Reading Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian
XIV
"I'll do it," Hephaestus offered gruffly. His wife dropped the book into his hand and he cleared his throat before he started to read.
Naruto and Thalia regrouped with the others a few minutes after Thalia had recomposed herself. The moon was further west than normal, but the group attributed that to Apollo resuming his duty. Naruto called for everyone to make camp and be ready to wake up bright and early. Once he found a place to lie down, Naruto immediately passed out with a snore.
Percy saw this and a dark eyebrow went up in amusement while he thought, Guess making out and running from a giant pig is exhausting. Wonder which one took more out of him?
"It does beg the question," Percy said with a snicker.
"Figures," Thalia murmured as she sat down next to the blond on his left.
"Why not snuggle a wee bit closer Thalia?" Piper asked teasingly.
The raven-haired teenager lay on her side, looking at the snoring blond with a small smile on her face. Her eyes shut while she focused on the sound of his snores.
Aphrodite cooed at that and Thalia just groaned into her hands. Someone make it stop!
Phoebe and Zoë chose to sleep to Naruto's right with a good distance between them. Grover went to take the closest spot by the Hunters, but was stopped by his amused yet exasperated friend when Percy grabbed the satyr's arm and shook his head no.
"You can kiss their butts tomorrow," Percy grumbled as he plopped down and closed his eyes, "Sleep time now."
Grover sighed but agreed, falling to his back with a grunt before he joined the others in the realm of Morpheus.
Naruto's eyes snapped open just as the sun began to rise in the distance. With a grumble, he hugged his pillow tighter and rested his cheek against the fuzzy edging. It took a few seconds before Naruto made the realization that he didn't fall asleep with a pillow, let alone a body sized one.
"No," Thalia whispered in a horrified voice.
Blue eyes with miniature sun-like pupils snapped open before looking down at his 'pillow', the blond's face quickly became red at what he found.
"That's a yes, Thalia," Annabeth whispered back, trying her best hold in her laughter.
Thalia had at some time in the night moved to lie next to him, resulting in their current spooning position.
"Well, you know about subconscious desires, right?" Nico asked with a smile, getting Thalia to look even more horrified. Her rep was falling so fast!
The blond briefly wondered if a quick Kawarimi with someone else would benefit him or if his best course of action would be to jump up from his position.
"I would swap with Zoë; it would be the funniest thing ever," Percy commented grinning, getting Annabeth to nod with him.
He wouldn't have the chance to do either as Thalia started to stir.
"Mn...Stupid rocks," grumbled the raven-haired girl as she shuffled in her sleep in an effort to get even more comfortable. When that failed, she reached behind her towards Naruto's waist where his morning issue was pressing against her.
An uproar of laughter filled the chamber as Thalia just wanted to die, right there and then.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but it became a squeak when Thalia successfully grabbed the offending 'rock' and began pushing it away from her, though it was more along the lines of rubbing Naruto.
"You have to be a bit more gentle Thalia…unless he's into that," Aphrodite supplied.
Thalia turned to her undead uncle and desperately begged, "Kill me."
Hades smiled evilly and shook his head, "No, this is far worse."
Not too keen on getting caught in this embarrassing situation, Naruto quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled his hips back away from her. He quickly released her arm and pulled his other hand out from its resting place, rolling to face the other direction with a burning face.
Well thankfully no one I know witnessed that, Naruto thought in relief.
"Oh he has no idea," Apollo chuckled out.
Meanwhile on Olympus...
Apollo was doubled over in laughter, tears escaping his eyes at what had nearly happened to his son. Sure, he thought that watching his kid sleep was weird, but when he saw the daughter of Zeus had cuddled up to him, he had to see it play out. Not to mention Artemis wasn't around to scold him for being so immature.
The thought of his sister made Apollo's laughter die out before he sighed, "Better get back to the search."
Do me proud, Little Maelstrom, Apollo thought with a smile as he returned to Sol with a flash of light.
Naruto sneezed as he stretched. Rubbing his nose, the blond looked at the sun with an accusing glare.
