"talking"

"thinking"

"Jutsu"

"I...I failed." thought Naruto as he could feel his life slipping away. Over him stood Madara Uchiha, whom had been revived by the power of Edo Tensei. Despite the strength he and Kurama had, he had still been defeated. Not far from him, Kakashi, Guy, and B were in a similar state.

"Pathetic." said Madara as he walked away from Naruto's body. "Even with the power of the Kyuubi, you are no match for me, or Obito."

Naruto frowned hearing Madara mention his sensei's former teammate. Kakashi and Guy had spent most of their fight trying to convince Obito not to go through with his plans, but they had failed. Obito was the one who had defeated both Kakashi and Guy, while B had been taken down by Madara.

"This is the end for you." said Madara as he looked at Naruto. "I no longer need the Kyuubi to complete my plans, so I don't need to keep you alive any longer, goodbye Naruto." Madara backed up, and used one of the Mangekyo Sharigan's techniques. "Amaterasu." Immediately Naruto's body was covered in black flames and they began to incinerate him, though he felt no pain due to him not being able to feel his body at all. Naruto closed his eyes and felt the last of life leaving him. "Everyone... I'm sorry." Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the number one, hyperactive, knucklehead ninja was no more.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and began to look around himself. Everything around him was white, nothing was in sight. Slowly standing up he looked down at himself and saw he was in perfect health. "Am I dead." he mumbled to himself as memories of the previous battle went through his head.

"In a manner of speaking."

Turning around Naruto came face to face with a girl that appeared to be around his age, wearing a pink Kimono. Naruto blushed slightly when he saw her. "Who are you." he asked

The girl giggled slightly because of Naruto's blush. "Hello Naruto, my name is Kami."

Naruto's eyes widened to comical proportions as he began to stutter. "I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't realize who you were!" He said as he began to panic trying to figure out what to do, but stopped when he realized something. He looked back at Kami with a confused and surprised look on his face. "Your a girl?"

Kami giggled again before shaking her head. "Not exactly, I chose this form because it was the form that would most appeal to you." When she said this Naruto's face got redder and he turned away from her. Kami giggled again before she spoke. "I could change my appearance if you want."

Naruto shook his head. "No this is fine, I just wasn't expecting to be talking to Kami." she giggled again and nodded to Naruto who was looking at their surroundings. "Where are we?"

Kami looked around her as well. "This is the place between life and death."

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard this. "You mean I'm not dead?"

Kami sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry Naruto, but you are indeed dead."

"Then why am I here?" he asked

Kami smiled lightly and looked back at Naruto. "The reason you are here is because I wanted to give you another chance." When she said this Naruto's eyes widened again.

"You mean your going to bring me back to life."

Kami nodded but her smile faltered slightly which worried Naruto. "Yes I am, but I am not returning you to the elemental nations." Naruto look shocked and angry at the same time, but before he could speak she continued. "You have led a hard life Naruto, most people your age couldn't even imagine the life you have had up to this point, so I'm bringing you back to life so you can experience all the things you missed out on. I can't send you back the Elemental Nations for two reasons. One, because you died there and even I cannot send you back. Second, even if I could I wouldn't."

Naruto looked at her with a confused expression. "Why not?"

"I won't because of how people treated you there. If I send you some where else you will have the chance to start anew with people who don't know about the horrors of war and you can live a semi normal life."

"Semi-normal?" said Naruto

Kami sighed. "No matter where I send you Naruto, conflict will always be there, it is human nature to fight one another. I'm sending you to a place where you can form new bonds and become a family with them. In the world I am going to send you, family-like bonds are formed between members of guilds."

"Guilds?" questioned Naruto

"Yes guilds. This world I am going to send you to is known as Earthland. There instead of chakra, people use magic. Guilds are large groups of people filled with people who can use magic. People can give them requests to fulfill and they will go do their tasks and return to the guild, it is like a second home to them."

"So it is like in the elemental nations where people drop of missions and the village assigns teams to go and complete them?"

"Pretty much." said Kami. "However before I send you there, it is necessary that you learn some of the customs of this world, as well as how to use magic."

Naruto's eyebrows raised. "You are going to teach me magic?"

Kami shook her head. "No, not me, I have someone else that I have that will teach you." After she said this a flash of light appeared next to her and the sound of electricity filled the air. Standing there was a tall man with short black hair and small horns sticking out of his head. He was wearing traditional japanese clothing and he had lightning sparking all around him.

"Is this the boy you spoke of, Kami-sama?"

Kami looked at the man standing next to her and nodded. "Yes this is him Raijin-sama."

The man looked over at Naruto and began to walk over to him while Naruto's mouth was hanging open and he was pointing at Raijin.

