Chapter 6: I Bring On The Pain

I didn't get any sleep that night.

Shortly after midnight, Clarisse and I were relieved of guard duty. Clarisse didn't seem all that happy about it, but complied. I just wanted to get some sleep. I felt dead tired. However, no matter how I tossed and turned in my small portion of the Hermes cabin, my eyes would not stay closed. Eventually I gave up and climbed onto the roof for the rest of the night, staring at the stars. I was confronted by some feathery old hags, but a quick burst of killing intent sent them scurrying away.

I walked around the edge of the lake, ignoring the satyrs and other people running about. My mind simply wasn't content as it rushed about, hyper aware of every single thing that was happening around me. Plus, everything around me was somehow or another bringing back memories of home. Just looking at the lake alone brought back memories of the bell test, my first C-ranked mission, of my first time meeting Pervy Sage, of my lost battle with Sasuke.

I rubbed the left side of my chest, remembering the feeling of pain that flashed through me as he shoved a lightning encompassed fist through my lung. The pain had numbed the feeling when it had actually happened, but after reliving my memories I felt it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. Even worse, I remembered my promise to Sakura. My promise of a lifetime.

How far from home am I? I wondered, turning my eyes to the sky. The Kyuubi used some kind of summoning technique to force me here. Hey, wait a second; I just need to ask him.

I grimaced at the thought of going and seeing the fox. I didn't want to visit the fox anytime soon, especially after the stunt he'd pulled to bring me here. I hadn't known what he was going to do. I didn't even know that the Kyuubi knew hand seals. Shaking my head, I turned towards the now slowly rising sun. The campers would be up soon. I turned my grimace into my traditional smile as I headed towards the dinning area.

The rest of the morning turned out fine, and I actually had fun until after lunch. After lunch, the Apollo cabin decided to have sword practice. Since most of the guys in the Hermes cabin were doing their own things, I decided to join them. I figured that we'd have a nice, friendly spar and I be able to get some pointers on how to improve my swordsmanship.

My thoughts on having a 'friendly' spar quickly flew out the window as I overheard some of the conversations they were having. They were talking about Tyson, and how dangerous it was to have a 'monster' in camp. Thing was, Tyson and Percy were no where to be found, so neither could defend him. I've dealt with people saying stuff about me before, but the only time I'd stood up for someone else was when Neji had called Hinata weak and I beat the crap out of him.

Hm, I suppose that'll have to do for now. I thought as I glanced at one of the talking groups. To my delight found that one of them was the idiot who'd called Tyson a 'that' like he was some kind of animal at dinner last night. My smile darkened slightly.

I was going to enjoy this.

"Hey you," I shouted, catching his attention. "Spar with me."

His eyes widened in surprise before he shrugged. "Alright, I'm cool with that."

I walked over to a nearby table covered in weapons. While I really wanted to find some kunai, these swords did do their job pretty well. Glancing over them, it didn't take long for me to find one and return to the center of the ring.

We both squared off, facing each other. He stood in a stance with his right arm holding his sword in front of him with his right foot directly in front of his left. I decided to use a more unorthodox form. My legs were shoulder width apart with my right foot only slightly in front of my left, and directly under my body. My sword was parallel to the ground in front and to the right of me, ready to move at a seconds notice.

We stared each other down; him with a look that told me he thought he was superior, while I just scowled in return. Not one to wait for something to happen, I charged forward. He probably didn't expect this as he tried to back up. Tried being the key word.

Without hesitation, I brought my sword around, knocking his sword from his grasp. Spinning around, I slowed myself down as much as possible before my blade touched his neck. He just blinked, looking at his sword-less hand in confusion.

I slowly removed my blade from his throat. "I guess you do have a reason to be scared, you're all talk."

I turned to walk away. Unfortunately Kami, uh, one of the gods, seemed to be conspiring against me, as I heard more people talking a bit louder about Tyson and 'poor Percy'. I was close to just thrashing everyone in the Apollo cabin to see how long it would take for them to stop talking when a voice practically echoed through the training grounds.

