OLD MAN ONOKI ~ 12
The journey from the top of the mountain, down to Iwagakure had taken the duo hours to complete. K was used to this amount of traveling, but Goku was new to this type of lifestyle. After walking for days, adding on these last few hours had exhausted the boy to no end, and he could barely stay up to do so.
As much as K hated treating Goku like a child, he still was, and he had no time to waste. He was carrying Goku piggy-back style all the way up to the gates of Iwagakure. Each time the body twisted and turned his body while he slept, K let out a silent groan, but luckily for him the gates were getting closer with each step.
It was early in the morning, and the citizens of Iwagakure were just now waking up. The working citizens and shinobi were coming in and out of the gate that led into the village. With him and Goku being foreigners, they had to be screened before they could even step foot into the hidden village. The black haired jounin walked up to the gate, a slight frown appearing on his face.
There was nothing he hated more than trying to gain entrance into a foreign village. He nodded toward one of the gatekeepers, who was a simple Chunin with glasses. The man grit his teeth, getting a questionable look from the keeper, before he pushed up his glasses, and opened his mouth. K's blank stare turned into a cold one when the keeper prepared to talk, and he promptly shut his mouth, "We're here from Kumogakure to meet with the Tsuchikage."
Sweat rolled down the keeper's face while K stared at him, the man's gaze never shifting away from, despite all of the distractions coming in and out of the village. He awkwardly smiled, "I still need you to fill out these forms," The young chunin pushed forward two stacks of paper for the visitors.
". . ."
Two pens were placed neatly on top of the stack of papers, and the keeper offered K an actual smile this time.
The Kumogakure Jounin dropped his Genin onto the ground with no remorse and picked up the pen that sat on top of his papers, "Don't be foolish, Goku," He looked down on the Genin who had just gone through a rude awakening. Despite the menacing scowl he was getting from the boy, he didn't seem to care. "You have to work to do."
"WORK!?" Goku groaned as he stood up and looked at the keeper. He silently stuck his tongue out at him, "What am I supposed to be doing?"
"Fill out these forms," K and the gatekeeper said at the same time. They looked at each other, K furrowing his brow, which was followed by the keeper looking away quickly to end the awkward moment.
Goku picked up the pen and stared at it blankly, "Why the hell am I filling out forms?" He raised a brow and shifted his attention to K, and then the keeper. "I'm here on an important mission, what more do I need to tell you?"
"That's not enough information to gain entry into Iwagakure," K and the gatekeeper had done it again, speaking to Goku at the same time. The Jounin shot another glance at the young man working the gate, and he was sweating profusely; trying hard not to make eye contact with K.
K eyes were locked onto the keeper, his blank stare not twitching once. His voice sent a chill crawling up the young man's spine, "I don't need help," Every time he tried to talk to Goku, the keeper's voice traced along his, and he didn't enjoy the sound of it at all. "Please don't speak unless spoken to."
"I'm sorry, I won't interrupt you and your son again," The gatekeeper had an eerie smile on his face. Not only did K glare at him, but Goku gave the man his own frustrated expression. The keeper pulled on his collar and awkwardly looked away from the black haired duo. They looked like each other, Goku even having a small upward ponytail like K, which he thought he did out of admiration.
"There's no way me and this emotionless-goof could be related," Goku playfully smacked K on his back, but didn't get any response from the man. Not even a bone-chilling blank stare that he usually got, and Goku chose to slowly retract his hand before turning to his stack of papers. Maybe he had crossed the line?
K was quickly going through the standard entrance forms issued to him by Iwagakure. It asked basic questions that he filled in with equally simple answers, while Goku's eyes trailed upward to his sensei. He was struggling to answer half of the things on the paper, aside from personal information.
He originally looked to K for answers, but he didn't want to ask the irritated man any questions. The boy filled in the rest of the entrance forms with random answers, and pushing it toward the keeper. K finished his with the 'right' answers, pushing it toward the keeper, and setting the pen down on the Gatekeeper's counter.
The keeper himself picked up the forms for K and looked them over, switching his focus between the papers and the Jounin standing before him. He raised a curious brow, "Your name is just K?" The man's face twitched slightly while looking at the single kanji written on the form.
