So, here is something that me and Panda had been working on. Just a short story explaining the events that took place before the start of Legacy of Heroes. Hope you all enjoy, it will definitely tie everything together well.
On the crisp, late summer morning, the warm breeze blew through the many trees in the area. Many wild song birds chirped their songs and the morning dew dripped off the leaves of trees and various plant life. All was tranquil in this late summer morning, but one young man was growing restless from lack of things to do.
"Come on! Can't we do something other than watch you peep on women..." The young man groaned.
He walked side by side with an older man with long white hair.
"It's for my research I told you. Jeez... You'd think for the time you've been out here you'd realize what that means, Naruto."
"That you're just as perverted as they come?" Naruto said.
"Hey, you gotta cater to your audience. And I am nothing if not a servant of the people." Jirayia heroically stated.
"More like the biggest Letcher in the world..." Naruto muttered.
Jirayia choose to ignore his naive young pupil and focus on the leisurely stroll ahead. The two of them had been on the road training Naruto for the past 3 years. And they had promised to return to their home, the Hidden Leaf Village, in a month's time. For now, though, they were focused on their unofficial mission: a series of local small coastal towns in Water country were being harassed by a major league pirate gang. The nation's Mist ninjas were in the closing days of their own civil war and we're unable to intervene on what they called small and local affairs. Leaving the two wandering Shinobi a golden opportunity to go from village to village scaring off the rowdy pirates in exchange for room and board.
As they ventured down the road, getting near the next town, Jiraiya felt something that made him stop in his tracks.
"Why'd you stop?" Naruto asked.
"Something feels off..." Jiraiya said grimly.
"What do you mean?"
"It's something in the air... It fells... heavy all of a sudden..."
That was when Naruto felt it, too. The air suddenly felt thick with an odd energy about it and arcs of static electricity formed around some nearby bushes.
"What the hell is that..." Naruto asked.
The static grew more intense. So much that the two of them had to back away as small pebbles started to levitate.
As they watched on, they saw a black, swirling circle start to form, slowly growing bigger.
"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know." Jirayia replied. In all his 50+ years, he had never encountered anything like this...often.
The object then grew to the size of a person very quickly, bolts of static electricity arcing all around it.
"Don't get too close... Whatever it is, it's not safe." Jiraiya said. Before either one of them knew it, a container of some sort flew out of the black object and landed in front of them.
"Bomb!" Naruto shouted as the two of them leapt backwards. A few seconds later when the container didn't explode, the two shinobi breathed a sigh of relief.
A few seconds later, something else came through and landed at their feet.
"WAH!" Naruto yelled as he jumped back, only to notice that it was a person.
"It's... a girl..." Jiraiya said in shock. But then one more person flew from what seemed like a portal and landed next to the girl, both of them seemingly unconscious. The other person had gravity defying black hair and a massively muscular tone, whereas the girl had long black hair and a petite frame.
Soon after, the portal was gone, only a small black puff of smoke remained until it fizzled out.
"What the fuck just happened?" Naruto said in confusion.
"Teleportation jutsu, probably. Although like none I've ever seen." Jirayia said as he scanned their surroundings. Naruto meanwhile produced a blanket from his backpack and covered the mysterious girl.
'She's actually pretty cute.' Naruto thought.
"Hey kid, what did you do that for? It's not even cold out here." Jirayia pointed out.
"I'm making sure you don't get distracted ogling her and focus on helping them." Naruto explained, having long figured out his master.
"Bah, you don't know what you're talking about. Just grab the girl and I'll grab her brother and we'll get them off the road." Jirayia scoffed.
Jiraiya worked on lifting a muscular man, only to find that he couldn't lift him.
"Damn! This guy weighs a ton!" Jiraiya grunted.
"What? Is age finally catching up with you, Pervy Sage?" Naruto mocked as he hoisted the girl up into a princess carry.
"I'm serious! I can't lift him!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Yeah right. What's the plan? You want us to switch so that you can grope her and I carry the heavier guy? No thanks, we've been down that road and now we can't go back to the Land of Lightning." Naruto ranted.
"Find out for yourself then!" Jiraiya said indignantly.
Naruto rolled his eyes and made a quick cross with his fingers while holding the girl to create his signature technique; the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
A clone then poofed to life and walked over to help Jirayia lift up the unconscious young man.
The clone Naruto lifted, only to find that the man wouldn't budge from the ground.
"Holy crap, the Perv is right, Boss. I think this guy is made of gold he is so heavy.
'I wonder...' Naruto thought. "Check to see if he's wearing weights."
The Naruto clone preformed a quick pat down.
"Yup, found some. Looks like his boots and wrist bracelets." The clone reported.
Jiraiya slid off one of the wrist bands and it fell from his hand with a large thud and made a small crater in the ground.
"Holy shit... Do you know how much weight would cause something to make a hole like that?" Jiraiya said in shock.
"Uhhhh, 100 pounds?" Naruto guessed.
"Try over a ton..." Jiraiya deadpanned.
"What? How do his arms not fall off?" Naruto exclaimed as he re-examined the boy.
Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "Look at Lee and Gai. They use some pretty heavy weights."
"Yeah, but nothing nearly that heavy. The most I've seen Lee ever wear were 250 pounders, and that caused Gai to tell Lee to tone it down."
"Wherever these two came from, they have a lot to explain." Jiraiya said. He and the clone removed the remaining weighted clothes and now Jiraiya was able to carry him.
They took them to a nearby field where Jirayia inspected them and found nothing physically wrong with them. The two then decided to set up a campsite and wait for the two strangers to wake up.
Within a half an hour they had logs for seats and a roaring fire going just in time for the sun to go down.
Naruto lost the game of rock paper scissors and had to go catch dinner. Leaving Jirayia alone to watch over the two teenagers.
The something caught Jiraiya's eye. It was a small brown pouch attached to the man's belt.
'Now what do we have here?' Jiraiya thought as he silently walked over towards the unconscious boy. Normally he would never pry into another man's personal belongings, but these two had too many questions hanging about them that it peaked Jirayia's curiosity.
Jiraiya removed the pouch and opened it up. He had expected money or some form of ID, but instead he found...
'Beans?'
