Naruto quickly committed the Zemy's directions to its lair to memory as the great beast drew its last breath. The dragon's body remained behind as northern monsters did not simply turn to dust when they died. In northern tradition, Naruto quickly sealed away the Zemy's body to be disposed of at the proper place and time. Usually the residents of Asgard and their relatives on earth would get one of the city's taxidermists to turn the beast into an appropriate decoration or sometimes they would simply have the hide treated. Naruto planned to burn the Zemy's body and then scatter its ashes near the dragon's cave. It had been forced to attack the school against its will so the last thing Naruto wanted to do was put it on display like some mindless beast. Had the three headed dragon attacked the school of its own free will then Naruto wouldn't have minded making a memento to commemorate Chiron's and his deed.

Once the Zemy was secured Naruto proceeded to destroy all evidence in the rubble of the mystical nature of the battle. A fact that most halfbloods tended to forget about manipulating the mist is that the results were better when there was less hard evidence that the mist had to cover up. It also allowed you to shape what mortals saw in the mist more accurately. It didn't take Naruto too long to destroy the signs that the building was destroyed by a dragon. He then got out of the rubble and headed towards Chiron.

Grover came out of his hiding spot dragging an unconscious Percy as Naruto reached Chiron. The satyr soon joined up with the other two and said, "Baah, is everything alright Chiron? Naruto you're here? I guess Chiron must have used the special knife you gave him."

The nervously friendly look on Grover's face helped Chiron to calm his nerves slightly from the battle high. Chiron glanced at Naruto and then looked at Percy. There was no doubt in his mind that the dragon, which was from a species he had never even heard of before, had been after Percy. Best case scenario was that he was simply powerful enough to attract the beast to him. Worse case scenario was that someone sent the beast after Percy to enrage Poseidon by making it look like Zeus got rid of the boy possibly on Hera's orders. Chiron knew his nephew Ares acted as a troubleshooter for Aphrodite roughly several times a century to get out of the doghouse. Zeus was well known to currently be on thin ice with Hera even after she forced him to just be a storm god in all but name. It wouldn't be irrational for someone to think that Zeus was taking a tried and true play from his son's playbook to get back in Hera's good graces.

Chiron quickly made up his mind and said, "Our first priority is returning to Camp Halfblood with Percy safely. Grover I want you to procure us a working car from the faculty parking lot with a preference for a van." The old centaur paused as he saw Grover's face shift more towards nervousness. "You do remember how to hotwire a car don't you Grover?"

Grover's ears got a touch of pink to them as he looked to the ground. "Only cars made before the mid-90s." Both Naruto and Chiron stared at Grover in disappointment and a little disbelief. The nervous satyr let out a bleat and then got defensive. "It's hard to remember the differences that car makers are putting into the ignition systems of the newer cars and then there's the other anti-theft add-ons that have become standard in the past few years."

Naruto shook his head and said, "I'll get us a car Chiron." He then bounded off towards the faculty parking lot wondering what the hell they were teaching seekers these days. Hotwiring a car was one of the first things Valarie Frizzle taught him how to do once he was big enough to reach all of the controls. Being able to steel and drive a car, even if one's driving was atrocious, was an imperative survival skill for a halfblood since it greatly increased one's mobility. Not that Naruto really needed to drive thanks to Bucephalus and his hiraishin seals.

It didn't take Naruto long to pick out a van that was in drivable condition and hotwire it. He then drove it over to the trio and said while in the driver's seat, "One ride to Camp Halfblood at your service."

Chiron nodded his head and said, "Thank you Naruto. Now if you don't mind I will take care of the driving."

"That's good, I'm not a good driver at all. I call shotgun though just let me get out and you can have the driver's seat." Naruto stopped talking as soon as the words left his mouth. Both he and Chiron looked at the driver's seat and then at the horse half of the centaur's body. Naruto then looked at the space that the driver's seat occupied and said, "Just give me a moment Chiron." The demigod shinobi unbuckled and hopped out of the van. As soon as Naruto was out he grabbed the driver's chair and ripped it out of the van. Then he tossed the chair over into the school rubble. That should have the added bonus of reinforcing the illusion the mist was projecting that school was hit by a car bomb.

