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
5: The Crash Landing
Naruto continued to run at one hundred and eighty-five miles per hour, something that he considered a leisure pace while a 'normal' human being would consider it jaw-dropping, until he saw the speck that he recognized as the Argo. He jumped up and landed on the Argo II's deck with a light thump. He let out a light sigh as he took in the feeling of the wind brushing across his skin. A pleased cry made him look up and hold his arm out. Miu landed and crooned at him, which earned her a light brush over her beak from a finger.
"I'm fine, thanks for worrying," Naruto said softly to the eagle. The eagle crooned under his touch, but suddenly flew from his arm.
"Naruto!" Naruto turned to the sound of his sister's voice and gave her a smile. Piper pulled him into a tight hug and he hugged her back, glad that she and the others were safe. When she released him, Piper glared daggers at him and grabbed him by his whiskered cheeks – known by their cabin to be one of (if not the only) his sensitive spots – and tugged on them. Not stretching, per say, but no one likes having their face gripped tightly.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Naruto whimpered as Piper 'abused' him.
"You had me worried sick! None of your clones were on the Argo once we got here!" Piper frowned heavily. Not to mention Leo's crazed chants of 'die Roman, die'. That was unsettling.
"Pweashe shlet go of my fashe." Naruto pleaded. Piper huffed and released his cheeks, crossing her arms with a glare locked on him. Naruto took a wary step back and rubbed his face. "Mean, Imouto-chan..."
"You have some explaining to do," Piper said, undeterred by his pout.
Naruto frowned and closed his eyes, searching through the many memories of his clones that he was now aware had popped. It happened when he made too many at once, the memories sent to him were jumbled and difficult to separate, so he never registered the clones' dispelling. The whiskered blond sent a glare to the innocently whistling Leo.
"You roasted them all? Really?" Naruto asked flatly.
"I was being mind-controlled or something!" Leo protested, though he sounded exhausted. Naruto pursed his lips in thought, he took note of Jason's supporting nod and Frank's disbelieving frown. Frank also took another step closer to the Karui-lookalike, Hazel.
"Okay...Still, there's should be punishment," Naruto said, scratching his sore cheeks. Naruto snapped his fingers and a gleam appeared in his eye. "Got it! A spar, you and me, once we're a bit further from Jupiter...one on one and no powers."
Leo grimaced and looked at Jason, who unlike him had prior hand-to-hand training and sparred with Naruto constantly before Naruto went back to debrief his village leader. Leo remembered the aftermath of being thrashed around by Naruto in Medea's Mall. His the skin around his left eye was still a bit darker than it used to be.
"I'll only use one attack." Naruto added and Leo suddenly felt a lot more relieved...until he remembered Naruto had obliterated the Fields of Martians or whatever it was called.
Speaking of, the smith demigod frowned and crossed his arms. "I might not have been in control at first, but I saw you change into that giant golden fox...Is that something every ninja you know can do?"
Naruto blinked while all eyes turned to him in question, save for Coach Hedge, who wandered off when he realized there wasn't going to be any real violent punishment. The whiskered teen rubbed his neck, closed his eyes and laughed sheepishly.
"Ah, yeah...forgot I would have to explain that," he said.
"Naruto," Annabeth said sternly. The blond in question chuckled nervously under Piper and Annabeth's combined gazes.
"Uh, long story short, I have this...entity sealed inside me," Naruto said.
"...Entity?" Piper repeated flatly.
Naruto arched a brow and looked up in thought. "Yeah, I think that's much more kind than calling him a demon."
"Thank you," Kurama said with gratitude.
No problem. Naruto noted that he was met with gazes of disbelief. "...Oh, what, Greek Gods being real is okay but demons-Er, entities of malevolent energy aren't?"
"...And the giant fox?" Annabeth asked, silently agreeing with his argument.
"It's what Kurama looks like...only golden," Naruto said with a shrug. "It's a giant power boost that lets us take on anyone."
"And blow up a lot of stuff?" Percy asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"Yeah, more or less." Naruto nodded.
"...So it's like going Super Saiyan?" Percy's grin widened.
"Percy..." Annabeth groaned. Since he had seen what Naruto could do, he wouldn't shut up about the comparison between her nephew and the Japanese cartoon he loved so dearly.
"He turned gold and blew stuff up!" Percy crossed his arms and gave a firm nod. "Like a Super Saiyan."
"Or some kind of Super Saiyan God." Leo added.
Percy frowned. "That just sounds stupid, and if anything, it would be Goku that became a Super Saiyan God."
"True," Leo said with a nod.
