Ino started once again before anyone could stop her,
Chapter Seven; Percy become the new Water Boy
"Huh?" Lee asked getting shrugs all around.
After Percy got over his shock, he ran to Chiron's side along with Naruto and they started the tour of the camp.
They passed the volleyball pit and several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn Percy was carrying. They could hear them say things like, "It's them." "How did that blond guy do that thing with that log?" "Clarisse is going to get him back for that."
Naruto chuckled as Percy gave him a look and smirked. "You just had to show off, huh."
"Me? I have never been more insulted in all my life." Naruto said in a fake hurtful tone.
Kakashi chuckled, "Sure you are."
As they walked that saw everyone doing activities and Satyrs joining them in their activities with orange camp half-blood shirts and nothing else.
"Hey." Percy said aloud, "What is up there?" He said pointing the fourth story of the Big House that they just left.
Chiron looked to where Percy was pointing and his smile faded, making Naruto raise an eyebrow, "Just the attic."
"Somebody lives there?"
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."
"Why would he say it like that?" Sakura asked.
The others shrugged but Tsunade and Jiraiya shot a glance at each other.
Naruto looked at the window to the attic oddly but thought nothing of it.
"Come along boys," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."
They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. 'I wonder how hard it is to learn how to play one or maybe a flute.' Naruto idly thought, not listening to Chiron tell them that these Strawberries pay for the camps expenses.
Shikamaru's thoughts went to his fight with Tayuya and her flute. 'With Naruto playing on and making a lot of noise it would be even more troublesome.'
Percy did look a little sad though and Naruto somehow knew that he was wondering if Grover was ok…he was getting chewed out by a god though, so it was anyone's guess.
"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" Percy asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."
Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle.
"Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."
"But he did that!" Percy exclaimed.
"Yeah, two campers none the less." Naruto grumbled. Now he was worried about their friend as well. 'And there is nothing wrong with having big dreams. I'll help him out with his no matter what.'
Iruka smiles hearing Naruto's thoughts and could not be any prouder of the boy. Lee had a fire in his eyes, "Yosh! Grover's flames of youth ever burn bright. With his dream lighting the way he shall not fail!"
Gai gave his student his grin and a thumbs up, "Right you are Lee. You must train even harder in order to reach your dream just as I know both Naruto and Grover are."
Lee pumped his fist all excited, "Yosh! I shall train even harder than before. And should I ever meet this Grover I see how bright his flames of youth are."
Someone on his search for Pan Grover shivered harshly. He felt like something terrible would happen to him one day.
"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you two in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when Naruto brought him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."
"He helped get us here so I think that is good enough, even he is a bit weak, he is still a good guy." Naruto replied.
"He'll get a second chance, won't he?" Percy asked.
Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy.
The group winced here, feeling for Grover. "Man that's tough," Konohamaru stated getting nods all around. Iruka was quite thinking of how much Grover was like Naruto. He smile, 'No wonder the two are friends. Well Grover will have someone who will push and believe in him. I have no doubt that you shall reach your dream Grover.'
The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."
'Five years? Oh, that must mean that he was with Thalia since she mentioned him.' Pondered Naruto.
"How old is he?"
"Oh, twenty-eight."
The group blinked, "Really?" Kiba asked wondering if Ino read it wrong.
Shino adjusted his glasses, "Perhaps Grover's kind age at a different rate a human would."
"Makes sense," his sensei added thinking it over.
"What! And he's in sixth grade?"
"Well hey, I am thirteen and I was in sixth grade too!" Naruto said.
"Yeah that's not as big a deal, but….twenty-eight!" Percy panicked as he looked back to Chiron.
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."
"That's horrible." Percy said while Naruto shivered. He didn't like the idea of taking school over and over again it would be a nightmare to him,
Kiba shivered as did some of the other boys, "Yeah I feel for the goat."
Iruka frowned at his students, school was not that bad.
that and no ramen.
Que deadpans, although Iruka shook his head while Konohamaru laughed with his friends. Hinata gave a small smile as she tab her fingers together.
"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"
"That's not fair," Percy said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"
Some of them winced recalling what happen to Grover's last charge.
Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?" The boys were not convince but didn't want to anger the horse man.
"Chiron," Percy said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."
"Yes, child?"