They were green beans, in fact they looked exactly like lima beans.
'Boy gets hungry I guess.' Jiraiya said as he put the bag back on the boy's belt. His eyes then turned towards the female.
'Hmm... A little on the skinny side. Pretty decent size chest, though.' He thought as he looked at the girl. Then he noticed some kind of pin on her oversized white shirt. He looked over to read what was written on the pin.
'Orange Star High School... Never heard of it. Must be from outside the Elemental Nations.'
Upon further inspection, he saw that on the top of the pin was a name. "V. Satan" It read.
That's when Naruto returned with a long string of fish.
"I'm back!" He shouted.
"YOW!" Jiraiya shouted as he fell over backwards. "Dammit! Stop doing that!"
"Oh relax Pervy Sage, I got dinner." Naruto proudly declared.
They were brought out of their interaction when they heard the man moaning, seemingly coming to.
"Ah... Looks like we'll get some answers now." Jiraiya said.
The man tossed and turned briefly before shooting up to a sitting up position. He screamed in horror as he broke out into a cold sweat. He shook his head a few times and tried to process what just happened.
"Oh man... Worst dream, ever..." He muttered.
"Hey, are you alright?" Jirayia asked, trying to gain the boy's attention.
"Huh? W-what?" The man said in confusion. He looked up to see a young boy and an older man with long white hair. "Um... Yea, I guess. Who are you?"
"Well I am the gallant Jirayia and this here is Naruto, my pupil. Can you tell us your name or where you are from?"
"Um... I'm Gohan. And... I just came from Capsule Corp in West City..." Gohan said as he tried to piece everything together. Then it all hit him like a ton of bricks. "W-where am I?"
"You're in the southern isles of the Land of Water. We found you and your sister over there unconscious after you fell out of a portal on the roadside. You're lucky we did. These lands aren't exactly the friendliest nowadays." Jirayia explained. Naruto meanwhile figured he might as well get dinner started. He excused himself to set the fish up around the campfire.
"Sister?" Gohan asked. Jiraiya pointed to the girl next to him and Gohan chuckled. "She's not my sister. She's a friend of mine from school."
"Is that so? My mistake. You two looked similar what with the hair shade. But never mind that. So where is this West city. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it is west of here." Jirayia chuckled at his own little joke while Naruto returned to their seats near the campfire.
"Um... Perhaps you should sit down..." Gohan said, remembering how he got here in the first place.
"Don't mind if we do, for it is our campsite." Jirayia said. He and Naruto then took a seat. Naruto being strangely quiet for the hyperactive teen. Mostly he was just trying to get a read on Gohan. For some reason he reminded Naruto of his old friend Kiba from back in the Leaf, but he couldn't place why.
"That portal you said we came through was actually man made. I went to see a family friend a little while before finding myself here and she had this machine that could create portals. She called it a Dimensional Teleporter. You see, she's one of the world's top scientists and she created this machine that could let someone or something travel between dimensions. But, something went wrong and both me and Videl here got sucked in." Gohan explained.
"Woah hold on, back up." Naruto said quickly, this guy had completely lost him. "Machines using jutsus, dimensions, other worlds? What are you talking about?"
"Jutsus? What's that?" Gohan asked.
"HUH?! As ripped as you are with your heavy ass weights and you don't know what a Jutsu is?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock.
"Seriously, what rock have you been living under, kid? Cause you need to stop bench pressing it." Jirayia added.
"Can't say that I do, honestly. But, whatever a jutsu is, that's not what got us here. It was, in all sense of the word, science. No jutsu or special technique involved really." Gohan said. "And as far as my physical condition, this comes from years' worth of martial arts training."
'So he's like Lee then.' Naruto thought.
"You've got machines that can teleport people? What nation are you from?" Jirayia asked, for he knew the Leaf and every other ninja village would kill to get their hands on that kind of technology.
"Nation? Um... I don't know what you mean. Perhaps you missed the part where I said that we came from another dimension." Gohan said.
"Ah... So, nowhere around here then..." Jiraiya mused.
"I call bullshit." Naruto said. "If you are from another dimension, then why do you look human? Shouldn't you be an alien?" Naruto said, evident that he had been reading too many comic books.
"Do you even know what a dimension is?" Jirayia asked.
"Its... a type of planet, right?" Naruto asked.
"Close. It's basically your entire universe, but an alternative version of it." Gohan said simply.
"Oh..." Naruto said sheepishly.
"But, you aren't... entirely wrong about the alien part..." Gohan said nervously.
"What are you talking about? You are human right?" Naruto asked.
"Only half human, actually..." Gohan then took in a deep breath and sighed. "MY dad was a full blooded alien of a species known as Saiyan's. They look a lot like humans, but they are far stronger."
"Saiyan, huh? Never heard of them." Naruto stated.
"I doubt you would have. Being in a different universe, there probably isn't any here."
"Not that I've ever met any. I've been all over the elemental nations and I've never met a being that went by that name." Jirayia stated.
"Is she one of those Saiyan's too?" Naruto asked as he pointed to Videl.
"No, she's human. That I'm certain of." 'I think...when I transferred my Super Saiyan power to her, her eyes also changed when her hair did. Only Goten and Trunks did that...' Gohan added in his thoughts.
"So then how did you two come to be together?" Jirayia asked in a perverted voice.
"W-w-what?!" Gohan stammered as his face turned red. "W-we're not together! She came to train with me!"
"Ok, ok, calm down." Jirayia teased. 'He's into her. Wonder if I could turn that into a book? A sci-fi romance...a half alien boy and a girl lost in another dimension. Desperate to get home and to understand the passion in their own hearts...genius.'
'What are you talking about?' Gohan said into Jiraiya's mind.
Jirayia then looked at Gohan with renewed intrigue. 'You can read minds?'
'Oh... Yea sorry about that...' Gohan thought sheepishly.
"No worries. Just be mindful of it on the future."
"Right."
"So do you have Yamanaka's in your dimension by any chance?" Jirayia asked.
"Who?" Gohan asked.
"A famous clan from our village. They specialize in mind based jutsus." Jirayia stated.
"Yeah, my classmate Ino is a part of that clan. She's always sticking her nose in other people's business." Naruto added.