"Well," Chrion said with a little amusement, "that solves that problem." He then got into the van sitting his hind legs where the seat used to be and put his front hooves on the pedals. Naruto jumped over the van, landed at the passenger side door, and quickly made good his claim to the shotgun seat. Grover had to drag Percy over to the van, put the unconscious boy in a seat, buckle his friend up, and then get into his own seat. As soon as everyone was buckled up, Chiron put the pedal to the metal and drove off towards Camp Halfblood.

Self-reflection was perhaps the hardest art that a deity could try to perform. The art was hard enough for mortals to perform on themselves, but even the most pigheaded mortal could examine themselves and their actions far better than any deity could. Mortals could look at the world and realize there were things outside of their control. That realization created a seed of humility which could allow them realize their faults and strive to correct them. Mortality itself also helped mortals realize their faults as it drove many of them to think about what they did in life and how that life would be remembered. On the other hand, deities were generally prideful, shallow, and creatures of the moment. Almost every deity could dream of ascending in power over other deities. Immortality dulled life's lessons as deities could outlive the consequences of their mistakes.

Thanks to their "curse" of death at the end of every ragnarok the Aesir got to experience mortality and all of the benefits it brought them. The lessons they learn in each lifetime tended to dull a bit over, but each cycle saw improvements in the Aesir's actions. It drove them to try and become the kind of gods mortals wanted to rule over them. Not that the Aesir or even the deities in general who remembered the Abyss War had been cruel or uncaring towards mortals. It's just that it was generally hard for them to feel much for the current race of man when comparing it to the first race. A deity's power also tended to make it hard for them to feel sympathy and compassion for others.

Artemis did not know about these facts when she set out to think about Freyja's conversation that the Norse goddess had had with her almost a month ago. However, she was quickly learning why the eastern pantheon had labeled humanity as the best of existences on Earth. It had taken her this long just to be able to start really looking over her actions. The fact that Artemis was able to do so this fast was remarkable and had only happened because of the hunters. Spending time with and being responsible for the hunters gave her practice in looking beyond her immediate wants and desires.

Looking back on her actions, the goddess couldn't help being annoyed at her actions after she found out about Naruto's existence. She had the right to be upset over finding out that her multi millennia long lifestyle was about to end. It was understandable that she was worried over what being married might mean for her. Especially, when one considered the fact that a few men she had previously let get close to her had tried to rape her. Thankfully those men had been quite rare among the number male acquaintances and friends she had over the ages even if they tended to predominate the myths that mortals had passed on. Part of her was still annoyed that Homer ignored her friendship with Hector and his wife even if it was done to keep mortals from thinking that Hector's deeds had been achieved through divine favor.

However, her behavior in the weeks and months following her learning about Naruto was not acceptable even if Artemis still didn't want to admit it out loud. She was barely able to break her pride enough to admit to herself that there was a problem with her actions back then. Inner turmoil or not there was no excuse for being practically paralyzed for months because of her fear. As the leader of the hunt it was her responsibility to look after all of her hunters and she had effectively abandoned them during that period. Thankfully, Zoe had been able to pick up the slack like a good lieutenant.

Most of the goddess's interactions with Naruto left her feeling uneasy, uncertain, anxious, often happy, and sometimes even elated when she reflected on them. The reason why Artemis had these feelings eluded her. She still had a long way to go before her meditation efforts could get past the stubbornness and pride she had inherited from her father. What Artemis did realize at the moment from her meditations is that she usually enjoyed Naruto's presence and that she enjoyed it more than she usually enjoyed her occasional male acquaintances. The fact that she had found herself enjoying Naruto's company was an unexpected bonus from the Fates in Artemis's mind.

As Artemis continued her meditation, her thoughts drifted to the night when Naruto suddenly left her hunters' camp. She remembered every detail of that night from the point she spotted Naruto until she got him back to her camp and placed in a bed that she summoned in her greeting chamber of her tent. The one thing among all the memories that was completely clear and apparent to Artemis. She had teleported on instinct to catch Naruto.

