy. Master Roshi's training regime had raised his concentration to near perfect levels. Willing his way through, he forced a little of his mental energy through the pipeline he'd just found. As soon as it was flowing nicely, he pushed at the little beads of physical energy present in the cells right next to the pipeline. They too broke the surface, entering the vessels smoothly and easily. What happened next was certainly unexpected.

As soon as they combined, Goku felt a pressure unlike anything he'd ever felt while exuding Ki. His entire body seemed like it was going to explode, and the pipeline seemed ready to burst. The pressure turned to pain. Excruciating pain.

He screamed as it reached unbearable levels. In his extreme panic, he had to find a way out for the pressure. Else it felt like he was going to explode from the inside. He realized that the pressure was also pinching certain points just under his skin. He realized that the way to clear the pain was to somehow let it out through those points. He simply willed them to open. Nothing fancy, just a simple thought. And, like a magical genie was hearing and granting Goku's every frickin' thought, the 361 tenketsu present on his body all simultaneously opened.

Like the floodgates of an overfull dam, Chakra burst forth, enveloping his entire body, and flowing outwards in random directions. It was a wild flow, completely uncontrollable. The entire apartment shook with the aftershocks. The ramen cup had already fallen over, the soaked stale noodles were strewn over the bed sheets.

With a start, he realized that he had to shut off the flow. Using sheer willpower, he separated the physical and mental energies; making the mental part flow back through separate pipeline vessels back to his mind, letting the physical stuff seep back slowly into his cells.

He took a deep, shuddering breath. The entire bedspread was covered with ramen goop and his sweat. He stood up, removing his clothes. That would be his third bath of the day. Rolling up the bed sheet into a ball, he tossed it out of the window. It was now his landlady's problem. Entering the cubicle, he turned on the shower. The water was cold at this time of the night, or rather early morning. What he wanted was a boiling hot shower to loosen his tired and sore muscles.

He decided to try a little something. Closing his eyes, he plucked out little mental energy, a fraction of what he'd drawn before. Combining it with the same amount of physical energy right around his palms. As the pressure built up, he thrust his hand right up, grabbing the shower head. He released all his generated chakra through the holes in his hand into the holes of the shower. Removing his hand, he let the water flow again. It was piping hot, just the way he wanted.

Just perfect. The shower was soothing for two reasons now.

The next morning, he was rudely awoken by screams from the landlady. He abruptly got up, and stumbled downstairs to the source of the commotion. The landlady's front door was open. He could hear sobbing from the inside. He ran in, expecting some sort of armed robbery. He reached the bedroom, and there she sat, clutching her face. It looked red and puffy. "Kotonoha-baa-san, what happened?" he asked.

"I-I-I t-t-t-turned on the ta-ta-tap to w-w-wash my f-f-f-face..."she said, amidst sobs, "And the water was scalding! So hot! I burned my face and my palms!"

Goku gulped. That little amount of chakra wasn't so little after all.

"I will find the rascal who heated up the water supply to boiling, and won't rest till I throw a bucket of his own water onto his face!" She seemed livid with rage now.

"Don't do that, Kotonoha-baa-san!" Goku added hurriedly. "I'm sure he suffered as a result as well... I highly doubt it was a prank..."

He reached over to the dressing table and got hold of the skin ointment. He gently took the landlady's palms in his hands, and rubbed the oily substance right into them, as gently as he could. Kotonoha smiled wearily. It was a genuine smile, though. She really liked her new tenant. "Why can't those other whippersnappers be like you, Son-kun? You've only been here three days, and you've done more to help me than all the others combined over the last year," she ranted on, oblivious to her new tenant's now relaxed face.

Goku sighed with relief. At least I'm off the hook... She'll never suspect me.

He looked over at the wall clock. OH HOLY CRAP!

It was 5:30 already. "Sorry, baa-san, but I have to rush," he said, not even waiting for a reply. Springing up the stairs, he changed quickly into his fighting gi, and jumped out of the window, already heading for the next rooftop. There was no time to amble through the village today, enjoying the sounds of people working, as they set up their various shops, readying for the business of the day.

Using his newfound parkour slash roadrunning style, he reached the training ground a good five minutes early. To his horror, Kushina was already there.

"You're LATE!" she said, as he skidded smartly to a halt in front of her.

"That's not fair! I'm early, five minutes early!" he replied indignantly.

