Artemis had a small smirk as she looked down at her board and moved her promoted lance so that it checked Naruto's king. She quickly looked up at the iris message and told Naruto her piece's movement location. Her smirk grew as Naruto's face started to scrunch up as he tried to think of a way out of her trap. After a minute Naruto simply sighed and said, "Looks like that's game Artemis. It was a good match."

A small smile appeared on Artemis's face and she replied, "Same here Naruto. I would like to stay and chat, but I have some duties to attend to at the moment. I look forward to our match next week."

Naruto nodded his head and replied, "Same here Artemis. I'm also looking forward to our next match and I hope that your duties won't be too stressful for you. Good bye for now." With that said, Naruto ended the iris message.

Just as Artemis was about to turn off her fountain, Iris switched the view over so that the rainbow goddess was looking at Artemis. Iris had a knowing smirk on her face as she parroted back Artemis's words to the goddess. "I look forward to our match next week; can you get any more obvious Artemis? Seriously, you only way you could be more obvious more obvious that you're interested in Naruto would be to hang a sign behind you saying my place at 10 while wearing something from Victoria's Secret."

"That is completely uncalled for Iris!" Artemis snapped at the goddess with her cheeks flush from embarrassment and rage. The maiden goddess focused on her outrage at Iris's comment in order to keep herself from having a mental breakdown at the thought of her and Naruto doing something like Iris implied. Tartarus, she was working up the nerve to kiss Naruto by the end of the next summer session at camp and the winter solstice meeting was going to be held in a few hours. Not making out or even a kiss on the mouth mind you, she was working up the nerve to just kiss him on the cheek months from now.

Iris chuckled and brushed off Artemis's rage. The closet hippy goddess found watching Naruto and Artemis's bizarre courtship to be more entertaining than her soaps. "I don't think so Artemis. Your boy toy seems to be unusually dense when it comes to relationships. I mean, he should have picked out that there is something odd about a goddess wanting to spend time with a 'lowly demigod' as some of the more pompous goddesses would put it. The fact that the goddess in question has a long standing reputation as a fiercely independent ball buster and man hater should have clued Naruto into the fact that you want something from him."

Unable to stop herself, Artemis brought her hands to the sides of her head and started to massage her temples. How was it that her nature as the goddess of maidens and her protection of maidenly honor got popularly transformed into this feminist bitch like one dimensional character? She only ever retaliated against men who had acted as slime. Maybe having Actaeon's dogs tear his transformed self to death was a touch excessive. But in her defense she had trusted him and he betrayed that trust by spying on her while she bathed and then tried to rape her! Apparently the thought that a girl wouldn't just lay there and take it from a guy frightened most men more than they wanted to admit. Artemis looked at Iris and said, "Naruto makes a point to not judge someone simply on what he has been told about the person. He actually forms his own opinion based on what he sees in a person and so far Naruto has proven to be an unusually good judge of character."

Iris nodded her head as she had observed that quality in Naruto as well when she watched the couple's weekly games. Fleecy was actually a little annoyed because these were the only calls that Iris had reserved for herself. A serious look appeared on Iris's face as she spoke. "All kidding aside Artemis, I'm starting to get worried for you as are a decent number of nymphs and other goddesses. Naruto might have only turned thirteen a few months ago, but the clock is ticking for you. Now I'm not into hebephilia or suggesting that you get into it as well. Aphrodite is the only goddess I know who would think about having relations with someone as young as Naruto currently is and that's only because she'll try to sleep with anything that moves."

The tone of Iris's voice became heavy with worry. "Eighteen Artemis, you only have until Naruto is eighteen years old to marry him. You've got less than five years left and only two years if you wait until he's sixteen to try dating him like most goddesses do. It would be one thing if you just had to have a one night's stand with him, but for marriage that's not much time at all. The fact that this is your first attempt at a romantic relationship only makes it more difficult."

Artemis quickly cut in with an annoyed tone. "And your point is Iris?" She was well aware of the time limit she was operating under in order to save her hunters. Artemis couldn't go a day without thinking about it thank you very much and she did not need another goddess throwing those facts in her face.

