Naruto yawned as he arched his back, getting it to crack in several places. He mumbled to himself as he got out of his plush bed. He then made his way to the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom.
Once inside Naruto took some water out of the sink and splashed it on his face, the cold liquid helping to eliminate any remaining drowsiness from his system. Blinking his eyes free of water, he got a good look at himself in the mirror and couldn't help but grin.
All these millennia later and he still looked as he did when he was sixteen. That personally was one of the major perks of becoming a god. It also made him nostalgic on how he came to be where he was now.
Decades after defeating Kaguya and bringing peace to the Elemental Nations, he had passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 109. Expecting to find himself in the Pure Realm, the former Seventh Hokage was surprised to find him face to face with Hagoromo Ĺtsutsuki in the outer space like place the two had first met.
The Sage had greeted him warmly and informed the deceased ninja that thanks to his actions in life and for ridding the world of its cycle of hatred, Naruto had been given the opportunity to have god status after passing on.
At first the whiskered man was hesitant, feeling that accepting this title would prevent him from seeing his friends and family in the afterlife, but the teacher of Ninshu assured him that with his new title and abilities, Naruto would be free to not only explore all parts of the spirit world, but that of the living world as well.
After hearing all the pros and cons his new position would entail, Naruto decided to accept and as soon as he did, his old man's body regained the form it had when he was in his prime and had been that way ever since.
Eons has passed since then and Naruto did many things to keep himself busy and to live up to his new role as the God of Heroes. One of his primary duties was to help train new heroes from every few generations if they proved worthy enough so they'd be able to face any threats to their world.
And while he did operate throughout the universe, Naruto had most of his focus on his home planet, Earth, to ensure the peace he fought so hard for and that his teachers dreamed of would persist. He trained many students who lived up to the title of hero over the years, some who had made legends in their own regard.
The blond god watched as the world he grew up on continued to evolve and change. A few centuries after his ascension, the world eventually grew out of and forgot the old Shinobi System. While Naruto was saddened by this, he did consent that the system had become obsolete with the peaceful environment and rise in technology.
However, even though the world forgot about chakra and its Hidden Villages, people learned alternative fighting techniques. These new techniques required the use of just Yang Chakra, or Ki as it was now called. Ki, while lacking the versatility of pure Chakra, was easier to access without the usage of chakra points and more raw power.
Over the years the chakra coils had grown dull after generations of inactivity. This left most simply preferring Ki. Naruto himself learned how to use Ki a while back, but preferred the usage of chakra believing it to have more potential than Ki and being the easier of the two for him to use.
Slowly, over time, the number of people who used Ki also began to diminish thanks to a lack of need, and the number of heroes from Earth Naruto trained diminished to a crawl. And while he still kept an eye on things, the past couple of centuries have been pretty lax.
The blond had taken to napping on occasion to help pass the time when he wasn't training or helping others train. He didn't nap for centuries like that lazy bastard Beerus, only a decade or two was usually enough to satisfy him. Even after all these years, he still hated being inactive.
It was from one of these naps that Naruto had just awoken from, and he was eager to see how the world had changed in the last decade.
Quickly changing out of his pajamas that he kept the same style from when he was a boy, Naruto put on his orange and black kimono that had the Uzumaki Spiral in the back, his sandals, and finally his Leaf headband that he tied to keep his wild blond hair back.
It was a bit more formal than he would usually prefer, but the ninja turned god knew he had a certain image that he needed to at least try and uphold, even though he was still not one for ceremonious garb. Morning preparations done, Naruto disappeared from the bathroom and reappeared in the dining room in a flash of light.
"Ah, I see you've awoken Lord Naruto. Right on schedule as usual." A calm voice stated. Standing next to the table was a blue skinned humanoid man that had wavy white hair, was garbed in formal attire, and was carrying a ornamental staff that had a glowing green orb floating on its head.
Naruto chuckled. "You know how I feel about that 'Lord' stuff, Key. Honestly, if I didn't know better I'd say you did it just to annoy me."