"No... I learned telepathy from my teacher, Piccolo. He's better at it than I am, but it's natural to his kind." Gohan said.
"Piccolo, is he a Saiyan too?" Jirayia asked again, this whole conversation had gone on so long that the fish had started to catch fire.
"Shit!" Naruto cried as he sprinted over to save their dinner.
"No, he's not. But he is of another alien race known as Namekians." Gohan corrected.
"Dammit! All that fish, gone to waste..." Naruto said sadly.
"I can help with that." Gohan said as he jumped to his feet.
"What? You've got some time reversal jutsu that can go back and save the fish?" Naruto wondered, his childlike mind growing more excited as he finished talking about it.
"Hahaha, no. I'm going to catch some more fish. Bigger ones than those." Gohan said as he headed to the lake nearby.
"Hey, you don't have to do that! You're injured and our guest. I'll just catch some more." Naruto stated as he ran up being Gohan.
"Heh, this is nothing. I've been in far worse shape than this." Gohan scoffed as they both reached the lake. It was a fairly wide lake in the middle of one of the Isles of Water's many large islands. One of the few freshwater sources in the area and the source of the river that flowed into the ocean. The lake also happened to be one of the deepest in the world. Earning it the nickname; Demon's Pit. None of this mattered to Naruto or Gohan however, as they were more interested in what kind of tasty fish it held.
"Suit yourself. More fish to go around." Naruto said as he stripped off his jacket, soon he was down to his boxers; plus, his kunai leg belt and his green crystal necklace. His headband his untied and gently laid it down on his clothes.
"Hold on a second." Gohan said as he looked around the lake. He couldn't see much from his current spot, so, he started levitating off the ground and quickly launched up into the sky above the lake where he could get a better view.
"Holy shit! Are you flying!?" Naruto shouted.
Gohan sweat dropped at his mistake. 'No sense of denying it.' "Yup" Gohan said simply as he looked around for a fish. Then he found the perfect one. "There's a good one." He quickly dove down into the water, nearly creating a tidal wave when he hit.
Within 30 seconds, Gohan resurfaced with a single bass held up by its tail.
"Hey Naruto!" Gohan called out.
"What?"
"What's up with this lake? I swam around and this was the biggest one I could find!"
"That's as big as they get! I'm more surprised that you can fly!" Naruto called back.
"I'll tell you about it later. Let me get some more fish!" Gohan called back as he tossed the fish at Naruto. He caught it, but the excess force behind the fish knocked him into a tree.
"Sorry!" Gohan called.
Naruto shook his head and stood back up without a problem.
"No worries. Quite an arm you've got there. You a shinobi back in your world?" Naruto asked as he made a cross sign and 50 Naruto clones instantly appeared.
"Don't know what that is, but, that copy technique you just used is pretty cool. But, doesn't it take away from your energy reserves?"
"It does, but I've got such a large reserve that it hardly matters." Naruto explained as he strung up Gohan's fish with string to keep the dirt off it.
"Alright ya'll! Get to it!" Naruto commanded as 50 Naruto clones stormed the lakes surface. But instead of diving in like Gohan imagined, the clones began to run on water, spreading out to the various sports on the lake. When they reached their destination the clones just stood there on the water's surface looking down for fish.
"That's pretty neat. Hey, let's see who can catch the most fish first!" Gohan challenged.
"You sure? I've got an army and a three fish head start on you already." One of the Naruto clones bragged, much to the cheers of his dozens of clone brothers.
"Yup. Just give one-" Gohan cut himself off as he flashed out of sight. Down below, he was moving at speeds Naruto had never seen before and within a second, Gohan emerged with a massive amount of fish. "-second."
"Oh hell no! Boys, get after him!" Naruto shouted. All his clones nodded and made a pencil dive into the lake below.
"I don't think you'll find many more. This lake has slim pickings." Gohan said as he floated over the lake and back to shore with his catch.
Naruto whistled at Gohan's haul. Two handfuls of big fat trouts and catfish.
"That's a good catch, but let me give you some advice for this world, Gohan." Naruto said as half the fish Gohan held by their tails exploded into smoke. When they cleared, Gohan was holding two Naruto clones by their ankles.
"Never underestimate a ninja." Naruto smirked as half a dozen of his other clones came out of the lake with their own catches of bass.
"That's interesting." Gohan said simply, seemingly unimpressed by that sudden realization.
"Yup, better luck next time." Naruto teased as he had his clones throw half of their catch back into the lake.
"Let's get back to camp and cook these up. Before Pervy Sage tries to flirt with that girl you were with." Naruto said. Gohan shrugged and watched as all but two of the clones exploded into a plume of smoke, which dissipate like it was never there to begin with. He then followed Naruto back to camp with their catch being carried by the two Naruto clones.
"He better not!" Gohan said defensively from seemingly nowhere.
"Woah man, chill out. Pervy Sage is a Super Mega Pervert, but even he has standards...I think..." Naruto defended.
"Oh boy... He better not, because if she wakes-"
"TOUCH ME AGAIN AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Came a loud, feminine screech.
"And, she's awake..." Gohan sighed.
"God damn it. It's like with the Princess of Lightning all over again." Naruto grumbled to himself.
"Don't know who that is, but Videl usually lives up to her threats." Gohan warned as he started walking back to camp.
"It would take too long to explain. But if we ever run into Cloud ninjas, just don't use our real names." Naruto warned cryptically
"Okay..."
"So, you're really fast, you can freaking fly and you're really strong. What else you got up your sleeve?" Naruto asked.
Gohan smirked as he took one of his fish and tossed it up in the air. "Watch this. HA!" Gohan shot out a small yellow beam from his hand and cooked the tossed fish to perfection. It fell back down and Gohan caught it with his free hand. "How's that?"
"That is so freaking cool. It's like you've got lightning or fire in your palms." Naruto said in awe.
"Well, it's neither. It's your body's natural energy called Ki." Gohan said.
"Ki? Is that anything like Chakra?" Naruto asked.
"I don't really know what Chakra is so I couldn't tell you. But it is the same energy I used to fly." Gohan explained.
