Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. Here, we're gonna get back with Naruto and his group, along with Annabeth and her group. Also a scene with a few of the Olympians. So, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Percy Jackson.

Chapter 16: Flashback of a Meeting

(Mount Olympus: Apollo's Temple)

"No way! Absolutely not!" Apollo raged, glaring at Aphrodite. "I am not going to help that blonde son of a bitch!"

The love goddess is having a hard time not losing her temper. After talking to Naruto, she went to Apollo to convince helping son of Hephaestus in finding the last tailed beast. The Shukaku is most likely in the desert, and with Apollo being the god of the sun, he can spot the capsule.

The hard part is convincing him to do so. "Apollo, can you please do it?" Aphrodite pleaded. "Naruto needs to get that tailed beasts before the Akatsuki, and-"

"No!" Apollo told her again. "I don't care if a city getting destroyed! I'm not helping him!" Aphrodite suddenly had the urged to bribe him with her body, the usual way she get her way with gods, but push that thought away. For one, she is trying to turn a new leaf and actually not give into her embodiment. And second, she doubted that would make Apollo change his mind.

He really hates Naruto right now.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Aphrodite questioned him. "He hasn't done anything bad to your sister. And he isn't anything like the other heroes of old, especially not Orion. So why do you hate him so much?"

Apollo look away from her, eyes shut and fist clenched. "...It's because of the fact that he's so close to her." Apollo admitted. "He has gotten along with her better than she does with me. It makes me angry to see him close."

Aphrodite's eyes widen a bit. "Wait a minute Apollo, are you-"

"Hades no!" Apollo shouted, his face a mixture of red and green. "Please do not put that in my head! I'm angry that he can get along with her better than I could." Apollo explained himself. The sun god teleported to the couch and laid down on it. "I love my sister as much as I do my mother. Even though we don't see eye to eye in a lot of stuff, I still care for her as much as I did when I was younger, even if she doesn't care about me all that much."

"But seeing her get along with another guy, better than she does with me?" Apollo continued, his voice slowly going soft. "Well, that hurt. It hurt a lot. While I admit the guy is nobler than I am, especially when it comes to girls, it doesn't help the anger." He looked up at the roof, looking strangely depressed. "Sometimes I wonder if she still loves me at all, especially after recent events."

Now Aphrodite can see why Apollo doesn't like Naruto. He's jealous. Jealous of the closeness Naruto and Artemis shared. Jealous that someone else can get along with Artemis better than any other male Olympian, or Greek gods in general. He also feels some doubt, which is pretty stranger from one of the most confident and cheerful Olympians, that Artemis may not love him.

Why didn't she see this before? She's the goddess of love, she is supposed to sense emotions like this. 'Probably because I was too vain not see it. Too busy forming and breaking couples to sense this.' Well, this is the perfect time to deal with this.

"You're wrong." Apollo turned his head towards Aphrodite when she spoke. "I am the goddess of love, lust, and beauty. I know if someone does or does not love somebody, and I'm telling you this. Artemis does love you."

Aphrodite smiled at him. "She may not show it, but she still holds the same amount of love you do. And the times the two of you don't see eye to eye are just siblings bickering."

"As for Artemis getting along with Naruto, well, he's one of the few men that didn't become what she hated." Aphrodite said to him. "And beside, most people get along with Naruto. There are only a handful of people in the ninja world and this world that hate the blonde, and those few know nothing about the blonde."

Aphrodite walked over to Apollo. "You don't have to be jealous of him Apollo." She continued. "Naruto isn't about to steal your sister away from you. I don't pretend to know, but one thing I can see is that he's not one to break about a family bond."

Aphrodite didn't say anything else further, letting Apollo process her words. She hoped that he won't be stubborn about this, like Zeus would be. Finally, after a long moment of silence, Apollo spoke up. "You know, when you put it like that, I can see all the good traits on Naruto." The sun god smile a little.

"How good of a guy he actually is, smart enough to gain Athena's attention, not to mention very strong." Apollo continued. "He even made a friend in Zoe, the Ice Queen of the hunters if there ever was one." Aphrodite giggled at that. True, that's an accomplishment in itself.

