Wow, this has been a long time coming. Sorry about the big stall I had recently... let's just say life happened and leave it at that. Now this is the latest update and one that gave me a bit of a headache to write, since I'm now trying to do more to transform the story that is affected by Naruto's presence and actions. As such, there will be some divergence from canon and how things happen. Hopefully I'm doing this good since I don't plan out much ahead of time.
Kay, let's see, reviews.
Gravity machine. I didn't include it because going to Namek was supposed to be peaceful, Gohan and Krillin trained in the namek ship because it helped pass the time and as a consequence of the fight with the saiyans and wanting to be stronger. Same here, but they aren't training nuts quite like Goku, or had the need to train like mad men before they landed on namek. If they knew they were ging into hell, they would have brought the big guns.
I like the Hit comment, him being a version of it, and it's an interesting idea. Make him universe 7's assassin. It's something to ponder. Doctor by day! Assassin by night! Fighter no matter the time.!... okay maybe that one needs work...
Multi-chapter release. Ohh boy. I could try, but I try to write 10k word chapters each at least, and this one is 15k as is. Not to mention I have 9 other stories that keep me busy and the variation helps keep creativity flowing, so that might be a no go. sorry.
Shippers, I will say I have answered you... kinda. Just read the chapter.
Naruto's skills. Will he learn Dende's healing? No. That was uniue to dende as his hidden ability that was released when Guru unlocked his hidden potential. Maybe analyze it and try to replicate it. Tsunade's superstrength? There is literally no need for this, they can exceed it with raw strength alone, and it'd be counter productive to use this technique when trying to train that raw strength, and then use it when that energy can be better applied for energy attacks or defenses. You have to remember that a character's abilities usually scale with their increases in power/energy. Goku and krillin could push a half buried mounstrous boulder a fair distance, as kids in just Dragon ball. In DBZ goku could lift a boulder sized cube of Kachine(?) to hurl at gohan during kai training. Kachine being the 'Densest metal in the universe' and our closest comparison is Osmium, which a little plastic grocery bag's full of weighs the same as a four door midsize sedan, now imagine that as a giant cube and then multiply that by a likely number and there ya go. Tsunade's super strength while impressive for Naruto verse, does not trump DB universe, in fact it's passed up fairly early in DBZ, if not in the end of DB. Though Tsunade is probably the only Elementian that can interact carelessly with naruto and not be crushed, maybe sakura...
Vegeta and Bulma... I have a plan, a half baked plan, but hopefully I can do something... okay If I'm being honest it's half impulse writing and general ideas being integrated and I do my best to feel out each of the characters and how they'd properly react and just put it down. Plans be damned because if the character's aren't acting like they should regarding the circumstances and prior events and how they happened, then it doesn't feel write, Vegeta won't feel like vegeta if he doesn't act like vegeta. But, I do have intentions for Vegeta, and bulma and Naruto fit in there.
Tsunade moving to DBZ world. It could happen, Naruto does have to return back to element. Maybe thy have a Vacation to earth? Maybe they move there after shippuden is over. Maybe goku and co have a Vacation on element and shit follows them. Who knows. But those ideas do sound appealing.
Naruto's strength. I'm not going to make naruto instant I rulle over everyone bad ass, He's about as new to this level of fight as Gohan is. He has more active experience, at his level on element, but he's still growing. then not to mention his plateu problem which will come up in the future. I'm building Naruto up, making him earn what he gets, he will be stronger, but just like everyone else, he has to train, struggle, and bleed to get it. The saiyans are a challenge, they are strong by the standards and Naruto being so new to his enhanced power, is not apt to just using it like a boss, then there's his problem as well.
Naruto isn't the type to want a pity party. He wanted someone to notice because they cared and actually look at him to see he wasn't okay, not just write him off like everyone else has either because they don't care, of they can't see past their own pain. Bulma managed to do just that and forced him to open up and let it all out, being there for him when he really needed someone like no one else has before, partly becaue he ddn't let them, hence why Bulma had to force it.
Well I think that's it for reviewer stuff. Drop a review, tell me what you think, want, ideas, suggestions. Send me a pm. Anything, the more feedback I get, the better I know about the direction to take.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Dragon Ball Z
Naruto breathed as he felt out his senses, letting the others he possessed take over and edge out through the darkness that rendered his eyes useless. The fight on earth had been his wake up call, he had failed in doing as he was trained to and what he trained for. He was an assassin, and he trained to not be so ultimately useless like he was in the fight with ever since, he'd been training differently, even when his use of chakra was shot to shit he went back to basics. Starting with his old pranks and trapping skills, moving on to basic running, evasion, stealth, disguise, shadow melding, you name it, any skill he had before or should have had as a ninja, he polished.
When he got the use of his chakra, he figured into training back his foundational skills, getting reacquainted with his old tricks, deception tactics, even go so far as to make transformed clones to replay out old scenarios from memory he had other clones watching, including the first fight with Zabuza, his most elaborate pranks, and various other fights, and seeing his old tactics to improve on. Zabuza, however, became a big influence with his next level of development.
Silent Killing. He ever would have thought he'd be making use of that skill or that he'd have to train in it at all, yet here he was. To move silently, killing without a noise, regardless whether you can see yourself or not. Then there was Zabuza's kenjutsu, he didn't know what it was called, but it had a lot of circular movements, not a lot of sudden stops or starts unless you hit the target the sword kept moving, and the swings were always strong and far-reaching with arms fully extended, like a tidal wave. Emulating that with what kenjutsu skill he did have was a pain, but it paid off to his eyes. Though he also trained with what tricks and cantrips he could do with the sword and saya itself.
Like right now, he held the sword in reverse grip behind his back to guard the area with his right hand, while his left hand was raised at ready in front of himself holding the saya in right up grip. His eyes were closed as he felt them out with his other senses the various clones he had in the training room with him, all set on attacking him. Some were suppressing their power to hide from him but allowed their movements to be heard, others were silencing their movements but allowing their power to be felt, others were either allowing both or allowing neither, all to confuse his senses and increase his awareness, and train his flick-twitch, or knee-jerk responses.
A clone wielding the sword came in, his power masked, he heard the taps of feet on the floor, the rustle of clothes quickness of breath. Ducking and rolling to the side, he spun as he got to his feet and stood, swinging the reverse gripped sword out and cutting across the body of the clone, dispersing it. Changing pose, he held the saya low at his side, bring the right with the sword held standard grip now in front of him.
Another came, this one has just the power revealed, and he moved out of range, feeling the wind off the blade passing in front of his chest, before stepping in with a return slash, decapitating the clone. The memories returned and he knew he got it. Breathing he knew for sure there was seven more- He evaded as three suddenly rushed him, ducking dodging and weaving away from sword swipes in succession before he went low and cut low and circular, getting legs before he struck one he knew for sure, rolling out away, then cutting another as he rose. The last of the three he clashed with, locking blades, before he used the pressure of the bind to his advantage and guiding his sword to thrust into the chest, dispersing the three that rushed him.
Breath came as he focused, grimacing. He identified two for sure, the other two were completely hidden. Those two were using the obvious ones as diversionary covers. So he pulsed his power, using the echolocation technique from Iruka, and detected all four. He smirked a bit, suppressing power may keep them from his passive sense, but not from active detection like the echolocation technique provided.
This time he went on the offensive as he killed all his nose and suppressed his power. He could hear his clones shuffle at the loss of their target. An obvious and hidden clone pair dispersed as a thrown blade similarly to Zabuza did decapitate them before he reappeared behind the clones catching the blade and Saya, he intercepted two attacks from the last two clones before back stepping to disengage pressure so their followthrough made them stumble and he slashed forward into them.
The last of the clones dispersing, he suddenly turned an blocked a strike from an additional clone they created a surprise tactic, having just barely sensed it before a decapitation ended it. Breathing he snapped his fingers and the lights came out showing him alone in a red tiled floor training room. Nodding, he sheathed the sword and pushed it into his sash.
"Blade work an silent killing is good. Now onto technique work." He breathed out, forming a new set of clones and getting to work.
Several of the clones sparred, trading offense and defense, testing various patterns and methods he'd been thinking of, while he worked his array of techniques. Forming a Rasengan in his hand, he stared at the blue sphere of spiraling power. He had come to a conscious decision when he decided to use the Rasengan as the basis for his projected energy attacks.
The Rasengan was his most fundamental pure energy manipulation attack, and by itself it was powerful, the internal spirals of energy gave it the backbone of power it had and that was something he wanted to incorporate into all of his following energy based attacks. The Rasenhameha, for starters, was his first adaptation and combination, it gave the signature energy wave attack a drilling and grinding force the original didn't, and while difficult to control, he was already intimately familiar with this trait in the normal Rasengan so he had it handled.
That allowed him an edge, normally. Against a superior opponent who just had the raw power, those same internal rotations that gave it power, instead of being countered and blasted apart, lent itself to being turned, hence how it turned back on him rather than just being overwhelmed and destroyed. A lesson learned. Now he was adapting the Rasengan to two new techniques. A bomber sphere similar to the Genki Dama, and now the Kienzan. Granted he was gonna add Rasen in front of those names so they'd know they were distinctly his, well Krillen taught him the essentials of the attack.
