Hello, It's me again... Huh? Who do you expect then?
-Thanks for your support. I'm really glad to know that my story is accepted by so many people.
-This will be the last normal chapter before we go to the main part of the story. The fight between Ares and Naruto will be coming soon. Stay tune people.
-I really, really, seriously appreciate your reviews. Especially who said adding Gaia would be nice and the one who said about Aphrodite's ability and feelings...
-Hestia and Artemis received the major votes but I haven't thought up a good plot for them... yet. But Gaia already has a pretty good plot and route I think. If you want to know about Gaia's route, I will post some of the major detail next chapter.
-About the Lightning Thief part... I have planned about 50% but there are some problems about Percy Group. Honestly don't know if those kid should appear or not! Naruto will have a major route in that part, true, but the kids... Whatever, I'll make them disappear -_-
-I'm playing Valkyrie Crusade and I'm ranking this event so the update rate will be slower, but i will try to post 2 chapter a week.
-Status: Alive.
-Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter VIII: Feeling Love
-Naruto's Ichiraku
It was a beautiful good day and Naruto decided to open Ichiraku all day to bring his business back on track. It had been a month since Dite Venusa became his employee. Honestly, it was a horrible month to say the least. The beautiful lady was very clumsy when it came to housework and many others. Good thing was that she was willing to learn. She was still clumsy but wasn't too much like before anymore. The blond sighed as he placed his palm under his chin and looked up at the clear blue sky. It really was a nice day and it couldn't get any better when a beautiful blond woman walked into his stand.
-Olympus – Hera's Temple – Minutes Earlier
Hera sighed and placed her feather pen on the table. She had just finished her paperwork for today. She leaned back on her throne and closed her eyes, trying to get some much rest. Images of a certain blond demigod appeared in her mind caused her eyes to snap opened. A slight smile made its way to her face as her blood red eyes softened.
'Come to think about it, it has been two weeks already and I haven't had a chance to visit his ramen stand.' Hera thought silently before she stood up and walked to the entrance of her temple.
'I wonder what Aphrodite will do when she see me.' The Goddess of Marriage mused to herself and in a flash, she had disappeared. She would see if he was worthy of her attention or not before taking her next move.
-Naruto's Ichiraku
"Welcome." Naruto said to the beautiful blond woman as she entered his ramen stand. She wore a long sleeve white shirt with blue jean. Blond smooth hair flowed down her back gracefully framing her face and covered her forehead, her blood red eyes looking at him in amusement.
"What are your orders, lady?" Naruto asked with a smile on his face. The woman smiled back as she called her order. A miso ramen. With that, Naruto went to do his job, leaving the beautiful blond at her seat, looking at him all the while.
'A man like him is bound to meet Aphrodite eventually, handsome and so full of love…'
"Hmm, I don't know you are here too…" A familiar voice snapped the blond out of her thought as she narrowed her eyes and looked at her right. Standing there was an extremely large man with tan skin and white hair flowed down to his mid back while those on top of his head standing straight. Any lesser mortal would be intimidated just by looking at him. His height was easily around 7 and his muscles upon muscles body didn't help much either. The man looked like he could easily carry a car while walking around which wasn't a problem considering who he was.
"…Mother" The tan man said. A smirk made its way to his face as his slit violet eyes looking at the beautiful blond woman in amusement.
"…Hephaestus" The smirk on his face widened as the man now indentified as Hephaestus took a seat next to the beautiful blond who was no doubt Hera by the way he addressed her. Naruto came and delivered Hera her bowl of ramen and asked for the God of Blacksmith's order.
"Miso Ramen." With that, Naruto went off again and the two immortals sat there in silent. The smirk on Hephaestus's face never ceased as he looked at his mother who was eating the ramen elegantly.
"Decided to go with it huh, mother?" Hephaestus asked seriously as he ate his bowl. Hearing the question, Hera reluctantly placed down her chopstick and nodded with her eyes closed. Hephaestus, despite their bad relationship in the past, had become her favorite son after he rescued her from the black pit of Tartarus.
