AN: I got some Boo-Yahs! Oh yeah! Now, this is mostly a flashback chapter. You'll enjoy it. I hope.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril
VII
Naruto reached down and picked a rock up, chucking it at the fleeing group of teenagers that had drove by and hit him with a water balloon, "SON'S OF BITCHES!"
"Aw, come on Naruto, it's not that bad," Thalia said between her laughter while next to her Piper had broke into peels of laughter. They had been walking for a good ten minutes when the Jeep full of teenage guys rolled up alongside them, hooting and hollering. Naruto told them to buzz off, and in retaliation they threw a water balloon at him.
"Not that bad? Thalia-chan, look at me!" Naruto gestured to his crotch angrily, "I look like I pissed myself!"
Thalia rolled her eyes while Piper bit on her lip to try and stop her laughter at the older teen's predicament. The raven-haired demigoddess patted her disgruntled and embarrassed boyfriend on the cheek. Leaning in, she whispered, "Why not dry it off, hot stuff?"
Naruto's angrily furrowed brows relaxed as he mulled over her words and he blinked before groaning and covering his eyes with one hand. Dragging the hand down his face, he muttered incoherently before he smiled at his girlfriend and cupped her face in his hands. After breaking away from a kiss on the lips, Naruto whispered to her, "I knew there was a reason I kept you around."
Smirking at him, Thalia stepped back and put a hand on Piper's shoulder. The younger demigoddess, a bit embarrassed from watching the couple kiss, gave her a confused brow. In response, Thalia just said, "Just watch. You'll see."
Naruto cracked his neck before clapping his hands together and then said, "Okay, haven't had to heat myself up in a while. Here we go."
Closing his eyes and tilting his head back, Naruto dropped his hands to his sides and relaxed his body, letting his chakra flow speed up and heating his body. Piper opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when she saw it. In a blink of the eyes, the blond demigod became a living being of golden light. It was different from his God Mode, not blindingly bright, but just enough to accent his sun-kissed skin tone as well as heat up his body, enough to the point that his pants immediately dried and looked good as new. Opening his still blue eyes, Naruto was the first to see the gob-smacked look on Piper McLean's face.
"Wow..." The young demigoddess uttered. She looked up at Thalia before looking back at Naruto, "Your boyfriend is hot."
Thalia faltered for a moment, prompting Naruto to grin as he lost his glow. He then vanished, the light bending around him and his clothes. Piper blinked and started to look around for the teen only to swivel around when Thalia made a noise of surprise. She was shocked to see Naruto hugging Thalia from behind with a roguish grin on his whiskered face.
"See that, Thalia-chan?" Naruto asked his squirming girlfriend as he sent shivers up her spine by expelling small bursts of chakra from his arms, the equivalent of a tickle. He nodded to the thirteen-year-old and continued, "Even Piper thinks I'm irresistible."
"Hey, I never said that!" Piper interjected with a small frown, "I just said you were hot! Literally!"
"Uh-huh," the still smirking Naruto replied before leaving a peck on Thalia's cheek. The younger girl rolled her eyes while Thalia lightly elbowed her boyfriend with a faint blush over her own crossing her cheeks. The son of Apollo merely chuckled and released his girlfriend.
"That's enough goofing off, we've got maybe a fifteen minute walk before we get to the tunnel," Naruto said to the two before he dramatically pointed away, "Allons-y!"
The blond demigod took off in a run, making Thalia shake her head at his antics. Piper just stared at his running form in disbelief, turning to Thalia and asking, "Is he always like that?"
"Only after he forces his energy to speed up," Thalia explained with a smile as they followed the now hyperactive teen, "He'll calm back down after a few minutes."
"...He's nice," Piper said after a brief silence. Thalia glanced at her and the demigoddess continued, "I mean, he's more, uh...and you're, um..."
