I Don't Own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

A Father's Love – Chapter 3

Naruto had always loved picking his daughters up from school; they always looked so happy when they see their family car drive into the parking lot. Annabeth had stopped being overly enthusiastic since she started to mature past her age, but Lacy was still the same. Every day, when he would step out of the car and greet them, Lacy would run over to him as fast as she could and jumped into his arms. She could cry out daddy and immediately fire question after question, like: Can we go get ramen for dinner? Can we stop by the toy store? Did you bring home any candy, daddy?

But it seemed that Lacy had stopped that habit overnight.

Naruto stepped out of his car and only saw Annabeth sitting by their usual bench reading a book. She looked up and saw her dad and a smile immediately appeared on her face. She closed her book and walked up to him, grabbing onto his hand.

"Hey Annie," said Naruto with a smile before he ruffled her princess curls. "Where's your sister?"

"She's over there, chatting with her new teacher."

Annabeth pointed over to the kindergarten building and Naruto was a little surprised to see a crowd of kids surrounding the front entrance. Curious and a little worried, he led Annabeth over by the hand. From where they stood, Naruto saw a few parents off to the side of the crowd, smiling as they observed what was happening. Then the blond realized that one of the parents was Sally Jackson, who had a morning shift with him just this morning. She was holding onto her son, Percy's, hand as she smiled at the scene. Now he was really curious.

Annabeth was curious as well, so she followed her dad's pace, holding onto his hand all the while. She had wondered if she was a little too old to hold her dad's hand, but then she saw Percy holding onto his mother's hand, so it should be okay for her.

"Hey Sally," greeted Naruto with a smile.

Sally looked over at saw her boss and smiled back at him. "Hey Naruto, you're here too, huh?"

"Yep," With a curt nod, Naruto turned to the Percy. "Wow, you've been growing, Percy; you're going to be taller than me soon!" The blond smiled and ruffled Percy's hair, making the boy smile a little. "It must be all the blue candy; they have all the nutrients!"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "I never understood the blue candy."

Sally chuckled and nodded, "It's an inside joke."

"Yeah, Wise Girl; the blue candy is good for me." Percy was a little peeved that Annabeth kept telling him that his teeth were going to rot if he kept munching on blue M&Ms during class. "Not rotting teeth for me."

"Keep thinking that and you'll end up with no teeth, Seaweed Brain!"

Naruto chuckled and wondered out loud, "Seaweed Brain?"

Percy crossed his arms and huffed. "I was eating a lot of dried seaweed on day and she started calling me that."

Sally giggled at the aptly placed nickname, "Well I think it's really cute."

Naruto just chuckled at the pair of childhood friends and turned to look at the group of kids surrounding the kindergarten entrance. At first he didn't notice anything, but then he saw that the new teacher – Ms. Hess – was handing out trays of cookies. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her long wavy black hair swayed from side to side as she hugged each child that eagerly took some cookies from her; her eyes dancing with joy at the smiles and grins on her students' faces. It almost made Naruto blush; she was breathtakingly stunning in a sweet and genuine kind of way. He had never seen such a thing before.

Sally smiled at the sight as well, "Ms. Hess baked a bunch of cookies for the students this morning and it was so good they wanted her to bake another tray. She was really nice and actually made a lot more for them to take home."

Naruto smiled when it was Lacy's turn to receive her cookies and grinned when his princess hug her teacher around her waist. "Thank you, Ms. Hess!" he heard his princess chirp. "You're the best!"

"You're welcome, sweetie."

Hestia loved her little niece. She was adorable and was very talkative in class, just like how her mother would during the Olympian Meetings. The Goddess of the Hearth could clearly see Aphrodite in little Lacy – not so much the promiscuity and general sultriness, but a lot in her bubbly personality, sweet demeanor and of course, her stunning beauty. Even now, Hestia could tell that Lacy would grow into a stunning beauty, much like all her other demigod siblings on her mother's side.

"Daddy!" she heard little Lacy yell.

Hestia smiled happily when she saw Lacy run to hug her father, who was actually looking at them from the side of the school. It was wonderful to see such familial love from the mortals who had bonded with the gods. Most other companions of the gods had suffered tragic fates, even in such modern times – the women of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon were clear indications. It was a relief that someone who had children with both Athena and Aphrodite could still be so happy.