"A good shinobi would have been here a half hour earlier..." she said, disdain evident from her tone of voice.

Goku simply stared at his shoes sullenly. This was not an argument he was going to win.

"Anyway," she continued, "I've brought someone here with me. She is my friend, and she really wanted to see this new kid I'm training." She looked straight at him, and matched his gaze. "Yes, you, in case you were too stupid to realize already."

She pointed to her left. "There she is!"

Goku followed her finger. The person he saw stopped his heart. It was the girl from the street. Goku felt his face go crimson. In his fantasies, he'd always referred to her as Jasmine, after her characteristic smell. She'd always like being called that, in his dreams... Even now, the fragrance of freshly picked jasmine blossoms wafted off of her, alluring, yet somehow comforting all at once. There she sat, legs crossed, wearing a simple, yet beautiful blue dress. A red and white fan was embroidered on the left breast. He reddened further. He didn't mean to look at her breast. Man, ol' man Roshi really liked them, didn't he?

All this was forgotten in a hurry as he tasted mud in his mouth. "YAAAH!" he screamed as he noticed Kushina stuffing a mouthful of mossy soil down his throat. Lucky I haven't had breakfast. It would have all come out in a hurry...

He hurriedly pushed Kushina's putrid hand away from his face, and quickly hacked and coughed all the mud out. It took quite a while. Rubbing his tongue, he removed the sick taste from his buds. He wouldn't be able to taste anything for a few days, at the very least. "Why the hell did you do that?" he screamed at his villain of a teacher.

"You're lucky I didn't choke you to death with it-ttebane," There it was. The sentence closer she used when she was pissed or excited. Goku saw no reason for her to be excited, but you never knew. Maybe Kushina had a fetish for strangling kids with fresh clayey soil. "Anyway," she continued, "are you going to stare all day, or are you going to disappoint me in some other way, all over again, runt?"

Now she's gone and done it. Goku was angry now. All the frustration of his weakened body, the weird dreams, the sleepless nights, and being called runt by a girl young enough to be his granddaughter came out at once. Focusing, he dragged out the mental energy into the chakra pipeline. Adding the required physical energy, he concentrated on his palm, again.

He had noticed the subtle motions of chakra Minato had produced to make the Rasengan. He merely copied from sheer instinct. Add a rotation here, the reverse direction over here, maybe another perpendicular circle here... He looked up to see Kushina's eyes popping. See this, red devil? Finally surprised?

He remembered who had come to watch. Blushing furiously, he tried his best to keep a calm, detached face, like it was nothing at all to produce a Rasen-whatever.

"STOP! YA' FOOL!"

Goku looked back at Kushina. She actually looked worried. What happened? Why are you looking so scared? Afraid of my growing strength?

He looked down at his hand. And saw a very large replica of Minato's attack hovering over his bleeding palm. What's happening? Minato's is just as strong, but smaller. How does he make it that small? And why is my palm bleeding? All of a sudden, everything went to hell. The ball suddenly got uncontrollable, chakra rotation unravelling and entangling all at once. Goku realized, with a growing horror that this was heading to an eventual explosion.

NO! I won't show weakness in front of her! After all I've done the last three days; this is the only thing that has impressed her! Also, the beautiful girl is also here... I'd better not fail in front of her, else I'll have to work extra hard to make up for that kind of first impression.

He held out his right hand as well, and released equal chakra into it. Straining his mind to its limit, he added the same random rotations to it as well. CRAP! A fresh burst of pain arose as his right hand similarly started oozing blood. He'd added the exact opposite but equal rotations to this one. The result was that he now had two huge mirrored rasengans in both hands, about to destroy more than his hands if he didn't act fast.

Lifting his right hand, he brought it over to his left side, and re-assumed a well-remembered stance. Letting both the balls of chakra mingle, he waited until the rotations synced. The opposing motions of the two rasengans meshed together, creating a very effective gear-like system. It pumped the chakra from in between the intersection of the two balls, creating a common current of chakra that pushed forwards on the tips of his fingers.

He waited, counting mentally. Ka...Me...

Ha...Me...

Kushina looked completely freaked out now. As for his dream woman, she looked on, enthralled by this thirteen-year old managing not one, but two examples of a Jonin-level technique. Goku fed on the confidence that gaze gave him, and gathered the power. And, like a flash, it hit him. Ideas begun to sprout in his mind, ideas of chakra control and usage, and a myriad ways in which the advanced jutsus Minato had shown him could be performed. Also, he realized, much to his pleasure and surprise, that most of the seal formations were plain useless in a lot of techniques.