Kurama snarled. "I am BETTER than some stupid wannabe monkey's! Those dumb apes are only fifty feet high and can't control themselves! I'm sixteen times that height AND I can control myself just fine!"
Naruto just blinked at Kurama's rant. ...When did you measure yourself?
Kurama scoffed. "I was easily twice the size of the Rikudou when I was but a kit–"
An adorable kit. Naruto snickered, earning odd looks from the others.
Kurama growled at Naruto's comment. "Shut up. I compared myself to mountains in the area."
"Naruto, why are you laughing?" Annabeth asked.
Naruto wiped a tear out of his eye and chuckled. "Kurama."
"The demon?" Piper asked with a frown. She wasn't sure how to feel about a demon sealed inside her brother and planned to find out who did it so she could give that person a piece of her mind...Or make that person walk off a cliff, she hadn't decided yet.
"Entity." Naruto corrected his sister. He clapped his hands together as Miu landed on his shoulder. "So, to wrap up. Giant fox sealed in my gut, big power up, and uh...yeah, that's it."
"I have more questions," Piper said with a frown. "How did it get sealed? Who sealed it? And when?"
"Fuinjutsu, my dad, and when I was born," Naruto answered simply with a nod. He blinked at the disbelieving looks on their faces and frowned. "What?"
"My last question is why?" Piper asked with a frown.
Naruto smiled proudly, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "To protect the village."
Jason, Hazel and Frank nodded in agreement to this. The Romans understood that sort of patriotism, the dedication to protect one's home despite the consequences. Many Romans damned themselves and their families to protect Rome, and many Legionnaires did even worse when it came to Camp Jupiter.
The Greek demigods couldn't have reacted any more differently.
Leo's jaw was popped open in disbelief. He remembered Naruto's story in the sewer a few months back, about being cursed with power. It made sense now, how Naruto made it his own. Leo's respect for the blond rose immensely.
Piper just stared at her brother. She knew Naruto was an orphan and that his father died when he was born, but she didn't know it was connected to protecting the village. Still, she wanted more details on the whole thing...And she really wished she could have a chat with her mother about why Naruto was left alone for so long.
Annabeth shifted uncomfortably at his answer, having heard the story before, especially after her (in hindsight) bias against Jason and other Romans. The daughter of Athena knew it was smart for the village, but the toll it took on Naruto was still painfully obvious. Naruto lacked a lot of social skills, tact, and knowledge that most parents would provide to their children. Throw in the fact that he was a ward of a state that encouraged child soldiers and you had a grunt that was begging to be killed on the battlefield. If it weren't for Naruto's determination and hard work that made him so strong, Annabeth highly doubted she'd have been able to meet him. Knowing it was because of something one of her siblings did made a lot more conflicting feelings and thoughts come up.
Percy, like his girlfriend, was torn between understanding and being disgusted with Naruto's father. He would do anything for Camp Half-Blood, but putting a demon inside a baby? If Percy even knew how to do that and had no other obvious choice, he wouldn't even consider it. He would stubbornly find another way. The sad acceptance in Naruto's eyes was unsettling to him.
Naruto shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable with the emotions that filled the ship. "So, um," he began, trying to clear the air and change the subject. "What's our new plan, considering Leo messed the other one up?"
"Hey!" Leo frowned at the blond. All that respect he just got? Yeah, it's gone now. That was slimy and uncalled for!
"And what happened to you, Flyboy?" Naruto asked, now noticing that Jason had a bandage around his head.
Jason grimaced and his hand went to the bandage. "Some of the Romans...weren't happy."
Naruto gave him a dry look. "No, really? What gave you that idea?"
"The brick thrown at my head," Jason said. Piper gave him a curious look that he shrugged at. It was better in Jason's opinion to say that than explain to Naruto that the brick had been meant for his sister. Jason didn't want Naruto to get mad and run back to Camp Jupiter. According to Leo, that explosion was no joke.
Naruto nodded in understanding. "Yeah, the fogginess will go away in an hour or so. The headaches should pass in a day."
Piper's head swiveled back to Naruto. "How did you know he was foggy?"
"Uh...So that plan?" Naruto asked as he ignored Piper's curious stare. There might have been an incident or two with a drunken villager when he was young, but that was all water under a bridge.
Annabeth crossed her arms and frowned at him. "No, I'm with Piper on this. How do you know what Jason is feeling after he was hit by a brick?"
Kurama chuckled again. "Everything seems to be going well for you. Ah, karma, how it punishes those that mock me."
