Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Percy Jackson.
Fils de l'Amour: The Lost Hero
Chapter 14: Capture The Flag
"I got this one," Apollo grinned his sunny grin as he took the book.
"Campers!" Naruto looked up from the schematics that were in front of Nyssa at Chiron's voice. It had been two weeks since their first date and they had a few since then.
Aphrodite clapped gleefully as Hephaestus grunted.
Now he was sitting with Nyssa and looking at the designs she had made for a new type of kunai made of celestial bronze. "Meet at the pavilion to prepare for the game!"
"Guess we should go get ready," Nyssa said, frowning slightly. It was Ares vs Athena again, and despite what everyone thought he would do, Leo sided with Cabin Five along with the cabins of Apollo, Demeter, Hecate, and Hermes.
"Going against us Leo?" Piper pouted at him.
"It happens at times beauty queen, you know that." Leo shrugged.
This left Jason to side with Athena
Athena had a frown on her lips at that.
along with the cabins of Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hecate and Iris.
She didn't like being set up against her boyfriend or siding with Clarisse.
"Boowoo," Ares mocked, getting a glare from his brother.
Naruto chuckled and rolled the blueprints up.
"You can tell me more about the knives later," he said. He handed the blueprints to her and took her hand. "Let's do as the horse-guy says."
"Fine," Nyssa said. They stopped by her cabin and dropped the blueprints off before heading over to the pavilion, letting go of each other's hands and going to their respective tables.
Aphrodite cooed, loving the love. Oh, she hoped Naruto broke her heart. It would be beautiful.
"Campers!" Chiron greeted them with a smile. "Once again it's time for the Capture the Flag game!"
The campers cheered, all murmuring excitedly.
"The rules haven't changed," Chiron said. "The north side of the forest will go to the Red Team and the south to the Blue Team. The creek will be the boundary, as per the norm. All magical items will be allowed! Prisoners may be taken, but will not be bound and/or gagged. Opponents may be disarmed, but not killed or maimed."
"Pheh," Ares spat, how boring.
"Why is that a rule?" Naruto asked softly.
"Ares' kids occasionally can get too excited," Lacy said.
"They're quick shots." Apollo grinned.
"Just like daddy," Hermes joked, making Apollo high five him and get Ares to glare at them.
Naruto nodded in understanding and looked back at Chiron.
"No more than two guards for either flag," the centaur said. "And finally, all of the forest will be legal territory."
"Finally." Someone from Apollo's cabin scoffed.
"Shut up, Dustin!" Nyssa glared at the boy.
"Calm yourselves," Chiron said. "I will be acting as field medic and referee. Arm yourselves and prepare for battle!"
The tables became littered with armor and weapons. Annabeth turned and sought Naruto out, waving him over to her.
"Meeting of the minds," Thalia smirked as Annabeth had a small smile on her face.
Naruto walked over to Athena's table, his staff in hand and a simple long black piece of cloth in the other.
"What's up Anna-oba? Hey, Malcolm-Oji," Naruto said to the cabin's second in command.
"Naruto." Malcolm nodded to him, not caring about the added suffix.
Annabeth, however, frowned. "Stop calling me that in public."
"You know he won't," Piper snickered as Annabeth pouted.
"No promises," Naruto said. "So what'd you need?"
"When we get to the forest, go set up some traps," Annabeth said.
Naruto beamed. "I can do that?! You got it."
"Please, I'll disarm them," Leo scoffed.
"There's more," she said. "You'll be on flag duty. Alone. But I want scouts in the trees and a few on offense to disarm or trigger whatever traps the Hephaestus cabin sets up."
Naruto nodded. "Right."
"Don't engage if you don't have to," Annabeth said. "We'll have a separate squad on retrieval."
"Guess throwing him at them would be pushing things," Percy nodded.
Naruto nodded again. "Anything else?"
"If you see Leo, capture him," Malcolm said. He got a frown from Annabeth and Malcolm shrugged. "Leo could easily reactivate the traps. He's the biggest threat they have."
"Damn skippy." Leo grinned as Reyna glared at him. Her pegasus was not damn anything.
"Agreed," Annabeth said. She looked back at Naruto. "Only if you see him. Don't search him out."
"Right. Are you guys going to send Jason after him?" Naruto asked. The two children of Athena frowned and he arched a brow. "Was it something I said?"