"Well chakra is the energy that I use to conjure up jutsus like my Shadow Clones and the transformation to fish like you saw. Also to walk on water or up trees without using my hands." Naruto said as he leapt up to a nearby branch and hung upside down for a second so that Gohan could see his point. "It comes from within us as well."
"Hmm... Yea, but I bet its safer to use. Ki, if not properly controlled, can be very destructive. Those who have a large enough Ki reserve can destroy anything from a boulder, to a mountain, to a village, to a city, to a country and to a planet." Gohan said grimly. "It takes many years to control it correctly."
"Sounds a lot like chakra if I'm being honest." Naruto said as they heard trees splintering over at their campsite.
Jiraiya met them before they entered the campsite, rubbing his swollen cheek.
"That girl has a mean left hook..." Jiraiya grumbled.
"That's what you get for feeling me up you PERV!" Videl spat from the other side of the fire place.
"I was only trying to-"
"NO EXCUSES!" Videl shouted. Her old memories dangerously close to bubbling up, but she would not show weakness in front of that pervert.
Videl then laid eyes on Naruto and finally Gohan. "Gohan?"
"Hey, Videl. How you feeling?"
"Aside from getting groped by some old asshat, I'm okay for the most part." Videl said softly.
"Sorry about that, old Pervy Sage can be, well a major pervert." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Videl looked over at Naruto again, this time at a closer angle and realized something unsettling.
This guy was freaking hot!
Maybe it was the way he carried himself or how he reminded her a lot of Gohan just judging by his dopy mannerisms, but he had a lot of good things going on. His face was handsome and playful, his smile was so huge and bright, the weird whisker tattoos on his cheeks were a bit off-putting, but somehow they worked for him. His skin was sun kissed but not overly tan, which complimented his swimmer beach physique. Videl could tell because Naruto had forgotten to put his shirt back on when he returned from the lake. Not quite on Gohan's level, but his body was nothing to be ashamed of.
To top it all off, the way he was positioned to Videl, with his head eclipsing the setting sun, his spiky blond hair glowed like it was made of sunshine. If Videl's friends were here they would be having nose bleeds, so Videl filled in for them in their absence.
"Videl, are you okay?" Gohan asked.
"Um, yea, why?" Videl said.
"Well you're bleeding." Naruto said as he wiped his nose to signal Videl to do the same. She did and was surprised to see blood smeared across her hand.
'Geez, this guy must be another Sasuke.' Naruto thought as he noticed that Gohan was standing next to him, also without a shirt on.
"Uh... Air must be dry I guess..." Videl blushed.
"Really? It's seems really humid to me." Gohan pointed out.
"J-just don't worry about it, okay?!" Videl snapped as she quickly turned around to avert her eyes from the two god like men.
"Gee, sorry, Videl... We were just worried is all." Gohan said.
'Oh this is just too perfect.' Jiraiya thought as quickly took down notes in his pocket notebook. 'A strange girl pulled between her loves of an old time friend and a mysterious stranger. Readers love a good love triangle.'
"Where are we anyway? And what exactly happened? The last thing I remember was we were in Bulma's lab and that machine of hers went haywire." Videl said.
"That's pretty much the gist of things. Something went wrong with Bulma's machine and we both got sucked in."
"Oh man... My dad is going to blow a fuse if he learns I'm not around..." Videl groaned.
"Yea, I know how you feel. My mom is gonna go ballistic when she finds out what happened."
"And it's your fault that we're in this situation..." Videl growled.
"M-my fault?"
"YES! Your fault!"
"You didn't have to come with me."
"And let you run off and abandon my training?! Hell no!" Videl spat.
"So then why are you mad at me? I told you to stay back when she turned on the machine, but you had to get close to see it."
"Don't turn this around onto me, asshole! Super Saiyan or not, I'll still kick your ass!" Videl spat furiously.
"Super Saiyan?" Naruto and Jiraiya asked.
Videl immediately gasped as she just realized she blurted out Gohan's secret. "Gohan... I'm so sorry..."
"Don't worry about it. They already know I'm not completely human." Gohan waved off.
"It's no trouble, it is more common than you would think on this planet." Jirayia stated.
"Huh?" Gohan said.
"I for instance am half Toad. I was raised by the Toads of Mt. Myoboku until I could become the first Toad Sage! Gahaha!" Jirayia gallantly stated.
Gohan and Videl sweat dropped. "Is this guy for real...?" Videl deadpanned.
"No, he was raised normally like everyone else. He just stumbled across the mountain one day when he was a kid." Naruto dead panned.
"Hey brat, I was looking for the mountain. I didn't stumble across it." Jirayia defended himself.
"This is one weird day..." Videl said.
"Tell me about it."
"Coming from the half alien, that's saying a lot." Videl smirked.
"Tell me about it. We were walking from town to town and then you two just plopped right out of a portal right in front of us. That kind of thing doesn't happen every day, ya know?" Naruto said.
"Oh no I hear ya. The whole him flying around saving people in my city was hard to believe. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that." Videl said.
"Wait, flying?" Jiraiya asked.
"Oh yea! Gohan here can fly! Says he uses this energy called Ki, whatever that is." Naruto said.
"KI?!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "Y-you're a Ki user?!"
"Um, yea... Is something wrong?" Gohan asked.
"Well yeah, there hasn't been a Ki user in our world since ancient times. Legend states that they were warriors who grew stronger with their rage. So the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths had to wipe them out a thousand years ago." Jirayia stated.
"Ki is triggered by anger, however, my... Dad... found out that Ki can also be used when having a calm mind. Others me and my friends and family have encountered have used Ki as a tool of rage and destruction, but we've developed it as an extension of ourselves. For instance," Gohan stopped and formed a ball of Ki in his hand. "This has enough concentrated energy to destroy a large rock. I can create ones stronger than this that could essentially destroy a city. the only difference is, I can channel my energy without rage, or emotion at all if need be."
"Fascinating, I imagine if you had arrived here a thousand years ago you would have taught the Ki users this method and prevented the need for their genocide. Or not, depending on how truthful our history textbooks are." Jirayia stated as took a catfish from Naruto and placed it near the fire pit to cook.
"Dammit, the fire's out..." Jiraiya complained.
