Naruto X Dragon Ball Z: Earth's Guardian

Chapter 1: Piccolo


Deep in the dark reaches of a long forgotten cavern, two sharp eyes opened for the first time in centuries. In the midst of the black cave his eyes darted along the rough rock and dripping water that had been his tomb. He shook loose his stiff shoulders and ignored the numbness of his legs as he stood up. Perhaps he had been in meditation longer than he realized?

The first few weary steps were a challenge and his footing in the dark cave was unsure. It wouldn't be fitting to slip so soon after waking up – bad way to start the day. He held up a green finger and a small orb of blue energy formed over his sharp fingernail, illuminating the way. A cloud of startled bats descended from the ceiling and rushed past him and out into the world. He easily dodged each one, even as groggy as he was, no bat was going to fly into his face.

His footsteps echoed through the cavern as he made his way up towards the surface. Flying would be faster, but walking was preferable. After being devoid of sunlight for so long, even the orb of light was taking a hefty toll out of him. Luckily, he was nearly out.

He took in the beauty of the night's sky and couldn't help the smile that crept to his face. Even if the world had changed, at least the moon and stars above would remain the same. Well, the moon was liable to get blown up again at some point if he encountered any Saiyans – doubtful as that was. The pond that had been just outside of the cavern he had chosen all those years ago had now become quite larger. That was concerning.

"I have aged." He said once he managed to quench his thirst with the cool clear water. His reflection showed several more wrinkles than he remembered. Luckily he didn't look half as old as when he was Kami. Old meant weak. "The Lookout should be west of here."

The journey lasted well into the next day. Once he had absorbed enough sunlight, he took to the skies. All of the confused and outright terrified looks he had received from passersby had been irritating to say the least.

It was if they had never seen a green alien in a cape and turban before.

From his aerial view point, the alien could see that the landscape seemed to have changed drastically from the one that he was accustomed to. Even as he strained his eyes as hard as he could there was no sign of the developing cities with their tall buildings of metal and glass. Sure there were still scattered settlements but they seemed to have regressed to a more simple style of life. Not so much as a cement road marred the landscape.

His hand went to the few Capsule Corp capsules that he kept on him in case of emergency. If they were still in working order then they were undoubtedly the most advanced pieces of technology on Earth.

The strength of the average human seemed to be much higher, and off in the distance he could detect some quite decent power levels scattered around the planet. At least the martial arts had not fallen by the wayside if the surprising strength of these humans was anything to judge. There were other possible explanations, but he refused to believe that the Saiyan gene had managed to diffuse itself into the average population. A planet of Gokus would truly be HFIL(1).

It was hard to tell, but he assumed that he was getting closer to the Lookout, and he fully expected to see Korin's Tower at any moment. Who would be attending the Tower at this point in time? Some far off descendant of Yajirobe? He shuddered at the thought.

He continued flying towards the Tower's presumed location, but try as he might, he could not find a trace of the monolithic structure. This was worrying. He flew straight upwards fast as he could – up, up, up, up, - beyond the clouds that obscured the sky.

And there not 5 miles from his location was the Lookout.

From a distance one could see that the red and green bands going around the bottom of the Lookout had chipped away, blown away, as far as he could tell – revealing the tan stone beneath. He landed on the stripped away tile floor, perhaps one in three tiles remained on the surface intact.

Once pristine and orderly, the Lookout had fallen into decay. The shrubbery that decorated the dome shaped platform had long since withered, a disturbing sight because they were magically linked to the state of the Lookout and the world to a lesser extent. The magic behind the Lookout was something that not even he could recreate and ancient beyond comprehension.

The small Palace at the far end of the devastated Lookout did not seem any better. Both side towers had been ripped away from the structure and lay in rubble just behind the main building. A large chunk of the dome at the very top of the ornate structure had been destroyed and had collapsed in on itself, leaving debris scattered around the immediate area.

He shook his head wearily before pressing onward into the ruined building through the barely standing archway that led inside. There was a collapsed figure, rotund and dark as night, sitting in a heap leaning against the wall nearest the Scrying Pool. "Popo?"