In the eons that she had known Aphrodite, never had she seen her pine after a mortal man so much. Even with Adonis, all those years ago, she would forget about him and move on to either a new man or back to Ares, but this Naruto person was different. The affection Aphrodite showed to him when they all looked at them through the hearth was much more serious and loving than with her other lovers, perhaps even more so than Ares.

Hestia wondered what was so special about this man that he made the Goddess of Love fall for him so real and hard.

"Hello again, Ms. Hess," Naruto stepped up to the new teacher as the other parents slowly dispersed after their children were done with their cookies. "Thank you for giving the children the cookies."

"No problem at all," Hestia replied with a smile, her eyes warming everyone's soul. "I had a lot of time today and all the kids were very well behaved and deserved a treat." Hestia giggled and patted Lacy's cheek as she sat comfortably in her dad's arms. "And Lacy here is already one of my favorite students."

"You're my favorite too, Ms. Hess!"

Hestia then noticed Sally and smiled at her, "Hello there."

"Hi," replied Sally as she extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Hess. My son isn't in your class, but I've already heard good things about it."

"Well, I am going to be teaching some of the older classes as well, so I might have him in my class later." Hestia wanted to have both her great-nieces in her class, so she used the mist and manipulated the principal to assign her Annabeth's class as well.

Sally smiled and gestured to the boy holding onto her hand, "Percy, say hello."

The boy smiled up at the nice lady and waved, "Hello, Ms. Hess."

Hestia froze a little at the sight of the distinct green eyes that were staring up at her, but quickly composed herself. "Hello there Percy, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

Naruto smiled and stepped forward also, "In that case, Ms. Hess, this is my eldest daughter, Annabeth."

The blonde girl needed to push from her dad and gladly walked up to the new teacher with her hand extended. "Hello Ms. Hess; it's nice to meet you." Hestia giggled and shook the girl's hand, clearly seeing Athena in her. "I really do hope you teach our class."

"Well, we don't want to keep you here all day," Naruto smiled and shook the teacher's hand again. "It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Hess; we'll see you again tomorrow."

Yes, have a good day, Mr. Namikaze, Sally." Hestia smiled and winked at the children, "And I hope to see you all in class."

"Bye, bye!" cried out Lacy with a large grin. "Bye, bye Ms. Hess."

"Goodbye." As the group walked on into the distance, Hestia sighed and closed her eyes. The entire situation had changed entirely; not only were Athena and Aphrodite's daughters attending her school, but her younger brother, Poseidon's, son was also present. 'Why I am even surprised?'

Located on 5th Avenue, Manhattan New York, overlooking the vast Central Park, were series of high-end apartment buildings. The tallest one was right at the center; it was decorated with various Greek white statues along its outer walls and had beams of light casting colorful shades on its various pillars. And at the very top – the penthouse – lived one of the most important beings in all of existence. Without her, none of the current Olympians would even exist and mankind would likely be as it were in the Stone Age.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Mother Rhea, the mother of the older Olympians and retired Queen of the Universe. Known as the Titan of Beauty and Motherhood, Rhea was stunningly beautiful with warm and loving eyes. She was all three of her daughters put together, with only their positive factors. She was as sweet and loving as Hestia, as passionate as Demeter and was as beautiful as Hera. And above all, she was her children's most precious and important person; from Hades to Zeus, all of them loved their mother unconditionally.

Rhea, with her luscious blonde hair styled into an intricate braid, dressed in an elegant white dress that displayed her stunning beauty and womanly figure, stepped out to greet her favorite daughter with a smile.

"How was your first day at work, dear?"

Hestia rolled her eyes playfully at her mother's teasing and quickly wrapped her arms around hers. "It was quite fun; all the kids are adorable and well behaved, especially little Lacy." The godly mother and daughter stepped into their living room, "I met Annabeth as well, and as you would expect, she's like a little Athena."

Rhea smiled, "I still find it funny that those two found love in the same mortal."

"Mr. Namikaze is quite handsome, so he's bound to attract Aphrodite; Athena had told us that he's also very smart when it comes to warfare, though I have no idea how he would have such knowledge."

"If he is such a good man, perhaps you would feel something for him."

Hestia rolled her eyes again and smiled at her mom, "Very funny, mom."

The mother and daughter sat down on their couches with Clash of the Titans playing on the TV. To Rhea, that movie was almost a comedy. Saying her eldest son used a part of his flesh to create a creature known as the Kraken certainly was an interesting concept and utterly hilarious. And if there was one thing Rhea thought should stop, it would be to stop giving past heroes bigger egos – Perseus only slayed Medusa and certainly did not kill an apocalyptic monster, that was reserved for someone else.