Why had she caught him without even thinking about it? Not that Artemis wanted Naruto to die. In fact the thought of him dying made her sick to her stomach. What was bugging Artemis was the fact that she simply reacted to save Naruto. Shouldn't she have at least thought about it for a split second before she saved him? After all that was a golden opportunity for her to 'win' her bet with Aphrodite as she was only bound to marry Hera's first halfblood son. Under the terms of the oath Artemis couldn't harm Naruto or arranged to put him into a deadly situation. At the same time, she didn't have to actively save Naruto if he ended up in a dangerous situation outside of her domain. Even if a dangerous event happened to Naruto while he was in her domains she only had to give him the standard chance that any halfblood had to keep with her oath. If Naruto had fallen to his death as he almost certainly would have that night would have freed Artemis from the oath. Shouldn't she have at least stopped to think about that option?

Part of Artemis wanted to dismiss these thoughts. Thanks to Hera she knew that the Fates had put her virginity on the auction block. Getting married was not on Artemis's list of 100,000 things she'd like to do, but losing her virginity to a husband was infinitely more preferable for the goddess of maidens then the alternatives. Her honor demanded that the man who bedded her demonstrate responsibility for his actions and marry her if he was a 'boyfriend' as mortals dubbed courting these days. Her self-respect made the idea of a one night stand abhorrent. The last possibility was something that she feared in her nightmares like any women did when that topic came up. Artemis's stubbornness wanted to claim that she remembered this fact that night and that she simply moved to protect Naruto because she would have an extremely hard time finding another guy who was half-way acceptable as a husband.

Another part of Artemis realized want was happening to her, but the goddess wouldn't allow herself to voice the fact that she was too afraid to admit even in her head. That part of Artemis was the part that monitored her hunters when one of them was in danger of possibly breaking their oath. Despite some popular rumors among the mythological inclined, Artemis did not kick a hunter out if they started to develop feelings for someone. Such things were very rare, but not entirely unavoidable with the hunters' nomadic lifestyle. Not even her hunters could control their hearts and completely block out Aphrodite and Eros's influence. Artemis only expelled a hunter if they acted on such feelings since it was by acting that they broke their oath to her. If she noted a hunter who was starting to have feelings for someone she'd help the hunter through the issue. Not that anyone outside the hunt realized that since people only talked about the rare fallen hunters in myths and gossip.

Percy was shaken awake when the van hit a speed bump. He blinked his eyes in confusion as the last thing he remembered was the school building shaking and then a ceiling title falling towards him. Percy quickly spotted his pal Grover siting in the seat next to him and he blurted out, "What's going on Grover?"

Grover bleated out in surprise and then turned to look at his friend. "You're awake Percy! I thought with that hit to the head that you'd be out for a few more hours."

With a confused look on his face Percy asked, "What happened Grover and where are we?" None of this was making any sense to the clueless halfblood.

The still disguised satyr chuckled nervously and said, "Well you see Percy. There was an incident at school about two hours ago and everyone had to be sent home."

Naruto turned around in his chair so that Percy could see his head and cut in. "Grover, stop trying to hide what really happened. The proverbial house has already fallen so it's time Dorothy here realizes that Kansas is long gone." Naruto paused for a second and focused his attention on Percy. "Hello, I'm Naruto Uzumaki your most likely cousin and the backup Chiron called in when your school was attacked by a dragon."

Percy's eyes bulged in shock when he heard Naruto say that. "What? How could the school be attacked by a dragon they aren't."

The younger demigod was cut off by a glare from Naruto. The older demigod quickly started to explain things to Percy. "Yes dragons are real. Regular mortals only know about them in myths because dragons along with everything else that can be regarded as mythical are typically hidden from their sight. That monster that attacked you on that school trip of yours was an example of how 'mythological' things typically hide among mortals." Naruto paused to give a heated glare to Chiron. Hera's son loved and greatly respected his uncle. The ageless centaur had insured that the vast majority of halfbloods survived and lived full lives. However, Naruto wanted to know what the Tartarus he was thinking leaving Percy in Yancy after the monster attack at the museum. Basic protection detail 101 lesson one stated that if the principal is attacked you get the principal to a safe location.