"Oh, I wonder what for?" Artemis asked sarcastically.
Apollo looked sheepish.
After a moment of silence, he decided to start waking the others up. Going around the small camp, he started to jostle his fellow quest goers awake. Thalia woke up with a small glare that he thought was cute,
"Well, we now know he likes one of Thalia's permanent settings," Leo jested, ducking under a tossed snack.
Percy wiped away the drool that had pooled up around his mouth,
Percy groaned in annoyance; he still did that!
and Grover spat out the dead bush he was gnawing on in his sleep. Waking the Hunters proved to be unnecessary, as they had woken up to Naruto's sneeze.
"Ever alert," Thalia said with a smile.
The Guardian grinned at his fully awakened group before looking to the west. Looking back, he recapped the plan, "Alright, we're going to head towards Uncle Heph's Junkyard. Remember, don't take anything."
The group nodded back to him and they began their trek towards the junkyard in question. Naruto led the way with Thalia close behind him. After a few minutes of silent travelling, Percy spoke, "So...Maybe I should've said this earlier, but Apollo gave me some advice."
"If it had anything to do with girls, I suggest you just forget about it," Naruto quickly replied with a smirk.
"Hey!" The Sun God shouted.
Thalia snickered while the two Hunters smirked at the jab of their Goddess' womanizing brother.
"Always picking on me," Apollo pouted with crossed arms.
"Well, yeah I did that already," Percy returned with his own small smile,
"I am so giving you a sunburn for that, Jackson," Apollo grunted as Percy sputtered, why him?!
"But I'm talking about the quest. He said something about this guy near...Near Us!"
"Nereus!" Naruto and Zoë corrected before eyeing each other. Naruto spoke first, "Jinx! You owe me ramen!"
"Tch, I owe thou nothing," scoffed the Hunter with a frown.
Naruto countered, "You so owe me ramen. I jinxed you, therefore, you owe me ramen!"
"Zoë would never understand that," Annabeth smirked, getting snickers from Thalia and Percy.
"I was under the assumption that you and Grace were, what do they say today, an item? Do you really prefer raw men to her?" Phoebe asked with a smirk.
"Oh ho! A Hunter with some zing!" Ares laughed with the others
"Great, even Phoebe says so," Thalia muttered with burning cheeks.
The group laughed as the two turned red and started to splutter out excuses while they walked. Thalia at the claim of the two demigods being an item and Naruto at the insinuation that he might be gay.
"How do you not know what ramen is?" Naruto finally asked when he got his blush under control, "It's the food of the gods!"
"No it's not," Said the Gods.
"I thought that was ambrosia," Percy teased.
"Exactly," Annabeth stated.
"Same thing," dismissed Naruto, "Dad told me that in the East they found a stash of ambrosia and managed to liquefy it. They added the ambrosia to a bowl of noodles and thus began the wonderful gift to man known as ramen!"
Everyone turned to Apollo who just shrugged haplessly.
"...Holy crap, are you serious?" Thalia asked with wide eyes as the others stared at his back.
"Nope," Naruto replied with a grin, "Mortals and monsters can't eat ambrosia, Thalia-chan, but they created the equivalent to it! It is ramen. It's even in the name! R-AMEN! Hallelujah, praise the Gods above for the delicious food they bestowed unto us!"
"I believe we found something wrong with his head," Athena pointed out blandly.
Thalia stared at the blond before smacking him upside the head for his lame attempt at a joke. Naruto blinked twice before looking at her with a glare.
"First of all, ow," the blond said before grinning once more, "And secondly Zoë-chan still owes me ramen."
"Pay your dues, Zoë," Thalia said with a smirk.
"I owe thee nothing!" Zoë growled in frustration. Percy and Grover stifled their snickers when she locked a glare on them. Phoebe and Thalia still smirked despite the warning look the Lieutenant sent their way.
"You keep telling yourself that," waved off the blond. He looked at the son of Poseidon with an arched brow, "So, my Dad said to find Nereus?"
"Yeah, dunno why, though," shrugged out Percy. Naruto nodded with a hum of thought.
