And yet another chapter! Enjoy.

Chapter 3: I Join the Running of the Bulls

The ride was rather uneventful. When the man in front asked where we wanted to go, Billy just told him. The man tried to refuse, but when I handed him some of the bills from my pouch, (ones with a balding man pictured on them) he stopped talking and drove. I didn't enjoy the ride. We were moving fast enough for sure, but we had so many near run-in's with other beasts that I was certain we'd crash. But somehow, he wove through them without too much trouble.

As we got out of the city I realized that it would have been easy to get there. In fact, I probably could have made it without Billy's help if I'd figured out I could hitch a ride. Not that I didn't want to travel with Billy, he was definitely a nice enough to be around. He just seemed to be too excited for going to work, kind of like how Lee might react to training.

I munched on my last burger as we rolled to a stop, and I was surprised I could still eat anything considering how nauseous I felt. "Alright boys, this is as far as I can take you. Any further is private property." The driver said as he stuck his head a little ways out of the window. "You sure your friend was coming here?"

I nodded. There was no doubt in my mind that this was where I needed to be to get some answers. Smiling to the man, I gave him a little wave. "Yep, this is it. Thanks for the ride!"

"Alright, I'll see you then."

Glancing towards the camp, I noticed that Billy suddenly seemed far more nervous than he had a moment before. He was muttering something under his breath in a language that I didn't understand. I only caught a part of it that I could understand.

"Grover's luck? What's that?"

Billy seemed to tense up at that. Glancing up he tried to chuckle lightheartedly, though it sounded more like he was trying not to choke. "Oh nothing, just a joke me and a couple of friends share. A friend of ours made a funny mistake when he...tried to apply here."

I shrugged, and began walking towards the hill. Billy walked up next to me, making a claw-like gesture over his heart with his hand and thrust outwards. For some reason, this did not help to comfort me. If anything, it made me think that something bad was definitely going to happen if he felt the need to make a warding gesture like that.

Speeding up a little more, I tried to ease both of our worries. "So, what do you think you'll be working on here?"

Billy glanced up, a look of confusion on his face. "What?"

"What do you think you're going to be working on up here?" I repeated, noticing the look on his face. His eyes were pointed towards the ground going back and forth, like he was looking for the answers in the grass. I knew that look; it was the look of someone about to lie. I'd seen it so many times I could practically feel his nervousness.

"Erm, well, I suppose I'll be helping with...deliveries for the most part." he replied, trying to use his crutches to propel himself a little faster.

I kept up with him easily, though I felt slightly winded. "I see. And what sort of stuff are you going to deliver?"

Billy looked around, trying to think of something to say. In my head, I applauded myself. I'd effectively broken down his lie, even when he had an obvious answer he could go with. Something so obvious, I picked up on it.

"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, there's a lot of stuff to do there."

I grinned. "So you won't be one of the people who will he delivering strawberries? That's too bad."

Realizing his mistake, he sputtered a little as he tried to fix his mistake. "Well, I just got work there, so I wasn't aware - "

"Funny name this place has, don't you think?"

Billy blinked as he turned to me. "What?"

I shrugged. "I just don't get why they named it Delphi's Strawberry Service."

"Oh well, you see Delphi is referring to the Oracle, like the Oracle of Delphi from Greek mythology. The strawberry part is..." Billy said, slowing down as his mind caught up with his mouth. He then began to do a rather impressive imitation of a fish.

A grin crossed my face. I had never realized that teasing people was so much fun. I kind of understood why Kakashi joked about why he was late; we had a funny reaction every time. I suddenly found my missing my tardy teacher.

Scratching my cheek, a thought crossed my mind; what the heck was an Oracle, and where was Delphi?

I also felt a little uneasy as I saw his expression. As I watched him recover, I realized that my face was generally made into a similar face; usually after I'd said something stupid, and was getting hit by Sakura. I grimaced at the thought of her. There are a few redeeming qualities about her, but man does she have a temper. I've been on the receiving end of her fist on more than one occasion to be able to verify that.

Turning towards Billy, I was about to tell him it was alright, and that I forgot important stuff all the time when I smelled it. The smell of smoke.

Apparently Billy smelt it too, because his head whipped around. "Oh no!" he cried out as he looked upon the scene. My eyes took in the burning hillside, with what appeared to be a large battle consuming it.

As I watched, I saw the two bulls running across the hill. I bumped Billy's shoulder. "What are those things?"

