Came to a realization that I was quite rude and disrespectful to the lot of you who enjoy this story. So. A sneak preview I typed after I finished up the first chapter of The Snake of Eden. Enjoy, The finished product (the other 5 thousand words) are currently being heavily edited. Lots of Love. Grenfier. (But not really, because this story is kinda eh, and the tropes are also eh.)

Naruto gingerly rubbed his ribs after Thalia plopped down next to him, accidentally jolting him from the nap he had dozed into. Across from him sat Zoe, Annabeth, and Percy in their small, but cozy train compartment. Percy and Annabeth were heatedly arguing about something he could care less about, while Zoe's eyes were fixed on the horizon as she anxiously fingered a leather strap with a crescent moon hanging on the end of it. Noticing his grimace of pain Thalia prodded him again. A sharp grunt escaped his lips.

"You alright there, Naruto?" She raised an eyebrow. The eyes of everyone in the compartment fixed upon him. His lips curled lightly.

"Peachy. Just a little sore." Naruto responded shortly. Zoe's eyes narrowed, before a flicker of realization flashed in her eyes. She stood up and took a step towards Naruto.

"Remove thy jacket and shirt, Naruto."

"It's called a hoodie, Zoe-chan, and really, I'm fine," he grinned up at her. Percy murmured something indecipherable in Annabeth's ear. Zoe scowled, took a step closer, and wrenched his hoodie off.

"Jeez Zoe, if you wanted me naked that badly you just had to ask," Naruto jokes. When their eyes settled on his side, Annabeth released a gasp, while Zoe's frown grew more pronounced. She kneeled down closer to his side which had changed to an angry purple color, swollen and ugly.

"Move, girl," Zoe ordered Thalia. Thalia hastily stood and took Zoe's previous seat. Zoe's hands gently prodded his ribs, causing Naruto to wince. Zoe turned angrily to Annabeth.

"Foolish girl!" She snarled. Annabeth was pale as a sheet, and Thalia looked uncomfortable.

"Don't talk to Annabeth like that!" Percy shouted, getting to his feet.

"Sit down, Percy," Naruto calmly ordered. "Zoe, it isn't a big deal. I'll be fine in a couple days," he said with a smile.

"Naruto, had that blow been directed at your head, even you wouldn't have survived!" Zoe indignantly responded. Annabeth's eyes were teared up.

"But it wasn't and I did, so no harm done," he said cheerily, looking at Annabeth. "It's no big deal, Annie. However," Naruto paused. "Luke is a traitor to the Pantheon. He's pledged his loyalty to Kronos, and there isn't any coming back from that. Kronos, the Deceiver, Lord of Time doesn't let his subjects escape his grasp. Ever. He can't be redeemed. Eventually, he's going to have to die. Whether it's by my hand…" Naruto glanced at Percy, "Or another's."

Thalia shook her head, but said nothing. Percy refused to meet Naruto's eyes. "Luke's just confused and hurt," Annabeth said hotly. Naruto snorted.

"Yeah, you're just like Sakura. Hopelessly chasing after a childish crush," Naruto rolled his eyes. "Mark my words, Annie, Luke's going to be the one to kill you if you don't get over him."

"Luke would never-"

Naruto coldly interrupted. "He would and he will, all to further his own revenge. That's how this story is written, and that's how it ends. Every. Single. Time." Annabeth's mouth opened to speak once again, but she cut herself short when she noticed Thalia quietly shaking her head at her.

"My Godfather was a man who loved the idea of world peace. He was given a prophecy that said he would be the one to find and train the 'Child of Prophecy' who would either raze the world or guide it towards everlasting peace. He had a friend, practically a brother, who hated the status quo that had taken his family from him, and as a result, his friend wanted to gain power to become undefeatable. He wanted to conquer death. My Godfather turned a blind eye, despite how the evidence of his friend killing and torturing the people of their village with sick experiments that defied the laws of nature. My teacher, he also had a best friend, a brother in arms. My teacher believed him dead, but in reality he was taken and bided his time, gaining power, a power he would use to raise a man and enact a plan to destroy the world, the world that once housed the people he loved. I… had Sasuke. We were cut from the same cloth. We had no family, I was an orphan, his family had been slaughtered by his older brother. We made a pact. We would never leave the other behind. Then, he decided he wasn't strong enough. He needed more power to enact his revenge against his older brother. He decided," Naruto paused here, and lifted his shirt above his head, revealing a tapestry of scares. He pointed to a fist-sized hole in his chest, right where his heart should be. "That by killing me, he would transcend the chains that bound him, and be granted the strength he needed to end him. I survived, and spent four years chasing him down, trying to bring him home. At the end of it, at the edge of the world that had turned to ruin from a war against a madman, we stood together. He had finally gotten his revenge against his brother. He had learned his brother had been innocent, and that the fault of the death of his family rested on the shoulders of a deadman who was afraid of change. We stood together, looking onwards towards a primordial being that was tearing the fabric of our world apart, and he smiled. Sasuke turned to me, and shoved his blade through my heart. His last words to me were that this world didn't deserve to exist. The death of an entire world rests on my shoulders all because I refused to kill a man obsessed with revenge. Luke is the same. He would watch the world burn rather than let things remain how they are. So ask yourself, what means more to you? His life, or the lives of everyone you know?" Naruto finished.

"I was hoping to speak to you alone, Annie. But then again, this is a lesson that all three of you needed to be taught." Naruto shrugged his shirt back on and yanked his hoodie back over his head. Zoe's eyes had an insurmountable distance present in them, while Percy and Annabeth had similar horrified looks etched onto their faces. Thalia merely looked sad.