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"
"I would imagine so," Kakashi said off handedly with a shrug.
"Underworld?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade replied, "It's there version of the afterlife. Not all a nice place I from what I heard."
Chiron's expression darkened but it was gone in a split second, "Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more… I would urge you to put that out of your mind."
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods." They wanted to know what he was talking about when they reached the edge of the forest that thought left them. Once they saw it, they thought the forest was HUGE! It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.
The others raised a brow, with trees like that Naruto might have felt like home.
Naruto smiled a sad smile and said, "Feels like home." Percy looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto had told him a lot of the world he used to live in. He didn't believe it at first because it sounded weird but so were his experiences so he just took it in stride.
Chiron said interrupting them, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."
"Oh that sounds nice." Naruto deadpanned. "Sounds just like the Forest of Death with the way you put it."
"Tell us about it," Kiba said with a deadpan, "At least we don't have crazy ninja all around us."
Tenten glanced at her sensei and teammates before she just sighed.
"Stocked with what?" Percy asked, a little freaked out now. Naruto told him about the Forest of Death and he hoped Naruto was wrong. "Armed with what?"
"Monster or beasts of some kind," Asuma mused with a smirk, "and I am sure they have all sorts of weapons at that camp."
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"
"My own—?"
"We just got here, how would we have those?" deadpanned Naruto.
Chiron had the decency to look sheepish "No," he said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later." He then glanced at Naruto's rings. He knew Naruto would be alright, but at the moment he was more worried about Percy.
Tenten frowned, now that camp started to sound exciting. She really wanted to train there.
"Sword and spear fights?" Percy asked.
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall." Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.
"Not bad," Naruto smirked as he observed it, he really wanting to eat now.
"What do you do when it rains?" Percy asked with a confused face.
"Seeing as the area is controlled by the gods I would assume they would have no trouble with rain." Shino guessed.
Shikamaru thought about it, wondering how much time he would be able to watch the clouds without worry of rain or anything that would ruin it.
Chiron looked at him as if he had gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" He then sighed and decided to drop the subject.
Finally, they reached the cabins that Naruto had seen earlier. The collection of twelve cabins was very odd to Percy but Naruto didn't seem as fazed. He guessed the blond and seen weirder things, which was very possible with all those stories Naruto had told him.
Percy looked back at the building to get a better outlook at what was what. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door with odds on the left side, evens on the right, they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops, which Percy smirked at, now that was something he could do!
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.
Iruka frowned, "Should she be doing that all by herself? She could get seriously hurt."
"I'm sure someone is watching her," Kakashi replied to calm the chunin down.
Naruto found this odd but he did feel that the girl extruded a lot of power. She was someone that you did NOT mess with, that was for sure. He have to remember to talk to her later, she seemed lonely to him.
Naruto's friends knew the loud mouth would go and keep her company sooner or later.
Percy looked to the huge mausoleum like cabins at the bend of the U and he instantly knew who they were for. "Zeus and Hera?"
"Correct," Chiron said.
"Their cabins look empty."
"Several of the cabins are. That's true, but no one ever stays in those two." Chiron explained.
"What a drag." Naruto muttered Shikamaru's famous saying.
Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched slightly, "troublesome blonds," he muttered.
"Sounds like a real waste to me." He then noticed that Percy was staring at a long, low, and solid cabin that seemed to be extruding power as well. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. Curious, Percy tried to take a peek inside.
Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!" But Percy had already looked in and was a little sad at how sad and empty it looked inside. "Come on Percy." Chiron said as he led them away from the cabin. 'I swear this guy knows something…what a drag, AGH! I am sounding more and more like Shikamaru! Next I'll be lying around all day watching the clouds and sleeping.' Naruto ranted in his head.
Once again Shikamaru's eyebrow was twitching in annoyance while his friends chuckled at the unintentional jab. Sakura however was thinking more towards Percy's actions. 'I wonder why he was so interested in that one empty cabin. It was as if it was calling to him.'
Now, most of the other cabins, however, had a lot of kids for their cabins. Naruto held in a chuckle. 'Man…these gods just can't seem to keep it in their pants.' Number five was bright red, which did not have that great of a paint job, it was as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow all that looked at it. Inside they could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on Percy and gave him an evil sneer. She reminded him of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red. Naruto smirked as he recognized her. Her cabin seemed really fun.