Looking at the Rasengan, he breathed as he willed the shell to flatten and spread out, the internal spirals at first resisting the change before they too flattened out. The spirals followed their rotation, aligning together, creating power as different speeds of internal rotations layered over one another and pressed against the forming edge of the disk, sharpening it. It was small at first, best for safety that way, but as he formed the disk, as flat as possible, he could hear the distinctive whirring of the Rasengan literally sharpen.
Floating just above his hand, he thought a moment before a clone produced and he used it as a test dummy, slashing with the disk, and the clone knew no more, feeling the held disk cut through him. The memories came back and he nodded. "Rasenkienzan Success." Well, as best as he could. He wasn't going to throw it on a ship in space. Dispersing the disk, he creating another Rasengan. He had never attempted to throw a Rasengan before. Another clone was created and he smirked as he took a ready stance opposite of him.
"Ready to go Boss." It called and he nodded. He pushed more chakra into the Rasengan, forming an excited layer of chakra over the containing shell. The shell contained all of the internal rotations which gave it power, but also stabilized its movement, and actually resisted movement to a degree. Probably why it was so damn hard to throw it. The additional layer of chakra, excited because it literally wanted to move, took care of that and he threw it at the clone who's hand were coated in chakra.
The Rasengan flew true, the additional layer of chakra forming an energy trail behind it. The clone caught it with their hands, the identical chakra linking with the sphere and allowing it to be caught safely. The clone breathed and nodded, before sending it back and the original catching it the same way. "Probably don't even need to rename it, Boss, it's just an additional chakra layer is all. Hell, even Ero-Sennin can do this with regular chakra."
"We'll be sure to drop that hint to him next time. Being able to throw the Rasengan will help him out I'm sure. Maybe he can set the outer later on fire?" He spoke and the clone shrugged before it dispelled. That was another thing, he had worked out a deal with Kami that, while he couldn't teach them his power, he could allow them to adapt techniques if they could. Like the solar flare would be infinitely useful, not to mention a few others. It was a compensation and bargaining tool he could use when he got home in case he needed to.
Sighing, he dispersed the rest of his clones, getting back the collective memories of them all. Again they were encountering the problem of Plateauing, the energy just wasn't growing.
"Is it a problem with the balance of Ki to Magic? Shouldn't be I've been careful to practice both training methods to develop my ki and magic. Maybe it's control? Most of my training has been focused on using my chakra like KI. SO maybe I really need to work on my magic... Then there's the seal too..." He spoke aloud as he thought, scratching his head as he groaned. This was a pain in the ass.
"I'll have to deal with it later."
"Deal with what later?"
He turned to see Bulma standing in the doorway to the room, looking at him. She was dressed in her usual for the past month, her training attire. The tight spandex shorts that barely covered any of her thighs, low cut, high midriff tank top that hugged her chest, sneakers, ankle socks, and wristbands. He had to swallow a bit of the lump that formed looking at her. She was attractive before, but the month of hard training, physically with active ki in her system really just gave her a-
He had to shake the thoughts from his head. Ever since he had that encounter with the Karinga woman... actually probably that hot springs incident, he was thinking of these things. Just that Karinga woman gave him a first-hand experience that really just made him think about it a lot. Didn't help that she didn't care if he saw her in her bra and panties, medic or not, he was still a hot-blooded young man, and trapped in a ship with that he couldn't help but react.
"I've plateaued again. I don't understand what's wrong, I should be growing stronger, but instead of seeing growth and results, it's just getting harder and harder, hell if I didn't know better I'd almost say I was losing power. But that's not it, if it were I could work on figuring out what's causing it. It's driving me up a wall." He said, running a hand through his long hair. He felt a pair of hands on his shoulders he turned to look to see Bulma behind him.
"You'll figure it out. I know you will. For now, just focus on what you do have. Besides we shouldn't need to fight on Namek. King Kai told us that the Namekians are peaceful by nature. So no fighting." She told him,
"Yeah, I guess your right. Just it's irritating that the problem is there, to begin with."
"I know, but you'll get it." before she started rubbing his shoulders. "Relax, you're too tense. Come here and sit." She said, guiding him down to the floor where they sat and she worked her hands on his shoulders, not holding back on the ki strength to work the muscles. "To think you used to be shorter than me. You're growing like a wee. Here soon you'll be as tall as Goku. Not to mention the muscle your packing on. Girls back on your planet will be swooning over you." She said with a teasing grin he could hear in her voice.
"Hmph, if they can get over their Sasuke fangirlshness that is." He commented but leaned into her hands as she worked out the knots. This honestly felt good. "Most of the girls my own age were harping on his dick like it was made of gold, yet he never gave them the time of day."
"Was he gay?" She asked seriously.
"...Maybe. But then again he was also probably too mentally unstable and obsessed with Itachi who killed his clan. Ever since I started learning about medicine and the healing arts, I've noticed things like that. Sasuke shouldn't have been an active duty ninja with that kind of mental trauma...Anyway." He spoke, banishing the thoughts, not wanting to focus on Sasuke of all things right now. Bulma was still working his shoulders so he focused on that. She was spreading her ki into the touch which felt divine.
"What about Hinata? I saw her in your memories, she's got a thing for you." She probed.
"Maybe. I just never saw Hinata in that way like I used to see Sakura." He stated.
"Used to?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow as she moved her hands to his back.
"Mmm, yeah. I might have been ignorant of it before, but I know better now. Thanks in large to everyone who taught me things, you included." He commented and sighed blissfully as the kinks were being worked out. "Sakura was... well no way around it, she was abusive and didn't think twice to take out her frustration on people. Me more often than not. I'm still having trouble believing I let her do that."
"You had a crush on her and wasn't very..well, as bright as you are now. Be surprised what you're willing to endure when your feelings are involved." She stated and he nodded, getting it now. "Alright, so if not a girl your own age, what about a woman? You may have more luck with an older woman, plus they'll know a thing or two." She teased and he turned to look at her.
"What? Speaking from experience?" He asked with a grin and got a light smack on the back of his head in return, but caught the blush on her cheeks.
"Oh shut up." She muttered before she pressed onto a difficult spot that made his shoot up ramrod straight. "Nerve?"
"Nerve. Ow." He whined a bit, that wasn't nice. He got up and stretched a bit. "Aside from hitting that nerve that was nice. Thanks. So I guess you were up here to train?" he asked.
"I was yeah. But you're avoiding the question." She inquired and looked at him. He thought about it and sighed.
"I... don't know. Maybe? I mean Older women are more mature, actually, know what they want, don't judge as quick as quick as a younger girl does... better developed."
"Sounds like you got an idea what you're preferences are now." She smirked as she started stretching, drawing his eye to her.
"Yeah..." He mumbled weakly before actually shaking his head.
"Mind sparring with me?" She asked and he nodded.
"Sure." He spoke, taking a stance. She did the same, her ready stance was a relaxed generic one, but he found her way to fighting was actually very well though. She quite literally scienced the hell out of it. Angles, velocity, leverage, used to estimate and predict and then react as needed. She based it on a certain fictional private eye detective, and it worked for her.
He engaged with an advancing right kick to midsection which she stepped in closer to him and blocking with his arm, to half the power of the kick at the knee/thigh area to block at, at the same time punching with her right fist to his abdomen, which he intercepted and pushed away, getting in closer with an elbow to her gut. The hit went in but she backed up and huffed, rubbing it away. He had to say he was proud of her progress, she may not be a frontline fighter, but she could more than hold her own.
She came in with a rushing feint, trying to make him expose an opening by guarding one area. He met her feint instead with an attack, to receive a counter from her left arm crossing an elbow to his jaw that he took and rattled his head just a little. He may be taking it easy, but the woman could get it in there, could she ever pack a punch behind it. She didn't let her offense go to waste as she crossed her leg over his to keep him rooted and then laid in a few kidney punches.
He tightened his root before twisting the leg and trapping her, striking at her chest and head, just to miss the head on the second punch. She didn't shy away from in fighting at all as she attempted to bring her other knee up to his gut. But he caught it in his hands and pulled her off balance. She kept her other leg around his and pulled, both ending up on the floor now.
They tussled for control until he grabbed her arms and pushed down, straddling her while his legs wrapped around her knees to hold her still. "Pinned ya." He called with a smirk as he leaned down to look at her.
"Yeah..." She spoke breathily, looking up at him. The room was silent aside from their breathing, and he didn't know why, but he just couldn't break eye contact with her.
Bulma though had a good idea what was happening...and honestly, she didn't really oppose it. Her questions earlier had been to gauge him, and she wasn't disappointed in the slightest. This was her friend, probably her best friend, regardless if he was a guy. No, not a guy. Most of the people she knew as guys were irresponsible. Despite whatever age he really was, he was a young man... and she was attracted to that.
Naruto could see it in her eyes, something there, but he just couldn't tell what it was. He might be smarter and more educated, but he still just didn't know some things like how to recognize things in others. But whatever it was he was drawn in and didn't even realize he was leaning in closer.
Bulma held her breath, she could feel his breath on her lips and it sent tingles throughout her body. Her dating life may be chaotic, but she'll be damned before she hides how she feels about anyone. So when he began to lean in, she did the same. She felt literal sparks as she pressed her lips to his, it was chaste, but she kept the connection and closed her eyes enjoying the feeling.
