5000 Years Ago

A long time ago, a powerful mutant named En Sabah Nur, otherwise called Apocalypse, had been on a trail of bloody conquest throughout the known world. Many people both great and small fell to the man's might, and it looked as though Apocalypse would rule the entire planet. However, this all changed when he attempted to conquer a small island that was located off the main continent, which later became known as Japan. There, another mutant resided. However, unlike Apocalypse, this man used his powers only for the benefit of mankind believing that people needed to be brought together through peace and understanding, not violence and bloodshed as Apocalypse thought. The two super powered beings fought for three days and three nights, but in the end it was the dreadful Apocalypse that was driven off. The native mutant was revered as a hero and some even claimed him to be a god of sorts for his deeds. This man was a sage who went by the name Asura Ōtsutsuki.

Years pass, and while none of Asura's descendants showed signs of being mutants like Asura was, they all seemed to possess a stronger vitality than most humans, and they produced many strong and courageous clansmen and women. While Asura and his accomplishments have gone on to the realm of myth and legend, his legacy still lives on. This brings us to modern times…

Queens, New York

A young blonde teenager by the name of Naruto Namikaze stared up at the stars in a field a little ways from his house through his new telescope in excitement. Naruto was a fifteen year old boy with spikey blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and whisker shaped birthmarks on each cheek. He wore an orange hoodie with black cargo pants and orange sneakers. The boy, who had just gotten his new high-powered telescope for his birthday yesterday, had always loved the concept of astronomy, so the gift was much appreciated. Naruto's family had been deeply involved with the far reaches of space for several generations now, and Naruto hoped to one day follow in their footsteps.

In fact, both his parents were well noted astronauts that had gone on several out of orbit space missions in their lives. Unfortunately, when Naruto was six years old, his parents had been on the latest mission to the moon when their ship mysteriously disappeared. This left Naruto in the care of his godparents, Jiraiya and Tsunade Senju, and he'd been living with them ever since. Naruto, however, still hoped to find out what happened to his parents one day, and that added to his desire to study space.

Naruto could only whistle lowly as he saw the stars and planets become clear to him in the darkening night sky. While the light pollution from the city did block out much of the view, Naruto's godparents fortunately lived far enough out in the rural area of Queens that it didn't completely impair his stargazing. As Naruto continued to look into the starry heavens, and flash of light flickered across the lens of the telescope, catching his attention.

"Oh wow, a shooting star! I'd better make a wish," he chuckled the last part as he thought about what to wish for. 'I wish…that something truly exciting will happen soon!' he thought.

Suddenly, the 'shooting star' seemed to change direction and head…straight for him! With a startled yelp, Naruto dived out of the way as the now reviled small meteorite sailed over head, impacting into the trees behind him. Getting up and spitting out a mouthful of grass, Naruto could only gape at what happened. 'Was that…a meteorite?! What the hell, that should have burned up in the atmosphere or something!?' he wondered incredulously. Suddenly, an interesting idea formed in his head. 'Wait a second…no one is around and that impact was a bit too small to get people running here…If I hurry I can see a meteorite up close and personal before someone from the museum comes and takes it away. I'd better go check it out!'

With a course of action in mind, Naruto ran so fast over to the site of the crash he almost looked invisible. When he got there, Naruto skidded to a halt right at the edge of the crater made from the impact and he marveled at the size of it. "This thing has got to be the size of my house at least!" he noted as he measured the indentation. Looking down, Naruto was finally able to lay eyes on the chunk of space rock. The meteorite itself wasn't too big, about twice the size of the average baseball most likely from most of it burning up in the atmosphere while the rest broke off in the crash, but it was still a wonder to behold.

Quickly, Naruto whipped out his Smartphone and started taking pictures of it. He then remembered learning that some debris from space could be radioactive, Naruto brought up the Giger counter feature on his phone. With radioactive beings like the Hulk running around, the phone companies made a killing off of selling these types of apps for people who didn't want to get irradiated just from being too close to one of said beings, and also people who wanted to be warned when one of them decided to go on another rampage. While Naruto didn't really believe the app would be much use in that type of scenario, he was now grateful for his godmother for pushing him to get it. Naruto studied the readings from the cellular device, and was pleased to see that, while a small amount of radiation was being released, it wasn't anything worse than what one would expect from a UV flashlight. Wanting to get a closer look (all while ignoring the tiny voice in the back of his head telling him how stupid he was being while replaying the 1980's The Blob in his mind), Naruto slid down the side of the crater and cautiously approached the now stationary rock.

Suddenly, with a deafening crack, the meteor gained a long crack right down its center. Reeling back, Naruto fell right on his behind and watched as the crack seemed to spread over the surface of the rock like a cracking eggshell. 'Oh man, THAT can't be a good sign!' Naruto thought in a panic, wondering what would happen if he was caught out here with a destroyed meteorite. Would they blame him for its destruction? Before his imagination could get out of hand, the shards of the meteor fell apart, revealing a reddish glow that lite up the crater.

Despite all common sense telling him he should LEAVE NOW, Naruto couldn't help but feel drawn to the light. Getting up from the ground, the young Namikaze walked over and peered into the broken meteor. Inside the crumbled rock lay a beautiful red gemstone. Despite being from space, the precious mineral was perfectly cut into a rounded shape like it just came out of a jewelry store. Naruto, in a daze, reached out his hand towards the gem. Suddenly, the light vanished from the crater and Naruto blinked the daze out of his eyes.

