Naruto stood with Beckendorf in the middle of the main attack force in his shinobi battle armor. He knew that he could have been perfectly fine in one of the infiltration teams or handling the defense. However, Naruto had asked for this position because he wanted the other team to focus on him. Most of the Ares's Cabin would want a crack at him to get back at their uncle for wrecking their cabin. Almost all of them were cool with Naruto except for a few older hotheads, but it was the principal of the thing. Plus, he figured that many of Athena's and Apollo's children would also want a crack at him to test out the new guy. That was why Naruto wore his celestial bronze forged shinobi armor. Its distinct design would focus even more attention on him.

Beckendorf looked at the assembled attack force with determination. He knew that his team could win even though traditional thinking said they were most likely going to lose. As soon as Chiron blew his horn to start the game Beckendorf hollered out. "Alright Red Team Assault squad, move out!" As the three dozen halfbloods jogged to the creek, Beckendorf turned to look at Naruto. He then grinned and said, "Let them know we're coming Naruto."

A grin appeared on the shinobi's face as he brought his hands behind his back out of view and rapidly preformed four handsigns to a jutsu he had been eager to try out. Naruto tilted his head back without breaking his stride and let loose a blood curdling howl that echoed throughout the forest. Even though everyone on Red team had been briefed on this, almost everyone on the assault squad froze for a second in fear. Not that anyone could blame them as Naruto's wolf howl combined with the Yawn of Bishamonten jutsu made it sound like the whole forest was infested with rabid hellhounds. The Yawn of Bishamonten was an old jutsu that had fallen out of favor in the elemental nations when combat shifted primarily to shinobi on shinobi conflicts. The jutsu amplified a person's voice and laced it with killing intent. It was very useful for breaking enemy moral and causing confusion among levy armies and samurai. Not so much for ninjas except for teachers to quiet down rowdy students.

Thankfully, Beckendorf hadn't flinched at Naruto's howl and called out, "Come on everyone and get across the creek! I'm sure half of the blue team is still in shock and the other half is trying to reorganize for a hellhound attack they probably think is on the way. Do you want to waste this opening that Naruto got for us?" With his team rallied, Beckendorf quickly walked through the creek and onto the other side. Naruto jumped over the creek and then stood guard as everyone else crossed it.

Soon enough, the red team had its first encounter with the blue team. It was just three boarder patrolmen from the Athena Cabin who had pulled back to prepare for a monster attack. They were quickly taken out by three of Hermes' children using slings and knockout pellets supplied by Naruto. The two youngest campers on the assault squad stayed behind for a little bit to secure the three members of blue team that had just been sent to Morpheus. That was their task on the team, securing fallen enemies so that they couldn't reenter combat.

The Assault squad was able to take out six more members of the blue team in two quick strikes following the same pattern as the first three. In all honesty, Naruto and Beckendorf were surprised that they were able to catch nine enemy teammates without getting stuck in a pitch battle. Sure they had expected some disarray from Naruto's attack, but not this much. Fortunately for their nerves, they soon came upon the main group of the blue team attackers which had reorganized itself in a defensive formation. There was a brief second of confusion and disbelief on the part of the blue team when they saw the red team's assault squad. Realization quickly hit them that the hellhounds they had been preparing for weren't real. Many of Athena's children wondered how the red team had simulated a hellhound howl, but they knew that now wasn't the time to think about it.

Naruto quickly demonstrated his prowess in warfare once the battle started. He was like a demented gopher on coffee as he jumped between blue team members and off of various trees in his assault. Everyone knew that he was in extremely good physical condition, but no one had expected such an off the wall unorthodox fighting style. How could the blue team prepare a defense against him when the shinobi halfblood would attack at previously unknown openings? Annabeth was knocked out in the first minute as Naruto jumped over her head, kicked her in the back, and then used her as spring board for his next attack.

The other members of the red team weren't about to just let Naruto win the day for them by himself. They all put pressure on the disorganized blue team knocking more and more opponents out of the fight. Occasionally, one of the red team would be knocked out by the blue team. But, for every member of the red team taken down the red team lost three.

The senior members of the Ares and Athena cabins tried to rally the blue team. Unfortunately for the blue team, the senior members of the two cabins had different ideas of what should be done leading to confusion. This confusion only helped the red team which now moved under Beckendorf's orders to split the blue team in two. With the blue team now broken and having less team members still active, a route was inevitable. The only thing that stopped the blue team from breaking any semblance of defense and running was Chiron's horn cutting through the battle. The call on the horn signified that the red team had successfully retrieved the blue team's flag.


