Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Heroes of Olympus.

Co-Written by Engineer4Ever

Fils de l'Amour: Mark of Athena

4: Praetor, Kages, and Dramatic Escapes

Reyna looked at Naruto for a moment, a bit amused by his question, before she answered. "A praetor is one of two leaders of the legion. Praetors are the highest ranks one can achieve in our forces, and it's a grand honor to become one. Not only are you in command, no one, only your fellow praetor, can overrule you."

"Oh, so it's like a Kage, but co-ruling...That's what I thought," Naruto said with a nod. Two leaders of a large force was clever, but one person had to rise above and make the hard decisions, especially when it came to the possible loss on a mission.

"Kah-gay?" Reyna repeated the term with a frown. "What is that?"

"A Kage, or Shadow in English, is the highest rank of the hidden villages of the Elemental Nations, or as it is known here, the Isle of the Letoides," Naruto said. He tapped his headband. "My village, Konoha, is led by the Hokage, or the Fire Shadow."

"Why is your symbol a leaf then?" Reyna asked.

"Our village is known as Konohagakure no Sato." At her frown he elaborated. "The Village Hidden in the Tree Leaves. Sorry, I'm used to campers filled in on my village."

"I see...but why is your Kage called the fire shadow if you are in the trees?"

"Konohagakure no Sato is hidden in the Land of Fire, hence, Fire Shadow." Naruto grinned.

"And you have only one ruler?" Reyna frowned.

"Of the village. The Daimyo, sort of a royal emperor, is the ruler of the land while the Kage run the ninja villages. We're sort of like mercenaries, but with much better training and loyalty to the Land of Fire first and foremost," Naruto said. "Our current Hokage is The Fifth, Tsunade Senju, granddaughter of the First and founder of Konoha and the grand-niece of the Second Hokage."

"So the role of Kage is hereditary?" Reyna asked.

"Oh, no. Anyone with enough drive, heart and strength can become Hokage. Tsunade only took the job because I convinced her to when I was twelve," Naruto's grin slipped into a wince and he rubbed his forehead. "Though I wish she didn't flick me so hard..."

Reyna smirked. "A little flick?"

"No, her flicks are like a super punch," Naruto said. He grinned and looked ahead of him, lost in memories. "She's the strongest Kunoichi in the world and one of, if not, the best doctors on the planet."

"How strong exactly?" Reyna asked. She had a small worried frown on her face.

"Who's that strong dude with the club? Herc something?"

"Heracles?"

"Yeah! That guy. She's probably as strong as him," Naruto said. He cupped his chin in thought. "Though now with sage mode, maybe I'm stronger then her...I'll arm wrestle her when I get back!"

Reyna arched a brow. "You would challenge your leader to an arm wrestling contest?"

"Old lady's got two major weaknesses!" Naruto held up his fingers as he listed them. "Booze and gambling! And I'm gonna exploit these to prove that I'm more than ready to be Hokage!" He tilted his head and hummed. "Do you hear barking?"

"It's just Aurum and Argentum," Reyna said. A silver and gold dog trotted up to either of her sides and she smiled at them. "They're automatons, but much more lively and my pets."

"They're kinda cute," Naruto said with a chuckle as he let his hand be sniffed by the golden dog. It slipped his hand over its head and Naruto scratched it, his nails unaffected by the metal. "Sort of like Akamaru...only not as fuzzy."

"A dog you know?" Reyna asked while she scratched Argentum before they slipped away to go play with a few children nearby.

Naruto grinned and watched the dogs play. "Yeah, he's a ninken, about the size of a lion by now I'll bet."

"Interesting...tell me more about your homeland, you've peaked my curiosity," Reyna said.

"Well, I can't tell you everything...ninja secrets and all," Naruto chuckled at his own joke. "Wouldn't want to start another war by accident."

"Another war?"

Naruto's smile dimmed once more. "We've had four wars, I was born just a little after the Third Shinobi War and recently emerged victorious in the Fourth. Heck, my team and I beat the crazy rabbit chick that started it all."