"Yes," K's patience was truly being tested between the keeper and Goku. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, "I am K, and this is Son Goku." He watched the keeper go through the set of forms, looking through Goku's now, and a frown appeared on the man's face. K looked down on Goku instantly with a frustrated expression.
"Son Goku, your reason for being in Iwagakure...," The keeper was completely thrown off by the answer. He looked at Goku with a dumbfounded stare, "Is a badass meeting with the Iwakage?" There was no way a kid could be this stupid.
". . . Yeah?"
"Amazing," The keeper pushed up his glasses with his free hand. "I'll have these processed immediately. You'll be getting a response in thiry minutes to an hour," Before K or Goku could open their mouth and complain; the keeper placed a small sign on the counter, which read 'closed.' He walked away from the booth fast, being more than happy to leave K and Goku alone.
K's eyes scanned around the area, noticing that they were being watched by multiple shinobi, so they had no choice but to stand there and wait. He looked down on Goku and visibly frowned, "Why must you be so foolish, Goku?"
Goku rolled his eyes and yawned, "I'm just being myself," the boy said as he rested his hands behind his head.
"That's a shame."
The two shinobi were left standing outside the processing booth for up to an hour, before the keeper returned. When he sat back down, he said nothing, and simply pointed toward the gate of the village. Their eyes slowly moved over to the gate, and saw a few men walking through it, but the man that was in front of them caught their attention. K straightened his figure, and Goku simply stared with a smile.
The man that had caught the Kumogakure shinobi's attention was very short in stature. He had his hands behind his back, while his old eyes sized up the two of them with a slight smile. His green coat flowing in the wind, as he literally floated over to the two visitors. When he halted, his guards promptly stopped behind him, and his smile grew even wider, "You must be K," He said, acknowledging the Jounin first, and then looking down on Goku from where he floated, "and you, you must be the young Son Goku I've heard so much about."
K bowed respectfully and looked at Goku from the side of his eye, trying to get him to do the same. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Tsuchikage." He looked over at Goku and mouthed the word 'respect,' but Goku simply smiled at K.
"This old fart is the Tsu-" K shot up and covered Goku's mouth with his hand. He closed his eye lids tight, and took an extremely deep breath. The two of them hadn't even step foot into the village yet, and he was already disrespecting their potential business partner.
The Tsuchikage stroked his long white beard and frowned at Goku, "You brats have no respect for you elders." A grin crossed his face, "They don't call me the strongest man in all Tsuchi no Kuni for no reason."
K had his arm around Goku's shoulder, his usual blank stare on his face. While the others couldn't see it, Goku was pinching his side, and knew he wouldn't stop until he let him go, and stopped covering his mouth. It was an annoying pain, but it was nothing he couldn't cover up, "I apologize for Goku's foolishness," He looked at Goku, "He's still a rookie."
"I understand," The Tsuchikage nodded his head solemnly. He continued to stroke his beard, and twisted his body to gesture toward the large village behind him. His guards mimicked his movements, "You came here for a reason though, and to that I say; welcome to Iwagakure!"
One of the bulky guards shot out a blast of confetti, which landed all over K and Goku. The both of them were far from pleased with this, standing there with blank expressions on their face. If K and Goku hadn't traveled so far and waited so long, they would've turned around and went home.
. . .
(Iwagakure)
There were many people at the entrance of the village, instructed to be there to greet their Kumogakure visitors, and make them feel welcome. Kunoichi around K and Goku's age were screaming out at them like they were celebrities, and the shinobi of the village bowed respectfully when they walked past them.
Goku had a strange smile as he paced through the village behind the Tsuchikage, looking up at K with a confused expression, "K, what the hell is going on?" He whispered quietly. Wild fan-girls were grabbing at his shirt trying to pull him away from K. He wasn't expecting Iwagakure to be anything like this.
"The Tsuchikage is trying to lure us in," K whispered to his student. He knew what the old man was trying to pull, and he wasn't necessarily enjoying it. The man had to slap away a few eager hands from touching him, "We have what he wants." He looked down on Goku, "You have the power here, don't forget that."
