Dystopia Unleashed

By WhoIsThisDamnAuthor

I think I've taken the different POVs thing a little too far in the last few chapters.

This one shall be centred on the protagonist, our very own Son-kun.

Here goes...

Chapter 11 : Goku

The forest that surrounded the Great Hidden Village of Konoha was no ordinary one. It was said that it contained great powers of ancient and mystical origins, granting a dedicated student of the art of ninjutsu the dual benefits of longevity and chakra.

It was said, mind you. The current view of the village was that these prophecies were a load of crap. Although still believing in the legend of the powers of the kyuubi, the shinobi had attained what they called a more 'modernistic' approach to life and philosophy in general. This led to massive dissensions on what to believe in, and the villagers chose one thing. They channelled their hopes into the Hokage, and in the absence of an actual villain figure to hate, they poured all their residual frustrations into jeering and alienating the Uchiha.

Goku had not the slightest clue about the undercurrents of conspiracy and unrest that threatened to topple the tower of authority. Not that he gave a flying fuck, anyway. He wasn't here to do anything about this village. He was here to train, and enjoy what would most likely be his last life in the world. Despite this apathetic attitude, he had grown to like the people he spent time with. These were good, caring folk, and even Kakashi, with his cold stares and sarcastic comments, only meant well.

This was an experience not particularly new to him, but he wasn't complaining.

It was a time for rest, after all.

Both mental and physical.

He hung off a branch, gazing into the horizon, and the inverted trees. His tail grasped the wood with a deceptively delicate-looking grasp, but it bore his weight casually. Not that it was anything great; he was a thirteen-year old, after all, and a skeleton compared to his previous adult body. His spiky hair resembled the shape it usually was in when he used to turn Super Saiyan, gravity replacing sheer Ki as the 'uplifting' factor.

This was his first day off in the last month. Since the day they'd taken their first mission, the team of three Genins under Uzumaki Kushina had taken on the entire scroll of D-Rank missions on their heads. As the other Genin three-man cells trained and gallivanted away their four week vacations after the Academy examination, this particular bunch of restless teenagers had bent over backwards finishing what seemed like an endless stream of assignments.

Literally bent over backwards in that first mission, Goku reminisced. Rin had repeated her previous attempt at seducing the cat, while Goku stood back to back with her, holding his breath and hiding. Keeping a clear escape route from in between her legs, she'd invited the unsuspecting feline in for another treat. As it had expectedly taken the treat, and unexpectedly walked away, Goku had suddenly bent over, propelling Rin forward. This had resulted in the both of them losing balance suddenly, and after the dust due to the kerfuffle had had settled down, the Saiyan had the cat's tail in his hand.

'A complete fluke,' Kushina had commented. At that time, after fifty failures, the three did not care. They had simply ignored their laughing supervisors and trudged away haughtily, trying and failing to maintain their dignity. Luckily for their own self-respect, the other missions had gone swimmingly well, and without major incident. Sure, some missions, like observing a certain lake in the forest for signs of a man-eating fish were sort of interesting, the word being used in the most liberal sense, but others, such as digging holes for lampposts were clearly glorified community service.

The digging, although mind-numbingly boring, had been a good workout once Kakashi figured out a way to shovel earth that used a lot of muscles of the body in opposition, meaning greater effort, and as a direct consequence, free strength training for his torso. Goku had realized his weird motions were for a purpose, and he too started pumping the excavating implement like a dumbbell.

Speaking of training, Goku gave an involuntary shudder. Kushina had not let up on his grueling schedule, despite him having missions to complete now. It was like she wanted to drag out the hidden strength inside him in the space of a single month and a half, if not three weeks. Despite her concentration-camp level treatment and Goku's massive appetite, progress was slow. It was mainly because puberty was just beginning to strike him. Only after this new body had gone through the hormonal and physical upheaval could he become any stronger.

Still, his physique quite resembled Gohan's, from the time he fought Cell. He'd managed to reach as far as that, at least. In the last few days, Kushina too had given up on the muscle gain program, deciding to focus on his skills. Goku was as strong as he could be. Now was the time to hone his adeptness attaijutsu, chakra usage, and most importantly, his ability with his black ANBU blade.

