Arrival

Dinner in the Son household that night was a very awkward occasion. Well, for Chi-Chi anyway. Goku and Goten didn't seem to mind all too much. They were too busy wolfing down plate after plate of the wife and mother's delicious cooking. The emphasis, to them, was on delicious. For a Saiyan, food this good could be distracting.

But Chi-Chi was neither a Saiyan, nor a glutton. Throughout the meal, she was in thought at the news Goku had delivered earlier that day. It was twofold, and half of it even seemed like good news. Uub had passed Goku's final exam with flying colors, and they would no longer be training together. That was the good news, or it had been for all of ten seconds. Chi-Chi had been hoping that this development would allow the Saiyan father to spend more time with her and their two sons now that he didn't have that responsibility anymore.

Sadly, that wouldn't be the case. The second piece of news was that Goku had been called upon by the four Kaioshin to help train yet another warrior, or even three warriors. He hadn't been very coherent about the exact number of students, but it had been somewhere between one and three. And to train these students, he would be leaving for a while.

She was going to see even less of her husband from now on.

"Goku?" asked Chi-Chi hesitantly. But as the Saiyan continued to eat, apparently not hearing her, her temper began to flare up a bit. She slammed her hand down on the table, causing a decently sized bowl of rice to jump off the edge, right into her husbands lap. That got his attention.

"Huh…?" he asked, a little inarticulately, as he began to clean himself off. "Um, you needed something Chi-Chi?"

Keeping her temper in check, she responded, "I wanted to ask you about this favor you're doing for the Kaioshin."

"Ok, go for it. What do you need to know?"

"Well for starters, where exactly are you going? You weren't exactly clear on that," she growled, fists clenching.

"Well, that's because I don't really know," he replied with a goofy, if slightly nervous grin. "Kibito Kai didn't say exactly where this place was, or what it was called. But I know it's not on Earth."

"But that still doesn't explain why you can't visit!" replied Chi-Chi harshly. "With the power of Instant Transmission, you could be back here in an instant. You even went to the Other World with that! So why can't you pop back every once and a while, huh?"

"Um… I don't know," Goku responded sheepishly. This conversation wasn't going well at all. "I was just told I wouldn't be able to is all. Or wait, I think the actual wording was, 'it would be inadvisable to.' Yeah, that was it!"

"It doesn't matter, it's the same either way!" roared Chi-Chi in her frustration. "Goku, aren't we entitled to your time more than some strangers you don't even know? How long are you even going to be gone…?"

"I… I don't know Chi-Chi," he sighed. "According to Kibito, some of the warriors are pretty weak. It might be a while."

"You've done enough for the Earth as it is Goku!" she responded heatedly. "You've saved this world many times over! You've trained the next great protector of Earth, Uub. You've done enough… isn't it time to retire? To spend sometime with your family? And now you're talking of running off to save some other world?"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Goku pointed out. "Remember Namek? Besides Chi-Chi, I'm needed there. Our family is already grown, right Goten."

"Well yeah," said the youngest of the half-Saiyans. Well into his twenties, he was quite beyond the age to really need his father around constantly.

But Chi-Chi would not relent. "Just because Goten and Gohan can both take care of themselves now does not mean they don't want to see you anymore! And I was certainly looking forward to seeing you more often as well."

"But Chi-Chi, I have to go. Quite apart from the fact that the warriors we've been sent to train are themselves half Saiyan, there whole world may need me. Maybe not today, maybe not even within our lifetime. But the children I am being sent to train will one day grow old, and find someone else to train themselves. Maybe their own children, who knows? And then that warrior will take up the mantle, and repeat the process. And someday, it will be the difference between salvation and destruction in their world."

"Yes, yes, I know all of that! That's why you trained Uub too. But Vegeta can handle that Goku. You could just let him go and-"

"Oh please mom," cut in Goten as he finished his meal. "You know as well as I do that having Vegeta teach them is questionable enough even with dad there. But to have him train three warriors on his own? The idea seems pretty absurd," he said with a laugh. "Mom," he continued gravely. "I agree with Dad. He should go. I only wish I could go with him, actually."