A nervous and uncertain look appeared on Iris's face as she continued. "I wouldn't even suggest this if it wasn't for how drastic your situation is Artemis, but have you thought of tricking Naruto into marrying you? I mean, you could arrange for Naruto to stumble on you bathing and give him the option of either marriage or death. Something similar worked for that mortal Gyges of Lydia to get him on the throne."

The thought of doing something in that manner to snag Naruto as her husband actually had crossed Artemis's mind before. However, she had totally rejected the idea because of several reasons. Chief among them was she wasn't about to be like her father and win her spouse through trickery. Far too many maidens had been trapped in an unwanted marriage through trickery for her to seriously think about using such a stratagem. Besides, Artemis was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to work up the nerve to expose her body so such a strategy could work.

Artemis looked at Iris and said, "I will get Naruto as my husband without resorting to tactics such as that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for the winter solstice meeting." Artemis turned off her fountain and started to prepare for the meeting. She pushed her conversation with Iris out of her mind for the moment. She was the goddess of the hunt and there was nothing that could escape her when she wanted to ensnare her prey; even if the prey in question was the heart of a young man.

Tsunade was unsettled to once again find herself in the void where she had encountered Kushina almost a month ago. That brat was just as big of a pain in her ass as her son is and she was before Tsunade thought she had died. The fifth Hokage glared out into the void and yelled, "Show yourself Kushina! This has your name all over it."

Hera appeared in her dual-state form in front of Tsunade with smirk on her face. "You know you're lucky I'm meeting you with my human nature merged into me or you would be in a world of pain Tsunade Senju. Fear of the Gods is considered a virtue in my realm for a very good reason."

Very quickly Tsunade shot back, "It's kind of hard to fear someone who you had to check for monsters underneath their bed." Hera nodded her head recognizing Tsunade's win in their little verbal sparring match.

The dual natured goddess then got to heart of why she was here. "First off you'll be happy to know that Naruto arrived in my realm safe and sound several years ago by how we reckon time. He lost some skill due to the jutsu de-aging him a bit, but those loses have been recovered and he's made excellent progress in advancing in all areas of the ninja arts. The activation of his demigod heritage has given him a massive increase in pure physical strength. It already rivals your own chakra enhanced strength and is set to grow far stronger."

Just as Hera had hoped, Tsunade started to feel a migraine coming as she imagined all of the paperwork she'd have to handle when Naruto returned. The brat had already been hard on the training grounds for a shinobi of his abilities. With the kind of strength Kushina was telling her he had the resulting paperwork would grow exponentially. Hera smirked as Tsunade started to massage her temples. No one ever got one over Hera for long.

Hera then pressed on as she said, "I wish for you to give Naruto permission to train other demigods and certain members of our support system for demigods in chakra usage and the basic shinobi arts. Naruto has been admirably secretive with his abilities around other demigods along with his background in Konoha. I'm proud to say that that he would refuse a direct order from me to pass along his training to the others without your permission."

Tsunade blinked her eyes in confusion at Hera's proclamation. "You're proud that Naruto would disobey you?" She was happy to hear that Naruto's loyalties to the village were that strong, but she didn't expect his mother to be thrilled as well.

Hera conjured a small stool and proceeded to sit down in in a regal manner. "You forget Tsunade that my mortal self of Kushina Uzumaki was a shinobi of Konoha. Her sense of loyalty and duty is mine. Furthermore, in my realm I am Hera the goddess of marriage. Loyalty and commitment are part of the foundation to a successful marriage. Naruto committed himself to obeying the laws of Konoha and the Hokage's orders when he became a ninja. I'm proud that he has kept his commitment even though he is far from Konoha. Besides, how could I hope to trust him at all if he could break his oath to Konoha on my orders?"