The Tsuchikage turned his head and raised a brow, a smile appearing on his face. He heard whispers coming from the two Kumo-shinobi, "I'll be showing you two your living quarters for your stay here Iwagakure." He twisted his body in mid-air and gestured for the two shinobi to follow him into a door-way, his guards filling into it first. "You'll be staying with me in my mansion." He grinned at the two Kumo-shinobi, and they simply blinked at him.
"We're honored," K responded quickly and pushed Goku into the door-way, and the doors slid shut. Once the doors had closed, the small space went pitch black, before it illuminated with blue lights. The space they were standing in was floored with shiny metal tiles, and a pad of numbers next to the door were the next thing to shine.
"Welcome," A computerized, feminine voice spoke through a small intercom. Goku was still staring at everything blankly, while K was doing the same. The Tsuchikage floated up to the number pad and entered a series of numbers, "Identification, please," A screen opened up from the number pad, revealing a front-facing camera that the man looked into. It identified some key features on the man's face and made a chirping noise.
"I can see why you guys don't have any money, building these fancy ass elevators," Goku mumbled lowly under his breath, not even slightly impressed with what he saw, unlike K. The boy could see the small glints of interest in his otherwise dead eyes. His quiet comment had drawn the attention of one of the guards, the Tsuchikage himself not hearing the boy. He smiled back at the burly man and looked away afterward.
The doors slid open and the Tsuchikage was the first to enter the plush room, which was decorated with white furniture. Everything was bright and shiny, and it pleased Goku's eyes. The room was full of statues, well kept flowers, and technology he had never seen before. The boy's eyes lit up as he walked around the room without permission.
The Tsuchikage picked up a newspaper off of the counter and rolled it up. He floated slowly behind Goku and smacked him on his head like a bad dog, "I will give you a proper tour, brat!" He tucked the newspaper under his arm and floated back toward K. He was mumbling under his breath about his hate for the new generation, but masked it with a smile once he was being sized up by Goku's sensei. "Follow me," He said, prompting everyone, including Goku to follow him around the room while he explained the lay out.
There many complicated controls, that unfortunately for the two foreign shinobi, controlled the entire room. K tried to memorize certain strings of commands he was told to use, finding it unnecessary. He needed to press certain buttons to turn on the lights, when he really could have used a light switch.
After the man finished the tour, he smiled at the two guests, "Impressive, right?" They both nodded, not really meaning it. "This is the latest wave in technology, and its all coming right here from Iwagakure. We, however, don't have the money to keep producing it."
"So that's why we're here," K said as he sat down on the comfortable white couch. His eyes drifted to the large bay window, that gave them all a view of the beautiful village.
"Yes, we would love to do business with Kumogakure," The Tsuchikage grinned at K, who wasn't even paying attention to him. "But we can discuss that later, I want you two to get settled in." He floated back toward the elevator that brought them to the room and it opened. His men followed him in and crowded behind him. "Meet me at the Tsuchikage Mansion in an hour, the code to exit is 6059." The elevator doors shut and the room went silent.
Goku had sat down on the couch with K and looked out the window like his sensei, "I don't know about you, but I think he's full of shit," K turned his head at Goku's opinion and stared at him, which prompted to go on since he had the man's attention. "What good is this money going to do for the people, other than making a toilet that makes you type in a code to drop a deuce?"
"That's an excellent observation," K's eyes looked around the room before returning his attention to Goku. "There's always an ulterior motive with Iwagakure, and we were expecting as much," K explained to his student, as he pushed himself off of the couch. "I'll be truthful with you, Goku," The man was looking through the room cautiously.
"What?" He jumped off of the couch and watched his sensei work the room, trying to find something. "What the hell are you looking for?"
"We've been put in the Tsuchikage's personal space," He had finished his inspection and walked up to the boy. "I would expect surveillance of some sort, but there's nothing." K placed his hand on top of Goku's head in a fatherly fashion, "We're here on a reconnaissance mission, Iwagakure has been suspect lately."
