Curious ~ 16

"You're going to regret this, Kakarot," Vegeta's fist trembled while looking toward Goku, Bulma, and Tights. He took a few deep breaths and tightened his fist, remembering that he was supposed to 'love' this village, and not destroy it from one of his blind fits of rage. His eye twitched as he tried to hold in his insanity, "You're really going to regret this."

Goku furrowed his brow and got into a fighting stance, watching Vegeta closely as he did the same. He looked over at Bulma and Tights, "Go find my sensei, please," He mumbled under his breath. The two women scurried away to do as Goku wished, mostly so they wouldn't be caught up in the crossfire from his inevitable fight with Vegeta. "Come on, lil' guy," Goku beckoned the shorter saiyan to make the first move.

Vegeta shot forward with speed Goku couldn't keep up with, and was thrown back by a powerful punch to the face. The smaller saiyan smiled and shook his fist, "I see you're all talk." He jumped into the air so he could pounce on the boy wherever he landed, but as he was about to drop down on Goku's body; the Kumogakure native shot out a fireball that sent Vegeta flying away in the opposite direction.

The Genin cracked a smile as he pushed himself off of the ground, "Nah, this dog's got bite too!" Goku braced himself for Vegeta once more, more acclimated with his speed this time. He mentally took note how durable Vegeta was, considering that his clothes were burnt, but he wasn't really hurt from the point blank attack. His enemy came flying in and threw another punch that he blocked with his forearm, and caught the next fist with his free hand.

The two pushed back and forth in their power struggle, and it was surprisingly equal. Vegeta grit his teeth and Goku smirked at the boy. Goku knew that Vegeta took him to be a weakling, and decided to surprise him again by smashing his head against the prince's. The boy tumbled across the ground while Goku tried to think on what to do next on the fly.

Vegeta leapt off of the ground and balled up his fist, "You damn rat, you have no real skill, just cheap tricks!" He let a devilish grin creep onto his face, "But if that's the game you want to play, then we'll play." Vegeta stomped his foot against the ground and pieces of Earth flew up from the impact. He punched at newly created debris and turned them into flying projectiles as they shot at Goku with amazing speed.

The boy ducked and roll out of the way from the blocks of Earth being thrown at him. Goku drew a kunai from his equipment and coated it in his own chakra, while running and avoiding the projectiles. He moved in a zigzag pattern as he closed the distance between him and Vegeta, the kunai in his hand burst into flames, and he stabbed at the boy's face.

Vegeta grabbed Goku's forearm and guided the kunai away from his head, removing it from the boy's grasp. He grinned, "You fight like one of them, it's sad!" With his free hand, he formed a single seal of confrontation and kneaded his chakra. Goku struggled to break Vegeta's iron grip, "You don't deserve to be called a saiyan!"

"I didn't ask to be born this way, but as long as I'm a shinobi I'm going to embrace it, so fuck you!" Goku spat out at Vegeta and grit his teeth. He hit a sensitive point, "My family are shinobi, I was brought up to be one, and I trained like one, so of course I'm going to be full of cheap tricks and explosives. It's in my blood!"

"You don't know a damn thing about your own heritage! Your parents were full blooded saiyans that sent their weakling of a baby to Earth before their home planet was destroyed. You're nothing but a misplaced child who can't remember where he came from," Vegeta explained to the boy he was still struggling to topple over. Their stalemate felt like it was lasting an eternity now, "These tails aren't just for show, they're the evidence of the saiyan blood running through your veins, but of course you wouldn't know that; you're a shinobi, remember?" The Prince couldn't help but laugh at Goku's frustrated expression.

Goku clenched his teeth and tried to hold in a yell of frustration and confusion. A flood gate full of memories from his brief talks with his grandpa Gohan and Mabui about his heritage, and people questioning him about his tail in general opened and started filling his head. He bit his lip, and out of pure instinct grabbed onto Vegeta's leg with his tail. It wrapped around the boy's leg and lifted him off of the ground before Goku flipped forward and slammed the boy into the Earth.

Both boys had to hold in their surprise. Goku's tail had extended in size at will and he was struggling to hold in his excitement, finally activating a kekkei genkai. He knew deep down that his tail could do something cool, and today was the day he discovered that. Vegeta was grabbed by his collar and lifted off of the ground by Goku, "Regardless of who I am, what I am, or where I'm from; I'm still going to kick your ass."

Vegeta's eyes flared for an instant, and shot out beams of energy at Goku's chest; causing an irritating pain that made him drop the prince quickly. Before Goku could tumble to the ground, Vegeta stepped on his tail and laughed once the boy winced in pain. "Funny how the tides turn, isn't it?" He grabbed Goku by his tail and lifted him off of the ground, still smiling while he twirled Goku's kunai in his other hand. The flames had long since subsided, but Vegeta ignited them back to life in mere seconds, "I stand by what I said, you don't deserve to be called a saiyan." Vegeta slashed quickly and severed his tail from his body, and then kicked Goku away.