Kushina, or rather Hera had raised an excellent point to Tsunade. How could anyone trust Naruto if he couldn't keep his word when things got difficult? Things really didn't get more difficult than when you're separated on a different planet from your comrades for years. The fact that Naruto was staying strong was something Tsunade would have loved to brag about if every detail of Naruto's current location wasn't classified.

With that knowledge in hand, Tsunade thought about what she should do. On the one hand, it wasn't exactly a wise move to let village techniques enter the general population. On the other hand, it wasn't like Konoha's rivals could learn the techniques given that it was apparently almost impossible to travel between planets. Then there was the fact that Naruto and Hera were related to the demigods which meant that they were a clan of potential allies. There was also the fact that passing on his skills would help Naruto become a better ninja. Tsunade firmly said, "If I gave Naruto permission, what assurances do I have that Konoha's abilities will not leave the demigods?"

Some people might have expected Hera to be outraged at Tsunade's question; however, they couldn't be farther from the truth. Hera respected Tsunade's thoroughness because that was her duty as Hokage. With a slightly knowing smirk Hera said, "How is this for a guarantee Tsunade: In my realm only mortals with a divine lineage and woodland spirits can access chakra. It's simply biologically impossible for regular or clear-sighted mortals to use chakra."

That bit of information nearly caused Tsunade to faint from shock. People could actually live without chakra? The idea flew in the face of every biology lesson she had ever had or taught. Even fleas had chakra minuscule as it was for the insects. Slowly, Tsuande regained control of her emotions and said, "I suppose that is a very good insurance on keeping everything contained to your group. Tell Naruto that he has my permission to start training everyone you okay for lessons with chakra. Authentication code for this order is Tora Tora Tora."

Naruto and Sk'elep furiously battled it out in one of their usual training fields on a cold spring morning. Several of the local nymphs and woodland spirits were cautiously watching the duo spar from a safe distance. Today they were sticking purely with taijutu, but it was still a thrilling match for the spirits. Naruto was carefully controlling the force behind his punches so that he wasn't causing an earthquake every time he punched the ground. The young teen shinobi's speed had gone up in years so that he was now about as fast as Lee had been back in the Chunin Exams. However, that speed paled in proportion to Naruto's strength which was starting to reach ridiculous levels. Naruto seriously doubted that even Tsuande and Sakura working together could pull a freight train locomotive down the rail. He could pull a train with twelve loaded cars a mile and back without getting winded.

However, Sk'elep was weaving out of and around Naruto's attacks with practiced ease. Here and there Sk'elep would deflect a punch or a kick. The wily old spirit dodged a punched aimed at his head and retaliated with a low sweeping kick to knock Naruto off his feet. Naruto avoided the kick by jumping into the air. The young shinobi quickly had to twist in midair because Sk'elep had quickly planted the foot of the leg he had tried to sweep Naruto with on the ground and straightened his leg in an inhuman manner.

The completely unorthodox attack moved caught Naruto off guard and allowed Sk'elep to land several punches on the shinobi. Sk'elep ended his assault with a forceful push to the chest that sent Naruto flying strait towards a tree. Naruto quickly adjusted himself so that his feet landed on the trunk of the tree and he used it as a springboard to get back towards Sk'elep. The spirit quickly took a defensive stance and smirked at Naruto's obvious attack. At the last possible second Naruto stuck his arms out and pushed against the ground changing his trajectory. Naruto used Sk'elep's spilt second shock to kick him in the face before he rocketed into the sky.

Sk'elep quickly recovered from the attack, grabbed several blades of grass, and threw them into the air. He then jumped up into the air using the floating blades of grass as platforms to jump higher. As soon as Naruto saw what his sensei had done he blurted out, "You have got to be fucking with me!"

As soon as Sk'elep caught up with Naruto he started to launch a storm of punches. Sk'elep barked out as Naruto tried to defend himself, "If I'm fucking with you than you're taking it up the ass." Sk'elep then slipped out of an attempted grapple and pivoted himself above Naruto. He quickly delivered a forceful kick to the shinobi's back which sent Naruto falling back to earth. Sk'elep then positioned himself so that he landed on Naruto in the most painful way possible for the young shinobi. Sk'elep grinned and said, "That's game Naruto."