"Sorry Goten, no dice," Goku grinned. "Uub may have finished my training, but he's far from strong enough to protect Earth just yet. I'm counting on Trunks, Gohan, but most of all you while I'm gone. It'll be your job to protect the Earth in my absence. Think you can handle it?"

"Of course," he replied with the patented 'Son grin.'

Chi-Chi sighed in defeat. She had known from the outset that she wouldn't be able to convince Goku to stay when he really was needed elsewhere. But she was getting tired of playing second to her husband's students.

"Well, if you really must go Goku, then I wish you luck. When will you be leaving?"

"First thing tomorrow," he replied, ending the conversation.

-0-0-0-0-

"You're not going to try to persuade me to stay behind are you woman?" Vegeta mocked, seemingly to the thin air of the gravity room. In reality, Bulma was in the observation chamber, out of sight, but not out of mind.

"Of course not, I'm not stupid Vegeta," she sighed. "I know you're going to follow Goku no matter where he goes now. I came to offer you some help."

Vegeta had to fight hard to suppress a dismissive word at that idea. His wife was far too weak to actually help someone in their training directly. She simply wasn't a fighter. However, the Prince of all Saiyans had learned long ago that she could help in other ways. The very gravity room he spent most of his life in these days was a testament to that.

"Well to start, I've been building a second gravity room recently. I had intended to give it to Goku, as a gift-"

"What?" bellowed Vegeta. "You just intended to give Kakarrot such an advantage in his training!"

"Oh be quiet!" she shouted back at him. "You have one, there's no reason such a good fighter as Goku shouldn't too. But that's beside the point. Whatever the reason, it's a good thing I did decide to build it, because I've decided to let you take it with you to the world you're going to be going to. That is, if you ask nicely."

Vegeta grimaced. He had no reason to question how she intended to give him an entire room to just bring with him. It was obviously going to be compressed into a capsule. But what he did have was a reason to question, or rather loath, her one condition.

"…Will you please give me the damn room!" he shouted back up at her, not at all in a nice tone of voice.

But apparently Bulma was satisfied, because she said, "Sure. Oh, and you're going to love this Vegeta. The room was done already, but I decided to make a few adjustments. I know you're going to be away for a while, so I've reinforced the room well beyond the usual amount."

That got the prince's attention, sure enough.

"…Just how much beyond the normal amount?" he asked, trying to hide the eagerness of his voice. Thankfully for his Saiyan pride, he succeeded.

Of course, Bulma had known him long enough to tell how excited he'd be anyway. Her voice betrayed the smirk she must be wearing even at this moment, as she replied, "Oh, I only set it to train at over a nine-thousand times, nothing special."

Vegeta hadn't had this much trouble containing his shock in quite a while, barring the revelation that there were more Saiyans alive than he had thought. To receive both surprises in the same day, however, was just too bizarre.

"N-nine thousand…?" he asked in subdued awe. Even for him, that could take years to get used to. "You really expect me to be gone for a while, don't you?" he asked bemusedly.

"Of course. Which was why I also made sure to pack a good deal of Karin's Senzu Beans to keep you safe."

"Safe? You do realize that I am an invincible Saiyan, right?" he asked incredulously.

"And the Kaioshin want you on that world! Even if it's supposedly just to train some kids, I can't help but worry another Majin Buu is going to show up! So just take the damn beans with you!"

"Ok, ok, no need to yell like a banshee!" he replied curtly, getting back to his training. "Anything else?"

"Well of course I packed you some spar clothes, some spare capsules for anything you might find while you're there, and I gave you some material that can be constructed into weighted clothing while you're there."

"And why would I need weighted clothing?"

"Well for your students of course!"

He nodded, showing none of his initial surprise. Bulma had really thought of everything on this one. He probably would never have thought of such a weaker form of training himself.

I wonder if Kakarrot had the same idea. I'll admit, when it comes to teaching someone else, he has slightly more experience than I. He's trained three warriors before, while I've only trained Trunks. Of course, my results were far superior to any of his.