"No, Naruto," Malcolm said before Annabeth could speak. She gave him a glare and he gave her a pointed look that said 'later'.
"Still not so hype about a Roman in their home, are they?" Hazel frowned.
Annabeth flushed, "Hey, we were all a bit touchy on the subject at first."
Naruto didn't know what they'd have to talk about, but decided to drop it.
Annabeth looked back at Naruto. "Go back and get ready. And please think about using a sword."
Naruto rolled his eyes. Annabeth always wanted him to use a sword, but it wasn't his thing. Kunai, sure he'd use those, but swords? Bleh, let Sasuke keep his sword. Naruto twirled his staff and slammed one end down onto the ground.
"It oddly works for him," Athena commented.
"I'll pass, thanks," Naruto said. There was a cry and Miu landed on his shoulder. "Hey, ready to do some scouting?"
Miu cried her agreement, taking an offered snack and then taking to the sky.
"One more thing," Annabeth said. Naruto looked back at her and blinked at the knowing smirk on her face. "Don't go easy on Nyssa."
"You don't on me," Percy pouted at the blonde, who smirked.
"Where's the fun in that?"
"I won't!" Naruto felt his cheeks heat up and he stormed away without another word. Annabeth and Malcolm were chuckling behind him, making him flush even more.
To ignore them, Naruto looked at the assorted armor and weapons set on his mother's table, picking a small dagger up with interest. It was similar to Katropis, but at the base two smaller blades branched out.
"That's cool looking," Piper commented.
It reminded Naruto of his father's Hiraishin kunai. He set the sheath in place on his waist and drew the dagger, putting it back when a horn sounded.
"Armor, Naruto?" Piper asked. She was wearing a light bronze armor that had a leather skirt along with shin guards and under her arm was a helmet that lacked the normal blue plume.
"No pink?" Hazel teased, getting a glare from Piper.
"Never."
Naruto grinned secretly at her. "Nah, I'll be fine."
"Naruto..."
"Trust me, Imouto." He tapped her forehead with two fingers. "Your Niichan is too strong to get hit."
"Doesn't he mean too fast?" Frank asked.
"Not if he beats them down before they hit him," Ares rebuked with a savage grin.
"We'll see about that!" Jeered someone from the red as they walked past to get in formation.
"I'll be waiting at the flag," Naruto said.
Naruto had his hands in his lap, his staff was imbedded in the ground behind the flag. He was sitting cross-legged and had his eyes closed, balancing on a clone Henged into a sheet of metal that was set atop his staff. He reached out to his clones with his chakra, refueling them.
"That's cool." Percy said, "…You think someone'll throw something at him, like a dunk tank?"
"Percy." Annabeth frowned.
"What? It'd be funny."
One popped and Naruto arched a brow at the memory. "Huh...Headhunter seals work..."
Based off of his sensei's jutsu, Naruto had devised a seal that would grab an opponent's foot and suck them down into the ground so that only their head remained above.
"That sounds interesting," Hazel admitted. Something to look into.
A few unfortunate children of Apollo had discovered this the hard way, sucked into the ground as they tried to sneak through his team's territory.
Apollo pouted as his twin laughed at him.
Naruto just chuckled, remembering what one son yelled at his clone before it dispelled to tell him about the prisoners.
"Well, I wonder if all children of Apollo are as cruel in their insults," Naruto said to himself.
He crossed his fingers in front of him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Four clones poofed into existence and Naruto sent them to retrieve the prisoners. Naruto settled back into his meditation, taking a deep breath before nearly falling off as a new clone dispersed. The memory was fresh and he couldn't help but laugh.
Clone's Memory
"I thought I already deactivated this tripwire?" Naruto said. He scratched his head and followed the line to a tree. "It wasn't here though..."
Leo grinned.
Naruto ducked as a beam of golden energy shot out and hit the tree, burning it where his head would have been. Naruto turned and stared wide eyed at his attacker.
"Surprise sucker!" Leo cackled.
"It's set to stun," Leo said proudly as he blew smoke off of his Boom Stick. "So, you're messing with my traps. What's up with that?"
"Uh...Rules of the game?" Naruto said.
"Dude, first you ditch your wingman and now you mess with his stuff? Not cool," Leo said. He took aim at Naruto again.
