Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto nor Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I am just a lowly writer with too much time in my hands.

Warning: This is a sequel story. Read the following first before you read this story.

Child of the Moon: The Lightning Thief

Child of the Moon: The Sea of Monsters

Child of the Moon: The Titan's Curse

Chapter 13

The Bell Test

It is a test designed to test a team's team work. A jonin usually goes against three fresh graduates from the academy.

Now, I guess the question in your minds is: how in the hell will three newbies fight against an experienced shinobi? And why the hell is a test designed for a three-man squad only offering two bells to be taken?

Well, as I said, it's a test of teamwork. It doesn't matter if the genin were able to steal the bells or not. What matters to the sensei is the team's willingness to work together and to put the team above themselves. After all, there is no I in team.

Currently, we find Naruto and Percy, about to be subjected to the very same test.

Both boys looked at each other with a look of determination. It had been weeks since Naruto had been in active combat. It would be nice to once again let loose a little.

"Uh uh uh," Kakashi said. "We have to wait for your other friend."

Naruto and Percy looked at the one-eyed jonin with puzzled expressions.

"I thought Annabeth was too mad at me to re-join the team," The blonde shinobi said.

"Yeah, even I couldn't talk to her," Percy added.

"This is important for the quest and for our camp," Kakashi spoke. "I talked to her…"

The masked jonin's expression then changed. "If you're here now, then I assume you've decided to join?"

Sitting on the stands was a tanned-skin young teen, looking like a typical California girl with stormy gray eyes. She looked up from her book.

"Of course," she answered. "Someone has to keep an eye on these two boys."

Walking up to the pair of brothers, she stowed away her book and joined them. She gave Naruto an impassive look and turned to face the jonin.

"I still haven't forgiven you, you know," She said. "But I love this camp as much as anybody in this camp, and I'll do anything to protect it."

Naruto sighed. "I understand."

"Now that you've all made up…" Kakashi smirked under the mask. He attached the bells on his belt buckle and moved to raise his headband over his eyes. "I'm sure Naruto has explained the rules to you in the past."

"Yo, you're using sharingan, right off the bat?" Percy protested, remembering what those eyes did for the user.

"Hey, I know all three of you have grown past academy level, let alone genin level," Kakashi shrugged.

"Works for me," Naruto shrugged.

"If you say so," Percy sighed.

"Both of you boys better not slow me down," Annabeth said, brandishing her dagger.

Kakashi couldn't deny it. He was also brimming with anticipation. It had been a long time since he'd seen his old student. Now, he has the opportunity to test his skills. In addition, he would be able to fight against this world's strongest demigods, other than Clarisse, of course.

He smiled under the mask. "HAJIME!"

With the go-signal given, Annabeth disappeared with the help of her invisibility cap. By now, after a couple of years of working with the daughter of Athena, the boys could tell her strategy even before she said it.

They rushed forward with sword and kunai in hand. The boys' blades clashed against the jonin's own. Naruto had experience fighting against the sharingan, but he still felt frustrated every time his moves would be predicted. Curse the Uchiha and their eyes of precognition.

Percy, on the other hand, was experiencing first hand how hard it is to fight against the eyes. Naruto and he were pressing Kakashi hard. Any lesser fighter would be overwhelmed at this point, but Kakashi was not one of these lesser fighters. It still blows his mind how this man was able to fight against two people at once.

As the three blades clashed, Kakashi suddenly stopped. Instead of blocking Naruto and Percy's thrusts he flipped backwards avoiding some unseen force.

"I have to say, that invisibility cap of yours is annoying to go up against," Kakashi said.

Annabeth took off her cap revealing her, oh so close to where the jonin was previously.

"Well, it was worth a shot," She shrugged.

'It was a great plan,' Kakashi thought. 'It shows that this team is a well-oiled machine.'

"What's so funny?" Percy asked, seeing the masked man actually smile to himself.