Ino deadpan, "Of course he would think that."
Neji frowned hearing about that cabin, they reminded him too much of thugs in his opinion. However he caught one part, "Why did Naruto recognize the one girl mention?"
Ino blinked and re-read the passage. "It doesn't say."
Kiba smirked, "maybe it was that one girl from before. The one that has a crush on Naruto."
His laughter was ended by a smack from his sensei. As he rubbed his head he did not noticed that Hinata's head dropped slightly hearing this.
Percy then noticed something, "Hey, where are all the other Centaurs? They around here?"
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."
Naruto gave the man a smirk. "Oh, so they are the guys who love to party, eh? Now they are some people I want to meet!"
Chiron put a smirk and said, "I am not sure about that Naruto. They take it to the extreme and they do that every day."
"So what you are saying is that they are the ones who invented Tail Gate Parties and Frat Parties?" Naruto deadpanned and Chiron just nodded. "Oh boy."
Iruka frowned, "I don't like the sound of that. Hopefully Naruto will not meet any of them."
"With Naruto's luck…he most likely will," Kakashi pointed out.
Kiba frowned, he thought that they sound awesome and would love to meet them. 'If he does meet them I will be so pissed.'
"You said your name was Chiron." Percy interrupted, "Are you really ..."
He smiled down at the boy. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."
"Wow," Jiraiya muttered, "he must be really old. No wonder he seems to remind me of sensei."
Tsunade nodded wondering how he was able to live for so long.
"But, shouldn't you be dead?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tsunade's eye twitched here, 'No good disrespecting brat.'
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."
"Being a teacher for all time, man that sounds…boring!" Naruto said.
Iruka frowned here. "It is very fulfilling work Naruto," he muttered.
His students snickered causing him to scowl at them.
"No, no," Chiron said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."
"Why depressing?" Percy asked.
"I can only imagine why." Naruto said quietly, 'Being immortal mean you see all those that you have learned to love die sooner or later….I am not sure if I could do that.'
Iruka sighed as did Jiraiya, Tsunade and most of the older shinobi. They all had students or someone close to them dying.
"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us." Chiron suddenly said, as if not hearing the question.
When they reached the blond girl, it was at cabin 11. The girl was reading a book that was not even in English. The thing was in Greek and it seemed to be about Greek Architecture.
"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take these two from here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told them, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it.
Looking inside, Naruto sweat dropped at what he saw. It was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. 'Oh….crud, this is worse than the orphanage back home…or maybe not.' He thought as he looked at them all. They were all in good spirits.
Jiraiya smile, 'At least he will find someone that can stand by him and understand him it seems.'
He did notice that when they saw Chiron, they stood and bowed to the man.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He then galloped away toward the archery range.
Naruto looked back at the retreating horseman with a glint in his eyes. Percy saw that and felt like he should try and get Naruto to spare him. But then again this was Naruto; when he has a target for a prank in mind, not even a god could stop him.
"True," Iruka admitted. Hell he was certain some of the gods there would be unable to stop him.
"You have a prank in mind don't you?"
Naruto just look at him, "remember that three hour hell he put us through?"
Percy shivered at the memory.
The other students shivered as well. The Konohamaru corp. all glanced at an amused Iruka with fear in their eyes. The genin that already finished the academy gave the trio their pity. Hinata knew her little sister would not like whatever Iruka had in store for her and her class.
Turning back to the group behind them, they notice that all the kids where sizing up the two of them. Great, now they needed to make a good impression. So naturally Percy tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. Naruto just walked in nonchalantly, which seemed to calm Percy down a bit.
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki, meet cabin eleven.
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
"Huh?" Choji asked as he took a bit of his chips.
Ino saw a new footnote forming, "Regular means they children of Hermes, a minor god or goddess who stay in the cabin. Undetermined means they have yet to be claimed by their godly parents."
Kiba scowled, "Not claimed? What the hell? Does that mean the gods are ignoring their kids or something?"
Ino shrugged not sure how to answer that. She recalled who her mother was and wondered if she even missed or knew about her life. After a moment she read on shaking the thought from her mind.
"The words I'm looking for are; we just got here; recently arrived; am unfamiliar with this place. I suppose the operative phrase you're looking for is 'we're new'." Naruto listed off his fingers with a deadpanned look and there was a groan of annoyance from everyone in the cabin.
