The story so far: Naruto finds herself in an unfamiliar world after using sheer force of will to stay alive. She breaks through a barrier, and joins a fight to protect four teens from monstrous creatures despite her limited chakra reserves. Chiron contemplates recent events and their implications at Camp Half-Blood. Naruto has introduced herself as Homura Shinobu and quickly proves herself a formidable fighter, leading to headaches and chaos among the campers.
Luke
The Hermes cabin takes in demigods not accepted by the other cabins. Luke didn't know how to feel about that. Should he be proud? Chiron seemed to think so. Or he was grateful that Hermes cabin's acceptance policy saved him some headache.
The latest example was that blonde that helped them at the border of the camp. She was still recovering, but it seems she got dumped into Cabin 11. He heard that the Big House was a bit of a ruckus back then.
Things settled down in less than a week. He's been hearing a lot of rumours though. The two most prominent versions couldn't be more opposite.
The first version continues to spread for its entertainment value. It was sure a juicy gossip. One of Aphrodite's beauties seduced a Cabin 5 member. That lead to dozens drowning in toilet water and a wild outbreak of cannibals. Some branches of the rumour even add fantastical and absurd details. They astonish him with their complete outrageousness.
The second rumour was about two Cabin 5 members attempting their crap again. He guessed they chose to pick on Annabeth because she was the youngest demigod of them three. Rumors were that Thalia zapped and he kicked the ass of the other. It felt nice to have grown a reputation for his swordsmanship. Too bad the rumours weren't true. Thalia established her reputation as a force of nature early on. With his sword and her lightning, even the dullest Cabin 5 member knew better.
Still, giving a few members of Cabin 5 a reminder of that fact didn't seem like a bad idea. He will have to discuss the plan with Thalia. He was certain she'd be willing to join in and scare off those children of Ares. Too bad he's sure she is already too busy with her patrol duties.
Putting his plans aside for the moment, he focused on the new sword he had picked up from the armoury behind him. It was time to test it out. If he hoped to win a spar with Thalia, he needed a better weapon. He had been gaining ground against her in their recent encounters. But he must admit, it is partly because she has been less trigger-happy with her electric shocks of late.
He frowns, uncertain whether Thalia being more responsible with her powers is a good or bad thing. On one hand, he's relieved—his arm can attest to her previous liberal use of electricity. But, he knows she's capable of so much more, and he can't help but wonder if she's holding back her true potential.
Cheers erupting from the arena interrupt his thoughts. Curious, he heads to the source of the commotion. He spots four Cabin 5 members—two boys and two girls—on the sidelines, goading the two combatants at the centre. One of the fighters is an imposing figure. The boy is clad in full armour with a red-plumed helmet, brandishing a large shield and a long spear. The other, to his astonishment, is none other than the small, unarmed blonde teen.
Luke's heart skips a beat as he worries for her safety. How could she agree to this uneven match? She's facing an armed and armoured opponent, and she's completely unarmed! He contemplates stepping in but he hesitates and observes.
She holds an unusual and unfamiliar pose. She keeps her legs spread wide, left foot forward, torso bent forward, and both palms facing the sky. Her left arm stretches forward and points downward. Her right arm stretches behind her, pointing upwards. The sight leaves him bewildered and wondering what on earth she's up to.
With an unspoken signal, the boy launches an attack, and the girl defends herself. Her arms remain straight as she parries the spear with a graceful circular motion. She turns to her left, circling her opponent, but the boy charges forward. He smashes her with the shield, sending her tumbling to the ground. She struggles back up, and they resume the fight. His confusion grows, and he can't help but blurt out, "What the hell?"
"What? Never seen a spar before, pretty boy?" says a booming voice to his left.
Luke turns to see the largest boy in the audience—though still not as large as the one dominating the arena. The teen's voice booms even without shouting. He appears unfazed by Luke's presence, keeping his focus on the intense fight. He has a square face and a large scar on his nose. Are those teeth marks? Luke can't help but wonder if the rumours are more accurate than he thought. Thalia's eagerness to volunteer for patrol duty seems more reasonable now.
"A spar? Looks more like a beatdown to me," Luke remarks, though he knows it might not be fair. The big guy in the ring does let the girl stand back up each time he knocks her down. They hadn't coerced her into this setup. Still, it's hard to ignore that this is the third time she's hit the ground, and he suspects a growing limp in her left leg.
"Yeah. She's not quite there yet. Whatever it is," explains the teen next to Luke, answering the silent question on his face. Luke raises an amused brow at the idea of one of them actually thinking, but he holds back the snark for now. Fighting isn't his purpose here.
His gaze returns to the fight, intrigued by the peculiar spectacle. A few more exchanges occur, but it's evident that the large teen outmatches the unarmed girl. The spear's longer reach keeps her on the defensive. She dodges some strikes, but the spear's speed makes it impossible to avoid them all. With the spear closing in for another slice, she parries it with her bare hands. Luke can't help but think that if her opponent weren't such a hulking brute, she might even be able to disarm him.
