Disclaimer: Kishimoto and Toriyama own their respective anime/manga. I do not.

AN: Here's another Naruto/DBZ crossover challenge where Naruto is born in the DBZ universe and is either the younger brother of or best friend of 17 and 18 when they were still human. On the day Dr. Gero tries to abduct the twins, Naruto tries to stop him but is overpowered. Impressed by his fighting spirit, Gero takes Naruto as well. The doctor decides that instead of making him a regular Android like the other two, Naruto will take place in an experiment called Project: Genome.
Project Genome was the base for Cell but fell through due to not having a suitable test subject. The idea of the project is that by taking a human brain and adding it to a bio-android body, Gero would have the perfect warrior. However, none of the minds used survived the process and so Gero grew Cell from scratch. However, Naruto's brain survives the process and is merged with a bio-android body (that looks like Genome from Dragon Ball Heroes but is orange instead of purple). As such, Naruto has the ability to replicate any attack he sees due to having cells from all the Z Fighters as well as regeneration. Also, like Super 17 Naruto can absorb energy attacks to power up and if he absorbs enough energy he can go into a stronger form for a while (Genome's alternative form).
Naruto, however, decides to go against the doctor's commands like 17 and 18 and eventually joins the Z Fighters. No planed pairings but that can be discussed at a later date.

This CHALLENGE will not be done by me, it is up to whoever wishes to adopt it.

Cell's Predecessor

An elderly man with darkly tanned skin and bushy white hair poured over his notes with a look of contemplation on his face. This man's name is Dr. Gero of the now disbanded Red Ribbon Army. For nearly a decade he'd been plotting his revenge on the person responsible for the evil army's fall, Son Goku. The boy had taken down the army when he had been only twelve years old, a feat that the kingdoms of the world had failed to accomplish. The shame of that defeat spurned the doctor on, hoping to find a way to destroy the boy, now man, and claim the world for his own. His research largely focused on the creation of Androids, humanlike robots with powers far exceeding those of an average human. At first, he'd been working with robotic based Androids but after 16 separate failures, Gero decided to take a different approach. Human based Androids.

He searched all the major cities and finally found possible test subjects; twin punk teens, a boy and a girl, who were living on the streets and showed an aptitude towards both survival and fighting. While Gero would have preferred using a professional martial artist, it would have been much more difficult and time consuming to take one. Finally, he went through with his plans and took the two teens off the street. However, there was an unexpected complication. Apparently the twins had a younger brother, a spunky little thing that fought off the bigger and stronger adult to get his siblings back. Gero was able to subdue the boy and decided to take him as well. Now the question was what to do with the boy?

He considered making him an Android as well, but that idea was not feasible. The child was too young to survive the augmentation process being only 10-11 years of age (1). However, he didn't want that raw determination and strength to go to waste. Then, the metaphorical lightbulb went off in the man's head. Ruffling through his old papers, Dr. Gero pulled out a file titled Project: Genome. The old man gave a menacing grin as he looked through the file.

Project: Genome was something he had started a few years ago as the predecessor to Project: Cell. The idea was he would take the DNA of several of the Earth's mightiest fighters; Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, etc. and create the ultimate body. Then he would implant a brain into the body that was from an already skilled fighter (after being properly modified to follow his command of course), creating a perfect warrior. However, every subject he 'convinced' to do the test couldn't handle the strain and became little more than a vegetable. This is what led him to begin Project: Cell which had the same basic principle as Genome but created the being from scratch, brain and all. This would have been guaranteed to create the perfect being, but it was a slow and tedious process which was why he left that up to the computers to do. Genome, however, would take only a fraction of the time to make. Perhaps…17 and 18's brother could bring it to fruition.

With that, Gero ready to prepare his latest test subject.

Several Years Later

'Wh-where am I? What happened?' a young voice thought as the mind behind the voice drifted through darkness. 'I…remember going out to get some food, and Lapis and Lazuli (2) were gonna go find someplace for us to sleep…then…what?' the voice struggled to remember. He mentally flinched in pain. There were new things in his mind, things that were both telling him things as well as trying to block most of what he already knew. It was like a mental game of tug-of-war, the intrusion against his mind. At first, it felt like the intruder would win, but then the owner of the voice started to overpower it, pulling on nearly unnatural amounts of willpower.

Instead, the boy, for the owner of the voice was male, took the intruder and used it to his will. He stopped the intruder from making him forget, but he took the knowledge for himself. The child learned of things, of Dr. Gero and the Red Ribbon Army, of Son Goku and his friends, about Ki and fighting and…what was done to himself…

His body was no longer his, not the one he was born with at any rate. The body his mind and soul now occupied an artificial being created from the cells of the planets strongest fighters in the hopes to make him into the ultimate weapon. He learned what he was capable of, of what all moves he could use and how to use them. He also learned that the part of the intrusion he overcame was programming Dr. Gero had used to try and make him his obedient slave. It was only due to his strong determination that he was able to overcome it.