Naruto senses ignited in flames when he first felt her lips on his, everything was firing off telling him what this was and when he at first froze, unsure of what to do, he felt a push from the back of his head and leaned in, taking in the sensation and felt him ease into it. He breathed through his nose as he loosed his grips on her and continued the contact. He felt her hands moved and snake around his neck and through his hair, while he lowered himself on top of her, some kind of instinct telling him to wrap his arms around her waist.
His weight should have felt smothering on top of her, but she wanted the pressure as she pulled him in closer, feeling his arms around her waist. She opened her lips and ran her tongue across his lips, asking for permission, and he opened his mouth, her tongue darting in. It wasn't any kind of dominance struggle, but exploration as her tongue explored her mouth which prompted him to do the same in turn.
Naruto could honestly say he enjoyed this, on some level he knew he liked this immensely. Which was why he didn't fight the feeling to continue or go further. He felt her body heat from her tight body pressed up against his as he laid overtop of her, felt her chest rise and fall against his. As his tongue explored her mouth, his hands meandered a bit, following a natural curve from her waist before they found her rear and gave it a squeeze.
Bulma moaned into the feeling, not expecting that, but not hating it as made her press her body upward into his, feeling his body tighten against hers at the contact. No doubt her work in loosening him up gone to waste, but she wasn't complaining. She broke the kiss, trailing her lips over his cheek and whiskers, before trailing down his jaw, feeling his shivers before she settled on his neck, her hands finding grips in his hair and giving it a slight tug to give her access to his neck, savoring the squeeze his hands gave.
Naruto breathed heavily once his mouth was free, but the shivers running through him then the tug to his neck being assaulted elicited a groaned, but he returned it with a hard squeeze as he adjusted his legs, she pulled her legs up so he was between her legs now. Pressing together at the lower body they both voiced it through throaty groans as she bit down and he found just enough stretch to get his lips and teeth o her earlobe, nibbling on the soft flesh as his right hand wandered up and to her chest, feeling a new softness with a stiff center his thumb toyed with, earning quiverings moans.
She coiled her legs around his waist to bring that contact in closer as she rolled her hips slowly, one hand taking a page from Naruto's hands and scratching through his shirt down his back until it found tight, curved muscle and gripped, getting a low groan and squeeze in return. She may not have been expecting this, but she was enjoying it just the same.
Naruto was of the same mind as he pressed in before he decided to take the next movement and his lips moved from her ear to her neck, where he latched on like she had and sucked on it, her throaty moans vibrating his lips. Both were hot and into this, and not even paying attention anymore.
"What are you two doing?" Was the mood-shattering sound that broke them apart as they saw Gohan standing in the doorway yawning while rubbing his eye. SOme kind of instinct took over and they separated faster than light could move and stood.
"Ugh, n-nothing Gohan. What'd ya need?" He asked, sweating bullets while Bulma wasn't any better.
"Well, I was heading up to the kitchen for water when I heard noises."
"Well, go one and get your water. Naruto and I were, um, sparring! Practicing ground grappling."
"Oh, okay then." He spoke and left, leaving them in the silence of the training room.
"That was-"
"-awkward." Bulma finished for the blond, scratching her cheek a bit.
"Ground grappling? Really?" He asked, for the moment ignoring the elephant in the room.
"It was the first thing I could think of. First time I've had to hide what I was doing before from anyone." She remarked, a little indignant over her answer being picked on. Naruto just snickered a bit, she was cut flustered like that... And there was that now.
"So..." He started, trying to think of where to start. "You and Me..."
"Yeah. I... I'll be honest, I'm not the best girlfriend out there. Yamcha can attest to that. And while he may not be exactly faithful, I'm no angel there either, maybe a bit worse, but I don't hide it." She spoke, fidgeting a bit as she looked away from Naruto, admitting her faults was nervewracking enough. Saying she had these problems stung, but she didn't want to lie to him, she felt he needed to know this before getting into anything with her, that she might hurt him...as much as she felt sick for admitting that she might.
"But I don't lie about how I feel. I can't make any promises about anything, that I might not screw up, badly eve, or that I'll be the best and I don't want you to either. I know you got to head back to Element, that someone there might catch your eye. But if you're willing to come back to earth, for whatever reason, I'll be waiting, even if things change, I think, if you want it. Just for now while your still here-" She was cut off
"I'll be here." He said, stepping a bit closer to her. "So what is this then?" He asked her.
"Well, you could say we're kinda dating. I can't say for sure where this will head. But you've been there for me, helped me and supported me. You're my best friend and I am attracted to you." She spoke, calmer and more direct about her feelings than she's ever recalled being before. "I know a lot about you now, but I do want to know more. You're one of my precious people. and I-"
She found a finger on her lips and heard chuckling, looking up to see Naruto smiling down at her with that heart-melting smile that turned her legs into jelly that she'd never admitted that it did just that. "You're rambling." He told her, stepping in closer and she felt very small before him, yet as his arms wrapped around her, she felt safe. "I know you're not perfect. I accept that, because you know how... damaged, I am, and accept it. Yami showed me that about myself before, but I never dealt with it until you forced it." He stated, holding her close.
"If you can accept me, all of me, my damage and problems, then I can accept all of you, even your flaws and problems. I've never done anything like this so..." He trailed off, thinking of how best to go about this. Yet again, Ayame's girl bible to the rescue. "One step at a time?" He asked.
Bulma looked up at him before she smiled and nodded, tucking her head into his chest as he tightened his arms around her. She felt safe and warm there. She eased into the touch and sighed as she kept the contact or a little while longer. "One step at a time then." She spoke, before pulling away. She smiled up at him before she leaned up, on her tip toes and gave a soft kiss to his lips that he returned and then pulled away. "We'll be approaching Namek here soon. Might want to get some rest." She told him, pushing away from him with a smirk as she walked out, purposefully swaying her hips as she walked out.
"..." He fell straight to his ass once he was alone and had to think about what just happened. "Damn..." He muttered to himself as he really just considered what he was now apart of. But remembering that moment together, from start to when she just let, he smiled. "She might not be perfect. But I can accept that." He said before getting back to his feet. He left the training room, passing her room before he went to his own, and stripped down to get some sleep.
[Hours later]
Their time on the ship was coming to a close as they each geared up and got ready. While they expected the Namekian's to be peaceful, Piccolo painted a picture worth being prepared for. As such Naruto was wearing an identical Gi to what he had before in the fight with Vegeta and Nappa, now a sword on his hip. Gohan wore the gi style Piccolo did, while Krillen wore the standard Kame-Sennin gi. Bulma wore a set of black leggings, a white tank top, vest, and strapped boots.
"We're finally here!" Gohan called out smiling as he looked through the main viewport.
"Sure are. It's a little hard to believe we've managed to really come all this way. It's a good thing you came along Naruto. Otherwise, things would be different." Krillen said, much to Naruto's confusion.
"We'd have likely had to have used an old Namekian ship we'd have to jury-rig to fly here," Bulma stated, looking over the controls. "And I probably would have been a mess of nerves snapping on these two all the time...and not where I am now." She mumbled to Naruto who was sitting beside her, who gave her a smile and nodded to her, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. She returned the smile before getting back to her instruments for final approach.
"Alright boys, buckle up, we're coming in." She called out to the two who quickly took their seats. They watched as they came in, the brief bit of fire upon re-entry before they saw the view of the horizon. It was a beautiful sight in the high atmosphere. Then they came to land and it was a soft touchdown. "Alright. We're touched down. Let's see, check the atmosphere for oxygen."
"Sit." Bulma blinked and looked up to see Gohan and Krillen walking for the main exit hatch, Naruto still sitting. "She said she needs to check for oxygen, you don't want to suffocate yourselves and we do you?" He asked the two of them and they gave a sheepish smile before sitting back down. He sighed and looked back to Bulma who smiled at him. "I see what you meant about not enough fighters on earth with smarts a year ago." He spoke and the boys just looked away.
"Now you see my frustration. Seriously it's like watching a bunch of children. Gohan I forgive since he's a kid and curious. Krillen ought to know better though." She spoke, narrowing her eyes at the man who just whistled innocently. "See, you're properly educated and have some common sense. Learn from him Krillen. You too Gohan, muscle can't be the answer to everything."
"Alright I think you've scolded them enough, come one we got to find the dragon balls," Naruto spoke up and she sighed before finishing the computer analysis.
"Alright, we got breathable O2, acceptable levels for humans, though it'll be a little thinner and the rations are a bit off from earth. So some shortness of breath, nothing detrimental. Gravity is a little higher, about .2 past earth so barely noticeable, but enough to throw you off a little till you adjust. Localized life signs just as King Kai said. We're good."
"Finally," Krillen said but got a glare for his trouble, however, they finally opened up and walked out. Bulma was right, the air was just a little harder to breathe but not bad. It was a serene environment alright. "Huh, not a bad place to vacation to just by the looks of it."
"Krillen, we're not tourists we're here for a reason." Bulma exasperated, however, she felt a poke on her side and looked at Naruto.
"I dunno. A foreign exotic planet, find a nice stretch of beach, camp right out on the sand, enjoy the ocean and surf. Layout with swimsuits, enjoy ourselves." He said with a teasing grin while he winked at her, making her blush just a little at the idea he put in her head.
