Chapter Six: Confidence

There last class was finally done and the saiyan trio raced down the halls with enthusiasm. School turned out to not be as torturous as they had imagined but that's not why they had came to the planet earth. They wanted to get stronger and all the hell they had endured was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to their quests to become Super Saiyans. When they reached the parking lot Naomi was surprised to see Goku standing by a concrete stone pillar holding up the building. He looked up in excitement to see his pupils rushing towards him.

"Hey guys! How was school? They got good food here?" Goku said warmly. Wondering why they were forced to go to school. He never went to high school and he turned out fine after all. Despite Chi Chi's contradictions. Hideo shrugged.

"Not really. Nothing like Bulma's cooking. Then again I never really tasted anything before arriving to earth." Hideo laughed and Goku echoed it.

"Yeah, she's a real great cook. Always has been." Goku then bent down to where he was eye level with Naomi and she flushed red a little. Clinging tighter to her back pack which she had clung to her chest. "Hey Naomi. I came here to take you home so you didn't have to fly or wait for a smelly ol bus."

"You didn't have to." Naomi whispered. Still so shy. It was kinda sweet. Goku patted her on the back.

"Ah no worries. After learning the instant transmission I have no problem getting around from place to place." He looked up to Kaylynn and Hideo and smiled politely. "You guys want me to take you back to Capsule Corp as well?"

"Nah, it's a nice day. We can just fly there." Hideo responded. For a second he wondered if he could get a quick nap in. They still hadn't gotten any real sleep but he foresaw how Vegeta would take that and decided to accept his doomed fate to be tired all throughout his training.

"Shouldn't we wait on Goten and Trunks?" Kaylynn asked. Now noticing they were the only three students out in the parking lot.

"They still got a few more hours to go. You have less classes then they do considering Bulma just wanted you to get a basic education."

Goku offered his hand to Naomi which she instantly took. Next thing she knew she was standing outside his house. Naomi didn't know if she would ever get used to that but she made a note to defiantly ask Goku how he did the instant transmission so she could add it to her arsenal. Now she felt kind of awkward. Goten was at school and Chi Chi wanted nothing to do with the training so it was going to be just her and Goku. Now the pressure was really on for her to impress him, being his only center of attention.

"Hey I have a great training idea for today. Here." Goku said practically bouncing from anticipation. He handed her weights to put on and thankfully they were the exact same weights she had on last time she trained with them. She had a sneaking suspicion he was taking it easy on her. Probably cause she was still as weak as a kitten in his eyes. A sigh escaped her thin lips. One day. One day she would be worthy enough to say he was her master.

"Now follow me." he smiled. Then jumped into the tree tops. Swinging from branch to branch and if he still had his tail he would very much resemble a monkey. Quickly Naomi hopped to the trees and mimicked his movements, following as quickly as she could. Now she really felt the weights. The second she gripped a new tree branch all the added weight would rush down on her. She could feel her muscles being yanked down and she bit her lip to suppress a pained yelp. She wasn't about to show weakness in front of earths savior again. This went on for miles. Neither of them touching the ground and merely used to the trees as a path to get to whatever destination they were headed. When she saw Goku drop down to the ground she happily did the same landing next to him.

"Wasn't that a great warm up?" Goku laughed doing a few more stretches to loosen up a bit more. All Naomi could do was nod because she was to busy trying to catch her breath. That was the first time Goku's training really hurt her. With the weight and gravity working against her she foolishly almost wore her self out just keeping up with him. Now whatever else was in store she'd be un prepared for. She noticed Goku staring off in the distance so she followed his train of vision. She saw three HUGE clumpy looking boulders piled on top of each other. Hmm…was she supposed to break rocks now? As she was about to look away she swore she saw one of the boulders move! Squinting from the sun's painfully bright rays she looked closer. They weren't boulders at all. In fact they were huge creatures of some kind. She remembered Piccolo describing earths eternal dragon and these things looked similar to that description except they had two legs and a more human like body then snake like. Little known to her Goku had led her to a family of T-Rex's that were sleeping peacefully on top of each other…for now.