"I got you covered." Gohan then pointed a single finger to the fire pit and fired a small, white beam powerful enough to reignite the flames.
"No hand signs or incantations; you are definitely a Ki user." Jirayia stated as he began roasting his catfish.
"Have been since I was 4, really." Gohan said simply as he set all of his fish down.
"That's around the time we start training our Shinobi in the art of ninjutsu; or mastering chakra." Jirayia informed as everyone else started setting up their fish.
"Ninjutsu? Ah, so you are ninja's huh? That's pretty cool." Videl said as she took a red snapper from Gohan's pile.
"Yup, it is pretty cool when you think about it." Naruto added as his attention was now fully focused on cooking his fish and how delicious it would taste.
"HA!" Gohan shouted as he emitted a Ki pulse that cooked all of his fish at one. Then, something that stunned all of them. He started devouring them at a pace totally unheard of.
'So the legends of the great Ki appetite were true.' Jiraiya thought to himself.
"Jeez Gohan, you're eating like an Akimichi, slow down." Naruto stated.
Gohan swallowed the fish in his mouth. "I eat like this all the time. It's a Saiyan thing." Gohan said.
"He's not lying... I've seen him eat like that at school all the time. I often wonder where he puts it all." Videl said as she moved onto another fish.
"Not in this world. Here we have a clan of fat ninjas that always eat like there is no tomorrow. Just don't ever say that to their faces, they hate to be called fat." Naruto warned.
"Well, if they can't handle the truth then maybe they should learn to put down their forks." Videl said harshly.
"Their clan specific jutsus require them to consume a large amount of calories at an extreme rate. If they went cold turkey and had no body fat to burn, their jutsus would eat away at their actual muscles." Jirayia informed them.
"Woah... That sounds bad." Gohan said, having similar problems with his own metabolism.
"I find that hard to believe." Videl scoffed.
"It actually isn't Videl. Saiyan's are similar in that aspect."
"So you can mind read like the Yamanaka's, you eat like the Akimichi's, next you'll be telling me is that you can nap like a Nara." Jirayia joked.
"I don't know what you mean." Gohan said.
"Wait a minute, you can mind read?" Videl asked.
"Yeah, what's that all about, Pervy Sage?" Naruto added.
'I have the ability to read minds and communicate telepathically.' Gohan said into Naruto's and Videl's minds.
"Gah!" Naruto shouted as he fell off his log.
"Woah!" Videl exclaimed.
"Don't ever do that again!" Naruto shouted.
"Sorry. You wanted to know." Gohan said as he returned to his fish.
"I just didn't think you would invade my mind so suddenly like that." Naruto said as he stood back up and sat back down.
"It's hard to do with someone who has a strong mind, but it was really easy on you for some reason. Like, I didn't even have to try..." Gohan pondered.
"That just means he's stupid." Jiraiya laughed.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted.
The group all shared a good laugh. Even Naruto got in on after deciding to be a good sport.
Their fish finally finished cooking and Naruto handed out the cooking spices he had sealed away in scrolls. Plus, flavored water packets for their canteens. Soon they had a little outdoor feast going on.
"So Gohan..." Jirayia began.
"Yea?"
"You said that you and Videl ended up here by accident. Does that mean you have no way of getting home?"
Videl's eyes went wide. "Gohan, please tell me we have a way to get home..." Videl begged.
Sadly, Gohan shook his head. "No... We're stuck here..." Gohan said glumly.
He had to watch as Videl's heart shattered right before him. Even Naruto and Jirayia looked distraught at the news. For they too knew the pain of losing your home in one form or another.
"Damn man, that sucks." Naruto said, not knowing what else to say.
"Y-you mean... All my friends... my dad... I won't see them again...?" Videl sobbed.
"I... Don't know, honestly." Gohan said.
Jirayia just sat there in silence. He had seen the look on Videl and Gohan's face one too many times. The face of a person who had lost everything. Who was just told the rug had been pulled out from under them without them ever realizing it. In all his 50 years he still didn't have a good word to say to them.
"No..." Videl cried as she broke down, sobbing harder than before. Gohan, doing what he did before, pulled Videl into a comforting embrace as he too fought back tears. He would never see his friends, his brother or his mother again and it tore him up. Videl accepted the gesture and cried into Gohan's chest, for the second time today.
'So much for that love triangle.' Jiraiya chuckled to himself. Not that his dimwitted pupil even knew he was in the running, but at least these two would have each other.
"Listen you two, I got a proposition for you if you're interested." Jirayia spoke up after giving the dimension hoppers a minute.
Videl continued to sob, but Gohan lifted his head up to signal Jiraiya to keep going.
"It's a small consolation, but if you two are willing to travel with us for a month, we can take you back to our village: The Village Hidden in the Leaves. I'm certain our Hokage would be willing to grant you both asylum for as long as it takes you both to find a way home." Jirayia offered.
"That's very generous of you, but I don't want to impose." Gohan said.
"Nonsense, we're practically our own city-state. We take in refugees all the time. Plus, you wouldn't even be refugees, you'd be our guests."
Gohan thought about it and then nodded. "We'd appreciate that. Because I don't think I could recreate the machine that sent us here in the first place."
"We have our own science R&D department in the Leaf. I doubt it's as advanced as anything you have back on your planet, but it is better than nothing." Jirayia added.
"It took Bulma 10 years to create the first one with the technology she had... I don't know how your world is to actually gauge a time span."
"I'm sorry, what?" Naruto asked. "You lost me."
"You seriously need to learn to pay attention, kid." Jiraiya stated.
"I've been paying attention, but what is a time span?"
"A time span is a certain length of time that events will or have taken place. The time from when an event starts to when it ends is the measurement of time of said event called a time span." Gohan explained.
'God, he is such a nerd... Why does he have to be so cute...' Videl thought.
"What was that?" Gohan asked.
"What was what?" Videl said.
"I thought you said something."
"No I didn't say a thing."
'Could have sworn she said something... Oh well...' Gohan thought.
"Well I meant what you meant by needing to gauge a time span?" Naruto asked.
"He means that he has no idea how long it would take him to recreate the machine with our technology." Jirayia explained as simply as he could.
