Lee had his hand up at once wanting to see how youthful Naruto would be. But Kakashi reached over and took the book and open it up to the next chapter.

Chapter four; A trip and some strange dreams

The rest of bus ride they listened to Grover freak out to himself the whole way. So it was not a surprise that when it was over that Grover had to go to the restroom.

"Okay why is that not a surprise?" Tenten asked.

You see, when Grover get upset, his bladder act up. And by act up he means a gallon of water going through a little just getting potty trained. So when Grover went to the bathroom at the bus station, the boys quickly got away. Percy hailed a cab and they jumped in.

Sakura frowned; it was not like Naruto to leave a friend behind like that, especially when they were scared like Grover seems to be.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," Percy told the driver. While Naruto made the Shadow Clone hand sign. Percy looked at him oddly when nothing happened. "Uh, what was that about?"

As the yellow cab drove them away from the bus station Naruto replied, "I made one outside. You know Grover will freak out as he had been about not being able to protect you. Besides….I think it is time he knows what I can do."

Percy gave Naruto a small smile and said, "You know you are going to give him a heart attack."

"At least he left something behind," Choji muttered, "Imagine if Naruto was not there, how would Grover react to find his friend missing?"

"He would panic, even more than he is now," Kiba guessed getting a bark from Akamaru.

Naruto gave Percy a smirk as they traveled to his mom's apartment. Along the way, Percy told Naruto all about his mom. "My mom's name is Sally Jackson and she is the best person in the world! That also proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck." Percy said as Naruto nodded having heard that from him a few weeks ago.

"That can't be true…can it?" Ino asked.

The others shrugged not really sure how to answer that.

Grover got out of the bathroom and looked around for Percy and Naruto. He only saw Naruto with his arms crossed. "Hey Naruto, where is Percy?"

"He went home." 'Naruto' replied, making Grover's eyes widen. "Don't worry though, I am with him."

Iruka shook his head fondle at Naruto's antics, he was not one for beating around the bush most of the time.

"What? How can that be possible you are right here?!" Grover freaked.

"Grover, Mr. Brunner was right. Percy is not normal and in a sense, neither am I." 'Naruto' explained, making Grover sweat under the blonde's gaze. "Weird stuff has been going on lately and it has been going on most of Percy's life. Me on the other hand, I think that stuff is a bit normal, the thing with people trying to kill you." 'Naruto' then looked around them to see that the bus station was completely empty; everyone had left a while ago. "I know I am not normal because I have powers that normal humans don't have…..remember that Grover because that help me protect Percy like you want." With that 'Naruto' disappeared in a poof of white smoke.

Grover had a look of pure shock on his face. "By the gods…"

"Poor Grover," Lee muttered, "Such a youthful friend all alone and confused."

His teammates gave him a deadpan look while Gai nodded.

The unknown demi god duo made it to Percy's apartment and paid. Percy looked up at the apartment nervously and said, "Naruto, are you sure want to come in….Smelly Gabe is a real jerk and he will not be any different to you."

Naruto smile with a bit of annoyance. "Yeah Percy, you told me about your mom and all her history and I still can't figure why she is with this Gabe. Don't worry; I won't anger him…much. You know me."

"That's why he's saying that," Kakashi added unable to help himself.

Gaara smirked slightly knowing his friend's antics.

"I know that why I'm asking. I'm just getting a bad feeling about this." Percy said as they entered the building, hoping his mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.

'Wow….it is worse than I expected, and I expected something bad.' Naruto thought with a deadpanned expression.

Sakura and Ino felt like gagging at how the man lived. 'What a pig,' they both thought.

Hardly looking up, Gabe said around his cigar, "So, you're home….who is your loser friend?"

"Naruto, Where's my mom?" Percy replied shortly.

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?" That made Percy rolled his eyes. 'What no Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months? Figures…'

Percy noticed that Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tusk less walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.

This guy managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. It was a wonder why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made Percy nauseous, and on beer, of course, always beer. Whenever Percy was home, he expected him to provide his gambling funds. He called that their "guy secret." Meaning, if he told his mom, he would punch his lights out. Of course Naruto knew as he had told him along the way. Naruto was not happy about that.