"Well, there is some bad news."

Rhea raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Hestia sighed and leaned back fully on the couch. "I met a student today – a friend of Annabeth, I think – and he has very peculiar green eyes." Rhea sighed; she already knew what was coming next. "The same shade as Poseidon's; his name is Percy."

"Your brothers are always like this."

"He broke his oath and now there's a half-blood who can fulfill the prophecy." Hestia rubbed her temples and pursed her lips. "If Hades finds out then young Percy may end up like young Thalia."

Rhea sighed once more before she stood up and grabbed her daughter's hand. "Well, no sense mulling over it by ourselves; I made us dinner."

Not only did Hestia inherit her warm and sweet personality from her mother, she also inherited her skills in cooking. Both their food would have the same homemade taste that all children and most adults would love. All Hestia's nieces and nephews loved her food, especially Artemis and Persephone. The last time Hestia made her famous Shepherd's Pie, the two young goddesses polished off at least ten servings.

"I made your favorite today, Tia."

Hestia smiled at the sight of sweet potato mash, fresh Greek salad and crispy calamari. "Thanks mom, you're the best."

"I know how to take care of my little girl," Rhea chuckled as she poured two glasses of wine, "Even though you're all tens of thousands of years old, you'll always be my little babies." She sat down next to Hestia at their sixteen seat dinner table of white marble, and snapped her fingers. "And I also know how to punish my babies." A pale blue glow emanated from her fingers and soon formed into a trident.

Hestia filled her plate before she looked over at her mother. "You're calling him now?"

"Yep." She replied with a smirk.

In under ten seconds, a rush of water suddenly appeared in the middle of the dining room and it collected into a humanoid figure. Soon, Poseidon, Earthshaker, King of Atlantis and God of the Seas, wearing his usual Birkenstocks, khaki shorts and an brightly colored Hawaiian shirt, smiled at his mother and quickly stepped forward.

"Hey mom, how are y-AHHH!" the God of the Seas jumped back at the sight of the calamari, "You cooked my people!"

Hestia giggled in her seat and decided to not eat her calamari while her brother was here. "Sit down, little brother."

"I think I'll stand," replied Poseidon with a sheepish grin; he didn't want to be near his deep-fried people.

"Sit down."

"Yes, mother."

Rhea dipped her calamari in some tzatziki sauce and popped it in here mouth, making her son wince. She stared into his green eyes, watching in silent amusement as he started to sweat. He may be not as scared of her as Zeus, but Rhea still prided herself in her influence over him.

"W-Why did you call me here, mother?"

Rhea smiled, "Your sister met an interesting young boy today," she said as she continued to enjoy her calamari. "His name is Percy," Poseidon winced again, "Would you happen to know him?"

Poseidon tried to think of a quick lie, but one look from his mother made him flinch. So before long, he just sighed. "I'm sorry, mother; I didn't mean to."

Hestia stood and grabbed her plate, "Enjoy your dinner, mom and good luck, little brother."

"N-No, Hestia don't leave!" At least with Hestia around, Rhea wouldn't be as scary!

Hestia giggled and waved before she vanished in a burst of flames, teleporting back to her room. Poseidon bit his lips as he turned back to his mother, sweating profusely at the stare she gave him – it made his wife's glare look tame and cute. Honestly, he would rather fight Hera and Demeter together than face his mother.

Rhea smiled as she pushed the plate of calamari towards her second eldest son. "Go on, dear; I made you dinner."

"M-Mothe-"

"Eat!"

Poseidon closed his eyes and slowly reached for the calamari; all the while wondering what kind of punishment did Zeus get for siring Thalia and Jason. In the Sea God's mind, he hoped Rhea made Zeus eat an eagle.

"I love steak!" exclaimed Lacy as she cut into her New York strip and chomped on a large piece, "And mashed potato!"

Annabeth giggled at her little sister and nodded along. "They're really good, but I'm waiting for the ice cream and sticky pudding." Lacy eyes twinkled, like any daughter of Aphrodite would when she heard the words ice cream and lit up like a Christmas tree. "Dad also bought some sweetened popcorn for later."

"I love you, daddy!"

Naruto, who had already finished his steak, chuckled as he knelt next to the stack of DVDs they had beside the TV. "I love you too, princess."

