Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Naruto.
Co-Written by Engineer4Ever
Fils de l'Amour: Mark of Athena
3: Percy Jackson
Naruto examined the Hero of Olympus with intrigue. The son of Poseidon was lean like a swimmer, but for all of his worth, Naruto wondered just how strong he really was. Jason proved himself and Naruto knew he'd have to put Percy through the same trial someday. He grinned as he thought about the possible fight, to give Percy a handicap on water or not would be interesting. Would it be like fighting Zabuza again? Could Percy form a dragon from the water? Could he manipulate the mist like a dense fog to sneak up on his opponents?
"Don't get your hopes up," Kurama said and Naruto felt his smile dim.
Yeah...I don't think anyone will be able to fight me like Sasuke, Naruto thought.
"Jason Grace, my former colleague," Reyna said, her voice broke Naruto from his internal dismay. It was firm, but warm, save for the way she said the word colleague like it was a disease. He watched her look over their group with a small frown on her face. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends-"
Annabeth and Percy suddenly shot forward. Naruto's eyebrows shot up as the couple embraced in a kiss. Huh...didn't see that coming.
"I think you found some rivals for your title as Most Unpredictable."
Naruto mentally scoffed at Kurama's amused comment. Yeah right. Let's see them use the Reverse Oroike no Jutsu on Kaguya!
"...Ugh, you're the dumbest being alive, I swear."
Your words hurt me...ow, but not as much as that probably hurt him. Naruto thought with a wince as Annabeth suddenly hip tossed Percy Jackson to the ground. Geez, and I thought Sakura's punches hurt...I'm glad she doesn't throw me!
"If you ever leave me again!" Annabeth said from her position above Percy. "I swear to all gods-!"
Percy cut her off with a laugh and Naruto grinned. Oh yeah, he liked Percy. The guy was okay in his books. "Consider me warned. I missed you too."
Annabeth seemed to accept that and helped him back to his feet. Jason cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Well, uh, it's great to be back."
"Understatement," Naruto said with a grin. This was gold.
Jason introduced Reyna to Piper. The two held a glance for a moment before they greeted each other with nods. Jason then turned to Naruto, who grinned at the Praetor. "And this is her brother, Naruto Uzumaki."
"How's it going?" Naruto asked as he reappeared in front of her with his hand extended. The Romans around them were in shock at the speed he displayed and Naruto heard skin slap skin, undoubtedly either Piper or Annabeth clapped a hand over their face in embarrassment.
Reyna studied him for a moment before she took his offered hand and shook it. "It...is well."
"Glad to hear it. So, where's the food?" Naruto asked as he retook his hand. Something pinched his ear and pulled him back. "Ow! Ow! Annabeth! Ow!"
"You're making a scene, just be patient!" Annabeth hissed. Naruto pouted at her and crossed his arms.
"Oh yeah, I'm the one making the scene, Miss Judo-Flip-My-Boyfriend," Naruto said. Annabeth glared at him with red cheeks and Percy watched them with a bit of amusement.
"I like him," Percy said with a chuckle. Naruto grinned back at him.
"...Oh gods, I was right. There are two of them," Annabeth said under her breath.
"And this is Annabeth," Jason said with a sigh. So much for a smooth, professional meeting. "Normally, she doesn't attack people or chastise them like they're children, but for Naruto we make an exception."
"I take offense to that!"
"You should," Jason said dryly. Naruto stuck his tongue out at his fellow blond.
Reyna ignored them and looked at Annabeth with amused eyes. "Are you sure you are not Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?"
"A what?" Naruto asked.
"I'll explain later," Annabeth said to him. "No, and I only attack either my boyfriend or Naruto like that."
"She's so cruel. Aren't you lucky?" Naruto asked with a teasing grin to the son of Poseidon.
Percy just grinned back at him. "Jealous?"
"No, not really. Annabeth's like an aunt to me," Naruto said with a snicker.
Percy blinked and Annabeth clarified. "He's my nephew. His father was my brother."
"Oh. Okay," the son of Poseidon said with a nod.
"Interesting," Reyna said. "I wasn't aware that Camp Half-Blood also allowed legacies."