With a warm smile he sent out a tiny ki blast at the largest dinosaur of the grouping. Watching Naomi's face change to horror as she looked to him then the dinosaurs.

"What are you doing!" Naomi gasped. She couldn't believe he had just done that and dear god…were they huge laying down. Standing up full on two feet they were massive! Naomi looked them up and down and assumed she was the size of the biggest one's toe nail. An ear splitting roar echoed around them. Naomi could feel the ground shake from the mere volume of it. She turned her head to Goku who then shouted to the carnivorous beasts.

"Hey Guys Dinner!"

Her eyes widened and when she went to shout her protests Goku was gone. Leaving three hungry looking T-Rex's gawking at her. Saliva running down the biggest one's mighty Jaw. She gulped. There was only fish and other underwater creatures where she was from. Never had she imagined in her darkest nightmares things like dinosaurs existed. Without another moment to think about it all three went charging towards her. Her first instincts were to run (who could blame her) but instead she flew into the air so she was eye level with her attackers. The only strategic move she could think of while in mid flight was to take out the largest one first. That way hopefully

The rest would be much easier to fight off in comparison.

Even though she was flying the hungry T-Rex's kept up with her speed with minimum effort. She'd have to dodge and lunge forward to avoid being snapped inside the dinosaur's putrid mouth. She did a back flip in mid air and landed on the closest one's nose. She turned around and with a deep breath she punched the beast right between the eyes. She put all the strength into the punch but expected little to no effect on it. However instead the T-Rex fell over backwards. She barely had time to jump off him before he landed on his back. Making a mushroom cloud of dust surround her and the other dinosaurs.

She cover her eyes with her left forearm but tried to keep flying away from them so she can finally get her vision back. By the time she got out of the way and blinked another T-Rex was right on her. Growling so loud her ear drums almost burst. It chomped at her and she dodged just in time. Trying to think, she very much didn't like close combat with the dinosaurs at all. Truth be told she was still struggling a little with making a perfect Kamehameha wave…but no time like the present right? She was worried a regular ki blast wouldn't do a good enough job so she got as much distance as she could from the on coming T-Rex and concentrated. Goku's advice echoing throughout her head. With a quiet and determined voice she began.

"Ka…me…ha…me…" She let the T-Rex get closer and closer. Surely after this she'd be tapped out of her ki. Here's hoping it worked. When he was in perfect position she shouted

"HA!" Then unleashed all she had at the dinosaur. She almost laughed out of happiness! She did it! And she did it right this time! The blast found it's target and the dinosaur went soaring backwards. It's tough scaly brown skin scrapping along the ground at such momentum when he finally stopped he was both to hurt and dizzy to even think about getting back to his feet and he laid his head down in defeat. Lana smiled. Sure that was difficult but not nearly as much as she had expected…wait. That was two of the dinosaurs. That meant her fight wasn't done yet.

She yanked her head left then right. Scanning for any sign of the missing carnivore but there was none to be found. Maybe she had scared it off? The answer to the question came when she saw the dark shadow covering her. She gasped and turned around but to late. The third T-Rex snapped it's jaw closed engulfing Naomi in it's mouth. A satisfied smile on it's face.

Goku stirred from his hiding place then remained still. Analyzing the situation. No. It wasn't time yet. She was still in control. His look of concern changed to a proud smile as he watched the T-Rex's mouth stretch it being forced by the tiny saiyan that refused to be someone's dinner. She held it's jaw open, her arms shaking a bit. She was disgusted that she was now covered in dinosaur saliva. Putting all her strength in one arm she kept the jaws apart with the other she sent a ki blast down it's throat and into it's stomach. She heard it let out a pained moan and she was finally free. Flying from it's mouth then landing back down on the earth. She watched it fall to the ground and the tremor from it knocked her off her feet. She laid there with her back on the ground staring up at earths blue sky. Her heart pounding so fast she wondered if it would ever return to normal. That was way to close. In her excitement she got careless and allowed the thing to sneak up on her. Damn…that was scary but she couldn't shake the smile on her face. She hated how much she loved it when she was fighting and the thrill of her life being on the line. It was almost freeing. Knowing if you did die you did so with all you had. No regrets and not old in a bed somewhere.