Up in Alaska, Sk'elep watched the red team's victory through the smoke of a campfire with a smirk on his face. Part of the coyote spirit wished he could be on Olympus to see the looks on the deities' faces over this upset victory. The only reason he wasn't on Olympus was security was still heightened after his last prank. You'd think that the goddess of sluts would be a little more receptive of having her temple decked out as a sleazy bordello. After all, Aphrodite had slept with every guy on that mountain at least once! At least Sk'elep had Hermes and Apollo as fall guys for the Olympians to blame that prank on. However, the mountain's internal security would be on alert for the next couple of months and Sk'elep really didn't feel like making enough mist to make any of the deities forget him if they were to catch him on the mountain.

Naruto's victory made Sk'elep extremely proud of his idiotic student. The boy had properly used everyone's abilities in the mock battle. That was something that the halfbloods hadn't done since Camp Halfblood 12 was founded in England two centuries ago. Furthermore, Naruto had played a decisive role in the battle without giving away his jutsu abilities. That would be vital in Sk'elep's bid to the Council of Regents to let him teach the boy more about the true reality of the Western mythical realm. It was also great to see that Naruto wasn't trying to claim the credit he deserved for being such a critical part of the red team's success.

Sk'elep's private viewing ended when Iktomi crawled into the clearing. The spider spirit quickly changed from his animal form to human form. Sk'elep looked at his old prankster buddy with a grin that quickly turned to a frown. Iktomi's face was serious and his eyes lacked the usual luster that they had when he usually visited Sk'elep. The coyote spirit blew out the fire ending the smoke signal viewer and got up to walk over to his old friend. In a serious tone Sk'elep asked, "What is wrong brother?"

Iktomi sighed and replied, "That cursed proto-roman bitch sent yet another of her children to find that blasted statue of hers!" His voice was now filled with self-loathing and rage as he started to rant. "I'm getting sick and tired of having to kill every kid she sends to try and reclaim her status as a war goddess among the corrupted. I'm telling you Sk'elep, that we should have expunged her from existence when she was born like those other divine bastards of Zeus who showed the taint. I mean the taint was practically radiating from her at birth so the council should have been able to see the problems we could face with her running around."

This was an old issue with Iktomi and Sk'elep repressed a groan as he pulled out a beer for his fellow spirit. When Iktomi grabbed the beer Sk'elep spoke up. "Tecolote messed up then no doubt about it. But to be fair, Athena did spring from her father's head so it would have been impossible to tell what part of those vile energies was her taint and what part was the corruption within her father. The fact that she sprang from Zeus's head as an adult and in the middle of the Olympian council would have made it impossible to expunge her even if Tecolote had immediately discovered that she was tainted instead of carrying the corruption like her siblings. Remember that when Tecolote did realize his mistake he voluntarily exiled himself to keep her taint in check by becoming her symbol." It was rather darkly humorous that the spirit of death, ill omens, and black magic was regarded by the Olympian subsection of the west as a symbol of wisdom.

Tears formed in Iktomi's eyes as he futilely fought to keep from crying. "I can't keep doing this Sk'elep. I really can't. Why does she always have to send the best and brightest after that blasted statue? So much potential wasted and I'm the one who has to insure that the damn thing isn't found. What's worse is that I have to succeed every damn time or the beast slumbering within her will break loose. We should have gotten the Romans to force her to fade like they did to Selene and Helios. Why did the tainted bitch live while two nearly uncorrupted deities die?"

Before Sk'elep could try and comfort Iktomi further, Kok'-kol flew down to the clearing like the raven spirit had been shot out of a cannon. Kok'-kol had a wild look in his eye as he practically pounced on coyote spirit. "Did your student have anything to do with it?!" Kok'-kol continued to repeat the question over and over while shaking the spirit so hard that he imitated a bobble head doll.

Finally Sk'elep was able to break Kok'-kol's grip and knock the bird on his butt. "By the Great Spirit, pull yourself together! What is this it that has you so hyped up?"

Kok'-kol took a deep breath to calm down and then spoke with barely contained excitement. "Hera no longer carries any corruption."

"Impossible!" Iktomi shouted out in disbelief. "No one has been free of corruption since the Abyss War started ending the First Era. The four Kings couldn't find a way to free the realms from the corruption that IT unleashed. Need I remind you that we all carry some of the corruption and even our best efforts over the eons to purify ourselves has only resulted in keeping the corruption from growing? How could the Great Spirit's granddaughter achieve what we could not with a vastly more concentrated amount of corruption without even being aware of it?"