"Well… thank you," he said to Bulma, more than a little awkwardly. It wasn't a phrase he used very often.

"You're leaving tomorrow aren't you?" she asked. "Do you think I should be there, to see you off?"

"No, don't bother," he replied. He decided not to add the fact that he didn't like such emotional moments as this farewell. He admitted to himself that he would definitely miss Bulma while he was gone, so he didn't need that awareness aggravated during his final moments on Earth.

"Tomorrow…" he muttered to himself.

He resumed his training with a spinning kick into the air. He would continue for the rest of that night.

-0-0-0-0-

That morning, Goku and Vegeta met outside Capsule Corp. Each was wearing their traditional cloths, the uniform of the Kame school for Goku and Saiyan battle armor for Vegeta, under black traveler's cloaks.

Vegeta looked to the sunrise as they waited for the Kaioshin. He was conspicuously alone as he had said his farewells to Bulma and Trunks the night before. He fiddled with the capsule in his right hand. It was noticeably large for a Capsule Corp. model, indicating the size of the contents within. Bulma would have tried to explain to him that the size was necessary to accommodate for the other capsules within, because the spatial compression needed to be compatible, or some such technological babble while he would try to tune her out, likely getting hit over the head with a frying pan when she invariably found out.

The capsule in his hand would be all he had to remember his family by for several years.

As Goku walked up on the prince, Vegeta noted he was not alone. The elder of his half-Saiyan sons was walking just behind his father's shoulder. Vegeta noted the lack of a traveling cloak, and realized that Gohan was only here to say his final good-bye to his father.

"Kakarrot, did you forget to pack or something?" asked Vegeta, noting the lack of suitcase or capsule on Goku's person.

Goku responded with his famous grin, and said, "Well Bulma packed for me didn't she? Chi-Chi called her last night, and I heard something to that effect-"

"I don't know what that woman put in the capsule, not in its entirety anyway."

"You weren't paying attention when she told you, were you?" asked Gohan, smiling.

Before Vegeta could reply, there was the sound of air parting around the space behind him. The Kibito Kai had arrived.

"Gohan?" he asked, surprised. "We hadn't expected you."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just here to see dad off."

"Well," mused the Kaioshin, "perhaps it is better that you are here. Someone should tell your families exactly where you're going."

"Yes, and someone should tell us as well," growled Vegeta.

"Well, we should get to the location first. We can't see you off here. Or we could, but it would inconvenience your wife for a few years, Vegeta."

Gohan looked confused, but Goku and Vegeta had already been told the story, and had concluded that where they would have to go would not be reachable simply by moving through normal space.

"Well then, if you would all just grab onto my shoulders."

Goku and Gohan complied immediately, grabbing Kibito's right side. Vegeta placed a firm hold on his left. Nodding, Kibito Kai summoned his strength, and in a small burst of ki, the three were gone.

They reappeared elsewhere on Earth in the same instant. Gohan looked around, gathering his bearings. They were in an isolated mountain range, far away from any human city. He looked to the west, judging that to be his way home. If he was right about exactly where they were, he could get back in a matter of minutes by flying.

The other three Kaioshin were already there, two of which were sitting across from each other, the third sitting on a spot equidistant from both. Kibito Kai took his own seat across from the third.

"Vegeta, look down," Goku whispered in awe. Complying, Vegeta stared down. A large circle was carved into the earth, with each Kaioshin sitting within a smaller circle inscribed around the first's quadrants. Lines formed from linguistic characters stretched out from points on the circle that, to the uninformed Saiyans' eyes, seemed completely random. A kanji occupied the center, around which the lines seemed to bend, as if pulled by some powerful, unseen force. The kanji read "open."

"What is this?" asked Goku to the Kaioshin in awe.

"It is an intricate seal," replied Kibito Kai. "It was invented by the Kaioshin of the universe we're sending you to, using an advanced application of an art that was invented there. I believe they called it 'fuuinjutsu.'"

"Wait, wait, wait!" interrupted Gohan incredulously. "Did you just say-?"