"Well, we'll deal with that when we get to California," the blond said, "He's a sea immortal, so he'll most likely be around the coast."
"Indeed," Zoë agreed, "We must make haste!"
"Lame," Nico groaned, so old fashion talk, and he should know!
"For the love of – No one says that anymore, Nightshade!" Thalia said with an annoyed look on her face.
"Ah, leave it be, Thalia-chan," Naruto said with a smile, "It's not Zoë-chan's fault she's so inept to the ways of modern English. Can you imagine how she'd react to ebonics?"
The Archer twins, the Hunter, and the wisdom sea combo laughed at that one. Oh, poor Zoë if she started to speak that way.
Not waiting for a response, he turned back around and peered ahead, "Well, I'm not usually a betting man, but ten dollars says that's Uncle Heph's junkyard."
The other five followed his gaze before their eyes landed on a large fenced off area with several large silhouettes. The group returned to their silent trek as they raced towards the junkyard. As they got closer, Naruto's left wrist started to burn, though he pushed the feeling away. Upon reaching the main gates after a good ten minutes of walking, Naruto was gritting his teeth at the pain his bracelet was giving him. He slowed down, gaining the attention of the others who followed his example, before he came to a complete stop. Naruto grabbed at his wrist with a pained groan and fell to one knee. The blond glared at the bracelet, "What is your deal, Kyu?"
"What's his bracelet's deal?" Piper questioned.
"(Well, well, well, so what Madara-sama said is true,)" a voice familiar only to one member of the group said. Naruto quickly turned around and glared at the tall blue man with a shark-like face. He wore a black cloak with red clouds decorating it and a face-guard that had a metal plate similar to Naruto's belt, only with four squiggling lines and sliced across. He had piercing golden eyes and spiked navy blue hair. Sharp teeth were revealed in a sinister smirk as the man swung a giant bundle of bandages over his shoulder.
"Poseidon, what animal did you boink this time?" Hades asked with a deadpan.
"I did no such thing!" The Sea God retorted with a red face.
"Kisame," Naruto growled, his eyes flickering red, "(How did you get here?)"
"You know this guy?" Percy asked quietly.
"Unfortunately," Naruto replied as he stood up while still holding his arm, "(Answer me, fish-face! How'd you get here?)"
"Well, Percy is there for the quest," Nico answered with a snicker.
"Hey!"
"(Tch, not that it's any of your business brat, but I was given a ride here by Madara-sama,)" Kisame answered before smirking once again. His language changed to English and with a very heavy accent, he asked, "So...we going to do this the easy way, or am I going to have to shave your legs off?"
"Bah! That's hardly threatening, shave off your legs, boring," Ares grunted with a frown.
"You're going to try," Naruto replied with a scowl as he sent chakra through his bracelet and announced, "Roar for me!"
"What's this? A new trick?" Kisame asked with a grin. The rest of the group was taking steps back as Kisame's killing intent started to leak out from his excitement. Percy felt like he was choking on air, that the blue fish guy was going to kill him in one of the most brutal manners he could think of.
"Hm...That's interesting," The God of War mused. Maybe he could figure out how to radiate even more bloodlust and get that effect.
Naruto held his left arm out as a red light emitted from the wristband. His shield and sword reappeared and Naruto quickly grabbed the handle of his blade, making the fox-like face on his shield glare at the Human Biju.
"Hahahaha! Look at you, brat, playing swordsman, how cute," Kisame laughed out as he swung his blade into the ground, "Alright, let's see just how good at kenjutsu you are."
"He means sword technique," Apollo quipped to those who didn't know Japanese.
"Guys!" Naruto called out, snapping them from their varied hallucinations, "On my mark, run for it. I'll hold him off as best I can."
Ares whooped, "Yes! Another fight!"
"You want us to leave you here against that?" Percy cried out in disbelief. Naruto looked over his shoulder at him with a stern glare.
"Yes! None of you are ready to face Kisame," Naruto answered while internally he continued, Neither am I. I'm nowhere near prepared to fight an S-Ranked Nin. My best chance is to use that, stall and then run for it.