"He's not my real brother! He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like...a half-brother twice removed, or something."

I felt a small chill run down my spine. I knew that voice. Percy had talked a lot last night, so it wasn't hard to recognize. The only problem was that now I wanted to knock Percy's teeth out and make him unrecognizable.

I round on Percy, growling softly as I walked towards him. "Hey Percy."

Percy turned towards me, a pleading look in his eyes turning to one of semi-relief. "Oh, hey Naruto, what's up?"

"What were you talking about?"

Percy seemed to squirm a bit at the question. "Just Tyson."

I nodded. "That's what I thought." I leaned forward a bit. "And what were you saying about him?"

Percy flushed a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Nothing."

My sword leap to his throat catching him by surprise. I growled audibly. "Don't play dumb Percy. You've ready seen what happens when I get frustrated, so talk."

Percy somehow managed to gulp with a blade on his throat. "Well, you see, I'm tired of people talking about me and Tyson. I mean, last year I was the guy who got Zeus's lightning bolt. Now I'm the poor sap who's bunked with a monster."

"I remember you telling me your story. But at least then you didn't sound like a whiney teme."

"A what?" Percy asked, trying to lean away from my sword.

"Teme." I repeated, not sure why he wasn't understanding what I was saying. I was pretty sure we were still speaking the same language. "Besides you're complaining about something very stupid."

Percy moved his head again, this time practically throwing himself backwards to stop my advance. He reaches into his pocket and pulled something out. A second later a sword sprung into his hands, and he took up a defensive position. "What the heck is wrong with you Naruto?"

"I'm still pissed, I didn't get a lot of sleep, and I'm getting reminded of painful experiences." I hissed, slipping into my previous stance. I already knew that none of the things I'd said would make for a good excuse, and would normally have just avoided him and beaten something else up. For a brief second, I considered just walking away.

Of course, Percy just had to add his own two cents in. "What do you care anyway? It's not like Tyson's your brother."

I didn't bother to say anything, or even yell a battle cry as I lunged forward. Percy was caught off guard, but was able to keep up with my attack. Scowling at him, I used the little information I'd gotten from my clones to try to push him back. Twisting my wrist slightly, I turned my single swing into a flurry of wild movement.

For his part, Percy kept his cool as my barrage came towards him. He blocked each one expertly, obviously having experience on his side. That was going to be a problem for me, since I was still learning how to use a sword. Of course, I did have some advantages. Thanks to the fact that I had grown since I'd left to train with Pervy Sage, I was taller, and stronger than Percy was. And with just my brute strength, I could change direction easier and faster making us almost evenly matched.

I brought my blade down in a diagonal slash. Percy once again used the flat of his blade to block my attack and roll out of the way. Despite the fact that I was trying to keep my eyes on Percy, my strange feeling ability was shooting off again. I could feel fear, anger, and even something that could have been pure hate flowing off of one person. That one person was aiming it at me, but the rest of it appeared to be aimed towards Percy. Unable to contain my curiosity, I glanced towards the audience that had somehow gathered while we'd been fighting.

The members of Apollo's cabin were there, having not moved from their area since we began to fight. There were also members of other cabins who had stopped their activities and had come to see what all the commotion was about. Tantalus stood behind the group glaring at me with unconcealed hatred, which explained who was so mad at me. I remembered some of the girls being from Aphrodite's cabin, a group of guys from Ares, and even a few others from the other tables. One of the other people who caught my eye though, was Annabeth.

Unlike the rest of them, there was no negative emotion rolling from her. She looked simply curious as to what was going on. There was talking throughout the group, and bets being made, but she said nothing. She just watched, intrigued by something.

While all of this observation happened in a few seconds, it gave Percy enough time to retaliate. With a roaring battle cry, he leapt forward on the attack. If it hadn't had been for his battle cry, I probably wouldn't have realized he was attacking me until it was too late.

