Black & Red Clouds ~ 38
Kakuzu looked over his shoulder and saw a small purple alien pointing a ray gun directly at him, "Long time no see, Jaco." He grinned underneath his mask as he turned to face the extraterrestrial, "You haven't been on Earth since I sent you back to your planet with your tail tucked between your legs. Whatever happened to those missiles that were supposed to blow us up?"
"Hey don't turn your ba—" Jiraiya covered Naruto's mouth and grabbed him by the collar with his other hand. He threw the boy into Tights' grasp before he drew any unwanted attention toward them.
Jaco grumbled under his breath and furrowed his brow, "I am no longer apart of the Galactic Patrol." It almost pained him to say, still holding up his gun defensively toward the menacing figure of Kakuzu. It sent a chill up his spine just having to face the undead shinobi, but his mind was at somewhat ease since Jiraiya was fighting him too.
"Oh, it's no more, what happened?" Kakuzu asked with a smug tone and a hint of knowingness in his voice.
"It was destroyed by the black and red clouds," He recalled with a shaking voice. "The king and everyone else have been killed."
"Except you, I wonder why?" Kakuzu looked up as his fire mask landed back next to him and rejoined his body. "It must be a miracle of sorts."
"I was away on a mission, and when I returned there was a lone man in an orange mask roaming our planet," Jaco remembered and growled. "He was an earthling, which is why I returned here to investigate the black and red clouds." He had already taken note of Kakuzu's attire, "You will be my first arrest as a lone officer of the galaxy."
Jiraiya was currently making hand seals, but the moment his muscles even moved, Kakuzu turned his head ever so slightly to acknowledge the white haired man behind him, "Why don't you let me and an old friend chat it up for a second, Jiraiya. I'll make time for you too," He turned back to Jaco. "I have bad news for you, patrol man. The Akatsuki is the new Galactic Patrol, and you're out of a job."
Before their conversation could go on the two buildings suddenly began to sink into the ground, Kakuzu turned around angrily and saw that the trio of enemy shinobi had disappeared while he was talking to Jaco. He turned once more and Jaco was gone as well. The man grit his teeth and tried to summon forth his wind mask that he released earlier, but there was no response.
Kakuzu leapt off of the rooftop and kept jumping through the town, trying to find a foothold that wouldn't sink into the ever growing pit of mud that was swallowing everything in sight. After putting two and two together, he quickly accepted the fact that whoever casted this jutsu got the drop on his mask while it was searching for an opening and killed it in the sinkhole.
"You're going to pay for that heart, asshole," Kakuzu mumbled under his breath.
"I highly doubt you'll remember it," Kakuzu swiftly turned around and saw Tights holding something in her hand; it looked like an ink pen.
The man stared directly at it and smirked, "What do you expect to do with th-"
A blinding flash of light engulfed his vision and Kakuzu suddenly dropped the ground. Tights slid the pen-like object into her clothes and smirked, "Certainly knocked you out, huh?" She said as she walked up to Kakuzu's unconscious body and looked down him.
Jaco, Jiraiya, and Naruto all appeared in a collective shushin, with their eyes covered still. Jiraiya lifted his hand from his eyes a bit and took a look at the scene, "Did you just fry his brain?"
"No, but he won't remember ever encountering us or our new friend," She turned to look at Jaco with a smile.
"We need to kill him now!" Jaco suddenly exclaimed, but before he could run off, Jiraiya grabbed him off of the ground and held him back. "Do you not understand that they're here to destroy your planet like they did mine!?"
"Trust me, I know, but if we kill him now they'll do their best to track us down," Jiraiya hoisted Jaco over his shoulder and turned his back on Kakuzu's unconscious body. "Live to fight another day, kid, or adult. I don't know how old you are."
Naruto ran up to Kakuzu's body and kicked him in the head, "That's for disrespecting me!"
Tights walked up and grabbed Naruto by the collar, "Let's go, kid, you've had your fun for the day." She pushed him in Jiraiya's direction and the trio disappeared, leaving her with Kakuzu. The brunette kneeled down and instantly removed his equipment pouches, and took everything out of his pockets.