"Your Raijin-sama, god of thunder and lightning." he said with his mouth still hanging open and his eyes wide.

The man nodded and stopped in front of Naruto. "I am and you are Naruto correct." Naruto nodded dumbly as he started at Raijin with his mouth still on the ground.

Raijin turned around and looked at Kami who smiled and looked at Naruto. "I wish you the best of luck Naruto." with that said Kami faded from view and Raijin looked back down at the boy in front of him. "Alright boy, for the next year I will be teaching you in the customs and traditions of the world of Earthland, as well as teaching you how to use a very powerful magic."

Naruto nodded and for the first time since he got here, he was slightly excited. "What magic are you going to teach me Raijin-sama?" he asked as he temporarily put the events of his past life in the back of his mind

Raijin turned around and began to walk while motioning for Naruto to follow him. Naruto took a spot slightly behind and to the right of the thunder god and looked around him in awe as the white around them faded and a mountain range began to form around them. Raijin stopped, as did Naruto, and the area around them finished forming. Naruto looked around at the finished area. They appeared to be in a large, flat expanse of rocky landed covered with rocks and boulders. Around them all you could see was mountain after mountain, each one being enormous in size. Naruto looked up and saw dark clouds had formed above them. He heard Raijin cough slightly, gaining Naruto's attention as he looked at him.

"This world we are currently in can be changed to fit any kind of training I need to put you through. I am going to be teaching you a magic categorized as 'lost magic' by the people of Earthland. I am going to be teaching you how to control a power similar to mine known as God Slayer Magic, or more specifically Lightning God Slayer Magic." After Raijin finished speaking he lifted up his hand and black lightning quickly covered it. When Naruto saw this he couldn't help but frown because the lightning reminded him of Sasuke's Black Chidori. Even so he was excited to learn how to use it. "As I teach you about this magic I will also be teaching you about the customs and traditions of Earthland, one being there is no need to end a person's name with a honorific."

Naruto's face showed surprise at that. "So I should just call you Raijin?" Seeing said god nod, Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly awkward at the fact that he would be reffering to a god in such a familiar way.

Raijin removed the lightning from his fist and sat down and motioned for Naruto to do the same. When Naruto was fully seated he began the first lesson. "The first thing you need to do is feel the magic power inside of you, not everyone has magic inside of them. Earthland is full of magical energy, but only about 10 percent of the people can actually use magic. Think about how it felt to draw on your chakra, it will feel different then it, but finding your magic power should be similar to finding you chakra."

A question entered Naruto's mind when he heard him say that. "Do I still have chakra Raijin-sa...Raijin?"

Ignoring the small error that Naruto made, Raijin answered his question with a shake of his head. "No, when you died in the elemental nations, your chakra died with you."

Naruto nodded as he expected that response but wanted to ask to make sure. He closed his eyes and began to look for the magic inside of him. At first, he didn't find anything, but after a few minutes he felt something, it was small, but it was still there. Naruto reached for the strange energy and when he felt it he realized it was large then he thought it was. He began to pull on the power trying to harness it.

On the outside Raijin looked at him with a neutral expression on his face. After a few minutes of nothing happening he was going to tell Naruto to stop until he saw a white aura surround Naruto, and at the same time he felt his magic power. "Its like a guessed. He naturally has a large amount of magic power, like he had a lot of chakra, this will make things easier." he thought as felt a small smirk come to his face. After watching Naruto exert his magical power for a few moments Raijin ordered him to stop, which Naruto did.

When he opened his eyes and looked at Raijin, he couldn't help but smile. What Raijin said was true, drawing on magical power was similar to drawing on his chakra, though it was slightly more difficult because magic felt different then chakra. "So what next Raijin?"

Raijin stood up, as did Naruto, and looked up at the sky. "Now here comes the hard part. In order for you to use God Slayer Magic I have to release some of my magic power on you, which will cause lightning to surge through your body. By doing this I change your magic power to be similar to my own allowing you to use Lightning God Slayer Magic. This process is dangerous and may kill you again."

When Naruto heard this he became worried and confused at the same time. "What will happen if I die again?"

Raijin looked at Naruto with a serious expression on his face. "Your spirit will be partially destroyed and you won't be able to go to Earthland or anywhere else. You will be doomed to wander here, in the space between life and death for eternity." Naruto's eyes immediately widened and he began to wonder if I was really worth it to do this but something entered his mind that destroyed his worry. He had been through hundred of situations that could have killed him but he didn't falter and quit. He went through it and survived, after everything he had been through he wouldn't chicken out now.

Sensing Naruto's thoughts Raijin smirked. "Are you ready Naruto?" said boy nodded and watched as Raijin up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is going to hurt, a lot."