And with that, Naruto gained a brilliant idea. Annabeth and Piper, while scary in their own right, were still only teenage civilian (compared to Naruto, anyway) girls. If there was one thing Naruto learned about teenage girls from the few girlfriends he'd had in the past few months, it was this: they loved cute things.
I need your chakra, we're going to do something risky, Naruto thought to his friend.
Kurama sighed. "Yeah, yeah fine – wait, what do you mean 'we'?"
Naruto looked Annabeth and Piper square in the eyes, lifted his right hand up and placed his left over the hidden seal on his stomach. His left hand latched onto his stomach and with a slight shift to the right, chakra flared from him and Kurama. A cloud of smoke, a common effect of chakra discharge, suddenly encased the blond and the other demigods tensed.
Jason lifted his hand and willed the wind to clear the smoke away to reveal...A toddler with a fox hanging from his arms? Jason, Leo, Percy and Frank stared in disbelief at the sight.
The toddler barely came up to Jason's knee, his hair a mess of blond that looked like he'd just rolled out of bed from a nap. His blue eyes were wide and watery. He wore a white T-shirt with an orange spiral on it and dark shorts. The three whisker marks on his cheek looked larger than when he was a teenager, and his face had suddenly regained a lot of childish chub.
The fox kit in his arms, dangling pitifully, was about the size of a full-grown cat, but looked larger due to the boy that carried him. It had long rabbit-like ears and nine tails. The fox had red eyes that were slitted, and the right seemed to be twitching violently.
"I fucking hate you, Naruto Uzumaki," the fox growled.
"Quiet, Kurama." Naruto hissed at it before he looked up at Piper and Annabeth, both of whom were still staring at him and his fox friend in surprise, with wide watery eyes. "Neechan, Oba, I'm sowwy..."
"Does he really think that's going to work?" Percy asked dryly. Jason nodded in agreement with him.
Leo just stared in awe. "That...genius bastard..."
"I'm with Leo on this one," Frank said as he looked at his girlfriend. Her eyes had widened immensely and a gleam he hadn't seen before entered them.
A second later and Hazel joined Piper and Annabeth as they surrounded Naruto.
"Who could be mad at you?" Annabeth asked with a sweet smile as she picked the transformed Naruto up and hugged him while Piper cuddled the fox kit. Naruto hugged her around the neck with a soft smile and then opened his eyes to meet the other boys. His sweet smile turned into a wry grin and he winked at them.
"...No way," Jason said as he watched Piper rub her nose against the weird-looking fox kit's while Hazel and Annabeth cooed at Naruto.
"Dude's my hero," Leo said with jealously obvious in his voice. He suddenly grinned. "Screw being his wingman, I can go with the babysitter approach!"
"I don't want to know what that is, but I want to know what he did to Annabeth," Percy said, disbelief written on his face. He'd only seen this side of her when it came to dogs, or trained monster canines like Cerberus or Mrs. O'Leary. Seeing Annabeth coo and coddle a toddler that was once older than them...It was weird.
"It's like all their brains have suddenly shut down," Frank said, torn between being fascinated at the sight or jealous that his girlfriend was obsessing over a fox kit.
"Come on, let's go back into the Argo and we can make a plan and have some cookies," Annabeth said to her nephew while Hazel cuddled the fox and Piper tickled the kit's whiskers. The three girls passed the stunned demigods, giggling and cooing as they did. Naruto made eye contact with Percy as they passed and winked again.
"...I don't know whether to admire him or hate him," Percy said with genuine confusion. He would kill to be able to make Annabeth not be angry with him like that.
Leo patted the son of Poseidon on the shoulder as he walked by. "He's the ultimate wingman, dude. And since you've got a girlfriend, stay away. I called dibs."
"...Are they really going to give him cookies?" Jason suddenly wondered aloud. Frank and Percy exchanged a look before they quickly raced after their girlfriends, Jason followed behind them.
They wanted cookies, too!
Slightly annoyed she had been forgotten, Miu puffed up in annoyance where she was perched next to Festus' head. The dragonhead let out a few clicks and Miu squawked in return before she flew to the control center with the intent to get revenge the one way she and most other birds knew how.
Naruto scratched the cat-sized Kurama behind the ear as he lounged on his rollout bed. He had managed to escape from Annabeth, Hazel and Piper's attention thanks to Leo's announcement that there was some damage to the Argo II. What was even better was that Annabeth and Piper had completely forgotten why they were mad at him in the first place because of his transformation. And he got cookies out of it, too!