The jet-black genie turned an eye over to him and for a moment he turned away, lost as he was in the visions of the pool. Then he snapped upright, stiffer than a board and clambered to his feet. A dusty voice called out to him, "Pic-colo? Kami?"

"Yes, Popo, tell me what has happened."

The genie was on him instantly, gripping him by the arms as though he were an illusion about to fade away. "So long... So long..."

"You look like a mess. This whole world looks like a mess."

Mr. Popo tried to wrap his turban a little tighter as he considered the statement. He pulled at the scraps of his vest and looked down in dismay at his tattered pants. "Many things, Kami-sama, so much."

"I'm not Kami, not anymore. You know this."

"Y-yes. Yes, well, much has happened in the time since your disappearance." Popo's eyes grew sharp, "And where exactly were you for all this time?"

Piccolo sighed and answered, "Meditating... Or hibernating... I did not intend for it to be such a long rest. I seem to have missed an age, an entire portion of history that I should have had a hand in shaping is gone."

"You have missed more than an age! You have missed EVERYTHING." Popo said bitterly as he stressed the last word with more venom than the Namekian had ever seen from the Lookout's eternal attendant.

"What have I missed?"

"Where to start?"

"Try the beginning."

"When - I... Dende was devastated by your disappearance, you know. The only other Namekian on Earth and you chose to disappear for centuries! You were to teach him Kami's knowledge of magic! You were to be his mentor and to assist him in his duties as Guardian of Earth!"

Piccolo let out a snort and said, "Again, my hibernation was unintentional. Something must have happened to send me out of commission for so long."

"...I suppose you are correct." Mr Popo agreed with a long sigh, "Dende's heart was corrupted over the long years of your disappearance and he became unfit as Guardian of Earth."

"I see."

"When I was forced to remove him from his duties he attempted to split himself in two, just as you did all those years ago. But he was not powerful enough to survive the dichotomy and it only resulted in his untimely death! I tried to warn him, to provide him counsel, but he would not listen. His heart had been too damaged."

"Surely, there were other Namekians in the universe that you could have called on to mentor him." He suggested.

"And how was I, or anyone, supposed to reach New Namek?" Popo asked incredulously.

"Bulma always keeps a spaceship at the rea-"

"BULMA and her entire company had long since disappeared from the Earth," the genie spoke quickly and with much bitterness, "the Z fighters had all died many years before Dende's fall from grace. Without them to defend the world it fell into chaos. Remnants of the Red Ribbon Army formed into terrorist cells all around the world. They threw the world into anarchy."

Piccolo cursed briefly and asked, "What of the remaining Saiyans? Goku and Vegeta's descendants?"

"Their Saiyan blood was quite diffused by this time and they were little more than powerful humans, incapable of the Super Saiyan transformations."

"Damn."

"Damn indeed. Especially once the Red Ribbon Army caught wind of the Saiyan genes. They rounded up every human with Saiyan DNA they could find and performed experiments. Dende and I watched in horror from here, as the only connections we had to the Z Fighters were cruelly changed and manipulated. It was one of the most crushing experiences that caused Dende's fall." Popo continued gravely. "The Red Ribbon Army manufactured artificial Saiyans and controlled their minds in order to take over the world. Wealthy people and private armies could pay an ungodly amount to receive the augmentations and become Saiyans themselves, they were not nearly as powerful and Goku and Vegeta, but it was chaos.

"Over time the world grew more violent and countries combined nuclear weapons and biological tech to make the most advanced and terrible fighting forces that I have ever seen. It was in the midst of this bloodshed and violence that Dende began to walk down a bad path and his heart was corrupted with Darkness.

"By now the Red Ribbon Army had taken the Throne from the Furry Line (2) and committed a genocide on all non-human intelligent beings in the world under the guise of finishing the war against the dead King. They succeeded in their purge and precious few species were able to escape this world by some unknown magic. However, their solid grip on the globe was being shaken by splinter cells from the larger Red Ribbon Army and once more the world was at war. Nuclear weapons and bio-tech nearly destroyed everything and the effects are still being felt in the world today. A great beast came to life and nearly silenced all of creation. The mortals in this world refer to the beast as the Ten-Tailed Bijuu – it's birth ended the era of technology and advanced warfare. Humanity became prisoners on their own planet, the oppression of the Juubi was unspeakable."