"He's a goof and I'm kind of rough, right?" Thalia asked, getting a meek nod from the younger girl. Thalia gave her a small smile and then looked back at her boyfriend that was now walking on his hands a few feet in front of them. The daughter of Zeus lightly giggled at his actions before she spoke again, "That's just how we are. He's more touchy-feely than me."
"How did you two even meet?" Piper asked, watching the blond as he stopped walking on his hands and flipped forward to his feet.
"That's actually a pretty fun story," replied the daughter of Zeus. Thalia's eyes glossed over and a more serene smile crossed her face as she thought back to when they met.
Thalia panted as she and Luke rounded another corner, their frantic running coming to a halt. They had just left the house of Halcyon Green, a house filled with monsters determined to kill them because of who their parents were, and all she got out of it was a bracelet that turned into a shield. A badass shield, mind you, but still, there could've been more than just a shield and monsters...like something that did more than scare them away for a bit. Looking around, she discovered they had entered an alley filled with scraps of iron, most likely from the nearby iron factory yard that they were separated from by a chain-link fence.
"We should rest here," Luke suggested, still regaining his breath. Thalia nodded to the boy slightly older than herself before both plopped down with their backs to the building on their left. They could still hear faint roars and crashing from their pursuers, but at least they could rest for now.
They got that rest for about five seconds before a rattling sound was heard. Luke and Thalia both scrambled to their feet, readying their weapons and searching the alleyway. Luke noticed it first, pointing a few feet away at a shaking sheet of corrugated iron leaning against the building with his free hand, "There."
"It can't be a monster," Thalia whispered, "Could it?"
"We have to be ready for anything," replied the elfish teen, "Cover me."
Thalia rolled her eyes but turned around nonetheless and watched the entrance to the alley. Luke carefully and quietly stepped towards it, his shaking hand reaching out to grasp the sheet of iron. He took a deep breath before grabbing the iron and pulling it back, "Got you!"
"AHH!" screamed a young girl that was hiding behind the iron. She was short, as were most children, and had blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Before Luke could recover from his shock at finding a kid, the young blonde girl with eyes squeezed shut charged forward, brandishing a small black knife that she used to slash at him. Luke released a surprised cry of pain as it cut him across the front of his chest, thankfully not deep enough for anything serious, but surprised him enough to make him fall to his back.
Thalia turned around at the girl's scream, but didn't recover from her own surprise to stop the girl from cutting her friend. When the younger girl did climb on top of Luke and brought the knife above her head to stab him, the raven-haired girl acted, rushing forward and tackling the younger girl off of him.
"Wait a minute, she almost stabbed him?!" Piper exclaimed, cutting Thalia off. The cry got their now calmed down quest leader's attention.
"Who almost stabbed who?" Naruto asked curiously as they neared the Caldecott Tunnel.
Thalia smiled and nudged her boyfriend with her arm, "She asked how we met."
"Ohh..." Naruto said with an understanding nod before he grinned, "Annie stabbing Luke?"
"Yep," Thalia said with a nod.
"Why would she stab at him?" Piper asked curiously.
"'Stab first, ask questions later'," the couple answered in unison. Thalia nudged the blond's arm, "This idiot can be so paranoid at times."
"I'd rather you be alive and guilty of murder than you dead," Naruto replied softly, making Thalia smile at him. He cleared his throat and nudged her, "Well go on! I want to hear how awesome you thought I was."
"You wish," Thalia retorted before she continued.
Wrenching the blade from the girl's hand, Thalia exclaimed, "Relax! Relax! We aren't going to hurt you!"
"Wh-what?" the girl asked, opening her eyes and revealing two grey eyes to the older girl. She looked at Thalia, then Luke, before scooting away and glaring at them, "Who are you? Where's Naruto? Where is he? What did you do to him?"
"Who are you talking about?" Thalia asked as she sat back on her knees and then looked down at the girl's knife in her hand, "What kind of dagger is this?"
"Who are you and where's Naruto?!" demanded the young girl. Thalia was looking at the knife and then looked back at the girl as she made the correct assumption that the girl before them was another demigod.
