Naruto was in the pavilion, with a tied up Zoë secured to a barstool glaring at him.
"What is the meaning of this!" she would shout, and Naruto would only look at her with a crazy grin.
"You don't know…so you must learn!"
Then, with a less than sane cackle, he would return to his cooking pot, giggling every now and then. Zoe was starting to seriously contemplate her safety with every little shiver that came over his shoulders at his smothered laughter. She tried escaping, but the more she tried, the tighter the bindings got. She tried cutting, burning, and breaking the rope, but it remained undamaged. She idly wondered what cursed materials were introduced during its creation, but resolved herself to the fate she would soon discover. He would not harm her under the pledge to her Patron, she would survive this.
After a few minutes, Naruto turned to her with a massive grin and stars in his eyes. In his hands, was a…bowl?
Naruto set it down in front of her, and she was immediately hit with a strong smell of seasons and flavor. She didn't deny that it smelt good, but not to her particular liking. Naruto plopped down in front of her on the other side of the counter, and gave her a pair of chopsticks. She looked at him quizzically, and he only grinned.
"Behold Zoë, the true Food of the Gods!" Naruto said with a dramatic wave of his hands and snap of chopsticks.
She didn't look convinced.
Naruto hurried over and undid the bonds on her hands, she tried to get free, but Naruto immediately stopped her efforts.
"Do not resist, you will appreciate my efforts after this, you will be awakened to the one true way." Naruto said strongly, his eyes no longer holding rationality. She looked past him and saw to her horror, the rest of the Hunters…
They were simply just watching, some were even looking at the bot in curiosity to see if there was more to go around.
"Help me!" Zoë hissed, and Pheobe only shook her head sadly, "Its ok, you will understand, it's the True Way."
Zoë turned to Naruto, snarling in partial anger and panic. "Stop with the clones!"
Naruto smirked and prodded her forehead, which only increased her anger, "I am NOT eating that!"
Naruto looked like he had been physically stabbed, and even staggered back a few paces. Zoë sprung free from his weakened grasp and hissed at him. Naruto actually fell to the ground and started tracing circles with his finger.
"But it's divine." He said childishly with a pout, continuing his circling. Zoë was agape at this display, before looking back at the bowl suspiciously and then back to the blonde.
"Is it poisoned?"
Naruto snapped to his feet, looking genuinely insulted "As IF I would DEFILE the Food of the Gods!"
Zoë honestly wasn't sure how to think about the male in front of her. He was strong, godly strong, and yet it he never loomed over anyone, only carried them higher. Even in their battle, his clones never did any real harm to them. He never touched them perversely when he had the chance, and even respected them enough to not hold back unrealistically.
She slumped a little.
Something she didn't do.
She sighed, "Very Well…I will try this…concoction, but in exchange-"
Naruto appeared in front of her with stars in his eyes, grabbing her hand and shaking it.
"ThankyouThankyou! You won't regret it! I surrendered the duel just so you could try it!"
She was shocked at that; he threw away a win for her to simply try this? She doubted it was hidden cowardice…
What is Ramen?
She walked to the stool and sat down, before lifting the chopsticks and stabbing them into the broth. She picked up a few noodles and smelled them, looking for any source of toxins or poisons.
Nope, only salty goodness.
She sighed and with a prodding look from Naruto, she put it in her mouth.
Flavor…a lot it! It was like a whole feast of meaty flavors with salt and seasonings in a bite! She stabbed for more and drank the broth, appreciative of the dish. Naruto watched with a smile, but felt his mood darken slightly as he remembered the True Food of the Gods…Ayame and Teuchi's Ramen.
Kami he wanted a bowl…or thirty.
Zoë finished her bowl in around ten minutes, placing her chopsticks on the bowl and dabbing the corners of her mouth.
"I must confess, this dish wasn't bad, but it still falls below Ambrosia by a margin." She said, but when she looked at him, she was shocked to find him in his own little world.
With a tear running down his cheek.
"Naruto?" she called, and he snapped to his senses. He seemed to realize his situation and smiled at her brightly, a look ruined by his tear. He realized this a second later, and brushed it away with a sad smile.
