Man, finally got this chapter done! I've been so busy that I haven't managed to in so long! Hope you all enjoy this chapter! ^^

There was hardly anything that surprised him in those days; to which he saw as some crime against him. His thought process was that if things didn't surprise him, then nothing interesting was going on. And since nothing ever was interesting in Heaven, he decided to take it upon himself to shake things up every once in a while; just to keep things at least a little less stagnant and boring.

All this, along with his attitude, earned him the nickname 'the unruly general'. Not that he was opposed to the nickname; he just wished to be able to have some sense of fun without having to always exhort to such outlandish antics.

General Kenren got along fairly well among his fellow soldiers under the command of the Dragon King of the West - one that Kenren had been serving under for a long time. Long enough that he was able to get away with a few things every so often. Nothing too big, mind you, because his Lord was still a bit uptight when it came to how one should act within the royal court of Heaven. But the occasional joke or drunken night among his fellow man was normally left as is.

The new Field Marshal that he was working under however…Kenren could never really seem to get a good read on the guy. The guy was constantly smiling and never seemed to say what he meant. He wasn't strict like some of the other officials were - seemingly being more laid back and almost carefree in his attitude; yet his intelligence shone every time he spoke, and he was well known for his strategy and tactics in battle. Then again, one didn't get the position of Field Marshal without having a bit of wits or cunning.

It was this Field Marshal that Kenren was hearing of something strange. He had gone to visit to try and get out of gaining an earful from his Lord and was wanting a smoke. Tenpou was at his desk, a cup of tea near hand as he was looking through…were-were those children's books?

"Hey there, Tenpou. What'cha reading there?" Kenren asks, moving to sit in one of the few seats that miraculously didn't have any books or papers on it. "I thought you were a bit too old for little books like that." he teases with his usual smirk.

Tenpou glanced over his glasses at him before handing him a packet of smokes. "These aren't for me. I'm just checking these to see if they might be good to start up a reading lesson with."

"Who needs a reading lesson? You got some illegitimate kid or somethin'?"

"No, I don't." Tenpou deadpans. "This is for a young friend of mine, who is staying over with another friend of mine. He was curious about learning to read."

"Really? What's this friend of yours like?" Kenren asks, curious as to who Tenpou might be talking about. He never really cared much for politics like Tenpou did, being merely a military general, but he was curious about anything new in Heaven to see if it would be of anything worth his while.

"He's a young boy that was brought up to Heaven a little while back, to be staying within the confines of Kanzeon's palace. He has golden eyes and his name is Goku." Tenpou offers. "I met him a little while ago when I visited my friend, Konzen. He's a very sweet boy; and is very energetic." he adds, a gentle smile forming on his face as he spoke about him.

"Golden eyes? That's a rare thing around here." Kenren offers, surprised that such a person would be brought around; given how Heaven viewed such beings.

"Indeed, but the Merciful Goddess is Buddist; to which taking a life is heavily frowned upon. And Konzen is taking care of him." Tenpou explained.

"Fair enough." Kenren sighs, lighting a cigarette and taking a deep breath of the smoke.

A simple silence falls between them for a bit before Kenren sighs. "Gotta do another military meeting in the court in a few days. Might be sent to deal with some demons or something." he mentions.

"I'm certain that if you are assigned to it, that you'll do fine. You may be the Unruly General, but you actively do your duty well and have the support of the soldiers." Tenpou offered before settling on a couple of books. "Either way, I wish you the best of luck. I'm being made to remain here for a bit." he explains, standing up from his desk and leaving. "I'm off now. Have fun." he teases.

Kenren sighed, shaking his head. "Nothing here is fun, you know!" he called after him, shaking his head as he wandered about toward his own chambers.

The meeting had gone…rather shittily if you asked Kenren. None of the other soldiers were sent; instead the War God, Nataku, was made to head out on this mission with a legion of men. But the way that they whispered about him in that hall, in front of the Emperor of all people…Kenren didn't like it one bit.

So, with nothing more to do, Kenren decided to walk down one of the hallways, hoping to get some booze or something to occupy his time. The sound of shouting and the clanking of chains, had him turn around. Someone small crashed against him, making Kenren reach out to steady the person…a kid?