"It honestly isn't." Leo sighed as Piper patted his arm.
"There there, Leo."
"Thanks, beauty queen."
"Look, I've got you. You don't have distance magic or whatever that ninja stuff is. You're close quarters."
"...Nyssa..." A part of Naruto felt hurt that Nyssa had used what he told her against him and a part was a bit proud.
"Oooh," Aphrodite wiggled in her seat, just loving this!
It was just a giant prank war, everything was fair game. Except for the sensitive bits, those are always off limits.
"Not with me," Ares laughed.
"Yep! Never thought that having a sister dating the camp's resident ninja would ever be cool until now." Leo waved Naruto over. "Try anything and I'll stun you."
"Setting phasers to stun," Leo said in a robot voice.
"That would imply you could," Naruto said. He held his hand up in one seal. "I'll defeat you with the ultimate technique in my arsenal! My first unique Jutsu!"
"I said don't try anything!" Leo shot his beam. He gaped as Naruto jumped up and stood on the branch above them, defying all laws of gravity. "...Okay, maybe I should've set up a few more traps."
"They never think of the trees," Artemis shook her head.
Naruto dropped down and landed, his chakra exploding around him. "Oroike no Jutsu!"
"Nice," Apollo whispered.
The area filled with smoke and Leo coughed, looking around wildly with his weapon. When it finally cleared, Leo spotted blond hair and aimed his weapon. "Ha! A smoke bomb, that's the best you have? I've...Uhh..."
Naruko put her hand behind the devil horns on her head and stood in a position that showed off her full hourglass figure.
Piper's just hung open, "He didn't…"
"He did." Annabeth blinked.
"Hot damn," Leo surmised the thoughts of all the guys.
Her other hand dragged the purple glove on it down her side and stopped at the edge of the equally purple heeled boot. Her chest jiggled, held together by the concealing yet enticingly revealing bra, and the fake devil tail moved very realistically.
Artemis and Athena scowled, one out of feminist anger while the other out of sheer embarrassment.
"Hm, I need to get one of those," Aphrodite noted.
Ares pumped his fist.
"You aren't going to shoot me, are you, Leo-sama?"
The seductive voice had Leo setting himself on fire and passing out.
"I wouldn't call you a man if you didn't." Hermes whistled, taking pics with his cell.
Naruko smirked and undid the jutsu, reverting back to Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Another example of the less-is-more rule," he said.
"Oui!"
"Mom!"
He went over to Leo and bound the pyro in Ninja Wire, something more durable than regular rope and yet still hard to see. "This should keep you in place til the replacement comes to get you."
Naruto then exploded into a cloud of smoke, sending the memories back to the original.
"Oh man, I can't believe that worked!" Naruto said, falling from his place on the staff onto his back. The sheet exploded into a cloud of smoke when it hit the ground, the clone also enjoying what he saw and losing balance. He sighed and made two more clones, sending them to get the unconscious son of Hephaestus.
"Great, jail for me," Leo pouted.
There was a rustling in the brush and Naruto narrowed his eyes, grabbing his staff and pulling it out of the ground. He separated his staff and prepared to move forward. Through the brush came Nyssa along with a few sons of Ares. Naruto didn't know their names, so he decided on calling them Big Idiot Number One and Big Idiot Number Two.
"Well thought out," Athena nodded as Ares glared at the screen.
"Come out, Naruto, we caught a member of your team and she told us everything," Nyssa said. "We know you're the only one watching the flag."
"Oh, a fight between lovers~!" Aphrodite gushed.
"They're boyfriend and girlfriend, mom, not lvoers," Piper corrected.
"Sweetie, how long before you think she's break off a piece of him, hm?"
Piper gagged.
Naruto jumped up into the trees and with practiced precision threw his voice. "Then why would I come out and face you, Nyssa?"
An arrow flew from the woods at a tree opposite of him. Naruto jumped to a different tree, throwing his voice again. "Lying to me already? You know, that's not very good for a relationship."
"I never said how many of us there are," Nyssa said. "Just come out and be our prisoner."
"Screw this, I'm going for the flag." Big Idiot Number Two ran forward and reached for the flag. Naruto threw one of his staves, braining the son of Ares and knocking him out.