The redhead had left various aspects of his training to various people. Basic hand-to-hand combat and standard shinobi equipment use she handled herself. Leaving chakra control in Mikoto's hands, she had asked Kakashi to spar with Goku and improve his swordsmanship. She had her doubts about leaving two extremely competitive children to this, but she had no experience at handling a katana, and Kakashi's close proximity and condescending attitude were all Goku needed to get his ass in gear.

Kakashi was leagues ahead of Goku at the beginning, but his desire to not be made a fool of in front of Mikoto, not to mention his work ethic and voracious training regime, was beginning to level the playing field a little. He had gotten far more fluid with his attacks, and his heightened chakra control allowed him to vary the weight of the blade while he moved, changing it ever so slightly to increase the effort on his muscles. Training his body to be as fast as Kakashi's while handling a heavier sword was his main objective.

He could not be more wrong. The infinitesimal weight change served no purpose other than to get his ass raped by his g(r)ay-haired opponent. He had lost count of the number of times he'd eaten dirt at Kakashi's feet as he nonchalantly sheathed his sword, even whistling for dramatic effect. Sometimes defeat came so fast and suddenly that it had even earned pitiful glances from the stony-faced Kushina.

The difference between them was sheer experience, and the instinctive reflexes that came along with it as a side benefit. And there was only so much experience one could gather in a week, so Goku's plans at a surprise victory still lay in the future. For now, he was content with biding his time and waiting for that eventual catching-up.

He couldn't wait to get better.

Just you wait, Kakashi. I'll beat that smug face of yours till you have to sip all your meals down through a straw.

One other thing he had gathered from his brief time outside Shenron's clutches was that his Ki, which he had sacrificed without any thought to the great dragon in exchange for his soul being released, had begun to regenerate. It was still minuscule, a mere drop compared to the ocean he had before, but it was still growing. His prediction that he would be back to a reasonable level in a decade and a half was a pretty accurate one.

Shenron. He remembered all those events now, all without major consequence. The psychological damage of that incident would never recede, as far as he was concerned, but at least he could retrace his steps back to the incident without feeling a strong urge to curl up into a ball and cry his heart out. It still gave him the occasional shudder, but apart from that it was practically gone from his subconscious.

In the last few days, certain...other recollections of the dragon had begun to reveal themselves, exiting the fog in his mind temporarily, only to re-submerge into oblivion. He clearly remembered certain events, like the sense of initial wonder, and the bliss he had felt while first merging with the dragon balls, becoming one with Shenron himself. He also felt like a certain phrase kept rising out of the mire far more than the others. It was sometimes a constant repeating whisper. It had become less prominent now, but sometimes, in the dead of the night, he still heard the baritone belonging to the Eternal Dragon speak out.

In this new life of yours, you shall find the true meaning of death.

When the confines of the true dystopia shall encumber you, only then will you understand the hellishness of what you have unleashed.

Fear not the consequences, and move on to this new world you are about to step into.

For this dystopia will be let loose someday.

Someday...someday...

He often wondered what the premonition meant.

What exactly was a 'dystopia' anyway? What consequences would I have to face?

And 'encumber'? Is it even a word? What the hell does it even mean?

All this unnecessary contemplation always gave him a headache. He gave up on that line of thought, observing the forest around him. A very obvious animal snare lay below him, just waiting for the intended animal to get entangled in it. He had been waiting for five hours straight; as if in response, his stomach let out a massive rumble. He was beginning to get ravenous. He might have to get a little...messy after all.

The Hokage had very ungenerously cut off his food money after his fifth mission. He was, after all, a salaried warrior, one employed to pull his own weight. He was being given money to provide assistance to people too feeble to help themselves. So far, what money he had gotten had disappeared in one meal, or rather half of it. Ichiraku was very surprised to hear about this sudden loss of funding, and had very kindly agreed to take a reduced amount, given Goku's significant contribution to the growth of his venture.

But even the ramen store owner's patience was beginning to wear thin, and Goku had to find a way to feed himself. This was his first day of game hunting. Bring me the materials, and I'll make you all the food you want, Goku-kun... Ichiraku had cut him a deal, which Goku had accepted with great gusto. How hard could it be to catch a few chickens and goats? Cows would be the easiest, he reasoned.

He'd managed to easily get himself a few with his bare hands, and had gotten a couple of meals from it, but he did not have that kind of time to waste everyday on trivialities such as capturing his own food. He had to learn how to hunt without physically being there. It seemed like a piece of cake; all he had to do was set a trap.