Dende have mercy, I'm a freaking genius!

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

MOTHER OF FUCKING GOD!

Kushina saw the bluish-white beam come out of the kid's hands, and decimate the trees surrounding the clearing a good hundred metres away. He maintained the attack for a good three more seconds, and then lowered his arms. The image of the beam glowing bright as it decimated the foliage seemed burned into Kushina's retinas. I berate the kid for three damn days, and he produces THAT? What kind of monster is he?

She looked at Goku's panting figure. There was chakra surrounding his entire body, tenketsus releasing the excess flow out of everywhere to minimize its destructive effect. He isn't doing this out of experience, this is sheer instinct. Only partly wrong, for Goku had a crazy amount of past experience, except the energy-providing substance was different here.

She noticed Minato running over. It was time for the official training to begin, for it was seven in the morning. Minato made it a point never to show early or late. He was here at seven, perfect right down to the millisecond. Kushina had often used him as an alarm for their chuunin written tests. Although, here, it meant that he had missed the event of the day. He slowed down, walking over to Kushina.

"What happened here? Why do you look shell-shocked, Kushina?" Minato glanced around. Saw Kushina's friend sitting on the rocky outcrop, and greeted her. "How are you doing, Mikoto?"

Kushina noticed Goku's ears prick up, and saw his lips curl into a sly smile. Whoa. He's looking all creepy; what's this all about? Ah, but I will find out.

"I'm fine, Minato-san," replied the Uchiha. "I just came here to see how Kushina's new student's training is going on,"

"Wait, wait, wait. Kushina's new student?" Minato cast a withering glance at his girlfriend. "He's my student, actually..."

"He seems more at ease with her than with you, Minato-san, if I may say so," she gave Goku a glance out of the corner of her eye, and Kushina actually saw the boy attain nirvanaright there and then.

"Never mind that," Minato's face was resigned. "What just happened?"

Kushina gulped. Took a deep breath. "Our boy just skipped over a few steps in his training."

Goku winced. She even made THAT sound like I've done something horribly wrong...

"Now that that little scare is over, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU LITTLE RUNT?" Kushina's face was as red as her hair.

"B-B-B-But..." Goku whimpered.

"Are you crazy? Trying such an advanced technique at your level? You don't even have a level yet! I'm not even going to ask who taught you all this chakra nonsense so early in your training," She paused intentionally, giving Minato a disdainful glance. Minato looked even more confused now, given that he didn't know jack shit about what had happened.

All resistance was futile. Goku hung his head down to his toes, exuding shame and sorrow. He had found that that particular pose worked with even the harshest of people. Vegeta,for one, had fallen to its sheer pathos. He just waited calmly, waited for Kushina to succumb to pity. Although, in all probability, she just might not. She is an emotionless slave-driver after all.

"Just what did Goku do that was so bad?" Minato asked.

"See for yourself," Kushina pointed towards the destroyed trees to her left.

Minato saw the carnage, and still nothing even flickered. "So he broke a couple of trees. What's bad about that?"

"Hmph!" Kushina gave an exasperated sigh. "He got those trees down without moving from that spot."

"You mean..." Minato's eyes widened. Kushina nodded. Finally, my ever so slow boyfriend gets it.

"He did that with kunais? From this distance?"

Sheesh... Why am I going out with him, anyway? The answer rose to Kushina's mind; the beautiful, moonlit night, him carrying her in his arms, having saved her from those Kumogakure shinobi, him complimenting her hair...

NO! Not the time for teen fangirling. She walked up to Minato, grabbed his stupid head, and shook it wildly. Why are you SO retarded?

"The runt's learned how to use chakra, you fool," she said. "He managed to make almost a perfect rasengan on what looked like his first try, made another, and created some beam that he then launched to decimate that flora there."

Minato's jaw hung till the floor. "Ch-ch-chakra in just one day? But we checked! His tenketsu's were completely closed yesterday! You mean he learnt how to mould it and got such fine control over it in one night?"

"Yes! And I was just telling this stupid kid to not go stomping over the learning curve!"

Goku saw both Minato and Kushina agree on that last point. I'm doomed. Just the hanging head won't work now. I'm probably going to get just the hanging part.

"How is learning that fast a bad thing?"