Chiron at least had the decency to look embarrassed as his nephew glared at him. Given the dragon attack, Chiron had to admit that he had been a little careless in watching over Percy's safety after the Fury attack. In his defense, keeping a halfblood's scent weak while educating them about the basics of the mythological world was a sound tactic that had worked very well in the past. Chiron also knew that he was one of the best fighters one could find outside of gods and he was very knowledgeable about almost every beast that would want to attack a halfblood. Most low level monsters tended to avoid being in the same area he was in deeming it too much trouble to go after a halfblood under his protection. How was he to know that Tyche would throw him a curveball in the form of that Zemy?

Percy followed Naruto's glare and his eyes bulged out in shock when he saw a centaur driving the van. His shock only increased when he got a look at the centaur's face and blurted out, "Mr. Brunner?"

Naruto shot his uncle an amused grin and said, "Interesting cover name Chiron." He then turned back to look at Percy and said, "Yes, we are in a car being driven by a centaur. The only fact about this that is of any real importance is that it is proof you have left that nice cozy box you called reality behind and have entered wonderland. Now focus on me and what I have to tell you because it is very important for your future safety. The gods and monsters that Chiron was teaching you about all year in school are real. Like me, you are lucky or unlucky enough to be a halfblood; a being that in older times was more popularly known as a demigod."

"Don't bother trying to deny it Percy. Everyone who knows about the mythical side of the world can figure out what you are. ADHD and Dyslexia together are a strong sign to those in the know. Mystical creatures, especially the hostile ones typically called monsters, can smell your non-human half. Others like myself who have a gift for sensing the world around us can pick up the divine tint in your presence which signifies your mixed blood. Denying the truth or pretending that this is all some weird dream does you no good and will actually hurt you. The sooner you accept this the sooner you can get over it and start preparing to live the rest of your life."

Chiron coughed and then spoke up, "Naruto I think you're being a little too forceful in your approach in explaining things to Percy. We are talking about a fundamental change in how young Mr. Jackson understands and views the world. Such a paradigm change is inherently very stressful and confusing. It's even more so when one considers the exact nature the forced this early revelation before he could be properly prepared."

Naruto rolled his eyes and replied, "If Dorothy here needs to have his mental circuit breakers reset once I'm done giving him the 411 I'll just throw him into the lake at camp to wake him back up. As someone who has gone through several earth shattering paradigm changes I can tell you that the slow and gentle approach does not work very well. It's better to quickly go about it like ripping off a band aid. Besides, what other choice do you have but to tell him everything now since he's dragon bait? Are you going to keep him locked up in the Big House for the next month and introduce him one by one to every nymph, satyr, halfblood, and harpy in camp?" A small smirk appeared on Naruto's face when he saw Chiron blush slightly.

Percy reached his breaking point and started to unbuckle his seatbelt. He wanted out of this crazy van and back to sanity. Even dealing with Smelly Gabe was preferable at the moment for Percy than dealing with this insanity. At least with Smelly Gabe Percy knew when to hide and how to roll with the punches. Perhaps if he was really lucky, Percy tried to rationalize to himself, he would wake up and realize that this was just a dream.

Just as Percy was about to completely undo his seatbelt, Naruto sprang into action. Naruto shoved his cousin back into his seat, redid Percy's seatbelt, and then pulled out a pocket knife. Before Grover or Chiron could even register what Naruto had done, the older halfblood used his pocket knife on Percy to create a shallow cut that barely drew blood. Naruto quickly closed up his pocket knife and wanted to shake his head at Percy wincing and grabbing his arm. How could such a small and shallow cut bother the boy? There was barely any blood coming from the cut. Tartarus, Naruto had gotten worse cuts from underbrush when going through wooded areas!

Naruto glared at Percy and firmly said, "As that little cut I just gave you proves this is all real. If you want to live beyond your next birthday it is imperative that you listen to what I have to say and accept it. You don't have to like it. Tartarus, there are many facts about the real world that people hate when they learn about them, but whether or not you like something doesn't change the fact that it exists. You are a halfblood like me. Your father is a god, although we do not know who he is at the moment. Because of your divine blood you will have access to abilities that mortals do not. However, you will also have to be on your guard against monster attacks. All of the monsters Chiron covered this year with you exist for real and they constantly reform themselves. Sadly, monsters and halfboods have been feuding for millennia. Monsters attack us partly in revenge for our older siblings killing them in the past and partly as preemptive strike against halfbloods trying to kill them for a quest."

