Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Sun's Heir, Death's Guardian II: A Hero's Peril

XIV

Naruto exited the Hokage Mansion with a light smile on his face, "Well, that went better than I expected it to."

"What did you expect?" Jason asked, "Jail time?"

"More like downright execution," Naruto replied with a shrug, "I certainly earned it. It was probably my personal history with Tsunade that saved me from that."

"What was that thing you called her?" Piper asked curiously as they started to walk through the village, "Baachan...what does that mean?"

"Baachan is the equivalent to 'Old Lady'," once again shrugged the eldest blond present, making the two younger demigods look at him like he was crazy. The woman didn't look any older than thirty, thirty-five at best.

As they turned down a fenced pathway that would take them back to the Academy, Jason scrutinized the teen with an odd look, "You have issues with authority, don't you?"

"Are you just now noticing?" Naruto retorted with a roll of his eyes.

It's going to get you killed one day, Helios said chidingly.

It'll be worth it, shot back the incarnation as a smirk crossed his face. Piper and Jason walked behind the older two demigods, taking in the sights and slowing down their pace consequently. The blond looked to his girlfriend, who was now walking along his left side, and lightly nudged her arm, "You're awfully quiet."

Thalia simply gave him a look from the corner of her eye and then returned her gaze forward. Naruto frowned at the raven-haired girl's cold shoulder, prompting him to look ahead before he spoke again, "I know that no amount of apologies could ever make what I did right, Thalia-chan. Nothing I say can make this better, we both know that. Just know that even if you decide to hate me forever, I will still love you."

Thalia turned to look at her boyfriend, opening and closing her mouth to say something. Gods, why did he have to have such a silver tongue? Then again, he had a really skilled tongue if their make-out sessions were anything to go by—she was getting off track. She opened her mouth to really talk, in order to get off what was on her chest.

Before Thalia could even begin, a familiar annoying voice addressed the blond first, "Naruto!"

The four demigods stopped walking and turned around to see the pink-haired aide running towards them. Naruto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as the woman came to a stop in front of them.

"Why did you resign?" Sakura demanded.

Moving to stand in front of the other three, Naruto defended himself, "I told you. I have other duties as the son of Apollo."

The pink-haired woman growled, "Don't be an idiot, Naruto. There is no God of the Sun!"

Oh, that little bitch! If I still had a physical body and most of my godly power I would smite the holy Tartarus out of her! Helios began to rage.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Naruto mumbled as he reached up to rub his head from the headache Helios was giving him.

"What kind of idiot believes they're the child of a god?" continued Sakura.

"I dunno, maybe the same kind of idiot who promises to risk his life to save someone that doesn't want to be saved?" snidely replied the blond.

"You were trying to help your friend!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah, and he put his fist through my fucking lung in return!" Naruto said with narrowed eyes, "After I forced him to miss my heart!"

"He was under the influence of the curse mark," Sakura argued.

"I beg to differ," retorted the son of Apollo, "He seemed pretty coherent when he was driving my skull through the ground from fifty feet in the air!"

"This isn't like you!" Sakura announced, "The Naruto I knew wouldn't just abandon his friends for a bunch of delusional kids!"

Jason, Piper and Thalia all glared at the woman for her response. Thalia pushed forward to stand next to Naruto, speaking for the first time since leaving the Hokage's office with an angry tone, "Who are you calling a kid?"

"Just stay out of this," Sakura snapped with a glare at the raven-haired girl, "You're part of the reason he's acting so...so...stupid!"

"Maybe he's uncomfortable around the girl that used to brain him twenty four seven to compensate for her boardwalk sized forehead!" Thalia shot back.

"Who do you think you are?" demanded the pink-haired medic with narrowed green eyes locked on the slightly shorter girl's form. Her eyes drifted down briefly and narrowed even further in slight jealousy before moving back up to meet the electric blue that were glaring at her.

Thalia crossed her arms over her chest and replied, "I'm the idiot's girlfriend."