"They're rare, but welcome," Annabeth said. Naruto felt a wave of apprehension come from Annabeth and gave her a concerned look.
"She's just uneasy about being in 'enemy' territory. Something you amazingly lack," Kurama said.
"I see. Well, we were just about to feast and you've come all this way. Centurions!" Reyna turned to several teens that walked forward. A couple got Naruto's attention.
One was a boy that reminded him of Choji, a bit on the hefty side but had a good nature to him, and the other was a girl that was a few years younger than them, her eyes an impressive shade of gold. She reminded him of Karui, the liaison of Kumogakure no Sato and the girl he had willing allowed to beat the snot out of him, only without the red hair. Naruto scratched his head, wondering why something about the similarities was so funny.
Kurama, however, had begun to burst into laughter. Naruto asked what was so funny, but the fox refused to elaborate. The two flanked Percy like they were his personal guard or close friends.
One Centurion suddenly spoke out with a sneer on his face. "They are enemies, you wish to welcome them into our camp!?"
"They are our guests," Reyna said, emphasizing each word as she said it with a pause. "Now go and burn an offering to welcome them."
Percy grinned. "Yeah Octavian, go burn your teddy bears."
"...That's a horrible job," Naruto said with a snicker. He and Percy shared another grin while Octavian sneered at them and stormed off. Annabeth sighed and slapped the two chuckleheads on the back of their heads with a frown on her face.
"Ow! What was that for?" Percy asked as both he and Naruto tried to nurse their growing goose eggs.
"I've learned that with him, there's only one way to stop embarrassment before it can happen," Annabeth said with a glare to the innocently whistling Naruto.
"...Yeah, but I have a position of power. Let me flaunt it a little," Percy said with a pout directed at her. Naruto snickered.
"Sounds like you want to show off for your girlfriend," he said. Percy brooded.
"Well, duh."
Annabeth smiled at him and crossed her arms. "Sweet, Percy, but unneeded."
Naruto smirked. "Ah, so he's already charmed you, eh? I see...I'll be sure to tell Leo to activate Hedge's laser door."
"Naruto!" Annabeth turned red and Percy blinked in confusion.
"Hedge? Leo?" Percy asked.
"Leo's the captain of our ship," Naruto said. He nodded in the direction of the Argo II. "Refused to come down after the Stone Guy threatened to blow it up. He's got separation issues. Like with his magic three-legged table."
Percy blinked and turned to Annabeth. "How much did I miss exactly?"
Annabeth shook her head and laced her hand in his. "Just come on Seaweed Brain. We'll talk at the feast."
"Food!?" Naruto perked up. He grinned and ran after Jason and Piper, who were already behind Reyna and walked off. "Wait for me! Finally, what I've been waiting for!"
Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose while Percy chuckled. "He's an all right guy."
"I like him," the boy that stood behind Percy said with a small smile.
Percy grinned. "I know, right?"
"I'm never going to leave you two alone in one spot," Annabeth said with a sigh.
"Oh what's the worst that could happen?" He waved off her concern.
The table was filled to the edge with food that smelled absolutely delicious. However, it wasn't as impressive as an average night at the Akamichi clan house. Now that was a feast. Naruto was sure that the last time he ate there, his stomach had literally exploded. Kurama refused to answer and only said for the blond to eat less next time. However, that wouldn't be an issue if he always asked Piper for help.
Naruto stared at his plate of vegetables and then glared at Piper. "When I said help me pick out the good stuff, I meant more than just the introduction to the feast."
"Vegetables are good for you," Piper said with a frown to her brother.
Naruto cringed. "Ugh, they taste so nasty though..."
"Eat. Now." Piper gave him a stern glare. He needed to eat healthier than just ramen all the time. Plus, she needed some support on the vegetarian side.
"We're not at camp," Naruto said with a smirk. "You can't boss me around here. And, you know that charmtalk doesn't work on me for some reason."
Piper pouted at him. Behind Naruto, several Romans began to dig in to the vegetables without any desire to. Damn his immunity to charmspeak.