Goku's head was now seen above her laughing and giving her praise. This guy was something else. Did he just sit back and watch her all that time. He offered his hand to her which she took and as if she was a feather Goku pulled her back to her feet.

"C'mon. I got something to show you!" Goku urged and started running off in another unknown destination as if the clash with the T-Rex's never happened. Naomi sighed and chased after him. Wiping dino drool off her the best as she could as she went. When she caught up him he was knelt down near a pile of twigs and leaves. She hunkered down too looking at the pile. No clue what was about to come next. Goku looked over to her and smiled.

"Naomi. You remember Piccolo telling you about the Dragonballs right?" Naomi nodded and watched Goku dig through the pile. What he pulled out was a perfectly round ball that shined like a crystal. It was orange and inside was for darker orange stars.

She gawked at it. It was beautiful. Somehow looking at it made her feel at peace.

"I wanted you to see one with your own eyes." Goku explained and he handed it to her. She let it rest in both of her open palms and the sunlight bounced off of it. In size it was not much bigger then a softball but in her hands it was like she could sense the history in it.

"It was my grandpa's. The four star Dragonball. I had a lot of adventures hunting those little things down. Chi Chi doesn't like having one in the house with all the trouble that comes from having one but I like to keep it nearby. After all that time I feel like it's a part of me. It reminds me of him." he admitted. Staring off into the distance recalling old memories.

"It's gorgeous." Naomi agreed. Goku focused his attention back on her.

"I want you to realize something Naomi. Though the Dragonballs are so small in size, when they are brought together they have the power to make anyone's wildest dreams come true. I know you are frustrated and probably think you should be much farther along in your training then you are, but just like today. You were no where near the same size as those guys you fought but they were hardly a challenge for you. You are a lot stronger then you give yourself credit for. Yeah your small, and you have a long way to go before you reach my level but that's okay. Everything has it's time and I know one day, I'll be the one training to try and keep up with you. Anyone who would have seen that fight looking at you would think you didn't have a chance and maybe even you did too, but I knew you would be fine. Not because of your size, not because of your power-" he stopped to put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. The look in his eyes made her breath catch for a second. Nothing but goodness and decency in those eyes.

"-because of your heart. You will go the distance and then some but you have to have confidence. If nothing else take from today that even though the odds seemed impossible at first glance you pushed through and I am very proud of you."

Naomi stared at him and felt her cheeks burning again. Very aware Goku's hand was still on her shoulder. She didn't know what to say. He had no idea how much him saying that meant to her. She always seemed behind. Hideo and Kaylynn always seemed to progress and pick stuff up quicker then her. Now she was having to not only catch up to them but two legendary super saiyans as well. It was a little discouraging but thanks to Goku she knew she could do it."

"Thank you so much Goku." she repiled to shy to look into his eyes so she decided to keep her eyes on the dragon ball.

"No problem Naomi. It's the truth." Goku said then he noticed he was still touching her and quickly removed him hand but felt kind of disappointed at the loss of contact. Huh, that was weird. A loud and audible hunger growl has heard from Goku's stomach and he looked over to where the slain dinosaurs laid then turned back to Naomi.

"Gee, I'm starving. Hey Naomi, have you ever had tail steak before?"

All she could do was raise her eyebrow to him. Goku was a remarkable man indeed. In more then a few ways.

xxxxxxxxx

Hideo and Kaylynn arrived back at Capsule Corp long before Trunks considering they had less classes then he had. Bulma had sent Vegeta on a couple of ridiculous errands to keep him busy for a few hours so the two can get a little bit of peace. She actually loved their company. It was so interesting to have visitors from another planet and her motherly instincts seemed to be working in overdrive. She even prepared a large batch of chocolate chip cookies for the saiyans when they returned from school.

