Disclaimer: I don't own Rick's stuff or Masashi's stuff.

Fils de l'Amour: Mark of Athena

2: The Talking Statue

"This is more like it!" Naruto grinned as he reclined on his roll-out bed and took in the color of his room. They had taken off a few hours ago and, once he was content that they were on route, Naruto decided to check out his digs. He found his room set up next to Leo's and far from his aunt and sister. As he had requested, the walls were orange, the same shade as his jacket, and his mother could do nothing to change it. There was only a rollout mattress and a desk for him to write at. Aside from the perch for Miu placed near a widow he could open, his room was rather plain. Well, except for the pinup that hung on the wall. Naruto tilted his head in thought as he stared at the bodacious woman captured before him as she ran across the beach in a red swimsuit.

"Who the hell is Pamela Anderson?" he asked Miu, only for the eagle to tilt her head in response. With a shrug he got up from his spot and went to the poster. "Sorry Ms. Anderson, but I'm not into blondes."

The poster came down and was crumpled up into a tight ball. The ball was tossed into the wastebasket from where he stood and Naruto pumped his fist. "Yes!"

His fun was interrupted by a knock that came from the door. Naruto answered the knock and poked his head out. As he looked around, an insistent thud made him look down. Naruto felt his eyebrow shoot up as he looked down at the three-legged table that stood before him.

"Uh, what's up Buford?" Naruto asked. His experience with the table that Leo had rescued was limited, all of his clones a bit unnerved by the sentient furniture that assisted the head engineer. Naruto wasn't going to lie, that thing was downright weird.

And this came from a ninja that had a demon sealed in his gut and fought a deity along with legions of undead shinobi made by plant-men her son had created.

The table shuffled on two of its legs and let some steam out. Finally it pointed towards the deck and Naruto snapped his fingers in understanding. "Oh! Leo wants me, right?"

Buford stomped its feet and Naruto decided to take it as a yes. "Okay. Tell him I'll be there in a second."

The three-legged assistant galloped back to the front of the ship and Naruto scratched the side of his head in thought. "And I thought some of the summons I've met were weird. Oh well, c'mon Miu. Leo wants us back on the deck."

The eagle looked at him blankly before she shuffled and looked out the window. With a lopsided smile, Naruto shook his head. "Alright, fine. If you want to stay in here, feel free. But I might stop in the kitchen on the way back and grab a snack..."

Miu was quick to return to his shoulder and he laughed. He poked her in the stomach, which made her nip at his finger, before he stroked her beak. "You're a little glutton, aren't you?"

"Says the Insatiable Ramen Inhaler."

"Shut up, Kurama," Naruto said with a pout. The blond son of Aphrodite slipped his hands into his jacket's pockets and sulked to the deck where his friend awaited him. With a sigh he looked up just in time to catch Piper come out of her own room. A smile replaced his frown. "Hey Imouto."

Piper turned and smiled at her brother. "Hey Naruto, how's it going?"

"Meh, it could be better. I could have a never ending supply of ramen and my bunk at camp could be surrounded by orange," Naruto said. He glowered at her snicker. "Oh yeah, yuk it up. Anti-ramen evil imouto..."

"You deserved it," Piper said as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I only pray that Camp Jupiter doesn't have a supply otherwise you may never leave."

"That is a legitimate concern."

Shut it. Naruto ignored the Biju's snicker and pouted at his sister. "What? Are you afraid that I would leave the camp for a bunch of ramen? That's hurtful, Imouto."

"It's a legitimate concern, you worship those noodles like they themselves are gods," Piper said with a snort.

Naruto frowned. "It's the food of the gods!"

"Uh, Naruto, what god or goddess eats noodles?" Piper asked.

"Inari Ōkami," he said with a smirk. Piper frowned at him.

"That's not-"

"Our mother is Aphrodite, if she exists, then who knows what else exists."

Piper narrowed her eyes. "Touché."

Naruto grinned. "Point for me."

"...Be careful who you say that to," Piper said with a frown. She didn't want her brother to get smote because he had to be right about his precious noodles.

"Ah, I'm sure Demeter would back me up," Naruto said with a shrug. "At least, I think she would. Kendra did."

Piper's eye twitched. "Kendra only did that so she could get in your pants."