Apollo sighed before getting up from his position from the couch. "I'll help." Apollo told her, making Aphrodite smile widely. "But that doesn't mean I'll automatically like him. I'll try, but no promises."

Nevertheless, Aphrodite's smile didn't waver. "You won't regret this Apollo, I guarantee this."

"When I hear that from you, I would be nervous." Apollo joked. "But I'll trust you this time." Aphrodite nodded before leaving the temple. Yes! She managed to get into that stubborn head of his!

Hopefully, Apollo will accept Naruto.

(With Naruto's Group)

After they ate breakfast, the group got back into the car and started driving to the camp. They've been driving for hours, with no shinobi or monsters in sight so far. But still, Naruto kept his guard up in case of any attacks.

It was mid-afternoon when Naruto finally got to California. He stopped the car when he got near the entrance of the tunnel, and parked it near a hill. "So we're here?" Thalia asked, taking a bit from her zebra snack cake.

Naruto nodded before looking in the back. He held back a snicker at what he was seeing. During the ride, Piper and Leo got tired again. Leo was lying on Piper's shoulder while Piper herself was lying on the pyro's head.

With a foxy grin, Naruto pulled out a camera from nowhere and took a picture of the two. "Perfect blackmail." Naruto snickered as Thalia took a look at the picture. She snickered herself when she saw the picture.

"Think you can make copies of that Whiskers?"

"Sure can do Thal-chan." Naruto replied, using the nickname he had for her. He used it a lot when they were younger, but now rarely uses it. And it was something that would make Thalia blush every time.

As the two got out of the car, Piper and Leo both slowly wake up. When they saw the position they were in, their eyes widen and the two slid away as fast as possible.

"Tell me nobody saw that?" Piper pleaded to herself. Her prayers were answered when Naruto and Thalia opened the door with matching smirks on their faces.

"Be lucky that nobody else was there to see it." Naruto said as Piper groaned. Oh, but he got one of many blackmail on her.

Hey, he was the Jinchuriki of a Kitsune, as well as a prankster. He can't help stuff like that.

"Come on you guys." Naruto told his team. "The entrance is a ten minute walk from here. And if we stayed at one place for too long-"

"-something is bound to attack you." Thalia finished for Naruto. It's a universal rule all demigods eventually learned. With that, the group kept on walking, with Naruto in front of the group while the others are behind him.

"So, do you have any more stories on you guys adventure?" Leo asked Thalia. "Or any pranks he pulled?"

Thalia smirked. "Oh plenty more, but I would like you two to tell me something before I do." Leo and Piper look at her curiously, wondering what she wanted to ask. "How did the two of you meet Naruto?"

The two were a bit surprised at the question, but not a whole lot. "Well," Piper began, going first. "Before Naruto, I had an assistant named Jane." Piper frowned at the thought of that woman. "I never really got along with her, so I wasn't sad to hear that she had disappeared. A few days after her disappearance, Naruto came in."

"He was looking for a job, and dad hired him." Piper continued. "At first, I was a bit weary of him, but as time grew, I viewed him as an older brother. He even made sure that my dad spent some time with me, despite how busy he is." Piper smile, recalling the day her dad started paying more attention to her. It was the best day ever.

The three are talking low enough that Naruto wouldn't hear them, though it seem like the blonde is lost in thought.

"So I'm next then." Leo replied, putting his hands behind his head. "Before I met Naruto, I was pretty much an orphan. My mom died due to….things, and the rest of my family couldn't stand me." Piper and Thalia felt a bit of sympathy for Leo when they heard that.

"I met Naruto after I got out of the last foster home." Leo continued. "I was at Houston, Texas, and while I was on the street, Naruto found me. I wasn't at the best shape then, starving and a bit dehydrated, so he brought to his workshop and fix me up something. We talked, and Naruto found out about my love to build and fix stuff."

Leo smiled, recalling the years. "When he saw how awesome I am with tech, he took me in as an employee and student. Months later, he found out about my pyro abilities. At first, I thought he'll be like the others and see me as freak. Last thing I expected was to find out that he was also a pyro-maniac."

Thalia snickered. "Maniac indeed." Naruto can turn from a cunning warrior to a battle maniac in just seconds.

"Ever since then, Naruto and I became bros. Never thought he would be a literal bro." Leo joked a little, though no one laughed. Then he turned to Thalia. "So, how did you and Blondie meet?"