Following his nose, Hideo didn't even stop in his room to drop off his backpack. He was to entranced by the delicious smell extruding from the kitchen. He stared at the heaping bowl of mouth watering desserts like a starved dog would a bone dangled in front of it. Seeing this, in a sibling like manner Kaylynn pushed Hideo out of the way and took as many of the cookies as she could fit in her hands before flopping down in a chair and scooting it close to the kitchen table. Hideo sat as well but instead simply pulled the bowl in front of him and dove in. Shoving cookie after cookie into his eager mouth.

"Damn Bulma these are good!" he complimented with his mouth full. Bits of chocolate chips flying from him. Bulma giggled and poured the two teenagers glasses of milk.

"Think there good now, try 'em with milk." she explained. Obeying Hideo washed down the cookies with the milk. Sighing a content sigh at the combination of flavors and refreshment the milk provided. "This planet has some perks." Hideo smiled. If he never had to drink another potion to keep himself full he'd be perfectly fine with that. The potions from his home planet didn't even have a flavor, but everything he ate on earth did. It was almost to much for his dormant taste buds.

"So how was school?" Bulma wondered. Thankful the two would actually provide an answer opposed to Trunks usual shrug or "Fine" then locking himself in his room. Kaylynn smiled,

"Not bad…I think I'm starting to get this whole reading thing down. The teacher said I did considerably well considering I've never seen the written word before. She even wants me to read a whole paragraph in front of the class next time!" Kaylynn's enthusiasm was adorable and a good reminder of all that earthlings had taken for granted. Trunks hated school but Kaylynn was thankful for getting the chance to learn the ways of this planet.

"That's great!" Bulma encouraged. Remembering she had a few children's books she could go over with Kaylynn until she felt more comfortable doing it on her own. "I'm really proud of you. Keep it up, you will get it in no time."

"Yeah today was pretty good. I even managed to make a few girlfriends throughout today." Hideo smiled, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms behind his head. Bulma giggled again. It wasn't surprising. Hideo was a handsome guy and she could easily see little girls swooning over him and his goofy charm.

"Careful Hideo, Girls can get pretty jealous when they find out they aren't the only one you give all your attention to." she advised. Hideo looked at her confused and raised an eyebrow.

"Why is there a limitation on friendships on this planet? I even ended up with a few boyfriends after I got in that fight with some dude named Jet. Said the bastard got what was coming to him."

"Boyfriends…" Bulma asked. She didn't peg him as that type at all. Not that she cared but…something wasn't right here.

"Well yeah. You can't expect me to hangout with nothing but girls all day. The sisters kinda ruined that for me." Hideo laughed. Kaylynn shrugged and helped herself to more cookies.

"Yeah, Trunks and Goten are my boyfriends. I don't mind if they have Hideo as a boyfriend too. Girls are silly on this planet. Jealously is a useless emotion."

Horrible images followed after Kaylynn's last statement in Bulma's head especially since they involved her son. Then it all clicked to her. She pouted and raised her hand to her lips.

"Oh no…you don't understand…"

"Don't understand what?" Kaylynn asked innocently. Bulma never thought she would have to explain that to people there age but it made sense. They came from a planet that didn't even have genders for crying out loud. She cleared her throat and felt herself blush. Trying to figure out how to phrase it to where they would understand.

"Um…a boyfriend and a girlfriend are titles reserved for people that you have a…romantic feeling for." Bulma said hoping that would be enough for the two other worlders to understand. The blank expressions the saiyans offered her suggested otherwise. What all did these kids know about the birds and the bee's? Surely she wouldn't have to explain all of that to them.

"Romantic? What's that word mean? Anything like antic? " Hideo said looking up in contemplation. This planet was so strange with all there social rules.

"Um…well…let's put it this way. Sometimes you fall in love with someone and the relationship changes. You go on dates, hold hands, show affection, maybe one day even get married…is that helping at all?" Bulma held her breath. With TV and all the media when she went to have this same conversation with Trunks years ago he already pretty well knew all he needed to know so she was a little un prepared.