"Zoë, I have a confession to make, this is my attempt at the Food of the Gods…it isn't really it…the real stuff comes from my home world, made by a father and daughter duo…my favorite people in my entire life. I'm sorry to say…that I will never be able to replicate their dishes…but I can say something with certainty…"
He regained his grin and pointed at himself victoriously, "My Ramen is three margins worse than theirs! and if it is only one margin behind Ambrosia, than it is indeed supreme!" he struck a victory pose, peace sign and all. Zoë only stared at him in befuddlement, before shaking her head and walking away.
"You're weird."
Naruto wilted, but sighed and cleaned up his mess. "Yeah yeah…"
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Zoë walked to the rest of the Hunters, warmth in her stomach and her mind lost in thought.
'Ayame and Teuchi…huh…perhaps from…wait, he said 'home world', does that mean he isn't even supposed to exist here?...maybe that isn't why he is like the other males…because he truly isn't one of them.'
"Lieutenant!" Pheobe called, and Zoë flinched from her thoughts and looked up at them, determination in her eyes.
"Girls, we must win."
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Naruto walked back towards the clearing he left the girls in, noticing it was empty and he sighed, before calling out.
"I know you are there! Can you come out so we can start the Hunt? If not I'm just going to wait…which is in my favor anyway as you have to catch me!" he said, before sitting down on a flat space and sighing.
A few seconds later, Zoë and Pheobe appeared, rope in their hands, "Well boy, ready to surrender?"
Naruto sighed, "And here I thought we moved past that, Its Naruto, that's my name. I'm not 'boy' or 'male' or any other derogatory name. I have a name, use it."
They looked at him curiously, before approaching him at fast speeds. Naruto rolled backwards and stood up, jumping back and landing with his back to a tree.
"We have an omission to make to the laurels." Zoë said, and Naruto frowned, "What do you wish to add?"
Zoë smiled, "Should we win, I will lead the quest to save My Lady."
Naruto blinked, and then looked confused, "I thought that was what we were going to do anyway…was there something I missed?"
…
Blink.
"What?" Pheobe asked incredulously, her voice losing its harshness, "You were going to let us lead?"
Naruto frowned, "Why wouldn't I? I'm new to this world, I hardly know anything on the grand scheme of things, and any team I led would surely suffer. Zoë from what I understand is nearly two thousand years old, she has infinite more experience than I do on this world, and you trust her. Why wouldn't she lead when she is clearly the best candidate?"
Zoë shook her head, "You said it again, "This world", what do you mean? Were you originally not?"
Naruto's expression darkened, "Yes, I am not. I haven't been in this world for more than what you call a year."
That was a shocker.
Pheobe looked less than believing, "Where do you come from then? Hell?"
Naruto's lips curled into a small…cruel smile, "Yeah…something like that."
That was chilling. The vocal, cheerful blond of sunshine wasn't there anymore…he was colder, darker, full of pain, anger, and loneliness. He literally had a dark aura around him, before it suddenly vanished, and he looked back up at them with his usual smile.
"Are you sure you want to waste time like this? You have until sunrise, and your dawdling."
Zoë really wasn't sure what to think at this point, so she went with her gut feeling.
"You're weird."
Naruto twitched, and his head cocked to the side. "Yeah yeah…you said that earlier, anyway, was there something else you wanted to add?"
Pheobe stepped forward, "I want the answer to three questions, with complete answers and honesty."
Naruto frowned, "That is a dangerous statement, may I know what the questions are on?"
"You."
"My abilities?"
"No."
That surprised Naruto, looking at her in confusion, "What could you possible want to know?"
"You will find out at the end of the duel." Phoebe said, gripping the rope. Naruto held her gaze for a moment, before sighing.
"And if I win?"
"I solemnly swear to never shoot you in the nuts."
Naruto perked up at that. "Tempting…hmm…I guess I will see when you ask your questions. Now come at me."
The girls huffed at not getting an answer, and charged forward. A few sneaky hunters tried to get behind him, but let out startled cries as the tree Naruto was backed up against was actually several clones standing on each other's shoulders. Naruto grinned and then jumped at his clones, where they all scrambled with each other, hiding the original within their ranks. Eventually, they all formed into five rows of five.