"A-a-anyway!" She stuttered slightly, pulling out the dragon radar and clicking her scouter. "Link up scouters boys, it will allow us free communication in case we need to split up. I've also linked the radar to our scouters so we can access it whenever we need to. We should-" She cut herself off as she spotted a terrifying sight. A Saiyan space pod.
"What!?" Krillen shouted, looking at the pod as it crashed down in the distance. "Mask your energies now!" Krillen ordered and no one needed to be told twice as they reduced their energies, though Bulma had the most trouble as the newest to this, a few words from Naruto had her calmed and she followed through.
"Vegeta?" Naruto spoke aloud and Krillen nodded.
"Has to be, he was the only one who knew about Piccolo being Namekian. But how did he heal so quickly?" He spoke.
"Well, they have space pods, not too far-fetched they may have medical technology as well. But that doesn't much matter. We've got new problems now and we need to get our asses in gear." Naruto stated as he pulled his sword to a more ready position, tightening his gear.
"Let me go call home so we can tell the others, that way they know the situation." Bulma voiced as she headed up to the ship to get on the three stayed outside and continued to speak a moment.
"Now that we know they're here, we'll need to keep our power masked as much as possible. Gohan, think you can manage that?" Krillen asked and got a nod. "Naruto?"
"I'm good to go." He stated, palming the handle of his katana, getting a nod in return. Krillen still remembered how sharp that damn sword was.
"Remind me to find a weapon of my own one of these days," Krillen spoke and he nodded. "You guys feel that?" He asked.
"The mass of dark ki east of us?" Naruto asked, getting a nod. "I kinda thought I was misjudging it." He spoke, tapping his scouter and pulling up the radar. "Ugh, we got a problem. There's a group of dragon balls over that way." He said and the others gulped at what that probably meant.
"Guys! Someone's coming!" Gohan spoke up and Krillen and Naruto turned at the ready. "Is it Vegeta?"
"Doesn't feel as strong as him so it can't be," Krillen said, and they watched as two aliens stepped around the boulder. It was a tense few moments, unable to hear what they were saying until they came closer.
"Pft, just some tourists. Picked the wrong time to come here. Start with the ship, No one is to escape the planet."
"Right." The swamp monster reject of the two spoke, leveling some kind of device on his arm at the ship. A mass of adrenaline dumped into his system. Bulma was still in there. Pushing chakra down to his feet and out, an accelerated jump put him in the path. The alien fired and Naruto drew his katana in a draw cut from the saya, slicing the energy blast in two that split off to the sides harmlessly away from the ship.
"What!?" The Horned Oni impersonator shouted before the boy disappeared from his sight.
They never saw Naruto passing between them, now how the swamp reject's head fell from his shoulders, or the pommel strike with the sword handle to the back of the Oni reject's skull, knocking him out. Grabbing the bodies he tossed them to the ground and caught the head before it hit the water, freeing it of its scouter. Tossing the head into the water, he came back down to the ground, masking his power once more.
"N-naruto, that was... "
"Cleaner and quicker than he deserved." Naruto ended for bald earthling who stuttered out before he pursed his lips. Gohan seemed stunned by the action, sure he'd seen people die before...but decapitation was a new one.
"You only killed one." Gohan noticed, looking to the horned alien, who Naruto was now field stripping of gear the same as the headless corpse. Taking off the scouter, arm blaster, armor, gloves and any other equipment they had. A clone took the gear onto the ship, they could examine it all later.
"We have hostiles we know nothing about that are wearing the same armor as Vegeta, we need information. It's like I said before the last big fight. It's a dirty job, but every last scrap of information could be used to keep us alive." He finished, taking out a spool of wire and binding his arms and legs, this was wire he had asked Bulma for tested to his level of strength before they left to update his gear. Looking up, they saw another space pod and grimaced. "Great, another one."
[Inside the ship]
"Bulma, you finished with that call?" The clone asked as he dropped everything into a storage locker, making sure the scouters were turned off.
"Yeah just finished. Something happened?" She asked, getting up.
"We just got attacked by two scouts. I killed one and the boss is going to Interrogate the one he left alive for information. You need to make a decision, stay or go? We can manage without you if you go, but you'll have to book it double time."
"Like hell, I'm not leaving you here to deal with kami knows what while I run off like a coward. I did not work on helping you and confessing to you just to leave your ass in the dust. . . . Go it!?" She practically shouted at him, and he just blinked before he smiled down at her.
"Figures the woman who manages to get through to me is just as stubborn and hardheaded as I am."
"That's right- HEY!- M-mmm~" An agreement with a smirk before she realized what he said about her, an indignant yell, that was silenced by a meeting of lips and arms around her. She melted into the contact, honestly, she could get very used to this. "Whew, if I knew you'd be this affectionate, I'd have done this sooner." She breathed and he smiled.
"It...feels good, so I want to keep doing it if that's okay?"
"Of course Naruto." She said, putting a hand on his cheek while he leaned into the touch. "So I guess we gotta get a move on then?"
"Yeah. I stripped the bodies of their armor, scouters, and weapons, we can analyze them later. Scouters are turned off. Can we capsulate this ship?" He asked.
"We originally designed this one for you, we made sure it could so yeah."
"Good, they tried to take out the ship. I'm gonna send a clone with a scroll to go find those pods and seal them up just in case we need a bargaining chip or backup plan. Grab anything you need." He told her and she nodded, running out of the cockpit and down to the rooms and storage area, the clone following her and grabbing some of naruto's stuff as well as some general supplies, sealing them into some of the spare scrolls in the room before making their way out.
Bulma capsulated the ship while the clone passed the scrolls to the original before dispersing, smokeless. Getting the memories he nodded, but his eyebrow twitched. Damn clone getting one up on him... He tossed up two empty scrolls and three clones formed, keeping the energy as low as possible, they weren't fighting after all. "You two, go grab the pods. You, stay here and interrogate him. You know what to do." He said and two clones nodded, grabbing the scrolls out of the air and running off, across the water and jumping when needed, keeping energy low as they moved towards the pods.
The last clone smirked as he walked over to their prisoner.
"Alright let's get out of here, I'll learn everything from my clones in due time." He stated, and they all ran off, each of them carrying a pack of supplies with them as they pushed themselves as hard, but with as little energy as they could. "Holding up Bulma?" He asked her and she nodded.
"All good here Naruto. I couldn't imagine what this would be like without ki." She spoke though heard a grumble from Krillen. "care to repeat that cue ball?" She asked threateningly.
"Nothing! Your hair is nice!" He pleaded, but she huffed and looked to the side.
"It took him five weeks to notice, really?" She grumbled and Naruto snickered.
"Hey, Krillen?" Gohan spoke as they kept moving, eyes peeled for any threats.
"Sup?"
"Aren't you the oldest experienced fighter here? I mean don't the older experienced ones usually lead and give orders?" Gohan asked, looking over to Naruto.
"That's..." The Bald fighter spoke before he sighed. "I am, but of the four of us, Naruto is the only one with military training of any kind. If we had handled that like we normally would, we'd have probably just knocked those two guys out and let them drown in the water, the ship would be busted and we'd be on a creek without a paddle pretty much. Naruto saved the ship, is getting us information and snagging those two pods. None of us would have thought like that. Besides it's not about who's leading, just that we're in a bad situation so we're making the best decisions we can to survive and get what we came for. If you have questions or you're worried, then ask them. Understand?"
"Got it, that makes sense. So no ones really leading, just who's got the best know how and what to do at the moment." Gohan surmised.
"Yeah, pretty much," Krillen spoke with a sheepish grin, though the sweat on his brow and his sullen expression when he turned away spoke volumes. 'But he's a child soldier and been fighting intense fights of his own, so he might as well be the leader... I wanna cry... Damn it Naruto, You best get me a good girl when we get back to earth!'
"I will," Naruto said, casting a Cheshire grin to Krillen who paled before he smacked his hand on his face. Telepathy, right.
"What's up?" Bulma asked but Naruto waved it off.
"Nothing nothing. You guys see anywhere good?" Naruto asked.
"There looks like a cave in that rock face. It might be big enough." Gohan spoke, pointing to it. They nodded and moved toward it, looking around, it had plenty of room inside.
"Well, its a dingy cave, but at least it's big enough to open a capsule house in. Let's-" Bulma froze, as did the others, as they all sensed a massive power approaching. They all scrambled into the cave wordlessly. The closer it got though, the more shaken they all got, no exception. However, by standards, Bulma was still the worst off as she was shaking. Naruto pulled her into him and held her as he pressed up against the cave wall.
They all saw the group passing by, and when they saw the one in the machine second from the front, their dread washed over them like a wave as they felt the power and its dark intent. Once they passed by, they all started t calm and breath easier, but Bulma was still terribly shaken as she collapsed and Naruto caught her, sliding down to the floor and cradling her against his body, rubbing her back and whispering to her ear.
"That... was intense. Vegeta doesn't even compare to that." Krillen spoke through gritted teeth as he stared out from the cave. "And did you see what they had in their arms?"
"Yeah... dragon balls. But they were huge!" Gohan spoke, amazed that the Namekian dragon balls were different from Earth's.