Henge no Jutsu for the win. Seriously, if Naruto could meet the one that developed that technique, he would kiss that person on the cheek. Because of the Henge, he created his first original technique, the Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique), when he was twelve. Through use of his newly mastered Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Naruto made the Harem no Jutsu, a combination of the Oiroke and the Kage Bunshin. Then he developed the 'god slaying' jutsu – the one technique that defeated Kaguya, the Rabbit Goddess, and the mother of chakra – a technique that his team had made him swear not to use unless absolutely necessary: The dreaded Oiroke Gyaku Harem no Jutsu (Sexy Reverse Harem Technique)!
Naruto grinned. "Henge no Jutsu is the best jutsu ever."
"Yeah, sure, whatever, oh, by the sage that feels good." Kurama purred under Naruto's attention, his voice deep now that Naruto ended the transformation. Once he went back into the seal he would never speak of this again, but for now, Kurama felt like he was in heaven. Those females Naruto labeled as his sister and aunt were also very good at scratching him behind the ear.
A surprised yell made the blond look up as Miu swooped in from the corridor and perched herself on the windowsill. Naruto looked from her to the door as Percy poked his head into the doorway. There was a small scratch on his forehead, undoubtedly from Miu's talons, and Percy's green eyes narrowed in what would be an intimidating stare if he weren't trying to use it on Naruto.
Honestly, it was a meager attempt at best to scare Naruto. Nothing was as scary as an angry girl...except for maybe ghosts. What? Phobias weren't supposed to be rational.
"Your bird nearly took my head off," Percy said flatly. Miu squawked at him and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Eagle," Jason said as he walked by with Piper beside him.
"Thanks, Flyboy!" Naruto called after his fellow blond before he shrugged. "Sorry, she usually stays on my shoulder when we're in the halls. I guess I forgot about her when I had to think on my feet."
Miu turned away from him and began to clean her feathers, which made Naruto frown. "Stingy..."
"Baka, scratch." Kurama growled lowly at the lapse in his pleasure. Naruto shook his head and resumed to scratch the fox.
Percy pointed at Kurama, the small scratch on his forehead already fading from view. "So...what is that, exactly?"
Kurama snarled. "I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, boy, and you will show your respect lest I devour yo-! Yip!" Kurama scrunched up his nose after Naruto flicked it.
"Be nice, Kurama. Percy, this is Kurama, the entity I was talking about earlier...only chibi-fied." Naruto added with a small smirk as he resumed to scratch the fox behind his rabbit-like ear. "Kurama, this is Percy-oji. He's Anna-oba's boyfriend."
"Good for him. Ah, that feels nice," Kurama said, with one of his nine tails flicking absentmindedly as his blood red eyes became half-lidded. He takes back most of the nasty things he said about Matatabi for succumbing to Asura's attentive scratching. Most of them, anyway.
"...Why does he have nine-tails and rabbit ears?" Percy asked.
Naruto blinked and looked at Kurama. "Hey, that's a good question. What's with the rabbit ears?"
"They're not rabbit ears! ...And who said you could stop scratching me?" Kurama asked with another small growl.
Naruto rolled his eyes and resumed scratching. "They're rabbit ears."
"Are not! They're kitsune ears, baka. What good would I be if I couldn't hear my enemies coming for me?" Kurama asked. He rolled onto his side and his hind leg lifted slightly as Naruto's fingers started to relax him. "Ohh yeah, right there..."
Percy continued to stare at the orange fox. "Um, why doesn't his mouth move when he talks?"
This one, Naruto knew. Probably from some instilled knowledge from the Rikudo Sennin or something. "He's made of chakra, his body works different than ours. The only one I noticed that could talk and move their mouth correctly was Shukaku."
"Dumb tanuki, ah that's the ticket." Kurama purred as his eyes closed.
Percy walked into the room and leaned against the desk. "So...Annabeth says you're from a hidden island?"
"Continent, actually," Naruto said. He sat up slightly and carefully moved the near sleeping fox from his stomach to his lap. "Moves around, supposed to be where Apollo and Artemis were born. Not sure about that, though."
"It would explain the weird energy thingy," Percy said.
"Chakra. And no, chakra was created by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who I've been told is the daughter of Zeus, but I'm not a hundred percent sure on that," Naruto said, disbelief written on his face. He shrugged. "Anyway, Princess Kaguya wanted peace and decided to end all wars by consuming fruit from the Shinju tree – not really sure what that was, so don't ask – which gave her godlike abilities. She used chakra to end all wars and brought peace to the land for years to come. When her sons, the Rikudo Sennin and his twin brother, were born, she was upset they had inherited her power, but let them live."