"Can you find the real one?" they all chorused together, and the girls readied their arrows.
"I wouldn't do that! Three of us are explosive!" chimed a clone from the corner, and the Hunters instantly hesitated.
"Greek Fire?" asked a hunter.
The clone looked confused, "I don't know what that is, but if it blows up, sure! You can call it that!" he laughed, and the other clones joined him in their chuckles.
The hunters were really wigged out by that.
They all started walking through the lines, inspecting each clones to see if they could identify the real one. Each Naruto grinned, and another spouted off.
"If you guess the wrong one, we scramble again! Back to square one!"
"Unless he explodes! At which point, its game over anyways!"
They all laughed, before they all stopped suddenly.
"But seriously, don't blow up, it might kill."
The hunters eyes narrowed, before braving on undeterred. Naruto grinned at that, and waited for them to come to a conclusion. They examined each Naruto, before walking back and frowning.
And then they all started running. The clones looked confused at that, but then noticed a weird green jar on the floor.
It was really pretty.
It glowed faintly, and was really hot, the clones were transfixed by this, and then an arrow came through the pierced the jar.
Explosion time.
The clones nearest instantly puffed out of existence. The ones farther away were thrown back from the force. The Hunters charged back and started picking off suspicious clones, and eventually, they stopped, with 12 clones left. They looked at each of the clones, and one of them grew angry.
"Oi! That could have killed someone!"
He was instantly shot, and he puffed into smoke, the hunters cursed, but Pheobe explained.
"You survived Apollo's touch when in the morning; Greek Fire would have barely harmed you."
One of the clones grinned, and then he undid his jacket. On the inside, were these weird tags that pulsed and flames brightly. The Hunters immediately backed away, their danger senses telling them to flee. The Clone grinned.
"Let me show you what an enemy of mine called Art."
He exploded in a ground shaking boom, the light waking all the campers from their bunks and lighting up the skies. When the Hunters returned, they saw a massive crater and a bleeding Naruto near the outskirts. The hunters immediately rushed forward, but when they got close, Naruto rolled out of the way and tumbled down the crater side, before coming to a skidding halt and standing up with blood dripping from his face and steam sealing his cuts. The Hunters were bewildered by his regeneration, and Naruto cursed mentally.
'What the Hell was that! I wasn't even close! Since when were those tags that strong!'
"It's that fact that there isn't a chakra in this world Kit, it naturally reacts much stronger than it would normally, it's a miracle I'm here, or you would have been critically injured."
Naruto frowned at that, that wasn't expected. If all his seals were that much stronger, maybe that was any his summoning didn't work…he was probably summoning the whole freaking mountain with the chakra he was putting into it.
That was a comforting thought…maybe he really could see them again.
And they could take him home.
Naruto took in a few shaky breaths before a smile came to his face. He could feel it, Hope, it was here with him.
He crossed his fingers and beamed at the night sky.
"TAIJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he bellowed, and the entire crater and surrounding forests were covered in smoke.
The hunters jaws dropped as the smoke cleared, revealing an army.
A clone army.
Thousands of Naruto clones were crammed together, looking at Naruto with hope before he muttered to them.
"Go…see if it's true. Don't you dare dispel until you can confirm it. Go…and please be right."
They all nodded, before sprinting off at terrifying speeds. Naruto watched them go with a small smile of Hope, something all the Hunters missed except one.
"What happened?" Zoë called, and Naruto grinned at her. "Hope"
She stared at him for a moment, before charging him, the rest of the Hunters coming after him. Naruto grinned at all of them, his old self burning at him. He could see them, he could hear them.
Tsunade-baachan, Gaara, Bee, Kakashi-sensei, The Toads, Kono and his little crew, the Hidden Leaf Village.
He could hear them.
He roared at the sky and charged the Hunters, who noticed his change and feel his hope, his desperate hope.
They clashed.
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The Sun rose, and the second Curfew was up, the campers came running out, inspecting the field. They knew the game between Naruto and the Hunters was happening, but the harpies came to eat them, and so they had to leave…but everyone was curious on what caused the big bang last night.