"Hey, hey, you're okay, alright? I'm here, you're safe." They heard and turned to see Naruto holding Bulma and both of them felt for the woman. Bulma wasn't a fighter like them, she may be training now, but she hasn't fought before, nor faced the immense pressure of a superior opponent right in front of you, and that was as close as she'd even gotten to that just now, with the most intense and darkest power they had felt to date, hands down. With that and her power the lowest of the earth fighters, she wasn't able to put up a resistance to the oppressive nature of the power and became like this.
"It's okay Bulma. I felt like this when I first started out against Vegeta." Gohan said as he walked over, patting Bulma's shoulder. Off to the side, Krillen had tapped behind his ear and the scouter unfolded to cover left eye as he went through some of the Data it had.
"R-really?" Bulma asked from Naruto's arms, Gohan nodded.
"Yeah, it was like I was frozen in place and I felt everything closing in on me. Like you want to run away just to escape it." Gohan said.
"He's right. My first big fight with that eyebrow-less freak Zabuza, he did something similar with Killing Intent. It's hard to face at first, but you can adjust to it. It's only the feeling the power gives off, not the power itself. Alright? No need to worry." He spoke, running a hand through her hair. She smiled weakly up at him, nodding before she leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips.
Gohan was just standing off to the side with a curious look. "That's that ground grappling thing right?" He asked and both froze.
"Ground grappling?" and then they shattered as they saw Krillen eyeing them with a smirk. "When did this happen?" He asked with a shit-eating grin. The two blushed and looked away, before finally separating.
"N-none of your business cue-ball!" Bulma shouted, flustered all to hell before she crossed her arms.
"Maybe. But we got bigger problems. Those guys are heading for another dragon ball. It feels like the same direction as a group of Namekians judging by the feel of the power. I'm going to go find out what's going on exactly."
"Good Idea, I'll go too. You coming to Naruto?" Gohan asked.
"No, I'll stay. However," He crossed his fingers and made a clone, going as sparingly on the chakra as possible. "Take my clone with you. Use your scouters, they have a mall camera right Bulma?" He asked, getting a nod from the Bluenette. "Record it and keep in contact. Meanwhile, my other clones should be finished soon." He said the nodded and took off.
"Why didn't you leave with them?" She asked and Naruto turned back to her, grabbing her and pulling her into a searing kiss. She melted into the move before they separated.
"I didn't want to leave you alone. This planet is going to be dangerous enough. And no offense against you, but you are strong enough to face off against some of the stronger powers here, not yet. And I'm not about to lose one of the people that mean the most to me in my life now." He told her, smiling and blushing, and she too blushed.
"Well..alright. If you say it like that." She muttered and he just chuckled.
"Anyway, let's get this place set up if we're going to be staying here a while, might as well be comfortable enough. Thankfully, capsule tech rocks. I seriously gotta find out how to use Fuinjutsu for a house." He spoke and she giggled a bit. He stopped though, a rush of memories from the clone interrogating the Oni alien.
"Naruto?" Bulma asked concerned.
"The clone just finished the interrogation. The news... it isn't so great." He spoke with a sigh.
"And what's the news?" she asked a little worriedly.
"Well, this is the PTO we're dealing with, and the head Honcho of it all is that freakishly powerful one. Named Freiza."
[Krillen, Gohan, Naruto-C]
The three ran fast and without pause, all three of them had their wire framed scouters on with the screen showing the collection of 5 dragon balls.
"They got there. We have to hurry." Krillen said and they pushed it a bit harder. however before they got too much closer, they slowed and crested over a cliff, laying on the grass as they watched everything from below.
"It' a village. The buildings look weird." Gohan muttered, looking through his green colored eyeglass of his Scouter.
"Those guys are down there. What are they doing?" Krillen spoke, looking around through his yellow tinted scouter. However, he noticed Naruto tense. "You alright bud?"
"The other clone just finished the interrogation." He said, now having both boy's attention, but he motioned for them to keep watching down below. "These guys are PTO. Planet Trade Organization. They're apart of the same group that Raditz was, purging planets and brokering them to buyers. That guy down there between those two, with the massive power, is one of the big bosses. His name is Freiza, a member of the cold family that rules the PTO. They purge planets for profit and sport. Now Frieza is here because they picked up a transmission from Vegeta's Scouter about the dragon balls and Namek, his Scouter was bugged to keep track of him. Vegeta's apparently gone AWOL and betrayed these guys, doing his own thing now."
"What does he want?" Krillen asked.
"Eternal Life, same as Vegeta. Currently, their's only a token force with them of soldiers and for good reason. Those two beside him are his direct subordinates. Dodoria and Zarbon. Not much is known about them except they are strong and answer only to Frieza. Though Zarbon is rumored to have a transformation that makes him even stronger."
"Damn! Like this wasn't bad enough... Are there anymore Saiyans?"
"No, far as they knew, Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were the last of their kind. But that now includes Goku and any other possible survivors out there."
"Got it. Anything else?" Krillen asked while Gohan was nervous over the whole deal.
"I got the location of their ship. A clone is heading there to try and scout the area, maybe find something useful. Though they're not going to do anything to get themselves noticed yet, the last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves." He stated and the other two nodded, before focusing on the ground again.
Naruto saw through his orange plated scouter the Namekians, who looked like Piccolo and Kami being herded out and surrounded. There were kids in there. Naruto gritted his teeth looking down there. "Zoom and Record," he told the two who nodded and tapped on their scouters.
They watched the exchange between them, talking, Frieza making his threats and clarifications, lies and deception. Telling the story of the last villages he visited and killing the Namekians there. They each had to work to keep their power in check and anger under all of a sudden the one called Zarbon attacked one, while another retaliated, but was killed in turn. Zarbon shortly returning to his master's side.
However before much else could happen aside from more conversation, younger Namekians who looked more like piccolo arrived. "They're suppressing their power... But they don't know that. They're like those Saiyans they can't feel ki." Naruto stated and the other two nodded. Looking down, he noticed the elder eyeing the main group for some reason. Then the fighting started and released their restraint to charge through the grunts as fodder.
Suddenly the elder attacked and struck Dodoria's scouter then jumped and took out the last two intact scouters and Naruto smirked. "Aiming for the scouters. Good, that means they can't track power anymore." Naruto spoke. However, in return, Dodoria was ordered to kill the three younger Namekians. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the kids. The older one saw fit to bring the dragon ball out.
"Gohan. Don't get any funny ideas." Krillen spoke and he looked to see him gritting his teeth. "They're stronger than us so there's not much we can do."
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean there's nothing we can do..." But before he could say anything more Dodoria attacked the elder. Narrowing his eyes, he started gathering and charging his power.
"Naruto. what are you-!?"
"They can't track us. No need to keep our power masked anymore. If we need to move, we move fast. We might not be able to fight them, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna let kids be killed like this." He spoke, standing Gohan was as well, and Krillen followed, he folded his scouter back as did the two. "Get the kids out of here, Pronto!" He said, making two more clones. Suddenly Frieza shot a beam, but as he did, they two Namekian children were consumed in smoke, the beam piercing through one of them.
Out of the other burst forth Naruto. Dodoria had his hands around the neck of the elder and quirked an eyebrow before he snapped the elder's neck and beckoned Naruto forward with a smirk. Naruto growled but halted as he held his hands up to his eyes. "Solar Flare!" He shouted, blasting those in the area with a burst of light. They shouted, blinded. But in the chaos, The clone rushed forward and grabbed one of the dragon balls on the ground before he took off into the sky.
[Moments earlier]
The two Namekian children appeared in front of the two Earthlings and Elementian, surprised and nervous. "No time, we got to move, my clone is buying us time. Grab the kids, we gotta gogogo!" He ordered and Gohan and Krillin nodded, grabbing them and taking off, just having turned when a mass of light burned behind them. "Stay Low! My clone will give us a Diversion if he's caught!" He spoke and they lowered down to the water, flying as fast as they could. They just barely heard the faint shouts of panic and to chase the dragon ball.
[Attack Clone]
The clone gritted his teeth, knowing he'd been caught already. But they were following his flight trail, not him yet. His solar flare bought him enough time to get out of sight, but not his flight trail to fade. Looking down, he bit the bullet and dived straight into the water, using his power to fly through the water. Fighting the resistance of the water was draining his power, he was just a minimal power clone, a third of one at that. He wouldn't last, not long enough to get back.
So he booked it far enough until he had no choice and popped. The dragon ball sank down, landing on the bottom of the ocean floor. To be retrieved later. Above and back aways Dodoria was losing his shit and blowing up islands.
[Cave]
Naruto's head snapped up, a smirk on his lips. "The others are on their way back. The village was raided and Namekians killed, two kids were rescued and they're bringing them back."
"That's awful... So why are you smiling?" She asked.
"Because my other clone managed to snag a dragon ball and drop it in the waters before he dispelled. We just kept a dragon ball out of their hands." He said with a smirk and Bulma's eyes widened.
"Oh good. Any more news?"
"One of the Namekians destroyed the rest of their Scouters, so we don't have to worry about them as much. But there's still Vegeta out there, He's probably got a scouter... But I sense he's moving farther away." He stated.
"Good. The farther away we are from him, the better." She huffed as she went back to downloading the data off of the scouters to make an active translator function off any of the stored languages and any other useful information.
"Agreed, but If I had to guess, then I'd say one of my clones was bringing back the sealed pods while the other who went with him is probably out to scout Vegeta." He stated from the kitchen. While they were out, they had opened up a capsule house which fit just perfect in the blinked and did the math.