The now named Key just smiled and said in a voice filled with humor. "Oh forgive me, my lord. I will correct my grammar at once. I live to serve, after all."
The two looked at each other for a minute before breaking out into laughter.
After calming down, Naruto wiped a stray tear from his eye. "Ah man, I never get tired of that bit. Honestly though, it's great to see you Key. I hope things weren't too boring while I was sleeping? It must suck not being able to sleep yourself."
Key waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Think nothing of it, Naruto. After millennia one does find ways to entertain oneself even without the need for sleep. Now, I take it you'll have the usual for breakfast?"
Naruto's smile turned into an eager smirk as he sat down at the dining table and picked up a pair of chopsticks there.
"Lay it on me." He stated to his instructor, his attendant, and most of all his friend.
Key tapped his staff on the ground and the long table was covered in numerous bowels, each filled to the brim with ramen.
"I've taken the liberty of introducing ramen to over 500 different star systems, Naruto, and as a result there are now over 278 new flavors for you to try." Key informed the blond, who already had a third of the bowls emptied and stacked as he hungrily tore into another one.
"So-" Naruto said, pausing to slurp up some more ramen. "has there been any-" Another slurp. "new developments while I was asleep?" Naruto asked as he continued to shovel bowl after bowl of noodles into his mouth.
Key hummed while looking into the orb on his staff. "Well, about five years ago the inhabitants of Yardrat have successfully been able to replicate your teleportation technique using Ki, though they need to locate another Ki signature to latch onto."
"Hmm... so it'll be kind of like a Hirashin technique only using Ki signatures instead of seals. Interesting." Naruto mused as he worked on his last five bowls.
"Good for them though, the Yardrats are good people and it's always nice to help out."
Key continued, "Let's see now... oh, there have been several planets laid claim to by the Planet Trade Organization."
Naruto frowned at that, he hated them. The PTO had been getting on his nerves for quite some time now with that Cold Family leading them in purging planets of its inhabitants for sale to the highest bidder. They were dirty and amoral. They went against everything he stood for.
"I swear, if someone doesn't step up to those ice lizards and their goons soon, I might have to get involved myself." Naruto scowled as he placed the last bowel in the pile of dirty dishes. Key transported the dishes away to be cleaned with a wave of his staff.
"Perhaps so, but you'll need to wait a bit longer before you're allowed to interfere. Hopefully a hero will come soon that can do something before then."
Naruto grumbled at this. It was one of the restrictions he hated about his new position. While he could train prospecting heroes to battle threats, he was unable to get involved himself unless the threat was too big for anyone else in the universe to handle.
And given that most of the people who try to go against Frieza end up dead before Naruto can reach them, it might soon come to that. He had high hopes for that Bardock guy from Planet Vegeta, but even he died after one blow.
Naruto appreciated that kind of moxie though and had trained the Saiyan for a few years before allowing his soul to pass on into the afterlife. At least if Bardock was ever revived, he'd be able to give hell to any foe he'd face.
Wanting to get his mind off things, Naruto gestured for Key to go on.
"And this just happened recently, but someone was able to get to King Kai's planet after traveling Snake Way."
Naruto leaned back and had an impressed look on his face. "No shit? Huh, feels like forever since someone's actually been able to make it to King's planet. So who's the lucky one to get to suffer through his horrible jokes?"
Key seemed to focus for a moment. "Apparently it's the Earth born Saiyan Son Goku, Naruto. He died in a fight against his older brother when said brother tried to force him to massacre the Earth's population by kidnapping his son."
"Sounds chaotic, but not all are allowed to just travel Snake Way..."
"The guardian of Earth spoke with King Yemma. He convinced him to allow Goku to train with King Kai, as two more Saiyans are to arrive in six months time in order to destroy the Earth." Key reported.
Naruto frowned as he processed this information. "Goku, huh? I think that's the name of Bardock's kid when he landed on Earth. Wasn't he also the one who defeated that Red Bow Army right before I took my nap?"