Reyna blinked. "I think I need a bit more than just a summary for this."

"Then we're going to need more soda or something because it's a long story," Naruto said. Reyna looked at him and he shrugged. "Goes back hundreds of years and there was a bunch of behind the scenes shadow stuff going on."

Reyna shook her head and then turned in another direction. "This way, we can sit in Bacchus' garden."

Naruto nodded and followed her to the garden. He whistled at the sight of it. "Very nice...Mr. D used to just grow strawberries for us. Pollux helps with that now, nice guy."

"Mr. D?" Reyna asked.

"Er, Dionysus," Naruto said. He shrugged. "Apparently he was grounded by the big guy for something. Dunno, really. Wish I could've met him. I haven't really met a god, except for my grandmother."

Reyna's eyes narrowed. "That's right, you're a...legacy."

"Of Athena's," Naruto said with a grin. He noted her frown and his smile dimmed. "Is...is that a bad thing? I mean, I know that Octopus guy was going to say something and the statue god was a dick about it..."

"Minerva doesn't have any children in camp," Reyna said as she pet Aurum. Naruto blinked owlishly and she continued. "It's never happened, and with good reason. The vow of a maiden is treated very seriously in Roman history. That Athena broke hers...it's outrageous."

"Well, she didn't break the vow," Naruto said. Reyna gave him a look that told him she didn't believe him for a second. "Um, I mean, I guess in a way she did, but at the same time she's still a virgin. You know how she came to be right?"

"Jupiter ripped the unborn Minerva from Metis' womb and swallowed the babe whole, in fear it would be stronger than himself, but Minerva burst from his head fully grown and with his wisdom."

Naruto gaped. "Um...wow...That's, uh...that's very graphic."

"Is it not how Athena was born?" Reyna asked.

"Not exactly, but...damn." Naruto shivered. "Really glad that's not how Athena's story goes. Zeus turned Metis into a fly and swallowed her, much for the same reason as Jupiter did. Later he had a headache and an axe was used to split his skull, where Athena sprouted out, fully clad in armor and a spear in hand."

Reyna hummed and looked over to her dogs, both of which began to sniff around the garden. "I see...similar, but different in a few ways."

"Yes, but in both versions, she was born from Zeus or Jupiter's mind." Naruto tapped his head. "Brain baby."

"So she sprouts children from her mind?" Reyna asked. "That's even more outrageous than the thought of her actually conceiving a child."

"Yeah, but she's a goddess. An intellectual goddess," Naruto said. He leaned on the nearby railing and looked over New Rome. "She picked out the brightest minds and out came the brightest demigods. My Dad was one of them."

"Very interesting." Reyna stood next to him and looked over her city with a smile. "I love this place, it lets me see everything that I protect."

"I hear you. There's a mountain in Konoha where all the village leaders' faces are carved. I sit on a head from time to time just to collect my thoughts." Naruto smiled nostalgically and then laughed. "Man, I wonder if they'll get my sensei to take his mask off for his carving..."

"You were going to tell me about the war?" Reyna asked.

"Hm? Oh, right. Well, it didn't start with a war, it all started with a Princess named Kaguya and a tree with mystical powers..." Naruto began to tell Reyna about the Isle, or Hidden Continent, where he was born and the bloody past.

Naruto began with the princess who became the primordial entity known as the Jubi, a monster on par with the frighteningly powerful Typhoon. Then he explained how the legendary Sage of Six Paths and his brother, both sons of Kaguya, stopped the Jubi and sealed it within the Sage. Then came the warring states, caused by the sage's sons Asura and Indra's clash over virtues. After that was the founding of Konoha and the fight between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. He told her about the first war, which was inadvertently caused by the First Hokage, who distributed pieces of the Jubi to other villages and were wrongfully used to create human weapons.