I didn't step back like I suppose he thought I would. Instead, I brought my sword up to clash with his, putting us into a kind of blade-lock. We stared at each other for one brief second before Percy suddenly shifted his weight. I barely caught on before he twisted his blade, and in turn, my blade. My hand was suddenly twisted at an odd angle, and it looked like Percy was planning on bringing my own blade back around to my neck. Thankfully, I'm both unpredictable, and predictable. After all, I'm only human, and the pain in my wrist really hurt. So I let go of my sword.

Percy's eyes practically bulged out as his maneuver suddenly went wide, my sword flying off, and his own shooting outwards. He was now completely defenseless, and I was unarmed. That had never stopped me before though.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between myself and Percy. He'd been trying to keep a bit of distance between us, probably because of my size. With the training I'd been through though, it was not a difficult task to get within an inch of his face. My left arm lashed out, grabbing his sword-wielding forearm to hold it in place. With this kind of distance and my grip, Percy wouldn't be able to swing his sword.

I drew back my free fist and slammed it into his gut. He sputtered out, doubling over and falling to his knees. His sword now lay forgotten next to him, released the moment I hit him. Not entirely done humiliating him, I put my hand on his shoulder and used his back as a ramp to roll over his shoulder and get behind him.

Looking past him, I realized that somehow, we'd brought our fight near the lake, and I was lined up with Percy directly towards the lake. A memory flashed through my mind from earlier as I remembered one of the most painful, and by far the most humiliating thing I'd ever had happen to me.

Oh the irony. I thought, as my fingers formed into a seal.

"The Leaf's Secret Technique: A Thousand Years of Pain!" I shouted as my fingers rocketed forward, jabbing him in his hindquarters. Mentally, I winced. Or as some have called it, the Super Painful Butt Poke.

Percy never had a chance. Within a second, he was flying through the air. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as graceful as mine had been. I'd just grabbed my butt as I flew through the air crying out in pain. Percy didn't have the luxury of grabbing anything as he flailed about, twisting about for a moment before finally falling into the lake.

I brushed myself off in a nonchalant fashion, mentally wincing with every move I made. Percy may have been a whiney teme, but he was definitely skilled enough that I was going to feel the pain in my arm and back for the rest of the day. While I didn't let it show to the campers, I was exhausted. Physically, mentally, and probably emotionally too.

Okay, note to self; learn how to use a sword and not feel tired. I mentally mumbled as I turned to walk away. Before I could though, I was mobbed by several of the campers.

"Dude, that was awesome! You totally put Percy in his place!"

"Yeah man, that was definitely cool. You're alright by me."

"Man, I wish I had a camera. I would have loved to show dad Percy's face as he flew off."

"If you ever need someone to help you in a fight, just remember that us guys have got your back."

I nodded slowly. Looking between each of them, I noticed a similar ruggedness in all of them, like they were just waiting for someone to ask them to fight so they could jump in. Thinking back on what I'd learned, I figured that they were all probably members of Ares cabin, the god of war, and Percy's god enemy.

"Uh, thanks guys." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I didn't really feel like getting thanked, the reality of what had just happened finally sinking in. I'd just sent one of the only people I'd made friends with into the lake viva Thousand Years of Pain. He probably did deserve it, but then it would have been better to do it privately.

I blinked in confusion. Where the heck are all these logical thoughts coming from? Any other day of the week, I'd kick someone's ass, and brush it off like nothing happened. But now…I'm feeling sorry for humiliating him? What is wrong with me?

I felt a cold hand suddenly place itself on my shoulder. I glanced up, trying not to glare at Tantalus' grinning face. "Well now, that was quite the trick you did there. Mind explaining it to everyone?"

I shrugged. "I suppose I could. But I'd need someone to volunteer for me to demonstrate again. I'm sure that you'd be more than willing."

Tantalus growled at me, leaning next to my ear. "Listen here boy. You obviously do not understand the amount of weight I carry in this camp at this time. However, if you do not begin to show me some amount of respect and follow the rules, I'm going to file for you to be kicked out of camp immediately. Are we clear?"

"Oh? And what rules have I broken?" I asked smugly.

Tantalus chuckled evilly in my ear. "Oh, I suppose you didn't break any rules, per say. However, you did assault one of the Big Three's children. So I think I'll just wait and see how this turns out."