Oh, it was so not easy. Catching Haramaki-san capricious cat was peanuts compared to the difficulty his current task presented. Kushina had chuckled loudly when he had asked her for advice on how to hunt. She had simply laughed and laughed until the red-faced teen had slunk away, too ashamed to face the stares he and his hellish monster of a sensei were getting from the passers-by.

Reading books had told him all the theoretical knowledge he could get. Now the main task at hand was assembling the damn snare, and getting a rabbit or some other small animal to take the bait. This was far harder than he'd expected. After quite a lot of self-inflicted cuts, string burn and a very eloquent set of 'adult' expletives which would have shrivelled the ears of anyone listening, he had managed to set the trap.

He had waited for a whole day. Nothing. It then dawned upon him that no rabbit would be stupid enough to enter the village, forget coming into his apartment.

(Cue laughter track. Cue sarcasm from author.)

Finally, he'd managed, after much hard work and starvation(his cup ramen stock had run dry), to catch one of the white furry creatures. Taking it proudly to Ichiraku, he had presented his catch. The entrepreneur had been less than impressed. Forking over a single bowl of only plain beef noodles, he'd told Goku to step up his game if he wanted more food.

Goku had almost given up on life at that time. With the sort of wisdom that only comes with advanced hunger, he had contemplated eating in moderate amounts to reduce his spending, but the thought of rationing his food drove a wedge through his soul. He had to eat, and the money for it had to be sourced somehow. But he knew negotiations of pay weren't exactly his forte. That particular conversation with His Eminence might just end up with him earning less than before.

Goku gulped. He now had no choice, but for her. He had to ask Uchiha Mikoto for advice. He remembered that day clearly, remembered his embarrassment as he whispered his weaknesses into her ear. He remembered the retarded look on his face as she perplexedly asked him, 'Isn't there a mess near your apartment? All you can eat for 600 ryo a month?'

That was the day he gave up trying to get on Kushina's good side. For she was Hell incarnate. She'd merely watched as he burned away through his pockets to eat mere scraps, all the while laughing internally. I think she will continue to screw with me until the day I die... He turned away, already torturing a voodoo doll of the redhead in his mind. He'd heard Mikoto's giggles in the background, and turned to see the Uchiha trying unsuccessfully to control herself.

'Sorry, Son-kun,' she'd apologised, 'we were just trying to see how long it took you to figure it out...' She had been a part of it from the very beginning. Oh, Kushina was diabolical, truly diabolical indeed. Goku had resolved to never fall for this kind of mind games ever again, even though he knew he was helpless in front of her schemes.

Returning to the present, the Saiyan was startled by a sudden movement underneath him. Without making a sound, he opened a single eyelid and looked down. A rabbit had finally decided to grace Goku with its presence. Sniffing at the bait inside the snare, it looked so vulnerable, out in the open like that.

Come on, just a little closer... Although his food needs were taken care of, he still continued with his hunting training. It would be invaluable when they finally got a outfield mission. The D-Rank scroll was almost empty now, and the Hokage had mentioned that after this short weekend break, they would get their first C-Rank assignment. It would be a well-deserved reward for the overworked team of three. These were the first team in the history of the village to be overworked by choice.

Observing its actions for a full five minutes, Goku got too bored to sit and wait. Very silently, he unsheathed his black blade. Willing chakra into it, he took vary careful aim. Simply dropping the sword, he watched it fall. His mind cringed, but he forced his eyes to remain open. The blade glinted in the slanted mid-morning sunlight as it dropped onto the unaware rabbit. Entering slightly to the right of the poor rabbit's vertebrae, the heavy sword went clean through. Problems of tissue resistance weren't a concern, due to the sheer mass of the sword.

Exiting near the chest, it drove itself in the ground. Goku had managed the weight such that it slowed sufficiently as it went through, pinning the rabbit to the ground without letting it touch the earth. A clean kill, Kushina had called it, while teaching him the same method with a kunai weighted with a stone. He had gotten pretty good at both the kunai method and the black blade, but he was too bored to find a suitably heavy stone this time.