"Colchis bulls. Creations of Hephaestus. But, this shouldn't be possible; they aren't supposed to be able to get past the tree!"

I growled at the lack of information that really gave me. Seriously, who the heck was Hephaestus, and why would he be attacking the camp? Another good question would be how in the world Billy knew this. I didn't have time to ask those questions as I noticed the armored warriors attempting to set up a defense.

"Hold this!" I yelled as I swung my backpack over my shoulder and into Billy's chest. He sputtered indignantly that he wasn't some baggage-boy, but I barely heard him. I was already on the move, covering the distance between where I'd been standing and the tree line.

As I ran, I couldn't help but notice how slow I was moving. Normally a distance like this would have been covered in such a short time that I could blindside my opponent without them realizing I was coming. As it was, I was going at maybe two-thirds of my normal speed; fast enough to get there in time, but also slow enough to throw off my timing just a bit.

The warriors were running about, attempting to keep the bulls at bay. Unlike myself they were armed with spears, a good weapon for keeping distance from the bulls. I realized why this was probably a smart idea when the first bull's mouth opened with a creaked and a jet of flame shot forth. Two of the warriors were unable to completely get out of the way, the hair on their funny headpieces catching fire.

Growling, I leapt upon the nearest bull. While I was actually aiming to jump more over it, I slammed into it, hanging onto its back for dear life. I could feel the heat of the bull beneath me, but was easily able to ignore it. Holding on, on the other hand, was not as easy.

The bull's red eyes glanced at me momentarily, the only indication of what it was about to do. A second later, it threw itself about, bucking and running in circles as it attempted to dislodge me. I slammed my hand into its back, denting it slightly as well as giving myself a handhold to use to hold on. Then again, it didn't really help me as I was thrown from the bull's back.

Rolling to my feet, I growled at the bull. The bull turned to me, giving me what I supposed was a glare; I couldn't really tell since it's red eyes seemed to be glaring nonstop. It bellowed, a jet of flame shooting out and enveloping me. I closed my eyes, feeling the flames wrap around me. Gritting my teeth, I let upwards. Once again, I overestimated my strength and wound up plowing through the flames and rolling next to the bull. Not one to complain during an intense battle, I interlocked my fingers and swung at the bulls face.

"Look out! Behind you!"

I hesitated, my swing going wide as I turned to look behind myself. Bering down on me was the second bull, silver horns shimmering in the light. Cursing softly, I spread my feet a bit, preparing for impact. I quickly realized this was a stupid idea, but was unable to do much else as the bull was mere feet away, the other bull having run a short ways away to position itself better.

Taking a deep breath, I slammed my hand into the top of the bull's horns. This forced the bull face first into the ground, and unfortunately, its body decided to follow. I winced as the bull slammed into me, nearly breaking a few bones as it rolled over me. The wind knocked out of me, I struggled for breath.

My silent victory of being alive was short-lived as the pounding hooves of the other bull quickly approached. Well, I suppose this is it. Damn it, I can't believe that I lost to a freaking bull!

However, these thoughts were forced from my mind as something grabbed my legs and gave a sharp pull. I looked upwards, seeing the bulls hooves just barely missing my face as it plowed on by. That was too close for comfort.

I sat up, looking at my savior. He was younger than I was, maybe thirteen or fourteen at the most. In one hand was a strangely crafted sword, the likes of which I'd never imagined. Unlike the other warriors, he wasn't wearing any armor, just some funny looking clothes that were obviously not all that useful considering he situation.

I gave him one of my patented fox-like grins. "What took you so long?"

Apparently, that was a strange thing to say because he just gave me a confused look. I almost laughed at his expression, but seeing the first bull that I'd nearly hit completing its wide arc to charge at us again killed the humor of our situation.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, digging my feet into his stomach as I rolled backwards. Pushing upwards with my legs, I launched him a ways away while also rolling to my feet. Glaring down the bull, I felt a sense of apprehension. There was no way I'd get out of this one without a scratch.

"Tyson, help them!" a girl suddenly yelled from behind me.

"Can't-get-through!" a boy's voice, sounding as though they were struggling with something.

Huh? I thought, unable to glance away as the bull was closing in on me. What was holding the warriors back? They had more than enough strength to help last I'd seen of them.