"Oh, secret weapon time?" Leo asked eagerly.
"Are you insane?" Thalia asked him with a growl, "We're not going to leave you behind, Whiskers. We'll take him down together."
"No, you won't!" Naruto shouted at her, causing her to step back at the fierce response. He glared at her and then back at the still smirking Kisame, "If you fought against him, Thalia, you'd die within minutes! This isn't a mindless monster that has a weakness. This is a human on par with Herc the Jerk in terms of strength and a master swordsman from my homeland. He's here for one thing."
"Seriously? I doubt he can match Jerkules," Ares stated with disbelief.
"We don't know though, so who can say," Athena pointed out.
"And I've got you this time, you fucking brat!" Kisame announced as he suddenly appeared in front of Naruto with his massive weapon heaved over his shoulder. His bandaged weapon clanged against Naruto's shield as Naruto tried to hold his ground. This wasn't like fighting Ares' son, no, this was a life or death situation that only he had a chance of surviving.
"Zoë, you're in charge! I'll catch up with you later, now move!" barked out the blond as he began building up energy from all around him.
"We have to go!" Zoë announced as she and Phoebe began running for the junkyard. Thalia hesitated, looking at the struggling blond with an obvious conflict written on her face before his eyes met hers.
"Of course I wouldn't want to leave…I do so once and he died," Thalia said with a frown of guilt that her other was probably feeling.
His eyes narrowed and she took the hint, turning to follow after the uneasy Percy and Grover. The others didn't see the tears well up in her eyes as she thought back to the last time he forced her to move on.
Thalia frowned at that.
Naruto grit his teeth as he felt Samehada start to drain him through the connection with his shield. Kisame's grin became wider as Naruto made a desperate slash with his sword at Kisame's open arm. The former shinobi of Kirigakure no Sato took the hit and kicked the blond away, the grin on his face not once dying out as the blond soared backwards before landing on the rough topsoil of the desert on his back.
"C'mon brat, seven years later I'd have expected some sort of challenge!" Kisame taunted with a smirk.
"Ooo," jeered the God of War.
"And I expected you to have been made into someone's sushi dish by now," Naruto returned with a scowl. He pushed himself to his feet and charged forward, ducking under Kisame's surprisingly fast swing while simultaneously slashing at the man's side. A backhanded fist made him stumble backwards before he had to roll out of the way of a downward falling Samehada.
Kisame chuckled as he spun the handle of his blade in his hand, causing more of the bindings to come undone. The blond felt his blood leave his face as he paled when the full form of Samehada was revealed. The sword laughed at him, making his stomach flip in worry.
"A sentient sword?" Hephaestus asked, intrigued.
"...Awesome." Ares stated with a mad grin.
"I told my leader that I'd be quick so that those pesky immortals don't find out about our plan," Kisame said as he gave his sword an affectionate pat,
"Pesky?" Poseidon frowned deeply. His younger brother had started to turn red in the face and Hades shrugged as he was used to that sort of thinking being applied to him.
"Now hold still so I can shave your arms and legs off."
Naruto narrowed his eyes and sheathed his blade. He rotated his shield-wearing arm's shoulder and the Arcadia shield spun around. With his determined eyes locked on his current foe, Naruto spoke with conviction in his voice, "Lord of the Wild, Lord of the Land, I call upon the power of Pan! Shield of Pan, reveal your true form; in payment...I sacrifice my own arm!"
"A sacrificial prayer? I have not seen such a thing since the old days," Artemis frowned in worry. And he did it so brazenly, too.
Apollo was frowning along with her, wondering what his kid was thinking.
His words finished, the Arcadia shield started to glow and the blonde started to show signs of using Nature chakra. Naruto released a bellow of pain as the Arcadia shield started to segment itself and expanded up to his shoulder. The shield wrapped around his arm, replacing muscle and bone with solid metal. The blade once sheathed within had become fused with a gauntlet that seemed a size too large for the blonde. Now his left arm was easily twice the size of his right and Naruto's left side of his face gained several red segments of metal that matched his new arm.