Piccolo shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm guessing that Korin's Tower was destroyed during this conflict?"

"Yes. Along with most other traces of civilization. One man managed to stop the great beast, but I knew he could not become the Guardian, as darkness coursed through his heart despite his good intentions - he had seen too much death. The world you see now has had centuries of recovery and has finally settled into an uneasy peace – broken by occasional bouts of War. It is a savage land, where even children are forced to kill in the name of their home countries. I look back on our world during the time of the Z-Fighters wistfully, it was paradise in comparison." Mr Popo spoke, his eyes clouded by tears - he roughly wiped them away. "All this time, since Dende's death, I have sat by the Scrying Pool," he gestured to the crystal water, "bearing witness to the atrocities of this world, I can honestly say that this world is not worthy of redemption, Piccolo. I can tell you that humanity is unworthy. The ideals of my creator, the first Guardian of Earth have been completely abandoned."

"Then we find a new guardian! Someone with a pure heart and power enough to guide the world out of it's darkness!" Piccolo said confidently.

Popo appraised him, eyes grim, "There is no one worthy. They are murderers all. And you are clearly not eligible. To abandon the world for so long, Kami's influence must have been more shallow than I expected."

Piccolo ignored the jibe, "Surely, there are some pure-hearted humans left."

"You have not seen this new planet, the warriors who inhabit it, these Shinobi are powerful but they kill their emotions in order to commit murder and other crimes, and for money! A world full of mercenaries and thugs all poised to kill each other and sabotage each other for some twisted sense of patriotism! It is despicable."

"Time has made you view the Era of the Z-Fighters through rose-colored lenses, it was not so peaceful. There were threats incalculable and still corrupted humans and countries at war. It was not such a paradise that this world is completely foreign to me."

"Yes, someone of your bearing would certainly be at home in this hell." Popo growled at him, "Demon King Piccolo indeed."

The Namekian burst forward and grabbed the genie by the throat and pinned him to the wall, "DO NOT TEST ME, ATTENDANT! Look at the Lookout! Look at the world! It is not only me who has failed the Earth! When Dende died you should have found a replacement, it is your duty to assist the Guardian of Earth and to ensure that the position remains occupied. But look at you. You are a shadow of your former self - made bitter by passing time voyeuristically watching the evil that this world has to offer. It is not just this world that has suffered a slide towards darkness... So have you." He released Popo, who fell, boneless, to the ground in a heap. "Examine yourself before you throw out baseless accusations."

Tears gathered in Mr. Popo's eyes and he tugged his ragged turban down to cover them as he sobbed quietly. Piccolo turned away in disgust and left the genie to wallow in his misery. There was much repair work to be done around the Lookout.


He spent the next few hours clearing rubble, but there was only so much he could do. The Lookout could be restored magically, but an active Guardian had to be present in order for that enchantment to kick in. Without Popo's assistance in finding a good candidate he would have no clue where to start. Popo had mentioned that the prominent fighting force on Earth were known as Shinobi, and their strength was likely a result of the genetic manipulations of the Red Ribbon Army.

Piccolo's mind wandered to Goku and what he would do in this situation. Probably he would fly right into the heart of each Shinobi faction and demand to fight the strongest one there. But, Piccolo knew that he could not act as the pure-hearted Saiyan once did – it was not in his nature. Goku would surely have found a way to peace.

Perhaps he would have to find a way to visit Other World, where Goku and the other Z-Fighters were surely still fighting and training. "Maybe I should just kill myself and leave Popo and this world to rot," he mused aloud as he stood at the edge of the circular platform, overlooking the planet.

"Please, don't." Mr. Popo spoke from as he emerged from the ruined archway – having finally snapped out of his depression. "You are right, Piccolo. I have lost myself to time... I.. I have seen unspeakable things but that does not excuse my behavior. The state of the world is just as much my responsibility as it is yours."