All conversation ceased. Everyone turned to face Mikoto, not willing to believe that she had just said.

"It's probably not my place, but what he did was impressive," she continued.

"But he could have killed himself and us both in the process!" Kushina argued.

"He didn't, did he? After all, it's the final result that counts, not the method," Mikoto added, eloquently. "Again, it's not my business, but shouldn't you be telling him how to control his chakra, instead of wasting time berating him for a genuine oversight anyone in his position could have made? You were specifically telling me how little time you have before Minato takes him on missions, weren't you, Kushina?"

Kushina was speechless. It was an irrefutable argument. I really can't say anything. The boy's progress is stupendously fast.

Minato smiled. It wasn't a very common sight; seeing Kushina stumped by someone else.

"Well then; let's get on with the training today, shall we?" He looked at Goku. The boy had tears in his eyes, tears of extreme joy. He nodded, grinning like a maniac.

"Okay, Goku," Kushina seemed to have recovered her poise. "Give me five hundred one finger push-ups, now!"

"YES, MA'AM!" Goku dropped down, completely pumped by that thumbs-up from Mikoto.

Kushina slowly walked around Goku, checking form, and technique. She didn't need to, Goku never cheated in workouts. "After this, you will sprint and race me from this end of the training ground, through the forest to the other side. God forbid you lose that race, because I shall give no quarter. Nor will I go easy on you. COME ON, faster, you runt!"

Goku smiled, and sped up his routine.

The morning and early afternoon passed uneventfully. Kushina pressed Goku to his limit, and he obliged, beating even her strictest standards. Not bad, she admitted to herself rather grudgingly. As the sun begun to approach the tops of the trees to the west of the Great Hidden Village, Kushina called a halt. Goku panted, barely able to walk and breathe at the same time.

Today wasn't so bad, Kushina actually seemed nice... mused Goku, as he huffed and puffed his way back to the central courtyard of the training grounds. His entire body ached from the harsh workout, but he didn't mind. He knew he'd surpassed all his records from the last three days. Kushina hadn't said anything, but he sensed satisfaction in her body language.

The reason for this exceptional show was the girl who had stayed and watched his entire schedule. Mikoto had been totally interested in everything Goku had to do, including the not-so-interesting fifteen minute plank. There was no movement, just him lying there, body rigid and shaking from the sheer stress on his abdomen.

As he stumbled and fell in front of his original sensei's feet, he couldn't help but wonder what she had in mind. What caused her to stay? Just a simple obligation to a friend? But Kushina wouldn't ask for a lame-ass favour as this one. No, Mikoto was here because she wanted to. Which meant only one thing. She wanted to talk to him. He blushed furiously, driving away all stray thoughts.

He saw that it was still light out. Today's training had ended rather early. It was not until well after sunset that Kushina allowed Goku his rest. What does this mean?

Kushina walked up from behind, joining her yellow-haired lover and their student. "Well, after careful consideration," she said, "And a little prodding from that persistent friend of mine, I shall agree to you getting a whole two hour lesson from Minato today."

Goku's eyes twinkled with happiness. "Use that time well, for tomorrow I shall expect you to at least use ten different chakra moves. The Kame-thingy you just did doesn't count. Get it?" Kushina smiled. "Well then, I'd better get going. I have my own work to take care of; I can't be here spoon-feeding you all day."

Goku watched her leave. She's not half bad... I see why Minato likes her. All weariness gone, he jumped up and faced the Jonin. "Come on! Teach me!"

"All right, all right. Stand with me," Minato was excited as well. This was a first for him too.

Uchiha Mikoto had been depressed for a long while now. Being an Uchiha under the rule of a Senju-taught Hokage was trying most of the time. No matter how impartial Sarutobi Hiruzen claimed he was, it still did nothing to ease tensions between the Uchiha and the other villagers. They had 'graciously' been given their own enclosure to live in, a whole section of the village just for themselves, but any fool could see that it was simply a ruse to alienate the clan from all outsiders.

Even the elders now refused to care, preferring their own clan over others in all, distrusting almost everybody else. It hurt that none of Konohagakure's great warriors came from the Uchihas, despite their considerable individual battle skill. Even the three Sannin of legend were related somehow to the Senju, Tsunade being the Shodai's granddaughter and all.