"You?" Sakura repeated in disbelief. After looking her over once again the pink-haired woman looked at Naruto and said, "Didn't think you went for them that young, pervert."

"She's actually nineteen," Naruto corrected with a frown at the shot at his girlfriend and himself.

"And she is standing right here," Thalia interjected with a scowl. Naruto wisely shut up, Sakura however, did not catch the hint.

"Why don't you go run along and look around?" Sakura snorted out as she cracked her knuckles and turned to Naruto, "I have some unfinished business to deal with. Konoha business."

"What, you too afraid to get your ass handed to you with an audience?" Thalia said with a smirk, "Just like he did back at Mt. Othrys?"

Sakura seemed to falter at that before regaining her fire, "Didn't I see you run away on that sleigh?"

Naruto winced and Thalia growled before speaking again, "At least I'm not mistaken for being a boy."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the pink-haired medic asked dangerously.

"Uh, Thalia-chan?" Naruto said, putting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, "I think you've made your point."

"No, don't make her stop now, Naruto!" said Sakura as she glared at Thalia, who returned it with equal amounts of anger, "Let her explain herself."

"What's to explain?" Thalia countered, "You're flatter than a board!"

Sakura clenched her fist and glared at the raven-haired girl as her face turned red in embarrassment. So she was lacking in the chest area, so what? That didn't give this...this...little bitch the right to call her out on it.

Before she knew it, Sakura had thrown a punch charged with all the chakra that was needed for an Okashou right at the girl's face. Another hand caught hers and she felt herself get shoved back to the ground. Looking up she saw that it was Naruto who had caught her fist, his body engulfed in golden flames.

"Naruto, you jackass!" Sakura screamed at the blond as she got back to her feet.

"I said I wasn't here to deal with you, but it looks like I don't have a choice. The second you attacked Thalia-chan, you forced my hand," Naruto said as he looked at the pink-haired woman. As his eyes narrowed, he raised his left hand and snapped his fingers.

After seconds passed, Sakura looked at him and asked, "What was the point of that, your useless finger snap?"

Her eyes widened and Naruto grinned foxily as his golden flames flickered out. Sakura tried again, "You think you've won, there's no evidence as to what you've done! What is wrong with me, why do all my sentences end poetically?"

This. Is. Hilarious, Helios said before bursting into laughter. Behind Naruto, the three demigods began to do the same.

"Yeah, enjoy that," the blond said to the increasingly red faced kunoichi, "It should wear off in a few days, a week at the most."

"A week at the most, this had better wear off Uzumaki or you're going to be toast!" raged the pink-haired woman as he turned away. Frustrated, Sakura stood and tried to rush Naruto from behind only to get stopped as Thalia drove her own fist into the woman's gut. The wind was knocked out of her, making Sakura double over. For good measure, Thalia added a sparking punch right to her protected forehead, making the pink-haired medic's head snap back as she fell to the ground once more.

Piper giggled, "Talk about a Thunderpunch."

"It was super effective," Jason commented with a wince as he thought about how the metal on the woman's head had to conduct the electricity through it. Piper burst into laughter and Jason furrowed his brow, "What's so funny?"

"Thunderpunch, super effective?" Piper giggled out, shoving the boy lightly, "Good one."

"Good what?" the confused teenager asked. The girl giggled again before looking at the genuine confusion on Thalia's brother's face.

"Wow...You're really sheltered, aren't you?" Piper said in astonishment.

As Piper explained the unintentional joke Jason made, Naruto looked at his girlfriend and asked, "Was that necessary?"

"No," Thalia admitted as she rolled her wrist, "but it felt really good."

Talk about a mean right hook, Helios commented before wondering aloud, That reminds me, I wonder how the kids are taking it back at camp.

I'm sure they're just relaxing after a hard day of training, Naruto thought as he waved the concern off.