The girl said something I didn't quite catch as there was a thundering noise around me. I had to catch myself before falling over, caught off guard by the suddenness of the noise. Then, I did fall on my butt as a large form suddenly barreled in front of me, standing between me and the bull.

"Percy needs help!"

I scrambled to my feet, ready to assist this new ally. As I stood however, I was nearly knocked back down as another jet of flame enveloped the both of us. Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I rolled out of the flames to get a better look. Luckily, the warriors were reassembling their defenses. There was an unarmored girl going through the ranks, giving direction. I'm not sure why, but there was something familiar about her.

Glancing back at Tyson, I blinked as he emerged unscathed by the fire. Balling his hands into fists, he smashed them into the bulls face. "BAD COW!"

I grinned as I saw the bulls face crumple under the blows. Looking up to get a better look at my savior, in felt my gut clench. This guy, he only had one eye. What did One-Eye call himself again? A Cyclops? Yeah, that sounded right. And now here was the second one I'd seen today standing over me.

And yet, I didn't feel the same urge to run from him as I had from One-Eye. He had saved me, and for me that was good enough. I chuckled as the bull attempted to rise again, twin jets of flame shooting from its ears. Tyson just slammed his fist into the bulls head again.

"Down!" he shouted, forcing the bull onto it's back in what had to be one of the most amazing displays of brute-like strength I'd ever seen. Sure, I'd put a dent into one of them, but Tyson destroyed them.

I checked for the first bull, sure that it would come around again to finish the job. However, I soon realized it had been incapacitated by one of the warriors, a brutish looking girl that (despite her stringy brown hair) reminded me of Sakura. A very strong, and skilled Sakura. I shuddered at the thought, wondering just how much hurt I was going to be in if pissed her off.

I was pretty sure I'd find out soon enough, seeing as she was storming towards us. She took off her helmet as she glared in my direction. I could almost feel the anger radiating off her. "You ruined everything!"

"Sorry." I said, wincing slightly as I anticipated getting hit.

She gave me a curious glance before pointing towards the first boy that had saved me. "Not you, him!"

"Oh." I muttered. I'm not really used to not being on the receiving end of an angry woman's wrath. I decided it was much safer than I'd thought.

"Nice to see you too Clarisse." the girl next to the boy muttered. I hadn't realized she was there. Then that feeling of confusion returned. Where have I seen her before?

"Don't ever try and 'save' me again Percy!" Clarisse yelled at the boy, Percy, air quoting save for some reason. What kind of names were these? Seriously; Hermes, Billy, Clarisse, Tyson, Percy; it's like listening to a foreign language!

"Clarisse, you have wounded campers." the girl said. I rubbed my head, feeling a pain rising in my head. I know my memory's bad, but this is ridiculous! I haven't even met her before!

Clarisse looked like that made her lose steam, still giving him a glare as she stormed off. I watched her leave, raising an eyebrow at her actions. She was definitely a leader of some sort, but her anger at Percy's interference seemed a bit misplaced. Wouldn't another set of people be helpful? Especially against fire-breathing bulls?

"You're alive. Both of you."

"I'm sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you." Tyson muttered.

I turned back towards Percy, noticing his surprised expression. I shrugged. "It was just a little fire."

The girl glanced towards me, shaking her head. "That wasn't normal fire. Any normal person would have been incinerated by the flames the moment they came into contact with them."

I shrugged again. "I'm not really normal."

She kept shaking her head. "No, not even children of Hephaestus are that fire resistant. You have to wear Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000 if you don't want to get burn to a crisp!"

"Huh, the only stuff I've put on was some muscle stuff made by someone named Hermes." I said, scratching my head as Percy and the girl shared a look. Is it really that surprising that I came out of that unscathed?

"Muscle stuff?" the girl asked, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Do you still have it?"

"Uh yeah. Let me just get it out of my..." I reached for my shoulder, suddenly missing the familiar weight of my backpack. Glancing around, I noticed Billy running over to us, my backpack strapped to his shoulder. I waved him down. "Billy! I need to see my backpack!"

Billy grinned as he approached us. "Aw, man that was amazing! You just rushed down here with no thought, no plan, and you came out completely fine! I should've known that I was right to bring you here. Your so strong you-"

"Billy, bag." I said, trying not to soak in all the praise he was giving me.

"What? Oh right!" Billy took my bag from his shoulder, his grin never leaving his face. I took the bag and handed it to the girl.

She unzipped it and began rummaging through my stuff. I suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable about her looking through my stuff, and made to take the bag from her, however as I did so, she pulled out the ointment jar.