"Like a mate?" Kaylynn questioned. Which made Bulma sigh with relief. Good at least she didn't have to explain THAT to the duo.

"Okay um, yes kinda like a mate."

"Well that's dumb, we are far to young to want to procreate when we haven't even finished high school." Kaylynn deducted with a smirk on her face. Boys seemed to wanna rush to make babies on this planet considering how many people had asked her to be there girlfriend that day. Hm, maybe a man's worth was based on how many children they could produce.

"Woah, woah easy there missy." Bulma said feeling protective over the girl. She hadn't had a daughter and Vegeta was in no mood to try for one considering everything, so she stepped up in a motherly role for Kaylynn. Especially since the girl obviously never dated before. "Being someone's girlfriend isn't just for procreation, no matter what any little boy will tell you. Don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to. Being someone's boyfriend or girlfriend is supposed to be an intimate thing, where you share with each other. Like having a deep friendship that could one day lead to love and loyalty and when the time is right then you have children."

"Why be with someone if not to procreate?" Kaylynn asked confused. She knew in order to make babies a man and a woman would have to have sex but why have the man around after that? The job was done so what use was he further? Then she was aware that Trunks was Vegeta's and Bulma's son and the couple was living together. Hm, maybe on this planet you picked one mate then took care of the kid together. That made sense, and they seemed to get along just find so maybe your mate had to be someone you liked enough to be around forever. Wow. What a commitment. She'd have to sort things out at school when she got back and tell all the non muscled losers she could do much better for a life mate. Or boyfriend…or whatever.

"Please stop using that word." Bulma sighed not liking where the conversation was going nor did she know how to answer Kaylynn's question. "And it's the relationship that matters doing…that is just a bonus."

"I'll say." Hideo smiled. Saiyan race was all but extinct right? So really it was his duty to have a bunch of girlfriends and possibly have children…and if not to have children well that was just fine too.

"Hey, Trunks told people I was his girlfriend today. Think it's cause he wants to mate with me?" Kaylynn said recalling how she came to know that phrase at all. Now Bulma's shade resembled that of a cherry tomato and she covered her face with her hand. She should have guessed he was involved in this somehow.

"I…I'm…I'm sure he does." Bulma sighed not knowing how to answer her and reminded herself that she had to have a very long and serious talk with her eager son on this matter. She couldn't be mad at Kaylynn poor girl didn't even know what he was talking about. Thank the stars Vegeta walked in at just the right time. Carrying bags of groceries in his arms. She rushed over to him and yanked the bags from him.

"Sorry guys, Vegeta's back and you have lots of training to. We'll have to talk later, now go go go!" Bulma said pushing a startled Vegeta out of the kitchen and shooing the younger saiyans out as well. She let out a sigh of relief. That could have gone a thousand times better. All she could do is hope they learned enough to figure out the rest themselves hope her hormonal teenager didn't act like an idiot!

XxxxxxxX

Vegeta seemed to be a much better mood today as they walked into the gravity room that Hideo had nicknamed Vegeta's torture chamber. Once inside Vegeta turned on his heel to face his nervous pupils.

"I have the feeling I have been rather hard on the both of you the past couple of days and after school you could probably use a break." he stated and Hideo almost jumped for joy and remained perfectly still. Wondering if there was any cookies left that he could devour.

"So for the rest of the day, we are just going to spar." Vegeta finished and Hideo's face turned grim. Not exactly what he was after but after training in eighty times earth gravity he'd take it. Vegeta walked over to the control panel and a smirk came across his face.

"So how do you think you punks will fair in one hundred times earths gravity?" he asked and turned back to face them. Enjoying raising their hopes just to dash them in the end.

"Oh why the long faces? I tell you what, you can quit early tonight if you can manage to knock me off my feet." he assured. Reluctantly Kaylynn took her pink earrings off not wanting to imagine the pain they would bring her in today's training under that much extra gravity. Hideo sighed. He should have known. If something that sounded to good to be true came from the saiyan prince then it probably was.

"Yay…" Hideo said with false enthusiasm. Knowing it would probably be easier to move a mountain.