Jiraiya chuckled, "That's one way to put it."
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy, Naruto. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there. It is pretty big so the two of you will fit for now." The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short cropped hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash. 'Oh ho, now this guy seems like fighter!' Naruto smirked at the thought. He knew this place was going to be fun.
Sakura and Ino blinked, "Not bad, reminded me of Sasuke for some reason," Ino muttered. The guys frowned or outright scowled at the mention of the boy.
Kakashi was quite wondering…
"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. They looked at her and it looked like she just got out of a blush. Naruto raised an eyebrow. It seemed that she was in to old guys. He smirked, he could tease her later. He expression hardened when she them looking, but for Naruto…he already had some pranking material. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" Percy asked.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
"Heh, the God of Thieves…now that is a guy that sounds fun." Naruto said, getting a few chuckles from the other campers.
Asuma chuckled as did the older shinobi, "Well he fits in with us alright."
He decided to give back Luke's wallet, his pocket knife and his wristwatch so he held them out, "Here, I think these are yours, man."
"Wha..?" Luke said a little surprised. "How…? When…?"
Kiba was the first to burst out laughing. He was followed lightly by his friends and those close to Naruto, "Ah man I wish I got to see his face when Naruto did that."
"Oh, just now and I am a ninja, It's just too easy for me." Naruto said, getting a few shocked looks.
"Anyway…." Percy interrupted, already use to Naruto's antics. "How long are we going to be here?"
"Good question," Luke said as he took his stuff back. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed.
"I am getting the feeling that take a loooong time." Naruto sweat dropped. 'What do we have to do, prove ourselves? Fight half the camp?'
Jiraiya deadpan here, 'Knowing you Naruto you would.'
"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it." Percy replied.
"Not what she meant," Shikamaru muttered, "So troublesome, just like Naruto."
"Come on." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside. Percy could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind him. Naruto shook his head but followed them. This girl was odd but she seemed fun to him. He them chuckled to himself. Could Percy already have a girlfriend and already be whipped? Nah…he just got here after all.
When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Yeah what he said," Kiba added.
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
"What's your problem?" Naruto grimaced as he heard the anger in his friend's voice. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy and that was with the help of Naruto. We just kill some odd bull freak!"
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
Kakashi hummed in thought, "So fighting a monster like that must be their version of a higher rank mission or something."
Sakura frowned, recalling on her first real mission she and her team had to go up against someone at Kakashi's level.
"To get killed?" Percy asked with a confused look.
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?" The girl yelled.
"Give us a break we just got here and had no idea about this. Though you guy must train your asses off here. The Minotaur from those old stories was a pain in the ass to kill! I only weaken it with a Rasengan." Naruto complained.
"Well to be fair it has a lot of power behind those muscles," Jiraiya mused, "And add to the healing factor monster have leaves certain jutsu ineffective to certain monsters. Now it if was a more powerful version or a weaker monster then we was talking a more even field of damage."
Neji frowned, having only seen that jutsu once in person and after hearing the effects know it was not something someone can walk off with ease. "What rank is the Rasengan?"
Jiraiya thought about it, "Well it was never made official but I would say at least A-rank by itself." He paused not noticing the looks the others genin were giving him, "plus you have to add the fact it is an unfinished jutsu."
"What!?" nearly the whole room shouted at this.
Konohamaru had stars in his eyes, "You mean the boss's big jutsu can become even more badass?" he was bopped lightly on the head by his uncle for his choice of words.
Jiraiya grinned, "Yep, Naruto's old man wanted to add an element to the jutsu. But he never got around to it. I have no doubt that Naruto will be the first to do it."
"A what?" Annabeth asked. Naruto just sighed as he created a ball of swirling energy that disappeared after a few second, but those watching them had seen it and wondered what it could do.
"Wait, Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..." Percy trailed off.
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."
"Is she serious?" Shikamaru asked annoyed.
Kiba groaned, "But they mean the same thing. Both leave the guy dead."
Kakashi mused, "I think there is more to this than meets the eye. I am sure she will explain it either way."
"Oh, thanks. Now say that to someone who has never been here before. Cause the words 'killed' and 'die' are pretty much the same," Muttered Naruto.