Instantly, Thalia looked away from the two. "That's something I'd rather not discuss." Thalia said quickly. If the two didn't know any better, the girl sounded a bit embarrassed. "It's not really that big of a deal."

"Come on, we gave you our back stories." Leo whined a little. "It would be fair to tell us." Thalia shook her head quickly. Leo pouted while Piper had a smirk on her face.

"Okay, then we'll ask Naruto, Annabeth, or Luke about it." Piper casually said, causing Thalia to whip her head towards her. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind telling us."

Thalia growled. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." Piper said back. Leo respect for Piper went up a notch. The kitty got some claws on her, that's for sure.

"...You Aphrodite children are all annoying." Thalia grumbled with twitching eyes. "Okay, pay attention. I'm only gonna relay it to you once."

(With Annabeth's Group)

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Grover repeated over and over, holding his head. After Nico and Lacy appeared in front of the group, Annabeth immediately went to find an empty room so the group could talk about this more. And rest up as well. "Chiron is gonna kill us! Naruto gonna kill us! Aphrodite and Hades are going to kill us!"

"No they won't Grover." Percy sighed. The group had been seeing Grover panicking for a couple of minutes, and it quickly irritating Percy. "They'll kill the shinobi that forced Nico to come here."

"But then they'll come for us." Grover stated. "Maybe we should hide. Maybe we should stay here. The gods won't be able to reach us. And-" Immediately, a ball of water hit Grover, stopping the satyr from his rambling.

Percy juggled another water ball in his hand. "Better?"

"Better." Grover sighed. "Thanks."

"Now." Annabeth cut in. "We need to figure what to do with these two." She pointed to Nico and Lacy, who are huddled together on one of the walls. "Should we try to find a way back to camp and bring them back? Or continue on with our quest with them in tow?"

"I think we should stay." Nico added in his own opinion. Lacy look at Nico in surprise, but didn't get the chance to say anything. "We don't know where the heck we're at anyway. Might as well join you and help you out."

"Help us out?" Annabeth asked with disbelief. No offense to Nico, but he's only an eleven years old and didn't really have any combat experience.

"Don't forget that I did a quest at age twelve Annabeth." Percy pointed out. "And you traveled across the country at seven. It doesn't seem farfetched for Nico to help us." Annabeth sighed. She can't really argue with that. Well, she could say that Nico didn't have that much training, but Percy would just point out that he only had a week of training before going on a quest.

"And I can handle myself too." Nico told them confidently. "Naruto and Bianca have been training me ever since he got back from that Artemis quest. I may not be as good with shadows like my sister, but I have good sword combat training and can do this."

Nico got off the wall and went to the middle of the room, sitting Indian style. It was only a few minutes of silence before they saw green mists forming around Nico. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth immediately got hold of their weapons while Tyson tense up for a fight. They were on edge even more when those green mists turn into some type of green ghost.

"Wraiths!" Annabeth said in shock, causing Percy to turn to the blonde. "Wraiths are one of the more common demons in the dragon age. They appeared when a rift opened up in the sky, terrorizing people with other demons."

Percy's eyes widened, but before he did anything, Nico spoke up. "Don't worry, they obey my commands." He reassured them. "They won't attack you unless you try to harm me." That made the group relax a little.

"I-I don't know if I'll be much help." Lacy spoke up, causing everyone to turn to her. "It's only been a few months since I got here, and I'm not that much of a fighter." Percy, Annabeth, and Grover's eyes softened up at the fear in her voice.

Nico smile and walk over to the blonde Aphrodite girl, getting her hand. "Don't worry Lace, we're gonna protect you while we're here." Nico said to her confidently. "You can count on that." Lacy look at Nico for a moment before she smile and nodded with a bit of pink on her cheeks.

Percy and Grover smirked at the two while Annabeth giggled at the two. Everyone went to the wall, sitting down and relaxing from all the walking. A few minutes later, a thought came up to Percy's mind.

"Hey Wise Girl." Annabeth look up at the nickname Percy gave her. "How did Thalia meet you, Naruto, and Luke? I know how Naruto met you and Luke, but not Thalia."