"Other universe? Yes. I see your father didn't tell you," Kibito replied, eyes narrowing towards Goku.

"Well, I would have had to explained to my wife," Goku explained sheepishly. "And that could have been…"

"Painful?"

"Yeah," admitted Goku with a laugh.

"Quite. Well, as I was saying, this will allow us to create a connection between the Earth in this universe, and a similar world in the other. This connection will be your transit."

"But… I'm confused," admitted Goku. "If the other universe's Kaioshin told you how to construct this, isn't there already a connection between the two?"

"Not one that can be physically traversed. All Kaioshin do, however, have ways to communicate with one another, even across universes. Of course, we didn't actually know of these Kaioshins' existence until they contacted us, asking for help. Any more questions?"

"I don't think so…" replied Goku hesitantly.

"Can we just get going already?" demanded Vegeta impatiently.

"Ok, we shall commence. Please enter the circle, try to stand in the center," was all Kibito Kai said in response. Instantly, and in tandem, the Kaioshin all got onto their knees, and began chanting.

"Bird, Tiger, Monkey, Rabbit, Dog, Bird, Dog, Tiger, Ox, Rat…"

What's with those weird hand gestures they're making? wondered Gohan as he watched the display.

Goku and Vegeta walked into the circle, standing atop the symbol for open. The chanting continued in tandem with the hand symbols in a well rehearsed display of coordinated effort. Slowly the symbols within the circle began to glow a pale yellow. The kanji the Saiyans stood atop blazed the most brightly of all.

Hundreds of hand seals went into the array, consuming nearly ten minutes of chanting. But suddenly the Kaioshin all clasped their hands together, and with a cry of "Ox" they finished their chant.

The glow of the seals began to unravel from the earthly confines of their originals. The lines of characters lost their luster to the air around them within minutes. With an oath, Vegeta lowered into a defensive stance as the characters began to circle the two Saiyans quickly. Goku, however, remained calm.

After a minute of circling the two Saiyans, the glowing characters stopped suddenly. Without warning, they shot into the sky; several had to pass straight through the Saiyans in the process, a process that left a strange sensation in their muscles. The light disappeared, and for a moment nothing seemed to have occurred.

Then, at a speed unmatchable by even the two Saiyans themselves, a pillar of light descended on the seal, consuming it in its entirety. The force of the impact with the ground kicked up winds that threatened to push Gohan back. But a few moments later, the activity settled down.

The pillar did not fade away.

"…Where did they go?" Gohan asked hesitantly.

-0-0-0-0-

The Sandaime was having a pretty ordinary day. The most unusual aspect so far was that Jiraiya was expected back for his annual report today.

Something, however, must have been holding the sannin up, because he had yet to arrive. Sarutobi chuckled to himself at the thought. If something was holding Jiraiya off, it was probably 'research.' Not that Sarutobi could blame his student for being delayed by such things. It was always tempting, though Jiraiya really took it a bit far with his "appreciation of the female form."

There was a knock on the door. "Jiraiya has arrived, Hokage-sama," came the voice of Tenzo. "Along with two others."

"Others?" replied Sarutobi, confused. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to bring anyone with him.

"I don't recognize them, Hokage-sama," replied Tenzo. "And one of them is dressed extremely strangely, under his cloak that is. He's wearing some sort of armor. It's frankly completely unlike anything I've ever seen. And they look very muscular as well. If it weren't for their apparent lack of chakra, I would believe they were warriors."

Sarutobi nodded to himself, as Tenzo could not see him, considering the implications of that, if only briefly. He himself had not sensed anyone out of the ordinary approaching his door, not even Jiraiya. That in itself wasn't a surprise; sannin level Shinobi usually possessed the ability to suppress their chakra completely. It helped to be able to do so during stealth assignments. If Tenzo's judgment could be trusted, and it could, then the only conclusion was…

"Send them in, if Jiraiya trusts them, so do I."

"Understood, Hokage-sama."

