A/N: Hey everyone, I know what you're thinkin', "You already did a story like this, so why are you starting another one?" Well, it's no secret that I discontinued 'Hybrids of the Hidden Leaf', and I noticed quite a few people weren't pleased that I did that.

To be honest, the reason I discontinued that fic... was because I thought it sucked! ^_^. That was the very first fic I ever wrote for this site, and I was a freshman in Highschool when I started it. So, when I go back and read the first half of that fic, it really shows how amateur a writer I was, and I noticed how cringy some of the dialogue and scenes were.

THIS fic, on the other hand, will keep some of the core elements of HotHL, (i.e Teen Gohan and Future Trunks centered, mature themes, mature scenes, lemons (not with Gohan), strong language, etc), while being (I think) different enough to justify the reboot. I DID allow another writer to take over the original HotHL, since it's dead to me.

Needless to say, he made some creative decisions that I wasn't exactly happy with.

Anyways, enough of the introductions. Let's get this party started!

XXX

Thousands of people devoured.

Dozens of cities destroyed.

The murder of a half-saiyan whose sole mission was to return peace to his timeline.

And the murder of one of, if not the Earth's greatest hero, who sacrificed himself in vain to end the madness caused by a single monster.

Cell.

The Bio-Androids list of crimes were a mile long, and would only keep getting longer unless he was stopped right here, right now, by a lone teenager, Son Gohan.

The son of Goku was never a fighter like his father. The boy was a gentle spirit who would have preferred to spare any living being, no matter how evil. He tried his best to plead with the Android, but his words were thrown right back his face.

After the monster tortured the young boys friends, and murdered another, peaceful android, Gohan unleashed a power upon Cell that had been dormant within' him since he could form words in his mouth.

Now, through the power of Gohan's Kamehameha wave, Cell would learn why it was a good idea to fear the wrath of a patient man.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Gohan screamed as he poured energy into his kamehameha, barely pushing back the Androids equally powerful blast. The teen's bloodied and broken left arm cut off half of the energy he'd need for this struggle.

The Android chuckled devilishly as he pushed a fair amount of energy into his own kamehameha, keeping the clash of beams at a stalemate. He knew that he could win this battle over the boy instantly. But why spoil the fun and end it quickly? The monster wanted to savor the feeling of hopelessness the boy would feel when the power of his Super Saiyan 2 form ran out, and his own father's signature move swallow him up.

Gohan's teeth grit and his fingers stung to high heaven. This hurt like hell, but he knew that if he failed here, the universe and every living thing in it would be at this monsters mercy.

'Gohan!'

The demi-saiyans eyes widened, "F… Father?!" He could hear Goku's voice just as clearly as if the man was standing right next to him.

'You can do this son! Think of all of the lives he's destroyed, the people he's hurt! Make that your power!'

From hundreds of yards up in the air, the rest of the Z-Fighters stared down the epic struggle going on below them.

'Gohan.' Piccolo thought, 'I won't let you die all alone out there.' He charged twin ki blasts into his hands; Tien, Krillin, and Yamcha mirroring the Namekians action.

The teen's feet dug into the dirt as he was pushed back, despite his best efforts. 'N-No…I...I'm not strong enough.'

'Yes you are!' Goku barked into his ear, 'You're stronger than Cell, stronger than anything in the universe right now! You just need to learn how to fight back!'

Gohan could see several beams of ki strike Cell, having been fired from the remaining Z-Fighters. The beams did about as much damage as a water gun to a human being.

"Why won't you fools just stay down!" Cell roared in annoyance as he flared his aura, sending a shockwave to knock the Z-Fighters out of the sky.

The sight of seeing his friends hurt once more filled the boy with rage, "HYAAAAAAAAAAA!" The wave of blue pushed towards Cell.

Tien slowly stumbled to his feet, followed by Piccolo, Krillin, and Yamcha. "That's it you guys," The triclops said, "I'm completely out."

"Same." Yamcha grunted.

"I'm sorry Goku, we tried." Krillin said, voice filled with sorrow.

The namekian gazed at the struggle speechlessly, feeling the ground rumble beneath his feet. He saw his student give it his all, pushing back the Androids attack, but it was short lived before Cell pushed back, once more evening out the playing field, 'This...this can't be how our story ends.' When Cell overtook Gohan, he'd be taking the Earth as well in the detonation.

Evil laughter reverberated through the battlefield. Through Cell's smug boasting, he was unable to see the blue ball of energy that shot into him from above, distracting him.

All eyes went up to the prince of saiyans, who, having summoned up every last drop of energy he could muster up, pulled off one final attack.

"VEGETA?!" Cell shouted in surprise.

'NOW!' Goku yelled.

With one final scream, the demi-saiyan forced everything he had and more into his attack, completely overcoming Cell's Kamehameha.

The Android could feel his body disintegrating from the boys assault, although, despite the fact that he was dying, he never let up his attack. The flux of the monsters ki against Gohan's resulted in a dome of energy that engulfed the two fighters.

The Z-Fighters and Vegeta reacted on instinct, quickly flying away from the dome of energy that'd grown to the size of any football stadium. What remained of the Cell Games arena, was completely wiped out.