"A dragon attacked Yancy apparently homing in on your halfblood scent. Because of this, you're being taken back to Camp Halfblood now for survival training instead of waiting a few months until the summer session starts. While I cannot say this for sure, you're probably going to have to pass some sort of competency test before anyone will let you out of Camp Halfblood. If we didn't then we might as well kill you ourselves. At least then you'd die less painfully than from a monster attack. There are monsters that can swallow you in one bite. As a person who has been swallowed by and escaped from a giant snake I can testify that you really don't want to die in that manner."

The van stopped at a stoplight allowing Chiron to pull out a small water bottle that the van's owner had set in the door and hand it to Percy. He then spoke up and said, "While I find Naruto's words to be heavy handed Percy, you should understand where he is coming from. Even a regular trained halfblood has to be on guard most of the time to protect themselves. For someone like you who is currently untrained and who unfortunately has a very strong scent the risk of being attacked is much worse. Why don't you have some water and enjoy the ride to Camp for the time being? I promise that we will insure that you have everything you need to be safe soon enough."

Percy hesitantly accepted the water from Chiron and looked down at his feet. The van jolted into motion as soon as the light turned green splashing a little bit of water onto Percy's arm. Chiron observed the splash out of the corner of his eye using the rearview mirror. His eyes narrowed when he saw the small cut on Percy's arm disappear. As he feared, the water had healed Percy when it spilled slightly as he intended it to do. Only one godly lineage could bestow that kind of healing with just a few drops of water. Unfortunately, that meant that Percy's presence signaled bad or worse events coming on the horizon at Camp depending on his place in that lineage.

Gabe Ugliano was in an extremely foul mood and had been hitting the booze early today. That was never a good combo as Sally Jackson had learned over the years she had unfortunately been married to Gabe. Many stuck with an abusive husband would think that was either somehow all their fault or they would be praying for him to change back into the man they "knew" he once was again. Sally just stoically endured Gabe's tempers and did her best to avoid his attention when he wasn't in a semi civil mood. She had been well aware that Gabe was poor excuse of a man when she met him and accepted putting up with him in order spend more time with Percy in relative safety. She never prayed about her marriage or about Gabe in general as she was worried about attracting Hera's attention. The myths were quiet on Hera's attitudes towards her other siblings' illegitimate children outside of her opinion of her husband's infidelities. Still, Sally figured that it would be better to cautious and not risk a goddess's wrath.

Suddenly, the TV show Gabe was watching was cut off as an emergency news broadcast was put on. The announcer on TV bowed his head and said, "Sorry for interrupting your regular broadcast. However, it is my duty to inform you all that there has been a terrorist attack that has recently occurred here in New York State. This is the second major terrorist attack against the United States this decade."

A picture of the smoking rubble of Yancy Academy appeared on the TV next to the news anchorman. "Just over an hour ago the prestigious private boarding school Yancy Academy was destroyed by a series of car bombs. Preliminary investigators have not been able to determine more than that from the attack yet. Unfortunately, 13 children and teachers at the academy have been killed in the attack and over four dozen more have been rushed to the hospital in critical condition Names-"

The announcer's statement was cut off by Gabe changing the channel to try and find a sports game to watch. Seriously, who cares if a bunch of snobbish little shits were dead? Sally shocked Gabe by grabbing for the remote and trying to turn the channel back to the news. Percy went to Yancy and she needed to know how he was doing. Gabe saw red and punched Sally in the face knocking her down on the floor. He got out of his chair and roared with his fist ready for another strike, "Shut up you stupid bitch! I'm the man of the house."

Gabe was cut off from saying more by a kunai that sailed through the nearby window and imbedded itself in his chest piercing his heart. Gabe collapsed like a sack of potatoes and Naruto teleported into the room onto the pig's chest just after the swine it the floor. Sally watched in shock as Naruto took two dollar coins out of his wallet, opened Gabe's mouth, and placed the coins in the dead man's mouth. Naruto quickly closed Gabe's mouth and said, "Charon please accept this payment to carry this man's shade swiftly across the river so that he might be judged for his actions in life."