Annabeth smiled, recalling the memory. "I think it was during the time we hit a big supply of food." Annabeth said to him. "We were resting up and Naruto manage to get three bags of food for us."

(Flashback)

Annabeth started eating her Swiss rolls slowly, but eagerly. Naruto is the best, managing to find these sweets! Sure, he makes sure not to let her eat a lot of them, but she still enjoys the time she gets them.

Luke was sitting beside, also eating one of the snack cakes, while Naruto was far in front of them, talking to somebody on something called Iris-messaging. "Luke, do you know who he's talking to?" The seven year old asked her second brother figure.

Luke shrugged. "From my guesses, either his patron or his dad." The blonde frowned. "I don't get why he would. The gods don't pay much attention to us till they need us."

Annabeth frowned a little. Whenever he or anybody mentioned those gods, he always gets frowny and moody. She feels that way too, however, whenever her own dad is mentioned. And her step-mother.

When Annabeth heard footsteps, she turned to see Naruto walking over to them. "Finish your snacks you two. I need to make a pit stop for another demigod."

"Another one? Who?" Luke asked, biting the rest of his snack cakes in one go. Annabeth quickly finish her snack cake before helping out look with the packing.

When Naruto finished putting up his own food and supplies, he slung his backpack onto his back and turn towards them. "From what my patron told me, it's a daughter of Zeus. She ran into a group of Cyclops, and they are currently going after her. She wants me to save her."

"How far are we from her?" Luke asked as Naruto bent down, so Annabeth could get on his back. The girl got onto his back before Naruto and Luke broke off into a run.

"Not far." Naruto told him. "But we got to get there quickly, before those Cyclops can catch up to her." Luke nodded and with that, he followed Naruto.

It was only a few minutes before they stopped at a corner of the building. "Stay behind me you two." Naruto warned in a whisper. "It's a group of Cyclops. We're gonna need the element of surprise to take them on." He isn't Athena's champion for nothing.

Luke was about to ask something when they heard a female voice shouting in anger and fear. "Get away from me!"

(With Naruto's Group)

"I kinda got them angry." Thalia admitted sheepishly. "While I was running away from that group of Cyclops, I was taunting and telling them how slow they were. I got to cocky and they manage to be smart enough to surround me."

(Flashback)

Thalia looked around to see eight giant men around her, four of them angry. Shit, shit, shit! She is in big trouble now. Really big trouble.

"Now who the stupid one?" One of the big men said, well, stupidly. "Now we got you, we can have lunch! It been while since we eat!"

Thalia gritted one. "Just leave me alone you pieces of shit!" Thalia shouted. "I told you that I don't have any money, so you can just go and bug someone else!" The men merely laughed.

"We don't want money! Taste yucky!" Another one said. "We want to eat you!" Instantly, Thalia blood ran cold at hearing. These….sickos want to eat her?!

Before she could try to escape, one of the men grabbed her. She struggled, but the hands were like iron. "You're sick!" Thalia shouted at them, but inside, she felt fear. She's going to be eaten alive by these people.

"Let rip her in eight piece, we all enjoy meat!" One of them suggested, and she was shaking when all of them cried out in agreement. This is it. She's going to be teared apart and her corpse be eaten.

She closed her eyes, not wanting to witness her demise, when it open right back up in shock when she felt herself fall down. She fell on her butt, and looked up to see the man lying on his side, holding his head in pain. In front of her is a blonde haired man, with a leather jacket and black jeans. She only saw the back of the man, so she had no idea what he looks like.

"You bunches of one-eyed cannibals just love to prey on the defenseless, do ya?" The man said in a mocking voice. Thalia's eyes twitched at the defenseless, but furrowed her eyebrows when she thought about his words. One-eyed cannibals?

She looked at the others, wondering what the blonde was talking about, when her eyes widened. Instead of two eyes like she saw them have before, instead they all have one large eye.

These aren't men! They're Cyclops!

One of them growled. "You demigod interrupted meal! Now you feed us!" Thalia saw him get a small bronze pole from his jacket. She wondering how a pole is gonna fight off these monsters when she saw the pole turn into an axe in just seconds.

Thalia blinked before rubbing her eyes, wondering if this is all a dream. When she saw that it wasn't a dream, she locked her gaze at the axe. She wanted it!