After the explanation of the First War came the story of the Second War, which as Reyna pointed out, mirrored the World Wars. Naruto said he was envious that the planet was more willing to stop fighting after two, considering there were still two more wars for his continent to be had. The Second War was very similar to World War Two, where factions were made to spread the land. It was in this war that his clan's village, Uzuoshigakure no Sato (the Land Hidden in the Whirlpools) was destroyed by two or three villages – admittedly Naruto meant to brush up on that, but got sidetracked with training and catching up with his friends – and it was in this war that Konoha gained several legends. Tsunade, the current Hokage, and her teammates Jiraiya and Orochimaru became known as the Densetsu no Sannin (literally the Legendary Three Ninja) for their fight against the tyrannical ruler of the Land of Rain, Hanzo the Salamander. A few months later Jiraiya met the Rain Orphans; Yahiko, Konan and Nagato Uzumaki, who Naruto told Reyna would come into play much later.

It was at this point that Naruto noted either Reyna was a good listener, or he was a very good storyteller. Either way, Naruto was glad to hear Reyna urge him on for more in her own way.

Then Naruto told Reyna about the Third War, where his father made a name for himself and the pieces for the Fourth War fell into place. The war was originally a cold war between all of the villages, again mirroring the world around them, but instead of coming to a peaceful solution, skirmishes broke out and the fires of war were lit. Naruto didn't elaborate much detail on the war, because it wasn't entirely the war that was important.

"How is the whole war not important?" Reyna asked.

"Well, I mean to most people it would be, but there were a few key factors that would have the most effects on my life," Naruto said. "First, my Dad's team, my sensei Kakashi, Rin and Obito, were ambushed after a vital mission that seemingly cost Obito his life and gave Kakashi his Sharingan eye."

Reyna, who was informed of the doujutsu in the story of Madara and Hashirama's battle, frowned. "Seemingly?"

"He survived, but Team Minato didn't know that. A few years later Rin had been kidnapped by Kirigakure and turned into a Jinchuriki of the Three Tails," Naruto said. "Kakashi went out to rescue her-"

"Your father didn't?" Reyna asked.

Naruto chuckled. "My dad was handing the soon to be Forth Raikage's ass to him on a platter at the time."

"I see..."

"Anyway, Kakashi went to rescue her, but she had him kill her to prevent being used against Konoha by Kirigakure," Naruto said. "What they didn't know was that Obito witness the whole thing. Kakashi returned to Konoha with Rin's body later that night. He said her funeral was his near breaking point."

"What happened to Obito?" Reyna asked.

"We'll come back to that. Another factor was the sheer amount of genin that participated in this war. Children no older than ten were on the battlefield more than able adults were," Naruto said. "The sheer amount of dead kids would harden the determination of one young prodigy, Itachi Uchiha. Remember his name because he'll be important later."

Reyna nodded.

"It's from there that the war turned in Konoha's favor and soon, Jiji and the Tsuchikage agreed to a ceasefire," Naruto said. "Then, my dad was named Hokage and a few years later, I was born...and my parents died...Well, Dad did, dunno why mom didn't just come get me, maybe she knew I was needed at home, maybe she didn't." Naruto shrugged. "Doesn't matter now, can't change the past, but the future is always worth fighting for."

"A nice saying," Reyna said. "How did your parents die?"

"Obito." Naruto sighed. "His survival was caused by none other than Madara Uchiha himself."

"...From what you've told me he had to have lived to be well over a hundred years old," Reyna said with a frown.

"And he did," Naruto said. "He was also helped by another, Zetsu, the lost third son of Kaguya." Reyna's eyes widened slightly. "Zetsu had manipulated Madara, Obito...pretty much the entire continent all to bring his mother back to life."

"Did he succeed?"

It was here that Naruto grimaced. "Yes."

"...What happened?"

"Remember the chakra tree I told you about?"

"Yes?"

"It came back, only now it had engulfed the entire continent and was sucking people dry," Naruto said. "My team, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, were the only ones who weren't affected thanks to some past life thing I don't really understand."