Sk'elep quickly got off of Naruto and helped his student up from the ground. "You did real good Naruto. However, you still have several holes when it comes to fighting a pure taijutsu match. Those holes aren't apparent at Camp since the campers cannot challenge you on a level needed for those holes to become apparent. Remember, synergy between your various abilities is great and is better than specialization in one field of battle. But, to get the best results at synergy you need to get all of your abilities to around the same level. You're still too reliant on ninjutsu and as your battle with the jotunns showed there will be times when you cannot use all of your ninjutsu attacks."

Naruto nodded his head as he listened to Sk'elep rehash an old lesson point. He was well aware that ninjas or even just warriors in general who were skilled at all points were usually better than one who specialized in one field. Sure someone who specialized in one field would get above average results in situations where their specialty was needed, but they were limited in what they could do in other situations. Taijutsu was difficult for Naruto because his strength was growing so rapidly and in an unpredictable manner. Sometimes he'd go weeks without a significant increase in strength only to wake up one day and find himself twice as strong as when he went to bed. Other times he'd have a rapid growth in strength over several days. It almost made taijutsu training pointless for Naruto because he constantly had to retrain himself to not destroy everything he touched. It was ten times as aggravating for him than chakra control training.

Teacher and student quickly walked over to a nearby tree where some water bottles had been stashed. Sk'elep and Naruto quickly grabbed their water bottles and downed them. Naruto chuckled after he chugged a third of his water. "Next time we spar things will be different Sk'elep since it won't be a pure taijutsu match."

Sk'elep quickly shot back, "You must suffering oxygen deprivation from sucking face with those goddesses who are constantly hanging off of you to think that. The level of destruction will increase, but the result will still be the same."

Naruto was about to slug Sk'elep for his comment about Artemis and Sunna when a loud shriek filled the training ground. Both Naruto and Sk'elep turned their heads and saw what had startled their onlookers. A man covered in blood with a bloody bundle over his shoulder and using a bloodstained cold-iron claymore as a cane slowly walked into the training field. Naruto watched as the man stumbled and fell to the ground. He immediately sprinted towards the bloody man with Sk'elep hot on his heels.

As Sk'elep neared the downed man he caught a whiff of his scent and almost tripped over in shock. "By the Great Spirit, what could have driven you do this?"

While Sk'elep looked at the man in shock, Naruto tried to think of a way to help the downed being. His sensor abilities told him that this wasn't a mortal, but he didn't have a clue what he was dealing with. The cold-iron weapon hinted that the being was from the North, but Naruto couldn't place this being. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw that the beings skin was gone revealing blood covered muscle. "What happened to this person?" Naruto wondered in shock.

Sk'elep looked at the bundle that the being had been carrying and frowned. "He skinned himself. Great Spirit have mercy, this Selkie skinned himself. What madness is this?" Naruto's eyes lit up recognizing the being's species. Selkies were seal spirits who were sort of like sea nymphs in the Northern Pantheon.

The selkie opened his eyes, looked at Naruto, and smiled. "You are Naruto Uzumaki, son of Hera, daughter of Freyr correct?"

Naruto nodded his head and said, "Yes, but you need to rest so that we can heal you." He pulled out his seal scroll with first aid supplies and started unsealing rolls of bandages.

With a shake of his head the selkie continued on, "I came here knowing I would die so that I could deliver my pelt to you Naruto." The selkie let out a terrible cough before continuing. "I am Connor McCloud of the Selkie clan McCloud and I have a great-granddaughter living in the West. The Norns told me that she will be in great danger because of her connection to the oceans unless her heritage is brought to the surface. Only the magic in a selkie's pelt can bring that heritage out so I have decided to give her mine. You are the only anse who moves between the two realms Naruto so please give it to her."