"You didn't make enough clones for everything you said they were doing." She said and her Naruto chuckle from the kitchen.
"My clones can make clones. Though their chakra supply is smaller doing this, it works in a pinch. It's how my clone rescued those kids while getting Gohan and Krillin out of there without notice. Replaced the kids with clones using Kawarimi and then a solar flare to blind everyone before he took off with a dragon ball. Sometimes it's better to not throw a fist at all." He called from the kitchen.
"Ohh, now that is devious." She commented and then smirked. "Ha! Bulma's genius comes through again!" She called out, mostly to herself. She had just gotten through the garbled mess of coding they used for the scouters and got to the data she needed.
"Well, Bulma's Genius is going to take a break here soon to enjoy a bowl of Ramen as soon as the guys get back." He spoke from the kitchen and she sat up thinking of their favorite addiction.
"Ichirakus?"
"You know me so well." He spoke up and she smiled. This day just got better. The door opened and they saw another Naruto walk in, setting down two scrolls.
"Pod retrieval a success Boss." The clone said and Naruto the original nodded.
"Have a rest, you've earned it." He told his clone who nodded and dispelled. Naruto got the memories back and hummed. "Yep, the clone did follow after Vegeta. I wonder about the scout clone though?"
[Vegeta scout clone]
The clone who'd taken it upon himself to scout or Vegeta didn't have much trouble finding him, he was painfully easy to find once he ought the purple alien they had some kind of rivalry Afterwards he followed in silence, his power suppressed to not be found. He picked up on most of Vegeta's plans, but not everything, not always close enough to hear him. He knew he intended on facing this Frieza, and he had a boost in power.
The clone had stuck around to learn from other clones that one had dropped a dragon ball into the water, which uses the radar link on his scouter, showed him exactly where. But with Vegeta in the area, he didn't want to chance it yet. He managed to stay hidden to see Vegeta knock Dodoria into the water.
Their conversation was about Frieza and Vegeta's dereliction of duty. But when they spoke f the scouters, he noticed how he was talking and acting like... he didn't need the device. He watched then as he crushed the scouter, and while Dodoria panicked, Vegeta boasted his new ability to sense the power that got on Earth.
'Fucking Shit!' The clone thought to himself.
"So that blonde bastard was an earthling, right? He was with you then."
'MOHERFUCKER!'
"Earthlings? Yeah right like they'd be here. If they were they'd be at the top of my list to kill." He said and Naruto calmed. He just dodged the bullet, but now he knew they had to keep their power down.
He listened to them keep talking and as they started to fight. Then he learned something very interesting.
'Saiyans get stronger the more they fight and survive injuries? And the more intense the struggle or severe the injury they survive and heal from, the greater the increase in power and ability. I'll have to keep that in mind.'
The rest of the encountered told him that Frieza destroyed the Saiyan homeworld, not a meteor like the Saiyan had thought. Frieza was afraid of the power Saiyans could possess. With that, he decided now was the best time to Dispel.
[Cave]
Naruto's head snapped up and he narrowed his eyes. "Bulma, you're still suppressing your power right?" he asked and she spoke an affirmative.
"Good. Vegeta learned how to sense ki." He heard a crash of something falling, then the chair being pushed away.
"Are you serious!?" she called out, running into the kitchen to look at her new kinda boyfriend.
"Very. My clone saw him talking and fighting with one of Frieza's goons, Dodoria. Aside from what we got, there are no more scouters on Namek, so we'll have to keep ours Hidden. Hope the others are doing alright."
[Rescue group]
"Drop to the ground now!" Naruto ordered both Gohan and Krillin.
"Sup man?" Krillin asked, holding the kid Cargo as they set down, Gohan was holding Dende, so they could fly as fast as possible.
"Vegeta knows how to sense ki now." He warned, looking up into the skies and trying to feel it out... no sudden surges of ki. They may have escaped his notice before he could sense them out.
"W-what!? But how?" Gohan stuttered out.
"No clue, but that's what the other clone found out when he scouted out Vegeta and watched him fight the pink-skinned one from before, Dodoria. He's dead now, and Vegeta's even stronger than he was before."
"Great, like it's hard enough catching a break."
"Don't be sure, I got a dragon ball sunk in the waters before the clone dispelled, so they'll be at least one away from Frieza and Vegeta we can find later." The clone spoke, heaving a sigh when he felt no incoming power. They really must have cut off the power just in enough time to avoid detection.
"Good going bud! That'll keep them from making their wish early." Krillin said with a smile, Gohan nodding.
"Yes, Thank you, for keeping at least one of them out of those bad men's hands," Dende spoke and Naruto waved it off.
"Don't thank me quite yet. We're also wanting to use the dragon balls."
"What?" Cargo spoke and Naruto sighed, but Krillin and Gohan picked up the slack in explaining about earth's dragon balls and what happened, that they wanted to revive their friends who'd been killed.
"I see. At least you do not wish to use them for the power of immortality like that other did." The boy cargo spoke. The two Namekian brothers relieved at what they heard.
"But to think you'd have dragon balls of your own. This Namek, Piccolo and Kami, they must be from before the storm we were told about to be sent from Namek." Dende spoke and Naruto nodded.
"That seems the case. I think we're good to go on and make it back so long as we keep our power down. Which speaking of, I'm about to dispel, so it's up to you guys. Keep your scouters hidden, they might not have a power read function, but they don't know that and will assume they do, they're our radars and comms and we can't lose communication. Alright?" He spoke.
"Alright then, later!" He said before he poofed away in smoke, scaring the two Namekian brothers.
"Hey it's okay, that's just a clone. Naruto can make copies of himself that can do everything he can, but they don't always last long. Right now he's using his clones to get information and learn what the bad guys are up to and where at." Krillin spoke to set the brothers at ease.
"Which speaking of, didn't he say a clone went to scout of their ship?" Gohan asked and got a nod from Krillin.
[Ship Scout Clone]
"How do I get myself into these messes?" He muttered to himself as he wore a set of PTO armor and a helmet, walking around the ship like he actually belonged. So far it'd gone okay, he'd manage to sneak on board without being noticed and found an open locker like an area where a set of armor and such was and changed. He didn't want to waste the chakra on a kaihen, much less a henge if he could help it.
Now he was listening to the other soldiers, asking simple things, getting information. He learned a lot, they had medical machines for starters, something he'd try to help Bulma get, not to mention the technology was impressive.
"I wonder..." He had a thought before he found a hidden area and tapped his scouter, getting it to fold out and running through some of the features. "Data upload to other active scouters... worth a shot." He made a small clone audio test file and uploaded it to the other scouters, he waited and was surprised when he got a return ping of a received file.
"Clone Audio test Success. Proceed with your idea you ballsey fucking clone you." The Boss's voice came through and the clone smiled. Okay so while the scouter was cloned, it still functions as intended and could upload and receive Data.
The clone then left the area and went to the main control room, intending to be the super spy.
"Call me 009." He mused to himself before disappearing into the main control room.
[Mindscape]
"Now this is how a fucking ninja is supposed to operate! YesYesYesYes! He finally fucking gets it!" Yami was whooping and hollering out from the central chamber so loud even the damn fox heard it.
"For his supposed dark side and true self, he's just as annoying as the outer one is." The fox huffed, covering his ears and trying to get back to sleep.
[Cave]
"Welcome back guys," Naruto said, leaning up against the mouth of the cave waiting for them.
"Hey there Naruto. Thanks for the save back there. Your clones are damn useful." Krillin said and saw the whole group make the last little distance back to the front of the cave, the two Namekian brothers amazed to see the same man from before in front of him again.
"They're only useful when I think to actually use them. Thankfully I've been polishing up on my Ninja skills. So Dende, Cargo, nice to meet you again, face to face without dispelling into smoke. Why don't you all come inside, I just made food and I got some jugs of cooled water for you two."
"Naruto! That's rude, they need to eat food."
"Actually Krillin." Gohan interrupted. "Naruto asked that while we were training with Piccolo. He only drank water, and Naruto said Kami did the same. So we're assuming Namekians only drink water?" Goha asked.
"That's right. Thank you for the thought though, but the water will do just fine for us."
"...huh... well, okay then," Krillin spoke, a little stumped by that. They made their way inside where they found the table set, Bula was on the phone against the wall.
"Go on and take a seat, I made food for each of us. You all get the standard, I made ramen for me and Bulma. Your water is the glasses on the table." He said, heading into the kitchen and bringing out the food. Setting it all down on the table, they all took a seat and then Bulma came over.
"Alright, so where to start," Naruto spoke, thinking of how to do this.
"Well, I got some good News! I just talked with Dad, Goku is healed up and on his way here!" Bulma said, and the others smiled, that was the best news so far.
"Alright that's god, now let's explain everything so no one here is in the dark," Naruto spoke and they all nodded and started talking
[009 Clone]
"Alright, it took a while, but I finally managed to get this thing ready for a data upload." The clone spoke as he pulled off his Scouter and connected it to the large computer through a cable before he started the data streaming and hid the Scouter. "So long as it keeps streaming data, the data it does upload won't be lost. I just have to last long enough not to pop before it's done."
"Hey, you there!"
"Me?" Naruto asked, turning around to see a crocodile looking guy standing in the door.