The father was looking through their selection of movies; he bought a new stack of Disney and Pixar movies a few weeks ago and they never got around to watching most of them. But when the girls weren't looking, Naruto quickly threw away some of them – every one that were about mother-daughter bonds – he didn't want his girls to feel awkward or sad. He also hid some of the more romantic ones – he didn't want his princesses to start dating too soon; any date before turning eighteen was out of the question.

Any boy who would challenge his rule would end up like Ms. Turner.

"Can we watch How to Train your Dragon again?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Come on, we've seen that so many times!"

"So what, it's a good movie!" Lacy pointed at her sister and glared, "You've made us watch Night in the Museum a hundred times anyway!"

"Girls," said Naruto sternly, giving both his girls a look. "No fighting."

Annabeth crossed her arms, "How about we watch 101 Dalmatians?"

"Fine," Lacy muttered.

Naruto smiled, "That's my good girls." The blond stretched his back and walked back into the kitchen. "Now both of you bring your finished plates to the counter and go find the DVD; I'll get the dessert ready and get the popcorn."

Annabeth and Lacy smiled and quickly placed their plates beside the sink. "Okay, thanks dad!"

Lacy hugged her dad's legs and smiled up at him, "You're the best, daddy!"

Naruto chuckled and playfully rubbed Lacy's hair. "Yep, I'm the best!"

Olympus – Aphrodite Temple

"NO!" cried the Goddess of Love angrily with her glare on full-blast. "I WILL NEVER DO THAT! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, ATHENA!"

Athena would rarely visit the temples of other gods and goddesses except for meeting with Hestia at the main Hearth, and she would never really want to visit Aphrodite's temple, in other words, an oversized pink dollhouse with far too much perfume in the air. She had tried to convince herself to let it go, but just like the past ten thousand years, her rational side won.

"Calm down, Aphrodite." Athena sighed and rubbed her temples. "Just hear me out."

Aphrodite flared her power, which Athena thought was surprisingly powerful, "How can you of all people ask me to do something so stupid?!" She walked up to the Wisdom Goddess and glared at her, "You were the one who fell for Naruto first and were angry at me for taking him and you think he's a great father for Annabeth; with all that I actually thought you still had feelings for him!"

"I do, Aphrodite, but this is for his own good." Athena leveled her grey eyes at the other goddess, flaring her own power. "It is also for the benefit of the girls; you know they need a mother-figure in her life."

"No, I will not pair him with some mortal woman!"

"Why not?" asked Athena. "Surely you don't think you can actually go back down and be with him, do you?" Aphrodite recoiled, clearly not used to arguing with the smartest being on Olympus. "Even if you manage to explain everything to Naruto and he falls in love with you again, do you know what Ares and Hephaestus would do to him?"

"W-Well, I'm sure they won-"

"Be realistic, Aphrodite; we've already affected his life enough; we should just find a suitable woman for him and have him life a happy and normal life." Athena sighed at Aphrodite's crestfallen expression and the sadness in her eyes. "I know you love him, perhaps even more so than your other lovers, but this is the best we can offer him."

"But…I still…"

"We don't have a choice." Athena placed a comforting hand on her the Love Goddess' shoulder and closed her eyes. "There are many good women around him we could pair him with."

"Athena, Aphrodite?"

The two goddesses' eyes widened at the familiar voice of the man they were current discussing. "N-Naruto?" muttered Aphrodite. "What's this?"

Athena smiled softly and crossed her arms. "He's praying to us."

In the decade that Naruto had spent with his daughters, he had never really prayed to their mothers. They had each told him that if he wanted to speak with them, he could pray to them. He had wanted to pray many times; perhaps it was nervousness or fear, but he had never actually prayed. A long time had passed, but deep inside his heart, he knew that he still had feelings for them. Athena, the brilliant and confident woman who challenged and attracted him at an intellectual level, and Aphrodite, the most passionate, loving and beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. It was not hard to believe their statuses as goddesses; they were just that glorious and beautiful.

But after many hours of thinking, he wanted to speak with them. He wanted to know if they knew how beautiful and wonderful their daughters had become.

"Athena, Aphrodite?" he said as he knelt by the side of his bed, his finger laced together – he knew that it was the wrong religion, but it was the only posture he could think of for praying. "Umm…" He had thought of many things to say, but none were coming at the moment.

He opened his mouth, but no sounds came out; he helplessly looked around before his eyes focused on a picture on his nightstand. It was a simple photo. It was him holding onto Annabeth's hand – it was a few years ago and her height only reached his waist – and Lacy sitting in his arms, still basically a toddler.