"Red Ribbon Army sir, and correct on both accounts. In addition, he was able to defeat Demon King Piccolo and his reincarnation a few years afterwards. Quite an impressive feat considering how low the number of threats on Earth are." Key mentioned.
Naruto hummed over this for a minute before standing up.
"C'mon Key, we're heading out to King Kai's planet. I think I just found my next student!"
King Kai's Planet, roughly several minutes later
Son Goku panted as he tried to catch King Kai's pet monkey Bubbles. Normally, this task would be a piece of cake for the Earth raised Saiyan, but due to the small planet having a gravity ten times that of Earth, he was finding himself unable to get even close to the monkey.
Goku wasn't one to give up though. He couldn't give up, wouldn't give up; his family and friends were counting on him and if catching Bubbles was the first step in doing so, then by golly he was gonna catch him!
He was just about to resume his chase when he noticed King Kai let out a gasp near his house. The blue skinned man was staring away from him into the space surrounding his planet with a look of surprise and awe on his face.
"King Kai? What is it?" Goku asked, deciding to take a small break from his training.
The man turned his sunglasses covered eyes to the fighter.
"Goku, make yourself presentable. The God of Heroes is approaching." King Kai said in a serious tone.
Goku cocked his head in confusion. "God of Heroes? Who's that?"
"That'd be me." A voice said from behind him. Turning around, Goku saw Naruto and Key standing not too far away from where they were.
Naruto turned up his eyes in a smile and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo!" He called out.
Goku stared at the young looking man and his blue skinned companion in wonder.
'I didn't even feel them approach! Not only that, but I can't even feel their energy coming from them. Wait. I do feel something from them, but I can't get a good read on it. It's like staring into space itself, you can see the stars and planets in the distance, but you can't even begin to grasp the immensity of it! Just who are these guys?'
Naruto turned his attention to King Kai and casually swaggered up to him.
"You're looking the same as ever, but I love what you've done to the place. I even see you have a road on the planet now, on all ten feet of it. Must be great on the gas mileage here." He joked at the end.
King Kai bowed his head and fumbled over his words. "A-ah, Lord Naruto sir! It's an honor to have you on my tea. Can I get you some home?"
Realizing his mistake, the Kai corrected, "I mean, it's an honor to have you at my home, can I get you some tea?"
"Relax King, I'm not gonna blow you up or something. That's Beerus' job." Naruto said with a laugh.
Turning to Son Goku, Naruto smiled. "And while I appreciate the offer, I'm actually here to meet your new student."
Goku's eyes went wide and he pointed to himself. "Me?" He asked.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "No, the monkey. Yes you!"
Regaining his composure somewhat, King Kai questioned. "What do you need to meet with Goku about, Lord Naruto?"
The whiskered deity rolled his eyes again. "First off, enough with the 'Lord' stuff, okay? Secondly, I heard about him being the first person to reach your planet in years and I got curious on the guy who was able to make it. That, and I actually have kept a close eye on our awesomely dressed friend here for some years now and figured it was high time we finally meet." Naruto finished by gesturing to the man's outfit. After all, someone who wore that much orange was okay in his books!
"Um..." Goku raised his hand like a school child and got everyone else's attention.
"I don't mean to be rude or anything, but who are you? Also, what do you mean you've been keeping an eye on me?"
Naruto plopped down on the grass while Key remained standing and gestured for Goku to do the same, which the orange clad Saiyan complied. "Well, those answers actually kind of go hand in hand. As King of the Terrible Puns mentioned, I'm the God of Heroes for this universe."
He grinned as he thought to introduce his actual name. "Name's Naruto, by the way. Any who, what that means is that I keep my eye out across the universe and see if there are any beings who have the potential to become true heroes."
"And if they are able to meet the necessary standards, I keep tabs on them for if they ever need my help. If that time comes, I will either step in myself to fight with them or help train the hero to be able to combat the threat themselves. The former is a very rare occurrence and will only be done if there is absolutely no alternative."