"And your target is… Aphrodite's boyfriend? The God of Blacksmith asked with amusement in his voice. Hera narrowed her eyes at Hephaestus. How could he know about Aphrodite's relationship? What would he do about that? Hera began to worry since everyone in Olympus knew what Hephaestus had done to Ares after he found out about Aphrodite's relationship with the God of War.
"How?" Hephaestus smirked at his mother and puffed his muscles chest out proudly.
"I'm the God of Blacksmith and to an extent, machine. My spy network isn't to be underestimated." Hera nodded and opened her mouth but was cut off by her son who knew what she was going to say.
"Don't worry, I won't harm your little boyfriend-" A death glare was sent to him by Hera but he just shrugged it off like it was nothing. Naruto wasn't her boyfriend, and he wasn't a boy. 'man' or 'life partner' sounded better for her. Then again, they weren't in a relationship with each other... yet. So... she would prefer 'potential life partner'.
"-In fact, I give you and Dite my full support in this." Hephaestus said, that annoying smirk still on his face. Hera blinked and looked at him questioningly. Hephaestus? Support his wife and his mother cheating? In that situation, even a calm goddess like Hera could only give out one answer.
"Huh?" With that, the God of Blacksmith burst out laughing ignoring the death glare Hera was giving him for daring to prank her. Despite his fearsome feature, Hephaestus was a lively god with as much talent in trolling and pranking that even Hermes had trouble when being targeted.
The laughter died down and Hephaestus ordered another bowl. He had to admit that the stuff was good and could rival his mother's and Hestia's homemade. The two ate in silent with Hera having an annoyed looked on her face. Hephaestus had been finding his chance at trolling her ever since their relationship cooled down and while it was annoying, it also was heartwarming to the Goddess of Marriage. Hera wanted a happy family after all.
"Why?" Hera asked, she couldn't understand. Her son always tried to embarrass Aphrodite and Ares when the two were still in a relationship together, why would he support his wife cheating on him now?
"Do you still remember when Zeus ordered me to marry Aphrodite?" Hera nodded. Of course she remembered, Aphrodite had been so tearful back then when she tried to convince her into voiding her marriage with Hephaestus. If it wasn't because of Zeus, she would have helped her back then. Hephaestus had also come and talked with her about the same problem but to no avail. She widened her eyes as she thought about it.
"Right. I don't love Aphrodite, she is beautiful and extremely adorable but she isn't my type of woman. And Aphrodite had said she didn't have any feelings for me either. We are just husband and wife on paper, not once did we sleep together. We are just friend at most." Hephaestus said honestly as he ordered another bowl, adding to his already pretty tall pile.
"I hate Ares and don't want Dite to settle down with him that's why there are a lot of trap around the world just for them. This time, I fully support her because I know this boy, Uzumaki Naruto could make her happy." Hera nodded at that. She could feel his love now, and true to Aphrodite's story about, his love was the most beautiful thing ever. Hera smiled softly at that but sighed a moment later. Because of Hephaestus, she hadn't had the chance to talk to Naruto to know him better. But there was still time, she would continued to observe her target before she deemed he was worthy of being her partner for the rest for eternity.
"Mother… I know you want happy family too, and Uzumaki Naruto can give it to you. I don't plan to stop you from seducing him-" A death glare was sent to him courtesy of Hera, she knew that was true but 'seduce' sounded like she was stealing him from someone. 'conquer his heart' or 'fight for his affection' sounded better. "-Just be aware of Father. He won't take it lightly if he find out you are cheating on him" Hera frowned as she placed her chopstick down after he had finished 4 bowls and stood up.
"Hn, that bastard doesn't deserve me as his wife, never have and never will. He cheats on me countless time, he doesn't have the right to say that." With that Hera walked up to Naruto and asked him for the recipe of his delicious ramen. She couldn't do delicious food without knowing the recipe it took. That's why only she and Hestia could cook so well. If Aphrodite tried to make food with her magic without knowing the recipe and how to cook it, it would just blown off on her face.
"I wish you good luck then. When it came to love, Aphrodite would be pretty scary."
"Me too, son" Hera waved good bye to Naruto and walked away to find a safe spot before teleporting away, leaving no trace behind. At Ichiraku, Hephaestus sat silently on his chair before he felt a familiar celestial power behind him and stood up.