The others looked confused; why would anyone marry someone like him.

"I don't have any cash," Naruto heard Percy tell him, which made the man raise a greasy eyebrow. Percy had told Naruto that the man could smell money but not much else, which was very odd.

"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof; he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

"I would say he would have to do the same," Kankuro started, "But I doubt he can even get up from a chair with how big he seems."

Some of the guys laughed and you could see the grins on some of the girls.

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at Percy with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys, Naruto noticed, passed gas in harmony.

'Nice,' Kiba deadpan in his head. He would give Naruto his pity for the smell if the genin did not force him to smell his own fart.

"Fine," Percy said. He dug a wad of dollars out of his pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."

Before anything could be said or done. Naruto put a hand on Percy's shoulder and the money. Percy looked at Naruto oddly before he noticed the gleam in Naruto's eye. Oh, Gabe was so screwed. "How is it you can smell money and not the fact you need about a dozen showers?" Naruto added ignoring the glare and sniggers "How about I play? You can take my money if I lose."

Percy smirk, he knew from experience, and a lot of others at school too, that Naruto never lost at card games, no matter how hard some of them try and cheat, and he didn't even know how to play some of them!

Tsunade blinked, "Is that true?"

The Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba nodded as they played a few games with Naruto and he was very lucky in most games. "Yeah it was weird, at first he was not that good but he was new to a game so we didn't hold that against him, then one day he somehow got super lucky almost overnight."

Tsunade gained a grin on her face, 'If he ever come back I will have to take him gambling with me.'

Shizune had a feeling of what her master was grinning about and sighed.

"What? A brat like you?" Gabe said, eyeing Naruto still mad about the shower comment, and the fact his poker buddies found it funny.

"Afraid of being beat by a kid?" Naruto smirked. "Besides, I got a few hundred dollars, are you going to pass up on that?"

That got Gabe's attention. Even though he was mad, Naruto did have money. He would win it from this brat and rub it in his face. "Fine…sit down and play."

"Good." Naruto sat down and leaned over to Percy. "This will be over soon. You should get settled in…it is your place after all."

'He's screwed,' almost everyone thought.

As the game began, Percy nodded and left. He would wait for Gabe to lose to Naruto. He slammed the door to his room, which really wasn't his room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study" and he uses that term loosely. The man didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but Gabe loved shoving Percy's stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

Percy dropped his suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. 'Oh joy.'

"I'm surprise his mom can stand him doing that," Ino muttered unable to imagine her room being like that.

As he thought about other stuff, he didn't know how much time had passed. He walked to his door in time to hear two things. Gabe's crying out, which he knew from experience that it was the cry of a loser and his mom calling him. It seemed that she was home now. 'I think this day just got better.'

She opens the door and looked at Percy with a smile on her face. "Oh, Percy," She hugged him tightly. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"

"Thanks mom." Percy said. Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought him a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when he came home.

Choji drooled at the thought of his mother bringing home treats from a candy store. Konohamaru and his friends were also drooling as they all that the same thought, 'Lucky'.

"So who is your friend out there that is beating everyone at poker so badly?"

"Oh, that is Naruto Uzumaki. He is a good friend from school." Percy replied.

"Good to know you have a friend!" Sally Jackson said softly as she hugged him again. Percy then began to tell her all about his school year at Yancy Academy. It seriously was not as bad as the headmaster said it was. He didn't really tell her much about the museum because it still freaked him out. "Did something scare you?"

"No mom." Percy lied. "But what ever happened seemed to revolve around both me and Naruto." He said making her eyes widen.

'So, Percy found a friend like himself. That is good because if he ever got to that world, he would really need a friend.' Mrs. Jackson thought to herself.

The other's frown at this. It sounds like half-bloods had a really rough life.

From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally—how about some bean dip, huh?"

'Figures, even if he is beaten, he is still a jerk!' Percy thought while grinding his teeth.

"Oh never mind. Your brat of a friend got it for us!" came Gabe's voice again.