Tantalus grinned as he leaned back and walked away. Unable to help myself, I shouted at his retreating form. "Hey, next time you wanna talk just remember; breath mints are your friends!"

Everyone around me chuckled, while the Ares boys roared in laughter. They patted me on the back, nearly knocking me over from the simple force they had. Now that I thought about it, Percy's enemy or not, Ares' kids would be good to have backing me up in a fight.

Noticing a perfectly dry Percy walking out of the lake, I said a quick farewell as I made my way into the forest. If Percy wanted to talk, I'd let him talk. However, I was going to make it on my terms, and in an area that would be most comfortable to me.

I sat in the middle of a small clearing, waiting for Percy to show up. Surprisingly, he hadn't run into the forest like I thought he would. I'd been waiting for at least ten minutes, and he still hadn't shown up. Twitching in apprehension I began to pace the clearing.

I knew I'd probably over reacted to what Percy had said, but I couldn't help it. My youth had been lived alone, wanting to play with the other kids, but never really getting that close companionship with any of them. They probably knew more about me than I did about them, and that was only because I pulled pranks to get attention.

The adults hadn't been better, but I suppose they could have been worse. Their looks and words were more than damaging enough for me to realize that I wasn't wanted there. It reminded me how close I'd come to hating them, to despising them, to wanting nothing more than to watch the village burn. That was before Iruka came and saved me, and my life continued to change from there.

Tyson reminded me of how I was before and am now. Kind simply because we can be, amazed by everything we see, wanting nothing more than to protect those around us and see them happy. At times though, I'd already seen his eye filled with so much sadness, I can't help but wonder why no one bothers to help him. He is a good person, even if he has quirks that make him seem different.

A snapping branch drew me from my thoughts of Tyson. I turned towards the approaching person, only to find it wasn't Percy. I raised an eyebrow at them in surprise. "Annabeth, what are you doing here?"

Annabeth looked at me, something between a glare and an inquisitive look on her face as she walked out of the forest. "I followed you."

"Okay. Why are you here?" I responded. I had wanted to speak with Percy, not with her. So where was Percy?

"I wanted to talk to you alone." she said as she walked into the clearing. "I told Percy to stay at the training grounds while I came here."

"Well, that explains why he didn't follow me." I muttered. Shaking my head, I looked at Annabeth. "I wanted to talk to Percy, but I suppose you'll do. So, you have some questions?"

Annabeth nodded. "Why did you do that?"

"You mean beat the crap out of Percy?" I shrugged. "He was being an idiot. Besides, that's how we deal with things where I come from. We beat the crap out of each other, and then used what we learned to become friends. Funny thing is that it actually works almost every time."

Annabeth shook her head. "What sort of place is that even legal to do stiff like that?"

"The village hidden in the leaves."

I felt a pang of uneasiness as she looked thoughtfully at the ground. "I've never heard of it, do you know where it is?"

"In the land of fire."

"I've never heard of those places."

The fact that she didn't know about my village or land it was in was not comforting.

"Yeah well, that's where I'm from." I said as easily as I could, trying not to let my confusion and fear show through.

Apparently I did a good enough job, since Annabeth moved on with a shrug. "Alright, if you say so. But that wasn't what I meant by my question."

I sat down on a stump, looking up at her curiously. "Then what did you mean?"

"I want to know why you defended the Cyclop - Tyson." she said.

I didn't miss the change in her words. "What do you people have against him? What has he done to possibly make you hate him like this?"

She bit her lip as she looked away. "I don't hate him. I just -"

"Right, and that little spike of anger wasn't directed at Tyson at all." I said sarcastically.

She looked at me owlishly. "What?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. What were you going to say?"

She looked like she was going to argue for a second, before thinking better if it. "Well, it's not that I don't like Tyson. I just don't trust him."

"And why don't you? Has he given you reason to mistrust him?" I asked.

Annabeth shuffled her feet nervously. "Well, Tyson hasn't done anything, but I haven't had good experiences with Cyclopes in general. Most of them are like how Tantalus described."