He had tried to harden himself to the experience, but he still gave a little shake of his head. He never liked this part of hunting; catching the damn thing was fine, but skewering it with a sharp implement was still a pain to watch. He had let Chi-Chi take care of all the animals he'd caught. He knew the irony of that situation, but there was a certain coldness to killing in this way that his mind hadn't arrived at yet.

Goku knew that assassinations, espionage and all-out war existed in this world of shinobi, and that he had to harden himself to the fact that when cornered in a kill-or-be-killed scenario, he would have not choice but to attack, thrusting his blade into his enemy's heart from in between the ribs. It was a move that Kakashi had taught him, and Goku still had a few nicks on his chest where the grey haired prodigy had lightly touched him to show that a kill strike was possible, and that he was dead in that particular round.

Releasing his grip on the branch, Goku dropped down to the ground, and picked up the sword gingerly, so as to not dislodge the rabbit. A thin stream of blood had flowed from the wound in its chest, rolling down the black blade. Goku was disappointed; he had missed by a quarter of an inch. As he removed the dead thing from his sword, he heard footsteps in front of him. Obvious, unconcealed footsteps.

He didn't even look up. Placing the rabbit to a side, he started digging a firepit. He also had to learn how to cook his own meat, Kushina had said. He heard the footsteps stop in front of him, a few yards away. He still remained focused on his job, and still would have been doing it had his visitor not roughly yanked him to his feet by his hair.

Angrily, he planned on giving Kakashi a punch in the face for this stupidity. Drawing back his fist, he was about to throw a haymaker to his genitals, when a female voice startled him.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to do that..."

Surprised, he looked up at the woman who'd accosted him so rudely. It was the lady who'd healed him, after the debacle with the assassins. Her blonde hair was very light, almost bordering on white. He had no idea what she was doing here. Disentangling himself from her grip, he took a few hasty steps back. Watching her with a guarded, careful gaze, he asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"No hellos, I see. Such an impolite child," she said, crossing her arms beneath her chest. Goku tried not to look, but his hormone-addled brain could see nothing else for a good five seconds.

"W-what do you want?" he managed, dragging his eyes back to her face.

"You seem to be an interesting kid, I hear..." Her gaze never wavered. Goku was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Really? What have you heard?" Goku said hesitantly.

"Oh, things..." she said, still looking directly at him.

"You are a kid, right?"

That one nearly threw him off completely.

"O-o-of c-c-course, w-w-what d'you mean?" he sputtered. What did this lady know about him?

The stern face suddenly broke out into a smile.

"Just kidding," she laughed. Goku gave a nervous smile, not really feeling all that relieved. Just another second...His mind prodded him. Slyly, out of the corner of his eyes, he tried to sneak another peek of the lady's ample...

"Are you staring at me, you little perv kid?" the motherly words sounded eerily similar to Kushina's deceptive calm before her eventual hurricane.

"No, NO!" Goku's crimson face betrayed his lie. There was no getting out of this now. She'd seen him peek, and he had no good excuse for it.

"I'll let it slide, this once, all right?" the Saiyan's jaw dropped to the ground. Here he was, expecting this belligerent woman to beat the stuffing out of him, and then this? There's something very wrong about this entire scenario. A very scary situation, this...

"Anyway, forget about that," the lady was about to start her main discourse, it seemed.

"Wait, ma'am," Goku interrupted with the most deferential word from his vocabulary. "Could you tell me your name? I'm Goku, by the way..."

"Ah, right..." She had paused a little before that answer. Clearly, she wasn't used to people not knowing who she was.

"The name's Tsunade. Glad to see you aren't named as stupidly as you look," Goku didn't even react to that one. Kushina had abused him plenty of times. For women such as them, insults were a way of bonding, quite like most people he knew from back then.

Vegeta would have found this lady pretty interesting, I think...

"Anyway, I haven't come here for small talk." Tsunade clearly was not one who beat around the bush. "There is something which you can do, as part of your team, which no other person, or even team, can achieve."

Goku had no idea what she was talking about. "You mean the team of Genins I belong to?"

She nodded. "As you already know, I specialize in medical ninjutsu." Oh, Goku knew. Her healing chakra weaves were a thing of beauty. The quickness and skill with which she had closed all his wounds and replaced his blood was phenomenal.

"Thanks for that, by the way," Goku realized he hadn't thanked her for doing that for him, a complete stranger.

She brushed away his gratitude with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Never you mind about that. I actually came here to ask you whether you were interested in learning how to be a medical shinobi."