Luke, who had gotten over his shock and had managed to confirm his cut wasn't too bad, walked over to Thalia's side. Raising his hands, he said, "Easy. I'm Luke, and this is Thalia. We're demigods, too."
The girl's eyes flickered between them distrustfully before she answered, "Annabeth Chase. Where's Naruto?"
"We don't know anyone named Naruto," Luke answered as Thalia got to her feet. The three of them tensed when there was a rather loud boom. Annabeth looked to the building Thalia and Luke had rested against in worry, making the two older demigods follow her gaze.
"Look, kid, we need to get moving," Thalia said, taking a step towards the girl and offering her the strange weapon, "Here's your dagger."
"It's called a kunai," Annabeth answered with a frown as she took the weapon, "I'm not going anywhere without Naruto!"
"We don't have a chance if we stay here," Luke whispered to Thalia before looking at Annabeth, "Listen, Annabeth, we can't wait here for Naruto. It's not safe!"
"I'm! Not! Going!" Annabeth cried back, lifting her dag–no, kunai up defensively, "Not without Naruto!"
"Aw, she really said that?" Naruto asked with a smile, "Sweet little thing, Annie is. She makes me so proud to be her brother."
Thalia groaned and opened her mouth to argue once more when there was a louder boom. The three demigods all turned to their left at the building, where Thalia and Luke had rested, as another loud bang came from within. They took a weary step back when dust shot out from the side in between the bricks. Annabeth shakily raised her kunai while Thalia and Luke prepared their own weapons.
There was another shot of dust before Thalia was forced to raise her shield to protect herself from the debris as the wall exploded. Out skidded a giant metal bull, gleaming bronze in the streetlight, breaking through the chain link fence and slamming against a giant bin. From the still settling dust, walked out a panting teen. His blond hair wild and untamed; he stood about as tall as Luke, but dressed in jeans with a strange black box strapped to his left leg and a white jacket with red flames that glistened unnaturally bright in the night. In his left hand was a golden bow that shone like the sun and slung over his shoulders was a quiver.
"And he was handsome...Right?" Naruto pried while looking at his girlfriend.
Thalia glanced at him for a good moment before smiling, "Yes...Yes, I suppose he was handsome."
"Yes!" Naruto said with a fist pump. He'd never gotten her to say it in public. Piper rolled her eyes while Thalia shook her head and continued.
"You...Are a pain in the ass to kill!" the teen said with a cough before slinging the bow over his shoulder, "Arrows don't do jack, your body is made of metal and it takes a friggin Oodama Rasengan (Great Ball Spiraling Sphere) to send you packing?"
"Naruto!" Annabeth cried out in joy and relief. She made to run to him when a raised hand kept her in place.
"Stay back, Annie!" the teen, Naruto, ordered as he looked towards them. Hardly giving them the time, the teen looked back at the bull and frowned, "Colchis Bull. You just had to be a Colchis Bull."
The Colchis Bull snorted and let out a fiery snort before a mechanical roar escaped it's mouth. Naruto grinned and cracked his knuckles, "Alright...Let's do this!"
He held his hands up in a strange form-
"Hand seal!" Naruto interjected with a frown.
"Whatever," the daughter of Zeus replied as her eyes rolled.
He held his hands up in a hand seal that looked like he was crossing his index and middle fingers. Suddenly there was an exact replica of the teen, making Thalia and Luke's jaws drop.
"Hold on, replica? You can clone yourself?" Piper asked, "I thought Apollo was the God of the Sun and Prophecies."
"Gift from my Mom," Naruto answered as he snapped his fingers and a duplicate appeared. He punched it and it disappeared just as quickly, "Give me an open field and I could make an army. Only downside is, that army could be eradicated in one strike."
"It gets weirder than that, trust me," Thalia comforted the disbelieving demigoddess before continuing with her story.
The original's hand extended and the clone cupped his hands over it. The one with his hand extended continued to speak, "Maybe a few more Rasengans will bust you a-!"
