OH EM EFF JEE

tis up!! D8 shocking i know. er, warning wise, probably just OOCness. and slight fluff. but thats nothin compared to the next chapter, hopefully.

Nebelkind- probably, it'd be odd to just leave goku home for hours at a time...and potentially dangerous to nataku's apartment D8 but sya.

MelloxChocolate- i already replied, but i'll say it again, just in case anyone else wants to know. in this, nataku is around fifteen, reincarnated. goku is about nineteen, and gojyo and hakkai are around maybe seventeen. (scratches head) all but goku are reincarnations of the ones in the show, cause goku was resealed. it'll make more sense once i get more up, i assure you.

inspiration for chapter: up till goku's second dream? no bloody idea. after that, island in the sun by weezer.

anywho, onward! hopefully, this'll be a decent fillerish chapter, somehow answering some questions.

sya, enjoy!...maybe??

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They were running. All around them the walls were crumbling, and Goku was amazed that they even made it out before the whole building came down. They watched the building fall to pieces, breath caught in their throats. Gojyo was the first to let out a long sigh, still watching the crumbling tower.

"God, its over..." he mumbled, unable to believe it.

Goku bit his lip, nodding slowly. They had killed Gyuumao, after an entire years worth of fighting and traveling. Inside the tower were the bodies of their former enemies, Kougaji-tachi amongst them all. While he was unbelievably relieved to finally be finished with this mission, a part of Goku mourned the deaths of Kougaji and his friends, and part of him wanted the mission to not be over. Slumping onto the ground, he sighed heavily, eyes closing for a long moment.

"Its over..." he mumbled to himself.

The group was uncharacteristically quiet as they picked themselves up, loading into the jeep that night. None of them felt safe camping out near the ruins of their enemy's base. And while no one would admitt it, they all felt a lingering sadness, and Hakkai had thought they should leave, hopefully to lessen the heavy silence that settled over their mismatched group. The town a short bit away was where they rested, and everyone settled around a table in the restaurant portion of the inn.

They ate silently, and Gojyo paused. After a second, he reached over and plucked a spring roll from Goku's plate. The effect was instant, and soon the two were shouting like they had before they came here. It was just like old times.

"They're just like kids." Hakkai commented, smiling lightly and allowing Hakuryuu to eat from his chopsticks.

Sanzo fought back a smile, sighing. "Just as loud as kids to..." he agreed.

None of them would ever admit it, but they were relieved to argue at the dinner table like old.

A finger prodded Goku from his sleep, rough but gentle. Grumbling, the brunette tried to squirm closer to the back of the reclining chair, instinctively reaching for Sanzo. When all he grabbed was a throw pillow, Goku forced himself to open his eyes, trying to fight off the oncoming depression as he realized it was all a dream. He blinked back tears and slowly sat upright, frowning when he noticed the familiar face.

"You okay?" Nataku asked, stepping back a bit.

The brunette shrugged. "Mfine. Bad dream is all."

"You were crying." the younger teen said, looking away in embarrassment, if only for Goku.

Goku froze, and reached up, grabbing at his cheeks. They were wet still, and he grimaced. "Ugh..." he muttered.

A tissue was gently shoved into his face, and Goku plucked it from the pale hand, mumbling as he blew his nose and scrubbed at his tear streaked face. "Thanks..." he mumbled, balling up the tissue.

"Welcome." Nataku replied, watching the brunette. After a moment, he asked, "What was it about?"

Goku frowned. "The last time before Sanzo died." he admitted.

The raven haired teen winced. "Ah."

They were silent, an air of awkward silence drifting over them. Neither knew what to say, what with the topic. Figuring he knew a way to fix the atmosphere, Nataku forced a smile. "I'm gonna go make lunch. Anything you want? That isnt the entirety of my kitchen?"

The brunette pouted, but took a moment to think. Nibbling his lip in thought, he decided on one thing. "Spring rolls."

Blinking, Nataku frowned a little. "Spring rolls?"

"Yeah."

Shrugging, Nataku made his way to the kitchen, wondering if they even had anything to make those with. Goku settled in the chair again, looking around. The apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't huge. From the living room, he could see the entrance hall, that lead into the kitchen or the living room. If you went straight, you would either turn left for the kitchen and go straight and from there, four doors lined the walls. On the left were two doors, the first being the bathroom and the second being a closet. On the right opposite wall, were two more doors, one being Nataku's room (Goku slept in there last night) and the other being a mystery door. Probably Nataku's father's room, he decided.

To be honest, Goku wondered how they didn't get lost in here. But then, maybe he was just directionally challenged. Sanzo had said it many a time, but Goku somehow didn't think that was it. He always seemed to be able to navigate the halls of the old temple, sufficiently escaping the monks. Smiling a little at the memories, he stood up, looking around slowly. Not much was different, except for maybe for that strange box and the few tangled wires and smaller boxes beneath the cabinet the larger box sat on.