Annabeth and her group had exited the Labyrinth moments ago to a giant desert, and after walking across what Grover revealed to be a cattle grate, found a herd of Apollo's red cattle. It revealed that they were on a ranch of some sort. Soon enough they met the owner of the ranch, a man with three chests noticeable by the three different colored shirts, two arms and humongous legs covered by Levis that would give redwood trees a run for their money. A tanned head sat on the center of the three chests, black hair slicked back and a pencil thin mustache above his lips.

He said his name was Geryon.

Apparently, Geryon was a businessman who cared only for money, evident by the poor conditions some of the other caged animals were in, much to Grover's ire. He reminded the original members of the quest for the Master Bolt and Nico of Hades' ferryman, Charon. He was just a sly, too, convincing to let them pass without alerting the Titan's forces if one of them performed a task of Heracles': Cleaning his carnivorous' steeds' stables. Percy volunteered, figuring that his lineage with the God of the Seas would help in the task. As soon as Percy was led away, the others met the immortal son of Ares and Geryon's herdsman, Eurytion. He was a tall, muscled cowboy with white hair and a thick white beard that made him look like Father Time, if Father Time had decided to move to Texas. After a pleasant chat, Eurytion surprised the rest of the group and bound them tightly in ropes.

"When I get out of this, you're gonna be sorry!" Nico raged as he struggled with his binds. He then grumbled under his breath, "I can't believe Percy is escaping this because he's scooping poop!"

"They all say that," Eurytion grumbled as he rolled his eye, dropping Grover next to a whimpering Tyson.

"Are you using Apollo's cattle to feed monsters for the Crooked One?" Annabeth asked as she watched one of the red cows chew on grass. Eurytion shifted uncomfortably as he looked up, making Annabeth gape, "You are?"

"It's the finest source of meat on the planet," Eurytion mumbled with an uncomfortable shrug, "And it's not like I have any choice in the matter."

"Choice in what matter?" Geryon asked as he walked back to the group. Eurytion went quiet as his boss returned, prompting the rancher to jerk his head in the cattle's direction, "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Sorry boss," the son of Ares grumbled as he walked away.

Geryon shook his head, "That buffoon...Takes after his father, that one."

"You're feeding Apollo's cattle to the Titan Army?!" Annabeth asked him while shifting in her binds. Her hands reached for a hidden kunai in her jeans' belt loop, concealed by her shirt. Nico and Grover saw the handle and started to struggle with their own binds, covering their slight movement towards their quest leader in an effort to hide her plan.

Geryon looked at the blonde girl with a smirk, "What? Are you going to tell him through prayer? If the God of Prophecy doesn't know by now that I'm feeding his cattle to the Titans in return for payment, then he deserves the accusations that he is an imbicile."

"And what about his kids?" Annabeth prompted, "What are you going to do when they find out?"

"Most of his children hold little love for him," scoffed the monster nonchalantly.

"You obviously haven't met Naruto then," Grover snorted.

Nico grinned and continued, "Yeah, he may make fun of his dad, but there's no one Naruto looks to more for guidance."

"Who is this Naruto?" Geryon asked haughtily, "Another child of a no-named whore?"

"You take that back!" Nico shouted angrily. Kushina was as close as a second mother he was going to get since Persephone didn't get along with him or Bianca well. Even if she was a slave driver when it came to training.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Annabeth clarified, making the monster pause in thought, "You may know him as the Heir of Helios."

Geryon looked slightly unruffled, quickly recomposing himself, "W-Well...It's a good thing he won't find out, seeing as you'll soon enough be in the Titans' hands."

"Not if Percy completes his task," Annabeth retorted. She had managed to unsheathe the kunai Naruto had given her, her secondary weapon in case she ever dropped Luke's dagger. Looking past Geryon for a moment, she caught sight of Eurytion putting their gathered weapons into a shed filled to the brim with others.

Geryon laughed before leaning down to get in the daughter of Athena's face, "Who said anything about letting you go if he does the task? I never swore on the Styx. Why should I keep my word?"