A chill ran down Sk'elep's spine as he remembered a confusing passage from the Great Spirit's codex that had baffled everyone for millennia. "By this sign shall you know that the Trials will be upon the West. A pure deity twice born to the lords of harvest shall give birth to a babe with mortal flesh and divine soul." Sk'elep looked at his companions and explained, "The Transition Prophecies are upon us as we've suspected. Hera has been born twice; once as her divine self and more recently a part of her was reborn as Kushina. She has somehow become purified of the corruption and Naruto as a demi-deity would fit the description of a child with 'mortal flesh and divine soul' if one interpreted it as an allusion to his mixed heritage."

Kok'kol thought about it for a second and shook his head. "That's a possibility, but I don't think that your idea is the correct interpretation of that passage. Halfboods are usually described in the codex as 'mortal flesh and divine blood'. Why use the word soul in that particular passage if it is describing a halfblood? The phrase 'lords of harvest' doesn't make much sense as we've only had one deity use that title and he's still in a thousand pieces. Also, you're cherry picking from the codex as the next passage in the codex has no rational connection to what you've just said. 'Sun and Moon struggle where forefather's land meets forefather's for the right to shed innocence's blood.' Apollo and Artemis may fight a lot, but they would never ever fight the right to kill someone; especially if that person was innocent of any wrong doing. If anything, they'd be the first deities among the Olympians to defend an innocent."

Iktomi cut in at that moment with an almost mad gleam in his eye. "I don't give a damn about the codex at the moment and neither should you two! Our top priority should be on discovering how Hera removed the corruption within herself and finding a way to replicate it on all the deities. Don't you realize what this could mean? We'd no longer have to enforce the Latin Protocols and would no longer have to coax the deities from using their corrupted forms. The risk of the beasts awakening would no longer be upon us."


There was a festive mood among most of the cabins in camp halfblood as the red team was still giddy over its upset victory against the blue team. Even Mr. D was in a good mood over the game. His pleasure seemed to come more from the shock and disbelief of the Apollo, Athena, and Ares cabins over the fact that their sure win had been taken from them. It had been the most stacked game in the past century and the underdog had scored an almost perfect victory. That was not something that any of the campers' prides would forgive quickly.

The only unusual thing that happened during breakfast is that a dryad appeared from the forest and quickly walked to the head table. Usually, the dryads did their own thing during mealtimes since they didn't need to eat. The dryad walked over to Mr. D and hurriedly passed a message to him. Naruto was one of the few campers who had noticed the dryad's arrival and he frowned. From his vantage point the shinobi couldn't see the nymph's lips to read what she was saying. It had to be important given the serious look on Mr. D's face. For some reason, the god looked towards Naruto and muttered, "Figures."

As the dryad left to return to the woods, Mr. D stood up to address the campers. "Alright you brats, I have just been told of an announcement that you all will find rather important. The Hunters along with Artemis are approaching Camp and are expected to be here in an hour or two."

Demeter's oldest son blurted out, "Damn it! Who won the bet?" Several other older campers started clamoring to know who had won as well. Naruto and all of the campers under sixteen were scratching their heads in confusion. What bet were the older campers talking about? For that matter, when was betting allowed in camp in the first place?

Charlie Eppes, the councilor for Cabin 6 and a prodigy even among his siblings, reached into his backpack where he kept his graduate research work and pulled out a small booklet. Naruto had a great deal of respect for Annabeth's oldest sibling still attending camp. The seventeen year old already had a bachelor's degree in mathematics, almost had a master's degree, and was on course to start his Ph.D. almost a year before most campers left for college. Charlie quickly leafed through the booklet and said, "The pot of 200 drachmas goes to Gleeson Hedge for correctly guessing when Artemis and her hunters would visit Camp this year."

Annabeth looked up at her big brother and asked in a demanding tone. "What is this bet Charlie and why did so many people think that the Hunters would be coming to Camp when it's been almost a decade since their last visit?"

Naruto noted that Charlie glanced in his direction after being questioned by Annabeth. There was too much background noise for him to hope to hear what Annabeth asked and his view was again blocked from being able to see her lips. Most likely she was asking about the bet, but that only added more confusion for Naruto. What in pervy uncle's name was his connection to this bet as Charlie's glance suggested?