"Oh, nothing," Kakashi said. "You guys actually threw off my ninja tactics instruction manual by going directly to armed combat. And since I can't use genjutsu on the both of you…"

Kakashi's hands blurred. It was reminiscent of how Sasuke did his hand signs in the very first bell test. After he was done, he held two fingers to his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Thinking fast, Percy took out one of the mini scrolls that Naruto had given him in case he did not have access to water. He threw it on the ground and produced a substantial amount of water. He directed the water to the incoming fire ball, dousing the flames.

The two elements collided, causing steam to erupt obscuring the view of the whole battlefield.

Suddenly, the screeching sound of a familiar attack was heard, alerting Kakashi. Not long after, he swerved to avoid the incoming destructive move. To his surprise, the spiraling shuriken disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing Naruto who hurled a familiar oddly-shaped kunai at the off balance jonin.

With quick thinking, he poured chakra into his eyes. His sharingan evolved allowing him to access the next stage of his visual prowess.

"Kamui!"

Space seemed to bend around the area of the shuriken. The area swirled around in on itself, sucking everything into the center like a black hole. In a matter of seconds, the Rasenshuriken was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking he was out of immediate danger, he relaxed a little, leaving him with no time to prepare for what was next. He swerved out of the way, just in time for a seconds Rasenshuriken to whizz past his head.

And just like an exact mirroring of the past, the second chakra shuriken disappeared with a puff of smoke revealing Naruto holding an oddly shaped kunai. The weapon was hurled towards him while he was distracted.

Rolling to the ground with practiced ease to dodge the projectile, he landed on his knees to catch his opponents weapons, ready for the next bout. Percy appeared through the mist created by the clashing techniques and engaged him in another duel.

Wielding the kunai, he was overcome with nostalgia. It was just like the one his sensei gifted him long ago. He was so distracted that he almost missed the Son of Poseidon lunge for the bells on his belt line.

Without thinking, he leapt back and did a quick wind jutsu to blow away the smoke for better visibility.

With the view of the arena cleared, he saw that he was now surrounded. Naruto stood behind him, smirking. Percy stood in front of him with a smirk. And Annabeth, who just took off her invisibility cap, grinned at him as she rang the two small bells, signaling the end of their training exercise.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. This team had the capability to work together, like a well-oiled machine. He remembered the first iteration of the move Naruto had pulled off with Sasuke. If only he had pushed the team to work together, to bond more…

If only he had not shifted his focus only to Sasuke…

If only he could have saved Sasuke from the clutches of the snake. Some genius he was. He couldn't save his teacher. He couldn't save his friend and teammate. He couldn't save his student.

He was shaken from his musings as applause broke out from the stands. It seems the commotion in the sword arena brought out the rest of the campers, treating them to a show.

He looked at the reunited team. Chiron cantered into the arena to assess the situation.

"Are they ready to return to the quest?" He asked the camp counselor.

"Let's face it, Chiron, we are never ready for what happens in the battlefield," Kakashi answered, remembering his own past. "But in a team, I believe that the whole is better than the sum of its parts."

CABIN 8

Naruto missed his room. He wasn't going to lie.

Calypso's bed might have been comfy, but nothing beats the bed his very own mother had provided for him.

He scanned the room. It seemed smaller than he remembered. Nobody had touched it, of course, for fear of being turned into a jackalope if they ever entered the cabin. Seriously, he had to have a talk with his godly parent about her temperament.

Anyway, he studied the scrolls of unfinished seals he left on his stand. Unfinished seal projects he had not finished as he had to go out for the quest.

His mind wandered to Calypso and what could be the greatest what if of his life. He understood her completely. The pain of being forgotten and shoved into the sideline. He understood the pain of being alone and treated like you did not exist. He knew the pain of being punished for some sin you have never even done.

It was these familiar feelings that brought them together, so close.

But it wasn't meant to be.

He had a home to save, a family waiting for him to come home, a–

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

He was broken out of his thoughts when a knock was heard from the door outside. He knew exactly who it was. As I said earlier, there was a very small list of people who dared to touch the cabin door.

He made his way out to the main room to answer the knock. It was Bianca.

"Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions," The girl glowered. "We all thought we lost you, you know."