The door opened, and the three visitors entered. Sarutobi quickly looked over the two strangers with a careful eye. They were about the same height, with similar black hair, both of which spiked, but with a vast difference in volume. Each wore the same black traveling cloaks, slightly open in the front. This opening allowed the Sandaime to observe that they did indeed look muscular, amazingly so. One wore a gi of a shade that reminded the old man of Naruto's own style of clothing. The other wore a blue outfit under what was indeed a form of white armor which seemed to be made from a material Sarutobi could not recognize.

"You two can stop suppressing you power now," the Sandaime sighed. "It's painfully obvious to the trained eye that you are indeed fighters, hiding your strength can only force me to make a haphazard guess towards what must be your considerable power."

The two looked to each other, the one in blue betraying only the same scowl that seemed as if it must be carved into stone upon his face, while the other gave a grin of unparalleled warmth. "Wow," said the one in orange, "you're pretty good."

"And from the feeling of your ki," remarked the other, "very powerful. For a human."

That one took Sarutobi by surprise. "What do you mean 'human'?"

Jiraiya gave off an uncontrollable laugh, saying, "Sensei, you're not going to believe this one!"

-0-0-0-0-

(10 hrs earlier)

Goku and Vegeta found themselves in a blank white world. There was a profound feeling of nothing within. No gravity to tell them which way was up, no ground on which to stand, and no air with which to breathe. The two instantly began to hold their breath. There was neither pressure on their skin, nor the distinct lack that might be accompanied by the emptiness of space. Their skin could feel no sense of warmth or cold. The world around them seemed at once bright and without light, in a way indescribable to normal sense, yet it was so.

The impossible juxtaposition of it was giving Goku a headache.

Man, this place is pretty weird. Are there even people here? What kind of creature could live in a world like this?

He turned to Vegeta, who seemed at once both infinitely close to him, yet at the same time, infinitely distant. Their eyes conveyed to each other the words they could not say for fear of wasting their air. "Where are we?"

And then all at once, as quickly as it had come to exist, the world around them was replaced by one of constancy. They found themselves on top of a mountain they did not recognize, surrounded by the same array they had just then left behind. Surrounding them were some of the strangest figures that either of them had ever seen. They seemed to be wearing black cloaks made entirely of leather, with hoods that surrounded their faces in veils of shadow. Their feet seemed covered in boots, and their hands in gloves, each article of clothing made of the same black material.

But as the four figures that sat in the inscribed quadrants rose, their sleeves slid back for the briefest of instants. Where skin should have been revealed, there was nothing. Either their flesh was invisible, or it simply was not there.

"…Who are you?" was all Goku could think to say. Even by the standards set by his past experience with extraterrestrials, these beings were very strange to the Saiyan.

"We're the ones who called you here," replied one of the hooded figures.

"Well, you guys weren't lying huh? Man, I can feel the chakra coming off of them," laughed a voice from behind one of the cloaked men. It sounded old.

A fifth figure hopped out. This one was smaller, and even less humanoid.

"These four told me they were going to summon someone powerful, and asked me to accompany them," said Fukusaku to the two Saiyans. "And I can see they weren't kidding around. You two have to be at least Kage level. My name's Fukusaku, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," grunted Vegeta, who was flustered by the experience of being dropped into another world. "Mind telling us what that place we just went through was?" he asked the hooded figures sharply.

"You speak of Mu, the nothing that exists between universes," replied a second figure. "I'm not surprised you did not enjoy the experience. I hear it can be disconcerting for most flesh and blood beings to pass through. I'm just glad you survived. The Kaioshin of your universe said you were strong, but it is still surprising. Most beings will fade away if exposed to Mu over such a distance."

"Distance?" asked Goku. "It didn't feel like we were moving."

"It is not so surprising that you did not feel that sensation. The concept of distance is rather different on that side."

"That is not important," replied the first figure, preventing the second from continuing his explanation. "We can not, unfortunately, stay here much longer. We have explained everything to Fukusaku-san. Please allow him to impart such onto you."

"With pleasure," Vegeta muttered. "None of you Kaioshin have had the decency to give us more to go on than bits and pieces."

The figures nodded as one, and faded away in unison. As they left, Goku thought to himself, So these are the kinds of creatures that exist in that place called Mu?