Pained screams tore from Cell's throat, his body painfully tearing apart and disintegrating cell...by cell. "I AAAAMM PEEERRRRFFFFEEEEEEEECCCCTTTT!"

And he was gone.

Gohan could feel the sting of his ki searing every inch of his body, but he didn't scream. Strangely, he smiled.

Cell was dead. The Earth was saved. His friends would survive. If he died, so be it. He was happy. He knew how his father felt.

The teen's vision went from pure white, to pitch black as his eyes closed.

Several miles away, the Z-fighters stopped mid-flight to watch the display of energy.

Piccolo stared in horror as what appeared to be lighting flared from the dome and into the atmosphere.

"That's… not normal." Krillin stuttered out.

The Namekian was the first to race back to what was once their battleground, with the rest of the Earth's special forces following after.

Piccolo could feel his heart drop as the closer he got, the energy began to fade and dissipate away. That should have been a good thing, but he could feel Gohan's energy fading away as well.

"No… no dammit!" He roared.

Piccolo's brow furrowed as he landed, the sphere of energy was gone. Where the Cell games was once held, was an empty crater that stretched on for hundreds of yards.

The ground was warm and steaming, with no sign of the demi-saiyan in neither sight, nor lifeforce.

Piccolo's nails dug into his flesh as he dropped to his knees, the other Z-Warriors touching down to the ground behind him.

"Gohan, no…" Tien whispered as the realization hit him and the rest of the fighters.

Although Vegeta was not one to show he cared, the fact that Kakarot's son was gone just like his father, hit the prince deeply. What else was left for him? He could never prove himself as a prince worthy of the title.

Piccolo roared as he punched the ground.

The land was quiet.

XXX

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat within his office, pipe in mouth, back turned to the window that overlooked his village. Now, he was keeping track of the villages economy over the last 6 months, using a pen to chart a graph for it. The elderly man was content, almost 12 years having passed since the attack of the Nine Tails, and those twelve years had been filled with relative peace.

Although nothing was perfect, with the small conflicts that would occasionally arise between his village and others, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

Or so he thought.

A chill went down Sarutobi's spine, making his pen stop dead in its line. He stood up from his chair and approached his office window. Apparently, he wasn't the only person to get that strange sense of dread. He could see the citizens and soldiers of his village, shinobi, gazing out into the horizon, same as he was.

From at least 30 miles out from the village, a sphere of blue-white energy could be seen expanding from the woodlands, quickly growing to the size of a large coliseum. In its expanse, the ki destroyed and wiped away all plant life and unfortunate wildlife that was in contact. The clouds above separated from the dome of energy, almost as if the heavens themselves feared the enigmas presence.

Winds swept through the village with the force of a hurricane, forcing the civilians to run indoors or for cover. A lot of unfortunate street merchants lost their goods.

Sarutobi walked to the rooftop of his building, despite the wind, gazing out at the awe-inspiring spectacle before him. In a wink, the dome was gone. Faster than it appeared, it disappeared.

Wordlessly, he was approached by four jonin; Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi, and Maito Gai.

"Investigate." The Hokage ordered. With a staunch raising of his arm to his side, the four Elite Jonin fazed out, fluidly maneuvering through the streets and rooftops at speeds too fast for a normal human being to track.

Within a span of five minutes, the four Jonin were within range of the blast site, the air becoming uncomfortably hot and stuffy the closer they got. Uprooted trees and cleared forest floor brought them to ground level. The ground was hot, very hot. They could feel it through their shoes.

What the four saw within' the center of the crater was… something with a crown of blonde spikes for hair.

"Is that… a boy?" Asuma asked.

The four Jonin walked closer, Kakashi and Kurenai pulling a kunai and keeping it at the ready. If this boy belonged to an enemy village, they would have to neutralize him as such.

As they approached him, the Jonin flinched at the teens condition. He stood, right arm extended out in front of him, and the left bloodied and visibly broken. His clothes were a mess; pants tattered, shirt practically nothing but strings of cloth that hung over his exposed torso. The number of cuts and bruises present on the boys body were uncountable, with a particularly nasty wound on the center of his forehead, allowing blood to ooze down his face. The kid was panting like he'd just ran around the world and back.

"Hey!" Kurenai called to him, a failed attempt at getting his attention. The golden haired teen's eyes stayed trained out in front of him, as if he were completely lost in his own mind.

"What village are you from?!" Gai asked. He received no answer.

Kakashi grew impatient, "Answer us!"

His reply was in the boys arm falling to his side, and his hair falling from its vibrant gold, to a jet black. It was no longer the gravity defying spikes that crowned dome, but now more of a wild moptop.

With a relieved smile and chuckle, the boy fell face first into the dirt.

Unconscious.

XXX

A/N: And that's the first chapter of, what I think, is a much needed reboot. YES, it was short, but I told what needed to be told. Like I said before, this will keep some of the major themes of the original, but I think I'll make some needed changes. I wanna know, do you guys want me to keep Gohan on Team Kurenai, or do you want me to stick him on Team Seven? Or, alternatively, I could toss him into a whole nother team or let him fly solo in this fic...

If you guys aren't feeling a reboot, I'll drop the idea, but know, the original HotHL will not be completed by my hand. It belongs to 'The Kami of Kami'. Until next time. (If there is one. Like I said, if you aren't feeling a reboot by my hand, let me know.)