"Yes you newbie, it's time to go down to the mess for some grub."
"But I was told to stay on guard and!-" He started to play off but the guy just laughed it off.
"Kid, you got shafted. No one guards the core area rooms when we guard the halls leading to them. Now come on, we got to get some grub." The man said and the clone sighed, happy to dodge that bullet.
Leaving the room, he supposed this would work best so long as the Scouter stayed hidden. Though he did wonder what passed for food to a PTO soldier serving on Frieza's ship itself.
[Cave]
"So that's everything, nothing held back about why we're here, the current situation, who the bad guys are, all of it." Krillin finished and the others nodded, now everyone was on the same page. Just then they heard and ping and Bula got up and went over to workstation, her bowls of ramen devoured.
"Your clone is streaming Data to me. it's marked... 'Ship - Main computer Data storage'...!" She panicked slightly and quickly plugged her scouter into a computer she had to the side to start streaming the data to it. "A little warning next time Naruto!" Bulma shouted.
"What's happening?" Gohan asked and Naruto smirked.
"Seems my clone is being a super spy and downloading everything off of the main computer of the bad guy's ship." He said with no shortage of pride.
"Well, I'll be. Tha-!?"
"!?"
"!?"
"!?"
"!?"
"!?"
Everyone felt it, they all got up and ran outside where they focused on the feeling of vanishing ki signatures, on by one they were just fading.
"Vegeta!" Krillin gritted his teeth, and the others nodded.
"n-n-no... Our people...I know that village..." Cargo stuttered out. Denda grabbed his shoulder and looked at him, after a few moment, Cargo nodded and Dende stepped forward.
"Please. We have a way. We'll take you to Grand Elder Guru. He is the oldest of our people and father to the each of us. He'll know what to do. You've told us your reason for being here, and we understand you, but please help us!" Dene pleaded and the others looked at each other before they nodded.
"Alight, we will," Krillin said and the others agreed, but then a thought struck Bulma.
"Wait. Father to you all? What does that mean?" She asked.
"Well, Elder Guru has reseeded the Namek people as we are today. I'm his 108th child."
"And I'm his 109th!" Cargo spoke a bit more excitedly, the more energetic of the pair.
"You said father right? So what about the Mother?" She asked.
"Ugh...mother?" Cargo asked.
"Yeah, you know! A female parent like your father."
"What's a female?" Cargo asked, looking at his older brother who shrugged.
"There's no other kind of people on this planet who are different to you?"
"N-no. Just us, we're all like Elder Guru."
"No Women...what a boring planet..." Bulma voiced, but then squeaked when she felt a very familiar sensation.
"If you're bored we can take care of that ya know," Naruto said with a teasing smirk into Bulma's ear as she stood behind her, a hand on her rear, but his breath n her neck may have one more than his hand did.
"Heh, heh, heh." The woman sheepishly giggled to herself, a blush on her cheeks.
"Y'all gonna do that ground grappling thing again?" Gohan asked and the kinda couple just face faulted.
"Ground grappling?" Dende and Cargo asked together.
"Yeah, they did it while they were training. Bulma had her legs around him and trying to hold him really tight, but her legs were around his waist, and they had their hands on each other's bodies like their chest and butt trying to get control, but neither would let go they were holing so tight. Their faces were really close too and doing something-"
Both Naruto and Bulma were mortified hearing this described, turning an atomic blush easily, and trying to scramble up from the ground. Meanwhile, Krillin was holding his gut and biting his lip trying so damn hard not to laugh, a hand against the rock face to support himself from falling as he kept listening and watching.
"Alright, that's enough of that I think," Bulma said, her blue hair a perfect contrast to her red face...not that blonde was much better though.
"Y-yeah. Anyway," Naruto took a breath. "We should ugh...this um...Grand Elder Guru, right?"
"Yes...if everything you said and felt is true...then there's not a lot of us left on Namek. But they're hunting for the Dragon balls,"
"This Grand Elder Guru, does he have one of the Dragon Balls?" Krillin asked.
"Yes, he does," Cargo spoke up and
"Then we'll have to warn him. Frieza's men may not have any scouters, but Vegeta can Sense Ki now, so Guru isn't Safe."
"Then we have to Hurry!" Both brothers shouted and the rest nodded.
"Bulma, is the download finished?" Naruto asked and Bulma remembered about that. She headed inside and checked, finding the process complete. She unhooked her scouter and replaced it to her ear, where it folded back. Storing everything away, she came back out.
"It's done alright. What are you thinking Naruto?" She asked.
"I thinking we pack up and all go. It's not exactly safe to be separated and while we may be a bigger target together, we'll stand a better chance against Vegeta together. Not only that, but we hold hidden cards with the pods, the dragon ball in the water and information we've gathered." He said.
"You sure staying together will be better. It's a 30-day walk." Dene said and the others gulped a bit.
"That's a far way to go. To get there fast we'd have to fly." Gohan said doing a quick bit of math in his head.
"... Okay, maybe it's not the better idea then if it's that far. Trying to suppress our collective power and fly fast enough to matter as a group... Alright, who's going to go then?" Naruto asked.
"I know the way best of the two of us," Dende spoke and cargo nodding in agreement.
"I'll follow him, we have our scouters so we can stay in contact. Naruto I'd feel better with you here instead. You're the strongest of us right now and if comes down to it, I'd rather you be here to fight, alright?"
"Got it. Let us know by scouter when you get there. If he has a dragon ball that should help lead you to him." He stated and they all nodded. Dende and Krillin took off while Naruto hung back. Then his eyes clouded and he snapped his head to the left.
"Naruto?" Bulma asked.
"My last clone on the ship just dispelled. That data package he sent has a lot of stuff."
"Stuff like what?" She asked as they headed back inside.
"Everything. Schematics of various pieces of technology, including a healing tank of some kind, ship designs, weaponry, you name it, it's there. Plus it seems like the collective languages of the races that make up the PTO, and coordinates of many planets." He said and she smiled.
"You know just what kind of presents to get a birl Naruto. I'll have to try my best to get you a good present too." She said with a smirk that made him blush slightly.
"S-sure. Well, let's get inside and wait for them to get back." He said and they did just that. "Found out too that PTO soldiers eat slop bout the same as grunts in any other army too." That got a few rounds of laughs. He stopped though when he felt a few sources of Ki on the move.
"Feel that?" He asked.
"Yeah... who is that one?" Bulma asked.
"Feels like that Zarbon guy, the one who's rumored to have a transformation," Naruto spoke and Gohan remembered that guy now and nodded.
"So what are we going to do?" Bulma asked but Naruto shook his head.
"Aside from giving Krillin a heads up. Nothing." He said as he gave a tap to the area behind his ear and the orange eyeglass Scouter folded out over his eye. He made a few commands and pulled Krillin up on Comms. "Yo. You there Krillin?"
[Krillin & Dende]
"Loud and clear. Sup?" He asked. He waited a few moment and sighed. "Zarbon huh, I'll keep that in mind... By the way, your promise for a wingman is still good right?" He asked.
Dende just looked on curiously.
"I know the dating scene on Namek is dry! I meant when we get back to earth! I would like to have a girlfriend before I die sometime or another. I'm already banking on a miracle and we're screwed if shit hits the fan before we're ready. Granted we could Leave but then we can't make our wish. Whether we have a ship or not, unless we get our wish, this might be our only chance."
"Look, doesn't matter, so long as we can keep the dragon balls safe until Goku gets here to help deal with Vegeta and the others, then we can make our wish and hopefully fix things. Alright. Now let's-" He felt a power and panicked.
"Dende! Down!" He and the Namekian child dropped t the ground where they hid, but then grew confused. "That was Vegeta's power but...why'd it change directions. He for sure felt us. So why... there's another large ki further that way and he's heading for it."
"What? Take the chance to head onto Guru's while he's distracted?" He called into the Scouter and then nodded. "Right. I'll keep in touch." He pressed the back of the Scouter and it folded back. "Come on Dende, we gotta go while we have the chance." He said and the two took off.
They kept flying for a good long while until they the ki practically fitting to burst and then the blasts of Ki started lighting up the sky. "That's crazy! Those two must really be going at it!" He called, but then a thought occurred and he grabbed dende, activating his Scouter to the radar function. "Dende, which way!" He asked and Dende pointed, and he fixed it on the dragon ball right in that direction.
"We gotta move, hang on!" He spoke and booked it for all he had.
[Cave]
Naruto and the others were spectating through ki sensing what was happening, and while the explosions ended some time ago, they could feel the mass hurry of ki that was Krillin on the move, but also Vegeta's near non-existent ki and then Zarbon's moving back and forth. Then Vegeta moving with him, likely half dead if what they were sensing is right.
"Probably going to Interrogate him on where the dragon ball from the village he found is," Naruto stated and Gohan and Cargo shuddered at the thought.
"Hey, Guys! I just finished sending all of the data to my dad back on earth. He's taking all of it and that old Namek ship to see what he can do with it all." Bulma said, trying to pass on some good news.
"That's pretty good, that'll all help for sure when we get back."
"Yep!"
"...They landed. Hopefully, Guru can help." Naruto said, opening his eyes as he sighed.
"He will. I know he will." Cargo said. Gohan and Naruto looked at each other, having a different thought, but giving the benefit of the doubt.