"That's because you didn't listen to the Sage. ...And because you're a moron." Kurama snarked.

Oh who asked you? Naruto thought in return. He stretched his arms up and let his back crack. "And that's pretty much my life up to a few months ago. Fought in the fourth world war, beat the crazy rabbit princess into space, and saved the world from being eaten by some energy sucking tree of doom."

Reyna had a frown on her face. "I'm starting to wish you hadn't been born Greek..."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Eh? Why?"

Kurama scoffed. "Because you're an enemy, Naruto. Sage, I thought you were smarter than that!"

You're being a whole lot more mean than usual. Are you still mad about the chibi you thing?

"...Yes."

Naruto palmed himself in the head while Reyna stared at him in confusion. "Are you all right?"

"Just a headache," Naruto said with a grumble. Kurama let out an indignant growl at being called a headache while the blond Jinchuriki gave the praetor a light smile. "So, anything else you want to talk about?"

Reyna opened her mouth but was cut off by the sound of a whistle followed by an explosion and the ground shaking. They turned to see a tower of smoke rise up from a rounded building off in the distance on a hill. Another loud whistle had them looking up at the Argo II, where two more large projectiles came from to strike New Rome. Reyna and her dogs rounded on Naruto with glares.

"You come speaking of peace but instead attack us?" She asked him. "Diplomacy was just a cover?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's not like that! We came here to talk. I mean, we prepared for the worst, but we came without our weapons as instructed."

Reyna narrowed her eyes while Argentum and Aurum bared large sharp metallic teeth at him. Naruto's face betrayed nothing, but another explosion happened and the two dogs backed down. Reyna sighed in relief. "If you had been lying, Argentum and Aurum would've attacked you immediately."

"I don't lie about things like this," Naruto said firmly. He kept his eyes on the Argo II and then looked over the street, where crowds formed to attack his friends. The railing bent under his clenched fist. "A mob!"

"Pluto's pauldrons," Reyna swore under her breath as she followed his gaze. She hopped over the railing and dropped to the ledge a bit below. Naruto followed her and they descended to the streets. She scowled at the sight of the rioting Romans. "I hate my job."

"Hey, nothing worth doing is ever easy," Naruto said lightheartedly despite the situation. He caught a Roman that tried to jump at him and slammed the citizen to the ground. "Down boy!"

"They won't stop until the attackers are dead," Reyna said as she shoved back a few other rioting Romans. Argentum and Aurum snapped at the crowd's legs to keep them away while Reyna turned to her Greek companion. "After that, they'll call for the home of the attackers' blood. Rome defended itself with offense."

"Yeah, best defense and all that," Naruto said softly as he looked up at the trireme that carried him and the others here. "You do what you gotta do, I'm going to stop as many blasts as I can."

"How?" Reyna called after him as he ran off and jumped atop the crowd, running on her citizen's shoulders. The daughter of Bellona watched him leap to a building and scale his way to the rooftops. She shook her head. "Shame he's Greek."

"So, any brilliant ideas on how to stop the ballista missiles?"

"Less sarcasm and more cooperation, Kurama," Naruto said aloud.

The fox huffed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll send you some of my Yang chakra. Don't play around."

"Taking all the fun out of it," Naruto mumbled. He felt the warmth of Kurama's chakra surge through him and let it encase him in golden flames. Naruto's blue eyes turned red and his pupils slitted. "Stage one...More...Let's go full out, Tailed-Beast Mode!"

"A bit overkill isn't it?"

"We're not taking any risks!" Naruto growled as his eyes lightened to orange and the horns over his head lengthened. More chakra flooded through his system and the chakra around his chest split his jacket open. His chest became shrouded in darkness as a golden circle settled itself around his navel and six golden magatamas rested at his collarbone. The jacket lengthened to fall behind Naruto's calves and the sleeves widened to cover his arms while black lines ran down his arms and legs to the back of his hands and the tops of his feet.