"Fail," Hermes said with a thumbs down as Ares seethed. Why was it his brats that always get beat in CTF?!
He moved to another tree and as expected an arrow shot from the wood at his suspected spot. He had to pinpoint the archer.
"One down." Naruto looked down, grinning at his perturbed girlfriend.
"Come on, I'll make it worth your while if you surrender," Nyssa said.
"That's interesting," Aphrodite said, getting a glare from her husband.
"I offer you the same courtesy!"
"What do I get if I surrender?" Nyssa asked, looking curious.
"What do you want?"
"A lap dance."
Hephaestus' and Leo's jaw slacked as Aphrodite was in titters.
Naruto almost lost his footing.
"I wonder if she knows you're not the best at that, considering what happened at the Cherry Bomb."
Laughs broke out at the remembrance of that scene.
"Shut up," Naruto said under his breath. He cleared his throat and threw his voice to echo in the small clearing. "Anything other than a lap dance?"
"We've only been dating for two weeks, there's not much I can ask for at this point," Nyssa said.
"Oh, she's playing hard ball."
"Well, she could raise the stakes." Aphrodite rubbed her chin, Piper just face palmed. Why did she even bother?
"How about I give you a massage?" Naruto asked. "I'm pretty good at those."
"That's a pretty good deal," said a new female voice. Naruto looked down to his left spotting a mop of blonde hair similar to his own. In the girl's hands was a bow and on her back a quiver. She was turning to take aim at the trees. "Take the damn deal, Nyssa so I can shoot you when this is all over. Seriously, Naruto's the camp's new Adonis and she scoops him up...So unfair."
"My girl has a point," Apollo nodded.
"Bingo," Naruto said to himself. He dropped from the tree behind the girl and brought his stave down across the back of her head, catching her as she slumped forward unconscious.
"Gonna have to do better than that, Naruto!" Nyssa looked around the clearing. "What's wrong, not good at lap dances? I can teach you."
"Dude," Frank gaped as Leo just buried his face in his palms. This was so wrong!
"Now that is something I would like to see," Kurama said.
"Shut it," Naruto said. He jumped up into the tree with the bow and an arrow ready. He drew it back and aimed at Big Idiot Number One. "Tempting, but I can only assume that will require me to do something else."
"A strip dance," Nyssa said.
"She's…a bit screwy," Reyna commented dryly.
"She knows what she wants," Annabeth said just as dryly.
Naruto almost fell out of the tree.
"Bold."
"Stop talking," Naruto said.
"Enough of this." Big Idiot Number One growled and stepped forward. "Why don't you show yourself, coward? You afraid to fight us?"
"Ares' kids are stupid, evidence number two hundred and seventy three. Kid takes out a giant and calls him a coward? Real smart." Hermes shook his head.
"Not really. I just don't feel like it." Naruto drew the string back.
"Face me!"
"Alright, look up here." Naruto stopped throwing his voice, letting the two find him. He shot the arrow, and Ares' son jumped back so that the arrow landed between his feet.
"Ha! Missed!"
"Check again," Naruto said. The tag he had tied to the arrow burst into fire and hissed before exploding, sending Big Idiot Number One flying back into the brush.
"Explosions make everything better," Leo grinned.
Naruto made several clones and sent them out to restrain the lug. He dropped down and stood opposite of Nyssa. "So...Surrender?"
"Not happening," Nyssa said, smirking. "You'd need to give me a reason to."
"How about a kiss?"
Nyssa's smirk grew into a grin. "Tempting. How's about we make out?"
"I," Reyna flattered, "I'm confused here. She would surrender so easily? Just for that?"
"Love is a strange thing, Reyna." Aphrodite smiled widely.
"Now?"
"You want me to surrender or not?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes before he made a few clones that vanished in an instant.
"Isn't that against the rules?" Nyssa asked.
"Rules say no more than two guards. I'm one guard and they're all me, in essence," Naruto said. He approached her with a small smile on his face and cupped one side of her face. "Surrender?"
"Fulfill your part of the bargain first." Nyssa slipped her arms around his neck.
Leo made a gag noise.
"Well, you have to give him credit," Nico shook his head, "He knows his enemy."
"Deal." Naruto closed the gap between them and he pressed his lips to hers. They meshed almost perfectly. Her arms tightened around his neck and he moved his hands to her hips. Something pressed against his lips, probing for entry. Naruto allowed Nyssa's tongue in, wrestling against it as it tried to reach all parts of his mouth.