Percy gave a weak smile when he heard that. 'I so owe you for this Naruto.'

The others got smiles of their own knowing Naruto would help Percy out like that.

"I have a surprise for you," Sally said. "We're going to the beach."

Percy's eyes widened. "Montauk?"

"Where?"

"Three nights—same cabin."

"When?"

She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."

He couldn't believe it. They hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money. He then looked at her hopeful and said, "Can Naruto come too? He can pay I am sure from all the money he took from Gabe."

She laughed and nodded her head. "I don't see the problem with that."

Kakashi chuckled slightly, "Well at least Naruto might be able to enjoy himself at the beach.

With that they left his room and walked out to see a steaming Gabe and a smirking Naruto with a bunch of bills in front of him. Gabe's friends were looking at Naruto like he was the holy god of poker. Gabe looked at them and regains his composer and said, "You were in there a long time."

"Oh we were just talking about the trip." Sally said happily.

Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

"I knew it," Percy muttered. "He won't let us go."

"Of course he will," his mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money, that's all.

Several of the adults caught how Sally spoke about Gabe. Stepfather, it made it sound like she did not have that much feeling for him. This also brought some confusion as well as to why she was with him then.

Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole, Sour cream, the works."

Choji imagine such a dip and growled out at just a tasty sounding meal was wasted on a jerk like Gabe.

Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip ... it comes out of your clothes budget, right, because I lost most of mine to this brat." The fat man said while jutting his pudgy finger at Naruto, who had an innocent look on his face. He had his palms together as if he was praying and Percy could have sworn he saw a glowing golden halo.

"He wishes," muttered almost everyone expect for the Konohamaru Corp. and Gaara. Gaara smiled knowing Naruto might not be innocent in that regards he was better than most people.

"Yes, honey," Sally said.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful."

Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip ... And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

'Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot,' Percy thought. 'And make you sing soprano for a week.'

"I would," almost every genin agreed.

He looked to his mom and it was a silent agreement that he had to be nice to Gabe if this was going to work. "I'm sorry," Percy muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."

Gabe narrowed his eyes, trying to detect sarcasm in what Percy said. "Yeah, whatever." He then turned to Naruto. "No more for you, ever. Go away."

Kiba laughed, "What a sore loser."

"You weren't much better," Shikamaru reminded him. "You almost bet Akamaru to him and would have lost had your mother not caught you."

Kiba scowled at both the reminder and the memory of the lecture his mother gave him for treating Akamaru like that.

Naruto just shrugged and walked over to Percy and his mom. "Oh, Naruto, would you like to come with us?" She asked.

"Uh, sure. Are you sure you want someone like me on board?"

"Yes, you are Percy's friend after all, so you must be a good kid." Sally replied making Gabe rolled his eyes.

"Ok then. I hope you don't mind me paying for my stuff since I now have quite a bit of money." Naruto said pocketing his money which was about 500 dollars. He smirked with he heard Gabe complain about having to pay for Naruto's trip.

"Thank you." Sally said with a smile because she heard it too. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about...whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?" She said to Percy. Naruto just knew that he told his mom about a little of what happened. "Oh Naruto, do we need to go to your place for you to pack?"

Before Gabe could complain, Naruto replied, "Nah, I got my stuff with me. Since I hung out at Percy's dorm at lot, I hardly ever went home to my apartment, which is the halfway point from here to school."

Jiraiya raised a brow wondering where Naruto kept all of his gear. 'Maybe he actually was listening when I was going over seals for him.'

"Oh…ok then" Mrs. Jackson said, thinking that Naruto probably left his stuff somewhere near here. She then gave Percy a smile and went to make the dip for the fat dip.

An hour later, they were all ready to go. Naruto had a back pack on now and Sally wondered where it had come from. Percy just smiled, 'If only you knew mom…'

Jiraiya nodded seeing his hunch was correct.

Gabe watched as Naruto and Percy put all the bags in the car. The ugly man groaned about losing his wife's cooking and then his car all weekend which, unlike him, was cool. It was a '78 Camaro.