My eyes narrowed at that. "So you're basing his actions on what the rest of his people are like? You're not even going to let him have a chance first?"

Annabeth glared back at me. "Well unlike you, I for one have had a bad experience with a Cyclops. So what gives you any right to think that there's any other Cyclops that's like him?"

I shrugged, all the anger rushing out of me. I was feeling the fatigue eat away at me, a having a long argument was not on my to-do list. "Because a Cyclops, especially a young Cyclops, just as innocent as any human would be. Sure the others could be spiteful and mean, but that doesn't mean they all are." I growled out. After a moment, I sighed and stood up. "Besides, you aren't the only one with previous bad experiences with Cyclopes."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

I shook my head, turning to walk away. "It's a good story, but it'll have to wait until later. I'm gonna try and get some sleep before - "

The dinner conch suddenly blasted out. I cursed under my breath as I glanced back at Annabeth. "Another time. Now, time for food."

I left the clearing in a hurry, leaving a particularly confused a trouble feeling Annabeth to her thoughts.

Despite the bad feelings that were obviously between Percy and I die to my previous stunt at the lake, I still sat at Poseidon's table. It wasn't so me and him could make up either. It was for Tyson. I knew that Tyson thought the world of Percy, and really enjoyed me being around. He was a good guy, and I didn't want to hurt him.

Before dinner began, Percy leaned over to me. "Hey Naruto. Why did you do that to me earlier?"

I glanced at him, noticing him wince as he tried to adjust himself. "It still hurts?"

Percy nodded , wincing again as he leaned back a bit. "What was it for? I mean, what did I do to anger you like that?"

I glanced towards Tyson, trying to pick my words carefully. "You said something about a friend of mine that I didn't like. Everyone else deals with being half-siblings here just fine."

"Yeah, but their siblings aren't half monster." be mumbled under his breath.

I winced as I noticed Tyson's pained expression. Appearently Percy wasn't quite as quiet as I'd hoped he'd be, and he'd overheard us and had a good guess at what Percy meant. "Hey Tyson, it's cool man."

Tyson looked down at the table, messing around with something in his hands. "I'm sorry I'm a monster." he muttered.

"Don't say that. You are not a monster. You are my friend, and that's all that matters to me." I said, grinning as widely as I could. "Let them think what they want, you'll show them wrong."

Tyson nodded. "You're right. I'll be a good monster."

I resisted the urge to chuckle at how he interpreted what I'd said. "Sure, a good monster. Whatever you want to be Tyson."

That didn't seem to comfort Percy, though the smile that Tyson had was worth his pain.

After dinner and all the other fun after dinner activities, we retired to our cabins. Well, everyone else retired. I stayed on the roof of Hermes cabin, staring at the stars again. Not wanting to personally deal with the hag again, created a single shadow clone to watch out for them. It took me a moment to make the single clone; somehow my clones kept looking like one of the sickly ones I used to make when I used the normal clone technique the first time I tried it. It actually took me about three times before it was good enough to perform what I needed it to do.

Laying on the roof, I decided to just talk to my clone. "Nice night."

My clone nodded, looking around the buildings. "It never seemed this quiet at home. It makes me uneasy."

I nodded. "Yeah, but there's not much we can do about that though."

"We could prank the cabins," my clone suggested, an impish grin on his face. "It would be like old times."

I chuckled. "It would be. Then again, we had supplies we could use, plus our targets usually deserved it. If we had the supplies though, I would definitely prank Tantalus like no one else has been pranked before."

My clone sighed. "I know but I wanna do something now. Waiting around is boring!"

I shrugged. "Maybe we'll start something later. Right now I'm trying to sleep."

"Really now?"

"Yes really." I muttered, my eyes slowly closing.

"I bet I know how I can keep you up." my clone said.

I glanced at him, somewhat curious as to what my clone was thinking. "And what might that be?"

The impish grin seemed to grow on his face, making me all the more nervous about what he was going to say. "You know how the Shadow Clone Jutsu is now more solid?"