"We don't need the details," Thalia grunted.
"Jealous?"
"Annie, I swear…"
After two minutes passed, Naruto broke it apart and Nyssa whined. He gave her a small peck and chuckled. "I believe you owe me something."
"Yeah, fine. I surrender," Nyssa said. She leaned against him with a grin. "Take me to jail."
"Suggestive," Apollo grinned and got a kick from his twin, "Ow! Reading here!"
"Then read," the huntress grunted.
Naruto led Nyssa to the jail, the daughter of Hephaestus blinking at seeing her cabin head sitting there. Leo looked up and groaned. "Aw man, you were captured, too?"
Nyssa smirked and as she walked passed him, slapped Naruto on the ass.
"Wow, forward," Hazel blinked, Nyssa just kept surprising her.
Naruto muffled a yelp, his face turning bright red. He glared at his smirking girlfriend while she spoke to Leo. "Yes. I was captured...rather thoroughly, at that."
"Very," Aphrodite nodded.
"Gross," Leo said, scowling. He sighed. "At least I got to see what Elysium looks like."
"Kid's got a point," Hermes nodded, glancing at his pics.
"What do you mean?" Nyssa asked. Leo remained silent and glared at her boyfriend while Naruto chuckled. Nyssa looked back and forth between them before shaking her head. "I'm better off not knowing."
The horn blew and echoed throughout the woods. Leo hung his head in defeat while other captured prisoners grumbled. Naruto led them back, walking into the woods and stopping at the creek, where Chiron gestured to Annabeth.
"Damn right," Annabeth grinned, of course she'd get it.
Annabeth had a cut on her cheek, her hair was a mess, but there was a smirk on her face as she stared at Clarisse, who scowled from where she was in the center of the creek, drenched and slightly covered in mud. In Annabeth's right hand was her personal dagger while in her left was a blood red flag that had Ares' symbolic boar and axe engraved on it in gold.
"The game is at an end! The winner and still reigning champion of inter-camp Capture the Flag matches, the Blue Team!" Chiron said.
"Blue team for life," Percy said in a serious tone.
Naruto wobbled when all of his clones dispelled, shaking his head from the information dump while his team cheered.
The spirits were high in camp after the capture the flag game. Naruto found himself at the Athena cabin the day after, studying up since Nyssa was occupied with repairing armor and weapons. He was flipping through the Intermediate Greek with a bored look on his face. Studying was never his strong suit,
"Amen," Percy nodded.
he was always too energetic to sit in one place, and it wasn't like meditation, so he couldn't even compare it to that.
Sighing, Naruto went to the partially translated journal concerning his father's life that Annabeth was helping him with. Out of habit, he started at the last page before realizing his mistake.
"Oh you Japanese, reading backwards." Apollo chuckled.
Feeling too lazy to flip the book over and search for the last place he was at, Naruto decided instead to work from the end of the book, flipping back a few pages before one passage caught his eye. It was an italicized subscript, overlooked by the Greek translation next to it, but Naruto knew the characters that his aunt did not, reading them to himself. It was a seal.
Naruto pumped chakra into the seal and out popped a letter that he quickly unfolded, reading the characters with ease.
"Secret message, Annabeth, how could you miss that?" Piper chided.
"It was Japanese," the blonde frowned, I don't know Japanese."
"Ignorance," Apollo huffed as he continued, "Annabeth from my Naruto learned it."
Annabeth shimmered at that.
To Athena
First of all, thank you for claiming me upon my death.
"That's so wonderful of you," Poseidon said in a dry tone, getting a glare from his rival.
It is good to know who my mother is, though I wish I could've known sooner. It would've explained why I never saw the Shinigami as he was depicted in the texts of the Uzumaki scrolls or why I had issues reading at first. And the whole Underworld thing...Yeah, I'll refrain from further comment.
Athena had an amused look on her face.
Secondly, I would be glad to recall the last day of my life, though I prefer to remember it as the day my son was born.
"A positive attitude, nice," Percy grinned as Annabeth looked happy too.
(PS: If you haven't already guessed, you're a grandmother.)
"I noticed," Athena said with a look at an innocent looking Aphrodite.