Naruto shrugged. "The latter is more common and actually is why I'm here now." He finished with a cheeky grin and pointed a finger at Goku.
"So, how's about it? Want to become a student of mine?"
The other two occupants of the tiny planet were, understandably, shocked.
"What?" They asked near simultaneously. Goku followed with a "Why?"
Naruto explained, "Well you see, you've caught my attention ever since you defeated that Red Bow-"
"Ribbon." Key corrected.
"-Ribbon Army, and have only continued to impress me over the years with your fighting against King Piccolo and his progeny. Your latest fight against your brother where you sacrificed yourself to save your son and the Earth only solidified my opinion on your hero status."
"Eh... and with those two Saiyans coming in a few months, I thought; this would be the perfect time to take on a new student. So how about it?"
Goku seemed hesitant. "I dunno... I mean I was supposed to train under King Kai, and the way everyone talked about him made it seem like he's my best shot at training for the Saiyans."
King Kai leaned in and whispered into the man's ear. "Goku, I feel you should take this opportunity. While you would definitely improve under my teachings, Lord Naruto is many times my better and has more strength then you can possibly imagine! He'd be able to crush pretty much anyone in the galaxy with the twitch of his pinky finger!"
"He's that powerful? Wow, I'm actually nervous if I'd have to fight him!" Goku whispered back.
"Well, if you train with me Goku you'd get a chance to see how it'd be to fight me in training." Naruto interrupted, scaring the crap out of the two who didn't know about his sharp hearing.
Naruto then turned to King Kai. "And that's an interesting way you view me, KK, if not inaccurate. You got me confused with Beerus, because the whole crushing thing with a finger is more his shtick. Great way to talk me up though, so kudos."
"A-ah, forgive me, Lord Naruto, I spoke out of turn." King Kai stammered.
Naruto waved it off. "Seriously, its fine. Though I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the whole 'Lord' crap. I'm not that egotistical."
Key spoke up. "Didn't you once try having your birthday marked as 'Intergalactic Ramen Day'?"
Naruto quickly shushed his partner in a frantic manner, not wanting that particular incident to be made public knowledge. He was still catching crap from the other deities for that! Coughing into his fist, Naruto turned back to Goku and King Kai.
"Back on topic. So anyway Goku, you don't need to worry about the whole training thing. I'm sure in the six months until the Saiyans arrive on Earth, both me and King Puns A lot over there will be able to teach you everything we know." Naruto shrugged with a casual grin.
"And while I may be stronger than him, King Kai has knowledge on techniques that even I can't do. Especially when it comes to Ki."
Goku cocked his head, "While this definitely sounds like something I'd wanna do, am I even going to have time to train with both you and King Kai? After all, the Saiyans are supposed to be arriving in about six months and I'm going to need every second to focus on getting stronger. Wouldn't training under two teachers make that a lot harder?"
Naruto gave a reassuring smile as he motioned to Key. "Don't worry about that. My friend here has a unique ability to slow time to a crawl for a decent amount of time, so we'd be able to turn a week's worth of training into several months." Naruto informed him while Key nodded his head in agreement.
Eyes widening in realization, Goku said. "Hey, that sounds like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout!"
"Ah yes, I remember that place. I, along with several other powerful beings, decided long ago to combine our unique talents in creating a dimension existing for the sole purpose of pushing others past their limits. I'm glad to see it's still functional." Key happily informed the Saiyan raised on Earth.
After absorbing this information, Goku grinned excitedly. "Alright then! If that's the case then I have nothing to lose. So when should we do this?"
"Well, if its okay with both you and King Kai, I'll stick around to observe your training for a few months and when you both feel satisfied with your training I'll take you back to my place for my own personal training. We should have you more than strong enough to fight the meat head and the walking, talking Napoleon complex in no time."
"Huh?" Goku questioned at that last part.