"Is that good?" Udon asked raising his hand as if it was class.

The others were not sure how to answer him.

"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy, poker brat," he warned them as they loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."

Naruto just gave him a one fingered saluted as the fat man lumbered back in the apartment.

"A one finger what?" Kiba asked.

Asuma was about to tell Kiba what that meant when Kurenai stopped him with a glare. "I rather not deal with anymore antics of Kiba so do give him anything to work with." She whispered harshly.

He knew that Gabe really pissed Percy off and he now understood why. He was getting pissed at this guy as well and he just met the guy. He then saw Percy make that odd gesture that Grover did on the bus and whatever he did worked because as soon Smelly Gabe was in the doorway, the screen door slammed shut and probably sent the man flying.

"What was that?" Konohamaru asked but the others were not sure how to answer.

The two boys quickly got in the car and Percy told his mom to step on it as they didn't want to feel Gabe's wrath. After a bit, Naruto could not help but laugh at what he was happened. Though, that weird gesture Percy used had energy similar to Chakra.

Kakashi stopped reading for a second. "Hmmm, perhaps these Half-bloods are capable of learning jutsu."

Jiraiya shrugged, "Perhaps but there is no one to really teach them. Only Naruto knows and justu and they should not have enough charka to even do much."

Kakashi nodded his head before he went back to reading.

Once they got there, Naruto smiled as he loved places like this. They set their stuff in the cabin that they got and messed around till it was dark out. They were currently sitting around a small fire, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.

"Mom…what was my father like." Percy asked with some courage.

"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes." She fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."

Percy looked a little sad at that. Naruto thought that the kid was thinking about how his father would be proud of him with all that happened.

"Well he did defeat a scary looking monster," Sakura remembered. "Maybe that is something he can be proud off even if Naruto helped him."

"How old was I?" Percy asked. "I mean ... when he left?"

She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin even."

"But... he knew me as a baby."

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born." She said and then looked to Naruto, who had been silent for the conversation. "Naruto, what are your parents like?"

The others winced hearing this, they never asked as they knew he did not have parents and did not want to bring the painful subject up. The adults that knew Naruto's parents winced because of how Artemis would react to seeing how her son has been treated.

Naruto chuckled a bit, but it was hollow. "I am an orphan. I never really knew my parents. But I was given some stuff of my mothers. She had a journal that described my dad. It said he was a fighter a genius in the art. He was considered the best there was. No one really wanted to fight him if they could help it and those that were dumb enough to were beat into the ground. From what it said he sounds pretty cool." That made Percy chuckle a bit and his mom had a big smile on her face.

"I am sorry about that." Sally said. "Who is talking care of you?"

"Don't be. My grandfather was taking care of my before he died." Naruto said, not wanting to tell them that he was killed. "But I have been doing pretty well on my own anyway."

The group had a moment of silence for the decease Third Hokage. It was no secret that Naruto saw the old Kage as a grandfather, hell a lot of the villagers did, and they knew it hit him pretty hard.

Then Percy had a sad look. He didn't know if his mom even wanted him around. He didn't think he could handle being alone like Naruto. "Are you going to send me away again?" Percy asked her. "To another boarding school?"

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire. "I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think ... I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" but he regretted the words as soon as they were out.

The girls all growled unable to believe Percy said something like that to his mother.

Her eyes welled with tears. She took his hand, squeezed it tight. "Oh, Percy, no. I—I have to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

This made Naruto quirk an eyebrow. 'Ok….the way she is saying this means she knows something like Grover and Mr. Brunner.'

"It does sound like it," Asuma muttered.

"Because I'm not normal," Percy suddenly said.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."

"Safe from what?" Percy asked though when he locked eyes with her, all the memories of weird things happening to him had surfaced.

"It can't be that safe if some crazy monster could appear out of nowhere and attack him." Ino added glad she never had to deal with any issue like that.

Before anything else was said, Naruto cut in. "Percy, not being normal is not that bad. I mean look at me. I have…this powers and I am fine."

Mrs. Jackson looked at him oddly and he sighed knowing that he would have to show her. He held out his hand and swirling ball of energy formed in his hand.