She froze in place when she pulled out a device she had only seen in her father's lab. The woman turned it to its back and saw the Capsule Corps insignia she was quietly praying that she wouldn't see. Tights stuffed it in her pocket and got up from the ground, "Son of a bitch."
How the hell did the Akatsuki get their hands on Capsule Corps tech?
XxX
(Konohagakure no Sato)
Goku and N found a nice place to sit outside of a random steakhouse that opened up early. Even though he just downed the disgusting smoothie that K nearly forced him to drink, he still had enough space to eat steak with one of his best friends. N was quietly picking away at his meal while Goku was tearing through numerous plates of food.
Once he finished another plate of meat and veggies, he pointed one his chopsticks at the uneaten food on N's plate, "Are you going to finish that?" Goku asked with a smile and N offered up a portion of his food to satisfy Goku's unearthly diet. "You know, for someone who wanted to talk, you aren't doing much talking," Goku said with a grin to try and brighten N's mood.
"Sorry, sorry, I've been training all night," N said as he cupped his cheek in his hand and let out a yawn. "I shouldn't be the one delivering you bad news, but Goku, they're coming for us, and you need to be ready."
"Who's coming for us?"
"The Akatsuki, the people that kidnapped me," N explained to his clueless friend and smirked when Goku started grinning. "That doesn't scare you? The Akatsuki are literally strong enough to destroy planets. They can turn us into pieces of shit in no time. Their whole plan is rid the Earth of Aliens."
"Heh, not if I train hard and get stronger than they are," Goku nearly jumped out of his seat once N told him there were a gang of strong men itching for a fight with him. He smiled from cheek to cheek at his friend, "We're going train hard and kick all of their asses because I'm here to stay."
Goku's assurance made N smile, "You're crazy." He set his chopsticks down and leaned back in his chair, "I just wanted to let you know this too, I didn't betray you guys or the village, I'm still loyal. I just—"
"I know you're one of the good guys, Kiri," Goku said all of a sudden and got up from his seat. He placed his portion of the bill on the table, "You don't need to explain, I know you're up to something." The saiyan boy walked off after that and left N sitting in silence at the table.
Goku never seemed to be wise or aware, but there was an air of knowingness in his voice as he walked off, and it rattled N's brain to no end. His childhood friend was usually a hothead, and it left him in awe at his sudden maturity, staring at the table top in silence.
A waitress came out with a smile and had a bill ready to hand the teenage boy, "Will that be all for you?"
"Ye-"
A blue-haired woman wearing civilian clothes sat down in front of him and her blank stare made him go quiet once more, "I'll have a water, please." Konan looked up to the waitress and offered a rare smile, before returning her gaze to the boy sitting before her. There were a few minutes of silence as they sat, but once the waitress returned; Konan thanked her, and then quietly started taking sips.
N raised a curious brow, "Is there something that you want?"
"You told him," Konan stated quietly simply and set her glass of water down on the table.
"It was the right thing to do," N replied.
"I understand, but tread lightly, little one," Konan said as she folded her arms over each other. "This is your first and only warning. If you cross the line, there will be severe consequences."
N rolled his eyes, "What're you going to do, kill me?"
"No, that would be too easy. We have something far worse for you."
XxX
(Unknown Location)
Smoke billowed upward into the air, and on the rooftop of one of the biggest buildings sat a man wearing an orange mask. He looked down on all the destruction he caused the Galactic Patrol and smirked. They stood no chance against the team that he put together.
He heard footsteps coming from behind him, so he turned his head to see the person that aided him in his endeavors, "Freiza, how nice of you to join me."
The alien laughed lightly and stood over Tobi, patting the human on his head, "You did far better than expected, Earthling." He folded his arms over one another and looked at the destroyed planet, "The only thing you left standing is this prison, why is that?"
"It will serve a purpose," Tobi didn't really care for being treated like a pet, but he knew Freiza was the last person he wanted to piss off, lest he wanted the planet he worked so hard to obtain to be destroyed in the blink of an eye. "You'll know in due time, your payment for your assistance will be given to you soon."