They spent a little while inside, where Bulma fixed up the disassembled the scouters and gotten everything she wanted from it, making a nice little software upgrade for their own Scouters. They generally just tried to do anything to stay busy until Krillin pinged them shortly after they felt his power spike.
"Ugh, yeah Krillin," Gohan spoke into his Scouter. Bulma and Naruto were listening in on their own as well.
"Wait, you mean he wants us to protect the Dragon Ball, and he has a way to make us all stronger so we can protect it.?" Bulma asked again and heard an affirmative from the bald fighter.
"Well be there. We'll use your Scouter to track you, alright, just stay put." Bulma said, heading back inside and getting her stuff and packing away the house and everything before she came back out.
"The Scouters can track one another?" Naruto asked.
"They can now." She responded immediately and Naruto wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Now! Dear Boyfriend of mine. Carry me?" She spoke with a puppy dog pout.
"..." He was trying to resist, he really was, but she had just let her hair out so it curled up and around her shoulders and face and just really... "Come on." Resistance was futile. He made a clone who stood by for a second.
"Hehehe." She giggled as she climbed up onto his back. She could fly on her own, but riding was just better sometimes. It's only too bad Bridal style carry is a little awkward in serious flight.
"Alright, Let's fly hard and fast. You go on and find the other Dragon Ball while we have the opportunity. Alright." He spoke t his clone who nodded and took off in full aura formed flight toward the dragon ball.
"Let's go," Naruto spoke and the rest of them booked it for Guru's, using the Scouters to locate Krillin and follow his signal. Leaving their spot, they had soon passed the range of sensing they had for grown used to, and wouldn't sense the impending escape of Vegeta.
[Clone]
"Let's see. There are four Dragon Ball readings over there. Obviously Frieza. That one over yonder is Krillin, Dende, and Guru. So the last two are...the one I sank. And the one Vegeta got." The clone blinked and was thinking for a moment before he smirked. "I don't think he'll mind too much if I borrow it." Snickering to himself, the clone decided on his plan to grab both of the vagrant globes, changed course just slightly.
The clone tapped his Scouter a few times, accessing a few files before he smirked and pressed another button behind his ear on the interface panel hidden behind the ear of the unfolded device.
"~Dragon, Dragon, Rock the Dragon~" He started to sing with the music playing in his ear.
The Clone finally reached the village and grimaced at the sight. Coming down, he looked to all of the Namekian bodies and slumped. "I'm sorry I can't give you all a proper burial right now. But hopefully, in a few days, we won't have to." He told them before he found the source and saw it in the water. Sighing he tapped the scouter to fold it away. It was waterproof but it retained water where it folded if open so it was a pain in the ass when it dripped in the ear.
Diving into the water, the clone searched throughout the water before he saw a glint and found the ball. He smirked before he grabbed it and resurfaced, coming back to land.
"And what do we have here?" Naruto froze at the voice, looking up to see Vegeta standing there, smirking at him. "So it was you, the Blonde Bastard Dodoria spat off about. Fancy meeting you here, but I believe you have something I want." Vegeta spoke, motioning for him to give him the ball.
"...Why should I give it to you in the first place, for all I know, this thing is what's keeping me alive." He said.
"Heh, of that you'd be right, but we both know it's only a hassle to take it from you, not a hard one, but you can save me a headache by just giving it to me. In return, I won't kill you for it."
Naruto kept his outer appearance calm while he thought a moment. He had to keep him talking, he could still just barely sense himself, purely out of the connection between original and clone and wanted them to get farther away. "Why are you doing all this? I know back on Earth you said you wanted Eternal Life. But why? I've heard it plenty enough be described as a curse by people smarter than me. that eventually everything loses its appeal, its meaning, and all value. Why do that to yourself?" He asked.
"Heh, that's beyond your reasoning boy. Those smarter people are fools, they think but have no concept of action obviously. But it's not the Eternal quality I desire most, but the unkillable. You can't conquer that which you can't kill." Vegeta spoke, holding out his hand. "Now, the ball." He restated.
"..." He tossed the ball over and stood to his full height. "If that's the case, then just wish for Invulnerability. Same fucking difference and no one can kill you until you die of old age. Probably. Much more useful to Soldiers like ourselves." He stated, seeing what he can probe and get out of him.
"A soldier?" He spoke, a bit curious now.
"Trained since I was six in my village. All of us Orphans if we aren't adopted by the age of six are inducted into the military academy to be of use to the village." Which was true, this was how orphans could make their own way in the village with a support structure like a family.
"A child soldier, well well, small universe then isn't it." He mused mirthfully. "So what, they trained a bunch of brats to be cannon fodder?" He smirked smugly.
"Assassins actually. Shadow warriors you might call it." He spoke, playing it up a bit... okay a lot. When he thought of what a shinobi was supposed to have skill in and the real-life examples he had, it may as well be heaven and earth now that he looked back on it. He guessed the flashy stuff was for younger ninja who hadn't accepted yet they are adults and had to kill, allowed to live a fantasy a while before they are dragged into the shadows. Like he now was, acting like a proper Ninja.
"Could have fooled me back on earth. Lots of in your face and not so subtle actions. pretty shitty for a child soldier trained assassin." He barked with a laugh as he insulted the blonde.
"I'll admit, I didn't stick to my strengths back then. I got lost in the...glamour, of being an in your face fighter, rather than what I trained as. That fight was the reality check I needed. I know better now. Back then... I should have killed Nappa as soon as you two set down and dealt you as bad a mortal wound as I could, like my training dictated I should." He stated ominously, left hand drifting to the saya of his katana, setting his hand on the saya, ready to hold the sheath of the weapon, the saya, to draw the blade free.
"You, you should have. Maybe your weak friends might still be alive. But then again, I'd have been the deal with all of you then and I wouldn't have played around." He stated.
"Maybe, but that's all in the past. This is the here and now."
"Indeed... A question then, oh great Assassin." No shortage of sarcasm and while a vein throbbed in his head, he reigned in the desire to kill him. "If you were ordered to kill a Superior opponent, how would you do it? Give me a satisfying answer and I may just give something in return." He stated.
Despite knowing that was probably bullshit, he still answered after some thought. "Truthfully, poison is one of the better ways to kill someone who you can't fight directly. If they are secure in their power and arrogant in their position especially. As for the details of the act, it depends on if it's a quick act, or you can take your time. Over time you can poison slowly, make it look like a sickness. Quickly, I'd say two-part poison, harmless on there own, but together, they combine to become a virulent poison n the body. Like one in everyone's drink, then the other in their food. Then again, contact poisons also work effectively. There's not much training you can do to resist all known poisons. Doesn't matter how strong you are if you're killed from the inside." He stated.
"... Well, I didn't expect you to actually have an answer for me or one that made much sense. I guess I don't give the proper credit then, Assassin. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can use poison, nor will I resort to such a method as a Saiyan warrior." He stated, and Naruto just Shrugged.
"You asked, I told, Saiyan." He spoke back in the same form of address. "So what happens now?" He asked.
"Well now, I won't kill you for trying to take my dragon ball." He stated, raising his hand at him. "I kill you because you were the one who cut my tail off." He spoke, forming a ki blast and firing it at him.
Naruto reacted quickly and drew his sword in an attempt to cut the ki blast, but then someone different happened. Rather than producing a cutting force, the ki blast was suddenly met with a blue-tinted barrier that the blast exploded against. "What the?" He spoke, the barrier falling away now.
"Hmph, Cheap trick, try this." He spoke, tossing up the dragon ball and forming a Ki wave attack. "Disappear!" He hollered, firing the blast at the Clone, who instead took it and smirked. Disappear indeed. The clone poofed without any evidence to the wiser. "Ah, that was satisfying," Vegeta spoke, catching the dragon ball and walking off before he took to the air.
[Flying Group]
Naruto's eyes glazed over before he blinked and grimaced. "Slow it down. Vegeta is up and around." He called and Gohan who was carrying Cargo immediately slowed and they stuck at a slower pace.
"Doesn't that guy ever quit?" Bulma asked herself, but Naruto just shrugged.
"Can't say. But he got his hands on the dragon ball he sunk near the village he raided. Thankfully the other one I sunk is still safe." He spoke ad the others sighed. "Bastard also thinks I'm dead. He blasted my clone all to hell. So maybe we can use that against him if it comes down to it..." He suggested, giving the others something to think about, but then he looked at his sword on his hip.
'And just what did you do back there? Yajirobe never said you had powers and I know it wasn't my power... I'll figure that out later.'
"Anyway, let's keep going."
"YOU!"
"Sonuvabitch..." He whined, turning his head as he saw Zarbon of all beings fast approaching, thinking of something real quick, he made a decision. "Get to the ground. we can't outrun him." He told Gohan and down they went.
"Naruto what are we doing, this guy is too strong for us!" Bulma whispered into his ear.
"I know, but we aren't fast enough to outrun him. So we'll just have to find another way."
"You're that Blonde that got the drop on us with that light flash technique and ran off with the dragon ball. I'll see you return it, now." He ordered, he didn't look pleased at all... in fact, he looked pissed. Naruto wondered just what he could do since he elt his power clearly before when he fought Vegeta.
What was he going to do?
So how was it? Leave a review or send a pm, I'm open. come at me.