"Whoa," Leo surmised everyone's thoughts.
"That's just awesome," Nico said quietly.
"Heh, that's new. Guess I better stop playing around," Kisame commented as he stabbed Samehada into the ground. He rapidly started going through some hand seals, "Suiton: Bakusui Shōha (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)!"
Raising his left hand to cup his mouth, Kisame's cheeks swelled up before he began to spew water to the point that Naruto became concerned he was facing a direct relative of Percy's, or worse, a descendant of Oceanus.
Poseidon rumbled at the very mention that the Titan would have a descendant. If it was true he hoped the young demigod killed him.
"I can't do that," Percy said in awe, "I mean, it would take a lot out of me, and I mean a lot, but wow."
Jumping over the water with the chakra forced into his legs, Naruto bypassed the raging liquid with his new fist cocked back, "Say it, don't spray it, asshole!"
Kisame was impressed that the brat managed to avoid being hit by the rushing water, something even elite Jonin struggled with when they fought, but he was downright pissed when the blond's fist collided with his jaw.
"Eat it shark bait!" Thalia cheered.
"A little louder Thalia," Jason joked with a smile.
"Oh shut it Jay."
Like he had done to Naruto, Kisame soared away from his makeshift lake.
After he stopped skidding along the dirt, Kisame got to his feet with an angry scowl, "You little shit!"
"Sticks and stones, sushi-man," Naruto taunted. He was panting heavily and that was because he hadn't trained enough to use his full on 'Sage Mode' with the Arcadia fusion yet. Mostly because he wasn't too keen on sacrificing a limb each time he had to use it, but like with Pein, Naruto had to go all out against the S-Ranked missing ninja from the get go or he'd have be dead in minutes. Perhaps even less.
"Wonder what else these so called S-Rankers can do?" Ares mused in keen interest.
"Oh, that's it! You're going to make Samehada real happy as she feasts on your flesh," Kisame snarled as he raced forward. Naruto deflected the swung blade and countered with a left cross to the blue man. Kisame grunted and stumbled backwards before swinging again, "Cheeky little shit! Just die already."
"Can't do that," Naruto replied as he ducked under the swing and pulled his hand back, "I promised someone important to me that I wouldn't die just yet."
Aphrodite smiled brightly as she squealed, "Oh! You hear that Thalia, a shout out for you~!"
Thalia was pink cheeked, but she had a tiny smile on her face.
Naruto's fist flew forward and impacted right in the Akatsuki member's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Naruto then used the Hiraishin to reappear behind Kisame, throwing out all sorts of left-handed combos against the older shinobi's unguarded back.
"I wonder the true mechanics of that technique," Athena studied with calculating eyes.
His barrage finished, Naruto returned to the front of his opponent and his large left hand opened wide. Kisame, looking through a squinting eye, suddenly groaned as he saw a bright golden ball spin to life in Naruto's hand.
"It's been fun, Kisame, but I've got things to do, Goddesses to save, you know how it is," Naruto said with a smirk as he brought his arm forward, "Eat this! Taiyoton: Rasengan (Sun Release: Spiraling Sphere)!"
"Whoo!" Apollo cheered, arms in the air, "Sun move, he made a sun move!"
Kisame's arm moved quickly, bringing Samehada down to defend himself and absorb the chakra attack coming his way. What he didn't know, however, was that Naruto's new God-enhanced Nature Chakra was far too potent for the sword to handle, resulting in it failing to defend him.
"So it absorbed this chakra stuff, but since Naruto had it so thick, it couldn't, right?" Leo surmised with a tilted head.
"Correct," Annabeth nodded, wondering what else chakra could do.
The hand-held sun easily broke through Samehada's scales, cracking the base of the sword while also forcing Kisame to once again soar through the air, this time over fifty feet away.
"A flying fish!" Hazel snarked.
When the giant blue man hit the ground, a silent scream escaped his lips as the previously attacked back was shattered on impact.