"...Well, it worked."

Piper closed her eyes and let out a breath as she thought about the few girls that Naruto had dated between the time of his return and their departure. Kendra was one of the 'nicer' ones, who didn't go around and gloat like she had captured the flag from Athena's cabin. Piper wouldn't have minded her if she hadn't started to brag about the sex after they had broken up.

Admittedly, it was better than the daughter of Apollo that Naruto had dated for a few weeks just before the Pokémon tournament. Piper ground her teeth together and felt her eye twitch at even the thought of Isse. That girl had made it obvious that she wanted Naruto for the sex alone, but once she got what she wanted, she couldn't get enough. It was a wonderful day in camp when Naruto returned to the cabin, a bit irritated and down, after he had dumped her. Of course, Piper didn't stop giving her smug looks for the day, but that was icing on the cake.

And if that wasn't enough, the other girls in camp continued to dry hump him with their eyes even when he was in a relationship. It drove Piper into a rage, and she nearly bit off Drew's head when the girl tried to make light of Naruto being turned into a sex god. She may have overreacted to that, but still, Naruto was like a puppy. He was so eager to please and innocent, that it seemed wrong for him to be in a relationship with some of the girls at camp. He needed the right girl to look after him. Piper would usually vent and give her opinions to Annabeth, and it was nice to know that she agreed. It was just hard to find the right girl.

"Piper? Hello?" Piper blinked as Naruto waved his hand in her face. "You there?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," Piper said with a sheepish smile.

Naruto blinked. "About what?"

"Um..." Piper hesitated for a second. "What we'll encounter at Camp Jupiter?"

"Oh! Yeah, I can't wait. I wonder what they act like," Naruto said with a grin. "I bet their capture the flag is really fun."

"That's if they play capture the flag," Piper said. She rubbed her arm. "I trust Jason, but still...Annabeth had been in camp for most of her life and she'd never heard of Camp Jupiter until he brought it up."

"You're worried about what could happen?" Naruto asked as his head tilted slightly. Piper nodded and stumbled forward when Naruto clapped a hand on her back. She glowered at him for his stupid ninja strength – seriously, she might've bruised from that – but he just laughed merrily, unaware of his accidental overpowered pat. Naruto gave her a reassuring grin and pointed his thumb at himself. "Don't worry about it, Imouto. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it. Besides, I'm sure things will be fine. We're just going to talk...Well, Anna-baba is anyway."

Piper let out another snort at the nickname he had given Annabeth. "I'm sure she will. And give Percy hell for his disappearing act."

Naruto laughed again. "Yeah, that'll be fun. Well, I should get back to the deck. Leo sent his table for me a while ago. Later, Imouto."

"Later Naruto," Piper said as he walked away. She reached behind her and rubbed her back. "Ow...Seriously, he needs to watch his strength."

Naruto walked onto the deck and joined Leo where he steered in the protected room. The different machines used to create the 'control center' were a bit too much for Naruto to wrap his head around, so he just ignored most of them and focused on the engineer. Leo stood in a solitary place and steered with two white controls from something called a 'Wii'. The son of Hephaestus' eyes moved from one screen to the next and occasionally looked out the windows. Next to him, Buford steamed and had began to make some sort of hot drink for Leo.

"Uh, you called?" Naruto asked while Miu flew over to Buford and investigated the concoction that was being created. The table used a thin arm to lightly flick the eagle on the beak, which got a squawk from the eagle. She then pecked the wood table in retaliation.

"Yes. First, tell your bird to get off Buford," he said. Naruto rolled his eyes and called Miu back to his side. The eagle glared at the table, which waved another thin arm in anger and steamed heatedly. Leo chuckled and hooked the remotes onto the controls. "Second, I wanted to ask you for some advice."

"...Me?" Naruto asked with a frown. "Advice about what?"

Leo rubbed his neck. "Look, I don't want this to get to Jason, so promise to keep quiet?"

"Sure," Naruto said with a shrug. He could keep secrets when it called for it.

"Okay, so, you know how the Romans and Greeks weren't buddy-buddy back in the day, right?" Leo asked.

Naruto snorted. "That's an understatement. I'm pretty sure if she could, my grandmother would have bounties on the Romans' heads."