"Yeah? Why, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you're going to think of the other techniques we know and wonder just how they've changed."

I shook my head. Well, now that he mentions it, my arsenal of jutsu isn't that big. I know a few sealing jutsu's, the Rasengan, and the summoning technique thanks to Pervy Sage. I learned the Shadow Clone and the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu from the Scroll of Sealing. Then there's the Academy taught jutsu's like he Transformation and Substitution Jutsu. So what is he talking...wait. I do know one other jutsu.

My face was a bright red as I glared daggers at my laughing clone. "When did I get so evil?"

My clone shrugged, chuckling at my expression. "I guess it's just something you've been wondering about in the back of your mind."

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. It felt good to act out a bit. I wasn't meant for overly serious situations twenty-four seven. Even if I was acting childishly with myself. And now I was curious about why I didn't think of that before. I glanced at my clone to speak again, when I noticed his face had turned to my combat face. All joking was gone as his eyes focused on something.

"What's up?" I asked, pushing myself into a reclined position.

"What's that?" my clone asked, pointing towards the Big House.

I pushed myself all the way up, looking towards where my clone was pointing. In the top window of the Big House, the curtain was pulled back, and a figure was casting a shadow against the window. I stared at the shadow for a moment before a sudden feeling swept over me. The very familiar sensation of chakra was coming from the top floor, and whoever was making that shadow was causing it.

"I know boss, I'll stay here." my clone muttered, within down with a dejected look on his face.

I smiled apologetically. "I'll be back in a bit. I promise."

"Just make sure you fill me in!" my clone shouted after me as I jumped off the roof and slipped towards the Big House.

For the first time in a long time I was glad we'd had to take all those stealth lessons back in the Academy. Opening the door, I quietly moved inside. No one was around as far as I could see, and I couldn't feel anyone other than the chakra in the upper room. Applying some chakra to my feet and fingers, I crawled up the wall to check the next flight of stairs.

Once again, it was all clear. Not a soul appeared to be in the Big House. Flipping over the rail, I moved through the rooms, looking for the next flint of stairs. None of the rooms appeared to lead to another room, and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. Where are you stairs?

Suddenly, there was a near silent creaking noise. To me though, it seemed as loud as someone casually opening a squeaky door. I whirled around, noticing a slight movement from the ceiling. After moving closer to inspect it, I noticed a small ring protruding from a square indentation in the ceiling. Reaching up, I slowly pulled down on the ring to reveal the stairs I'd been looking for.

I paused for a second. It was too easy. No one in the house, and the stairs to the attic had somehow stone unnoticed until a sound alerted me to where they were at? It just didn't seem like a normal occurrence. "I have a bad feeling about this."

My curiosity got the better of me, overcoming my sense of anticipation, and fear. Taking slow, deliberate steps, I made my way up the stairs. With every step I took I felt the chakra, and my apprehension, grow.

As I got to the top of the steps, I glanced around. There was all kinds of objects strewn about, ranging from broken swords to scarf's. My eyes scanned all the different objects, eventually landing on one that seemed to stand out because it wasn't set on a stand or displayed in any way. Instead, it was almost buried underneath several other objects.

It was a claw of some sort. I moved some of the other objects off of it and picked it up, turning it over in my hands. It was rather large and heavy, and had almost a rustic look to it, like it had been up here for a long time. Underneath it was a small card that had writing on it. I picked it up, trying to read what it said. Once again, the handy skill I'd had for understanding this coded writing was escaping me. I stared harder, wanting to know what it said.

Slowly, the words began to move. It was like they were objects in the water, slowly floating into place. It took almost two minutes for them to finish falling into place, but they eventually did.

Luke Castellan
Taken from the dragon Ladon after it scared my face.

I frowned at the name. There was no one that I'd heard of named Luke. Then again, I didn't really know many people at camp yet. I ran my fingers over the words, wondering who it was.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of emotion rush through me. Pain, anguish, frustration, and…hatred. Pure hatred. I dropped the paper, looking at it in confusion. I glanced at the claw in my hand, wondering if it had any surprises for me as well. There was definitely something screwed up going on, and a part of me wanted to know what.

