Bonjour to all people. Nothing much to say at the moment, so let's get on with it.
Plot Bunny: Yeeesss, she will do whatever I put into her head...And I shall take over the wooorrrld!
Me: Uhm... You sound drunk you know
Plot Bunny: You heard nothing! Now go do my bidding!
Me: Yes Master

A/N: Naruto, Greek/Roman Deities, Rome, and dungeons do not belong to me.

A/N 2: Misuse of Greek mythology

A/N 3: Flames will be used to sacrifice to Jashin

The Value of a Soul

Chapter 2: Peculiarities of a Blonde

Hinata bit back a reply as she heard those words. Only her brother would be sadistic enough to watch lions devour his subjects for negligible reasons. She sighed and lowered her head sadly.

"I see, brother..." she murmured as he walked off, leaving her alone in the hall.

The princess was torn. She wanted to go see the prisoner that shouldn't be, but from past experience, she knew that whoever the prisoner was, they would become fast friends, but then she would be forced to watch with her very own eyes as they were torn apart, and that just made it all the worse. She sighed again.

As Naruto was ushered, yes ushered, into his cell, he watched as they shut the prison gate, locking him behind it. Naruto had forced himself not to struggle, as this was probably the closest he could get to the prince at the moment.

He could have called his father, or his mother or anyone for help, but he knew that with the terms he already had with the coldhearted prince, this would only make it worse. He closed his eyes.

He wondered how many times he would brush death on his time on earth. He was young enough to not yet attain immortality like his parents'. He could be killed. He could die. But if he did before he could save the prince, he would have failed his mother, his father, the Lady Athena. Everyone.

He couldn't. He wouldn't let that happen. His mother trusted him, and he would prove worthy of that trust.

Receding to the back of the dungeon cell, he sat leaned up against one of the walls.

"My Lady Athena?" he called quietly.

"Naruto, son of Ares, is that you?" a voice replied.

"It indeed is," he answered. "I have been sent here by request of my mother, concerning you 'son'. I am to turn the heart of the prince onto the right path, but I fear it will not be an easy task. Under his order, I am sentenced to the lions on the morrow," he finished.

"Naruto, you are still mortal," Athena warned. Naruto smiled at this.

"I am fully aware of that my Lady. Do not worry about me. Worry about the one who I am to save," he said. "I need to speak with my mother," he added, as they were abruptly disrupted.

"Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" a soft voice asked. Naruto looked up to see the two guards replaced with one girl who looked strikingly similar to Neji.

He spoke the first thing that came to mind, which just happened to be, "Are you related to the prince?"

The girl did indeed resemble the royal heir. Her hair was a raven shade of blue and fell down to her lower back. Their eyes were the same shade of impossibly pale lavender, but her eyes, unlike his, held care, worry, and gentleness. She was clad with a pale indigo-ish purple chiton, which brought out her eyes. Encircled around her forehead, rested a simple silver band.

"The prince Neji is my brother," she replied, a little shyly. Naruto wasn't surprised at all, yet he was surprised. The girl did closely resemble Neji, but they radiated completely different auras. Practically twins, yet polar opposites.

"I see... So you're the princess? What can I call you?" he asked. Hinata was surprised at the comfortable casualty in which he spoke. Unlike other prisoners tended to become formal and stiffly polite.

"My name is Hinata," she answered.

Naruto smiled, and it took Hinata next to everything to not gape at him in awe. This boy wasn't any normal handsome youth. He was drop dead gorgeous! If anything, he looked like the son of Venus herself.

His upper body, which was pretty easy to see since the youth was shirtless, was well toned, and attractively muscular, yet slender and seemingly delicate. He was tanned to perfection, and his skin looked becomingly, almost impossibly soft. His hair was the purest gold, mixed with the essence of the sun, creating glossy bright blonde locks. The teeth shown when he smiled were the colour of milky white pearls. There were six whisker marks on his face, three slashing horizontally across each cheek, giving him a fox-like appearance. The eyes of the blonde though...