"Alright, out with it you old toad," growled Vegeta to Fukusaku. "Start from the beginning. We're looking for three other Saiyans, and I know you must know where we can find them."

The sagacious toad merely nodded, unperturbed by Vegeta's brusque manner. "They told me where they should be. They said that the reason they asked for my brief assistance was because of my close ties to where we'll be going. But it is rather far, and I can't take you there on my own. You haven't signed the contract."

"Um…" Goku interjected. "I don't know what you mean by a contract. But if you can point us in the right direction, we can fly there."

"Fly?" asked the toad, clearly surprised. "Well then, I'll explain on the way."

"Where are we going?" asked Goku. Fukusaku pointed to the east.

"In that direction, to the village of Konohagakure."

-0-0-0-0-

"We'd have been here sooner," Goku said as he finished the story of his home, and how he had arrived. "But Fukusaku-san made us walk a good bit of the way. Apparently people around here aren't used to people being able to fly," Goku laughed.

"No, we're not," nodded Sarutobi. This was beginning to become very strange. No, it had more than just begun. The brief history of Goku and Vegeta's lives had been almost too much to take in.

Truth be told, he wasn't sure he believed it. His eyes moved quickly to his most loyal student, asking a silent question.

"Fukusaku said they're really who they say they are," Jiraiya replied with a shrug. "Somehow those cloaked guys convinced him. And he's usually pretty reliable."

Sarutobi nodded, and turned his gaze back to the two Kage level warriors in front of him. He asked, in a voice which held all the authority he could muster, "Well then, in light of this, what exactly do you intend to do while you're in Konoha."

"It's actually pretty simple," Goku replied. "There should be three half-Saiyans in your village. And we intend to train them to become powerful enough to defend your world from any unforeseen danger. It's been observed by the Kaioshin of both our universes that Saiyans are unusually suited to that task, so they felt it would be best if they could increase the effectiveness of your future protectors by having someone like them help unlock their unique potential."

Hiruzen nodded, with a sigh. That statement of purpose was simple enough. But as he factored it in, he had yet to decide if this was a good thing, or a bad thing for their village. "So you don't intend to return these three to your world?"

"We couldn't even if we wanted to," fumed Vegeta. "Those damn Kaioshin forgot to mention that the Mu would make things a little chaotic during any trip across universes. As it stands, the Mu's inconstancy makes it unpredictable when someone will end up after traversing it!"

Goku decided to interrupt before Vegeta got too enraged about that bit of news. Again. "Well, it all sort of went over my head, but I think Fukusaku-san said that all universes have some sort of… what was it? Oh, that's right. He called it a 'parallel time structure.' One minute here is the same as one minute passing in any other universe. But the Mu is different, because of its chaotic nature. By passing through it, time looses all meaning. You could come out a hundred years after you went in, ten minutes before, or even before creation. Sort of makes me feel lucky we came out so close, right Vegeta?" he laughed.

"Lucky? Like hell. We lost a damn year! The brats will be eight by now, eight and fourteen."

Eight? Hiruzen mussed. So they must be academy students, and in Naruto-kun's year. Hmm… that's a bit too much of a coincidence. What are the odds of someone like these two being in the same class as someone as strong as Naruto?

"The Kaioshin's technique is apparently creating a bridge that'll fix that problem," Goku finished. "But we'll still be stuck on this side for a few years."

"Please, if I may?" the Sandaime asked cautiously, still unsure of the ramifications. "Describe the characteristics of a Saiyan for me. You two seem to be mostly like any other human, but if you give me something to go on, I might be able to help you. I know just about everybody in the village."

"Ok, sure! Thanks!" Goku laughed excitedly. "Well, they tend to be stronger than humans. Oh, and Vegeta once told me we gain strength after every battle. Didn't it double or something if we nearly died, Vegeta?"

"Oh for the love…" Vegeta muttered to himself. "Look, here's a full rundown, ok? Saiyans are born with more power than most species in the known universe! We gain more power after every battle, nearly double if we are near death. We transform into the mighty Ozaru during a full moon, though only if we still have our tails-"

Tails! That settles it, Sarutobi decided.