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly, "Sheesh, I've been hearing that all day. I already said I'm sorry, all right?"

Bianca couldn't stay mad at her older brother. She sighed. "What's important is that you are home."

She gave the older boy a grateful look. "Plus, I'm thankful that you were able to save Nico."

"Anything for the two of you," Naruto said. "Though I'm sorry we couldn't bring Nico home yet. We had to split up at the fork in the road."

"At least, I know he is with his friends…" Bianca said longingly. As much as he hated his brother's annoying behavior, he still missed him. Even if she hated the fact that she was now responsible for the two of them, she still worried about his safety.

She then looked at the older brother she finally had. "So are you going to tell me what happened on that island?"

Naruto blushed, giving Bianca the wrong idea.

Seeing her reaction, he quickly explained himself. "I-i-t's not what you think. We just…connected…that's all…but I guess it's just not meant to be."

Remembering the story of Ogygia, she realized what he meant. "But you had to leave her…Your heart was elsewhere."

Naruto was silent. His heart was at camp. He had to come back to protect his home, a home that accepted him despite not really being from this dimension, the home that accepted him despite his deepest darkest secrets.

Bianca stared at Naruto. She had a feeling that they were thinking of completely different things, but she didn't press further. She knew the quest wasn't over, far from it actually. The team had to prepare to go back.

"I better leave for tonight. I heard you're going back on the quest tomorrow morning. I guess there is no rest for the weary." She concluded what she had to say for the night.

"Tell me about it," Naruto sighed.

"Good night, Naruto! And thanks again…"

"Good night…"

HALF-BLOOD HILL
THE NEXT MORNING

Naruto and his team met at Half-Blood hill early the next day. Kakashi and Chiron were there to see them off, again. While Argus was also there to drive them into the city, as he always did.

He gave the team a grateful look. Last summer, he and Chiron had been fired from the camp for the incident with Thalia's tree, but after proving their innocence, he had been reinstated along with Chiron. He may not say it out loud. (He is a man of few words after all.) But he never fails to show it when he meets the team responsible.

"You okay?" Naruto asked Annabeth, seeing as she had dark circles under her eyes.

"No," She said simply. It was a relief to the blonde that she was talking to him normally again. He guessed she had gotten over his trip to Ogygia. Naruto wouldn't know.

"I just couldn't get it out of my head," She explained. "What Minos told me. The dreams don't help either."

"The ones about Daedalus?" Naruto inquired.

She nodded. "I never thought he would stoop so low. I mean, every child of Athena strives to be like him. He was a genius!"

"I told Tyson this, but you should hear it too. You've looked up to him for so long that it's hard to believe he would act out of character." Naruto consoled the girl.

"You're right," Annabeth shook herself awake, ready for the mission.

"How about you?" she asked the Son of Poseidon. "Did the God of Dreams send you a message last night?"

"Luke and his crew are looking for the string," Percy explained his dream. "They plan to find Quintus too."

"That is troubling news, indeed," Chiron said. "It was only a matter of time for Kronos' Army to find its way into the heart of camp."

"But everything's going to be alright, right?" Annabeth declared with optimism. "You two have your plan."

Naruto sighed. "As much as I don't want to drag a mortal into the problems of the godly world, but we don't have a choice."

JACKSON RESIDENCE

The Saturday morning traffic sucked their time down the drain. It was around noon when Argus dropped the quest group at the new apartment.

As the doorbell rang, the door opened and Naruto was promptly lifted off his feet, as he was wrapped into a tight embrace.

"I knew you were alright," Sally rejoiced as she smothered Naruto.

"I'm sorry I worried you, mom," Naruto croaked as the life was squeezed out of him.

Eventually, she released Naruto from the crushing hug and ushered the teens inside her house. Annabeth and Percy giggled at Sally's smothering of Naruto, much to the boy's dismay. But he couldn't blame his mother, he was lost for weeks with no word from the outside world.

"I told them you were okay!"

"Have you been eating?"

"Did you sleep well at night?"

"Did they treat you badly?"