In his opinion, she needs a better strategy against her imposing adversary.
Her hands draw his eyes, and he realizes that she's doing more than slapping the blade away. Upon closer inspection, he notices how she manoeuvres, rather than striking, the blade. She is using her palms to nullify the attacks.
With each interception, she takes steps forward. She's nullifying the range advantage her opponent has with his spear. Yet, being a son of the war god, her opponent is well-versed in combat. The boy steps back or retracts the spear, keeping the distance between them.
Despite her efforts, every time she manages to close the gap, she cannot attack since she's unarmed. A fist to the shield would only result in broken bones. And the large shield is not constrained to being a defensive tool.
The large teen demonstrates this when he swings the shield to bash her. Though she dodges back, the spear thrusts after her in a one-two combo that happens in the blink of an eye. She manages to parry the attack, but the manoeuvre is hasty and imperfect, causing blood to drip from her palm. But, for the first time in the match, she finds herself inside his guard.
The giant's earlier swing and his spear extended from the thrust left an opening. She closes the distance to strike, but the larger teen brings his arms around her and catches her in a bear hug.
"It's a shame," another son of Ares says. He sounds dejected. "That little spitfire's got spunk. Her old moves were in your face and wild. But her type? Can't take a hit. She can't block, so she gotta dodge."
Luke agrees with his assessment, but before he voices it, the unexpected happens. The girl head-butts the large teen, surprising everyone and freeing herself. But, she ends up falling flat on her ass, stunned and bleeding. Going skull-to-helmet wasn't the smartest move. Nonetheless, the large teen looks dazed despite his head protection.
"Like he said, she's got spunk," the Cabin 5 member says.
Although it's evident that she won't be standing on her own for a while.
With the spar now over, the four members of Cabin 5 turn their heads toward Luke, making him tense up. His right-hand moves to reach for his sword, ready to defend himself, but the members of Cabin 5 show no aggression. Instead, they stand up and move to gather around the downed girl.
"Better luck next time, Goldilocks!" one of them jokes, delivering a light kick to her side in a playful manner.
Luke doesn't know how kicking a downed person could be playful, but he couldn't describe it in another way. Neither the dig nor the move seemed mean-spirited. It's odd to witness the known camp bullies acting so chummy with the small girl.
"Here's the swirly that we owe you!" jokes one of the Cabin 5 girls. They uncap their water bottles and pour the water over the girl's face.
Luke has no idea how that counts as a makeshift swirly.
The now-wet blonde girl makes a few angry retorts, but they lack bite. The boisterous chuckles from the boys and girls seem to confirm that it's all playful banter.
Luke can't help but shake his head at the absurdity of it all. It's best not to try and make sense of the antics of crazy people.
As the Cabin 5 member leave, Luke realizes that their spar had lasted quite a while. He had lost track of time and doesn't have much time left for practice. With a sigh, he figures he might as well make the most of what little time he has.
He approaches the wet and sprawled girl in the arena. She's a fellow Cabin 11 member after all.
His mind drifts back to the first time they visited her in the infirmary. She had been out like a light, with a cast for her shattered hand and bandages for her wounds.
And burns.
Her leap toward the Kindly One coincided with Thalia's lightning strike. The result? The blast launched the girl ten feet into the air and her hair was set on fire. Luke frowns thinking back to Thalia's sudden newfound restraint with her lightning powers.
The next time they visited her, she was with Chiron in the Big House. Chiron explained that they were on their way to Cabin 11. She looked better than before, her hair even back to shoulder length—a kind gesture from a Cabin 7 member? Though it was clear she was still recovering from a fight. They exchanged thanks, with Chiron acting as a translator.
They tried to continue their talk after Chiron left, but they didn't achieve much progress.
Luke couldn't deny his growing curiosity about this intriguing anomaly in the camp. He finds himself wanting to get to know her better, but the barriers seem overwhelming. She doesn't eat with them in the mess hall, and she refrains from participating in camp activities. Despite being loud and chatty, she doesn't speak a word of English or ancient Greek.
He had heard rumours that someone from Cabin 7 was helping her with her English. But, it's too soon to expect any significant results—less than a month has passed. Thus, he hasn't taken the initiative to meet her again since their last encounter. His free time is scarce and he'd rather spend it with his friends. He always thought approaching her was pointless before she learned English.
Lost in thought, Luke almost falls over when she accepts his extended hand. He doesn't even remember offering to help her up. The gentle laughter that escapes her soft lips makes him wonder if it was a complete accident.
"Shinobu," she points to herself, introducing herself. "Himura Shinobu." Then, she points to him, expecting him to respond.
"L-Luke. Luke Castellan," he stammers, surprised by his own hesitation.
He focuses on the task at hand. She can't stand on her own in her current condition. So, he carries her by the shoulder, though their height difference makes it awkward.
As he carries her, his brain betrays him with memories of their first encounter. His head whips as he averts his gaze from her. Her laughter at his obvious awkwardness accompanied him all the way to the infirmary.