The Colchis Bull reared its head back and then flicked it forward, a saw blade flying from a slot in the center of its head. Annabeth cried out the teen's name as the blade sliced through the new duplicate. Rather than fall to the ground, the body exploded into smoke, making Naruto look over at it.
"Part..." Naruto dryly finished. His hand fell to his side and he laughed nervously, "Well look at that. You shoot disks."
The Colchis Bull released a mechanical bellow and charged at Naruto. The blond yelped and dove into a roll towards the three demigods, avoiding the charge. Coming out of his roll into a crouch, pulling a knife from the container on his leg and tossing it as the Bull stumbled over itself in an effort to turn. The beast was struck in the eye, making it veer into the wall of the building; slowing it down and making it stop. If she had to be honest with herself, it was very impressive.
Naruto rose up and turned around, running towards them. Thalia could see his shirt, or rather, what remained of it. Scorch marks covered an ironically burnt orange T-shirt, revealing hints of a toned torso underneath.
"And you liked what you saw? Ow!" Naruto exclaimed when Thalia shoved him into the wall of the hidden shaft within the Caldecott. Rubbing his shoulder he asked, "Why are you so mean to me?"
"Call it tough love," Thalia replied with a smirk before she resumed telling the snickering Piper the story of their first meeting.
Naruto ran past Thalia, turning to the side and grabbing Annabeth under her shoulders, picking her up and running. Over his shoulder the blond cried out, "RU-U-UN!"
Thalia and Luke exchanged a glance before following after him.
"And we ran, and ran, and ran," Naruto cut in with a smile on his face before he laughed, "Almost lost it at an intersection, though. Remember that?"
"How could I forget? The look on that guy's face when his newsstand was destroyed out of nothing!" Thalia laughed along with her boyfriend. The two smiled in remembrance as they walked, before Naruto's eyes widened and he walked ahead of the two girls, turning around and walking backwards.
"Oo, can I tell the next part?" Naruto asked, looking at the raven-haired girl with a pleading pout, "Please?"
"No! I'm telling the story," Thalia said with a smirk.
"I'll make that face," threatened the son of Apollo. Thalia stopped walking, making the other two copy her. Piper's brows furrowed as she looked between the two, wondering what that face was.
"You wouldn't dare," Thalia said as her face fell into a look of slight fear.
"Oh...Just try me," Naruto said, his whiskered cheeks widening in a smile that made the daughter of Zeus' spine freeze.
"I swear to the Gods if you do what I think you're going to do I'll...I'll..." Thalia tried to counter, only succeeding in making Naruto grin. A warm blush started to spread across her cheeks as she recalled the last time Naruto used that face, on the Quest for Artemis. The image she saw shortly afterwards, the child with hair as dark as her own yet with eyes as blue as his, the face that laughed at her in her dreams...Dreams of hope that is.
"You know how easy it is for me," Naruto teased raising his left hand's index and middle fingers, "Just one flare of chakra."
"...You infuriate me sometimes, Naruto Uzumaki," Thalia growled. Naruto grinned, moving in a flash of light and reappearing with his arms wrapped around her. He brought his forehead down against hers, a smile on his face.
"Glad that there's one way I can keep you in line," he joked before kissing her deeply. After a moment of their originally chaste lip-lock, Piper flushed bright red as Thalia relaxed into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and turning it very intimate. The young demigoddess wanted to say something, interrupt maybe, but there was a part of her that didn't want to. Some part of her wanted what the two in front of her had. She may be a tomboy, but that didn't mean she wasn't a girl, scratch that, human! All humans crave companionship...from the simplest of friends to the deepsignificant others. Maybe someday. For now, Piper gathered enough nerve to clear her throat, causing the two to break from their minor make-out session. Thalia blushed while Naruto grinned. Moving to keep his right arm over the raven-haired daughter of Zeus' shoulders to keep her from hiding away, the blond Guardian looked at the bright red-faced and glaring daughter of Tristan McLean.