Piccolo turned to face the dark-skinned genie and let out a hefty sigh, "I apologize for being so harsh before. I know it must have been tough on you, but this whole situation is ludicrous. I would have hoped that the world could survive without the strength of the Z-Fighters but I was obviously mistaken. After Goku came to our planet, it was never the same. Earth faced more trouble during his life than in all of it's history – myself included. There is no way that there would not be any backlash from his existence."

"Yes, the state of the world is regrettable... But, in my despair, I was not entirely truthful to you earlier."

"How so?"

"There is a suitable candidate for Guardian of the Earth. A boy that I have watched from time to time in order to restore my spirit. He is truly incorruptible – as pure as they come. Despite the quite wretched existence that he finds himself living."

Piccolo's curiosity was piqued. "Show me."


Uzumaki Naruto woke up that morning, ready to make the best of his day and to show everyone what he was made of. Same as every other day. "Yahooo!" he shouted as he slid down the banister that led to the ground floor of his apartment building – unconcerned by the hateful stare of his Landlord who happened to be walking by.

He was out of the door like lightning as he ran swiftly through the crowded streets – making sound effects and noises as he tried his best to emulate the ninjas he saw performing their duties on a daily basis. Naruto hid behind a passing cart of vegetables – lost in his imaginary world – and tried to avoid alerting the merchant to his presence. He was quite talented in using stealth, even though he was loud enough to wake the dead. Unfortunately, he could not keep everyone's eyes off of him as he crouched beside the cart and eventually the merchant caught onto his game because of all the glares sent at his cart.

"You rotten brat! Get the hell away from my vegetables before you taint them!" The heavy man shouted at him, spittle flying from the hole beneath his large mustache that some would call a mouth.

Naruto merely stuck his tongue out at the man and said, "You already tainted them mister! You really stink! Hahahaha!" before scampering away to go play elsewhere.

The merchant continued on his way as he muttered, "Shitty little demon brat..." under his breath.

The blond boy had sprinted down the street when he saw a golden opportunity. A painter was finishing up the last touches of the new mural on the wall of a shop that had refused him service before. He snickered before approaching the painter as quietly as he could, "BOO!"

"GAHAGAH!" the painter was startled enough to both drop his palette and to smudge a fat line of red paint across the nearly completed work, he turned around with fury in his eyes and when they found Naruto grinning at him he nearly went ballistic. He stepped forward to throttle the boy, but Naruto had already ran off. "Damn you, you punk!"

Naruto ignored the name-calling and continued on his merry way. Playing around with the adults in his village sure could be a blast! And so he went about his day, making mischief and trouble everywhere he went. He was also lucky enough to snag some good food that someone was about to throw away. Ramen was great and everything but sometimes different food was nice too.

He went to the park to try and find some friends to play with, but as usual, the parents dragged their children away from the park as soon as he dared to show his face. It wasn't all bad though, as he managed to amuse himself on the swings and the monkey-bars for a while. The novelty of it wore off soon enough and he went off to find someone to pester for a while before he went by the Ichiraku's for dinner.


Popo looked up from the pool, his face serene. "I found him a couple of years ago... He has been a source of relief to me ever since."

"I don't see what so great about this kid. He seems like a brat to me."

"That's not true! Naruto is a very resourceful and resilient child, with the strength of heart to not be overwhelmed by his hard life. I can feel the pureness of his heart..."

Piccolo scoffed at the statement. He supposed since Popo was created to keep the position as Guardian of Earth constantly occupied he would have some sort of sense about the quality of a person's character. Piccolo was unsure if he would be able to sense the pureness of one's heart himself. Goku possessed the ability and if he remembered correctly, so did Kami, but Piccolo could only determine it through fighting with the person in question. Perhaps his own heart was still too muddled to see into anyone else's."You truly believe that he could be the Guardian?"

"Yes, he is the only one I have found in centuries. There was another but he was badly needed on the Earth – a Guardian can not run around as he pleases." Popo was adamant as he spoke, "My view had been shifted to another part of the world before I found Naruto, in Mizu no Kuni. So I don't know much about his circumstances, but he possesses a great power within him. The adults in his village hate him for this reason, but I have faith in him"

"Well, what do you suggest I do about it. Go kidnap him?"