The shinobi halfblood looked around at the various tables hoping to spot the key he needed to unravel this mystery. Unfortunately, most of the older campers were avoiding Naruto's gaze as if in shame. Only Aphrodite's children were willing to look at him, but the look in their eye made Naruto shift his gaze. They had the same gleam in their eyes that he always had whenever some instructor he despised was about to be pranked big time. One of the girls who was in clear view said to one of her friends, "This will be good to watch. Talk about Amateur Hour if ever there was one." Naruto couldn't see the girl's companion clear enough to read her response. What he had read just confused him, what did that camper mean by amateur hour?

With breakfast finished, Naruto was supposed to go his arts and crafts session. However, he decided to bail on that in order to try and figure out what was going on. The young shinobi sat in front of his cabin and began writing out the facts that he could think of that could possibly relate to this situation. One, Artemis had apparently placed him under her protection which was very rare for her to do for a boy. Two, his mother's letter hinted that Artemis's protection was because she was risking some sort of trouble or penalty otherwise. Three, the fact that he was under Artemis's protection had sent up alarms among the halfbloods he knew back up north. Fourth, although Naruto wasn't too sure on this one's relevance, one of his more frequent dreams was of a doe and a dove fighting which suggested some sort of contention between Artemis and Aphrodite. On Naruto's note pad that fact was circled and had a question mark attached to it. It wasn't clear whether those dreams were revealing something relevant to his situation or if they were just reminding him that those two goddesses did not get along. Fact number five was that Artemis and her Hunters were coming to Camp which all the older campers had been suspecting. Finally there was fact six: the elder campers had apparently tide Artemis's arrival with him joining camp. When added up all together these facts equaled?

One might think that being the son of the Goddess of Marriage Naruto would be more aware of relationships and potential romance. The simple fact of the matter is that marriage and romance had absolutely nothing to do with each other. One dealt with important bonds that were the cornerstone of civilization and the other dealt with often fickle emotions. Things were better when marriage and romance aligned which was why Hera and Aphrodite tried to coordinate their efforts in those fields. Not always to best of success as the high divorce rates were showing, but that was something that Hera blamed on Aphrodite and her love for love polygons. Bonds and commitment were at the heart of marriage and Naruto had those concepts woven throughout his being. Anyone who knew him could testify to how seriously he held the bonds of friendship, which were the only bonds he had real experience with, and that his word was as solid as an oath to Styx.

While Naruto was trying to figure out the link between him and Artemis, Chiron was making his usual rounds to catch the stragglers and the activity dodgers. He already had sent three of Hermes's kids back to swordsmanship practice. The old trainer could feel that things would be chaotic enough if his niece was coming to Camp for her hunt; the last thing he needed was a prank war erupting. Chiron saw Naruto by his cabin and was about to grab the boy's ear when he saw the notepad. Very quickly the old teacher realized that Naruto had no knowledge of Artemis ancient wager with Aphrodite. The question on Chiron's mind was whether or not that was a good thing. After a second, Chiron politely coughed to get Naruto's attention. "Naruto, breakfast is over and you need to go to Arts and Crafts."

Naruto looked up at Chiron and said, "Can't I have a few minutes to try and solve this puzzle? All of the older campers are acting like there some sort of connection between me and Lady Artemis which doesn't make any sense. I don't like be out of the loop when something involves me. Can you tell me what everyone is referring to if you know?"

Chiron sighed and replied, "I know what you are asking to know Naruto. However, I must ask you to reign in your curiosity. There could be serious negative consequences for many of you know too much too soon on this issue. Others in Camp know what is in play because it's something we teach the older halfbloods and they've all been sworn to not tell you or any of the younger campers at this time. You will be told what you need to know when the time is right so don't worry. Now, you have a class to get to and I expect you to be there Naruto."


Artemis and her Hunters walked towards the boarder of Camp Halfblood. While the hunters had never been particularly happy going to Camp, this time they had the aura of a funeral procession. Artemis and several of the Hunters winced when they saw Thalia's tree. Thalia's rejection of the Hunt hadn't been the first rejection even in this century. However, it had been the rudest rejection that anyone had given in a very long time. That being said, no one wanted a strong and brave young maiden's life cut so tragically short. For a split second Artemis wished she could trade places with her half-sister before banishing the thought.

Without wasting any more time, the Hunt crossed Camp Halfblood's boarder and made its way to the Big House. When they reached the Big House, Artemis turned around to address her handmaidens. "Go to Cabin 8 and make yourselves at home as we'll be staying here for a while. I will inform Chiron and Dionysus that the Hunt will be staying here for a while."