Goku was a little taken aback. "Why me specifically?" he asked Tsunade.

Not that he had any complaints about learning such fine chakra control methods. They could just as easily be used elsewhere, maybe to improve his Kamehameha Rasengan, or whatever he made by pushing two of those things into each other.

"You are one of the few people, barring the now-dead Uzumaki clan, who seems to have the massive chakra necessary to pull off some of my more advanced techniques," she replied. "I have managed to develop patterns far more complex and powerful than what I used on you the other day."

Goku was impressed, very so. The healing he had seen was almost a miracle in itself, but there was something more advanced than that? His mind itched to simply agree with whatever Tsunade said and become a freaking doctor.

"Also, your team seems to be the only exception to the three-man cell rule set by that retarded old Shodai ji-jii..." Goku gulped at that last part. Kushina had drilled the concept of ranks to the Saiyan during one of their training slash trivia sessions. He was a Genin, above which came the Chuunins, followed by the Jonins. She and Mikoto were Chuunin, and Minato was a Jonin, hence he had been given the responsibility of handling a team.

Anyway, her ranting against the Shodai seemed a little too harsh to come from any random shinobi's mouth. She had to be at least a Jonin, and a pretty influential and strong Jonin at that. Somehow, ji-jii seemed too personal to be for anything other than family. But what did he know? He still never managed to refer to him as anything but His followed by random honorifics.

"I have talked to Sarutobi-sensei, and he has given me permission to do as I please." Wait wait wait. Sarutobi-SENSEI? Just how many connections does this lady have? Goku now knew who to talk to when he needed to get shit done. Somehow, Tsunade seemed to know everyone in the village.

"So, what do you say, kid? Want to become my apprentice?" it was a direct, brazen question. Goku liked her no-mincing-words style of speech. No unnecessary flattery, just a simple acknowledgement.

"What would I have to do? Don't I have to do missions and my other training with Kushina?" If he had to fit this in to that packed schedule, he would most certainly die from overexertion.

"Oh it won't come to that, I think," Tsunade replied. "After you take the Chuunin Examination and pass, you will be allowed to take up whatever subjects you want to study, a specialization, of sorts. Think of this as a future offer. I will take a few of your weekends in the future, and as you progress to a Chuunin, I will then properly train you, and you can choose to do nothing else. Missions, though, you will have to manage along with all this."

Goku both winced and whooped at this. His driving force and motivation had received another boost. He had to beat Kakashi, and become a Chuunin as fast as he could. The next few months of his life had gotten even more interesting, if that was even possible.

He let out an excited giggle, and was very surprised when nothing but a squeak came out. For a second, he was thoroughly confused, but then he realized what had happened. Tsunade had given a smile as well. Goku's voice had begun to crack.

Oh, gee, thanks Shen-retard-ron... Now I have to go through this weird phase all over again. Add that to the already present feelings I'm beginning to have for Mikoto... oh crap.

He had completely forgotten about it. He had asked her out for lunch. Looking at the sun, it seemed like it was almost time. And here he was, all sweaty and covered in rabbit blood, talking to a complete stranger about training.

"We shall commence with this tomorrow, then? We also have to consider your rather special status in the village, of course..."

"I'm really sorry, but could we do this another time? I'm really late for something..." Goku hurried away, leaving a very indignant Tsunade in the forest.

Despite her annoyance at the current generation, Tsunade let out a gentle laugh. Goku was quite something else indeed. She had never looked upon anyone from the eyes of a doting sensei before, and Kami forbid she ever will, but Goku kind of reminded her of Nawaki's quirky attitude and carelessness.

You go on to your 'important thing', but don't forget, you shall be in hell tomorrow until you apologise.

A hell created by me.

Goku sprinted till his little rented apartment, jumping in through the window. He was tracking the entire mud and dust from the streets onto the tatami matting; there would be a massive uproar if Kotonoha-san found out. He didn't care, though. Checking the wall clock, he realized he still had a few minutes left. Stripping quickly, he leaped into the shower, kicking the shower faucet open. As the tepid water flowed over his body, he thought about Tsunade's offer. It most certainly seems like something I would never go for. But that's the point, isn't it?