The kid looked up at him, wide golden eyes staring into his own crimson before the shouts came again from around the corner and he rushed to hide behind Kenren. Around the corner came two guards, who stopped at the sight of Kenren.

"Greetings, gentlemen. What seems to be the problem?" Kenren asks, feeling the kid grip onto his coat tightly from behind as he hid away.

"Sir, that child snuck into the grounds here, and we're trying to remove him." one of the guards explained, pointing toward the kid.

"No need for that, I'm sure. I'll take care of him." Kenren offered, having a sense as to who this might be.

"General, do you know this kid?" the other guard asks curiously; causing Kenren to grin as he knelt down to the boy's level, ruffling his hair lightly as he nods.

"Yeah, he's my bastard son." Kenren offered, laughing as he led the kid away from the stunned guards.

"Now then, that was hilarious! Their faces…ha!" Kenren laughed. The boy turned to try and leave, but Kenren grabbed the end of his long hair, keeping him in place. "Now just a minute there, bud." he grumbled in a serious tone.

The boy let out a yelp at his hair being tugged before he turned to glare at Kenren.

"What was that for, you jerk?!" he whined, his voice high-pitched and golden eyes glaring up at him.

"Sorry, kiddo, but you can't be wandering around here. Guards are very picky about that sort of thing." Kenren explained. "You're that kid that Tenpou mentioned, right?" he adds, wanting to make sure he got the right idea.

"My name's Goku." he introduced himself, brightening up somewhat at the mention of Tenpou's name. "You know Tenpou?" he asks curiously.

Kenren nods his head. "Yeah, I work with him. He mentioned you the other day when I went to visit him. Said he was gonna teach you to read?" he adds to let him know that he was indeed telling the truth. "Name's Kenren." he introduces himself.

Goku nods his head happily, smiling up at him. "Nice to meet you, Kenren!" he says happily, relaxing at seemingly deeming him safe.

"Same here, kid. But, mind telling me why you're over in this palace? I thought you were staying somewhere else?" Kenren asks.

Goku pouts as he nods, shuffling from foot to foot. "I do. But I was looking for my friend, Nataku."

"Nataku?"

"Yeah, he's my friend around my age. He promised that we'd be able to play, and I wanted to tell him my name since I've got one now." he explains.

"Ah, I see." Kenren responds. 'The God of War actually managed to get himself a friend?'

"Sorry to disappoint, kid, but Nataku isn't here right now. He got sent on a mission down to earth at the moment."

Goku's demeanor fell at that, his shoulders slumping. "Oh…"

Kenren, not wanting the kid to be sad (as he felt that wasn't right for someone as cheerful and full of energy as he seemed earlier) patted his head, a smile on his face. "Chin up, Goku. He should be back in a couple of days; and you can play with him then."

Goku seemed to cheer up at that thought. "Really?" he asks hopefully, golden eyes looking at Kenren with such open emotions.

"Yep, I'm sure of it, bud." Kenren offers, trying to lift Goku up, but was unable to. "Man, you weigh much more than you look, kid!" he pants out, chuckling slightly.

Goku looks down at one of his wrists. "Oh, that might be because of these. I'm supposed to keep them on, but they sometimes make it a little bit hard to move." he explains, showing Kenren the cuffs on his wrists and ankles.

Kenren was left stunned as he stared at them. 'Man, that's nuts. Those cuffs must weigh about 50 pounds, each! And he's able to move about as if they barely weigh anything at all! Just…what is he?'

Goku pulled Kenren out of his thoughts with a light tug on his clothes. "If Nataku isn't here, would you want to play with me…?" he asks; and Kenren couldn't help but smile.

"Sure thing, bud. But, let's get out of this area before the guards catch us again." he advises, leading Goku along to try and find something fun for the two of them to do.

Kenren felt as if this might be something that was finally interesting. And he was certain that with Goku being here, things might indeed be interesting and some hint of fun.

Not knowing of the fates tying these four together, their futures seemed to be intertwined for the unknown.