Naruto was about to respond before he felt lightning rip through his body and he felt pain like he never felt before. He would have fallen over if it wasn't for Raijin holding onto him. Above him he could feel lightning striking him from the clouds. He could feel the fake earth below him shake with the power going through it. "I'm going to die!" This thought kept going through Naruto's head as the undescribable pain ripped through his body. With pure will power, Naruto held on and focused on thoughts that would give him strength, like friends from his old life and his parents.

After what seemed like an eternity the pain began to feel warm and the pain subsided and was replaced by a pleasant feeling. Opening his eyes, Naruto expected to see the process was finished but was shocked when he saw that the lightning was still coursing through his body.

Raijin saw Naruto open his eyes and smiled before letting go of Naruto and backing away, preparing to watch the fireworks. For a few seconds nothing happened, just Naruto looking over his body before the lightning grew more intense and began to spark and crackle with more power. The clouds opened up and more lightning began to strike Naruto, but he felt no pain. The lightning began to condense before the lightning bolts turned black around Naruto and blocked him from view.

Raijin quickly jumped up on top of a mountain as he saw a large ball of black lightning surround Naruto. The ground and mountains around him began to crack from the powerful lightning striking all over the area. He couldn't hold in a big smirk when saw all the destruction Naruto's magic was causing. "Oh yeah, he's going to be a worth God Slayer when I'm done with him."

The lightning died down and the area below was covered with smoke with black lightning sparking randomly all over the area. Raijin jumped back down and walked through the smoke and saw an interesting sight. Naruto was standing there with his head down and his hands balled up into fists. All around him black lightning crackled with a white aura surrounding him. After the smoke completely disappeared around the area Naruto lifted up his head and looked at Raijin with a smile.

Raijin smirked at Naruto and crossed his arms in front his chest. "Well done Naruto, you are now the worlds first Lightning God Slayer.

The year quickly went by as Naruto trained with Raijin. He quickly learned the skills that came with being the Lightning God Slayer as well as learning more about the world he would soon be entering, Earthland. He learned more about Guilds and how they are run as well as the new technology that was in Earthland, like trains. The more he learned about Earthland, the more he liked it. He especially like the idea of Guilds and decided he was going to join a guild when he went to Earthland, which Raijin agreed was a good idea.

The now 17 year old had changed a lot in his year of training. He had grown a large amount and was now almost the same height as his old sensei Jiraiya. Naruto was currently 6 feet tall while Jiraiya was only 3 inches taller than that. He also let his blonde hair grow out and now looked extremely similar to his father's hair, only slightly shorter. His whisker marks were still present but they had faded due to Kurama no longer being sealed inside his body. Another thing about him was he no longer and his orange ninja clothing on, with some pestering from Raijin he changed his style of clothes. He now wore black pants and an orange short sleeved shirt with the sleeves becoming black at the edge, he also wore boots instead of sandals.

Personality wise he hadn't changed much. He still acted like an idiot at times and had his moments where he was extremely hyper, usually when he was excited about something, more then likely ramen. He had learned to be serious when he needed to be and grew more patient as well, which was one of the more challenging things raijin beat into him though his training for sage mode when he was still a ninja helped.

Currently it was the last day of his training and Naruto would soon be going to Earthland to start his new life as a mage. He hadn't decided what guild he was going to join so he decided when he entered Earthland he would wander around a bit to try and find a guild that he liked. Raijin taught him about Guilds and Dark Guilds but he left out the names of them, which annoyed Naruto. He was currently sitting under a tree looking around at the fake wild life that wandered through the forest.

Naruto stood up and stretched and began to walk in a seemingly random direction. He kept walking like that with a bored looked on his face. He had only walked for a minute before his hand left his pocked and sped up to his right, catching a fist that was aimed for his head. Looking over he say Raijin standing there with a smirk on his face as he pulled his fist back. "Good, like I taught you, never let your guard down even for a second." Naruto nodded and smiled at the god in front of him. Through the year of training he had grown close the lightning god and considered him a friend, which he thought was kind of weird to consider a god a close friend, but it was the truth.

Raijin crossed his arms and looked at Naruto with a smile. "You have come a long way Naruto and you are finally ready to enter Earthland." Naruto quickly grew excited as he had been waiting for Raijin to tell him that for a week now. After all he had heard about Earthland he knew he would like it there. Raijin uncrossed his arms held his left arm out a door seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Naruto and grown used to this kind of thing, Raijin liked to create random objects out of nothing. One part of his training he remembered was when Raijin forced him to dodge random objects he created that then fell from the sky, like boulders, trains, boats, and sometimes even large animals which then proceeded to try and kill him.

