Long time no see, my loyal readers! I know, I know, you probably want to kill me. No updates in four months? I've been kinda stuck with my stories. So, instead of torturing myself with updates, I've opted to celebrate my two year anniversary of the beginning of my fan fiction career with a new story. Hope you like it!

LET THE READING COMMENCE!

He let out a relaxed sigh as he basked in the sun's glow. 'Finally, I get a day to rest. Ero-sennin's been really pushing the training lately. Wonder why he's so set on making me even stronger than him?' he let the thought pass, focusing instead on his comfort. Jiraiya had finally given him a day to rest, after two years of almost constant training. He wasn't going to spend it thinking about his training. He let the thoughts flow away from his mind, instead focusing on the breeze that tickled his face, the sun that warmed his body. Today was a perfect day to take a nap...

He sat up as water droplets hit his face. He looked up and was surprised at the black sky. Lightning danced across the sky as a tremendous wind roared across the green field. 'How long was I asleep? The sky was clear, last I remember...' he got to his feet as the wind picked up, bolts of lightning crashing against the ground. Just as he was about to turn around and run for the village, a gigantic bolt came down not too far from him. It lingered for several moments, the sound of thunder almost deafening.

When the bolt finally dissipated, the sky began to clear, for some reason Naruto could not fathom. 'What kind of storm was that?' he found himself wondering. He had never heard of a storm that completely vanished after a giant lightning bolt. Deciding not to dwell on the mysterious storm, he returned his gaze to the ground and found his vision obscured by a dust cloud. "Holy..." Naruto stepped forward, waving away the dust and looking for a possible cause for the dust cloud. Lightning bolts didn't kick up dust, that much he knew. At least, not normal lightning. He let out a shout as he suddenly felt the ground disappear. Quickly summoning chakra to his hands and feet, he grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up, his heart now racing. He looked down at where he nearly fell and saw that there was a crater in the ground. It didn't seem overly large, based on what he saw through the dust. One thing was certain, though; it wasn't caused by any lightning.

Naruto reached into his kunai pouch, prepared to defend himself from whatever it was that caused the crater. As he neared it and the dust began to settle, he was shocked to find that the crater was easily ten times as large as he had initially assumed. He peered down into it and was shocked to discover that in the center of the crater, nearly embedded into the earth, was a large man clad in what looked to be some sort of armor. His nature getting the best of him, he jumped into the crater and slid down to the man, hoping to help him. When he got nearer to the downed man, he was able to make out some rather distinctive features. The man had hair not unlike Naruto's, though his was much longer, reaching down to his shoulders. He was a burly man, easily dwarfing Naruto's own form. He was garbed head to toe in armor, which was itself decorated with a cape. What once surely must have been a truly majestic sight was clearly broken. The armor was shattered at certain areas, revealing bloodied flesh. The cape was ragged, the helm dented, and the torso torn open. The only thing in the crater that was undamaged seemed to be the hammer in the man's grip.

Seeing the grievous wounds that decorated the fallen warrior's body, Naruto stowed his kunai back in the pouch. "What happened to you?" he wondered aloud. The man's eyes suddenly shot open, making Naruto jump back slightly. He sat up, teeth bared in a snarl, and raised his hammer. When he got a good look at Naruto, however, he stopped, lowering his hammer to chest level.

"Who-" he winced, "are you, mortal?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki…" the shinobi answered somewhat reluctantly. He didn't know what it was, but something in him was telling him that this man had more power than even Kyuubi.

"I am…" he grunted as blood suddenly spurt out from his chest. "I am Thor Odinson." he attempted to stand, but his legs would not even move. "Where am I?"

"You're in the Land of Fire, not far from Konoha."

"Konoha… Land of Fire… These names are… unfamiliar to me…" he began to sway slightly, clearly woozy from the loss of blood. "Why am I not healing?" he looked skyward, an angered look on his face. "What have you done to me, brother?" he questioned angrily.

"If you need help, I can get the world's best medic here in a few minutes." Naruto assured as he prepared to create a clone.