Washing off the grime, he dried himself by steaming chakra out near his skin, taking the water particles out of his various surfaces. Collapsing them into one single ball, he marveled at it's brown, muddy appearance. It seemed that he still hadn't washed completely. He donned his last clean gi, and jumped out of the window again, landing heavily on the adjacent wall face. Climbing up, he calculated a direct path to Ichiraku's. He was the fastest among his team of Genins when it came to traversal; nobody could beat him at that. It was a testament to the physical abilities ingrained in the Saiyan from generations of battling and warfare.

Elevating impossibly from the final building in his course, he soared through the midday sun, and hit the ground running. A last turn, and he would be in front of the ramen restaurant. One of many Ichiraku's now; the proprietor, having gotten filthy rich off of those initial meal payments, had in turn made some very good investments. Skidding and grinding to a halt in front of a waiting Mikoto, he lifted and folded his hands in a gesture of apology.

"I see you've bathed and come today," said the Uchiha Chuunin. "That's a major improvement, I must admit. For just that, do you seriously think I'll forgive you being a whole hour late?"

Goku was confused. He had checked the time at home, and there was still time left. He repeated that to Mikoto, who was clearly fuming. The look on her face did not change one bit. " Did I not tell you to wind that stupid clock yesterday? It only lasts a week, and I was the one who wound it the last time as well!"

Oh no. Ashamed, the Saiyan hung his head down. It was one less hour he got to spend with Mikoto, and that made him feel a little melancholy. Suddenly, as that thought hit him, he wondered where it came from. He had loved Chi-Chi with all his heart, but he always prioritized training over spending time with her, he recalled guiltily. This though, was different. Somehow, thinking about Mikoto made him want to drop everything and rush to her side, and spend all his waking hours with her, in her company.

"I'm really sorry, Mikoto!" he apologised profusely. "I really wanted to come on time, but..."

"You don't have to waste your time on apologies, Son-kun," her sweet smile had returned. In the afternoon light, she was a breathtaking spectacle, standing in the soft breeze, with the skirt of her dress fluttering slowly. It was a moment of natural light every artist dreamed of. Goku could barely contain his stare. He felt flushed, and his heart began to race a little.

For more romantic bullshit, please refer to the nearest available shoujo manga. That will be all, thank you.

"Anyway, lunch?" Mikoto seemed eager to put his tardiness behind her. Thanking his lucky stars, he stepped up beside her, five inches shorter than Mikoto. At five-seven, Mikoto didn't really pass for very tall, but she held her own amongst the slightly shorter five-six Kushina and the taller five-eight Tsunade. The only other girl he knew in the village, Rin, was a measly five-four or so. She was still thirteen, so she had at least a couple of inches of growing room.

Goku's growth spurt was still to hit yet. His voice had begun to deepen a little, but then would come the spurt that, according to his calculations, would take him beyond the six feet mark with an inch to spare, if not more. Oh, that would be amazing; to hold his head a nice two inches above the five-eleven Minato. Kakashi was his height right now, he expected them to be neck and neck in terms of height as well.

Obito would probably be the runt in the group. Goku projected his height to a sad five-nine, if not less. But that didn't matter. All the patching-up he'd received had to have done him some good, maybe resulting in him getting taller, maybe? The Uchiha still lay in hospital, but he was going to be cleared for discharge soon, along with Minato. His psych work-up was done as well, and the doctors had rendered him fit to resume his duties as a Jonin and a Genin team leader.

They walked up to the large, sprawling joint. Goku remembered the last meal he had eaten here; a lousy bowl of beef miso ramen. Today was his senpai's treat, so he had come with his stomach half full from breakfast. Eating well was another question when it was his money; he didn't want to bankrupt her. Ordering moderately, he chose items that would fill his stomach as well as being cost-effective. Mikoto, as she was not a retard, noticed immediately.

"What are you doing, Son-kun?" the Saiyan's blush gave it away.

"Nothing!" Goku tried to save it with a faltering attempt at a lie. "I'm not very hungry..."

BRRUMP.

His empty stomach had betrayed him yet again.

"Sheesh, Son-kun," Mikoto chided. "Why don't you act your own age for once?"

There was an awkward silence. Mikoto drew his gaze to hers, eyes solemn and questioning.

"You are thirteen, Son-kun, correct?" there was serious doubt in her eyes.

Goku did not know how to respond.

"Yes, Mikoto, I am..." he lied through his teeth.