Naruto gave his plate to a Roman that had finished his salad and grabbed another plate. He grabbed some random food and continued to pile it up until it was a small mountain on his plate. He grabbed the turkey leg and was about to take a bite, but stopped when Reyna toasted for good health and luck to the two camps.
"Here, here," Naruto said with a grin before he ripped into the leg. Piper glared at him after he swallowed and he frowned. "What?"
Piper sighed and shook her head. "Nothing..."
Naruto looked at her, then the leg in his hand and then back at her. He held the leg out to her and grinned at her when she gained a look of repulsion. "Come on, you know you want a bite...The birds will forgive you, Imouto."
"Get that out of my face," Piper said dangerously.
"Fine, fine...You don't know what you're missing~!" He said with a smirk as he took another bite. That'll teach her to make fun of his glorious ramen.
"Carnivorous monster," Piper said with an accusatory glare.
Naruto just exaggerated his bliss as he chewed the meat. And as if to rub salt in the wound, he suddenly paused and ripped a piece of the meat off. There was a shriek and the piece of meat in his fingers was suddenly gone. Another shriek and the eagle that all those who rode on the Argo II knew had returned to her perch on his shoulder.
"See? Even Miu likes the turkey," he said with a smirk. "And she's a bird." Miu squawked and he chuckled. "Eagle. Sorry."
"Both of you, carnivorous monsters," Piper said in distaste. Naruto just stuck his tongue out at her and fed Miu another piece of turkey.
"Excuse me?" Naruto looked to the Roman that sat next to him, the boy's eyes locked on the golden eagle perched on his shoulder. "Why do you have a, uh, eagle on your shoulder?"
"Well, I'm not about to let her sit on my head with those talons of hers," Naruto said as he gave Miu another piece of turkey. When he didn't get even a smile, he sighed. "I don't know, Miu just likes me for some reason. Right, Miu?"
Miu chirped and nipped at his turkey leg.
"Oi! You'll get what I give you, glutton," Naruto said with a stern frown. Miu squawked and he scoffed. "Oh, trying to play the faster card? I don't think so, Miu."
The Romans were entranced as Naruto and Miu began to bicker, the eagle cawed and shrieked, but Naruto held firm on his stance. Finally, Annabeth got up, went over to the two and with her best Athena glare in place, told them to knock it off. Miu hung her head alongside Naruto and Annabeth returned to the amused Percy's side.
"Wow, look at you," he said. "Is he really that bad?"
Annabeth gave him a mild glare. "I swear, if you two could swap hair, eyes and cheeks, there'd be no way to tell you apart."
"Not true," Naruto said after a moment of silence on his part. He grinned. "I wouldn't kiss you, he would."
Percy grinned back and Annabeth rubbed her temples. "This was a bad idea...Leo should've come instead."
"Oh that's right," Naruto said with a snap of his fingers. He pointed at his plate and looked at Reyna. "Can I get some to go? Leo wanted to try some Roman cooking."
"I don't see why not," Reyna said. She returned to her conversation with Jason and Piper. Naruto noticed that her hands tightened around the utensils in them and he shook his head. He snorted and went back to his meal. A bowl of cheese covered noodles, not bad, but not ramen.
And they say I'm dense.
"You are dense," Kurama said dryly. "It took your first ex-girlfriend a solid kiss on the lips to get your attention. The blonde bimbo from the golden cabin had to practically shout at you. And the flower girl couldn't muster the courage so she spelled it out, literally, on a piece of paper."
Naruto pouted as he focused on his friend. Well, now, that's a different story altogether.
"Sure it is," Kurama said. Naruto could feel his eyes roll from where he sat. "If you weren't your father's child I would wonder where you got it from."
Naruto blinked and then chuckled suddenly to himself. So, I get it from Grandma?
"You might've gotten it from your paternal Grandfather," Kurama said dismissively. "Or perhaps it's a trait that goes back to your past life as Asura."
Hm, there's that, Naruto conceded. He didn't think often of his 'past life', personally not one to believe in reincarnation. The fork that had impaled the 'macaroni and cheese' went into his mouth and he chewed it absentmindedly. Did you ever meet him?