"Yeeaaa-no." The blonde drawled out. "Sorry, but neither of us are on the menu. Feel free to try out my dish of ass-kicking, follow by a free trip back down to tartarus." He turned to Thalia, and the young girl could now see his face. Tanned skin, whiskers (Which weirded her out even more), and azure blue eyes that was filled with compassion and confidence.

"Now stay right there gaki." The blonde told her, grinning at her. "I got this." With that, Naruto charged at the group with axe in hand.

And what she saw amazed her. Despite the axe in hand, he's dancing around the Cyclops like he had been doing it all his life. She saw axe swinging, punches flying, and fire coming out of the blonde's hand. Thalia is looking at all with this with shining eyes and a small blush on her face.

This blonde….he's strong. Very strong. Not to mention hot.

In the end, the blonde stood in front of her and all the dead Cyclops around him. She got even more shocked when the Cyclops started turning into dust. Okay, this is getting insane!

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?!" Thalia shouted, getting the blonde's attention. "Cyclops?! Fiery axes?! Monsters turning into dust?! Somebody give me answers right now!"

The blonde chuckled, infuriating the girl more. "I will, but let me introduce myself first." He told her. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Nice to meet you, Thalia Grace."

(Flashback Ends)

"And that how I/she met Naruto." Thalia and Annabeth unknowingly said at the same time.

(With Annabeth's Group)

"Wow." Percy said in amazement. Even back then, Naruto was still a badass. Though he wondered how Thalia took being saved by the ninja. The daughter of Zeus does have her father's pride from time to time.

He was about to ask when they heard the Labyrinth moving. "What the hell?" Grover said before going over the door. His eyes widen at what he saw. "Guys? You might want to see this."

Curious, the group went over to the satyr. Their eyes widen as much as his when they saw what he's seeing.

(With Naruto's Group)

Leo whistled. "That's some story." The Latino elf said. Piper nodded in agreement. "And a cliché as well. The hero saving the damsel in distress." Thalia immediately grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him towards her.

"Listen Valdez." Thalia growled, lightning crackling around her eyes. "I'm not a damsel! Understand me?!"

"U-U-Understood." Leo replied with a high pitch voice. With that, Thalia dropped him on the ground and walked away. Leo got up with a groan. This chick is scary.

"We're here." Naruto announced, stopping near a tunnel. He turned to the others. "Now stay close and stay alert. Got it?" All of them nodded. With that, the group walked into the tunnel.

Unknown to them, two groups were following them. One of them was Team Kurenai, along with Yugao, Anko, and Hana, with all of them hiding in one of the bushes. "Kurenai-sensei, when are we going to attack?" Kiba asked, eager for some payback. Friend or no, he owes Naruto for that arrow shot he gave him.

"Patience Kiba." Kurenai told him. "Right now, we need to observe them. Once they're far enough in the tunnels, we'll go after them so they won't spot us." Kiba grumbled, but nodded.

"Kurenai-sensei." Hinata called out quietly, gaining the woman's attention. "I see several other chakra signatures nearby. None of that I'm familiar with."

Kurenai's eyes widened a bit. She hadn't heard anything about backup. Could those people be from the other villages? More specifically, the Cloud and Rock village? "Keep an eye on them Hinata." The genjutsu mistress told her former student. "But right now, we ignore them and follow Naruto." All of them nodded and with that, they all ran into the tunnel.

The other group is a team from the rock village and one from the cloud village, all of them camouflage "Don't any of you attack Namikaze alone." Samui told all of them. "He's too powerful to take on alone."

"Oh give me a break." A female Rock Shinobi said with an eye roll. She has short black hair with pink eyes and is wearing a red uniform with a sleeve missing and a flak jacket. Her name was Kurotsuchi. "I doubt he's that strong. The Leaf shinobi are probably just weak."

"Nevertheless, we should keep our guard up." Omoi told her. "We can't underestimate the enemy." Kurotsuchi merely rolled her eyes again.

"Yeah, yeah." The girl replied. "Let just go." With that, the group followed Naruto's team and the leaf shinobi down the tunnel.

And that's the end. It's long than usual, so I hope you guys liked it. Next up is the group, along with the shinobi following them. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.