Percy's eyes widened and said, "You never showed that one to me….only those Shadow Clones."

"And for good reason," Jiraiya added, "The Rasengan is not a jutsu to be taken likely. It can cause some major damage."

The other genin looked at him wondering how powerful that attack can be.

'Shadow? Could he be just like Percy, a son of the big three?' Sally thought as she eyed the ball before it dissipated.

"Big three?" Sakura asked aloud. Tsunade nodded, "That is that they call the three eldest gods, Hades, the first born son, Poseidon the second born and Zeus the last born child. They have three sisters as well but the big three are the strongest of the gods they say."

She gave Naruto a grateful look and continued on. "I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," She said to Percy. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy—the place your father wanted to send you. And I just...I just can't stand to do it."

"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"

"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp and apparently it is a place you both need to go to."

Both boys just looked at her oddly. Naruto never heard anything about a camp in the letter he got from his mom.

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in his eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I—I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..." Percy trialed off as he saw the tears in his mom's eyes.

"Something must be up with that summer camp if she is worried like that," Iruka muttered getting nodes all around.

It was storming out but both boys were sound asleep and they were having strange dreams.

It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse, and a golden eagle were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.

Percy ran toward them, knowing he had to stop them from killing each other, but the problem was that he was running in slow motion. He knew he would be too late. He saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes. The boy had enough and screamed, 'No!'

"Okay what was that about?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi noticed a footnote appearing on the bottom of the page, "The eagle is Zeus's sacred animal as the house is Poseidon's. The dream show the two showing the two gods were fighting one another."

"The sky fighting with the sea…that can't be good." Jiraiya muttered having the feeling that Naruto was going to be in the middle of all of this.

Naruto's was different. He was standing alone in a rainbow colored mist. It swirled around as he heard someone in the distance if was hard to hear what they were saying. It was as if they were talking over a bad radio. "…rutoooo…Naru…Narutoooo" he look out trying to see anything. Then he could barely make out a woman's silhouette. And as he could feel himself leaving the dream he heard the words "my son."

The group paused at Naruto getting some sort of message from his mother.

They woke up with a start like it was a nightmare. Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse, eagle, or mist or woman on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like cannon fire.

With the next thunderclap, Percy's mom awoke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."

Percy knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten this fact. Over the roar of the wind, he heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made his hair stand on end.

Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice—someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.

Mrs. Jackson sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock. Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't... he wasn't exactly Grover.

"How did Grover manage to find them?" Kiba asked wondering about the boy's tracking skills. "And what do you mean he is not 'exactly Grover'?"

"If you would let me read then we can find out." Kakashi added before he went back to reading.

"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you two thinking?"

Mrs. Jackson looked at them in terror—not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.

They boy were too shocked at the moment to register that however. Because, instead of normal legs, Grover had legs that were like an animal's, sort of like a donkey or maybe a goat.

Almost everyone were shocked at this, Jiraiya Tsunade and Kakashi nodded as they suspected something was up about Grover.

"What the hell?" Kankuro asked in disbelief.

"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" Grover yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

"You mean the Kindly One you blabbed about or the old crones who are the Fates?" Naruto shouted above the noise, making Percy's mom widen her eyes in horror.

Sakura sighed annoyed at Naruto being too blunt about the situation. If she was there she would hit him over the head for his stupidity. The others noticed that Mrs. Jackson knew more of the world of the gods then the two boys knew at least.

She grabbed her purse, tossed Percy and Naruto a rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. All of you. Go!"

Grover ran for the Camaro—but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. That would explain how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.

"Yep…we have gone insane." Naruto mumbled. "But what is coming after us?" He never got an answer because Grover quickly got in the car, not hearing him. He sighs and got in, going with the flow.

"That's what we also want to know," Neji added hoping his friend will be alright.

Konohamaru stood up from his seat, "Whatever it is, boss will be able to handle it!" He cried out in full confidence.

Lee pumped his fist, "Yosh! Naruto shall no doubt show his flames of youth. May I read next to see our friend in action?"