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From the Other Side

-Chapter 23-

-Last Time-

Nodding again, Naruto didn't bother responding verbally this time as he lifted the front of his shirt up to reveal his stomach, which bore a faint outline of the seal Tayuya had used now seared onto his flesh.

That was all Anko needed to see though as she immediately pressed a finger against her ear, or more specifically the small radio in her ear. "This is Anko, get the Hokage to training ground 44 immediately for a code Kyu."

-And Now-

"Ugh… this feels weird," Laying flat on his back on a barely padded mat in a plain office, Naruto couldn't help but shiver as Jiraiya painted on a piece of translucent parchment spread across the whiskered blonde's torso. Meanwhile, Hiruzen and Tsunade stood by the door, the latter cradling a confused looking Teisho in the crook of her arm while sipping at a jug of Sake held in her free hand. "How much longer is this gonna take?"

"Hold your horses Gaki, this isn't something I can rush," As he spoke, the Toad summoner put his brush down and carefully peeled the paper away, revealing an almost perfect replica of the scorched seal. "There, I'm done."

"Finally! My back was killing me," Naruto grumbled as he sat up, rolling his shoulders as his spine realigned with a satisfying cracking before scratching at his stomach, causing both ink and burned skin to peel away. "So, what's the damage Ero-Sennin?"

"Thankfully minimal so you should be fine, but I'll keep an eye on it just to be safe," Jirayia stated while tucking the tracing into his coat after making sure it was fully dry. "I'd also suggest you avoid putting any unneeded strain on it, so make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid Artemis."

"I'll keep that in mind Lágnos." Artemis said in an amused tone through Naruto, before said blonde took back control with an annoyed scowl.

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Resent it all you want, that doesn't change the fact you and stupid situations go together like peanut butter and chocolate." Diana added, getting the whiskered teen to pout.

'Great, now I'm insulted and hungry,' He grumbled mentally, ignoring the not-so-subtle giggles echoing in the back of his head before blinking in confusion when Jiraiya abruptly backed away and Tsunade took his place. However, said confusion only lasted a few seconds as she did a few hand-seals and her hand was encased with a familiar green glow. "…I'm not gonna need another shot, am I?"

"Depends, did you sleep with anyone else recently?" The busty blonde asked back, a smirk forming on her lips when the teen shook his head rapidly while cupping his groin protectively.

"Nope! Not at all!"

"Then no, you wont be needing that shot again," Tsunade said with a shake of her head, getting Naruto to sigh in relief as his fellow blonde held her glowing hand up to the side of his head. "Try to hold still, I wanna get this over with so I can get back to my poker game."

"Wow, what lovely bedside mannerisms you have." Diana said sarcastically as Naruto's eyes turned metallic silver, the goddess idly petting Teisho's head when the little Lamia hopped from Tsunade's shoulders to 'her's'.

"Oh quit your bitching, I'm your doctor not your nanny," The bodacious blonde said while bopping the possessed whiskered boy's head. "And I'm guessing you are this Diana Naruto mentioned?"

"The one and only."

"Excuse me if I'm disinclined to believe the only part," Tsunade said dryly, "So are you also a "goddess"?"

As Tsunade got herself acquainted with the Roman counterpart of Artemis, Jiraiya and Hiruzen were walking down the hallway with serious expressions.

"How bad is the situation, really?" The Hokage asked after several moments of silence.

"Very bad," Jiraiya said with a shake of his head, pulling out the seal etching he'd made with a frown. "This thing is one hell of a piece of work, it somehow hacked right into the seal without setting off any defenses. Whoever made this knew exactly what they were doing and how to do it."

"Whoever? You don't think this was Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked with a raised brow.

"Oh I have no doubt that scaly bastard is involved in this somehow, only someone with knowledge on the Eight Trigrams could have made this work," The toad sannin stated with a scowl before holding the tracing out for the pipe smoker to see. "But I've seen enough of those butchered messes he calls seals to know that this isn't his handywork."

"Hmm, yes, I see what you mean." Hiruzen muttered as his gaze flickered over the intricate writing carefully woven together into a single solid look image that composed the seal. Even in its damaged and obscured state the Professor of Shinobi could tell with just a glance that this thing had been a truly magnificent work of Fuinjutsu.

And although Orochimaru was a genius, Hiruzen knew enough about his former student to know that Seals had never been his strong suit. His straightforward logical way of thinking was just to contradictive towards the open-minded creativity needed to really excel in the Art to a degree like this.

"I'll try and decipher what I can from it, see what I can get from it, but in this state it'll take some time," Jiraiya said while putting the etching back into his pocket. "We should have someone keep an eye on Naruto until then, just in case that snake has something else like this up his sleeve."

"Already done, Anko volunteered to do so after she found out someone messed with the seal, she's really taken a shine for him." Hiruzen stated, his lips curling upwards into a small smirk at the end.

"That she has," Jiraiya agreed with a chuckle as he remembered how Naruto and Artemis would grumble about the purplette's near constant teasing during their training. "I almost feel sorry for the gaki now."