Goku's body slammed into a wall and he limply fell to the ground, face planting in the dirt. He was in immense pain, placing a hand where his tail used to be, and nearly fainted when all he felt was blood. The boy slammed his fist against the ground repeatedly as he tried to fight back the pain, "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He bit his lip and pushed himself to a stand, "You're the worst kind of person! You talk too much, and you take whatever bullshit pride you have too seriously!"

"Without our pride we are nothing," Vegeta said with a soft smile, while holding up Goku's tail for him to see. He dangled it playfully before dropping to the ground and stepping on it, "You have nothing to pride yourself on, and that's why you're weak. There's no real confidence, or even skill to back up your smart mouth, which will end up getting you ki-"

"What's your point?" Goku cut Vegeta off while grinning, knowing the Prince would get angry. He flipped backward and stuck to the wall before Vegeta smashed into where he once stood with his fist. Goku back pedaled up the length of the wall, flew through hand seals, and shot out a blast of fire that engulfed the entire area Vegeta was in.

He had just learned how to use elemental chakra but it was paying off quite well for him. The boy took a few deep breaths after the sudden attack and smiled, he would make sure Vegeta paid the price for cutting off his tail. Vegeta had been blasted at point blank range by Goku's strongest fire 'jutsu' he had ever made, and still didn't have a name for it.

Vegeta had been blown across the ground and smashed into the face of a stone wall, his body having multiple burns all over. His breathing was ragged after being caught in the brunt of the explosion, "I don't think I've hated anyone more than this idiot," and that was quite the statement, because Vegeta hated everybody.

He dropped himself down to the ground and landed on his feet. The prince dusted his destroyed clothing off as if it were nothing and stood up straight to look at Goku. He couldn't help the slight scowl from appearing, and Goku smiled back.

"Ready to call it quits, I've got more where that came from!" He yelled across their battlefield with a smile.

Vegeta simply shook his head and promptly after, Goku took the offensive. He lunged himself off of the wall, flying through hand seals all the while, and prepared another blast of fire for an unmoving Vegeta. The boy stared at Goku with no fear in his eyes and watched as he flew towards him.

Already flying at Vegeta at full speed, Goku had no choice but to go through with his plan, and shot out multiple blasts of fire balls at the prince.

If his jutsu didn't connect, he would have still been flying at Vegeta for the meanest headbutt the shinobi world has ever seen, but he flew right through where Vegeta once stood. The actual boy appeared behind him, already floating, and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"Surprise," Vegeta said jokingly before tossing Goku into the air with great strength and following after his body quickly. He grabbed him by the collar once more before he could fall to the ground. "I've had my fun, Kakarot, I really have, but I think this fight is done."

"It's not over until I say it's over!" Goku was about to make another attempt to free himself but Vegeta cocked his arm back and threw the boy as far as he could. His body crashed into one of higher caves that surrounded the village, and it began to collapse in on itself.

"You're right," Vegeta playfully placed a hand over his forehead to block the light from the sun, and to see just how far he had thrown Goku. "And I think it's over." Vegeta grinned, knowing that almost no one could survive a throw like that.

Now all he had to do is confirm his kill.

. . .

(Iwagakure ~ With Nappa, Raditz, and K)

K cracked his neck and took a deep breath, getting into a calm fighting stance. Raditz and Nappa were trying to match his level of power, and surprisingly; Raditz was the one that came closer to him than Nappa. His eyes scanned the boy over once more and simply blinked afterward. He knew never to judge a book by its cover.

He furrowed his brow as Nappa and Raditz took off with great speed, appearing before him and throwing punches at him, which he narrowly avoided. His strength, speed, and senses were increased a great deal by Kaio-ken, but the saiyans were on another level. They worked together seamlessly, and coordinated their attacks to the point that K could only dodge.

The man parried their blows with both of his forearms, taking another deep breath, and exhaled a blast of wind that blew both of the saiyans off of their feet. He jumped away from them and held his palms outward, and instantly created a vacuum of wind that started to drag the two saiyans out of the sky gradually.

Nappa yelled out in frustration, but heard nothing come out of his mouth as the breath was literally ripped from his throat. He looked over at Raditz with wide eyes as his face was turning blue, and the boy had already known to hold his breath. He grasped at his throat and tried to breath but it was a futile.

Raditz was the smarter one out of the two and unloaded all of his weapons into the vicious wind vacuum. The vacuum ended in an instant and Nappa nearly choked over. He filled his lungs with fresh air and Raditz did the same after holding his for so long, "You damn human, you aren't good for anything but tricks." K nodded his head in agreement and Raditz nearly growled. He clenched his fist and held himself back, knowing that engaging K up front wasn't going to end well, he was too wily.