"Oh? The life of the saiyans who betrayed my army," Freiza chuckled as he continued to watch the remains of the galactic patrol's planet burn to the ground. He turned his head to look at Tobi with a devilish smirk, "They no longer interest me, for something else has caught my eye."
Tobi grunted, "And what might that be?"
Freiza gestured his head toward the ground and Tobi looked to see what it was, quietly biting his lip once he saw what the alien was referring to. There was a man with orange hair leading a platoon of Freiza's soldiers back toward the large building they were sitting on. He wore the standard Akatsuki uniform, consisting of the black and red cloak, but what stood out about him was the ripple patterned eyes that were now looking up at the two powerhouses on the roof of the building.
"You want Nagato," Tobi watched as the man and the other soldiers entered the building on the ground, and then turned his gaze to Freiza.
"No, I want his eyes," Freiza said as he turned around and prepared to make his leave. "That's not a problem, is it, Tobi?"
The man had to hide his dissatisfaction with one of the strongest people in the universe, "Not at all."
XxX
(Konohagakure ~ Two Weeks Later)
Goku lead the way through the village as Gai and Rock Lee trailed behind him for their daily run around Konoha. As the days went on, Goku got used to the weights, and even went up a few classes to bolster his speed further. His body advanced at an unnatural rate, coupled with K's unusual diet regimen and nonstop work-out plan; he was staring to turn into a true warrior.
The trio of green clad ninja arrived at the training field at exactly five-o-clock and immediately got to doing their push ups. K was sitting on top of a log quietly watching his student along with the two Konoha ninja he employed to help oversee his training.
Goku had cut down the time it took for him to complete the push ups, and by 7 AM he was already finished while Gai and Rock Lee were still going. He jumped up instantly moved on to the next exercise K and Gai set up for their students, which was carrying a giant weight over their head and walking a mile.
At first Goku struggled, but after weeks he could run with the weight overhead like it was nothing. K continued to watch in silence as his student tore through exercise after exercise throughout the day. It had become so routine for them, it was already four-o-clock in the after noon before he knew it, and that was usually when they stopped for the day to rest.
Today, Goku kept going, doing his own exercises, while Gai wiped sweat off with a towel as he approached K.
The black haired ninja turned his head to the Konoha native and raised a brow.
"I just wanted to comment on how youthful and progressive Son Goku is," Gai complimented with a smile. "I hope that one day that he and Rock Lee can participate in the most youthful of sparring matches to see who has the better student."
"We'll see," K didn't really care for the idea. "He still has a lot to improve on."
Rock Lee mimicked his sensei's behavior, wiping sweat off and praising Goku, "It will not be long before Goku-kun is the strongest in all of Kumogakure! I hope to one day spar with such a prodigy!"
Goku was so caught up in his training he didn't hear the exchange, but he suddenly stop doing weighted lunges across the field when the word 'prodigy' floated into the air. He couldn't fight his grin, "Heh heh, hear that K-sensei, prodigy!" He laughed to himself and then continued to train.
"Don't be foolish, Goku," K shut his eyes and tried to move past the prodigy comment, because he knew it would make his student cocky. "Today will be the last day I'll need you two."
"Hai! I understand that Goku-kun must move on to bigger and better things!" Gai exclaimed and then pointed back toward the village. "LEE, WE MUST GO AND FIND ANOTHER YOUTHFUL STUDENT TO TAKE UNDER OUR WINGS."
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"GAI-SEN—"
"Leave," K cut in before the sunset appeared and the duo of taijutsu masters dashed back toward the village. "Goku, come here."
Goku dropped the weights and turned to face his sensei, walking up to him while he caught his breath after training non-stop for hours. He placed his hands on his hips and squinted real hard, "Are you finally going to teach me that Kaio-ken technique you promised?"
"Something like that," He pushed himself off of the log and stood over Goku, "Remember the scroll I gave you?"
Goku nodded and instantly pulled out said scroll with a confused expression.
"Open it," K instructed and the boy did as so.