My wife, Kushina Uzumaki – who I still haven't seen down here for some reason
"Immortality, dear," the love goddess commented airily.
– had just given birth to Naruto. Her seal containing the Nine Tailed Fox was weak and was slowly breaking. I had just handed Naruto over to Lord Third's wife Biwako and was getting ready to fix Kushina's seal. Two screams cut me off and I turned to see my son, so small and bundled in a blanket, in the arms of a masked man.
"Whoa, plot twist," Leo whistled, getting a glare from Annabeth.
Naruto was crying, no doubt scared out of his mind from the chakra the man gave off. The Masked Man told me to step away from Kushina or else he would kill Naruto "within the first minute of his life."
Aphrodite's heart clenched as Artemis, as the goddess of childbirth, protected all new born babies.
"That's just messed up," Jason swallowed.
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but at the same time was trying to discern how the hell this man got passed the barrier.
"Multi-brain tasking," Hermes nodded as Athena smirked.
Then, Kushina's seal strained visibly, it spread up her face. I remember looking back at her and then to the Masked Man when he repeated his threat. He pulled a kunai, a small throwing knife, out and held it to Naruto's face. He was calm, I was not.
"I'd call you heartless if you weren't." Aphrodite frowned, worried for her baby and…other husband.
Never before had I wanted to rip a man apart so badly.
"Any father would," Zeus rumbled, getting nods all around.
Before I could think of any possible winning strategy, he tossed Naruto up into the air and lunged at me. Kushina called Naruto's name, her terrified voice was heavy with anger and exhaustion, most likely angry at being unable to do anything.
"Giving birth is taxing," Aphrodite nodded.
I utilized my Hiraishin no Jutsu to evade it and catch Naruto. His cries ripped my heart apart. The blanket wrapped around Naruto started to hiss and smoke. I discarded it and left the small cabin we had hidden ourselves in, just barely making it out before the explosion that destroyed the cabin.
"…He planted an explosive on my baby?!" Aphrodite raged.
"Exploding babies…" Ares hummed, getting glares all around, "Okay, okay, chill. Styx, I was kidding."
I landed with a wince, cradling my still crying son who was thankfully unharmed. I pulled a piece of wood out of my shin and then used Hiraishin again to get Naruto to safety within the village. I laid him on our bed, carefully bundling him beneath the covers, and regrettably left him to save Kushina. I got to her just before the Nine-Tails could crush her under his hand.
"Thank you, dear," Aphrodite smiled.
"I'd do it again, even without the mind control. Kushina was a bitch to me."
"Hmph, deal with it." The goddess huffed.
"Shut up, Kurama," Naruto said. He was horrified at what Obito had done thanks to Madara's meddling.
Kushina, bless her, was shivering and weak,
"Heh," Artemis smirked at Aphrodite, who glared at her.
concerned only for Naruto and the village. Despite her wishes for me to stop the man that had taken control of the Nine-Tails, I took her to him, laying her on the bed next to our now sleeping son. She cradled Naruto and I watched them, filling with determination. I knew then that I might die that night, but so long as they lived, it would be worth it.
Percy had to admire Naruto's dad, that was a demigod dad if he'd ever seen one. A part of him wanted to be just like that.
I donned my cloak, a gift from the summoning toad sages, and left my family to stop the coming beast.
When I appeared, I was too late. The Nine-Tails was summoned and had already begun wreaking havoc on the village. He noticed me as I appeared atop my head on the Hokage Monument, which was always a surreal experience now that I think about it, and began powering up the land destroying Bijudama, the inspiration for my Rasengan technique.
"All great moves need inspiration from somewhere." Athena nodded.
"Like RAW or the WWE." Apollo beamed as the male gods nodded.
I stopped it with my Jikūkan Kekkai, a Space-Time Fuinjutsu barrier that allows me to redirect a chakra based attack. I transported the Bijudama three miles beyond the village, and still made a large dome that could be seen and felt for miles.
"Epic," Ares grinned.
Before I could counterattack, I sensed a presence behind me and turned to stab my would-be attacker in the head. My hand, shockingly enough, went through the Masked Man's head like it wasn't there. I believe it's a similar Space-Time technique, only it displaces his body, leaving a realistic afterimage behind. The Masked Man then tried to, as crazy as it sounds, absorb me inside of him.