Naruto, despite being smothered to death by the love and worry of his mother, couldn't help but wonder, was this the feeling of having a mother waiting for you to come home? Or when someone was looking for you when you were lost?

He smiled and fought the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. Percy and Annabeth saw this and just smiled. They knew their friend's backstory. They know Naruto deserved this much.

"I was safe, mom," Naruto said. "A little too safe, actually. And I have been eating well, but nothing beats your cooking of course. And I wasn't treated badly…though, I sadly had to leave her behind…"

"Oh, Naruto…" Sally lamented for her son's friend. As a mother, she couldn't help but to comfort her son.

Mrs. Jackson finally let go of her lost son.

"Tell me about your quest," She turned to the rest of the team.

Seeing no harm in doing this, they agreed. Sally ushered them to the dining table where she insisted on feeding them orange and blue chocolate chip cookies. Annabeth couldn't help but be weirded out by the food, but upon trying it, all prejudice against the oddly-coloured food was thrown out the window.

They narrated everything that happened, the watered-down version of course. They told her about the new war game, Percy and Annabeth being lost in the Labyrinth for a good hour or so, the issuance of the quest, meeting the Queen of the Heavens, the ranch, etc.

But when they told her about the part where Percy cleaned out the stables, Sally pretended to strangle Percy.

"I can't get you to clean your room, but someone else's stables?" She ranted.

Naruto almost choked on his cookie because of the gesture.

"Well, that pretty much covers it…" Percy wrapped up the story, as he took another big bite off of the blue cookie.

"Hmmm, you almost demolished Alcatraz, caused the explosion of Mt. St. Helens, and displaced half a million people," Sally listed. "But at least you three are safe."

Percy and Naruto smiled. It's so like their mother, always looking at the bright side.

"Oh and Percy, Paul was looking for you," Sally brought up. "He was asking you if you were okay. I mean, what that Kelli did to you was unforgivable."

A lot of things happened that the three demigods almost forgot about the band room incident. Another incident that could have been blamed on Percy had Naruto not intervened.

"He and the school were worried you would not want to continue studying at Goode after what happened," Sally explained.

"I would love to attend that school, mom!" Percy exclaimed. "It's one of the few schools that would actually teach me properly despite my…uh…condition. There's no way I'm letting a bunch of donkey-footed teens stop me from going to this one good school."

"That's great!" Sally cheered, but her tone returned. "But the thing is…Paul is a smart man, son. He's starting to sense that there's something different about you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He didn't think their mother's boyfriend would be one of the few mortals to notice these signs and not chalk it all up to being "troublemakers."

"That is indeed rare," Annabeth seemed to agree with Naruto's thoughts. "It's never easy for us to be in the normal world, so it's a breath of fresh air to find out there are some people like Mr. Blofis."

"We can talk to him," Percy offered.

"If he's going to be part of the family, then he deserves to know," Naruto added, offering to go with Percy.

"Thank you, my boys," She pulled Naruto and Percy into a hug. "I'll tell him you'll be home…When exactly? I sense that you're going back out to your quest."

Naruto smirked. There's no hiding things from Sally Jackson. She could be an incredible addition to the Intel Unit if she were a shinobi.

"Well you see, there's this…plan…"

At the end of the explanation, she nodded. "I see…it has precedent…it just might work."

"You're one of them too, aren't you mom?" Naruto asked.

"I am," Sally confirmed. "But my vision into the godly world isn't as strong as it used to be. Back in the day, I could see more than the average mortal. It's probably why I caught the attention of Percy's father."

Deciding that there's nothing she could say to stop her sons from venturing out again into the deadly maze, she turned to Annabeth. "I'm sure you know by now how much trouble my boys always get into…"

"Hey!"

"I most certainly do not!"

Ignoring the protests from her two boys, she continued. "So I ask you to keep an eye on them for me, will you?"

"Now, off you go, you three. You have a friend to call and a deadly maze to get back to."

TIMES SQUARE

Naruto did not get modern art at all.