Kurama snorted, and his raised hind leg twitched, but otherwise didn't wake.
"As time went on, the Rikudo Sennin, or the Sage of Six Paths, began to teach 'Ninshū', a way for mankind to manipulate and use chakra. He meant for it to be a way to bring people closer together, but instead he unintentionally gave them the means to become living weapons, able to manipulate the elements, the mind, and even reality with ease. Kaguya was infuriated with him, and began to..." Naruto frowned, trying to think of the right word. "Cleanse, I think is how she would put it, but to be accurate, she started to kill all humanity. In her years with power, she had gained a god-complex and a messiah-complex. She created the Juubi, a beast with ten tails and enough power to end the world."
"Why didn't the gods do anything about it then?" Percy asked. Naruto shrugged.
"To be honest, I don't know. I know from Chiron that my nation had been separated from where it was anchored after Apollo and Artemis were born, making it mobile once more." Naruto tilted his head in thought before he nodded. "Right, I was talking about the Juubi. After a few days of destruction, the Sage and his brother came to talk their mother out of destroying the world. She refused and in turn, they sealed her and the Juubi away in the moon."
"Artemis' chariot?" Percy imagined a giant monster being shoved into a hidden compartment on Artemis' chariot by the goddess and Thalia. He resisted the urge to snicker. Naruto shook his head.
"No. It's a small moon anchored to the Elemental Nations by chakra, and it reflects sunlight off of it, concealing it in the daytime. Legend says that the Sage's brother took what remained of their mother and hid her away on the moon. He lived there along with his wife, never to be seen by the Sage again."
"...So there's men on the moon?" Percy asked in disbelief. This was some weird stuff Naruto was feeding him. Weirder than the Olympians being real or giants trying to destroy humanity.
Naruto shrugged. "Not sure, maybe someday we'll get there. But I know that Kaguya's out of my hair and can't destroy humanity. That's enough for me."
Percy nodded in agreement before he hummed. "You said she might be a daughter of Zeus? ...Didn't Zeus, like, kill every human being on the planet once?"
Naruto blinked and pondered that for a moment. That certainly explained the ease Kaguya had when she admitted to wanting to restore her 'cradle' (i.e. the world) back to how she had it before chakra came into play. ...On the other hand, she was a crazy lady and he had to stop her from destroying the planet with a giant man-absorbing tree. Naruto scowled as he recalled her ability to create alternate parallel dimensions and warp them at a moments notice. So cheap.
Zeus' daughter or not, it was a good thing he and the rest of Team Seven kicked her butt.
Naruto noted that Percy was still waiting for him to respond, but before he could, Leo's voice came over the PA. "Hey, all of you need to come to the control room! Everyone get up here and buckle up!"
"Better do as he says," Naruto said as he got to his feet and set Kurama on the bed. He put his left hand on his stomach and turned it to the right. The fox before him exploded in a poof of smoke, and soft snores echoed in the back of Naruto's head until he cut the connection. Naruto grabbed his staff and looked at Miu as Percy rushed to the control room. "You coming?"
Miu looked at him once before she turned away with her beak raised.
Naruto arched a brow. "Seriously? You're still mad?"
Miu squawked at him.
"Oh, how is it my fault you were left behind? You're a big girl, you can fly yourself around."
Miu looked at him with another squawk.
Naruto deadpanned. "I'm replacing you with a fox? Kurama is part of me, he's like, one of my best friends."
"Don't go telling lies to people!" Kurama grumbled. Naruto ignored it.
Miu squawked again.
"Oh, I see." Naruto gave an exaggerated bow to the eagle. "How silly of me. Please, fair avian, forgive this land-walker for his insolence..."
Miu chirped and hopped over to his shoulder, which made him glower at her.
"You're lucky I like you, or I'd be having fried eagle," Naruto said dryly. Miu tightened her talons and he winced. "Joke, it was a joke! Ow!"
They made it to the control room and Naruto took a seat behind Annabeth. He didn't bother with the seatbelt and instead used chakra to cling to his chair and keep Miu comfortably in place on his shoulder. The other six demigods began to scream as the Argo II suddenly took a dive towards a large lake. Leo looked a bit nervous, but still had control. The most entertaining thing for Naruto before the crash was Coach Hedge's war cry.
"BRING IT ON, LAKE!"
AN: And so ends chapter five. This was more of a tease, chapter, I know, but the upcoming chapters are bound to be more entertaining.
See you guys in 2 weeks!
Oh, and do us a favor, loves?
REVIEW!