Aphrodite had just returned from the supermarket, Naruto had tasked her the mission to buy groceries and she had completed it. Skipping to Ichiraku with a smile on her face, Aphrodite quickly froze when she felt his celestial power. Her eyes turned dull and the smile on her face disappeared. She walked slowly to the huge man, her mind racing, trying to find a reason for Hephaestus to be here. Based on her experiences, the God of Blacksmith had always tried to ruin her dates with Ares. Could it be that he wanted to kill Naruto too?
Turning around, Hephaestus was greeted by a narrowed eyes Aphrodite. The Goddess of Love was standing there, with her arms crossed looking at him with cautious eyes. He smirked.
"Look like you find yourself a good boyfriend, Aphrodite. Uzumaki Naruto huh?" Her eyes turned cold as her boyfriend's name was mentioned. Her relationship with him wasn't official yet and the blond hadn't said anything either, but she knew that he was having thought about her lately. As if Fate was playing with her life, Hephaestus - her husband came and she didn't have a clue about what he was going to do now.
"Cool down, Aphrodite. I'm not going to do anything in fact, I'll give you my full support this time." Just like Hera earlier, Aphrodite blinked and could only utter a single word.
"Huh?" This time, Hephaestus sweatdropped. Why did he keep receiving that reaction? The God of Blacksmith sighed, maybe, he should stop trolling people. But life would be too boring if there was no troll.
"As I said, I totally agree with your relationship with Uzumaki Naruto and give you're my full support." He said and retold his reasons to Aphrodite with that annoying smirk on his face again. Aphrodite eyes's lit up and she bowed at Hephaestus who raised an eyebrow at her sudden action. Normally, Aphrodite would hug people when she wanted to thank someone, he was not an exception. A light bulb suddenly appeared on his head as he looked behind him to see the blond demigod serving his customers with a smile on his face. Uzumaki Naruto had somehow, changed Aphrodite into a prober woman who no longer made unnecessary close contact with others.
The Goddess of Love was willing to change for her love, his mother would be facing a hard opponent now. He shrugged of Aphrodite's thank and wished her good luck one last time before walking away to find a safe location to teleport back to Olympus. He had job to do.
"Who is he, Dite? Your acquaintance?" Naruto asked from afar and Aphrodite turned to him, smiling radiantly. She shook her head and ran up to him with a grocery bag.
"Hihi, uhm, just an old friend of mine, Naruto-kun" Naruto smiled and the two continued the business.
-Later that day – Naruto's House
"Beatrice! I'm home" Naruto called out as he stepped into his house with Dite Venusa following closely behind him. Despite having her own house just a few steps from his, the beautiful red head always stayed at his home except night, but that was because he kicked her out before she could beg him to let her stay… and sleep on his bed… with him…
"Welcome home, Tou-chan, Dite-chan!" Beatrice relationship with Aphrodite had advanced pretty fast ever since The Goddess of Love gave the little girl some of the sweets she received from a relative in French. She ran to the little girl and hugged her with as much passion as possible. Laughter could be heard from even far away as the two played with each other.
Standing at the entrance to his house, looking at the scene before him, Naruto couldn't suppress a smile from gracing his face. A burning, strange sensation in his heart as he watched the two played with each other. He wanted to protect them, he wanted to do everything he could for them and he wanted the three of them could stay this way forever. He didn't know if it was too late or too early, but there was one thing Naruto had just realized.
This family needed a woman named Dite Venusa and… He needed her as well. The cheerful beautiful lady with a love for sweet had become an indispensible part of his little family and his life. At that moment, Uzumaku Naruto had silently made a vow to himself.
Even if Gods and Demons standing in his way, he wouldn't back down from protecting her, ever.
'That's a promise. And an Uzumaki never breaks a promise.'
End Chapter VIII - Feeling Love
-I have the idea of how to write this chapter, how should it flow but when it came to writing it out... I'm at a lost so if its bad, please accept for my apology. Next chapter will be better (I hope)
-Please support this poor, new writer T_T