"Yeah, exactly. So...what should I prepare in case the worst was to happen?" Leo asked.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Like, should I prep some heavy artillery or some air to ground missiles? I could whip some up in a second with all the spare stuff I have in my room," Leo said.

"Wait, why are you asking me about this?" Naruto asked. "Anna-baba would be a better person to talk to, right?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and listen to her prattle on about getting Percy first? No thanks."

Naruto conceded to that. "Okay, but why not Jason?"

"Jason would either brush off my concerns or freak out, and I don't want either of those," Leo said. "I'm a realist, I wanna be ready for anything."

"So you decided to ask me?" Naruto frowned.

"You've been in legit war, dude," Leo said softly. "Not against monsters or titans, but other humans. Ninjas even...I don't know about you, but monsters aren't as scary as humans who can control elements at their whim...that aren't demigods."

"True," Naruto said with a hum. He had demonstrated to Chiron and few others his wind techniques on a Hellhound when they asked why he had gotten to go. Needless to say, when they saw the effects of the Rasenshuriken first-hand, they had to agree that Naruto would be a reliable asset on the mission. Naruto scratched his cheek. "Well, the last thing we want to do is start an actual war, so non-lethal weapons would be the best. Some kind of smoke missile or something."

"Yeah, but, let's just say they manage to kill one of you guys," Leo said. Naruto gave him a look and he shrugged. "It could happen."

"Well...I guess you could go for shock and awe," Naruto said. He scratched his chin. "A big explosion or something in a non-populated area."

"Scare tactics?"

"Exactly. We show them we can make shit go boom and they don't mess with us...hopefully," Naruto said. He hummed and cupped his chin. "I mean, absolute worse case scenario I go all out...but I really don't want to destroy a whole camp...I'd be a hypocrite if I did."

"I'm sure your grandmother would love it," Kurama said.

No duh, but I'm not going to give her the satisfaction, Naruto thought in return.

Leo nodded in agreement. "You've got a heck of an evil mind, ninja boy. Must come from Athena."

"Hey..." Naruto frowned.

"Just saying," Leo said. He turned back to the controls and returned to steer. "Alright, I'm going to think this over. Thanks for your help."

"Am I dismissed, Captain?" Naruto asked, amused.

"Begone, peon," Leo said with a wave of his hand. Naruto gave him a mock salute and walked out back to his room.

Miu flapped her wings a bit and Naruto stretched his arms in front of him. "I hear you, it's a bit cramped on this boat."

The blond looked up at the tallest mast and then looked at Miu with a grin. "Bet I could make it to the top before you."

Miu's eye narrowed and she took off from his shoulder, which made Naruto squawk indignantly before he raced vertically off after her. "Hey, I didn't say go yet!"

"Cheater," Naruto said with a pout to his smug avian friend. Miu had beaten him to the top three times, which shouldn't have been possible considering the strong winds behind them. It wasn't until Leo chased them off the deck did Naruto give up at his attempts to beat her.

Miu crooned at him and Naruto crossed his arms. "My ass you're faster than me! I beat the Raikage in a race and he's literally the fastest human alive thanks to his lightning armor!"

Miu cawed at him and Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. "I am not a sore loser!"

The eagle just stared at him until Naruto turned away from her with a pout. "Shut up, Miu."

"Naruto, we've talked about arguing with yourself." Naruto frowned at the blond girl that leaned against his door with her arms crossed. Annabeth had an amused smile on her face and was dressed in jeans, the camp shirt and a jacket made from the same material of her jeans.

"She started it," he said with a finger pointed at the eagle. Miu nipped at his appendage and Naruto frowned at her. "You did! Gluttonous gloater. I should've beaten you easily."

"As funny as it is to see you argue with your eagle, can we talk?" Annabeth asked. Miu looked affronted at being labeled a pet and Naruto blinked.

"Well, aren't I the popular one today?" he said with a hint of amusement. He nodded and opened his door. Annabeth followed him in and left the door open behind her. Naruto flopped down on his rollout while Miu moved to her perch and began to clean her wings. "So what's the main problem on your mind, Anna-baba?"

Annabeth's eye twitched. "Now it's that stupid nickname..."

"You said I could call you it!"

"In private!"

"...And?"