Mr. Popo thought it over for a few silent moments. "Yes."

"What?!"

"But, before that, I am going to educate you on the state of the world. First, the sea level is much higher than you remember and entire portions of the globe were destroyed during the end. There are many countries and in most of the powerful ones, there is a single village that trains the most lethal fighters that this world has to offer, Shinobi. These warriors use a strange field-like energy known as Chakra, it is a combination of..."


Naruto sat down on his couch with his cup ramen in hand, sighing in relief, nothing better than ramen to take the edge off of a hard day of annoying the citizens of Konoha. He took a casual sip of the steaming hot soup and spit it out quite violently for two reasons.

1. The soup was very hot.

2. Two freaks with impossible skin colors had shown up in his living room. One was a very tall green thing with pointed ears and narrowed eyes. He wore a plain purple sleeveless shirt and purple pants with a red sash around his waist, as well as a turban wrapped in white cloth. There, two large pointed pauldrons secured to his shoulders covered by a white cape with much excess cloth around his neck. His arms had two large patches of pink flesh that seemed to be muscle. The other was a shorter and rounder thing with black – literally pitch black skin. He wore a simple maroon vest and white pants and a red sash similar to the other one's. There were gold bands secured to this ones arms and he seemed to be watching Naruto in obvious interest – his round eyes were fixated on the boy.

"W-what?! WHAT?!" Naruto's mouth fell open and he flung his ramen across the room at the intruders, in his shock. "GAH! My ramen – you made me spill it."

The hurled soup had landed squarely on the short one's face, but he seemed unbothered as the scalding liquid covered him and the flimsy cup bounced off of him, delivering noodles to his nose. The noodles slid off onto the ground as the black thing smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto."

"LEAAVE! Don't be here! This means I'm crazy, right? You guys are too weird!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at them accusingly.

"This isn't going too well, let's just grab him already. He's making too much noise."

"Piccolo!"

"Grab me?!" Naruto retrieved the single kunai that he had managed to find in his wanderings. He kept it, conveniently enough, between his couch cushions. He jumped to his feet and held it out in front of him. "I don't think so!"

The green guy disappeared from the carpet and was instantly right at Naruto's side. "Night, night." He said mockingly as he knocked Naruto out with a swift chop to his neck.

"Piccolo! That was not the plan!"

"Screw the plan."


When Naruto awoke it was to the sight of the night's sky. The stars above him were brighter than he had ever seen and numerous beyond words – twinkling above him like gems waiting to be snapped up by a grasping hand. "Woah..."

"Look who's awake." A deep voice spoke from somewhere behind him.

He twisted around while on the ground and quickly moved into a crouch, if this were any other situation he would be congratulating himself on pulling off the cool move, but this was no laughing matter. He had been abducted by aliens! "Get away from me you alien! There will be no probing done today!"

"How did you know I was an alien?" The green thing asked him, arms folded over his chest. "Was it the green skin?"

Naruto couldn't believe his misfortune. He had been kidnapped by an actual alien. "Gah! I can't decide whether this is cool or not! Maybe if it happened to someone else..." The blond boy continued thinking hard on his situation and Piccolo could practically hear the pistons firing and misfiring in his head as he quite physically tried to knock some sense into himself while running around senselessly.

"Popo! I think this kid is about to short-circuit!" Piccolo shouted to the genie, who was busy trying to create a living space and food for Naruto. Most of the main chambers were fine but the entrances to certain other rooms – including the Pendulum Room and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber – were currently blocked off by rubble. It was fortunate that these rooms were within the Lookout's interior and not on the surface where they could have been destroyed.

Mr. Popo emerged from under the archway with a pleasant look forced on to his face and he said, "Please, Naruto, settle down. There is no need for concern. Our intentions with you are noble I promise. My name is Mr. Popo and we did not take you from your village for no reason."

The blond had apparently had enough of freaking out and focused on the genie. "What could you want from me? It's not like I'm good at anything." He also wanted to add that no one would miss him, but there was no reason to say that to a couple of kidnapper aliens.