Naruto knew that he'd later regret taking Gabe's life although he didn't feel anything but disgust for the man at the moment. Culturally, the Elemental Nations took a very dim view on spousal abuse and that was magnified in the shinobi villages. While wives were traditionally subordinate to their husbands among the nobility, husbands were expected to care for and protect their wives. To mistreat let alone abuse ones wife was a massive dishonor that stained a man's personal honor and the honor of his entire clan. Among the shinobi honor wasn't nearly as stressed, but they also worried about clan honor. The dim view of spousal abuse was magnified among shinobi because of the expectation that one's spouse would help them and protect their family while they were away. The fact that any kunoichi could permanently remove those who went against social conventions kept any would be deviants strictly in line. As Hera's son, Naruto had an especial distaste for spousal abuse.

With Gabe dead, Naruto quickly sheathed his kunai and then held both hands out in front of him so that Sally could see his empty hands. Thank Tyche he had noticed the compass's reacting to Percy's blood when he went to clean his pocketknife. Naruto had gotten Sally's residence from Chiron saying that he wanted to double check to make sure she was safe from any monsters noticing Percy's lingering scent. In the back of Naruto's mind he wondered why his compass didn't react to Percy's presence nearly as well as it did to Sally's which it reacted to as designed. Perhaps the icthor in the boy's blood was masking the Selkie blood? That was something for him to think about in the future. "Don't worry Mrs. Jackson. I'm a halfblood and I'm here to help you." Naruto paused for a moment and then added, "Don't worry about your son. We got Percy out Yancy during the attack and have safely gotten him to Camp Halfblood."

Sally frowned as she looked at the unknown to her halfblood. She was shocked how he had appeared after killing Gabe. Not that she was particularly upset at Gabe's demise. The man's only good quality was that his scent was able to protect her son for all these years. She had seen drug dealers and gang leaders around the neighborhood who were better men than Gabe and those were some pretty nasty individuals. Sally looked up at Naruto and asked with just a hint of nervousness, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Naruto gave her his usual friendly smile as he got off of Gabe's corpse. Personal opinions of the man aside, Naruto was not about to disrespect a dead man in any way if he could avoid it. He calmly said, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Officially, I'm here to check on your safety. A dragon recently attacked Yancy apparently drawn in by your son's halfblood scent. I and several others wanted to check on you to make sure that you were safe from any monster attacks as well. Unofficially, I'm here to fulfill a quest given to me by your great-grandfather Connor MacLeod to insure your safety. Your son isn't the only one to have a mythically inclined family tree."

Author's Note: Sorry for taking a while on this chapter. When you do eight hours of data entry a day at work it can be hard to start writing after work. Add to that I had some issues working out how some scenes would go and you have my delay in updating.

For those of you who are asking, I'm not trying to drag out the Artemis romantic relationship plotline. I'm trying to approach it in a rational and somewhat 'realistic' manner. Keep in mind that Artemis is a maiden goddess that typically avoids men and has had a few bad incidents with them. Having half a dozen attempts by strangers to forcibly marry you would make any girl jittery when it comes to having a romantic relationship. She's had her world view that she's held for thousands of years turned on its head resulting in her friends/ daughter figures being placed in grave danger. Add to this is the fact that Naruto doesn't quite conform to her expectations of how a man would act. Then to top it off she's slowly discovering that she has feelings for Naruto that she isn't used to dealing with at all.

Artemis is facing many challenges and having to adapt to rapid change at an unprecedented speed for her. Yes she has had five years to adapt which is a very long time for a mortal. For someone who has literally lived thousands of years that's like a weekend or maybe a week tops with new surprises constantly being added. Is she in love with Naruto? The answer as I've tried to show is most definitely yes. But, she can't even admit that she's in love to herself yet let alone admit it to others. Of course others, besides Naruto who has a blind spot on these matters in relation to himself, can see that Artemis is in love if their able to watch her during the time she's with Naruto.