"You worthless piece of-!" "Watch your tone, demigod," Geryon warned Nico with narrowed eyes, "The 'protection' of your parents does not stand here. All that's keeping you alive right now is your value. And frankly, I decide that value."

As she glared at the monster, Annabeth managed to cut her wrists free, and now slowly started working on the rope around her arms and torso. She cut all ropes but one before shifting her arms in an attempt to loosen the binds. To throw Geryon off his guard, Annabeth asked, "What if I told you I could summon the Heir of Helios?"

"You lie!" Geryon snapped, looking unruffled once again at the thought of being discovered.

"I'm not," the young blonde daughter of Athena retorted, "Just one word and he'll be here faster than you can say size triple XL!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I don't have to," Annabeth announced, "I can take you myself!"

Before Geryon could come up with a witty reply, Annabeth snapped the last rope and freed herself, using her newfound freedom to attack the three-chested monster. Her first strike was a cut to his left leg, making Geryon cry out in shock as the bronze blade cut through his hide. The blonde girl used his shocked state to run towards the shed that was overflowing with weapons.

"Eurytion!" Geryon called for his herdsman, "Kill the girl!"

Eurytion looked to where he last saw Annabeth, who had ducked into the shed, before looking back at his boss. With a scowl, he pointed at Geryon and said, "Hell no. You keep sending me out to do your dirty work. Picking fights for no good reason and making me finish it for you. Well I'm done dying for you. You want the girl dead? Do it yourself."

Geryon's eyes narrowed and he called out, "Orthus!"

A massive two-headed dog that looked like a Doberman came from the herd, both heads had their ears up, with the left head having its tongue out. It went to Eurytion's side, getting an affectionate pat on the head from the immortal half-blooded son of Ares. Geryon gained a look of annoyance and pointed at Annabeth, who had returned from the shed with a belted pouch she was adjusting around her waist.

"Orthus! Kill that girl!" the rancher insisted.

"Don't do it, Orthus," Eurytion cut in before the dual headed dog would do just that, "This is Geryon's fight."

Looking at his boss, the son of Ares warned, "If you try and chicken out again, we'll help her against you."

Geryon scowled at the threat and opened his mouth to retort. Instead of a sneering warning, the three-chested monster let out a cry of pain, reaching up and grabbing at his shoulder. He pulled out a rather lengthy throwing knife he had taken from a lost demigod who was long since dead, a daughter of Hermes if he recalled correctly. Snapping his small eyes on the blonde haired girl, Annabeth merely reached into the pouch once more, pulling out several similar blades in her hand.

"You do realize that this means nothing," Geryon sneered as he tossed the blade to the ground. The hole in his far right shoulder closed shut and the monster smirked, "I cannot be defeated so easily, girlie. My three hearts are the ultimate backup system, and it would take a miracle for such a small frail thing like you to stop me."

Annabeth's eye twitched at the claim and she gave the monster a grimace before throwing her knives once again, this time aiming for his head. One grazed his left ear while the monster's hands caught the other two. He tossed the blades down and gave another smug grin.

Okay Annabeth, what do we know about him? Annabeth asked herself as she threw another knife at Geryon's chest, he heals fast. He has three hearts, large legs and he's very slow. Obviously relies on regeneration if his taunts are anything to go by. So that means he's trying to make me tire myself out. Smart. So I can't trick him into killing himself like I could a bad cyclops or another mindless monster. What does that leave me then?

Geryon got tired of having to remove knives from his body and began stalking towards the daughter of Athena. Annabeth took note of this and reached into the pouch once more.

This pouch doesn't feel like its losing knives like it should be, Annabeth thought with mild confusion. She looked to the knives scattered across the ground and her eyes widened when one flashed before disappearing and a bit of weight was added to her pouch. A grin spread across Annabeth's face, Never-ending knife pouch? Oh, Naruto is going to be so jealous.