"Nice lack of confidence, kid." Piccolo said derisively to Naruto, trying his hardest to get under Naruto's skin. He honestly doubted the worth of this child, he seemed like a scrawny runt with an annoying personality. Gohan at a similar age was already miles ahead of this one in every way. From the looks of the blond, Gohan had already been to Namek and faced off against Frieza. This one did not measure up. Especially when it came to discipline, Piccolo could tell. The kid would have to be tested before he had any faith.

"What the heck does that mean?! I don't like you, green guy!" Naruto pointed at him and took a battle stance. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha, and don't you forget it!"

'Hmm... At least he has motivation.' Piccolo thought, but did not voice his opinion. He merely continued to fix Naruto with a neutral stare as the boy glared at him, ready to attack at any moment.

"Settle down, Naruto. Piccolo has your best interests in mind, just as I do." The genie said, stepping between the two, "I understand that your meal was interrupted when we came to collect you. Are you hungry by any chance?"

He seemed highly intrigued by the offer of food. Good food was hard to come by. That's why ramen was so wonderful - very cheap and very tasty. It was as good a meal as his meager allowance would let him buy consistently. Mr. Popo led Naruto into the large domed building that he had barely noticed in his excitement and after going through a few barren rooms they finally came to a larger, circular room. There was a table in the very center, with a bed farther off behind it. There was a veritable feast on the table – bowls of rice, a plate of cooked fish piled high, a large pot of what seemed to be soup (sadly did not appear to be ramen), a roasted chicken, plates of dumplings and a few other dishes that he could not recognize on sight.

"D-do I...have to eat it all?"

Popo scratched his head, through his turban, as he answered, "Er... No."

Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer and sat on the solitary chair before the mountain of food. He dug in and immediately Piccolo's eyes widened. The Namekian had seen that ferocious eating style from a select few individuals. Naruto went from bowl to bowl and plate to plate and quickly consumed the contents of each, his hands were moving fast and his jaws were working overtime to keep up with the sheer speed of his chopsticks.

"Wow, I think he's ambidextrous." Popo said distantly as he watched the demolition of food taking place.

Piccolo frowned, seeing Naruto's stomach slowly expand as he shoveled more into his mouth was reminding him of someone far too much. 'If this kid turns into a giant monkey on the full moon I'm going to lose my shit.' "You don't have a tail, do you, kid?"

Naruto snorted and swallowed down enough of the meal in his mouth to sloppily say, "No one has a tail. You aliens really don't know much about humans, I guess." He continued to eat but was then interrupted by a thought, "Hey, where did this food come from? I didn't see a kitchen."

"Oh, I made the food." Popo answered with an easy smile.

"No way! An alien could never make delicious food like this!" Naruto asked as he peered around the table, reexamining the dishes to make sure there were no bizzare alien ingredients.

Piccolo spoke up, "I'm the alien. Popo is a genie and the attendant of this Lookout."

"Besides, I didn't even have to cook it! All I need to do is..." Popo snapped his fingers and another roasted chicken appeared on the table alongside the half eaten one.

"MEAT POWERS!"

"NOT meat powers."

"I am a genie, Naruto. I am able to conjure most anything. Complicated machinery is beyond my talent, but most objects can be made with little difficulty."

Naruto took on the manners of a highly caffeinated chimpanzee and jumped out of his seat, he shouted, "Make a giant bowl of ramen! No make a really long kunai that I can use like a sword! Or maybe a – NO! Make two giant bowls of ramen!"

Piccolo sneered as he thought, 'This kid is insufferable.' "Close that mouth of yours for a second. Are you not even curious as to why we have abducted you from your home?"

The boy actually paused for a moment to consider that very question. His kidnappers had said that they had his best intentions in mind but what reason did he have to believe them? Mr. Popo seemed like a good guy. The green one, Piccolo, clearly had it out for him though. He gave Naruto the same dismissive glare that all the adults of his village used. "Ok, so what do you want with me?"