Annabeth rubbed her face in mild irritation. "Whatever, Naruto. I didn't come to you to argue about what you call me."

Naruto two, girls zero, Naruto thought with a grin as he lounged. "Okay, then why did you want to talk to me?"

"Because you're relatively the only person here I really trust," Annabeth said. Naruto frowned and she flushed. "I know, but, Piper and Leo are too close to Jason and Jason's...too perfect."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah right. Flyboy can't block a roundhouse to save his life. My friend Lee would knock his head clean off...then again, Lee can cut through pretty much any metal known to man with his kick..."

"Anyway," Annabeth said, a frown directed at her nephew for his interruption. "I'm...nervous."

"About things going wrong?" Naruto asked.

"About things going right," Annabeth said. "When-If we land, we'll have to meet the leaders of their camp and Romans have councils."

"Hope they're not like mine," Naruto said.

"You and me both, brother. Corruption and best interests aside, old farts are just plain annoying," Kurama said.

Amen to that. Naruto looked at Annabeth as she prattled on about her concerns over the meeting with the leaders. He half-listened as she occasionally repeatedly doubted her own capabilities to lead the conversation about the threat of Gaia. As the fifth what-if came out of her mouth, Naruto sighed loudly to interject.

"Annabeth," he said, her full name used to show how serious he was. "You're the smartest person at Camp. It's not about winning them over, that's just a boon, what we need to do is get them to realize that Tsuchi-chan is a threat."

"...Did you just refer to Gaia with an affectionate suffix?" Annabeth asked with a frown.

"...No...? Did I?" Naruto asked in return.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes and frowned at him. For a few tense seconds, it was quiet until she broke the silence with a question. "Naruto, what do you make of Gaia?"

Naruto sat up and thought about it for a minute. "Well, Pa said that Nature Chakra comes from the earth, which I now know as Gaia, and whenever I use it I don't feel a lot but strength and warmth. But I also sense a hint of loneliness...So, maybe she's lonely?"

"That makes no sense. She's the earth itself," Annabeth said pointedly. "She can't be lonely."

Naruto frowned at her. "Of course she can. She's been asleep for what? Thousands of years, right? And when she wakes up, her children are gone or sealed away? Sounds pretty lonely to me."

His hand went to his stomach absentmindedly and Kurama snorted in the back of his mind. Naruto gave a light smirk at his friend's attempt to act tough.

Annabeth hummed as she took this all in. "Still, I want you to be there with me when we land. Your charmspeak should help greatly."

"I don't have it," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. Honestly, when would the campers get it through their heads? He just had, as Leo put it, mad speaking skills. Though he did wonder why it felt like Leo made fun of him.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Sure you don't..."

"Fine, I'll be there. Won't be a lot of help though," Naruto said as he flopped back onto his bed, his arms acted as a cushion for his head. "Anything else you need to talk about? A certain son of Poseidon, for instance?"

"Shut up, Naruto," Annabeth said with a light flush.

Naruto sat up and interlaced his hands together over his chest while he made kissy faces. "I'm sure he misses you, Annabeth~!"

"Die!" He was hit with a pillow and then tackled to the bed, the pillow being thrust into his face while Annabeth told him to die over and over again out of embarrassment. He might've, he was laughing hard enough to. And the suffocation did little to stop it. Of course, their actions attracted the attention of a certain satyr.

"Aha! I knew it! Out! Get out and go back to your own room!" Hedge said to a blood red Annabeth.

"Assaulted by my own aunt!" Naruto wailed while he hid his face. Annabeth caught sight of a hidden smile and glared at the blond. "Fuzzypants, how could this happen!?"

"I-! That's!" Annabeth failed to give a proper response.

"That's a good question," Hedge said with a growl. He pointed at Annabeth while she fumbled over her words. "You, get back to your room. And blondie, you stay here until I get back."

"Y-Yes sir," Naruto said with a large sniff.

"Oh you are so dead, Uzumaki!"

"I thought you loved me!"

"OUT!"