"If I even can." Gohan added.
"Well, there is one way to tell." Videl said as she wiped her eyes. "Do you have computers? What about transportation, what do you have along those lines? And communication tech, how far along is that?"
"We communicate long distance by carrier birds. They range from doves to hawks. Transportation wise, we have steam trains and ships for cargo, but for personal transportation we have horse and carriage. I don't really know what a computer is." Jiraiya summed up.
Videl's last ray of hope was suddenly darkened by a new cloud of sadness.
"So, going by that, we're about 200 years more advanced than you are... That's a major problem..." Gohan said sadly.
"We also have short wave wireless hands-free radio if that helps." Naruto added in between bites of his fish.
"That doesn't seem out of the ordinary." Videl said sarcastically.
"What she means is, that's pretty advanced compared to the rest of your technology." Gohan said.
"Well I don't know how your society works, but that's how our produced our technology. By necessity." Jirayia said as he took a sip of lemon-lime flavored water.
"That makes sense. Our technology was developed for convenience and ease of living for the most part." Gohan said as he pulled out a thin, metallic object. "Huh... I still have my Capsule Case." Gohan said, which made Videl lighten up.
"A what case?" Naruto asked.
"Capsule." Gohan said as he took one out. "This little pill shaped object is like an extremely condensed suitcase. It can carry anything. From something as small as a pebble, to something as large as a cruise ship."
"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed.
Gohan smirked as he pressed the button on the top and tossed it. It bounced off the ground once and it made a loud pop and smoke appeared. Once the smoke cleared, a self-powered fridge appeared that was the size of a normal kitchen fridge.
"Impressive, it's like our sealing scrolls." Jirayia stated.
"I don't know what that is, but help yourself." Gohan said as he opened the fridge. In it were various drinks ranging from energy drinks, soda, water and beer. There was also food in there.
"Nice, I'll take a cherry vanilla cola if you got it." Naruto said.
"Hmm..." Gohan hummed as he looked around and found one can of cherry Vanilla cola. "It's the last one, you're lucky." Gohan said as he tossed the can to Naruto.
Naruto gleeful popped the top and savored the taste. His first soda in god knows how many months.
"Toss me a He-Tap." Videl said and Gohan did so.
"I'll take a beer if you don't mind." Jirayia said.
"Okay. Lager, Import or domestic?"
"Whatever's cold." Jirayia smirked.
"Fair enough." Gohan said as he handed the old sage a dark green bottle that read Yuengling on it.
"Thank you kindly." Jirayia said as he took a sip. 'Smooth.'
"And I'll take a Jones soda. Mmmm... Mango..." Gohan said as he took out a bottle of orange colored soda.
"So, what else you got in that case?" Naruto asked.
"One sec." Gohan said and took a sip of his soda. "Um, let's see..." Gohan said as he looked through his capsules. 'House 1 and 2, the spaceship... hmm... that could come in handy later. My car, gravity chamber and training chest... I think I'll take out house 2 since it's the larger one and the training chest.' Gohan thought as he pulled out two capsules.
"So what are those?" Jiraiya asked.
"This one is a house-" Gohan was interrupted by Naruto laughing.
"A house? Yea right!" Naruto laughed.
"Don't scoff, kid. The first one had a fridge." Jiraiya said.
"Yeah but even our seals have limits. There is no way he has an entire house at the push of a button." Naruto replied.
"Wanna bet?" Videl smirked.
Gohan moved over to the more open area of their camp and tossed the capsule. Naruto sprayed his soda out of his mouth when he beheld the structure before him.
"God damn, you weren't kidding." Naruto exclaimed.
"Told you." Videl teased.
"We can use this instead of camping out. It's solar powered and has both heating and air conditioning." Gohan summed up.
"Uh, Gohan. How many bedrooms does this have?" Videl asked.
"Two, why?" Gohan replied.
"We appreciate it Gohan, but who said anything about camping?" Jirayia stated. The two newcomers to the universe raised their eyebrows to see what the Toad Sage was going on about.
"Isn't that what you're doing here?" Gohan asked.
Jirayia stepped over into a clearing next to Gohan's capsule house and bite his thumb.
"Summoning jutsu!" He cried as he ran through the hand signs and slammed his bleeding hand into the ground. The ground exploded with a massive plume of smoke and then just as quickly dissipated, leaving behind a cozy little cabin that appeared to be designed to look like a frog.
"That's kinda cute, but I like sleeping in a real bed with a lamp." Videl said.
"Hey, piss off. I've got all those and a god damn fireplace. (Ribbit)" The cabin croaked at Videl.
"ACK! IT FUCKING TALKS!" Videl exclaimed
"Of course I talk. (Ribbit) What's the matter sweetcheeks, you've never met a Toad house before? (Ribbit)" The cabin scoffed at her.
"My apologies you guys. This is Gamaterrance, my home away from home." Jirayia explained.
"What did you call me you-MMMHH!" Videl was cut off by Gohan placing his hand on her mouth.
"Forgive her. We're new to this universe and all of this is very new to us." Gohan said nervously.
"Understandable. She's not the first female to be overwhelmed when I brought her back to my place." Jirayia leered, which prompted Naruto to slap him upside the head.
"So do I have to accommodate these two? Cause I'm not sure I like the shorter brunette. (Ribbit)" Gamaterrance sneered.
"It's okay. We have a portable house that you were summoned next to. We'll be fine." Gohan said as he tried to gently move Videl towards the house, but she was having none of that.
'Relax, Videl. This is a new place and new faces. you can't just snap at anyone who gives you a dirty look here.' Gohan said into her mind.
"Oh, and now I've got to be neighbors with that ugly thing? (Ribbit) What the heck, Jirayia? I've got standards you know!" Gamaterrance said, pointing towards the Capsule house.
'I'm gonna kill him...' Videl thought back.
'Don't. Please. Just try to calm down. We know next to nothing about their culture and I sense they are very strong. You wouldn't be able to-' "GAAAH!" Gohan yelled as Videl kneed him in the nuts.
"Don't you EVER call me weak again!" Videl snapped and then she turned to face the frog. "As for you, you overgrown fly muncher! The best place for you is your legs served with a side of gravy!"