This animosity had yet to reach a climax. No, no, it was safe to say the eruption of this discontent was still decades away. However, whatever good the Sandaime was doing to promote relations towards the Uchiha, the disrupting influence of his supposed right-hand man Danzo was still causing a rift to open up, souring all of his contemporary's efforts to appease those involved in this great misundertanding.

This affected the current generation deeply, as Mikoto had observed. Her mom would subtly try to make her play with only other Uchiha girls, using methods of suggestion. "Why don't you stay here and play with Shisaki today? It's a long way to the main park, and it's sunny out..." Statements like that would not appear suspicious, not in the least, but after careful observation, Mikoto had found out the games her parents were trying to play.

Sometimes she could see it in people's eyes; the mistrust gradually building, close friends eventually drifting apart. Even Kushina had started showing the preliminary signs of this change. The two had been inseparable all through the days in the Academy, and she used to tell her every small detail about Minato. Even when they started dating, Kushina would set time apart to visit and just talk and enjoy each other's company.

But this time, it happened. Kushina forgot to tell her about the kid, the day after he arrived. It seemed innocuous, at the time, but it was a first. She told her only yesterday and she didn't seem sheepish enough that she had left out such a huge moment of her life from their conversation.

She hadn't thought it would happen to her. Not Kushina, she had thought. But she had to face the facts. Even Kushina's invitation to see the kid's training seemed forced, like some sort of overcompensation. Very well, Kushina.

So, she'd shown up, right on time, to this farce, which was going to do nothing to change anything.

She'd been pleasantly surprised. Here was a boy, who literally was an alien, commanding the respect and trust of his two teachers. But what surprised her most was that though he looked like an everyday thirteen-year old, admittedly with rippling muscles, he had an innate maturity and insight that only came with age and experience.

Every exercise he did, in those long training hours, he spoke to her. He asked her about her life, her family, with genuine interest. Everyone in the village was so irritatingly formal; it seemed like a waste to talk to anyone these days. But Goku seemed different, because he was. He was probably the only one who knew nothing about the Uchiha, nothing about the social ostracization.

He spoke to her like she was another normal person, and a rather special one, at that. He cared about every small thing she had to say to him, even if he could barely hear over the blood rushing in his head as he did another of those complex katas Kushina was teaching him.

She wanted to know more about him. This was a complete fresh start. No prejudices held Goku back. He was free, and she was going to make the most of it.

"Hey, GOKU!" She called out.

He stopped mid-sentence, and looked over. "Y-y-yes, Mikoto-san?"

"Do you mind if I join you for dinner today?"

Goku's face resembled an overripe tomato. "O-o-of c-c-course!"

"All right then!" she replied. "After your training, then?"

Goku nodded violently. It seemed like his head was going to fall off his neck.

This was going to be one serious training session.

This kid is becoming quite the damn troublemaker.

Shimura Danzo was not happy. Not only had the boy come in unannounced, he had somehow convinced Hiruzen to change the strictest of laws, those set by the Shodai himself.

First, the background checks. Every refugee, or whatever the boy was, had to be given a highly thorough background check to see if he wasn't a part of some conspiracy, or some attempt at assassination or espionage. Hiruzen had taken the boy at his word, even volunteering to let the boy tell his own story, at a time of his convenience? Highly unorthodox.

Second, the part about him being added to the Genin three-man cell. The concept of three-man cells was ideal. Three was large enough to fend off most attacks, yet not too large to be unwieldy and out of control. Minato liked the kid; he would definitely favour him over the others.

As if these weren't enough, he was now familiarising himself with the Uchiha? Danzo had absolutely no love for that traitorous clan. Sure, they had their uses, but only as living, breathing, Sharingan-using weapons. This kid was showing great potential as well. What if he got relations between the Uchihas and the village to improve? That would be a major disaster.

The kid needs to be...exterminated. He's gotten too dangerous already. The more time I spend dwelling on this, more people will notice his absence.

It has to be done, tonight.

The Uchiha girl having dinner with the boy gave the perfect timing. As he walked her back to the Uchiha compound, he could have her assassinated by Root personnel right outside. Perfect way to get the Uchihas riled up over false suspicion.

All right, kid, it's your funeral.

Whew.

That was one hell of a long chapter.

I'm completely tired after this long haul.

I'll keep updating as fast as I can, but no promises.

Anyway, what do you think? Two Rasengan Kamehameha?

Yes, yes, chakra and Ki are different.

The Kamehameha, you ask?

This is just a question of terminology. That's what he chose to call it.

Cheers!