"Whats that thing do...?" he mumbled, making his way towards it.

Kneeling down, he poked at the screen, listening to the small piings it made. Looking at the buttons, he pushed one, jumping when picture appeared on the once black screen. Blinking quickly, he stared at the box, and then at the buttons.

"Channel...vollume...power. What the heck does that mean?" he muttered, frowning, reaching and pushing the channel button.

Instantly it went from the news to cartoons, and if Goku wasn't used to technology doing this to him, he'd have yelled. Instead, he panicked, hoping it was broken. But if it was, well, then this was a really cool way of breaking something. Sitting down, he crossed his legs and sat close to the box, watching it. This was how Nataku found his new "guest" an hour later, after he had finished making...something or other. He wasnt sure if they were spring rolls, but then again, he couldn't really cook. He was more of an instant ramen person than a toaster or stove person.

"You shouldn't sit so close." Nataku said, walking up behind Goku.

Goku tilted his head back, blinking up at the younger teen. "Whys that?"

"You'll ruin your eyes."

Goku pouted, but stood up. "Is the food ready??"

"If you could call it food...but yeah."

"Eh??"

Nataku waved a hand. "Nothing, come along." he said, leading the brunette to the dining room, eying the food warily. If Goku didn't die from eating them, he'd try one.

Goku sat down and grabbed one of the rolls and shoved it in his mouth, pausing only to wrinkle his nose a bit. Nataku watched him closely. "Bad?"

He shook his head. "Not bad...But not exactly what I remember spring rolls tasting like."

"Thats cause I cant cook."

"You did yesterday" Goku pointed out, reaching for another roll.

He shrugged. "That was all instant stuff."

"Oh..."

They were quiet, Nataku opting to let Goku eat. He didn't really want to eat those things, and hell, Goku was inhaling them. If this sort of eating habit kept up, he'd have to figure something out. His father wasn't going to give him money for food, and Nataku didn't even want to ask him. He'd need a job at this rate. Goku shoved the last roll down his throat humming happily. He wasn't full, but it'd do.

"That wasn't so awful."

"I'm glad you think so."

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventful, spent with Goku and Nataku watching tv. The most that happened was when Nataku forced Goku to bathe, brush his hair, and dress into something that wasn't covered in dirt. What could he say, he had a lot of white rugs and furniture, and god knew his father would maim him if Goku left a stain. He wasn't up for that, thank you very much. Goku sat on Nataku's bed, fiddling with his now wet and sufficiently brushed (and sprayed with bug spray, just in case) hair. Most of it hung down his back, dripping onto the neat bed sheets beneath him. Nataku was digging through his closet, wondering what Goku could wear.

Shifting a bit, the brunette looked around the sunlit room, noting how different it looked in the light. The floor was clean, save for some comic books, making Goku wonder if the younger teen cleaned a lot. Along the walls were shelves and a tv stand, both lined with action figures and books. Blinking, he noted the shelves weren't neat at all. Figurines were laying down, close together, unorganized at all. The books had pages falling from their sides, leaning heavily upon each other, as if they were dominos that had frozen when they fell.

"Found it!" Nataku exclaimed, stepping back from the closet

Goku jumped, looking over, frowning. A red shirt was thrown at him, and he gasped as his vision went a soft and cottony red before tugging the shirt from his head. He glowered half heartedly before slipping it on, noting that it had some cartoon on it. Now rummaging through his dresser, Nataku didn't glance back at the other as he said, "Its an old anime shirt. You can have it, it doesn't fit me. Too big."

Goku plucked at the fabric, noting the figure on the front of the shirt. Raising an eyebrow, he didn't comment. It seemed Nataku liked cartoons. A few seconds later, a pair of blue jeans were also tossed to him, and in no time, Goku was fully clothed in clean clothing once more. He hugged himself, forgeting what it had felt like to be clean.

"They're not much, but its a start." the raven haired teen said, closing his drawers and walking over, holding a hair tie out to Goku, who took it.

Shrugging, the brunette tied his hair back, replying, "Its fine. Its better than what I was wearing before."

Nataku glanced at the clock and bit his lip. He was dreading the day his father returned, which would be tomorrow at the earliest. He hoped he wouldn't just up and chuck Goku out, his conscience would kill him... that, and it was sorta cool to be around a demon. He kept forgetting what Goku was, so he supposed that was why he was so relaxed around him. Lets face it, the brunette didn't exactly fit his description of a terrible demon. He wasn't even sure that he WAS a demon, but he wasn't going to say he wasn't so soon.

With that, the two spent time lazing about and eating. Well, Goku ate, but that wasn't the point. Goku was anxiously watching cartoons, completely absorbed in it. Nataku watched the tv, raising an eyebrow. Goku was cheering on Sailor Mars, and sitting a foot away from the tv, eyes large and bubbly. When finally the show was over, Goku sat back, weepy looking.