"Oh I just hate when that happens," Ares mocked complained with sympathy.
His spine was, thankfully in his case, still intact, but was heavily bruised and all the nerves underneath the bruises were sending alerts to the man's brain. His body caught up with the damage it was dealt and he coughed up blood. Placing his empty hand on the ground, Kisame struggled to get back up, collapsing back to the earth with blood pooling around him.
"Hopefully dead, too," Percy commented with a frown, not liking this guy.
Resting on a knee, Naruto panted while glaring at the downed shinobi, waiting a few moments to see if the man would get back to his feet. Cautiously approaching the body, Naruto reached down and pressed his normal hand's two fingers against the man's neck, searching for a pulse. There was none.
"Good," Poseidon said sternly, this wannabe merman was a mockery to his Kingdom.
Glad to know that the man was dead from the blows that would crumble boulders, Naruto drunkenly ran towards the junkyard, hoping to regroup before he lost the dwindling Sage mode and consequently his arm. And then there's that whole blood loss issue. Passing out so close to a stronger enemy determined to try and retrieve the Kyubi no Kitsune was not a good idea for the one that knew where the creature was. Even if said enemy was dead, the allies of said enemy would consequently try to capture him in his weak state, which was something he really couldn't afford right now.
"A wise play," Athena nodded.
"We shouldn't have left him!" Thalia shouted as she and Zoë argued in the middle of the large junkyard, "Did you see that guy? He's a monster!"
"So worried," Piper smiled to the Hunter.
"You would be too if it was Jason," Thalia frowned at the girl, making the Child of Love stop with a wince.
"I was just messing around," She murmured.
"Thou heard Uzumaki," Zoë retorted, "We wouldn't have stood a chance. Not to mention we still have to find Lady Artemis!"
"So you're willing to sacrifice any of us just to save her? Is that all a Hunter is?" Thalia accused.
Artemis winced at that.
"Thy mouth shall get thou in trouble, Grace!" Zoë snapped angrily, "Uzumaki knows that man, he is best suited to stall and retreat."
"You felt that shockwave, don't pretend you didn't!" cried out the daughter of Zeus, "He could be in trouble, or...or..."
"Thalia," Percy said, stepping forward and putting a hand on the older girl's shoulder. Her attention on him, the younger demigod continued, "He's gonna be ok. Look, I may not be his best friend, but even I know when to admit someone's stronger than me.
"Look at Percy, manning up that he's weaker," Nico cooed.
Percy scowled at his cousin, yes, the blond demigod was stronger, but he felt his other would catch up to him.
Hell, he beat Ares in a prank war. How many demigods can claim that?"
"Nice way to try and lighten the mood seaweed brain," Annabeth smiled to her boyfriend.
"I try," the green eyed boy shrugged.
Thalia gave a small smile while rubbing at her eyes, "Th-thanks, Kelp Head."
Thalia groan, why was her other being so emotional?! …Maybe it really was that time of the month.
An insult? Percy inwardly complained before shaking that kind of thinking off. Thalia was still worrying about the blond and was struggling to keep up her tough girl routine. She was doing a good job at that, in Percy's opinion.
"Thanks Percy," Thalia smirked towards.
"Well, you got to let the walls down once in a while," Percy shot back grinning.
"Psh, yeah right," The daughter of Zeus retorted.
"Well...Didn't...Expect a...a speech...from you...Saltwater breath," panted out a familiar blond as he entered the clearing.
Percy threw his hands in the air, "I complement him, and even when he is bleeding out he insults me, c'mon!"
The three campers looked at him before exclaiming his name in relief. Thalia mimicked his ability to teleport with how fast she moved to his side. Before he could protest, Thalia engulfed him in a hug.
"Thalia," Annabeth groaned, the guy was missing an arm!
Thalia blushed in embarrassment for her other, it was a common mistake, could happen to anyone really.
Ow! Shit! Fucking gods damn it! The blond screamed in his mind. Thalia suddenly gasped as Naruto released a cry of pain when his arm vanished. Falling to his side, Naruto grabbed at his missing limb with a scream, "Shit!"