The surrounding spirits were starting to cry from shock and disbelief. As semi-immortal beings they couldn't fathom the idea of a being like them willing giving up their life as Connor McCloud apparently had. Sk'elep bowed his head towards Connor in respect and awe. Selkies got weaker the farther inland they went so it was a herculean task for Connor to walk here from the ocean; especially if he had skinned himself by the sea as the drying blotches on the pelt suggested. Naruto's whole body was shaking as he replied, "I swear I will Connor McCloud. Who is your great-granddaughter and where can I find her?"

Conner smiled and said, "You can find her in New York City. Her name is." Conner's voice faded as his strength gave out. His eyes closed and he died seconds later.

Falling back on his ninja training, Naruto quickly grabbed Conner's pelt and sealed it into a storage scroll. He then cleaned and sealed the selkie's claymore so that he could give it to Connor's great-granddaughter. Given what Conner had done for his family Naruto figured that he would want her to be given the claymore as well. After all of that, Naruto started collecting Connor's blood so that he could make some locater seals to track down the girl.

Three days later Naruto, Sk'elep, Hera, Arnold, Valerie, and several dozen spirits of different sorts were gathered by the sea. Sk'elep had carefully hidden himself under the disguise of a minor woodland spirit and was staying away as far away from Hera as he could. The group was standing near a karvi which Naruto had franticly built with Kage Bunshins over the past three days. Inside the karvi lay the remains of Connor McCloud along with a small bag of hack-sliver that Naruto had offered up. Naruto turned to look at the assembled group and said, "Thank you all for coming here today."

He paused for a second and then said, "Like most of you here I barely knew Connor McCloud having met him as he was dying. His dreams, his hopes, his favorite foods and a host of other things that made him who he was are unknown to me. However, what I do know about him lets me know that he was a good man and that I am poorer for not knowing him as a friend."

Tears started to form in Naruto's eyes as he continued, "Connor heard that one of his family will be in danger if she does not receive special aid. He willingly gave up his life to give her a chance to stay safe. That says it all right there about the man and leaves us all wondering if we will have the strength to make a similar sacrifice if we are placed in a similar situation."

A moment of silence descended on the group as everyone waited to see if anyone wanted to aid anything else to Naruto's short eulogy. Once the silence had continued long enough, Naruto walked over to the karvi and pushed it into the sea. Naruto waited until the karvi was far enough from land and then launched a Katon: Karyuu Endan at the ship. The fire dragon jutsu quickly began to consume the vessel completing the funeral.

Slowly the assembled crowd started to break up. Naruto waited and firmly watched as the last burnt planks of the karvi were pulled under the waves. All Naruto could think about at that moment was his promise to Connor to deliver the selkie's pelt to his great-granddaughter. Even with a blood tracking seal how was he supposed to find one person in New York City? Naruto wasn't about to give up, but he wasn't sure if he was worthy of the trust that the selkie had placed on him.

Hera walked over to Naruto and gently placed her hand on her son's shoulders. The goddess had been surprised when Naruto invited her to the impromptu funeral, but felt compelled to do so when she found out the details of Connor McCloud's death. Kushina had been to many similar funerals for shinobi she barely knew who had died on missions defending a teammate. Hera smiled and said, "Thank you for doing all of this for him Naruto."

Naruto nodded his head and replied, "It's the least I can do. That and completing the quest he gave me."

"And you will complete it Naruto. I have full faith in your abilities to complete that quest when it needs to be completed." She then pulled Naruto into a hug and let him cry into her blouse. As Hera let Naruto cry out his troubles she let a small smile appear on her face. She was proud that Naruto had stepped up and arranged Connor's funeral. Leaders needed to take care of things when unexpected and unpleasant situations arise.

Bucephalus thundered across the surface of Lake Ontario in the predawn light heading towards the New York coast which was rapidly coming into sight. Naruto calmly rode on the eight-legged steed wearing his celestial bronze shinobi style armor. The fact that he was riding at just barely subsonic speeds did not bother Naruto or Bucephalus in the least. Naruto quickly spotted a pier full of boats directly in front of him and coaxed Bucephalus to speed up. Bucephalus then jumped at what seemed like the last possible second and completely cleared the pier landing on solid ground.