"Nooo, it never said what'd happen to the pink girl!!" he wailed, heart broken.

Nataku twitched a little, wondering how the priests could consider THIS to be terrifying. "Heart breaking." he said sarcastically.

Goku turned around, glomping him and wailing. "It IS!! Will it be on again?? Will it? I HAFTA KNOW!!" he cried, eyes desperate.

The younger teen twitched, slowly peeling Goku's arms from around him. "Yes. I'm sure it will be on tomorrow night around this time."

If it was at all possible, Goku's eyes got bigger and sparklier, a wide and happy smile forming. "YAY!!"

Nataku ceased his removing of the Goku to press his hands over his ears, trying to block out his high pitched squeal. God, this couldn't be right! Apparently Goku wasn't immune to anime, and Nataku began to formulate a plan to use this. Oh, this would come in handy, he was sure. When Goku finally calmed down, Nataku was relieved to hear him yawn tiredly. Finally, peace...

"Why don't you go to bed." he suggested.

Suddenly, the other went stiff. Frowning, the younger looked at him, noting that Goku looked almost...scared. "Goku...?"

"I don't want to sleep."

"Goku-"

"I don't wanna sleep. Just...I wanna stay up a bit longer." he murmured, hanging his head.

Nodding slowly, Nataku agreed, not knowing what else to do. "Okay..."

"Sanzo...?"

"What?" he heard the other mutter, annoyance in his voice.

"Will...will it all just end like this?" he blurted out, sitting up in bed and biting his lip.

He didn't need to explain what he meant, the blond priest knew. It was what everyone was thinking, weather or not they admitted it. They clung to the journey, if only a little. It had done things to them, things that a simple life in their respective homes never could have done. And none of them wanted to to lose those things. The sound of shifting across the room echoed in the cool night air, and then it was silent.

"Course it wont, stupid monkey..." he heard, though the insult had no real bite to it.

Goku sighed in relief. If Sanzo thought it wouldn't, then he could rest assured it probably wouldn't. Or, he'd like to think that. Either way, he nodded and laid back down in his own bed, relaxing. After a moment or two, his eyes began to close, though he didnt want to sleep just yet. As his eyes closed, he thought one more time back to what Sanzo said, letting it be like a lullabye to him as he fell asleep.

"Right..." he mumbled. "Thanks Sanzo..."

"Tch. Welcome..."

The sun shone through the open window, landing in a soft square across his eyes. Squeezing his eyes shut tighter, Goku rolled over, falling over and landing on the floor with a thump. Blinking, he sat up slowly, rubbing his head tiredly. Frowning, and looked around and noted that he was in a sunlit living room, his back against the couch and he had fallen sideways. That was odd, he hadn't remembered falling asleep. stretching, he heard his joints pop, his back starting to feel less cramped. Scratching his bushy head, he began to stand, when he realized something was off.

He was alone. Looking around quickly, he began to panic. Alone, alone again? So soon? He stood, turning a full circle to see the living room fully. Nothing, no one, no Nataku. Forcing back his panic, Goku began to think. Panicking never helped, if anything, it made things worse. But he couldn't help it, he'd only been out of that cave for...two days? He didn't want to be alone right now, not so soon. In all his panic, he hadn't noticed the letter that had fallen off of him when he had rolled over.

He took a step, intent on looking for Nataku, when a papery crunch sounded, and Goku paused. Looking down, he removed his foot, seeing his name written in semi-decent hand writing. His heart pounding loudly in his chest, he snatched the paper up quickly and read it.

Goku,

Left to go to school. Tried to wake you up, but you sleep like a friggen rock! (angry anime face)

Anyway, should you need me, either WAIT (highly encouraged) or come find me at this school.

Theres instant food in the kitchen, just read what it says, and you'll have food. DONT make a mess

or light my kitchen on fire!! (spazzing anime face) But anyway, I'll be back around three. Take care till then.

Nataku.

Goku looked the paper over twice, pouting. Who the heck did he think he was, just leaving him like this!! Well, he'd show him! (that, and secretly, Goku missed him already) with that, he looked around for shoes or something, remembering how it felt to run around barefoot on cement. It wasn't pleasant. And Sanzo said he had to so... In the end, Goku didn't find shoes, BUT who needed shoes!! He had SOCKS. Flinging open the apartment door, he ran out at top speed, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

"Leave me home alone will you...just you wait Nataku!!"

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TADA!! (is all happy i finished eet) next chapter, yayness. ish. it'll be like inuyasha gone WRONG! cause wrong ish fun. and goku shouldnt even attempt to be a ninja. and gojyo is mean enough to "help" goku track down nataku, dress and all.