"I require that you make one final thing clear to me," he informed the two Saiyans, almost as an order. "What does becoming a defender of the entire world mean for their status as members of our village? Do you seek to eliminate this essential bond?"

Goku paused, unsure how to answer. He didn't know much about this world, but from what little he had learned from Fukusaku, it seemed likely that the conflicts in this world would never end. If that were to be the case, then it would be possible that acting for the good of the world might hurt any individual nation, including the land of fire.

Vegeta, however, did not hesitate to show his displeasure. "You humans… no, even the humans of Earth weren't so foolish. I can't blame your idiocy on your race. What good does it do to divide yourselves into separate nations? Humans aren't there own enemies, they have much more to fear from other species, who do not feel any need to hesitate. There are plenty of other people to kill you idiots without humans killing humans."

Well, there might be anyway, Goku thought to himself upon hearing this remark. The Kaioshin didn't mention any specific threats…

Hiruzen blinked. It seemed this man held similar beliefs to his own. They both saw only good in the uniting of humans into a single, peaceful world. The prince of Saiyans may have phrased it a little differently, but the idea was clearly there. Perhaps they weren't too different.

"But to hell with it," snarled Vegeta. "We didn't receive any indication to make us believe that these three are to do anything more in this new position beyond defending your planet from outside threats. What you do to yourselves is your own business until further notice, then. They'll fight for you if they wish to."

Hiruzen considered it for a moment, and then nodded.

"I'm unsure as to the identity of the other two, but I know of one boy who was born with a tail in our village. His name is Uzumaki Naruto."

-0-0-0-0-

A/N: Well there it is. The identity of the first Saiyan is revealed. But there isn't a single reader who didn't see that coming, and most likely no readers who don't already know the identity of the other two. I'm only really keeping the other two unrevealed because I already wrote enough to post this chapter, not out of any desire to really keep it a mystery. "The mystery of who the Saiyans in Konoha are" isn't really the focus of this story.

The identity of the cloaked figures is likely less clear. They're not entirely canon, but I needed someone to be in the Naruto universe that had the ability to help call Goku and Vegeta into it. I had a bit of fun with the whole concept in general. Originally, I was going to have Fukusaku, Shima, and two other toads (one of which might have been Gamabunta) as the Kaioshin, but this felt like it favored the Toads too much. So then I almost went with a mixed council of toads (Fukusaku again), snakes, slugs, and monkeys (probably Enma, hadn't decided) as Kaioshin. But this made it feel like Naruto's "Earth" was too unlike Goku's, due to Kaioshin living within it. And then I came up with another concept that ruined the idea of someone with as much authority as a Kaioshin living constantly on Naruto's world completely.

So I needed some outsiders to fill the role. And since there are no aliens in Naruto, I had to make up my own. The exact role they'll play is still undecided, but they should show up again at some point, so hopefully they aren't too horrible.

On the subject of stuff I made up, I rather like the concept of Mu. Bonus points for whoever can guess where I got the name from. I obviously needed a way to get Goku and Vegeta to Naruto's universe. Since there were too many stories that just proposed that Naruto lived on some sort of "Earth after an uncertain amount of time caused the culture to change," and also because I find the concept unrealistic, I decided that they should probably just exist in separate universes. However, the concept of just randomly doing something that causes some random hole in reality to randomly dump you in another universe is not only cliché at this point, but also too unbelievable.

So I knew I wanted some entity to make a calculated decision to place Goku and Vegeta in Naruto's world on purpose. Short of some divine omnipotent God, the Kaioshin were a pretty good bet, as far as believability. But that still left the problem of Goku's Instant Transmission, which can even take him to the Otherworld without any real effort. With that proving dimensional travel to be easy, I needed a way to keep them locked in one world, or they'd just jump around constantly. So Mu was born.

That being said, I really like the concept. I'll probably use it again if I ever want to crossover two worlds that don't already have a good way to coexist (like, for example, the self-explanatory Kingdom Hearts crossover).