All of the hunters replied in a resigned tone, "Yes Milady." None of the hunters were happy to be at Camp; especially given that they were going to be looking forward to staying there all summer long. In addition to the usual harassment that they had to put up from the more obnoxious campers they'd have stand by as their lady was forced to court Hera's spawn. It burned them that Artemis was being forced to break her long held and cherished oaths. The only thing that kept the hunters from being up in arms over Artemis being forced into marriage was the fact that she was doing it to protect them. If Artemis was willing to put up with this indignity and disgrace for their sakes than the least they could do was be supportive of her.

Artemis watched her hunters walk over to Cabin 8 and waited for all of them to enter the cabin. If confronted, the goddess would no doubt say that she was watching to make sure none of her hunters were pranked as they settled in from a long journey. The truth was she wanted just a little more time before confronting a fellow Olympian about why she was here. Soon enough all of the hunters entered Cabin 8 and Artemis was left with no more excuses to delay. She firmed up her nerves, opened the front door to the Big House, and walked inside.

Once inside, Artemis recoiled in disgust. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders were all sitting around the poker table playing a game of cards and looking like stereotypical fat white trash trailer park losers. Was it really that hard to comprehend why she liked being a maiden goddess when most men fell to these kinds of standards?

One of the satyrs was half drunk when he and the others looked up from their game to observed Artemis's arrival. The idiot was the first to speak up in a slurred manner. "Hey babe, I hear you're here for a husband. How about ditching the runt and going for a real-"

The elder's sentence was cut off by Artemis whipping out her bow and shooting an arrow through the elder's head. The surviving two elder satyrs immediately bolted from the table and ran out of the house. One actually jumped through the nearby window having deemed the glass safer for his health than Artemis's ire. Dionysus looked at the blood covered playing cards in disgust. Another perfectly good deck wasted because of something involving the brats. He whirled around to face Artemis and demanded, "Why did you have to ruin a perfectly good game? I was winning in case you wanted to know."

Artemis rolled her eyes and said, "I'd suggest that you choose less uncouth players for your next game so that I won't have to ruin your games when I need to put them in their place. My hunt has taken residence in Cabin 8 and will be staying in Camp for the duration of the Summer Term. If you need me I will be talking with Chiron. Also, I will be dining with my Hunters instead of at the head table so inform the nymphs on kitchen duty to make the necessary arrangements."

Dionysus's face started to turn purple with rage. He quickly stood up and walked over to his half-sister and glared at her. "What the Tatarus do you think you're doing Artemis? In case it's slipped your mind Tinkerbell, YOU CAN'T BE HERE! No god or goddess is allowed to stay at Camp Halfblood since that is living with the halfblood brats which is against the law. The only reason I'm stuck in this hellhole is because of father."

The camp director would have continued the rant except that Artemis pulled out a hunting knife and positioned it next to Dionysus's belly. Artemis hissed out in a deadly serious tone, "Shut up or I swear I'll gut you like the pig you pretend to be! That law doesn't apply to me because I don't have halfblood children. I have my hunters and since they are my handmaidens I am allowed to be and stay where ever they are. They are staying at Camp Halfblood for the summer so I will be staying as well. I'm already under enough stress from the current situation as it is so I don't need you aggravating it for me. Is that clear?"

While Dionysus was the god of madness, he was not mad or insane himself. He realized that going against Artemis on this matter would not be good for his health. Dionysus quickly reigned in his temper and said, "Fine if you want your hunters to stay at Camp they can. However, they will have to follow camp rules since you're enrolling them for the summer session. That means that Cabin 8 will have to do all camp activities, their share of the Camp upkeep, and be under the camp's disciplinary rules. You'll also have to do something to help run this Camp since no adult is allowed to live here without being part of the Camp's staff."

A wince appeared on Artemis's face as she had forgotten that rule for Camp Halfblood. She usually just viewed Camp as a convenient recruiting ground and refuge for her hunt when things go too dangerous to have them out in the wild. It was only because of her need to get access to Naruto that she had reread the rulebook for the first time in 400 years. However, Artemis wasn't about to let the rules stop her plans.

With a firm look in her eye Artemis said, "That is acceptable Dionysus. I'll inform Chiron that I will be taking over as the Camp's archery instructor for the summer sessions. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other people in Camp to see." Artemis then left the Big House to let Chiron know about the new situation in Camp.

Dionysus sighed once Artemis was outside and muttered to himself. "I really, really hate my life right now. Just 87 years 10 months 13 days 6 hours and 21 minutes until I am out of this damned mad house."


Author's notes: fun little fact, owls are typically seen as a sign of death and bad luck among cultures that don't have a mythology that descends from the Indo-europeans.