The next few days weren't as eventful as the first. Annabeth had finally cleared her name in Hedge's eyes when Naruto admitted that they weren't doing anything of the sort. Hedge seemed to accept it when Naruto laid out all the facts (One: she's his aunt. Two: the door was open. Three: she's his aunt. four: Why would she threaten to kill him if they were doing that? And finally: She's his aunt.) and let Annabeth have free roam once again. Naruto, however, regretted it as Annabeth tried to make true on her promise and chased him repeatedly to his room, only to be stopped by the door slammed in her face each time. Around the third day, it stopped and they reconciled.

That and Leo threatened to kick them both off if they messed up his ship anymore than they already had. Which, in Naruto's opinion, was because Annabeth got a bit too close to the walls while she was stab happy.

Currently, Naruto was at his desk working on a few papers he had to fill out before he could get promoted to Jonin. He sighed and rested his cheek in his hand as he flipped to the third page. "Ugh, the paperwork gets more detailed as you get older...maybe I should've just stayed a genin and then become Hokage..."

He looked up at the sound of a tone and listened to Leo's announcement.

"According to the map, we're an hour and thirty minutes away," Leo said. "So all aboard going ashore should prep for landing...or battle."

"Leo!" Naruto heard Jason shout.

"Just being a realist, Jason, geez...Captain out."

"I was just kidding when I said he was going to be captain," Naruto said under his breath. It took another thirty minutes, but Naruto finished the grueling paperwork. He put his pen away and put the papers in a vanilla folder before he sealed them into a scroll to be checked over later. With a glance to the still sleeping Miu, Naruto crept out of his room and made his way to the control room with his staff in hand.

By the time he got up there, Naruto was welcomed to the sight of Jason fumbling with a purple cloth over his clothes, Annabeth triple-checking her plans and notes and Leo doing some weird exercise with the controls. Piper went over to help Jason with his...cape (?), so Naruto decided to meditate by the door. As soon as he reached out with his chakra, he wished he hadn't. As though Ma's staff smacked him across the face, Naruto fell back out of the chair he had sat down on and groaned. Annabeth, disturbed from her thoughts at his fall, got him back to his feet.

"Ow..." Naruto rubbed his head. "Someone out there doesn't want to be hit by chakra..."

"No attack shall breach my barriers!" The five teens looked to the source of the new voice and found a statue that was not present before. It was that of a man, but armless and nude from the waist up. From the waist down, he was no better than a giant brick.

"...So...Who brought the automaton onboard?" Leo asked. The statue scoffed at the title.

"I am no machine!" He said with a sneer. His head tilted when Naruto poked at him with his staff.

"Not metal," Naruto said with a nod of confirmation. "This dude's as hard as a rock and feels like one too."

The statue glared heavily at him. "I know not what you are, demigod, but you will do best to get that weapon off of my face before I destroy it along with you."

"...No need to be so mean about it," Naruto said, his staff returned to his side. He lifted his other hand in greeting. "Name's Naruto Uzumaki, sup stone guy?"

The 'stone guy' glared daggers at the blond. "My name, graceus, is Terminus and you would do well to remember it. I am the god of boundaries that protects Camp Jupiter."

"...Why don't you have arms?" Naruto asked. All eyes went to him and he shrugged. "What, it's a legit question!"

"This form before you is merely a representation of my true self. I have always been carved without arms as they limit the effectiveness of my vocal commands," Terminus said with a sneer. "Name your parentage, Naruto Uzumaki, before I smite you where you stand."

"...You've got to have a scratch somewhere, that's the only reason you're so pissed," Naruto said under his breath before he cleared his throat. "I'm the son of Aphrodite and the legacy of Athena."

Terminus sneered at him. "Oh Jupiter, you're a legacy of that goddess? Disgusting, I thought the Greeks had better taste than that."

Naruto's eye twitched at the slight to his father. "You wanna go, Stone Man?"

"Naruto!" Annabeth hissed.

"He started it!" The blond glared at the boundary god, who glared right back. "I could take you any day of the week, Stone Man."

"I would welcome the sacrifice, graceus." Terminus huffed.

"Wait, we're getting off on the wrong foot here," Jason said as he stepped forward. "Terminus, do you remem-?"

"Jason Grace? What are you doing in their company?" Terminus asked with a sneer. "You disgrace us, Jason. Perhaps I should bring the ship down with you in it. It would save the camp from the shame of being associated with the Greeks anymore than we already are."