Meanwhile, back with said gaki, Naruto sighed in relief as he was FINALLY allowed to stand up and put his shirt back on.

"Well congratulations I guess, aside from strained Chakra coils and… new friend you're perfectly fine," Tsunade said as her fellow blonde stretched the stiffness out of his joints. "Just take it easy for the next few days, I'll have Shizune schedule you for a full psych eval later, and as the pervert said don't do anything too stupid in the meantime."

"OI! I'm not that bad!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly, ignoring the pair of disbelieving huffs in the back of his mind.

"Your track record begs to differ," The bodacious medic retorted blandly before taking a long swig from her Sake jug and heading straight for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, there's a royal flush out there with my name on it."

"I'm not that bad…" Naruto grumbled after Tsunade left, crossing his arms with a pout while Teisho slithered up onto the top of his head.

-Later, Team Assigned Room-

"Aaaaah, this is the best," Ino said with a sigh as she snuggled with Chui's side, her head resting against the crook of the large wolf's neck while his tail curled over her like a blanket. The blonde's injuries were all bandaged up now while all the grime and dust from the forest was gone, washed away in the shower she'd taken just a bit ago. "I can never go back to a regular bed now."

"I am pleased that you think so highly of me Ino-sama." The greenish-brown canine said happily despite knowing she couldn't understand, though she probably got the message when his tail started to wag gently.

"Uh Ino, don't you think you forgetting something?" Choji asked from across the room sitting on the edge of his bed, patched up and squeaky clean as well, enjoying a bag of chips with Mochi sitting on his lap idly munching at a piece of celery.

Meanwhile, Liru was curled up at the foot of another bed, a happy and curious expression on her face as she watched a cheesy drama movie on a television that happened to be included with the room.

"Like what?" The mind reader asked, raising her head just enough to let Choji see her raised brow.

"Like how your parents are going to react when you bring a giant wolf home to live with you?" The big-boned teen retorted, getting Ino to freeze for a moment before smiling sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head.

"Oh yeah… that's gonna be a fun conversation," She muttered as she sank back into her fluffy bit of heaven, already picturing how her folks would react to Chui, before softly scratching said wolf's head. "Though that's assuming you even want to live with me, huh Chui? You do already have a pretty sweet home already after all, so it's up to you."

"The Grotto may be my home, but I'd much prefer to remain in your company if possible Ino-sama." The wolf stated calmly, though all Ino heard was a soft sad sounding whine as the large canine licked the tip of her nose.

"Hehehe… I'll take that as a yes," Ino said with a giggle, before her attention was stolen by the door opening to reveal an annoyed Naruto with Teisho still perched on his head, the small Lamia humming softly to herself as she took in the new room. "Well you look like you had a fun time."

"Fun, yeah, totally," The whiskered blonde drawled sarcastically as he trudged through the room, stopping to pet Liru's head while gently setting Teisho down next to her. Watching the duo quickly snuggled together, Naruto couldn't help but smile briefly before scowling again as he stopped off to the bathroom. "Stupid old hag calling me stupid, she's stupid."

"He and Tsunade-san really don't get along, do they?" Choji asked rhetorically as he went back to snacking.

"Nah, I think they care for each-other more than you'd think, they're both just too stubborn for their own good," Ino stated, snuggling back into Chui's side with a sigh. "I mean, why else would Tsunade-san keep insisting she does all Naruto's check-ups and appointments?"

"Yeah, good point." The big-boned boy nodded in agreement, unable to argue against her point.

After that a comfortable silence settled over the room as Ino drifted to sleep on her 'bed', Choji went back to feeding and grooming Mochi, Naruto hopped into the shower, and Teisho and Liru enjoyed their cartoons.

*Knock-Knock*

"Huh!?" A silence that lasted a whopping five minutes before being shattered by someone knocking at the door, getting Ino to snap awake with a start. Once her brain woke up with her though, the blonde let out an annoyed grumble as she glared at the slab of wood irritably. "Who is it?"

"I am Shizuka of Nadeshiko Village," A feminine voice called back neutrally. "I am here to speak to the boy named Uzumaki Naruto immediately."

'Who?' The mind reader thought to herself with a confused tilt of her head, complete with cartoony blinking question mark, before responding in unsure tone. "Sorry but he's in the shower right now, can you come back later?"

"No. I shall speak with him now."

"…Uh, about what exactly?"

"None of your concern," The unknown person stated, an edge of annoyance and impatience bleeding into her voice. "Now either have him come here or I shall open this door myself and get him myself."

"Alright, alright, sheesh," Ino retorted with a huff while cupping a hand to her lips. "Naruto, there's someone at the door for you!"

"I heard, give me a sec!" The whiskered blonde shouted back, followed by muffled grumbling and the sound of wet feet hitting the floor before he popped out of the bathroom, sopping wet and a towel wrapped around his waist.