Popo was furious at Piccolo for forcing the issue, he had hoped to make Naruto more comfortable before dropping the anvil, so to speak. "Well, we would like to make you into a protector of the world, the one who watches over everyone to ensure that they are safe. Piccolo and I wish to mold you into the Guardian of the Earth."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "W-what?!" He was shocked by the idea. While he was not exactly sure what being a Guardian of anything entailed, being the Guardian of Earth did sound very prestigious. Even more so than being Hokage. But, Konoha was his home! "Can I still become Hokage if I am the Guardian?"

This intrigued Piccolo. As far as he could tell, Naruto was rather disliked in his home village. Popo did not know why exactly, but he had made it explicitly clear to Piccolo that Naruto had overcome adversity in his short life. Was the kid really so stubborn as to want to return to a place that despised him?

Popo seemed to have anticipated this question and he smiled at Naruto, as if pleased by him, "I am afraid that you would have to make your home here, on the Lookout. But from your place here you can watch over not just your home village but the entire world! Your village will be within your sight and if need be you can go and intervene." It was only half of a lie.

The blond's eyes went wide as he tried desperately to think things over. "Would I need to be strong to be Guardian? Would you train me?" He asked Mr Popo.

"The guardian does not require power. You will be a watchful eye above creation, with wisdom enough to guide the planet through any strife."

"That sounds boring..." Naruto deadpanned. "If I can't even protect Konoha then what's the point of this?"

"If the need arises for your training then Piccolo will attend to your needs."

"The hell I will!" Both Popo and Naruto's eyes snapped to the Namekian, he continued, "Don't go volunteering me for anything! Before I can even think of training this boy, I will need to test him." Piccolo walked over to the boy and said, "You should sleep well tonight." he continued over to Popo, "Conjure him some warm clothing if you want him to live." He walked out the door.

Popo was soon after him, demanding answers. Piccolo turned and cut them all off, "I am going to gauge the worth of the boy, you may be convinced of his value, but I am not so swayed by what I have seen. I am going to check on the state of the Yunzabit Heights and see if he could possibly survive there."

"The world's climate is completely different from your memories, the Yunzabit Heights are covered in snow and even many years ago, bringing a child there would have been a death sentence. There is a place you can take him, if you must... Off the coast of the mainland is a large island, to the southeast, largely uninhabited by man. There used to be a settlement, but it was destroyed years ago – jungle now covers the island and wild life has reclaimed the ruins... I assume you wish to test him as you did Gohan?"

"Gohan needed toughening up, but he was far more mature and disciplined than this one. If I am going to train this boy then this is just the beginning – he is much worse than Gohan ever was..." Piccolo quickly crossed the length of the Lookout and shot off towards the earth.

Popo shook his head despondently and turned to go tell Naruto just exactly what Piccolo's intentions were.


AN: And there's Chapter 1, folks. Hope everybody liked it. For those who might want to know when my other story is going to be updated, it should be soon. This fic has been clogging up my thought process for Hour of Darkness for quite a while now and I'd rather just put the fic out so I can get back to HoD sometime soon.

(1): HFIL: Home For Infinite Losers – The DBZ equivalent of Hell. I know its just Hell in the unedited version but I like it anyway, so I'm sticking with HFIL.

(2): The Furry Line – The King of Earth in DBZ is a dog, named King Furry. I think the joke is that a dog wished to be king of the Earth on the Dragon Balls and the King we see is one of his descendants.

(3): The Artificial Saiyan Disaster – Doctor Gero had one last repository for his mind after being turned into Android 20. Some unlucky bastard stumbled upon it and our friend the Doctor managed to convince him to try and take over the world. Armed with the knowledge and scientific advances of Doctor Gero, he built a business empire for himself and took over Capsule Corps' previous spot as the top tech company in the world. With his fortune, the man built an army. The Red Ribbon Army had been revived and were more dangerous than ever. They committed horrible deeds and began to experiment heavily in genetic mutation. Instead of creating a being like Cell, they attempted to turn themselves into something more than human. The experiments eventually succeeded and beings with the power to rival pure-blooded Saiyans were unleashed.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think so I can improve the story.