"Hey, watch it buddy or I'll dismantle you," Leo said with a screwdriver in hand. It was sent from his hand to the wall behind him and Leo gaped. "What the-?!"

"Near me with that weapon, graceus, and you will lose more than it next time," Terminus said. "You will listen to me now. This ship is in a no-fly zone and you will turn around."

"But Terminus-!"

"You are free to return with me, Jason," Terminus said, slightly kinder than how he had addressed the others. "But the rest of you will turn around. There has not been a single Greek weapon in camp without my say so and thus far, I have been given hardly a reason to allow one as large as this."

"Please," Piper said. Naruto realized she must have started to turn the charm on. "Sir, we just want to land and talk to the leaders of the camp."

"Enough of your tricks, Venus spawn," Terminus said with a scowl. "They will not work on me."

Piper frowned and Annabeth took her turn to step up. "What if we don't land?"

"And who are you?" Terminus asked.

"Annabeth Chase," she said. "My mother is Athena."

Terminus snorted. "So even to this day Minerva is disgraceful to her oath as a Greek?"

"No! It's-it's different," Annabeth said with a small frown. "Wait, does Minerva not have any children?"

"Of course not," Terminus said. "She is a virgin goddess. And if she did have a child, they would be artists, useless to our legion."

"Hey, watch it, stone dude or you'll find yourself reconnecting with the ground!" Naruto snarled. Diss his family once, you get a freebie. Diss 'em twice, you get a warning. Last diss would earn the 'god' a butt whooping only Naruto Uzumaki could provide, god or not.

"Naruto, shut up," Annabeth said. She looked back at Terminus with a pleading frown. "What if we left our ship in the air?"

"...Along with your weapons?" Terminus frowned.

Annabeth's frown deepened. "We can't be defenseless-!"

"Then you will turn around and leave!" Terminus scowled at the girl. "You dare intrude us on our festival, armed to the teeth in a warship and expect us to allow you hospitality? You are more foolhardy than I thought."

"Fine, the weapons will stay," Annabeth said with a scowl. Terminus smirked at her.

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said. "I will alert our Praetors...Be aware, Jason Grace, your position has been filled and your new allegiance will be noted."

Jason frowned as the god vanished just as quickly as he came.

"We're not landing, I'm not going," Leo said after a beat. He crossed his arms. "Hedge and I will keep an eye out up here."

"Yeah, an eye," Hedge said as he walked in the room with a bitter scowl on his face. Naruto smirked as he remembered the deal Annabeth made with him about letting him get a good fight back at camp if he stayed on the ship. "Sorry, I couldn't get in because of an invisible force field or some bull hockey."

"All right, you two will be our support. Keep the engines running, but don't do anything unless we say so," Annabeth said with a gesture to herself and Piper.

"You got it," Leo said. He looked at Naruto. "You staying?"

"I'll leave a few clones," Naruto said as he leaned his staff against the wall. He created a dozen to watch the ship and followed Annabeth, Jason and Piper to the ladder that was lowered to the ground on the edge of the camp. Naruto looked down past the others and groaned. This is going to be a long climb.

"Yeah, and I get the feeling these Romans will be just as welcoming as Terminus was," Kurama said. "Keep your guard up, Naruto. Who knows what we will encounter down there."

Right, Kurama, Naruto thought as he resumed the climb down. It took a total of thirteen minutes, but eventually, Naruto's feet touched the ground once more.

The camp was more like a city than a camp, but then again, Jason had said there was also a city or something, New Rome. Neat name. A sea of people awaited them at the bottom and parted as Annabeth led them through. They stopped a good distance away from the other Praetor, Reyna. Naruto took her appearance in; dark eyes hard and wary, skin that looked like a healthy deep tan, and hair akin to the night sky outside of Konoha, dark and glossy with starlight. She was gorgeous, like most demigoddesses were.

Then came the teen that walked up to stand beside her. He was lean and muscled. His hair was dark as well, though not the same intensity. It was swept to one side like he had just walked on the beach and his sea green eyes were locked with Annabeth's grey eyes. A smile that Naruto knew he had seen in the mirror several times before crossed his face and Naruto immediately knew who stood across from them.

Percy Jackson.

AN: There's chapter two, you know what to do!

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