'Gero…will pay for this! I need to get out of here and find big sis and bro!' he thought strongly. Sure, their lives weren't great before their abduction; orphaned at a young age and forced to fend for themselves in the slums of the city, but it was their lives to live and this old fossil decided to take that away from them simply for his petty revenge! He wouldn't stand for it! Then he found his body started to get lighter, which could only mean one thing: he was waking up.

Scene Shift

Dr. Gero grinned maliciously as he prepped 17 and 18 for awakening. While his initial plan to take himself and 19 to dispose of the Z Fighters hadn't gone according to plan, he was more than sure the twin Androids would crush the annoying insects! Granted, when he'd first tried awakening the two they had been less than cooperative. Apparently the programing that was to erase their previous memories hadn't fully taken, erasing only certain aspects of their previous lives such as their names, and it left the ungrateful brats feeling resentful of his generosity. So he placed the two into stasis until it was time to awaken them again, and hopefully their programming would take this time. Granted it was a risk, but one he was willing to take.

Though now that he thought of it, it may be beneficial to start Project: Genome as well. While he was untested, the doctor was sure if the Androids didn't kill the pathetic warriors Genome would. Turning to the human sized tube located on the far end of the room, Gero pressed the release button. The liquid in the tube filtered out and the glass lowered, showing the being within.

The figure stood roughly the size of 17 and 18, around 5'4", and was human shaped. However, while the being had some human characteristics, it was largely insect in nature. The body was covered in an exoskeleton that was orange in color while parts like the shoulders were black as were the long wings extending from its back. On its mouth was a leathery beaklike mouthpiece while there were horn like protrusions on both sides of the bio-gem located on the top of his head. The visible flesh was chalk white on the hands, feet, and face. The feet only had three long toes, two on the front and one on the back while the hands had five human like fingers. All digits had small, sharp black nails. Finally, on his chest was tattooed the Red Ribbon Army's logo. Genome's eyes snapped open as the last of the liquid fell off its body, showing clear blue eyes (3).

Genome stepped down from the pedestal he was on silently, staring at his body in what looked like contemplation. The scientist stepped forward, a triumphant grin present. "Ah Genome, so glad to see you awake. I was unsure at first if you'd be able to fully awaken, but it seems that there were no complications. Now we must wait for your siblings to awake as well, you have work to do."

Genome remained silent as he stopped inspecting his body and looked to Gero, an unreadable look on his face. Just then, the two pods that were activated hissed open. The first to open showed a young man that had black hair, an orange bandana tied around his neck, a black tee shirt over a white long sleeve, ripped jeans held up by a gun belt, long green socks and blue shoes. The other is a girl with blond hair done similar to the boy's with a long sleeved black and white striped shirt with a blue vest on top, black pants, and brown boots. They looked very similar to each other besides this and they both had piercing blue eyes, gold hoop earrings, and finally a Red Ribbon logo on their shirts.

The two Androids exchange glances and notice the remote held in Gero's hands, the very same that could deactivate them. They then noticed the stoic looking Genome but decided to focus on the matter at hand. Both Androids give respectful greetings to the doctor which leaves him mildly surprised but pleased that it looked as though their programming finally took. He then proceeded to tell them that there were powerful fighters at the door that had already destroyed Android 19 and crippled the man turned Android himself.

17 spoke, "It will be our pleasure doctor, but first," he turned and pointed at Genome before continuing, "who's the bug man?"

Gero smirked and said, "That is Project: Genome. He is a bio-android I created shortly after you two. In some ways his power could easily rival your own, so I'm confident you can eradicate the vermin outside with no difficulty."

17 scoffed, "Yeah right doc, you made sure I was your strongest creation so I'm betting this guy's a pushover." He then looked over to Genome and gave a challenging grin. "What do yah say, bug boy? Wanna go a round and see who's stronger?"

Gero got irritated at this and stepped forward. "That's enough 17! I didn't awaken you all to have a childish brawl in my lab, so go out there and – huh?" he finished with a grunt of confusion as the remote he was holding was suddenly swiped by a now smirking 18.

Turning to the blonde girl Gero fumed, "18, what are you doing?! Give me that this instant!" Still smirking, 18 crushed the remote as one would a soda can. "18!" Gero cried out in anger and a bit of panic.

Just then, the door to the lab was blasted off its hinges. After the smoke cleared, an assorted group of fighters stood in the doorway. The bald monk Krillin, the triclops Tien, the Namekian Piccolo, the Saiyan Prince Vegeta, and his time traveling son Trunks, the latter of whom was staring at the group of Androids in horror. Tien turned to Trunks and asked, "So, are these the Androids you mentioned?"