The camp rushed forward, and was in awe and horror at what they saw.
The forest…it was smaller.
And a really big hole was the reason. In the center, it looked like a lake used to be there, and but now it was completely dried up, near the bottom ring, a weird wall was up, with a strange power coursing through it…and at the bottom was Naruto. He was out like a light, with several of the Hunters surrounding him, either knocked out or sleeping peacefully. Some were beginning to wake up, and all the campers retreated in fear.
They would wait till the storm was over before looking at the damage.
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Zoë was the first to wake up.
She was sleeping fairly well, but when she felt the ground beneath her she tensed.
This was earth, not her sleeping bag.
She sat up quickly, examining her surrounding and checking for weapons. She glanced at her Sisters, and saw they were all sleeping on the ground, surrounding a snoring Naruto, who had a rope tied securely around his foot.
She blinked as her memories came back and she smiled.
They had won…though not really.
They had eventually captured a clone, and tied him up. When Naruto appeared, they told him they had won as they had captured 'him' as the clones were technically him. He fought with them, and when they were arguing, he tripped an old trap that was there long before they arrived that night. The Hunters were quick to grab him and say they won. He looked incredulous, and eventually they all laughed…which was weird, he was a male, that didn't happen. Eventually, one by one, her sisters had started to pass out. Naruto had tried to carry them, Pheobe protested vehemently, and so, they camped in the center of the crater…thought if she remembered right, Naruto was outside of it.
Zoë heard a small choking sound, and she looked over to see Naruto with his eyebrows drawn together and cold sweat in his face. His right hand twitching, a blue energy appearing and disappearing in his palm, responding to his dream-self calling to it. She frowned and tried to wake him, but she was soon flying backwards as a foot stretched out and planted itself on her chest with great force, grinding her skin as she slide against the inclining slope. A blue spiraling sphere in his right hand outstretched, his eyes clouded…and then the fog vanished, before dispelling his attack and rushing over to Zoë, who had blood leaking out of her mouth.
"Dammit! Don't DO that!" Naruto chastised her in anger and worry as he bit his thumb and drew a circle on her stomach with his blood, before going through some hand signs and placing his hands in a triangle shape over the circle so it was in the open space between his hands. Zoë rasped and coughed a few more times, before her breathing cleared and Naruto's blood smoked and vanished, though a faded red circle was on her stomach like a scar.
Zoë glared at him, before letting her head fall, which Naruto caught with a look of dismay and she muttered something out.
"I'm sorry…"
"Hmm?"
"IM SORRY!" she shouted at him, before turning her head away, "I shouldn't have done that."
Naruto grinned, "Apologized or tried to wake me up?"
She glared at me before coughing and flicked him the throat. "Let go, before the Hunters kill you for touching me."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Naruto flinched and immediately propped Zoë up, before cowering behind her. Pheobe and a few other Hunters were up, noticing the noise, and more were on the way.
"An accident, don't worry, I'm fine." Zoë said with placating hands, though she didn't know why the hell she was defending him.
"THERE IS BLOOD ON YOUR MOUTH!"
Naruto hastily brought a hand around with a warm white towel that he got from who knows where, and quickly dabbed her mouth clean, before shrinking back.
"What blood?" Zoë asked innocently, and Pheobe was speechless. Zoë felt Naruto's healing hands or her back, and pushed herself onto her feet, feeling good as knew.
"Do not delay, we have a battle with Camp Half-Blood soon, so gear up and prepare!" Zoë ordered, before walking off, Naruto being left in the line of fire. He smiled nervously, before slamming both palms on the ground and the weird wall around them lost its power, and then crumbled.
He was sent a few questioning looks and Naruto only grumbled.
"To protect you from the monsters in this forest while we slept, jeez…what did you think I was doing? Keeping you prisoner?" he thought angrily, before jumping high in the air and running off.
"I hope he isn't participating in the games." A hunter said quietly.
She was answered with solemn nods.
Pheobe on the other hand watched him go, before turning to them to get ready.
'I have my questions boy, and you will answer them.'