With a soft smile, he found his words. "Thank you…"

Unknown to him, the two goddesses heard him perfectly and were surprised at his words.

"Annabeth and Lacy are the greatest things that ever happened to me." He rose to his feet and grabbed the picture, "Thank you for giving me my little princesses." He lay on his bed and held the picture above his face, smiling at how happy his daughter looked. "They are perfect."

Olympus – Aphrodite Temple

"Oh, Naruto" Aphrodite smiled fondly at the voice of her lover as she sat down on her sofa in a daze. "You're so sweet."

Athena sat next to the Love Goddess and smiled along. "He really loves the girls."

"I'm sorry I haven't prayed for so many years; I guess I was a little nervous about it." Naruto's voice rang true in the minds of Athena and Aphrodite. "But I still remember both of you very well!"

"Still as loud and playful as ever," chirped Aphrodite.

"Just to get things out of the way: Athena, I still read a lot, like you told me to do; I've read almost a hundred books on Greek Mythology – urm, I guess it's not mythology, but yeah! Now I understand why you liked the owl cage so much when we went to the zoo and why you didn't like the Poseidon's Adventure movie – they chose the wrong name. But in my opinion, you clearly won that competition – olive trees are way cooler than horses."

"You got that right!" Athena smiled at how cheerful Naruto sounded; it reminded her so much of her days with the blond; she missed those days sometimes and even more so at the moment.

"Aphrodite, I made sure to import all kinds of candy from France and they are very demanded at the store, but Lacy usually cleans them out. I am still using the same haircut you made me get all those years ago; it attracts a little too much attention from the single moms at my daughters' schools, but I guess that just proves that you were right."

"Of course I'm right; you're absolutely gorgeous!"

"Anyway, I just wanted to check in and tell you both how great our little girls turned out. Oh I'm sure you both will love your daughters so much! Annabeth already loves architecture and beats me at chess; I bet she'll give you a run for your money soon, Athena." The Wisdom Goddess smiled and nodded fondly. "Lacy, on the other hand, acts a little too much like you, Aphrodite. She eats way too much candy and jumps and skips around when she has too much sugar. But no matter what, I will allow no boys to date her before she's eighteen; I have a shotgun ready to enforce that rule."

"Awe, that's no fun, Naruto!"

"Anyway, I make sure they eat right, take a bath every day, brush their teeth morning and night and go to sleep on time. Both of them have good friends at school and they have good grades, especially Annabeth, who gets straight A's almost every term."

Athena and Aphrodite smiled fondly, missing Naruto more and more with each passing word.

"Funny thing! We just watched 101 Dalmatians and now they want pets of their own. They don't want dogs, though; after that movie all they want are cats. I have no idea how watching a dog movie would make them want cats, but I can't understand everything. What do you two think, should I get them some pets?"

"Of course! Get Lacy a little kitten!"

"Annabeth would love one as well."

"OH, right! Lacy's teacher turned out to me a monster!"

"WHAT!" Aphrodite cried as she flared her power. Athena was very worried as well.

"It wasn't so bad; I managed to kill it with some luck, but I hope these attacks won't get worse."

Athena was shocked, "Naruto actually managed to kill a monster?"

"I can't find the weaknesses of monsters in the books I have, so if you can, please tell me an easy way of dealing with them. Anyway, I just wanted to catch up, wondering if you two ever think about me. Athena frowned and Aphrodite bit her lips as her heart stung. "I promise I will speak with you two more from now on." He sighed and climbed under his covers, "Goodnight, Lady Artemis must be busy now because the moon is very bright tonight." With a brief moment of silence, Naruto contemplated his words, "Yeah, goodnight, Athena, Aphrodite."

The two goddesses were silent as they looked at each other, both thinking pretty much the same thing. With so few words, Naruto had reminded them of the times they shared together, and it made them miss him more and more. Even Athena felt a little worse at the thought of matching him with another woman and almost decided to retract her request to Aphrodite. In the end, all she wanted was for Naruto to be happy, and he should have a woman in his life for that.

"I'm not going to pair him with a mortal woman," said Aphrodite softly and sternly. "I will never do that; I will find a way to make him happy, but I'm not going to force him to love a random woman." She stood and started to walk away, "There is nothing you can do that will change my mind."

Athena sighed and started to walk away herself, "I know." She teleported back to her own temple and thought, "I also want Naruto to be happy."

The End!

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