"And we plan on funding their suspicions!?" Goku nearly screamed at the top of his lungs but K flicked the boy on the forehead. He immediately put his hands on his forehead to ease the pain and pouted his lip. "This mission is stupid!"
"We're going to make them an offer they can't refuse," K moved Goku's hands away from where he flicked him and patted his forehead gently. He guided the boy back to the couch and sat down with him. "At that point, we'll have them under our thumb."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Goku looked frustrated and confused.
"I've said too much," K said as he got up and walked out of the room, leaving Goku to his own devices.
Goku sat on the couch struggling to put it all together. He didn't understand why Kumogakure would want to do business with a village they had a lot of bad blood with. The boy groaned and shook his head, pushing himself off of the couch and walking up to the elevator.
As long as he wasn't busy, he would go out and see the village. Maybe he could make some sense of it all.
. . .
(Within The Village ~ Iwagakure)
The boy was taking angry foot steps across the bridge that connected the buildings. His face was red in frustration, "I'm tired of that wretched old man telling me what I can and can't do!" He screamed out, but a man placed a hand on his shoulder. His dark eyes shot upward and stared at the bald man. "I suggest you get your hand off of me right now, Nappa, or I will remove it myself."
The man being threatened right now smirked lightly, a bead of sweat forming instantly. He looked down on the boy, being much taller than him, and lacked any hair on his head; only eyebrows and a thin mustache. He was quite muscular, and much more menacing to the eye than the boy, but he still felt threatened, "Prince Vegeta, calm down," Nappa uttered out before he was thrown across the bridge in a small show of the boy's strength.
"I will not calm down," The prince said while walking up Nappa, who had skidded to a halt. He pointed his index finger against Nappa's stomach, since he wasn't tall enough to reach his chest. "That old fart will learn to show respect to the Prince of All Saiyans!"
"He's better than Frieza!" Nappa let out a hearty laugh before folding his arms over his chest. Vegeta's outbursts were nothing new to him, "In due time, we won't have to worry about him. Don't forget why we came to Earth, Vegeta."
Vegeta rolled his eyes and turned his back on Nappa, continuing to walk to across the bridge, "Yes, I do, and where the hell is our third man?" He said, while Nappa fell into step with Vegeta.
"He was sent on a mission with the Tsuchikage's daughter," Nappa looked around, trying to find his energy within the village. "He's not far from here, I don't know what the hell he's doing though."
"Where is he?" Vegeta raised a brow and turned his head to look at Nappa, "He should have linked up with us as soon as he returned!"
"He's north of here, in the restaraunt district," Nappa said in an odd tone. He furrowed his brow and looked in that direction, "I can't believe that fucker is thinking about food right now."
Vegeta shot Nappa a brief glance before jumping right off of the bridge and taking off in flight. A white aura coated his body as he sped through the lower part of the village, so he could avoid being seen by civilians. They would probably freak out seeing someone other than the Tsuchikage flying through their village.
Nappa followed his 'student's' lead and jumped off of the bridge. Sometimes he had to follow behind Vegeta's reckless actions and make sure he didn't get trouble.
The prince was fuming with anger, even more than before. His team a certain plan that they stuck to, and breaking off from the regular regime was a serious offense. They were no normal shinobi, and had no need to go around acting like them.
While he sped through the village, he was honing in on the familiar signature. His partner was sitting in a sushi restaraunt, and Vegeta rose up to the bridge that led to the building. He calmly landed and brushed his burgundy and brown clothing off from the dust he had kicked up flying there, "I hate these damn clothes," Vegeta mumbled to himself, before looking up at the restaraunt.
He stormed into the restaraunt, kicking the door in, rather than opening it like a normal person. Everyone's head in the room swiveled around to the door, which had smashed through the other side of the restaraunt. The boy's killing intent was at a high level, "RADITZ!" His eyes scanned around the eatery, and finally locked onto a tail that was hanging from a booth. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"
Goku twisted his body and stood on his knees, peeking his head out of the booth. He hadn't even noticed the door being smashed in, his face being covered in rice and sauce, "What the hell is a Raditz?" He asked innocently, knowing that the fuming Vegeta was screaming at him. "If that's an Iwagakure curse word, it's lame."