"Where were we?" Naruto asked before nodding, "Right. Killing the Colchis Bull. Well after we got through Richmond, we made it to a nice little park. I handed Annabeth to a clone and led the Bull away..."
"Split up!" Naruto instructed the group as he handed Annabeth to his clone. Thalia broke off after him, Luke after the clone carrying the concerned Annabeth. The Colchis Bull chased after the original blond, bleating out fire as it did so.
"Anymore bright ideas?!" Thalia asked as she followed the older teen. Naruto looked over his shoulder at the running Bull and then looked ahead of him. There was a bench that would maybe give them a millisecond of extra time if they ran around it, and beyond that was a pond.
"I've got it!" exclaimed the blond with a grin. Pointing at the bench, he continued, "Run past the bench! Get to the pond!"
"Then what?" the raven-haired demigoddess asked, "We go fishing?"
"Just trust me!" Naruto said as they approached the bench. As Thalia ran around it, Naruto jumped over the bench with ease, while their pursuer smashed through it like it was nothing. Naruto looked behind him at the Bull before tossing another kunai at the mechanical monster. Piercing another eye, the Bull roared in fury as it started to trip.
Naruto dove at Thalia, tackling her to the ground and out of the way of the tripping Colchis Bull. The Bull went head under hooves into the pond, entering the small pool of water with a large splash. Naruto grunted when he got drenched, rolling to his back next to the younger demigoddess. They waited for a moment before Naruto stood, looking down into the pond.
"Stupid machine," said the teen as a grin started to come over his face. Cupping his hands around his mouth, Naruto called out, "Regroup!"
He turned and offered Thalia his hand, "That was fun, right?"
"...Fun? You call almost dying, fun?" Thalia questioned in disbelief. Naruto shrugged.
"Yeah, well, you only live once, right?" he said as she took his hand. Pulling her up, Naruto smiled down at the shorter girl, making her blush under his fox-like grin.
"I didn't blush!" Thalia interjected with a frown.
"Oh, yes you did," Naruto said with rolled eyes, "Besides you even told me you like my smile. I think that was last week, even."
Piper bit on her lip to keep from laughing when Thalia blushed and stormed ahead. These two were better than television sometimes. Naruto chuckled before looking back at the thirteen-year-old, "She'll get over it."
He looked at the raven-haired girl with spikey hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a face that would narrow out from cute into beautiful, two electric blue eyes that looked back up at him in curiosity. A large leather jacket with a few scratches here and there, but otherwise looked good on her. In her right hand was a spear and around her left arm was a shield with the face of Medusa plastered on it. The shield made him pause, taking it into his hand.
"Aegis?" He asked, blinking in shock when the shield shrunk down into a bracelet, "...That was cool."
"How did you know to do that?" Thalia asked, before blushing once more as she realized he was still holding onto her, "Let go of my arm!"
"Sorry," apologized the blond. He reached up and scratched at the back of his head, "I do a lot of reading and –Watch out!"
Naruto shoved the girl away from him, making her stumble back as the Colchis Bull suddenly barreled into his side, sending him rolling into the park. He heard his name called out by a familiar voice, eyes widening when he realized who that voice belonged to; "Annabeth."
Pushing himself to a seated position, Naruto groaned and looked through a squinted eye at the mechanically bronze monster that snorted fire standing a good forty feet from him. The slit in its head opened and a saw blade made of bronze was revealed, spinning rapidly as its head reared back. Naruto faltered for words, thinking of how he was going to get out of this. Grabbing his bow and an arrow, Naruto knocked the small bronze arrow in place, swallowing as he took aim. The world around him slowed down as he focused on the launched projectile. He released his arrow, sending it flying and knocking the approaching death weapon off course. The saw flipped in the air before landing harmlessly to the side.