"Bad touch," Hermes shivered.
I escaped with the Hiraishin, but it wasn't for long. The Masked Man followed me with his own variation of a transportation technique.
I at first came to the conclusion that this was the first real threat to Konoha, Madara Uchiha. Rival to the original God of Shinobi, the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju. If that were the case, he would have had to be over one hundred and fifty years old. Not even the Uzumaki lived that long according to my knowledge.
"And if a son of Athena is doing the numbers…" Leo grinned.
"It just has to be right," Percy smirked at his girlfriend.
He taunted me with his identity until I told him I didn't care who he was. I asked him why he decided to attack Konoha, my home. He didn't give me a direct answer, but I believe this was planned, to what end, I don't know. All I knew at the time was that he was dangerous and that I had to be on my guard. I couldn't flee, he would cause too much chaos if I went after the real threat, the Nine-Tails.
The Masked Man attached a long chain to cuffs on his wrists. He lunged at me, empty handed, and I lunged at him with my Hiraishin kunai in hand. Once more I went through him, but he tightened the chain around me once I passed. It was strange, powerful how he could be there and at the same time not be. Or maybe, the chain was there all the time while he was not. Ah, I digress.
"Athena does that, a lot." The gods nodded as the wisdom goddess glared at them.
Realizing that physical attacks were pointless, I devised a plan to feint out his attack, the only time he was solid. It was all about being faster than him.
"Amen," Hermes grinned wildly.
"Go Dad..." Naruto said under his breath. He might've gotten through to the heartbroken Obito in the end, but this was still his father's fight. He had to play for the home team first and foremost.
We charged at each other again and I threw my kunai at his head. As suspected it started to go through. The Masked Man reached out to grab me and I knew that once my kunai finished passing through his head, he would be vulnerable. I made the Rasengan in my right hand and felt out my kunai.
I waited for a full connection and as soon as I had it, I used the Hiraishin. I reappeared above the Masked Man's back and drove the Rasengan down. He broke the ground with his impact, leaving the area in a mess.
"Excellent job," Athena praised.
Poseidon flapped his lips, parroting her words. Fates, she was annoying when her children were doing something good.
I planted a Hiraishin seal on his back. He jumped out of the rubble and praised me. I gave him no more time and used the seal I planted on him to appear directly in front of him. I pressed my hand against his chest and placed a contract seal on him, breaking the connection between him and the Nine-Tails.
"Have to give him props for that teleportation move," Jason whistled, it was amazing.
The Masked Man fled after I did this, telling me he planned on world domination.
"Wonderful," Percy rolled his eyes. Same song and dance, just new partners.
I don't know if that is his true goal or if he simply means to dominate our continent, but I warn you Athena, do not take our people lightly.
Even gods can fall at the hands of men.
"Like Ares," Percy nodded.
"Fuck off, Jackson!"
Naruto stopped reading there as the door opened and Annabeth came in. He folded the note up and hid it in his jacket. Normally he would share this information with Annabeth, but this seemed really personal. And call Naruto selfish, but he didn't have a lot to remember his father by. He was going to keep this letter, even if it wasn't meant for him. Who knows, maybe Athena left it for him to find.
"I wouldn't exactly mind." Annabeth admitted, but a part of her would still want to read it.
"Naruto, good you're here," Annabeth said. She looked around, frowning. "Where are your clones?"
"I didn't feel like making them today," Naruto said. The note burned a hole in his jacket, keeping him aware that it was still there, waiting to be read.
"Evil ghost letter," Leo said in a whisper, getting Nico to glare at him.
"Dude, not cool."
"Well, I guess that's for the best. We need to talk," Annabeth said. She pulled the chair next to Naruto out and took a seat next to him.
"About what?"
"Jason." Annabeth frowned.
"He's just not going to cut," Percy shook his head, getting Jason to roll his eyes.
Naruto arched a brow. "What about Jason?"
"He's Roman."
"...And your point is...?" Naruto didn't see what the big deal in that was. So he was Roman, big deal. That just meant there were more demigods to meet, more friends to be made.
"He's…optimistic, I'll give him that." Reyna stated.
"Naruto, Romans are dangerous," Annabeth said.
The Romans nodded to this.
"They were the enemies of Greece for a long time and eventually attacked it, claiming Greece as part of their Empire."