Nappa was angry though, so he shot out of the sky and tried to smash K with raw impact, but the man was much faster than he appeared. He flipped backwards and shot a blast of wind that sent Nappa flying away much quicker than he had came down.

K skidded to a stop and his head shot up toward Raditz, who was currently the source of a pink beam of ki that was ripping through the ground, and unfortunately for K; coming for him. He grit his teeth as he jumped out of the way of the beam, but fell into a finely planned trap from the two saiyans. Nappa connected a nearly jaw-breaking punch to K's face that sent him crashing through the base of a building.

His whole body ached as he struggled to push himself up from the debris, but was pinned down by a large slab of rock. Nappa and Raditz blocked the newly created hole, and both of them slyly smiled at the trapped K. They looked at each other before they held their glowing hands up and aimed them at the foreign shinobi. Despite being in the face of death, K looked completely calm, and sent them a blank stare in return.

Raditz yelled, "Die!" Both saiyans illuminated the room with their blasts of ki and tried to wipe K off the face of the Earth. Both of the aliens posing as shinobi were instantly blown back by a powerful gust of wind that kept flying out in a continuous stream. Nappa and Raditz were struggling to gain their composure through it all.

"If only it was that easy," K emerged from the hole with his hand still held out, and blowing the saiyans away. The crimson aura that was shrouding his body before had subsided, and the normal color of his skin returned. However, a small crimson flame was burning on his forehead, and his onyx colored eyes had shifted to a brown-ish red color. His stoic expression remained as he let his hand fall to his side, satisfied by seeing Nappa and Raditz pressed against the wall like bugs. "I figured it out, ki, that is."

K wiggled his fingers while looking at his hands, he felt more power coursing through his veins than he ever did in his life. He always acknowledged ki and chakra as two separate entities, but never thought of mixing his two sets of reserves together. The result was amazing, and he was just scratching the surface of what he was capable of. His hands balled up into fists and his eyes moved to the two saiyans that were regaining their bearings.

Raditz had fallen on to his knees, looking up at K with nothing but hate in his eyes. There was a slight hint of fear as well, but he did a great job masking it, "How much power are you holding back?" He asked honestly, gritting his teeth as K took a few steps forward, and he truly felt how powerful he had become. His raw power skyrocketed past what it once was and nearly dwarfed his own.

"I'd rather not say," K launched himself off of his right foot and disappeared from their view. He reappeared in an instant, smashing his fist into the wall he had pinned the aliens against, but they were fast enough to move out of the way, and the building he punched into began to cave in. He turned his body to see them floating in the air, staring at the destruction he had caused in silent awe. "You're quite different from your brother."

"Now you acknowledge the fact that you know my brother, Kakarot?" Raditz raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, his name is Goku," K stated dryly as his eyes slowly shifted away from Raditz to where he thought Goku to be. Usually Goku made his presence known when they were separated by getting into a idiotic predicament, but since his fight with the saiyans had begun; he couldn't really feel the boy's energy drawing him in. He closed his eyes and sighed, "He's very foolish, I don't think you would like him."

"That is my only remaining blood family, I don't think I'd mind," He mustered up the most sincere smile he could despite how bad he wanted to kill K. Raditz did truly want to reunite with his younger brother, but there were of course obstacles. "I just want him to live the life I know he deserves."

"I see," K nodded solemnly and smirked.

All eyes were suddenly drawn to the mountainous surroundings of Iwagakure feeling an ominous aura creeping over the area. For it to reach them where they stood, must've meant that it was a great amount of malicious energy in the actual cave.

During K's moment of distraction Nappa lunged himself forward and tried blindside the shinobi, but his eyes snapped back quickly and he held his hand out toward Nappa. It immediately began to crackle with black electricity that looked animated, he threw himself at Nappa and thrusted the hand coated in lightning through the saiyan's chest. He held it there as Nappa fell over on him, and he shifted his gaze up to a still floating Raditz.

On the other side of Nappa's back was K's bloodied hand, still crackling with electricity. Him and Raditz locked eyes and for once the young saiyan actually felt a chill run up his spine, "You and your friend are very strong," He complimented as he ripped his hand out of Nappa's chest. K sent the now lifeless body of Nappa tumbling across the ground with a simple kick. "But what he has in strength, he lacks in intelligence." K flicked his hand of the blood of his enemy, "You had a better chance defeating me together, now you have to do it alone."

"It's nothing I can't handle, I'm a saiyan."

. . .

(Iwagakure ~ Cave with Bulma and Tights)

Tights had her eye in the scope of a long, white ray gun, that had blue lights running all across it. There was a red beam shooting out from the top barrel and she smiled once she had locked onto her target, "Time to rid ourselves of this kid forever, nobody can survive a clean head shot; alien or not." Her red beam was on the back of Vegeta's head, who was floating in the air idly while staring into the mouth of another cave.