"You'll understand when you see the Saiyans. Anyway, I think you were doing some training when we arrived, so don't let us hold you up, 'kay." Naruto stated as he went to sit out of the way of Goku's training grounds, a chair made of soft earth rising out of the ground to accommodate him.
Key settled for floating up into the air for a bird's eye view. Goku felt excited as he restarted his training in earnest. While he couldn't get a real good feel for Naruto's true power, if King Kai, one of the best known martial arts masters in the galaxy, had such high amounts of respect for him then he must be good.
Plus, the young looking god's general relaxed behavior spoke of someone with years of experience with power to match. Not only that, but the whiskered god was walking around on a planet with 10 times Earth's gravity as easily as breathing.
Goku felt that if he was trained by Naruto, there was a very strong chance on him actually winning against the Saiyans! While King Kai had admitted that the Saiyans were stronger than him, the blue Kai treated Naruto like he was on a whole different playing field then the Saiyans.
If he was to train under Naruto though, he'd need to complete King Kai's training first. With that added motivation in mind, Goku chased after Bubbles with renewed vigor.
Five Months, Two Weeks Later (One week until Saiyans arrive)
Goku's vision swam for a minute as he regained his bearings from Naruto's teleportation technique. Once the vertigo stopped, he took in his surroundings. The blond former shinobi had transported himself, Key, and Goku to what looked like a lush forest that had a beautiful clearing in its center.
In the clearing he was three training posts as well as what looked to be a large memorial stone in the background. And judging from the strain on his body, the gravity here was around the same as it was on King Kai's planet. The Earth raised Saiyan then had his attention brought back to his new teacher as he started talking to him.
"So this place is the training field where most of your lessons will take place. Since you've gotten used to training under intense gravity, one of the things I'm going to do here is increase the gravity every time you get used to the new one, like so."
And with that, Naruto placed his palm on the ground where what looked like intricate writing spread from his hand. The writing disappeared into the earth, when suddenly the gravity surrounding them doubled in strength, causing Goku to grunt from the effort while Naruto and Key didn't even look like they noticed.
"The next thing I'm planning on teaching you is some different battle strategies and techniques I've learned over the years. And since I've actually trained a couple Saiyans in my time, I have some ideas on how to teach you. Before all that though, I guess I should show you the rest of the area, neh?"
Turning to his friend, Naruto grinned. "Hey Key, do you mind starting your time slow down thingy?"
While scoffing at his technique being referred to as a "thingy", Key nevertheless complied as he tapped his staff on the ground, causing a large blue dome to cover the surrounding area and stretch on for miles.
"There, now I can hold this up for roughly a year which is about a week in real time." Key informed them.
Naruto shot the man a thumbs up before leading Goku down a path into the forest. When they reached the end, a large building stood in another clearing. In was oriental in style with a large kanji for 'Fire' written on the front.
Entering what he was told was Naruto's home, Goku could only stare as the building looked even bigger on the inside if you could believe that. Naruto wrapped an arm around the Saiyan's shoulder as he gave Goku the grand tour.
It was a fairly luxurious, if somewhat Spartan home that had all the basic necessities but wasn't overly decorated. Near the end of the tour, Goku notice a hallway with nine huge doors on either side, each one numbered 1-9.
Naruto noticed Goku looking and grinned.
"I see you've seen my roommates' rooms."
Curious as to who would be a god's roommate, Goku asked him. "Roommates?"
"Well, they're nine beings I met back when I was way younger and after I ascended to godhood I decided to take them with me. They're all super strong in their own right, but they don't really like being disturbed all that much. Though I do plan on introducing you to them at some point." Naruto laughed.
"Who knows, maybe they'd even offer to train you a bit yourself? I have a feeling 'Number 4' would be especially interested in you." He finished with an impish grin.
Feeling both excited and nervous, Goku followed his new teacher further into the building wondering just how much stronger training under the God of Heroes would end up making him. Little did he know that there would be far reaching consequences of this training trip, but whether for good or ill has yet to be decided.
Most of this prologue chapter and its general concept was adopted from mellra.