Marching over to the doorway with an incredibly irritated scowl, he wasted no time wrenching it open…

*Swi-Ching*

"Is trying to stab people just your default greeting or something?" Naruto asked with a deadpan as he used an arrowhead to narrowly deflect an unfortunately familiar dagger away, getting a light nick on his knuckles while leaving a scratch to the wrist on the equally familiar raven-haired girl holding said knife.

"So it wasn't a fluke, your reflexes are most impressive," Shizuka stated as she twirled her dagger into a reverse grip and slipped it into her cloak somewhere, staring him straight in the eye the whole time, seemingly unphased by the boy's state of undress or the bleeding cut on her arm. "Uzumaki Naruto, you have gotten my interest."

"Oh really? I couldn't tell," The blonde stated sarcastically, his deadpan growing deeper. "Look, skip the shtick and get to the point already. I've had a really long frustrating day and I just wanna finish my shower, have a bowl of ramen, and spend some quality time with my daughter."

"That is fine, I…" The cloaked ravenette stated to say with a nod, only to trail off with a baffled look when her brain fully registered his statement. "Did you say daughter?"

"Don't change the subject," Naruto said firmly, stepping further out the doorway so the two were only a few inches apart while simultaneously blocking more of Shizuka's view of the room behind him, an action the ravenette did not miss. "Why do you want to talk to me?"

Staring at him intently, the cloaked kunoichi hesitated for but a moment before nodding again as her face returned to its normal neutral expression. "Am I mistaken in the knowledge that you are a student of Jiraiya the Toad Sannin?"

This time it was Naruto who was baffled, the whiskered blonde blinking in surprise at the seemingly random question. "Uh, you mean Ero-Sennin? Not really, I mean he did teach me for a week, but I didn't really have any-Hey wait, how did you-"

"Then this is for you," Shizuke cut the blonde off as she pulled out an embroidered scroll from her cloak and shoved it into his arms. "I'll see you on the battlefield."

Not giving Naruto any chance to respond, the ravenette vanished in a flower shushin, leaving not but a few petals where she once stood.

"Alright then," Slamming the door shut, Naruto turned the rest of the room and held the scroll up for everyone to see. "So, who wants to take a guess at what kind of bullshit this is about?"

"Knowing you, it could be anything from a death threat to a marriage proposal," Ino said blandly, snuggling back into the crook of Chui's neck while Choji just nodded. "Only one way to find out, open it up."

"Eh, might as well," The blonde muttered while creating a single shadow clone and handing the scroll to it. "Go open that in the hallway."

"Hai boss."

"Smart thinking," Diana said approvingly as the clone stepped out of the room with the scroll in hand. "Maybe you aren't as Naïve as I thought."

'And I still can't tell if you're complimenting me or insulting me.' Naruto retorted with a shake of his head before turning back to the doorway as the clone came back in with a pissed look as it handed him the now opened scroll. "That bad?"

"You have no idea boss." The clone stated, vanishing into a cloud of smoke as Naruto started reading the scroll for himself.

Barely five seconds later though, the whiskered blonde's face had turned a bright red, his lips narrowed into heavy scowl, and several veins started to bulge on his forehead. With hands trembling in anger, he crumbled the roll of paper up and tossed it into the garbage.

"I'm going to kill him," He stated angrily while marching straight for the bathroom, reemerging mere seconds later with his pants and shirt on despite his still dripping wet body, and headed right for the door. "I'm going to kill that pervert this time."

*CRASH*

"Pava's mad." Teisho said with a concerned hum as everyone stared at the barely standing and heavily fractured doorway.

"Understatement… now I gotta know." Ino muttered once her shock wore off, finally getting off Chui in order to rifle around in the trash. Thankfully, it was mostly empty, so it only took but a moment for her to fish the balled up scroll out and unravel it. "Let's see here, ehem, By order of the governing body of Nadeshiko, the one known as Jiraiya of the Sannin shall be excused for his crimes of illegally entering the village of Nadeshiko and erroneous activities of illicit nature. In return for this dismissal, Jiraiya shall present a male student to engage in combat against Shizuka of Nadeshiko in the Rite of Marital Combat during the Chunnin Exams and per custom if defeated, the aforementioned student shall be executed, and if victorious he shall be taken to Nadeshiko to be wed…" The mind reader facepalms with a loud *Smack*. "Oh my Kami, it's a marital agreement and a death threat."

"Huh, talk about calling it," Choji said with a dumbfounded expression. "No wonder he's so pissed, he just got told he was going to get married against his will or die."

"AAHG! WHAT THE HELL HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU GAKI?!"

"GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERTED BASTARD! I'M GONNA RIP YOUR NUTS OFF AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

"If he doesn't get sent to jail for murder first." The big-boned boy added with sweat-drop.

-End Chapter-

AN: First off, I am so, so, so, SOOOOOO sorry for such a long wait between updates, with all the insanity with Covid-19 and such, it has just been so hard to actually get any decent writing done. While it's short, I do hope this is still enjoyable for you all to read and makes up a bit for the long wait. Lastly, I hope you've all been enjoying the new cover, which is of Teisho and a full size version can be seen on deviantart by PalomaGouthier