Annabeth's grin vanished when she had to move out of the way of a swipe from the towering Geryon, rushing past him into the herd of red cattle. Eurytion and Orthus both moved out of the snarling Geryon's way as he stormed after her, the immortal demigod having a smug smirk on his face.

Annabeth came to a stop behind a grazing cow, panting and trying to regain her breath from the run into the herd. She pulled another throwing knife out and slowly peaked out from her hiding spot. Geryon was turning and snarling, shoving Apollo's cattle out of his way as he failed to find the blonde girl.

There's no way I could bring him down with a guerrilla tactic, mused the daughter of Athena, If this were any other enemy I would keep moving and throwing knives from behind different cows, but that won't work on him. I need to take out all three of his hearts in a quick and successive manner. If I had a bow I'd ask Apollo and Artemis for help...Wait. That's it! Three hearts, three blades in quick succession should do it. But I have to get all the shots in at the same time from the same angle.

Stepping out from her current hiding spot, Annabeth called out, "Geryon!"

The monster swiveled from his place and snarled, "There you are! Are you finally ready to die?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Annabeth retorted with a frown as she readied a knife in her right hand.

"Adorable, but sooner or later you're going to run out of knives," Geryon sneered, "Just surrender and I'll make it as painless as possible."

"The worst thing you could do in life is give up," Naruto said from a memory of their journey across country, which prompted Annabeth's eyes to harden into a cold steel shade of grey. Without another word, Annabeth pulled her right hand over her left shoulder. Closing her eyes for a split second, Annabeth prayed, Apollo, Artemis, please make my aim true.

The knife left her hand after her eyes snapped open. A second knife left her left hand as the empty right pulled out another. The third knife flew from the daughter of Athena's grasp a second and a half behind the second knife. Annabeth watched in what seemed like slow motion as the knives struck their marks, the left chest being struck dead center, followed by the right and then finishing with the center.

Geryon's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards. The monster looked down at his chest, the knives buried into each one with only half of the handles sticking out. Shakily, Geryon looked back at the equally surprised Annabeth, before stumbling backwards and falling to the ground. His hand lifted once more and he watched it as it slowly dissolved away into golden dust.

Annabeth slowly felt a small grin spread across her face as Geryon dissolved into golden dust. Her grin fell as she walked forward and found nothing left behind. Nothing but the knives she had used to kill him. They vanished in a small flash of light, and she felt the weight return to the pouch on her hip. The daughter of Athena continued to smile after she returned to the other side of the cattle pen, eyeing Eurytion warily.

The son of Ares gave her a grin and pat one of Orthus' heads, "Don't worry about us. Geryon lost, you're free to go."

"What about Percy?" Annabeth asked with a frown.

"What about me?" Percy asked as he walked into the area from the stables. Looking at the three still tied up and back to Annabeth and Eurytion, the son of Poseidon asked, "Did I miss something?"

"You have no idea, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth as her head shook.

"This is a nice outcome and all, but could someone untie us before we burn in the sun?" Nico asked with a hint of annoyance.

Once the other three members of the quest had been released from their binds, Eurytion offered to make them a meal in order to make up for the ordeal and to thank Annabeth for the idea of how to shift the ranch into his favor. They declined the meal, but agreed to a small snack and soda, allowing Percy to relax and tell them about his completed labor. When that was all said and done, Percy looked to Annabeth and asked, "So how did you kill Geryon?"

"Three knives to the hearts," she answered with a shrug, "With a little help from Naruto's Dad and Artemis."

"So the rumors are true about Helios' Heir?" Eurytion asked, leaning forward with a curious look on his face, "A demigod who holds the soul of the Fallen God?"

"More than true," Percy said as he took a sip of the Mountain Dew he was given, "Helios actually speaks to him."

Eurytion whistled and sat back in his seat, "That's a game changer...two souls in one body? Wonder what that's like."

"Apparently, really loud," Nico chimed in, recalling moments in January when Naruto would randomly just shout at nothing, claiming to be arguing with Helios. It stopped shortly after Bianca fell ill, but it was amusing when it happened.