Vegeta's jaw dropped, standing in the middle of the restaraunt with wide eyes. He looked around, and still Raditz was no where in sight, but a boy with a nearly indentical energy sat before him, and he was no doubt a saiyan just like him. The boy balled his hand into a fist and shot forward at Goku, but the Goku rolled out of the booth and dodged the powerful kick that destroyed his table.
Goku was still eating sushi in the midst of all this, flipping out of the way of Vegeta's punches and kicks, before sweeping low, and knocking the Prince off of his feet, and kicking him into the wall. He swallowed the last roll and tightened his headband that hung loosely around his waist. "Okay, you're seriously crazy."
"How dare you wear a tail and mock the saiyans, you fucking rat!" Vegeta screamed, barely being scratched by Goku's counter. His power level began rising, and the restaraunt itself started to shake. Even Goku took a wary step back, but he bumped into a large bald man, who was blocking his exit.
All of the civilians present had fled the restaraunt, even the owner. Goku looked around to find a way out of the situation, but has going to get pounced on by either Vegeta or Nappa if he chose to make a move.
"Vegeta!" Nappa screamed out, grabbing Goku by the back of shirt and lifting him off of the ground to show the angry boy across the room. "This is Kakarot! Raditz's brother!"
"I don't give a damn who he is, he shall pay for dishonoring such a legendary race!" Vegeta shot across the room in an instant, but was thrown back through the wall of the building by an equally fast kick he couldn't see coming.
In the middle of the room, stood K who had barely broken a sweat. He turned toward Nappa and let his killing intent rise slowly, "Release Goku," he ordered, and the boy was dropped to the ground without hesitation. "It's not in our interest to fight, so leave here, or else."
Nappa grinned, as he kicked Goku over to K, and the boy landed at his feet. Vegeta flew back into the building through the newly formed hole with a bloody grin, "Or else what?" Vegeta and Nappa said simultaneously.
"I alert the Tsuchikage of your misconduct," K stated dryly, picking Goku up by the back of shirt much like Nappa did. "I'm here on business, and it would be unforunate if the deal were ruined in it's early stages." He hoisted Goku over his shoulder and walked past Nappa without a problem, and left the two saiyans in the restaraunt blinking in awe.
Did he just threaten to snitch on them?
Goku looked at K with a frown, "What the hell was that all about, sensei?" He looked back at the restaraunt, "The food was amazing, and next thing I know that midget tried to kill me because of my tail!"
"I don't know, Goku," K responded while they walked across the bridge, "but we'll get to the bottom of it."
. . .
(Tsuchikage's Office)
"Onoki-sama, your guests have arrived," A younger woman said from behind the door.
The old man got up from his chair and floated to the middle of the room. He forcefully put a smile on his face, as the door slid open to reveal Goku and K standing there with matching blank expressions on their face. An air of silence followed behind them, and the three stood (or floated) looking at each other.
"Come in," Onoki broke the silence and the two entered the office and found a seat. He slowly floated behind his desk and sat down as well. "I'm glad you're punctual, I couldn't wait to get this meeting started."
"Neither could we," K said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. He looked around the office and then back at Onoki, "But before we begin, why don't we have a drink?"
The old man raised a brow, "A drink?" Onoki expected this to be a formal meeting, but he would do whatever the Kumogakure shinobi wanted as long as they were dishing out the money. He clapped his hands, "Bring a me bottle of our finest sake," Onoki looked over at Goku and slowly frowned. "Oh, yes, and some juice for the child."
In an instant, everything he requested appeared on his desk in a poof of smoke. He passed around glasses, and popped open the bottle of alcohol for him and K, while Goku had a generous ANBU member pour him a glass of apple juice.
Onoki took a sip from his glass and cautiously looked at K, "Why choose to have a drink right now?"
K shrugged, setting his glass down, "It's a heavy subject."
. . .
Update speed is going to be a bit faster now, I'm back at home. Thanks for the reviews too. Next Chapter: Root of All Evil