Trunks gulped and said, "Y-yeah, that's them. Although…I don't know what that bug thing is."

Vegeta snorted, "Who cares, they'll all fall just the same!"

Dr. Gero meanwhile was cursing up a storm. This was literally the worst possible scenario! The Z Fighters (all of whom were stronger than his initial calculations predicted) were at his doorstep and two of his creations were obviously rebelling. Just like that it hit him. Turning to the bio-android, Gero cried out, "Genome! Destroy them all!"

However, the bug like warrior just watched him impassively. Desperately, Gero once again cried out, "Genome, as your creator I command you to take out all these pests at once! Obey me!"

"My name isn't Genome…" he (for it was the voice of a young boy he spoke with) said quietly.

"What was that? Stop dawdling Genome and destroy them you useless prototype!" Gero yelled almost hysterically.

Genome's eyes flashed dangerously as a scowl adorned his beaklike mouth and he spoke in an angry roar, "I said, MY NAME ISN'T GENOME YOU OLD FOSSIL!"

With that, he drew his arm back and made a slashing motion causing a narrow wave of Ki to shoot out like a guillotine. The wave caught the surprised doctor under the chin, loping his head clean off. This action caught everyone off guard, with only 17 and 18 being able to mask their surprise. Gero's head bounced along the ground until it landed in front of the Z Fighters.

Gero's head crocked out, "You…miserable brats! I created…you and this…is how you repay me?!"

In a motion almost too fast to follow, 17 leapt into the air and came down hard on the man's head, ending the scientist's life. Smirking, the male Android straightened up and turned to the bio-android. "Looks like I misjudged you, bug-man. Looks like you're alright after all!" he said idly as he walked back over to his sister.

"Don't call me that," said bug-man snapped back, but unlike with Gero his tone wasn't biting. "And don't call me Genome either. My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I'da figured you'd realized that by now, even though I look different bro."

18 looked amused and said, "Heh, you seem chatty all of a sudden. And what's with that familiar tone? Neither of us have ever met as far as I'm concerned. What kind of name is Naruto anyway? Genome sounds way better than fishcake anyway."

The now named Naruto looked to the girl in confusion. "Do you…not remember? (4)" he asked hesitantly.

Before either sibling could respond, Vegeta finally lost what little patience he had. "Enough of this foolishness!" he yelled before sending out a strong blast of Ki at the group.

Acting quickly, Naruto moved in front of the blast. He knew that none of the Androids would be hurt by the blast, but he wanted to try one of his new body's functions. The Ki attack connected, but instead of exploding like it normally would, the energy seemed to be absorbed into Naruto's skin. As this was happening, Naruto felt a satisfying rush of power as his muscles momentarily swelled to the size of a bodybuilder's before compressing back down to normal (5). Letting out a content sigh, Naruto then narrowed his eyes at the self-proclaimed 'Prince of All Saiyans'.

"Do you mind? We're in the middle of a conversation here you spikey haired jackass!" Naruto growled.

As said spikey haired jackass fumed, Krillin panicked, "Watch out guys! That guy can absorb energy as well!"

After giving the monk a look that said, 'No shit Sherlock,' the bio-android turned to the other two and said, "Come on, let's go somewhere quiet. I think the three of us are going to have a lot to discuss."

The twins looked at each other before 17 shrugged, "Eh, why not? Might kill some time, then maybe we can go after Goku for some fun."

"Hold up," 18 said as she noticed a third pod in the room with the number 16 on the cover, "I wanna wake this guy up. If Gero thought keeping him locked up while letting us free was a good idea, I'd bet we'd get along with this guy just fine."

The two boys had no problem with that and gave her the go ahead, but one member of the Z Fighters strongly disagreed with her decision making.

"If they let that Android free it will be the end of all of us!" Trunks cried before going to Super Saiyan and firing an even larger Ki blast than his father with a shout of, "NOOOO!"

Fortunately Trunks was able to think clearly even in his panic and aimed his blast far away from the energy absorbing Naruto, instead aiming for 18 herself as she got ready to unlock the pod. The wave detonated in an explosive force, causing the lab around them to go up in a giant fireball. When the smoke started to clear, the lab was nothing more than a pile of rubble with the Z Fighters looking at it within a safe distance. However, as the rest of the smoke cleared it showed Naruto, 17, and 18 were unharmed and that the pod containing 16 was being held by the blonde girl.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," Tien muttered as he watched the three creations hover over the destroyed lab.

1. He'll be the same age as Gohan.

2. This is 17 and 18's actual names according to canon.

3. Picture Genome's initial form just orange instead of purple and blue eyes.

4. The programming for 17 and 18, while imperfect, did take out a big chunk of their memories I assume. Otherwise they would call each other by name and not their call numbers.

5. Think what Super 17 did in Dragon Ball GT, except Naruto doesn't need to hold still to do so.