Hinata had seen many a blue eyed youth in her time, but none like this. The gaze was so intense, you could feel like you were drowning in them. They weren't specifically a single colour either. They ranged from blue so dark, it looked black, to pale blue that could rival Hinata's own eyes. Each time he shifted, the colours would change, giving it a silken effect. Those alluring orbs looked cheerful, caring, gentle, dangerous, alert, fierce, and carefree all at once.

"A pleasure, Hinata. My name is Naruto." The blonde's voice snapped her back to the present. Hinata was surprised and pleased. The youth didn't call her princess, or any other title she hated. He just called her Hinata.

"N-Naruto..." Hinata stammered. Her brother wanted to cast this...this son of Venus into the jaws of lions? She turned to the two guards and dismissed them. As they left, she turned back to Naruto. "You have to get out of here," she said quietly. Naruto tilted his head to one side, bemused.

"And pray tell, why would I want to do that?" he questioned.

"You can't die!" was the reply. Naruto grinned amusedly at the brunette.

"You know Hinata, if I wanted to escape, why am I still here? Besides, I'm not planning to die..." he added.

"Y-you want to be thrown to the lions?" she asked, before flinching at her question. He sighed.

"If I do run, I will fail my father and my mother, as well as a friend. I cannot allow that," he told her decisively. Hinata looked bemused.

"..." She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Naruto exhaled another sigh, before grinning.

"You know, you really should be off now. Who knows what stone-face will do if he finds you here," Naruto warned. It took the brunette a minute to realize that 'stone-face' referred to her brother. Her lips twitched.

"All right. Se you..." she drifted off, unsure of how to complete the sentence. Naruto laughed good naturedly, and almost amusedly.

"In the arena? You needn't worry about me, Hinata. I'll make it," he reassured. She shot him an unreadable expression before walking out of the prison. He sighed as he watched her go. Wondering what the events on the morrow would bring, he retreated into a corner as his guards returned to their original positions.

"Uhm...guards?" he asked, unsure of how to address them. They turned to look at him. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I want an audience with the prince," he informed.

The first guard's eyes near popped out of his head.

"Are you insane?" he asked. "No one dares even converse with the prince unless spoken to, or of equal or higher rank than he." Naruto tilted his head to one side. The guard shook his head. "Besides," he added. "You're already in enough trouble as it is."

Naruto shut his eyes, trying to calm himself. He could feel the blood of his father pulsing through his veins. He would brook no argument, after all, he himself had promised the Lady Athena he would save her son.

"Bring him to me," he ordered, the dignity and regal-like quality in his voice making the other guard give in. Said guard nodded and ran out of the dungeon prison. The other remained, staring at him with a stunned expression on his face.

"Who are you?" he breathed. Naruto smiled amiably.

"My name is Naruto," he replied. "What an I call you?"

"Kiba," the soldier answered. Naruto's eyes widened in recognition of the brunet standing before him.

"Kiba as in Kiba of the Inuzuka lineage? I do believe you have a dog, and a wonderful one at that, am I not right?" he asked. The brunet blinked.

"Have we met?" Naruto grinned.

"I believe this is the first time we have met in person, but I do know you and your dog Akamaru," he answered. The look on the Inuzuka's face screamed unasked questions.

"The prince has made his presence known," the second guard said, as he stepped into the dungeon. Naruto noticed the guard had a welt on his cheek, viciously vermilion in appearance. The prince, Neji, glared at the blonde with cold unfeeling eyes.

"Why have I wasted my precious time to have an audience with a mere commoner?" he snapped, arrogance dripping from each syllable he spoke.

Naruto was about to retort by telling the brunet that he was the son of Aphrodite and Ares, or rather, Venus and Mars. He would even be more than happy to prove it, but he decided to gather intel on Athena's 'son'.

