Naruto: The Sun God
Chapter 1: From The Stars
The ship flies through the cold of empty space, leaving a wormhole. It speaks to its sleeping passenger as a planet can be seen in the distance. "Approaching destination. The planet has a yellow star, just as Jor-El instructed. The inhabitants are similar to Kryptonian species, so Kal-El will be able to blend in." The ship enters the atmosphere of the planet, making its way to a final destination.
Minato and Kushina step outside the house, looking at the many stars in the sky. Minato then spots a shooting star before putting his arm around his wife. "Look, Kushina! Make a wish!" Kushina then squints a little, noticing something out of the ordinary. "It's getting bigger." Minato looks at her, confused. "What?" "The shooting star...", just then, a ship flies down, coming in fast as Minato and Kushina prepare to take cover. The ship comes to a halt as the couple can hear the thrusters in front of them. They open their eyes as they notice a small blue ship with a red S logo hovering in front of them. Kushina then spots the infant inside. The ship opens its cockpit and continues to hover. Kushina hops on top of the ship and kneels down to look at the baby.
"Kushina, what are you doing," asked Minato.
"I think it wants us to take the baby." Kushina picks up the baby, seeing black hair. "Ah, he's so cute." Kushina leaps back to her husband's side, who is still curious about the mysterious ship. "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki," said an electronic voice coming from the ship. "The two of you have been picked to watch over Kal-El. Now hold still as I scan your biology." The ship uses a scanning blue light on Minato and then on Kushina. "Biology scan complete," said the ship, "and now for DNA replication." A bright light comes from the baby, blinding the couple for a few seconds. Kushina and Minato are surprised to see the new face of the infant. His black hair has been replaced by spiky blonde hair, similar to Minato's, but the boy opens his eyes, showing their blue hue.
"He has your hair," said Kushina laughing.
"But he has your face," said Minato. The ship lifts itself higher a bit. "I will leave Kal-El in your care. Take good care of him, for in time he will be a blessing to your world." The ship takes off, leaving their line of sight, but their eyes continue to follow.
15 years later...
Minato had died during his battle with the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi. As Kushina was left alone to raise their son, she began to realize what the ship meant as she discovered the boy's abilities. Kushina had named him Naruto after a character from one of Jiraiya's stories. As time passed, Naruto got bigger and his abilities got stranger. In time, Kushina and the village elders learned how his abilities worked, creating an alternate living quarters for Naruto.
Tsunade walks down a long hallway in an underground facility, leading Kakashi to a large chamber with two metallic, heavily armored slide doors. Tsunade turns around with a stern look on her face as she speaks to Kakashi. "Are you sure about this, Kakashi?" The Copy Ninja maintains his usual lazy look. "We all know that ninja are not allowed to do S ranked missions solo, and even though Sakura has been promoted to chunin, she's more of a nurse than a fighter." Tsunade sighs. "Okay, but remember the protocol. Naruto needs to be back here before..." Kakashi waves his hand reassuringly with his eye closed. He seems to be forming a smile under his mask. "Don't worry, lady Hokage; he'll be back before you know it."
Kakashi walks into the large chamber. Once inside, he sees a swarm of red sun lamps on the walls and ceiling with circular shapes to them. To his left on the far side, he sees a bed and in the center, he sees dumbbells. Kakashi stops, looking down at Naruto who is doing sit-ups with his jacket and sandals off. Kakashi simply stares down at Naruto, looking a little serious. "Hurry up, Naruto. We have a mission." Naruto speaks as he is doing his sit-ups. "S rank again? Why are they the only missions I do?" Kakashi responds, a little uninterested. "Because they are the only ones you CAN do, remember?" Naruto stops and unfolds his legs as he sits up. "And that is what keeps bothering me, Kakashi sensei! I can't go to ninja school, I can't take the chunin exam, but somehow I'm qualified for S ranked missions? Isn't that backwards?!"
"I suppose, but what can we do, Naruto? When you started your chakra training, you seemed to learn things at frightening speeds, and when you took your first lessons at ninja school, you aced everything! Do you remember the IQ test that we gave you? It was off the charts, and that was without your solar power! Calling you gifted would be a vast understatement!" Naruto seems to be a little upset. "So then why can't I take the chunin exam?!" "Because you're overqualified, Naruto," shouts Kakashi now calming down a bit. "You need to understand that not everyone will be excited about your gifts. If someone like you competed for chunin, you would make everyone else look bad, and not just the students. The teachers, the jonin, even the Hokage. Some of the ninja would give up altogether because they would say "how can we beat him" before handing over their headbands?"
Naruto now looks depressed as he ponders on Kakashi's words. "Then why are you asking for my help, sensei? Won't I just be a burden?" Kakashi makes an angry sigh. "That's not what I said! The reason why you go on these missions with me is because we need you to control your powers, and because they are too dangerous for a normal ninja to complete alone." "But I'm not normal, right?" Kakashi is somewhat baffled by the statement, not knowing how to respond. "The people in the village are afraid of me, I get that. What I don't get is how these missions will change that." Kakashi becomes more sympathetic now. "That's the whole point, Naruto; if you do these missions, especially the tougher ones, it might change their minds. So, are you ready?"