"Man…must have blacked out there for a second," Naruto mumbled while shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. Looking back down at the now empty meteor, he wondered aloud, "Did…did I just imagine there being a jewel in that thing?"

Shrugging, Naruto figured he'd had enough sightseeing for the evening and quickly climbed back out of the hole. The blonde walked ten feet before he collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. "Holy shit! That hurts like a mother! What in the world-?!" he all but screamed out as he ripped at his hoodie to get it off in the hopes he'd be able to alleviate the searing heat that seemed to be originating from his chest before spreading to his body.

Finally removing the hoodie, Naruto stared with wide eyes at his now glowing chest. Or more specifically, the glowing red gemstone embedded in his chest! "W-what in the-?!" he was cut off as another spasm of pain rocked his entire body.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" he howled in pain as he went from a kneeling position to down on his hands and knees, his eyes shut from the agony his body was experiencing. If he'd kept his eyes open, Naruto would have witnessed his body undergo a startling transformation! On the skin surrounding the embedded gemstone, veins started to rise up and pulse angrily as they spread across Naruto's body. White fur then started to spring up on the boy's person and even his blonde hair turned snowy white before growing out into a long mane. Naruto's nails broke apart as razor sharp inch long nails grew out of his fingertips, as well as his toes. Naruto's feet seemed to lengthen with a sickening crack of bone, warping until the former blonde's legs now looked more like those of a canine species. His tailbone then lengthened before becoming covered in the same fur now covering his body, becoming a sweeping lupine tail. Naruto's muscles seemed to bulge out, and while not becoming bodybuilder sized, they were more defined like an Olympic gymnast. Finally, Naruto's head changed. Real whiskers sprouted out of his birthmarks as his ears stretched to the top of his head and became pointed. With another crack, the boy's face lengthened as his teeth became pointed fangs, forming a muzzle complete with black nose.

The transformed Namikaze lay there for a minute or two, panting, before he rose up on his new legs and let out a long howl to the rising moon. As he howled, the boy's clothes which had been either ripped or discarded during the change, glowed with a strange light that emanated from the jewel still visibly fused into Naruto's chest (despite the fur). When the glow faded, Naruto's lupine form was wearing a new outfit. He now wore what almost looked to be a mix of a green tunic with matching shorts and golden armor. His arms and dog shaped legs now had golden gauntlets on them, and his tunic had matching shoulder guards. The werewolf like boy wore two belts, one around his waist that had another red gem for the buckle while the other was strapped across his torso like a bandolier with golden spikes jutting out from it. On his back rested a quiver full of golden colored arrows, while at his hip a jewel hilted golden sword lay in its sheath.

When the man-wolf stopped howling, he looked around with red eyes at his surroundings. He gave a growl like a wild animal looking for prey. But Naruto didn't even move a step before he brought a clawed hand to his head with a sharp whine. For an entire minute, Naruto thrashed his head around like there was a war waging inside his skull, and it wouldn't be that far from the truth. Suddenly, Naruto gave another howl but this one was much shorter and sounded almost human in some regards. When he finally opened his eyes, they were still red in color but lacked the feral nature they displayed earlier.

Naruto blinked and let out a groan, [Ugh, my head-! That's the last time I try combining ice cream and ramen for dessert!] he then let out a cough as he went to massage his throat. [Man, what's up with my voice? It sounds like I'm gargling gravel!]

As he rubbed his furry throat with his clawed hand, Naruto mused, [Something feels…different. Why does it feel like I'm wearing a fur scarf and why...?] He trailed off as he observed his hand, his furry, clawed hand, and with widening eyes, quickly looked over as much of his body as he could, observing all the changes that had occurred and even went to feel his now lupine face. Naruto, placing his arms to his sides, stood completely still and quiet for several moments and then…

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!]

Unknown to Naruto, the gem he found was actually the Godstone, the crystallized power and essence of Stargod, an ancient ruler from a dimension called Other Realm. When Stargod was dying he opened a portal to Earth's moon and channeled his energy into the jewel, which had landed there millennia before following the destruction of the collection of power gems known as the Lifestone Tree. Ancient prophecies foretold that in evil times, Stargod would be reborn to save the people of Other Realm. Time passed, and a stray meteorite bounced off the surface of the moon, breaking off a chunk of the lunar body that contained the Godstone and sent it hurtling towards Earth where the hapless blonde found it. Currently, the energies of the Godstone transforming Naruto into the form of the Stargod, but the radiation that leaked through the portal to Other Realm was so weak that under any other circumstance, the change would only be partial. This would give most men the form, strength, and primal fury of Stargod, but would lack his wisdom and power.

However, Naruto proved that he was a descendant of Asura Ōtsutsuki this night. You see, while the X-gene that gave Asura his mutant abilities had remained dormant throughout his children and their children, it had not, however, disappeared. When the foreign energies of the Godstone flooded young Naruto's body, they interacted with the dormant gene and caused the two to mutate together. The energies of Stargod activated the X-gene while the gene itself acted as a buffer of sorts for the energies, substituting for the diluted radiation of the Other Realm. This, in turn, gave Naruto full control of all the powers of Stargod, plus the ability to maintain all his cognitive functions. As Naruto stood in his new form and silently marveled over it by the light of the full moon, no one on earth could have predicted that on this October night a new hero was born. One that would show the universe that Stargod, and the will of Asura Ōtsutsuki, still lived!