"No." Thor denied the boy's attempts to help, brushing aside the thought that what the mortals called 'medicine' could help him. "No, I am too damaged for your healers."

"What happened to you? First thing I saw of you, you were falling out of the sky." Thor laid back down on the ground and took a deep breath.

"I was tricked by my brother, Loki." he growled. "And it seems, this time, he was successful in his goal to kill me."

"I'm getting help." Naruto created a clone and was about to order it to go to Tsunade, but a shout from Thor made him stop.

"I am an Asgardian, boy. Your medics will not understand how to heal me."

"That means there's a way!" Naruto insisted. "I'm not letting anyone die around me!" Thor smirked slightly.

"You have a strong heart, boy. You are naïve, but courageous." Thor praised. His gaze suddenly turned to his hammer for a moment before he held it out to Naruto. He dropped it in front of the blonde shinobi, to his confusion. "Try to lift it." Not really understanding why, Naruto grabbed the handle of the hammer and with a slight grunt, lifted it off the ground. He held it up at chest level and looked the strange weapon over. It had a rather plain design, looking like a simple carved rock mounted atop a stick wrapped in leather, albeit rather fine leather. In spite of its humble appearance, though, Naruto felt an ancient power welling within it, cluing him in that this wasn't just a normal hammer. "That is my weapon, the mighty Mjolnir. I give it to you, boy."

"Huh?" Naruto blurted, stunned.

"My power is in that hammer. Whosoever wields it, wields my power. I cannot allow it to fall into the hands of one who would misuse it."

"How do you know I won't misuse it? Trust me, I've made a lot of mistakes…" Thor gave the boy a weak smile even as he felt his life begin to fade.

"Worry not, young Naruto. Your heart is pure. You are worthy of my power." he assured. "Do not relinquish Mjolnir to anyone, and beware of the one called Loki…" he closed his eyes, feeling weaker and weaker as time passed. "You are the god of thunder now… Naruto…" his body fell limp, the last vestiges of his life leaving him. Naruto closed his eyes, a moment of silence for the fallen warrior. Once the moment had passed, he tied Mjolnir to his belt and, with a bit of difficulty, pulled Thor's body from the crater. He hiked up the crater side, having to use chakra to fight against the steep incline, and strode away from the impact area. He stopped just on the edge of the forest and laid Thor's body down. He laid his hand against Mjolnir as he thought about what to do with the god's body. He felt that the man deserved a proper sendoff, but he didn't know the man's customs regarding funerals. He tapped the hammer with his fingers and looked down at it.

"I don't suppose you can tell me…"

"Mjolnir, although powerful, is not sentient." a sultry voice responded. Naruto blinked, not respecting any sort of response, and looked around for the source. "Over here, mortal." he turned around and was immediately taken aback at the sight of the woman before him. She was astoundingly beautiful, far more enchanting than any of the many kunoichi he had met. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her as she sauntered towards him, her emerald green eyes glowing in the shade. He swallowed a lump that had formed in this throat. This woman was clad in a green outfit that Naruto, quite frankly, did not know how to describe, other than 'clingy'. It traced her voluptuous form perfectly, showing Naruto all of her curves. As she grew closer, Naruto was surprised to find that the woman dwarfed him by at least a head. This experience surprised him, as he was much taller than most of his peers. Only a few of the adults were taller than him, and even then, it was rarely by much.

The woman appraised him for a moment. Her eyes drifted up and down his figure, coming to rest on Mjolnir for a moment before they snapped up to his face. "Who are you, boy?"

"N-Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." he stammered. She smiled slightly at the stammer, which only made Naruto more nervous.

"Naruto." she said his name with a distinct purr, smiling down at him as he shifted. Her gaze drifted over to Thor's downed form. She closed her eyes, a look of sorrow gracing her face. "So today truly marks the end of the mighty Thor…" her voice was somber, her heartache clear in her tone. She returned her gaze to Naruto, looking down at the hammer. "And he has given you Mjolnir?" her tone was disbelieving, as if the thought of a human possessing it was ridiculous.

"Yeah. Dropped it in front of me and told me to pick it up." her eyes widened considerably.