She seemed reassured, at least for the moment. There was a lingering disbelief in her eyes, as though she still didn't completely believe him yet. The rest of the lunch was completed in sheer silence.

As he trudged back to his quarters in a very bad mood, Goku tried to think of ways in which the conversation could have been avoided, but his mind came up with none. He slammed the main entrance to his apartment behind him, ignoring Kotonoha-san's protests. Stomping upstairs, he flopped down onto his bed like a dead fish. Holding his face in his hands, he yelled out, burying his face in a pillow to muffle the sound.

WHY, KAMI, WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME?

An afternoon of self-loathing was going to follow this. He knew it was inevitable. As he prepared for his customary cup of leftover ramen to munch sullenly as he wallowed in his misery, there was a rap on the window. Goku didn't look at first; it was probably someone stepping off his window pane, probably another Genin team doing their last few rounds of training.

Then, the entire pane broke, glass fragments flying everywhere. Hatake Kakashi lowered his heel, a frown on his eyebrows.

"You weren't answering the doorbell, so I tried the window. When you didn't give a fuck then as well, I actually had to try it." he said, in lieu of an apology.

Goku had had his share of sadness today. "What do you want now?" he asked laconically.

"I want you to get that sad ass of yours off that bed, and come with me to the hospital. They're discharging Minato-sensei today." The grey-haired boy replied. As an afterthought, he added, "and that retard Obito as well..."

Goku lightened up at the news. Because of Mikoto's information, he knew that his sensei's outburst and crazy attacks weren't his fault. Some Genjutsu had been placed on the blonde Jonin, causing him to overreact in such a violent fashion. Because of that, he was excited to meet Minato again, unlike the other two in his team. Kakashi definitely looked like he had a few choice words prepared for this very occasion. He knew that they would be just as colorful as he imagined. Rin too, was pretty upset about it, despite her silent outward behaviour.

"Come on," Kakashi beckoned. "Let's go!"

Goku threw the ramen cup at him playfully. Dodging it with ease, Kakashi leapt off the windowsill. Goku followed suit, matching his rival pace for pace all the way to the Konohagakure General Hospital. Jumping across impossible distances, scaling large walls with their feet barely even touching the surface, they were in complete lock step, and in perfect sync with each other.

Goku was holding back on purpose. Even though he was clearly the faster of the two, now was not a time for competition. It was one of teamwork, to build his coordination with Kakashi to allow for better combination offensive and defensive sequences during battles with the enemy. Maintaining a good pace while still in phase with one another was the easiest way to achieve said teamwork.

Kakashi, however, thought otherwise. Speeding up a little, he threw an open challenge to the Saiyan. Goku complied, also increasing his pace, but just enough to lock steps with him again. There was no need to rush this. Even the cocky gray-haired prodigy knew when he was outmatched. After the initial provocation, there wasn't enough time or distance left to start a full sprint.

They landed in front of the hospital entrance after leaping off a rooftop in a horizontal fashion, and soaring through the air first, before landing before a waiting Nohara Rin. She greeted the both of them with a nod, the one to Goku as perfunctory as the love she sent to Kakashi in the nod she gave him.

The three entered, heading towards the outpatient room. Goku remembered the place with a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated the overly clean surroundings, the smell of disinfectant, and most of all, the outrageous food they served. Even among all this, he particularly detested the vaccination shots the doctor had given him. It had taken five nurses, all big and brawny, to hold him down for the second needed for the physician to insert the needle into his ass.

He saw one of them as he passed, the shortest one of them, who Goku had kicked in the chin during his struggle. He was wearing a full chin brace, and his jaw was covered with plaster. The Saiyan gave him a sheepish smile, and moved on a little quickly.

Reaching the room, he saw the two of them lying on beds, but in their plainclothes. They were waiting for their final discharge papers to be signed, and then they would be free. Next to Minato's bed stood the red-haired Kushina, and sitting in the chair next to her was Mikoto. Goku had expected her to be there. Out of sheer awkwardness, he averted his eyes, and from the corner of his vision, saw her do the same. He gulped internally. That was not the way he had expected things between them to become.

"I'm sorry!" were the first words out of the blonde Jonin's mouth. "I really should have been more careful, and kept a check on my anger. I heard it was caused by a Genjutsu?" Kushina was looking red in the face. Clearly she had a lot to say. Minato muted his voice, waiting for his girlfriend to let loose.