The two ninjas and the house gasped.
"Videl, don't! He was talking about your house!" Jirayia explained hastily.
"Overgrown fly muncher?! (Ribbit) Oh that's it! I'll show you where I can put my legs! (Ribbit)" Gamaterrance shouted. His back legs then formed out of the stone work and kicked the sides of the capsule house. Leaving man-sized holes on the sides and roof of the tiny structure.
"Gamaterrance, no!" Jirayia shouted.
"Hey! That was MY house!" Gohan squeaked, his jewels still in a lot of pain.
"That's it, bug breath! You're mine!" Videl shouted as she began to charge.
"Hey hey HEY!" Jirayia shouted as he leapt in between Videl and Gamaterrance, his arms outstretched. "Let's all calm down!"
"Calm nothing! He is a self-centered prick that needs to be taught a lesson! He also destroyed Gohan's house!" Videl exclaimed
"You insulted him first!" Naruto shouted. "Plus, he's a Toad house. He doesn't know any better."
"Doesn't know any better? (Ribbit) That's it, I don't have to stand here and take this abuse. (Ribbit) I'm out of here!"
"No, Gamaterrance, wait!" Jirayia shouted, but it was too late. Gamaterrance reverse summoned himself back to the Mountain of the Toads.
"How the hell did I insult him first?!" Videl spat
"You compared him to another house. He hates that. He has his pride as a living cabin. Plus, then you called him a fly muncher. That is like super offensive to them." Naruto explained.
"Well, excuse me for not knowing that houses here are fucking animals!" Videl spat.
"No they aren't. That was just one of the summons I use when I'm traveling out in the wilderness for months at a time. Now me and Naruto have to wait a week before he calms down and we can get our stuff back." Jirayia explained in an annoyed tone.
"And I suppose that's my fault too, huh?" Videl spat.
"Videl, please calm down." Gohan said.
"Look it doesn't matter now. The point is that now we've got to find another place to sleep tonight." Naruto intervened.
"You can shut the hell up, Gohan!" Videl said furiously. "You know I hate being called weak!"
"But I didn't-"
"YOU IMPLIED IT!" Videl screamed as tears started to form. "You of all people should know how that makes me feel!" She then broke down sobbing as the memories from earlier that day came back to her.
The two Shinobi backed up. They had both dealt with strong women enough to know that Gohan had touched a nerve.
"Ok, listen. We've all clearly had a rough day. You two especially. There is a town maybe two miles away from us that is ready to offer me and Naruto two rooms for the night. I'm certain we can convince them to offer up two more and then we can sort thing out tomorrow with clearer heads. Does that sound good?" Jirayia offered.
"I don't fucking care either way..." Videl sobbed.
"Videl... Listen, I'm sorry, I d-"
"Didn't mean to? IS that what you were going to say?!" Videl snapped. "Don't give me that bullshit! You knew right from the get-go... So don't go giving me any of your excuses, jackass!"
Naruto and Jirayia then realized that they weren't a part of this conversation between these two and decided to give them their space. They went a hundred yards off into the field. Keeping within sight, but out of hearing range. Well, for the most part.
"Of ALL people I could get sent to another universe with, I get you! Yea, I get you are really the one who saved the world from Cell and that you have the power to destroy a solar system if you wanted to, but you really are a spineless pussy when you aren't battling to save the world!" Videl shouted.
Over with Jirayia and Naruto. The two shinobi were having their own private conversation.
"Pervy Sage, are you certain that you want to bring those two back to the Leaf? The girl especially seems unstable. Seriously, she makes Sakura-chan and Granny Tsunade look well-adjusted by comparison." Naruto whispered to Jirayia.
Two countries away, back in the Leaf, Tsunade and her apprentice both sneezed while they were elbow deep in open heart surgery.
"Bless you." Shizune said as she stood on standby for Sakura.
"Thanks." Sakura replied. 'Why do I feel like punching Naruto?' She thought to herself. It was strange, her thoughts seemed to turn to him more and more often as the days leading up to his return drew closer.
"Sakura, pay attention!" Tsunade instructed.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Sakura replied before returning her attention back on her surgery clamps.
Back in the Isles of Water.
"We have to Naruto. Because like it or not, we need to secure their powers and technology for the Leaf. This isn't a friendly world Naruto. If we don't offer them help, someone else will. Someone with more sinister intentions that could take advantage of those two. No matter how pure they may be, they are naive about this world." Jirayia explained.
"So we're using them all the same?" Naruto said bitterly. He hated the thought of tricking other people like that.
"If you want to think of it that way. With any luck they will find a way back home before either side can use them to shake things up. Until then, I'm not about to leave two lost souls out on their own in a strange new world." Jirayia stated. Naruto nodded in approval. He didn't always show it, but these moments made him really proud to be the old pervert's student.
"I'm sorry! Really I am!" Gohan pleaded.
"Stop apologizing!" Videl snapped. "That's your problem. You apologize way too much. As strong as you are, you are a big fucking pansy! Did you apologize to Cell when he killed your dad?" Videl spat, then immediately slapped her mouth shut. "Gohan, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to say that..."
"That was a very low blow, Videl..." Gohan said grimly. "How dare you... You know that losing my dad was the worst thing I had even gone through..."
"Should we...intervene...?" Naruto asked hesitantly.
Gohan looked up to meet Videl's eyes. His own glowing teal with rage. Videl saw the rage and hatred in Gohan's eyes and knew she fucked up bad.
"Gohan... I'm really sorry."
"OH, so it's okay for you to apologize when you stick a knife in my back, but god forbid I apologize over a misunderstanding?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Gohan yelled as a golden aura started forming around him.
"Holy shit... Do you feel that?" Naruto whispered in shock.
"I do. Stand ready. This Ki user might be the real deal." Jirayia said as he dropped down in his defensive stance, prompting Naruto to do the same. They had to be ready for anything.
"It just keeps going up! How strong is he?!"
"At least at a Tail Beast's level! Just hold on!" Jirayia shouted back.
"Gohan... Please, you're scaring me..." Videl whimpered in fear.