"No. The Rikudo Sennin made us once his sons were trained and grown," Kurama said with a frown. "And that was only a year or so prior to the beginning of Asura and Indra's war. I was but a kit then, so I kept myself hidden."
Naruto blinked. A kit... wait, you were a baby!?
"I was no baby!" Kurama snarled. "I had not accumulated the mass I have today."
Naruto let a smile cover his face as he ate more macaroni and cheese ...I bet you were an adorable kit.
"Naruto, friend or not, I will kill you if you keep this up."
C'mon, give me a mental image. You had to have looked at a lake or something, right? Naruto smirked.
"I'm warning you!"
I could always ask Chōmei...or Shukaku...Heck, I'm sure Matatabi would be more than willing to share some memories with me, Naruto thought.
"I will rip you apart the next time you come in here!"
Just one peek? Naruto silently asked as he took another bite of macaroni and cheese. Kurama growled before an image came to the forefront of Naruto's mind. The whiskered blond nearly spewed out the food in his mouth in shock. The vicious fox he learned to love like a brother was freaking adorable. Dare he say it, but chibi-Kurama was downright Kawaii!
You're so cute! Naruto thought with a laugh as he choked down the food in his mouth.
"I will murder you from the inside out!" Kurama roared.
Can I hug chibi you? Naruto asked. He wasn't even kidding. Kurama might be as tall as a mountain, but his younger self, probably only as big as a two humans stacked on top one another. In essence, a giant fluffy fox.
"Naruto, I swear on the Sage's name that if you so much as DARE ask that question again, I will ensure that your line does not continue!"
"Maa...so mean..." Naruto muttered with a pout while he played with his macaroni and cheese.
"What, Naruto?"
"Nothing Imouto," Naruto said with a sad sigh. A mischievous smile crossed his face. "Ne, Imouto? If you could hug a giant fluffy fox, would you?"
"That does it! Consider your sperm sterile!"
Piper, once she got over the confusion caused by the strange question, tapped her chin in thought. "Well, I guess so."
"It's an orange fox, by the way," Naruto said, as if the color was the most important feature.
"Of course it is," Piper said as she smiled at him. Typical Naruto.
"No biggie!?" Octavian suddenly spluttered. Naruto and Piper looked over at him. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie!?"
"So you're the brother of Thalia Grace, huh? Odd, you look nothing like her," Percy said, as he ignored Octavian.
"I noticed," Jason said. He gave Percy a grin. "Thanks for taking care of my camp, by the way."
"Back at you," Percy said with a grin of his own.
"Oh joy," Piper murmured. "A bromance."
Naruto suddenly understood what Ino meant each time he and Sasuke started a mock spat in front of her when he was home. So that's what he and Sasuke looked like? Weird...but understandable. Percy suddenly yelped and glared at Annabeth, who glared right back.
"Reyna's right," she said. "We should talk about serious things. The Great Prophecy, for instance. It sounds like the Romans know of it too?"
Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Seven."
Frightening name, right?
"I'm still not talking to you."
Oh, come on, it was a joke!
"Humph. Pay attention to the conversation, baka."
Naruto pouted. One joke...okay, one half-joke and Kurama gets all fussy. He looked back at Annabeth just as the centurion that looked like Choji, named Frank, asked, "Is it true you're a child of Min-I mean, Athena?"
"Yes," Annabeth said, a bit defensively. "Why is that such a surprise?"
Octavian scoffed and Naruto felt his eye twitch and the desire to deck him in the schnozz grow as he spoke. "If you're truly a daughter of the wisdom goddess–"
"Enough. Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides..." Reyna gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."
Naruto saw Percy play with his cheeseburger – that oddly had literal blue cheese on it – and he watched Annabeth's face grow red. Naruto's brow furrowed. Did he miss something?
"The Praetor came on to your aunt's boyfriend. He refused her." Kurama snorted.
Naruto suddenly let out a few suspicious coughs and cleared his throat with a glass of water. He really didn't want to laugh, but damn...That's a whole new level of awkward he was glad to not be apart of. He was open to watching it play out, though.
Annabeth gave him a glare and Naruto swallowed. Oops. Now he was in trouble. He whistled innocently and fed Miu a piece of turkey.