Soon after reaching the United States again, Naruto slowed down Bucephalus to what would be a normal trot for a regular horse. With his mount now slower, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on his sensor abilities. While still not that great in terms of his sensor abilities, the halfblood shinobi could use his monstrous amounts of chakra to increase his abilities through sheer brute force. Normally no sane ninja would use such a trick because in addition to burning through one's reserves it lit a person up to sensors like a neon sign. It also increased monsters abilities to sense Naruto. However, that wasn't much of a problem because it signified to them that there was a massive collection of powerful halfbloods. All but the most suicidal of monsters that picked Naruto up would figure attacking such a group wasn't worth the trouble. The suicidal monsters that would attack had already been sent to Tartarus by Naruto during the past spring.

After burning almost half of his chakra reserves Naruto stopped his jutsu and smiled. He had found who he wanted to find and quickly directed Bucephalus to a new direction. Bucephalus quickly picked up speed and the duo started to race down the road towards a small forested section of land. About twenty minutes later Naruto slowed his mount down so that they were once again moving at a trot. Naruto looked at the now very dense forest and wondered where they were hiding.

Finally a young voice called out, "Halt!" Naruto immediately made Bucephalus stop as ordered. Caroline soon emerged from the foliage with her faithful brother turned hunting dog Fang by her side and her bow in her hands. The Hunter took a few moments to verify Naruto's face with her memories and then she lowered her bow. Caroline quickly put her bow on her back and then motioned for Naruto to follow her. "Be on your best behavior Naruto Uzumaki. Males are normally forbidden to enter our camp so My Lady is placing a great deal of trust in you to give you the honor of accompanying us for the final leg of the journey to Camp Halfblood. If you betray that trust or prove unworthy of such an honor it will be the last mistake you'll ever make."

Caroline's threat was completely hollow even though Naruto didn't know it. If any hunter tried to kill Naruto it would be the same in Olympian Law as if Artemis tried to kill him. That would mean Aphrodite would get the hunters and then they'd get stuck in the worst whorehouse Aphrodite could find as the featured whores. Needless to say, the hunters didn't even permit themselves to dream of putting Naruto in life threatening situations.

Bucephalus didn't take Caroline's threat with nearly as much grace as Naruto did. The eight legged horse snorted and began to approach Caroline in a threating manner even though Naruto was pulling at his lead to stop. In Bucephalus's mind this midget valkyrie wannabe needed to learn her place and it was not threatening a trueborn warrior prince anse. Naruto was pulling at the reigns and shouting at Bucephalus to stop, but the colt's pride refused to give.

Fang immediately jumped in front of Caroline and began growling at the eight-legged horse. Bucephalus locked eyes with Fang and the two beasts became absorbed in a contest of wills. Bucephalus refused to let the idea of anyone insulting or threatening his master stand. Fang refused to let anyone or anything threaten his sister. The boy turned dog had stood up to chimeras, hydras, and even a dragon once in order to protect his sister and had the scars to prove it. There was no way he'd back down to some monstrous Siamese horse. All the while Naruto was trying to get Bucephalus to calm down.

Finally, the colt and the dog seemed to reach an agreement and slowly backed away from each other. Naruto held his head low and hurriedly said, "I'm terribly sorry about this Caroline. Bucephalus is a good horse. He's just very protective of me."

Caroline nodded her head motioned for Naruto to follow her into camp. She silently prayed that this minor incident didn't hurt whatever plans Artemis had to get closer to Naruto. Like most hunters, Caroline was still bitter that Artemis had to get married in order to protect them. However, she and the others had to grudgingly admit that the Fates could have easily arraigned for their lady to be stuck with someone much worse than Naruto.

Author's Note: points for anyone who can figure out the reference in Tsunade's authorization code. Also, Connor McCloud is not signaling an additional crossover. He's just a character pulled from a different source material like the two Magic School Bus characters I've lifted.