"I would think so," Eurytion mused. He turned to Annabeth and asked, "Did Chiron teach you to throw like that?"

"Naruto did," Annabeth replied with a small smile, "He gave me the foundation of what I know today about combat."

"Really?" Nico asked curiously.

"Tell us about it!" Grover said eagerly. He loved hearing about his old group's earlier days. Eurytion scratched one of Orthus' heads as he listened intently, and Percy put his drink down, looking to the sole girl at the table.

As she pulled a knife out of the pouch on her hip, Annabeth thought about the first night Naruto had shown her, Thalia and Luke how to properly throw a kunai. The first night she and Thalia actually had more than a few words with each other. She spoke softly to the group sitting at the table, "It was the night after we escaped the Colchis Bull."

"Why would I want to throw my only weapon?" Luke asked with a furrowed brow as Naruto helped Annabeth properly grip the knife.

He had made it known that he did not agree with this lesson, that maybe turns with Naruto's bow would be more beneficial. Naruto had told him in response that no one but he was to touch the bow, because of the enchantment upon it. Annabeth knew it existed; she once touched it while Naruto slept and became ill for a day. From then on, Naruto kept a close eye on his bow, going as far as to sling it over his shoulder every time he went to sleep.

"It may not be your only weapon forever," Naruto replied with a sigh as he ducked under another throw from their resident lightning user, "Thalia-chan, how many times to I have to tell you to grip it firmly but lightly?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Thalia retorted with a frown.

Naruto looked at his fellow blonde with a grin, "What's the count, Annie?"

"Thirty-seven," Annabeth said with a smile to her pseudo-brother.

Thalia rolled her eyes at the two. Annabeth nearly always sided with Naruto in their arguments, unless it was silly or stupid. She also noticed that Annabeth seemed to smile every time that Naruto successfully annoyed her.

"Guess it'll take more than thirty-seven, Tha-lia-chan," Naruto said with a smirk to the younger girl, who quickly averted her gaze. Annabeth frowned slightly, her finger slipping and accidently cutting herself on the blade.

"Ow!" She called out, dropping the kunai that was in her hand to the ground.

"Careful," Naruto warned as he returned his attention to the younger blonde. He knelt down and picked the small onyx colored blade up, putting the knife away. Checking her finger wound, the older blond smiled softly at Annabeth, "It's just a small cut. Should be all better if you just wrap it up."

"What about an anesthetic?" Luke asked, "It could get infected."

Naruto shook his head in disagreement, "Not if we wash it off first. C'mon, Annie there's a stream over here we can clean it at."

Naruto led Annabeth to the stream and gently guided her finger to the water. She hissed in pain as the water coursed over it, and did so once again when Naruto blew lightly on the cut to dry the damp finger. From his shirt, Naruto tore a piece of cloth and wrapped it tightly around the injury. Thalia and Luke, who followed the other two demigods, were silent in awe at the care Naruto showed to the younger blonde girl's finger.

Tying off the cloth, Naruto grinned at Annabeth and pat her on the head, "See? Easy fix."

Annabeth smiled at him thankfully, throwing her arms around his neck and surprising him with a tight hug. Naruto hugged the girl back, his smile still in place.

"Aw, look at you," Luke teased, "Just a lovable old teddy bear."

Pushing the younger daughter of Athena back out of the hug, Naruto spoke softly, "Annie, I need to go kill Luke, you stay here for a second."

Annabeth giggled as Naruto stood and then ran at the other boy, who yelped impressively before he turned tail and ran, leaving her alone with the equally amused Thalia. Annabeth's giggles died down and Thalia shook her head, looking to the younger girl with a smile, "Boys, am I right?"

Annabeth looked at Thalia with a small frown, making the older girl furrow her brow, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Then it gets a little fuzzy," Annabeth said apologetically to the group, making them sigh in disappointment. The daughter of Athena smiled reassuringly, "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure I was just a little nervous at being alone with Thalia."