"Thank you," Annabeth said to Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death...that means Romans and Greeks. We have to work together and find those doors."
Hazel, the girl that reminded Naruto of Karui but didn't have her red hair, put a red gem in her shirt pocket and spoke softly. "My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors."
"Wait, Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?" Annabeth asked with a confused frown.
Naruto and Miu shared an equally confused glance. "Nico the what now?"
"Quiet," Piper said to him.
"Yes," Hazel said, either not hearing Naruto or ignoring him. She licked her lips nervously. "He disappeared. I'm worried, afraid...I'm not sure, but I think something happened to him."
"Then we'll look for him," Percy said. Naruto nodded in agreement with Percy's promise. Family and friends always come first. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome, er, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"
"Thanatos told you? The death god?" Annabeth asked him.
Naruto frowned. "I thought Hades was the Dead God, er, god of the dead."
"Hades is the god of the underworld," Annabeth corrected. "Thanatos is the god of death itself."
"Oh...Huh, sounds like a lame job either way," Naruto said with a shrug.
"Well," Percy said around a bite of his burger. He swallowed. "With Death free, the monsters will disintegrate and go back to Tartarus again. But, with the Doors open, they'll just keep coming back."
"Like water leaking through a dam," Piper said as she played with the feather in her braid.
Percy smirked. "Yeah, we got a dam hole."
"What?"
"Inside joke, never mind," he said with a sigh. "The point is we gotta find the doors and close them before we go to Greece. It's the only way we'll be sure the giants stay down once we defeat them."
"Wait, does that mean Enceladus will be back?" Naruto asked, now interested in the conversation.
Percy frowned. "I'll sell a who?"
"Anti-Athena," Annabeth said. She nodded in Naruto's direction. "Naruto defeated Enceladus with Athena's spear...lucky..."
"Jealous~!" Naruto sang with a smirk. He sat back and crossed his arms, his smirk gone and a serious look on his face. "But if that asshole is coming back, I want another crack at him. Maybe I'll be allowed to use Aegis next time."
Annabeth scowled at him. "Naruto, enough."
Naruto just smirked and watched Reyna pluck an apple from a plate as it floated past. She studied it as she turned it. "You realize that you are suggesting to go to Greece in your warship? A place more dangerous to demigods than anywhere else in the United States?"
"You said that about Alaska and we turned out alright," Percy said.
"Yes, but these are ancient lands and not to mention the Mare Nostrum," Reyna said as she peeled the apple with her nails. Short, but sharp. Deadly, much like a shinobi, Naruto noted. This Camp Jupiter didn't seem so bad.
However, he was confused by something she said. "The Mary What?"
"Mare Nostrum," Jason said. "Our sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean Sea."
"Oh come on, I'm the son of Poseidon. What sea is going to give any boat I'm on trouble?" Percy asked.
"Percy, the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether," Reyna said with her frown still in place. "Roman demigods have been banned from crossing it for centuries. No hero in his right mind would cross it."
Naruto laughed. "Well it's a good thing we're all a little nuts, huh? Besides, I practically built the Argo II on my own. Granted Annabeth and Leo showed me where to put some pieces, but it's sturdy."
"We have to hurry," Jason added. "I'm not sure about the giants, but Gaea is getting closer to being fully awake with each passing day. She's appearing in dreams, making full appearances and summoning more and more monsters. We have to stop the giants before they fully wake her up."
Naruto grudgingly agreed with Jason. Sure, Gaea might be lonely, but she was still bad news as far as history went. Her childhood sweetheart betrayed her, her grandchildren killed her children and she decided to marry the entity of Tartarus. Naruto had never been to nor met Tartarus, but he was pretty sure that the father of Enceladus was ten times worse than the giant he fought.
"Seven half-bloods must answer the call," Annabeth said. "From both camps we need seven. Jason, Piper, Leo and I are four."
"What of him?" Reyna asked with a finger pointed at Naruto.
Naruto waved her off. "I'm pretty much a liaison from my home."
"Your home?" Reyna asked.
"Isle of the Letoides," he said. The table went quiet and he groaned. "Don't tell me you've never heard of it..."