"I can keep the Yin chakra out indefinitely in this form, but if you go to Biju mode, we'll have five to ten minutes at best before the Yin chakra seeps in."

"I think that's all I'll need if it comes to it," Naruto said. He held his hands at his sides and extended his pointer fingers. Two small finger-sized arms appeared on either finger and began to rotate chakra over the tip. "Mini-Rasenshuriken."

Two more missiles were fired from the Argo II and Naruto's hands reared back before he flung them forward and sent the two miniature Rasenshuriken forward. The attacks impacted with the missile and then exploded outwards, making a sphere easily double the size of a normal Rasenshuriken's impact would make. The ballista missiles were obliterated and Naruto leapt to another rooftop higher than his previous perch to scan the area.

Annabeth, Percy, Jason and Piper were on the ladder while the blond jerk from earlier pointed and shouted something at them. The crowds' bloodlust nearly made Naruto stumble back. The Romans were a lot like shinobi, very patriotic. Naruto admired them for that, but he wouldn't condone needless bloodshed or violence.

"That reminds me, when we get out of this, Leo is so dead," Naruto said to himself.

"Aw, but I like that one. He makes things explode!"

Naruto let a small smirk cross his face. "True...Eh, I'll just sick Nyssa on him when we get back to Camp."

He sent another Mini-Rasenshuriken at another ballista missile and then turned just in time to catch a spear thrown at him. Naruto arched a brow in amusement and spun the spear around.

"I think you misplaced this, here catch!" He tossed the spear back so it landed in between the thrower's legs. More spears were sent at him, but Naruto just used his chakra arms to swat them away while he focused on stopping the ballista strikes.

"Ugh, when this is over, I'm tearing that giant bow apart." Naruto grumbled. A rock suddenly launched over his head at the Argo and Naruto quickly destroyed it with a Mini-Rasenshuriken. He turned around to see several catapults at the ready on a hill in the distance. "How'd those get set up so fast?"

A Roman at the side pointed a sword at him. "FIRE!"

"Dammit!" Naruto growled and turned his attention on the Roman counter-attack. He was on that roof for about five minutes before someone joined him. After he destroyed another boulder, Naruto turned with a fist at the ready to strike.

"Whoa!" Frank, the boy that reminded him of Choji, held his hands up. "I'm on your side. You gotta get to the Argo. Hazel and I will give you some cover."

Naruto looked and saw the Argo II start to fly off while the missiles stopped firing and then looked back at Frank. "Not happening. You and Hazel get going and I'll cover you."

"How are you going to do that?" Frank asked in disbelief.

Naruto gave him a feral but wry smirk. "Oh, I have an idea. Now get going."

"You first." Frank said as he started to shift into a different form. His body lengthened and became covered in scales, his arms and legs shortened, and his face turned more lizard-like. When he was finished, it was obvious that Frank had turned into a dragon. While Naruto stared in mild surprise at the feat, Frank roared and dove into the crowd below.

"...Awesome." Naruto said with a blink. He grinned. "But he's not the only one who can change. Kurama, we need to be the bigger target."

Kurama growled. "Somehow, I just knew you were going to say that," he said.

Despite the obvious disapproval, Naruto felt more Yang chakra fill his system. Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he ran to the edge of the building and jumped up. He felt his cloak expand out around him into something big. Bigger than a giant. Bigger than anything that wasn't an immortal!

The way the Romans stopped all movement to stare at the mountain-sized nine-tailed golden fox was priceless. Flames of chakra flickered from the fox's body and black tribal-like markings covered the fox's form and the tails waved pensively. Hidden in the head of the form was the cloaked Naruto, his eyes the same color as the fox's. Naruto lifted his right hand and the right claw-like hand of the fox followed suit.

"This'll get their attention. Now, here's a gentle breeze..." Naruto slammed his hand down and the fox's followed suit. A new crater filled the street of New Rome, one that would be left alone so that the Romans would forever remember the beast that came to the Argo II's aid and later changed the world as they knew it. A giant gust of wind accompanied the force of the impact. The force of the wind made the Romans stumble back as it washed over all of them.