"I'm not even going to rant again about how irresponsible that was. You already know, my retarded boyfriend," Kushina made a gesture to Kakashi. "You have given these children some scars that will probably never be healed again, save by Tsunade's miracles," Kakashi unconsciously felt the spiral scar on his chest. Minato looked away, too embarrassed to face his students.

"Anyway, ranting aside," Kushina had some important news to give; she would never end a lecture on that note. "I have a few pieces of news for you guys. The Hokage-sama has informed me that Minato's team would be taking on an outfield C-Rank mission, upon their Jonin-sensei's recovery. Now that Minato is fighting fit again, you shall accompany him to the Sandaime's chambers, where it will be assigned to you."

"You've finished the D-Rank scroll in a month?" Minato was impressed. Kushina nodded as well; respect was deserved there.

"Also, this C-Rank mission would be of a probationary nature, both for Minato's fitness as a Jonin-sensei, and the abilities of his team." Kushina continued, "Only if this mission is completed will you get designated as an official four-man cell, the first one ever created. That would make you entitled to a variety of things, such as..."

"Screw that." Kakashi had found his voice again. "Why don't we do missions simply as an unofficial team? I'm sure we won't have to go through the hassle of registering and all..."

Kushina had her dangerous smile on again. Minato instinctively grabbed the upper garment of Goku's gi. Such disrespect towards the red devil shall not be tolerated. Her eyes shone like embers, as though reflecting the colour of her hair. Habanero, she had been named, aptly, in fact, by the scared children in her locality. Goku knew he was about to witness her in the full force of anger.

The reaction, in fact, was quite anticlimactic. She drew a big breath, and exhaled loudly. Closing her eyes, she seemed to count to ten, and her facial expression calmed visibly. "If you had let me speak, you little runtlet," she continued, voice steady. "you would have realized that I was about to name your freaking incentive in all this. For this group, at least for two of you in this group, an important deadline is approaching."

Kakashi looked stunned as he remembered, then he nodded in understanding. Goku merely looked stunned; he didn't get jack shit. Kushina rolled her eyes in exasperation. "The Chuunin Exam application deadline, retard... " she sighed. "The actual examination is in a year, but applications and recommendations are supposed to be submitted by Jonins eleven months in advance, to allow the strained villages a chance to rally together for once, and create peaceful treaties for the respective applicants to arrive to Konoha by the stipulated date."

Goku still hadn't understood. "Umm..." he started, but a wave of Minato's hand stopped him. Kushina wasn't done talking.

"So, you have to submit your letter of intent to Minato before three weeks from now, at the latest, and he has to give it in by a week after that."

I had no idea I would have to decide so soon, mused the Saiyan. Although, asking for Mikoto's opinion will take quite a while now, considering our rather strained relations... Just kill me now and be done with it, Shenron.

"But," the Uzumaki still had more to say. Even Kakashi looked bored now. "You people have to be an official, registered team until then, and those papers take a week to get processed. Even if an exception were to be made with respect to the date of submission of the applications, you'd still have to be official by that time. So, this mission is your only chance. Do it badly, and you lose your chance of becoming a Chuunin for the next year, maybe even two."

"So, you have to report to the Hokage's chambers at five thirty, today evening. There, you will receive your briefing. I really don't know more about this one, so you'll have to find out for yourself. Minato, let's go. I still have to have a private word with you before you leave."

Mikoto knew what private word meant. She was about to pout with disgust, when she looked over at Goku's smiling, excited face. Both he and Kakashi were extremely fired up. An unknown C-Rank mission after all we've dealt with, and an outfield one too boot. Not to mention what's riding on this...

They looked at each other, determined to outshine the other in this one mission.

Bring it on, baby...

It shall definitely be brought on in the next chapter.

The mission shall again be the multi-POV narrative style I've followed in the previous chapters.

Bitch please. That format works. You want to know what everyone is thinking.

Everyone's perspective is important. Even yours.

Keep reviewing, people, especially Boyzilla, Azure Saiyan, Andromeda Alpha, Starbot, and Effectivesage.

Oh wait. Optimus610, you too. Critical comments are appreciated. They give me a better perspective of my own writing.

Everyone else, too, thanks for the reviews.

Peace out.