Octavian bristled. "You dare say you come from the home of Apollo and Diana!?"
"Uh, yeah?" Naruto said as though the other blond were an idiot. The guy rubbed him the wrong way and all sorts of negative emotions came from him. "I dunno how, but it is. Chiron confirmed it and so did my mother."
"Your mother?" Octavian asked with a snarl.
"Aphrodite," Naruto said with a grin. Octavian narrowed his eyes and Naruto could see the insult form in his mind. Before Octavian could speak, Naruto whipped out his Killer Intent and focused it all on Octavian alone. Annabeth would kill him if he used it on the whole area. "Do you have an issue with who my mother is?"
"N-No," Octavian said as he began to sweat. Jason and Piper stared at Naruto worriedly while Percy and Reyna gave Octavian confused looks.
Naruto smiled and the pressure he was applying vanished. "Good. Then let's put it behind us, shall we?"
Octavian merely nodded, but still glared at the blond.
"Okay..." Percy said slowly as he glanced at Naruto with a newfound respect. "Well with me, Hazel and Frank that's three from Camp Jupiter. There's seven...and Naruto."
"And Fuzzybritches," Naruto said with a snicker while Miu squawked. "And Miu."
Octavian seemed to recover from the KI blast. "What?! What about the debate!? The Senate must decide what should be done-!"
"Octavian, don't worry. We will have a meeting within the hour," Reyna said. She turned to the others. "Now, you're sure about this?"
"Yes," Percy said. "It's the only way we can manage to beat the giants."
"...Fine," Reyna said. "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"
"Uh," Jason began. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Would it being alright if I showed Piper around New Rome? She's never been and we'll be back before the senate meeting."
Reyna narrowed her eyes as the wind spirits that had served them began to clear the table. The way she answered nearly froze Naruto solid it was so cold. "Fine."
"Er, thanks," Jason said before he and Piper made a quick getaway. Percy looked ready to talk, but Octavian cut him off.
"I don't like this. That ship is untrustworthy," Octavian said.
"I could take you aboard," Naruto said nonchalantly. The Romans looked at him as he crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
An exact replica appeared and the Romans gawked at it. The clone nodded to Naruto and then smiled mischievously at Octavian. "Would you care to join me and the captain?"
"...Yes," Octavian said. The look in his eye clued Naruto into his suspicion while the other Romans whispered. "But...what sort of magicks...?"
"Jutsu!" the clone and original said together with frowns. "It's a boon from being born on the isle of the Letoides."
That seemed to placate the Romans. Octavian looked more intrigued now than suspicious. "Is it...tell me more and show me this ship of yours."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, if you're good I'm sure Leo will give you a paper hat or something," the clone said as it led Octavian away.
"That was...interesting," Reyna said with veiled uncertainty in her eyes.
Naruto shrugged. "Meh, child's play. The real trick is making the clone listen to me."
"Wet Willy!" The clone's voice called out from a good distance away.
"Confound you, graceus!"
"See?" Naruto said with a smirk.
Percy shook his head and turned to Annabeth. "Okay, you have to catch me up."
Annabeth smiled. "Sure thing, praetor. How did that even happen?"
Percy chuckled and looked to a slightly disgruntled Reyna. "You mind if we...?"
"No," she said, though Naruto could tell she had no truth to her words. She waved him off dismissively. "Go off, but be back in time to meet with the senate."
"You got it," Percy said. The couple left with their hands intertwined. Naruto watched, a happy smile on his face, glad to see Annabeth out of her funk. Percy was an okay guy and he was glad that they reunited. He looked back at the slightly dismayed Reyna and got up from his seat with an exaggerated stretch while Miu took off to scour the camp.
Naruto turned to Reyna and rubbed the back of his neck while his other hand slipped into his jacket's pocket. "So, uh, wanna give me a tour? I mean, if it's not too much trouble..."
Reyna studied him for a moment before she nodded and rose from her seat. She dusted herself off and began to walk away. Naruto quickly caught up to her with both of his hands in his pockets.
"So...what exactly is a praetor?"
AN: Whoo! Update number three, right on time! ...okay, a couple of hours early, but whatever. Not like you guys are going to complain.
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