Deciding it wasn't worth it, I placed it gently back down in front of the paper. I shivered as the feelings lingered on my hands. I tried to shake the feeling, but it seemed to linger in the air around me.

I was so focused on the negative feeling in the air, I almost forgot what I'd come to do. A rattling noise from behind me managed to bring me back though, making me whirl around. Behind me were the different piles of items, none of them seemed to have been moved in any which way except for a skeleton in really strange clothing. My eyes darted about, trying to find the disturbance. A second later though, the strangest thing happened.

The skeleton moved.

My jaw nearly hit the floor as I stared at the skeleton. "Did-did you just move?"

The skeleton didn't bother answering as it took another step forward. A green mist seeped out of its mouth, slowly filling the room. I backed away slowly as the mist approached me, the chakra in the air practically moldable. It was making me nervous as the mist came within inches of touching me.

Then I ran out of room, backing into the wall. The stairs were on the other side of the room, and the skeleton was between me and them, cutting off any escape. I growled at the skeleton, barely noticing the mist finally reaching me.

The moment it touched me, the mist violently began to change. Instead of being green, it changed into a bright orange color that formed itself into the form of multiple snakes. I scowled at the snakes. Somehow, snakes managed to make their way into my life more and more, and I was really getting sick and tired of how they kept popping up.

The skeleton stepped forward, its eyes were glowing a bright green glow, the mist still coming out in a long stream orange stream. Then, a voice began speaking in my head, scaring the living daylights out of me.

A warrior of a forgotten land
Returns, though forced by another's hand.
Struggling against the Fate's and the odds,
He'll seek the favor of the gods.
Children of the Three he'll call,
Least the land of Olympus should fall.
Wielding a blade of promise and light,
He will lead Halflings and monsters through the coming fight.
Then at the day when the fighting ends,
He must make the choice; his home or his friends.

The mist slowly receded back into the skeleton's mouth, the light fading from its eyes. It seemed to sigh for a second, before walking back to an empty place and settling itself down. After settling in, its entire body seemed to shudder, as though what it had just said had been painful to say, and it wanted nothing more than to be left alone. I decided that this was far to creepy for me. I took off like I was being chased by a stamped of bulls, vacating the room faster than I thought I could move.

Needless to say, I did get sleep that night either.

AN: Well now, wasn't that interesting. Yes, Naruto did just use the Thousand Years of Pain on Percy. In Naruto's defense, Percy deserved that in this part of the Second Book, constanly whining about his half-brother. It was insulting to the other cabins who are filled with half-siblings. Also, I think I might have butchered the Annabeth scene, but the scene itself was there for a reason. As for what that reason is, you'll have to wait and see.

Plus a new prophecy...what am I up to? Changing the dynamic of PJO? Possibly. But then again, you'll still have to keep reading to find out the answers, since only I know it all for now.

Also, despite the fact that PJO is filled with gods, and god-moding is something to be laughed at due to them, I'm not going to overpower Naruto. This isn't his turf, and there are a few new rules that he's having to adjust too. That's why Naruto had a hard time beating Percy; in his world, he'd have beaten him faster than Gai on speed (shudders at the thought). You've probably noticed a few of his new weaknesses already, but it'll be a while before my viewers and Naruto get someone to explain it to you. So keep reading, and most of your questions should be answered…eventually.

Skipping how the pairings are going for now, it's time for some information that is relative, but probably won't matter in the great scheme of things!

Today's info: Everyone in the PJO universe has chakra. There are some differences, but it's still there. Even the monster have chakra, although theirs is different enough for me not to say more.

Also, for all my faithful reviewers! A new subject I wish to bring up. Guest gods. I'm pretty much going to have all of the thirteen major gods show up at one point or another, but is there any minor god that you think Naruto should have any interactions with? If you think of any, review and explain in detail why Naruto should meet them and what their ulterior motive is (if they have one).

Thanks for reading! I hope to enjoy the reviews you all leave.