"Prince Neji. May the gods have mercy on your soul," he murmured, a touch darkly. Neji's eyes could have at that point turned to burning ice (or freezing fire?)

"There are no gods," he declared condescendingly. "I do not wish to converse about such pointless matters."

The blonde's jaw clenched. His veins seared as fire threatened to burn them to non-existence. Dashing to the solid iron bars that made up the gate imprisoning him, he grabbed them, and with a angered wrench of his arms, not only bent them out of shape, but snapped them off the structure.

He fixed the alabaster skinned prince with his intense orbs burned right to the point where it seemed as if the blonde was staring into the brunet's soul.

"Prince or not, I will not have anyone speak disrespectfully of my father and mother," he growled, his voice deepening threateningly. His eyes briefly flashed to red-orange as opposed to their blue, and his pupils turning to slits. As quickly as it came, it disappeared, leaving all three present to wonder if what they had witnessed was real.

Naruto still stood behind his cell gates, although the space he had created from breaking the bars was wide enough to step through easily.

His eyes still glared broadswords at the prince, who took an apprehensive step back, his eyes still showing nothing but ice. Pulling a knife out of a sheath in his robe, he hurled it at the blonde.

Naruto watched coolly as the blade sped at him. Without even batting an eyelid, his head moved a fraction. The knife whisked past his neck, and he caught it by the handle. His eyes losing their death glare, he gazed calmly at the prince.

Taking the blade, he slid it deliberately over his wrist. A line of blood began to flow out. He lifted the bleeding limb to the brunet, his eyes screaming in defiance.

"This is my blood. This is what you want to see when you throw me to the lions. This is what I refuse to let you see. You will only ever see my blood if I show it to you of my own will," he said, licking the injury slowly.

Neji didn't know why, but his imagination was conjuring a fox at the sight of the blonde's actions..

Naruto slowly stepped out of his cell, and none dared stop him. Walking over to Neji, he placed the soiled weapon at the prince's feet, before returning to his cell, eyes gleaming with more determination than ever.

"Now leave me," he ordered. The stunned prince half consciously obeyed. Naruto glanced at the two guards, who were eyeing him warily. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he said apologetically. "And don't worry about the bars. I promise to Ze-uh...Jupiter, I won't try to escape."

He placed his opposite hand on his bleeding wrist, and left it awhile. After a few moments, he lifted his hand, revealing his wrist completely healed, with not even a scar as evidence of a wound. He looked up, and saw the guards attempting to keep their eyes in their heads.

Curving a finger at the one with the bruise, he motioned for him to come. Hesitantly, the guard obeyed.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"You may call me Lee!" the soldier enthusiastically replied.

"All right, Lee," he responded. The blonde reached through the bars of the cell, and set his hand firmly on the soldiers welt. Later, he lifted his hand, having completely healed the injury. Lee stroked a hand over his cheek, awed.

"How did you do that?" he breathed. Naruto shook his head.

"It is not in my place to tell," he answered. Retreating to the back of the cell, he shuddered, the effect of having used so much energy taking it's toll on him. He bit his bottom lip as another shudder ran through his body. He sat down in a corner, looking up at the ceiling of his cell.

He closed his eyes and imagined the gardens of Olympus. Then his mind automatically switched to an image of Tartarus and it's tortured souls. His eyes snapped open, and his jaw set firmly. He would rescue the prince, no matter how much blood he would have to shed to do it.

Instinctively, he realized that it was nightfall, but he had no need or want for little pleasures of rest. He sat in his cell for the rest of the night, meditating silently.

There. Things have gotten more heated between Neji and Naruto. And we've introduced two new characters into the scene. And believe it or not, Lee can actually sound serious. And zee plot bunny eez takeeng over my mind!

Plot Bunny: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

And I sincerely apologize for not uploading this chapter yesterday, as my mom had hidden my laptop, and my brother had hidden the battery wire. -sighs-