"Naruto! Oh my god, oh my god! Guys, don't just stand there! Help me!" Thalia cried out frantically as blood started to leave the blond. Phoebe moved the increasingly hysteric teen out of her way
"Geez," Thalia said with pursed lips, "I really lost my cool."
as she pulled down Naruto's jacket to reveal the missing arm.
"Holy-" "Oh gods..." Grover interrupted Percy as they caught a glimpse of the armless teen.
"Shit! Gods above, it hurts!" Naruto cried out, his eyes clenching shut, "Fuck!"
"This is a lot of blood. How'd you lose it? Where is it?" Phoebe asked sternly, looking at the wound while also trying to stop the bleeding, "I can reattach it if we get to it quickly enough."
"Ah Phoebe and her miracle work," Thalia nodded, the girl was really good at healing.
"I sacrificed it! Ah shit! Fucking – Gods, I didn't think it'd hurt this much!" Naruto exclaimed as tears left his eyes.
"You what?" Phoebe and Zoë exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Explain later, I need my bracelet!" Naruto cried out, fighting back the tears and the pain. If he went into shock, he wouldn't come back this time. It was part of the agreement the Fates and Thanatos made with Hades and Persephone to return him back to life. If Naruto died on a quest, no matter what his Fate was, he wouldn't be allowed back.
"That's one hell of a deal," Apollo hissed through his teeth.
Hades just nodded before commenting, "I find it acceptable, but now that he knows what it's like to die, I believe he would be more prone to live and survive. He seems like a survivor."
"Bracelet...Zoë, find the bracelet he's talking about," Phoebe said before grabbing Thalia's shaking arm, "You want to help? Then put pressure on his wound! Jackson, Satyr, get me a rag to use!"
"Right!" the two cried out as they ran through the junkyard and began searching for a rag to give to the Hunter. Zoë was searching where he had come from, spotting a glinting golden edge. She pulled the bracelet from the ground and looked at it. It was a beautifully golden band in the shape of a quadruped animal, like a fox. The animal's head was a red gem, far too red to be a ruby.
"Take me to the Kit!" A deep voice demanded. Zoë looked around in worry before looking down at the gem. The ruby-like gem gained a black line, similar to a slitted pupil, before the voice boomed once more, "Move you stupid nymph! Return me to Naruto's side!"
"Wow, a demanding accessory. Hm, I don't think I want it," Aphrodite dismissed, but she did like that it was yelling at Nightshade though.
At the behest of the strange voice, Zoë ran back to where the blond was being treated, with Thalia fighting back tears as she held her hands against the wound to stop the bleeding.
Thalia winced worriedly, hopefully the guy made it. She would hate for her other self to lose him.
Naruto's eyes were half-open and he was muttering in the strange language that he and his opponent had spoken before. Phoebe was searching her pack for more ambrosia to keep the quest leader with them.
"Put me on his right wrist," the voice ordered, earning the other girls' attention. Zoë nodded and did as she was told, while inwardly wondering just what Naruto had in his possession.
A red glow came from the gem and Naruto's eyes started to change. His normally blue and golden irises turned blood red and his pupils became slits. The sclera turned black as the red light grew in intensity. Thalia released a shocked cry and retracted her hands as bright red energy bubbled over the wound.
"Whoa!" Leo cried out in surprise at the bubbling stump.
Before the eyes of the three girls, a new arm started to form. The bones were recreated, quickly followed by the veins and muscle. As the skin started to reform over the new limb, Naruto's eyes faded back to their usual unusual colors. He looked at the shocked girls' faces and a wry grin crossed his face.
"Apollo...since when could any of your children regrow limbs?" Athena asked in a stunned tone.
"They can't." Apollo said in equal awe at his kid.
"Okay, what else can this guy do?" Percy asked with wide eyes.
"Guess I'll be explaining myself when I wake up," Naruto mumbled softly before he passed out from exhaustion.
"That you do ass," Thalia scowled in anger. The jerk! He had her other self, as well as herself, worried!