The group found their friend at some event. She and her friend looked like they were victims of King Midas, except there were silver and bronze colors too. They were frozen in different poses while tourists and onlookers gawked at them while the others threw money at their tarp.

They stood there for a good ten minutes before Naruto broke the silence. "Is this all really necessary?"

Then, the daughter of Athena's mischievous side came out to play. "So, you guys ever heard of cow-tipping?"

"No!" Naruto and Percy scolded.

"Sheesh, all right, all right," Annabeth held her hands in the air.

A few more minutes of murder to the children with ADHD later, a kid painted with silver all over came over and stood in front of Rachel. Once relieved of her duties, she was finally allowed to move and greet her friends.

"Hey Percy!"

"Fishcake…"

"And who are you again? I forget…"

"My name is Annabeth," The daughter of Athena growled at being forgotten.

"I hate to imagine what you do when you're all alone, Red, if this is what you do in your spare time," Naruto teased in revenge for the mortal's jab to his name.

That had the desired effect as Rachel's face heated up under the coat of gold paint.

"Tha, tha, that's n-none of y-your business," she sputtered as she struggled to come up with a comeback.

"Focus," Annabeth scolded. "We have something very important to talk about."

At that moment, Rachel's expression grew serious. "Let's go. We'll talk about it over some coffee."

The redhead took them to a place called Java Moose on West 43rd. They picked a booth and ordered some drinks for themselves. Rachel grabbed an Espresso Extreme. Annabeth and Percy grabbed a couple of frappuccinos. And Naruto grabbed a secret menu item that he'd seen over the internet.

"I half prayed you would still be in gold right now," Naruto commented after he took a sip from his drink.

Annabeth and Rachel gave him a couple of glares for being playful.

"I thought we were here for something important," Rachel said.

Naruto raised his hands up in apology and allowed the conversation to continue.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" the mortal began to ask. "It sounded really urgent."

"That's cause it is," Percy answered. "We need your help."

"Wait, wait, wait," Rachel protested. "I'm a…what did you call it?...mortal, and you all powerful demi–OW! What was that for?!"

"How many times do we have to tell you that it's dangerous to say it out loud," Naruto scolded. "Or do you want me to broadcast who you are?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare."

"Enough bullying already," Percy played peacemaker. "I'm sure Naruto only wanted you to understand the consequences of announcing to the world what we really are."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Rachel seemed genuinely apologetic. "Back up for a sec, then. You guys need my help?"

Percy did the explaining this time. Naruto wanted to say something about his brother finally being the smart one in the room, but he reeled himself in. This was an important matter to attend to.

"So, you basically need a guide," Rachel summarized.

Annabeth nodded. "Do you know the story of Ariadne and Theseus?"

"She led Theseus through the maze," the other girl recalled.

"Basically. But what the myths left out from the mortal stories is that Ariadne was a clear-sighted mortal. Not a single drop of godly blood flowed through her veins, but she was blessed with the ability to see what the normal mortal eye does not see." Naruto explained.

"This is cool and all, but Ariadne is a different person, while I'm…just me…" Rachel lamented. "I couldn't live up to the myths."

"Of course, you can," Percy prodded. "You can see those skeletons. That means you have Ariadne's abilities. You can do this."

"For what it's worth, Rach. You're our only hope," Naruto said, causing the girl to blush much to the ire of a certain daughter of Athena.

"But it will be reaaaally dangerous," Annabeth added. "You might even die."

"How though? You said monsters don't care about mortals," Rachel clarified.

"Oh, it's not them we're worried about," Percy explained. "Old friends of ours are in there somewhere, and they won't hesitate to draw a blade against mortals like you."

"Friends who are under the influence of a titan," Annabeth corrected, while giving Percy the stink eye from the corner of her eye.

"Okay, I'm in. So where do we find this entrance to the Labyrinth?" Rachel asked.

"It can appear as anything, a door, a boulder, a section of the wall, you name it," Naruto listed off some. "As long as it has the Greek letter for ∆, that's the one."

The clear-sighted mortal's eyes widened.

"Why? What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"You better come with me to the Marriot."