"Yeah I know that, but the Romans also took in Greece culture and helped the conquered people regain their dignity," Naruto said.
Athena scowled.
He liked that part of history the most, where the people were treated fairly.
"Naruto, during the war against Greece, they went against Athena first." Naruto frowned and Annabeth continued. "They took Athena's statue from Athens."
"...They took the Athena Parthenos?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Wow...I...I don't know what that means."
"It means bad things," Percy surmised, or at least that's what he figured it as.
Annabeth sighed. "Naruto, by taking her statue, the Romans greatly weakened Athena. It dishonored her as a war goddess. It was also a way of disrespecting the Greeks, adding insult to injury."
Athena's mood darkened.
Naruto frowned. "If that's the case, why didn't the Greeks try to take it back?"
"I'm sure they did, but over the years, the statue was lost. Children of Athena know this by heart and don't dare trust Romans because of what they did."
"That's it?" Naruto asked. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
Poseidon broke out into laughter as Athena squawked. Annabeth blinked as Reyna hummed.
"He's interesting, that's for sure."
Annabeth frowned and spoke softly, but her voice had an edge to it. "Naruto, you have to understand, we have our mom's pride. How do you think she felt when it was taken? They reduced her to nothing but a goddess of crafts and a strategist who focused on retreating. Think about that for a minute."
Athena nodded. Help your grandmother, Naruto.
"I can see where that would suck," Naruto said. "But I'm not going to hate someone because of something that happened centuries ago."
"But he's-"
"So what?!" Naruto frowned at her. "Annabeth, you may have Athena's pride, but right now you don't have her head. And neither does she."
"Oooh," the gods said as Athena frowned.
"Naruto, you shouldn't say that!"
"Then you should use your head and think about who you're talking to."
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked. It hit her a second later. "Oh."
"Yeah." Naruto frowned and stood up. "Annabeth, what I went through...I would never do that to someone else. It's not fair and it's not right. Jason isn't the one responsible for stealing Athena's statue."
"Points to him," Frank nodded.
"Indeed." Reyna agreed.
"You have to admit he's too perfect, though." Annabeth frowned. "It's creepy."
Jason frowned, "I'm not perfect," he waved off. Annabeth gave him a look.
"You are at times, it's creepy."
Jason sulked.
"...And now it's about Percy." Naruto rubbed his head with a sigh. "I should've known."
"Hera switched them just to spite me," Annabeth said. "All because I insulted her a few years back."
Hera huffed, she deserved it.
Naruto shook his head. "I don't think it's as simple as that."
"No, it's the icing on her cake." Annabeth's shoulder slumped and her eyes casted down. "It hurts, Naruto. It hurts knowing he's out there and, knowing him, in trouble and that I'm here doing nothing."
Percy gave Annabeth a half hug, she snuggled into his frame.
"Anna-oba." Naruto had her looking back up at him and he gave her a small reassuring smile. "He's strong, if any of the stories I heard about him are true."
"He's an idiot," Annabeth said, frowning.
"Damn right," Percy said with pride, Annabeth palmed her face.
"So am I. And the good thing about us idiots? We're verydurable." Naruto grinned.
"Haaave you met Ares!"
"Shut it speed stick!"
"Not with an Achilles Heel, you aren't," Annabeth said.
"I lose it." Percy waved off.
"I don't know what that is," Naruto said, frowning. He shrugged. "Whatever, I'm sure he's fine."
Annabeth chewed on her bottom lip, probably still worrying about Percy. Her eyes went to the table and she noticed the journal, making Naruto swallow. She grabbed the book and flipped through it. "You were on 'Advancement to Jonin'."
"Oh, right," Naruto said. He let out a small breath he didn't know he was holding. Annabeth began helping him translate and Naruto nodded along to her instructions. He could still feel the tension, though. It felt as if Athena herself was disapproving of his words.
"I would be," Athena frowned.
Oh well, she'd have to get over it. Naruto didn't discriminate, not after the childhood he had.
The war goddess grumbled at that, she couldn't exactly change a perspective like that. Not that she couldn't try mind you.
"And that's that chapter," Apollo grinned, "Who's next?"
Hermes already had the book in hand.
"Damn thief."
"Damn right." Hermes grinned wildly with mischief.