Some of the other heard Thalia and quietly snickered to themselves.
When Naruto was possibly bleeding out from his missing limb, back with the former Kirigakure Shinobi, a figure stepped out of a large vortex-like portal. Crouching down next to the large form of the Human Biju, the figure glared at his head through the single hole in their orange mask.
"Tch, what a waste of time," Madara sneered before standing upright and kicking the corpse in the shoulder, "Get up. I know you're still alive."
Kisame's eyes snapped open and his shark-like appearance increased when he grinned, "What's wrong, Madara? Is Tobi too tired to play?"
"Tch, the brat should have just stabbed the corpse," Ares scolded in disappointment.
"Your humor doesn't amuse me, Kisame," Madara growled as the man stood up slowly, wincing as he did so. The legendary Uchiha continued, "The only reason you're alive is because of that seal I placed on you."
Kisame chuckled before reaching up and adjusting his headband. A piece of paper fell out and landed in his hand, making the blue human chortle darkly as he looked at the intricate script adorning it, "To think, this little thing convinced the Kyubi Brat to think my body was 'dead'."
"So a runic array mechanism to fake a dead body. Clever," Athena mused. These seals were getting even more interesting as they came up.
"Do not underestimate the power of seals, Kisame," Madara cautioned as he took the piece of paper from the man, "The Yondaime nearly killed me once with his seal based ninjutsu; something his son has managed to uncover the secret to."
"Because he's awesome, Creeper, just like his old man," Apollo said as his arms crossed proudly over his chest.
"You know, there's something about the fight that bugs me," Kisame mused after a moment of silence, "The brat seemed to be unnaturally tired after he whipped out the giant arm. Maybe we should go hunt him down now?"
"No. I expected you to lose anyway, this was merely to "test the waters" as they say," Madara replied with a scowl, "Besides, those immortals masquerading as gods are watching him as we speak, and the last thing we need to deal with is their interference."
"Filthy arrogant mortal!" Zeus boomed in anger, "Immortals masquerading are we? I hope his death is long and painful!"
"I know he'll be tortured for eternity, that's a given," Hades said in a frosty tone that dripped venom.
The other Gods agreed wholeheartedly. Mortals, what true fools they were.
"What if they find out about our plans?" Kisame asked with a frown, well aware of the danger they were on the edge of unleashing. Madara didn't reply, making the shark-like man sigh in acceptance before he smirked yet again, "So, I should go after the Hachibi next then?"
"Yes. I have no doubt that Sasuke-kun was unable to capture him. It was merely a test of his loyalty," Madara replied as he opened another portal, "Come, we must move quickly. I sense a large amount of power approaching."
"Who could it be?" Apollo asked with a frown.
Kisame nodded and without another word the two stepped into the portal. Just as the portal shut behind him, a stern older man appeared with a bag tied to his waist. Hanging over one shoulder was a large horn. The man looked around before scowling when he took note that one of the strong power signatures he was told to investigate had vanished.
"Lord Zeus won't be pleased," was all Boreas had to say on the subject before a loud and cold gust of wind came through the area and the God vanished.
"Did not expect to see him in this story," Hephaestus commented gruffly. He then offered the book up, "Who's next?"
"Oo! Oo! Me!" Apollo said while raising his hand, "This story keeps getting better and better!"
"Here," the God of the Forge grunted, tossing the book to his half-brother. Artemis shook her head at her idiotic twin's antics.
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Frank managed to escape in the middle of the night from the circus, which he was thankfully for.
They were planning on going worldwide in a month, with the new 'smartest lion' in the world act.
He was not please.
He made it into Colorado and had stopped at a diner/bar to eat up and where he could hitch a ride from, until he was bummed into by a drunk.
The drunk started shouting and challenged him to a game of darts for his 'impudence' for walking into the intoxicated man, the Colorado dart champion.
Turns out the bar was hosting the annual all state dart championship.
With nothing to lose, Frank accepted with narrowed eyes with one goal in mind.
Win.
0
Done & done!
R&R, no flames, peace off!