"You were found worthy?" if her tone didn't contain disbelief before, it certainly did now. 'How could a normal human boy be worthy to lift Mjolnir?' she did her best to regain her composure, not wanting to be seen as strange by the young boy. She appraised him again, this time making sure to be detailed. His form was rather slender, though he clearly had developed muscles. He was much shorter than her, coming only up to her chest. She passed that off as him simply not having reached that growth spurt yet. His hair was a similar color to Thor's, she noted, as were his eyes, though there were rather important differences. While Thor's hair was long and fair, Naruto's was short and unruly, sticking every which way. While Thor's eyes were stern and powerful, Naruto's were warm and gentle. His only other notable characteristic, in her eyes, was that he had three whisker-like marks on each cheek. All in all, she appraised, while he was definitely cute, she would not call him one that appeared worthy of Thor's power. 'Still,' she supposed, 'Mjolnir is never wrong. There must be something that I cannot see…'

"Uh, are you alright?" she was shaken from her inner musings by Naruto's voice. "You've been staring at me. Is something wrong?" she shook her head in the negative.

"I am fine, Naruto. Merely shaken at the thought of the loss of the Odinson." she assured. He nodded.

"Do you know how to give him a funeral?" he asked. "He deserves one, but you guys obviously aren't from around here, and I don't want to shame him or anything." she gave the boy a smile. He couldn't have spoken to Thor for more than five minutes, and he respected the Thunder God enough to want to honor his body.

"I think a pyre would be suitable." she informed.

"Good, I can do that." he formed his cross shaped seal and summoned several clones, clearly surprising the green clad woman. They quickly spread through the forest, finding everything they would need to build a proper funeral pyre for Thor. "I don't think you ever told me your name…" Naruto noted as his clones began assembling the pyre.

"I go by many names. You… may call me Amora." he smiled at her.

"It's a beautiful name." she smiled slightly. He was clearly uncomfortable around her, she assumed because of her looks. Even so, he was trying to be charming, in his own awkward way.

The clones got the pyre built surprisingly quickly, and carefully placed Thor atop it. Not knowing any fire jutsu, he wrapped a low powered explosive tag around the hilt of a kunai. He tossed it near the bottom of the pyre and set off the tag. The explosion was very small, and did its job of setting the pyre ablaze without destroying it. Naruto and Amora watched, solemn looks on their faces, as the God of Thunder faded into the embers of the pyre.

As the blaze died down, Amora looked to Naruto, whose face seemed to be contorted in worry. "Are you alright?" she asked. He looked up at her for a moment, then returned his gaze to the dying embers on the pyre.

"Just… overwhelmed. I mean, I meet a dying god, and he gives me his powers right before he dies? What am I supposed to do now? I don't even know how this thing works!" he tapped Mjolnir for emphasis.

"You need training." she stated. As he nodded, she fought back the urge to smirk. With Thor dead, Loki would surely be scrambling to find Mjolnir in an attempt to harness his brother's powers in some manner. If she could achieve a rapport with this boy, she could have all of Thor's powers at her beck and call. "I may be able to help you with that." his head snapped up to her face, wonder shining in his eyes. "I was close to Thor when he was alive. I may be able to help you harness the power of Mjolnir."

"Why would you do that?" he asked. He didn't sound suspicious, merely curious.

"You are Thor's legacy now. You must be protected, and the best way to do that is to teach you to harness the power of the mightiest of the gods." he looked down to Mjolnir. The thought of a mere hammer having as much power as she was saying was hard to believe, but he could feel it. "Will you allow me to train you?" he looked back up at her at her question. He untied Mjolnir from his belt and held it in his hands, staring down at it apprehensively.

"He told me that I was the god of thunder now. If I'm going to live up to that title, I'll need all the help I can get." she smiled slightly. "What do we do first?"

"We leave this realm." she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready?" he nodded. With a quick flash of purple, they were gone, only a pile of ash remaining.

And done! Yeah, it's short, but I've been in a slump, and I think this could help me break out of it. Tell me what you think about it, but remember that this is only the first chapter. I've still got a lot to reveal about the plot.

Forever in the Sky,

The Red Star