"So let me get this straight, you're a secret agent for the legendary sannin, Jiraiya?" Bulma asked, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Yes I am." Her finger twitched slightly, waiting for the right moment to shoot.

"And Goku, that kid, and his friends are all aliens?"

"Yes they are."

"And not only that, there are more aliens living here on Earth?" Bulma questioned with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Hundreds of them," Tights frowned, "And some of them are smuggling alien technology onto Earth and trying to sell them for profit. Weapons, vehicles, and everything else you can think of. That's why Onoki is working so closely with those kids and their sensei, they know where to get this stuff, and he's building his military up by the day."

Bulma felt uneasy, pushing herself off of the wall and walking up to the edge of the cave they were in. She watched Vegeta closely, "Are they trying to start a war or something?"

"Eventually, but at the rate he's moving; I think he's trying to take over the world. War is inevitable," Tights pulled the trigger and a compressed blast of energy flew across the sky instead of a beam, but it narrowly missed Vegeta. He had taken off just as quickly as he had come, and flew into a cave.

Tights sucked her teeth and got up from the ground and dusted her clothes off. She looked at Bulma and gestured out of the cave.

"We're moving closer?"

Tights simply nodded, "Yeah, he went into that cave."

. . .

(With Vegeta and Goku ~ Cave)

Vegeta stepped into the mouth of the cave with a sly grin on his face. He looked around for Goku's dead body, but only saw a massive amount of fallen rocks. The boy clapped his hands together, not feeling Goku's energy in the cave at all. He felt like a giddy child, and now all he had to do was fetch the boy's body.

He took a few steps deeper into the cave and suddenly fell onto the ground. Vegeta looked back and discovered his feet had been tied together by ninja wire. He looked up and saw Goku grinning on a small platform above him, holding a set of wires in each hand, "What the!?"

"Surprise!" Goku yelled out, and suddenly a large slab of rock dropped onto Vegeta's body and pinned him down. He couldn't hold back his laughs, "I'll admit, you're pretty strong, but you're about as smart as a rock, get it?" Goku raised a brow, as a clone of the boy dropped down after the slab had fallen with a grin. The two copies of Goku fist bumped each other, and then dispelled themselves.

Vegeta wasn't badly injured and Goku knew that, the rock weighed a lot, but it was just enough to keep the saiyan down. He grit his teeth, slamming his fist against the ground, "Damn you, Kakarot, you'll pay for this!" Vegeta repeatedly slammed his fist against the ground to the point that it was breaking. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Remember how I said this fight wasn't over until I said it was over?" Goku was now walking away from the pinned down saiyan with a smile on his face. He turned his body slightly, standing in the entrance of the cave, "I think it's over." Goku reached into his pocket and pulled out a black capsule, he held it carefully.

"It's never over, Kakarot!"

"Bye dude," Goku pressed the top of the capsule and threw it into the mouth of the cave. He knew a slab of rock wouldn't keep Vegeta down long enough for him to escape, so blowing the cave to next week would probably do the job. Once he tossed it, he immediately ran out and jumped; not realizing how far of a drop it was to the ground.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reaching for another capsule in his pocket, and hoped that it held something useful. Before he could even toss out another capsule, a mechanical bird swooped in and saved him from the fall. He had never been so happy in his life and it immediately took him to Bulma and Tights, who were standing in the mouth of another cave.

The landing wasn't smooth at all, and the bird simply tossed him onto the ground, and he went tumbling across the stone floor. His body hit the wall awkwardly and let out a pained groan, "I thought that thing was going to save my ass, not break it!"

"You're alive aren't you?" Tights asked with an irritated tone of voice.

"Yeah, but-"

"Be grateful," Bulma chimed in and smiled, happy to see Goku alive.

"What happened to the kid you were fighting?" Tights looked back at the cave, and noticed he had yet to come out and chase down Goku.

"I pinned him down in the cave and threw a bomb in there after that," Goku said coolly as he got up off of the ground, rubbing his back soothingly. Bulma and Tights looked at him with worried expressions, and he simply shrugged.

"Well where's the explosion?" Bulma slowly asked Goku, and almost as if on cue; the bomb went off and rocked the whole area. The trio was thrown onto the ground, and the cave across from them had gone up in a blaze of fiery destruction.

Debris and boulders rolled down the side of the caves and started an instant rock slide that would lead down to the village. If the Tsuchikage was mad before; he would definitely be infuriated now that Goku had caused even more destruction in his village. Both of the women looked at the boy with their jaws hanging.

He pulled on the collar of his shirt and smiled awkwardly, "Oops."

. . .

K just upped the ante and mixed ki with chakra, Goku blew up a cave, and it seems like our favorite Kumo-nin are going to live to see another day. Next Chapter: A True Saiyan