What the others didn't know was that this was a lie that Annabeth had made up when she realized what she was feeling years after it happened. Annabeth thought back with small pink-tinted cheeks at her possessiveness of Naruto.

Annabeth had a glare locked on the older girl, one of accusation as she related the interactions between Naruto and Thalia to the brief interactions Naruto had with a minor goddess Eirene back in San Francisco. The goddess of peace had offered to help Annabeth get to a safe place as long as Naruto stayed with her in San Francisco, insisting that he had had enough fighting in his life already. Naruto declined kindly, but after that meeting Annabeth was wary of other older fluzzies -she didn't know how to properly say or think floozy at the time- around her brother.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to!" Annabeth announced accusingly, "You're trying to take Naruto away!"

"W-what?" Thalia asked in surprise, her cheeks flushing, "No I'm not!"

"Yeah you are!" The young blonde girl exclaimed with a scowl on her face, "He's my brother and you can't have him!"

"I don't want him!" Thalia groaned as her cheeks darkened.

"You do so!" Annabeth retorted as her eyes narrowed, "You're just lying so that when you take him away it'll look like he wanted to go!"

"Where are you getting this information?" Thalia asked, "Because it's wrong!"

"I'm not wrong, you're just trying to throw me off guard!" Annabeth announced with a pout, "You're trying to take him away from me, well Naruto belongs to me, he's my big brother and not anyone else's, got that?"

"Wow, really making some assumptions aren't you?" Thalia asked. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Thalia tiredly tried to explain, "Listen Annabeth, I don't want Naruto to be my big brother and I don't want to take him away from you."

"You're lying!" insisted the daughter of Athena.

"No I'm not!" Thalia shouted out; a bolt of lightning landing behind her as her emotions got the best of her. Annabeth jumped slightly, but stood her ground. The two glared at each other before Thalia sighed and said, "Look, Annabeth, you're a sweet girl. You obviously care about Naruto a lot and he cares about you. If it makes you feel better, I'll stop talking to him."

"Good!" Annabeth said with a firm nod.

"But that doesn't mean I'll ignore him if he talks to me first," Thalia added.

Annabeth pouted but crossed her arms, "Fine."

"Can't say I blame you," Percy interjected, snapping Annabeth from the rest of the memory as he took another sip of his Mountain Dew. Setting the now empty can down, the son of Poseidon looked at Eurytion and asked, "Do you have an idea of how to find Hephaestus?"

"You're asking the right guy," the son of Ares replied. Grinning at the two, he continued, "Well, can't say I do want to give this gift up, but I figure you guys can use it more than me. Not to mention that I owe the both of you for taking care of the carnivorous steeds' crap and killing Geryon."

Eurytion left the group of five and went to the shed, quickly returning with something in his hand that made Annabeth cry out in surprise, "SPIDER!"

"Easy, easy!" the son of Ares said as he set the small machine down on the table. The still unnerved daughter of Athena looked at the machine warily while Eurytion said, "This little thing should lead you right to my uncle. He gave it to me after I helped him prank my father."

"That sounds like an interesting story," Percy said, only to get nudged by Annabeth.

The daughter of Athena looked for a brief second at the spider before looking at the herdsman with an apologetic smile, "Thank you, Eurytion, but we really need to get going."

She then looked at the spider again, her heart racing as she did. Just because it was not real did not mean it wasn't as terrifying.

"I'll take it," Nico said as he rolled his eyes at Annabeth's reaction to the small guide. The son of Hades took the metallic spider and the five departed from Triple G Ranch the way that they came, leaving behind an amused Eurytion who then turned and went back to taking care of his uncle's cattle. Properly, that is.

AN: And so Annabeth has killed Geryon! Will we see more of Thalia and Annabeth's interestingly rough beginning? Did Naruto ever catch on to the game that was being played? Did Luke? What hijinks will Naruto's group have to deal with in the next chapter? Can I keep these longer chapters going?

In order to find out you have only one thing to do,

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