Naruto lost in thought failed to notice that Raijin was staring at him with a serious look on his face. "Naruto." he said gaining the boy's attention. "Over the years I have seen you grow and become strong. Never forget the things you learned in your past life and what I taught you." He then walked over to the door and opened it showing complete black behind it. "This door will take you to Earthland." After he said that Raijin turned and walked behind Naruto and formed another door, which then opened and revealed pure white behind it. "This door will take you to the afterlife"

When Naruto heard that his eyes widened and he looked at Raijin in confusion. Seeing the look Raijin explained. "I am giving you the option to go to the next life and reunite with some of your past friends, comrades, and family."

Naruto's eyes widened further. "Why are you giving me the option now to go to the afterlife."

After looking thoughtful for a moment Raijin replied. "I have thought about your previous life and what you had been through and I thought you deserved to make the choice of what you want to do. If you go to the afterlife, everything you learned from me will be forgotten and you will see your loved ones again that have also passed on." Raijin then pointed to the door behind Naruto. "If you go to Earthland you will get a chance at another life that you could not have before. You will forge new bonds and get new loved ones. If you go through that door you will not be able to return here or to the afterlife until you die again. Which door do you choose?"

Naruto closed his eyes and began to think about what he wanted to do. He really wanted to see his old friends and family but if he did that he would forget about his year with Raijin and the things he taught him. If he went to Earthland he would have the chance to make new bonds and have a second chance at life. He was having trouble deciding what to do.

After a few moments of remaining silent Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Raijin with determination. "I would love to see my old friends and family." After Naruto said this Raijin frowned thinking Naruto was going to go to the afterlife but his worries were erased when Naruto continued speaking. "However if I go to Earthland I will have the chance to make new friends and comrades. If I go to the afterlife I will forget all about Earthland and everything you taught me, but if I go to Earthland I will still remember everything and be able to remember my friends and family from my life as a ninja." Naruto smiled as he looked at the door to the afterlife. "I remember my mother telling me she wanted me to live a happy life and my father wished me the same, they would want me to go to Earthland. Everyone can wait for me."

Raijin smiled at what the boy said and nodded, closing the door to the afterlife. "Go then Naruto. I wish you the best of luck and never forget what you learned here."

Naruto smiled and nodded while walking up to Raijin and put out his hand. The god looked at it for a second before returning the smile and shaking Naruto's hand. The blonde smiled at Raijin once more before turning around and walking toward the darkness behind the other door that led to Earthland. Before he went in however he heard Raijin speak.

"Naruto, I wasn't supposed to tell you this but with what you just told me I think you have earned the right to know."

Naruto looked back at the god curiously signaling him to continue.

"Naruto, while you were in this world between life and death, no time passed on the outside. In the elemental nations the war is still exactly as you remember it." Naruto's eyes widened and he was going to speak but Raijin beat him to it. "You were told Kami could not send you back to the world of the living." Naruto nodded with a frown. Raijin smiled at Naruto once more before turning around and walking away. "She told the truth, but that doesn't mean its impossible to go back." Naruto's eyes widened again as he heard what Raijin told him. "In Earthland, magic is limitless. It is possible that there is magic that will allow you to go back to the elemental nations."

Naruto had a shocked look on his face as he talked to the god. "Really? Are you sure?"

Raijin stopped and nodded and began to fade from sight. Naruto heard him speak as his teacher and friend disappeared. "Yes, the magic does not exist yet, but that doesn't mean that it never will. In your travels in Earthland you may find someone or something that will allow you to go back to the elemental nations." Raijin turned and looked back at the blonde boy he now considered a friend. "You have shown great skill with magic Naruto, so I know if you find the right information you can go back to the elemental nations, good bye Naruto Namikaze." With that Raijin disappeared.

Naruto looked shocked as he processed the information Raijin just told him. He could go back, but he would have to work hard and figure out how to get there. With a determined look Naruto turned around and walked into the blackness and felt something grab him and pull before a bright flash of light blinded him.

The next thing he knew, he was laying on his back looking at the blue sky. Sitting up he began to take in his surroundings. Around him he saw grass and trees but nothing that indicated that he was in Earthland. Looking at his feet he saw that he was standing on what appeared to be metal bars spread apart on top of what looked like gravel. He was about to start walking until he heard a loud whistle behind him. He turned around and panicked when he saw what matched the description of a train rushing toward him. He quickly jumped out of the way just as the train went passed, barely missing him. Sitting up in the grass a little bit away from the rail he stood up and dusted himself off as he looked around. "Yep, I'm definitely in Earthland." he said to himself as he went off in the direction the train was going, knowing that it would lead to a city.

Edited 7/13/2014