That tone in Videl's voice was enough to snap Gohan out of his rage. His aura subsided and his eyes returned to normal. He looked at Videl who was cowering in fear before him and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. He looked down to see his hands trembling as he tried to hold it all in. He then dropped to his knees, panting heavily in fright.
"W-what have I done... I never used my powers to scare people..." Gohan shuddered.
"Are you two alright?" Naruto called our as he and Jirayia ran back over to Gohan and Videl's side.
Videl ignored them as she pulled Gohan into her own embrace to calm him down. "It's alright... I'm sorry I was acting like a bitch to you..." Videl said softly.
"I-I'm sorry too. I don't know what came over me. I just..."
"Shhhh... It's okay... I understand..." Videl said softly as she rubbed his back.
Gohan just stayed silent. Letting the feeling of Videl's touch sooth him. Her gentle massage penetrated his aching back muscles with a kind of calming warm. Like his mother used to give him when he calmed down after a temper tantrum (after she had finished yelling of course). It was nice.
'Like two raging storms meeting together in their calm centers. If these two don't get together at some point, I will kill off the leading lady in my books.' Jiraiya thought to himself.
Gohan picked his head up and he meet Videl's eyes. Onyx black meeting cerulean blue, as their eyes sparkled in the setting sun. both of them were suddenly lost in each other's eyes as they both grew calmer. Without either one realizing it, their heads started to inch closer to the other, as if they were magnetically drawn together.
KA-CRACK! CRASH!
The two were suddenly awoken from their trance by a large tree finally being knocked over. It having been loosened by Gohan's energy pressure not moments ago.
The two teens quickly composed themselves and pulled away from each other, not knowing what just happened.
"T-thanks, by the way..." Gohan said in an embarrassed tone.
"Don't mention it..." Videl said, equally embarrassed.
"Okay!" Jirayia clapped his hands to get their attention. "So about that small town hotel room offer..."
"Um... S-sure... why not." Videl said.
"Good, let's get going. It's already dark and we wouldn't want to deprive the local bandits the chance to try and rob us before we go to bed." Jirayia joked.
He then shuffled Naruto and the rest back on to the road. Jiraiya knew that every chakra user from here to the ninja villages would have sensed Gohan's massive energy signature, and it never paid to stand around and wait for the kind of attention that attracted.
"Bandits, huh?" Videl asked. "Why doesn't anyone do something about that?"
"Long story. It's actually part of the reason Naruto and myself were traveling along these roads." Jirayia said as they made their way back onto the trodden dirt path.
"Well, we'll be glad to help if you want." Gohan offered as he put the capsule house away.
"That'll probably make asking for extra rooms easier. But let's focus on getting to the town first. M'kay?" Jirayia said hastily. The group then made their way down the road and over to the town, the start of their new adventure awaiting them.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away. A handsome young man was being aroused from his bed room and summoned to his master's chambers. The boy was awoken by a silver haired man with full moon spectacles and a love of morally grey medical experiments.
"Right this way, Sasuke." Kabuto said with mock respect. It was no secret to the rest of the staff that Kabuto saw himself as his master's number two and secretly loathed the young Uchiha for taking up so much of their master's time and praise.
"Hn." Sasuke replied with disinterest. He entered the dimly lit chamber of his master's private study, where the old Snake Sannin sat on a kind of makeshift throne. Sasuke knew this could only be about sending him on a mission of sorts if the old snake was willing to put on his Otokage facade.
"What do you want, Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked point blank.
"My dear Sasuke-kun. Is that anyway to talk to your master who brought you into my inner circle as my pupil? Gave you a place to live? A place to grow stronger? Perhaps I wish only to see my young apprentice and ask you about your progress in training?" Orochimaru spoke like poisoned butter.
"Save it snake. You're here to asking me about the massive chakra level you sensed no doubt." Sasuke deduced.
"You felt that too? Impressive, I see that your chakra sensing lessons from Karin have proven fruitful." Orochimaru chuckled.
"Get to the point." Sasuke stated impatiently.
"Ah yes, very well. That energy signature you sensed has caused quite a stir. Not moments after it was felt did we receive reports from all our hidden bases stationed all over the world of its presence. All the way from the fares edges of the Earth country to the most eastern isles of Crescent Moon Island. My men finally isolated the source of the power to being in the southern isles of Water Country. There they claim that it's power matched that of a rampaging Tailed Beast. Stronger than the one your former teammate keeps at bay." Orochimaru stated.
"So why waste my time with this knowledge. Send your own nearby men to investigate." Sasuke scoffed.
"Oh my dear Sasuke-kun. Don't you see this is a perfect opportunity to test your stealth and observational skills? After all, even the most powerful of Shinobi cannot skim on the basics. Lest those skills grow rusty and present openings for their enemies."
"Fine, I'll head out immediately." Sasuke stated, wanting to get this over with quickly.
"Splendid." Orochimaru said.
Sasuke turned to leave immediately when he was called back by Orochimaru. "Uh ah ah, I can't have you go out alone. Take two of my ninjas with you."
"They'll just slow me down and you know it." Sasuke said simply.
"Yes, but I have a vested interest in your safety. Even the mighty must learn to cooperate with others, Sasuke-kun. If anything, think of it as putting my mind at ease." Orochimaru mused.
"Do what you want. Just have them hurry up." Sasuke stated.
"They'll meet you at the front entrance. They should be there before you arrive." Orochimaru said before waving Sasuke off.
"Good." Sasuke responded before leaving the snake to his musings.
Sasuke exited the room without even shutting the door behind him. Letting his padded sandals echo along the narrow dimly lit corridors.
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles away, two dark figures awoke from their meditation.
"Alright, let's get going." The younger man said. His older companion with the massive sword wrapped in gauze grumbled.
"Are they really sending us to investigate that absurd chakra signature alone?"
"Yes." The man answered.
"Chh, you're a real pain in the ass sometimes. You know that Itachi?" Kisame spat as he threw his sword, Samehada, over his shoulder.
"I'm personally interested in that power surge. It was stronger than a Tailed Beast." Itachi said.
"And that's got me intrigued. But even I know a mismatch when I see one. Besides, shouldn't we be focused on finding that Nine-Tails brat?"
"Knowing Naruto, he's bound to already be involved with this." Itachi stated.