Turning it over, her eyes darted about it. After a moment, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Curse my dyslexia. I can't tell what the ingredients are."

Billy took it from her, looking over the side that the girl had been attempting to read a moment before. "That can't be right." he muttered, looking at the front side again before turning it over again. "Half of the ingredients in this are in Medea's Sunscreen 50,000."

The girl nodded, a look of relief on her face. "Okay, that makes sense."

"But what about Tyson? There's no way he was able to put any of that on before the fight. How did he survive the flames?" Percy asked, glancing towards the larger boy. As he stared at his face, a look of realization crossing his face. "Tyson, you're a..."

"A Cyclops." the girl said. "And a baby by the looks of him. That's why he had a hard time getting past the boundary, unlike the bulls."

"Time out." I said, getting everyone's attention. "What boundary?"

"The boundary that was established by Thalia's tree." the girl said, shaking her head. "I can't really explain it to you right now, but - "

I wasn't really listening to her any more. My eyes had immediately become drawn to the particular tree that she was talking about after she'd said that name. Thalia. Rubbing my forehead to alleviate some of the pain in my head, I found my eyes following along the imaginary boundary line. I remembered the outside portion of Camp Half-Blood, but nothing about the inside.

Gazing at the pine tree, I noticed that the needles on the tree were a yellow, sickly color. Around the base of the tree were small piles of dead and fallen needles. A short way up the tree, I noticed that there was green ooze coming from the tree.

"Why is the tree so important?" I asked, glancing back towards the girl. She bit her lip, like some bad memory had surfaced that she didn't want to talk about. "Thalia was a daughter of Zeus who was turned into a tree by her father to keep her from dying. Her spirit has kept monsters from invading the camp since then. I was there when it happened."

"Uh, who's Zeus?" I asked. All of them gave me a shocked look. Overhead, I swore I heard the crack of thunder. But that wasn't possible; there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Who's Zeus? Who's - don't you know anything about the Greek gods?" Billy asked, his jaw practically on the ground.

"Uh, no?" I said, glancing between them. "Why?"

The girl glanced away. "Because the only way you could've found this place and entered, weakened boundary or not, would be that you're a half-blood like us."

"Huh?" I asked, giving her a confused glance.

Percy seemed to be exasperated by my responses. "It means you had one human parent, and one god parent."

I thought it over for a second, before coming up with an appropriate response. "Bullshit."

Percy looked a bit surprised. "I'm being serious!"

"That's not a reason to believe you." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Billy spoke up. "Would you believe us if you had proof that there were more...unexplainable things for you to see."

I shrugged. "I don't really see how anything else would help."

Billy then dropped his pants, revealing a pair of hairy hindquarters. I'm not sure which surprised me more; the fact hat he was half animal, or the fact that he'd actually just dropped his pants.

"Uh..."

"I'm a satyr, half-man, half-goat. We're found in some of the stories about the gods." he glanced up at me. "Believe us now?"

Not having anything to really say to that, I just nodded my head. I looked back at Percy. He just shrugged. "It was a bit of a shock to me too, but you'll get it once we explain it to you."

I nodded, extending my hand to him. "Uh, you saved my life, and I don't really know who you are. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and this is - "

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

I sighed, the pain in my head suddenly alleviating itself. Looking at Annabeth, memories rose, overshadowing her current look with a younger, more innocent looking girl. I'm not sure why, but it felt strange seeing Annabeth as her older self as the shadow faded away.

"You're older than I remember." I muttered, palming my face as I let this information sink in.

She gave me a curious look. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. It's nothing."

I looked at the tree again, remembering how Annabeth had said she had been there when Thalia had been turned into a tree. With the memories I'd gotten from limbo, I realized that things had changed from whenever the other person had been here. And if I was right, then I'd gotten knowledge of Camp Half-Blood from Thalia.

I turned to Annabeth again. "Alright, I think I believe you guys now. Why don't you explain all of this 'Greek god' stuff to me. I'm sure we've got plenty of time."

AN: And now you know where we're at. That's right, it's not the beginning of the Third book, but the Second book. How many of you saw that coming?

By the way, a thanks and shout out to Drago Naiya, who helped edit this chapter.

Also, what pairing would you all like with Naruto? It'll be one of 3 people from the Percy Jackson universe:

Thalia
Annabeth
Viewers choice

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