"They don't have souls, like us. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."
Hinata shivered, it was scary to be fighting an enemy that can never die and would come back for revenge. Was being a half-blood really something so hard?
"Oh that's nice." Naruto said as he smacked his head.
"You mean if we killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad." Annabeth informed him.
"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"
"You talk in your sleep."
Snorts were heard all around. That was one thing you did not need as a ninja.
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?" Naruto asked while Percy nodded.
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"Man, you guys take fear to the extreme, sure she was a creepy bat, and I use that term loosely, but come on. They can't be that bad." Naruto replied. Annabeth just gave him a look.
"Something tells me that they are," Kurenai said worried for the kids at the camp.
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" Percy whined. That even sounded sad to him. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there." He said, pointing to a few other cabins.
"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent." Annabeth informed him. He seemed to get it….maybe.
"My mom is Sally Jackson," He said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
The group bowed their heads at the fallen mother once more.
"Uh Percy, I think she means your dad." Naruto commented.
"But he's dead. I never knew him." Percy said.
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."
"I am getting the feeling that he is a god, right?" Naruto deadpanned.
"What?" Percy said surprised.
"How else would you be allowed here?" Naruto shrugged.
"What about you?" Percy pointed to Naruto.
"Oh, I am not sure, but whoever my mom was, she said to just wait until the right time. Besides, you know that I am an orphan, so I am used to waiting around like this won't kill me."
This time winces were shared as the others were not sure how they should feel about that.
"Oh…right." Percy said a little embarrassed. "But, how do I know I am a demi god as they are called?"
"Usually demi gods are diagnosed with dyslexia and probably ADHD, too." Annabeth said.
"Uh…dyslexia is where you mix up word and stuff right?" Percy asked.
"Heh, you think you got it bad….what about me? I know three languages now!" Naruto said. "English, Japanese, and now this Greek stuff!"
"Three?" Iruka asked stunned.
"Greek I can understand," Jiraiya said, "So this English must be the langue the people he is with are speaking.
"So, you could read it at the museum as well?"
"Yep," Naruto answered.
"Ok….so how does ADHD help?"
"Simple…they are your battle reflexes." Annabeth stated. "It is a good thing you had that because if you didn't, you would not have survived the Minotaur, much less eaten the Ambrosia and nectar."
"Huh?"
"Percy that stuff you drank that made you feel better." Naruto said. "For me that stuff tasted like Ichiraku's ramen!" He had anime tears in his eyes, making Percy chuckle to himself. His friend had the weirdest tastes and suffering from withdraw.
"My mom's cookies." Percy said sadly. Even Naruto was sad, he like Ms. Jackson and was very nice to him, plus her cookies were the best.
Kiba chuckled, "Yeah got to respect the cookies."
Lee grin wishing he had some of the woman's famous youthful, (in his eyes) cookies.
"Well…those are the signs, you two are defiantly demi gods." Annabeth said but before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by someone very familiar to her and Naruto.
Ino blinked as she paused, "Wait if that help show you are a demi god then how am I reading this easily?"
"You didn't notice?" Sakura asked.
Jiraiya leaned over and glanced at the page, "Well that's Greek I believe. Must have changed so you can read it with ease."
Some of the other genin were quite, wondering if their inability to read easily and their good battle instincts were what they thought they were.
"Well! A newbie!" a husky voice said. Percy looked over to the big girl he saw in the Ares cabin, come sauntering toward them. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets. He noticed that she was talking to him, but also that she was stealing glances at his blond haired friend. 'Oh god no...why does he attract all the strong and mean girls!?' Percy remembered some of the other bullies wanting a piece of Naruto back when they were at school and not in the 'line up to beat down' way.
Ino cried out as she finished that line, "Oh C'mon! Why is he getting so much attention when he was a loser here!?"
"I believe because we all know him in a way."
Everyone turned to Shino. Said boy adjusted his glasses, "Even before the academy we knew of Naruto is some way or form. Most of what we knew was either negative or indifferent. Over there he is a blank slate. He also shows skills that are better than a normal person in that world. All of it adds up getting the attention of different girls without changing who he is or anything of the sort."
The others looked at him while Hinata all by slumped over, 'With so many girls after Naruto for who he is then how will I get him to notice me?'