Naruto and the Colchis Bull stared at one another before the Bull bellowed out a roar, fire leaving its mouth as it did so. It charged forward and Naruto prepared himself to jump when there was a boom of thunder. The Bull paid no mind to this and continued to charge, until a bolt of lightning struck it. Naruto had to shield his eyes with his arm, carefully watching as the beast was electrocuted into death. Gold dust spilled from the monster as it fell, allowing him to see the raven-haired, spear-wielding demigoddess standing behind where the Colchis Bull once stood. Her left hand was extended and her breathing was heavy.
"...You can use lightning?" He asked as Annabeth, the clone and Luke rejoined them. The girl took in another breath before she nodded, making Naruto's brow furrow, "But...that would mean..."
"Thalia Grace," Thalia said introducing herself as she rested on her spear, "Daughter of Zeus."
"...The Super Pervert is your dad?"
Thalia gaped at him while the sky boomed in anger. Luke likewise had a look of shock on his face. Their surprise was broken when the blond's clone exploded after Annabeth had escaped its clutches. She ran forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto's leg, making the taller blond look down at her in surprise and then with a smile. A hand on the young demigoddess' head, he looked back up at the other demigods with a grin.
"That's cool. At least you know who your parent is," he said, "Name's Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze! Nice to meet you, Thalia-chan!"
"And the name stuck ever since," Thalia groaned jokingly, making Naruto grin at her. She had gotten over her little temper tantrum and fell back in line with them, where Naruto promptly threw his arm around her shoulders once again. It wasn't like she minded.
The sun-eyed blond poked his girlfriend's side with his free hand, "Oh you know you love it."
"Maybe now I do, Whiskers," Thalia retorted, "But back then it was annoying as hell."
"Hold on, there's something I don't get," Piper said as they came closer to the exit door. Naruto and Thalia looked at the younger girl, making her continue with her question, "Thalia, you said Naruto's eyes were blue. But now they have this...sun in them. Did he have it then, too?"
"Nope," Thalia said, looking at her boyfriend's eyes with a small smile, "He just showed up with them last year."
"Has to do with my title: Helios' Heir," Naruto explained with a shrug, "Hopefully I'll have to demonstrate and not show you in battle."
"If you say so," Piper mumbled as her eyes went to the door, "So that's it then?"
"Sort of. We still have a long walk ahead of us," Naruto explained as he reached out and pressed his hand against the door, "But I guess this reveal will have to do."
Pushing the door open, Naruto revealed a bright sunlit area, a grassy plain and in the distance, a walled city. As the three exited the Caldecott Tunnel's hidden entrance, Thalia and Piper stared at the walled city. Naruto extended his arms and took a few steps forward, "Ladies, welcome to the home of the Romans. Welcome to Camp Jupiter!"
As the three walked forward, their mysterious pursuer silently slipped out of the tunnel. The two dark eyes narrowed once more and he dug into his pocket, pulling out a kunai not unlike the ones Naruto carried, with a tag already wrapped around it. His headband, strapped to his arm, had the kanji for Shinobi engraved in it. Spinning the kunai in his finger by the small hole at the end, the shinobi threw the blade down a few feet in front of him, where it dug into the ground.
There was a large cloud of smoke and three figures joined the first. One stepped forward, calm and collected, "(Is he here?)"
"(Just a few paces ahead,)" replied the one who had summoned them, "(We'll take him before he can alert this...Camp of our presence.)"
"(He's not going to go quietly)," one growled at the summoner, who glared back at him.
"(Well tough! He had his chance to come in peacefully,)" the summoner shot back. The four turned their gazes to the back of the laughing blond that had thrown his arm around that of the raven-haired girl, "(Just don't attack the girls. They're his 'precious people'.)"
"(...Fine!)" Spat the growling figure before throwing a finger in the summoner's face, "(I want it on the record that I don't like this!)"
"(Orders are orders,)" the summoner replied solemnly. His gaze went to the back of the blond's head.
AN: Oh and I do so love a good cliffhanger. What did you think of the flashback? How will Naruto gain entrance to the city? Will the Shinobi attack before or after? And how can it be a snow day without snow?
To find out there is only one thing to do,
REVIEW!