A whistle made the fox look up at a boulder that was heading for its head. A tail shot out and wrapped around the boulder before it was crushed into dust. Naruto crossed his arms, but the fox didn't follow suit.

"That wasn't very nice..." Naruto frowned. He let his arms drop to his side and reared his hands back when three more were sent his way. A small ball of energy appeared in front of the fox's snout. Once the black orb had become the size of a small car, Naruto moved his hands forward and the fox's mouth opened, sucking the ball of energy in. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he brought his hands back once again. Kurama roared excitedly.

"Let's show the world what real power looks like!"

Naruto's eyes hardened as he threw his hands out. "Bijudama (Tailed Beast Ball)."

The fox's mouth slammed shut around the energy and then opened wide. A black orb the size of an SUV shot out and collided with the boulder in the middle of two others that were at the peak of their ascent, well above the city's rooftops, at least one hundred feet above the city. The orb expanded into eight times its original size; nearly double the size of the fox and scraping the rooftops of New Rome. The explosive boom that followed shattered all the windows in the city, temples and in the camp a good distance away. Not to mention the quake that shook the whole state, dwindling as it spread. All of the Romans had to cover their ears while the matter that used to make up the air and boulders were obliterated.

Naruto sighed as the Romans started to fidget nervously, but didn't run away as he'd hoped. They were too stubborn to know when to retreat. He didn't want to do this, but a more appropriate show of force was going to be needed. Naruto had the fox's right hand rise up and a large blue sphere started to grow. White energy built around the sphere and began to rotate. Once the sphere had eclipsed the fox in size, Naruto had it leap up and scoured New Rome and the surrounding area. He spotted an area that looked near dead, where no casualties could take place.

"That'll do." Naruto reared his right hand back and then threw it forward. The Romans followed the massive Rasenshuriken as it was sent soaring towards Naruto's target. It struck the earth and the air went still for only a moment before a giant explosion, even larger than the last one, rocked the area. Naruto used the explosion to drop out of his biju mode and run after the Argo II.

Another flawless escape, Naruto thought with a smirk.

The force of the explosion was felt all the way on the Argo II, which prompted the five demigods and one satyr aboard the ship to run to the back of the ship and look back at New Rome. Percy's jaw popped open at the dome he saw. "...The Field of Mars...Gone..."

Leo's eyes widened and a grin spread across his face. "Awesome explosion."

"One thing I'll agree with you over, Valdez." Coach Hedge grinned. "A wonderful show of force.

Annabeth and Piper both simultaneously slapped their hands to their heads.

"Only Naruto." Piper groaned while Annabeth rubbed her temples.

"That was Naruto?" Percy asked.

"Dude, Naruto don't play around," Leo said informatively. He nodded. "Blondie's like a super ninja or something."

"...Okay, really glad he's your nephew right now," Percy said.

Annabeth smirked at him. "Jealous?"

"No. Just glad he's on our side."

The two members of the Quest to Rescue Hera all shivered at the thought of Naruto turning on them.

"Talk about Game Over," Leo mumbled.

Coach Hedge snorted. "Please. He's a son of Aphrodite. What real damage could he do?"

While Piper scowled at him, Leo stared at the satyr. "...Coach, he just made what looked like a nuke."

"You don't know that was him. It could've been anything." Coach Hedge shrugged. "Who knows? Romans are weird."

"I know one thing, he's so chewed out when he gets here," Annabeth said with a sigh before she turned to Leo. "Tell us again what happened."

Leo shifted uncomfortably. "Alright, alright. It was like I was being controlled..."

AN: Whoo! There's the latest update!

For those that don't know, Fils de l'Amour Naruto has his own wikia page, but the writer of the page needs help. Look up Mantequilla219 on Percyjacksonfanfiction Wiki or PM EternalKnight219 here on FF. Be a friend and lend a hand!

But most of all, you know what I want ya to do!

REVIEW!