Goku stared blankly at the scroll trying to figure out what was going on, and K bit his thumb to draw blood. He slapped his fingers against the seal array in the middle of the open scroll and the two shinobis were suddenly pulled into an open vortex created by the seal.
The saiyan boy was falling ungracefully to the bottom of what seemed to be like endless vortex, while K was floating down calmly with his arms folded over each other. Goku could see a roof from the opening, and the next thing he knew he fell right through the ceiling, and K slid right through the opening as well.
The entire house immediately collapsed in on itself once Goku falling through the roof destroyed its foundation. The boy's head was swimming uncontrollably, and he rolled over to his back, but instantly shrieked when a pillar from the house was about to fall down on top of him. K held it up and looked down blankly at his student, while Goku grinned awkwardly.
He stared into the pinkish yellow sky, "What just happened? Where are we?"
The roof had been destroyed, so he could see right through it, and jumped up from the ground when a pair of blue eyes looked down from the ceiling. He also saw a mop of blonde hair, "King Kai, I think we have visitors."
"My house!" Another voice followed up, "Who did thi-" He looked through the opening of the roof and saw none other than K and Goku covered in debris.
"Long time no see," K said casually and stared back up at the surprised blue man with the sunglasses and hat on.
The man instantly burst into laughter when he saw K, and with help from his blonde partner was let down from the ceiling.
Goku and K walked out of the destroyed house and met with the two on the ground. Unbeknownst to Goku, while the boy looked around; he cracked a smile at the man, "King Kai, I brought a guest with me, if you don't mind." When he turned to face Goku his face was as still as ever. "Goku this is King Kai."
"He doesn't look like a king, he's actually kind of fat," Goku was quick to blurt out, running up to King Kai and rubbing on his belly. He got two shocked glances from K and the blonde man standing next to him.
Instead of being outraged, King Kai immediately started laughing and grabbed Goku by the wrist, lifting the boy off of the ground, "Is this your student, K?"
"Unfortunately," K responded with a stale face.
Goku grinned at King Kai, swinging around in his grasp, "Are you going to teach me Kaio-ken now, King Kai!?"
King Kai couldn't hold on to the chipper ball of energy that was Son Goku and dropped him to the ground, "Kaio-ken!? You expect me to teach a child Kaio-ken?"
"Yes," K said simply and stared expectantly at King Kai. "This child has some of our planets best hunting for him."
"Heh, you must be pretty important then, Goku-kun?" The blonde haired man asked the boy with a smile.
Goku couldn't fight his child-like smile, but instantly frowned when King Kai was shaking his head no repeatedly.
"I won't allow it, Goku hasn't matured enough yet to handle that stress on his body," King Kai reasoned but got an irritated glare from K in return.
"Fine, I'll go back to Earth and teach it to him myself," K said as he turned his back on King Kai. "Let's go, Goku."
"But if he's a King, I at least want to see how strong he is before we g-" The boy tried to argue but was being dragged away by his sensei.
He only brought Goku to King Kai because he was the originator of the technique, but he would have no problem teaching the boy himself. He needed his student to be prepared for the inevitable battles he would have to face in the future.
"Wait," K stopped when he heard the voice of the blonde haired stranger. The man walked up to him and Goku, "I'm willing to train with Goku, if you don't mind." He smiled at the boy and then looked to his sensei for approval, "I can sense his potential."
K looked the man over and he looked very unassuming, but he knew when it came to the fighters King Kai kept on reserve not to be quick to judge. He stared at him for an entire minute before saying, "Very well." The man continued to walk off, leaving Goku with King Kai and the unknown man for the time being. "I'll return in two weeks, Goku, don't be foolish."
The same vortex reopened and sucked K into it, to return to Earth, while Goku was grinning from cheek to cheek in anticipation of his new training.
"Ok, Goku-kun, I'm going to teach you a very special technique. I actually just came up with it recently, it doesn't even have a name," The man said in an eager tone.
Goku was nearly jumping with joy until something dawned on him, "Wait, what did you say your name was?"
"You can call me Minato-sensei."
XxX
Sorry for the wait, I just got REAL internet back at my house, so expect regular updates from here on out. Much love.