Naruto and Kakashi walk through the long underground corridor, approaching a flight of stairs. They walk up the stairs until reaching a set of wooden doors that lead outside. "So who is our client," asked Naruto with Kakashi responding, "Gaara." Naruto seems a bit surprised. "Gaara? What's he been up to?" Kakashi looks uninterested. "He's the Kazekage." "How did he pull that off," asked Naruto. "Well, he is the strongest ninja in his village, but then you knew that," said Kakashi. Kakashi looks at Naruto now. "Still feeling mortal?" Naruto nods. Kakashi takes another look at Naruto, curious about why he is not wearing his jacket and is walking barefoot. "Are you really going out like that," asked Kakashi. Naruto shrugs. "If I'm going out, then I need to be at my best, right? I can absorb more sunlight this way." Kakashi opens the doors and the sun shines through the tunnel. The two ninja step outside as Naruto stares at his right palm, which he cut yesterday. He can see the scar tissue on the palm, reminding him of his mortality while underground in his chamber. A few seconds later, a golden glow comes from his palm. The scar is covered by the glow as it fades from sight until Naruto's hand is completely healed. Naruto takes out a dagger and stabs his hand, only for the dagger to shatter on impact.
"Looks like you're in working order," said Kakashi. "I never asked you this before and I don't know why, so I'll ask now. What is it like when you're like this?" Naruto lowers his hand and looks at Kakashi. "I feel energized. I feel like I can do anything. I don't eat, I don't sleep and I don't feel the need to." Naruto looks up at the sun. "When I'm down in the chamber, it's the only time I feel normal, that I feel... human." Kakashi walks over and pats his shoulder, speaking to him as he sympathizes, knowing that this hasn't been easy on either of them. "Come on. We have to get going."
Naruto and Kakashi now stand outside near the entrance to the Sand Village, right inside the gate. Standing before them is a teenager with short, spiky, tomato red hair and blue eyes with no pupils. He wears an outfit with the same color as his hair with a giant gourd on his back and navy blue sandals on his feet. He folds his arms as he speaks to the two Leaf Ninja. "Kazekage," said Naruto bowing. Gaara speaks in a gravel-like voice. "Please, Naruto, no formalities. You know me." Kakashi answers in an analytical tone. "So why are we here, Gaara? A ninja village hiring another ninja village is unusual." "That is because of the opponent that you will face, and the Leaf Ninja have the necessary talents for this mission." Naruto seems confused. "How so?" "A neighboring village of ours has been silently invaded. Though there are no reports of murders, there are reports of unregistered residents, new villagers popping up from out of nowhere." Kakashi becomes curious. "So what does that mean, exactly?" "That is why I called the two of you here. Neji and Hinata have already gone ahead to the village and they sent me a report." Gaara now squints his eyes with worry. "Naruto, I wanted you for this mission, because your targets... are the Kryptonians." Naruto and Kakashi are shocked by this revelation.
"Neji told me that a few of the villagers have the same extremely high levels of solar energy in their bodies, just like yours, Naruto. You are the only one who can fight them."
Neji and Hinata stand on a nearby hill, observing the town below. They both have their Byakugans active, seeing the inner workings of the villagers' bodies. Naruto and Kakashi approach them from behind before standing right beside them. "We're glad you could make it. We've watched the villagers from afar so that we didn't arouse suspicion," said Neji. Neji looks to his left from the corner of his eyes, seeing Naruto. "Hinata and I were waiting until you got here." "How many of them did you see, Neji," asked Naruto. Neji looks over the hill again. "Ironically, there are four of them." Hinata now speaks up in a soft voice. "They haven't done anything harmful yet, but we know they're working for Zod, so we've kept a close watch on them." Kakashi then grabs his headband. "Then I guess I'll have to go all out, then." Kakashi pulls up his headband, uncovering his left eye to reveal a red-eye with a pupil that looks like a three-bladed shuriken. Naruto looks over at Kakashi. "Kakashi sensei...," Kakashi cuts Naruto off, "Naruto, I'm not your teacher anymore." "Kakashi, you know that the Mangekyo Sharingan won't work on them. Zod's soldiers are too powerful for that and they are not ninja." Kakashi squints a little. "Do you have any better ideas, Naruto?" Naruto nods. "I do. Everyone, gather around me." Neji, Hinata and Kakashi form a horseshoe around Naruto. Naruto has a calm expression on his face. "During my time in the red sun chamber, I've been working on a technique to fight the Kryptonians. I knew that sooner or later, you guys will have to fight them without me, so I developed this." Naruto smacks his knuckles together, causing his fists to be covered in large balls of red light. Hinata looks on with curiosity.
"Naruto, what is that," asked Hinata. Naruto holds his fists up with his arms folded on the sides. "This is a jutsu that I've been working on. I call it the Solar Fist. You can change its color, but for now we'll focus on red. Kakashi, you have probably copied this already since your Sharingan is out. Simply focus your chakra into your arms and let it out in your hands. Just focus on solar energy. The bigger the light, the more effective it is." Neji seems to be a bit surprised by something and Naruto notices. "Something wrong, Neji?" "Yes, I just noticed something. Naruto, I can feel your chakra now." Naruto looks at his hands. "Oh yeah, I guess the red sunlight covering my hands is knocking out my Kryptonian powers." The large balls of sunlight now turn yellow on Naruto's hands. "Your chakra has disappeared again," said Neji. Kakashi now looks at the group with a stern look in his eyes.
"Alright, everyone. Naruto has given us the means to fight Zod's soldiers, so let's not blow this. Neji, Hinata, you two go west. Naruto and I will take the two soldiers on the east side." Kakashi, Neji and Hinata flash step from the hill. Naruto takes to the air, flying east.
Next Chapter: Three years ago, Naruto met Sakura and Sasuke for the first time. How different was this first encounter in this alternate reality?