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed also noticing the looks. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?" she then muttered "Unless you want to polish someone else's spear."
Jiraiya giggled perversely as he quickly wrote that down. Only for Tsunade to smack him into the wall and rip his little notebook apart.
"Shut up, Princess," the big girl said trying not to blush. "I'll just run you through with it Friday night."
''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though the boys had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.
Ino glanced down at the new footnote, "Basically she's telling Clarisse to go to hell."
Kiba scoffed "Really? Why not just say that?" he then paused, "Although it may be a fun insult to those who don't know it."
Kurenai groaned as rubbed her forehead knowing this was going to cause a headache for her.
"You don't stand a chance."
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, he then looked at Naruto and had a slight pink tint to her cheeks. "Hey Naruto, who is the runt with you?"
"Oh! This is my friend Percy Jackson."
"Yes, and I am sure Naruto already knows this but this is Clarisse, daughter of Ares, God of War." Annabeth mumbled, finding it odd that Clarisse could well nice.
Sakura and Ino nodded knowing it would seem odd to them as well.
"THE War God?" Percy said with both eyebrows raised.
Clarisse sneered and held up Percy by the collar. "You got a problem with that?"
"No," Percy said, recovering his wits. "It explains the bad smell."
Naruto smacked his head 'Now he gets a back bone.'
Jiraiya copied Naruto, "Not the best thing to say. From what Ares told me his kids specializes in all sort of fighting, unarmed, armed and anything else you can dream of. Able to use any weapons and need little training to master their weapon of choice."
Tenten grinned, now she wanted to spar with Clarisse or any of her siblings.
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
"Percy."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you." Clarisse said as he dragged the boy to the bathrooms.
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl." Clarisse growled as she and the others walked away.
"Naruto!" Annabeth rounded on her fellow blond. "You have to help him!"
Sighing Naruto replied, "I know I should but I can't be the one to fight all his battles."
"True," Jiraiya agreed. It was like with Naruto when he trained him.
Iruka frowned, while he agreed with what Naruto was saying he would at least make sure his friend would be able to handle them.
He then grabbed the horn Percy dropped. They walked to the door while saying this and he was sure Percy heard him. "Let's see if he can regain some of that strength like last time."
Annabeth and Naruto watched at the door as Clarisse and her friends mocked Percy. As they began to push Percy's head toward the toilet, Naruto felt that power that he felt back at the museum. "Oh, this is going to be messy."
"Huh?"
"Huh?" Annabeth asked.
"Will she stop coping us?" Kiba muttered with a twitching eyebrow.
Then, one of the toilets shot out water at Clarisse, and as her friends tried to help her, the other toilets exploded, blasting water all over the place, Naruto grabbed Annabeth and jump to the ceiling but still got wet. "Didn't see that coming." He said, shaking water out of his hair.
Gags and groans all around were heard as this was read. "That's nasty" Ino muttered.
Percy walked over to them with a shocked expression, but he was laughing in the inside at how funny the two looked.
Annabeth said, "How did you ..."
"I don't know." Percy shrugged.
"Well Percy, you just gave the name Water Boy a whole new meaning." Naruto said which actually got a laugh from Annabeth. Percy just told him to shut up.
The guys chuckled slightly at that. "At least the title makes sense now," Choji added, renewing the laughs.
They walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead." However, it was quickly gone because Naruto had decided to help out; he created two shadow clones to help her cabin mates.
He walked over to Clarisse and helped her up. "Don't be too hard on him next time." He smirked and then winked. He then jumped back to Percy's and Annabeth's side, leaving more shocked people to look at him. He never saw the full blown blush on her face.
Sakura sighed, "God even in a new world he is so dense. Can't even see if a girl likes him."
Hinata however perked up at this, hoping for a chance still.
"Show off." Percy smirked.
"Oh, you and your hurtful words," Naruto shrugged.
Laughed renewed again knowing how Naruto would be.
He then noticed Annabeth looking from Percy to Naruto. "What? What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," She said, "that I want the two of you on my team for capture the flag."
"If you want our help you got to get the whole cabin that goes along with us."
Ino groaned as she closed the book, "That's it, I give up."
Tsunade sighed, "Well we could use a break anyways. Let's go, relax and maybe eat then we can meet back her to read again.