Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

Everyone was just bored.

It was a long ride to the Resource Island where they would fix the ship and enhance it with the enhanced wyvern hides. Tamamo had finished all that she could do to enhance the ship, and everyone had calmed down from their encounter with Charybdis. For some, like Shuten, all she needed was a good drink to keep her spirits up.

Others, like Beni, were never bored because she always had a task she needed to do. Beni spent most of her time in the kitchen, cooking the next meal for the entire ship. Since she genuinely enjoyed cooking and serving others, she was the person suffering the least amount of boredom, along with Shuten.

'Seems our little guest is getting pretty bored too...' Naruto wondered what he could do to have the boredom killed. His crew of servants just weren't being mentally stimulated enough for them to maintain their duties.

Except for Melusine.

She needed no mental stimulation at all, because while she was extremely bored, she was also very happy just being by his side at any given time. Even now, when he was sitting on the stairs that led up to the steering wheel, she was happy just sitting on the stairs between his legs, leaning her head against his thigh.

Ishtar didn't seem to mind being bored too much.

Van Gogh was just taking in the scenes of islands they passed by on the way to the island they were actually going to. She was enjoying herself, bored, but enjoying being bored. Naruto glanced up towards Anne and Mary, who were both just keeping the ship on the right track. They were smoking their pipe and cigars slowly, enjoying the smoke they created from them. The ship itself was just very quiet, nothing but the gentle rocking on the waves under them and the creaks of the ship to listen to.

"Some music would liven things up." Anne noted, glancing down to Naruto.

"We don't have any instruments on board..." Mary beat Naruto to the answer there. It would have been create if they had something to make music with, but they only had what was needed on board the ship at the moment. Not a lot of luxury, and what luxury they did have mostly came in the form of good meals from Beni.

Before, Skeleton Crews were attacking pretty consistent, but they had reached an area that just didn't have a lot of them around.

Who would have thought getting attacked by zombie skeleton pirates was a luxury that killed boredom, because in any other situation it sounded like a nightmare.

"Melusine, why don't you keep the ship straight. If the Captain is bored, we can show him something to kill his boredom." Anne requested the younger-looking woman, who just glanced her way.

The two women shared a look.

"He will really enjoy our company..."

"No thanks." Melusine didn't like the way their eyes looked when they spoke about spending time with Naruto. All they were doing was really showing why she didn't let Naruto out of her site around them.

She called dibs.

She had fallen for her Master the second he summoned her, so she had dibs on him at all times. She was also the strongest, so she had the right to whatever she wanted to have. That meant that her Master belonged to her, and the others couldn't touch him while she was around. He was her treasure, and she didn't have to share him if she didn't want to. She shifted when Naruto stood up, and he gestured for her to stay seated.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to go have a chat with Tamamo and Atalanta. You relax for a little... and keep an eye out." Naruto gestured to his cabin. Since the uninvited guest was hiding out in his private quarters. He would give her credit, she had managed to stay hidden for a long time... though it wasn't like they were trying to out her yet.

-In Storage-

"Here."

"I'll take good care of it." Atalanta had transformed into a more battle oriented form, with the head of a boar hanging off of her shoulder, and her dress being replaced by a fur bikini pretty much. Naruto walked down the stairs and saw Atalanta taking the Holy Grail and hiding it inside the mouth of the boar head on her shoulder. "Master, do you need us?" Atalanta asked when she noticed Naruto first.

Until they found a good island to bury the Holy Grail on where they could easily find it again, the grail would always be in possession of a servant, and it was passed every day to a different servant.

"Tamamo, do you think you could put on some kind of performance for the crew... liven things up?" Naruto asked his great ancestor. She was a legendary woman who courted rulers and would start wars, but she was also well known for her story telling abilities and dancing. If anyone could break some of the boredom, he would guess it would be her. "... Atalanta, what did the Greeks do during long sailing trips?" Naruto asked the woman.

"I'll get my instrument ready."

"You have an... not going to question that... well?" Naruto returned his attention to Atalanta, while Tamamo started her way up the stairs. Atalanta just leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes as if she was remembering her first life.

"My time on the argo was not pleasant, and it was fraught with with ill omens... as one of the few women, often I was defending my chastity... I did not enjoy my time on the argo very much." Atalanta spoke of her time. Naruto sat down on the stairs, and he looked towards her.

"Since I'm related to Ibuki-Douji and Tamamo-no-Mae, I learned a lot about Japanese history... but I don't actually know a lot about Greek history. So..." Naruto gestured for her to elaborate on herself more.

She smiled slightly.

"Mine is not a tale worth telling, and my end is not pleasant."

"What hero ever has a happy ending in history?" Naruto asked her, and she just laughed under her breath. It wasn't often that a hero ever ended their life in a pleasant way, more often than not they died a hero.

Atalanta smiled, but it wasn't happy.

"... I did not end my life heroically."

"How did it end though?" Naruto was curious.

"... My hand in marraige was promised to whoever could beat me in a foot race... and my husband used three golden apples to slow me down... and thus I married him. Not long after... I gave birth to a son... with the god Ares... not my husband." Atalanta didn't look Naruto directly in the eye when she said that. She rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"You... cheated?"

"... I was raped... or... I was... half-raped... he cheated in the race to win me. But... I also swore an oat to remain a virgin... so to hide the fact I lost my virginity... I abandoned my own child... in that, I was no better than my own father, who abandoned me." Atalanta felt great regret over how she had abandoned her child. "... If I had no abandoned Parthenopaeus... I wonder how his life would have turned out. Well... I guess... karma bit me."

Naruto just listened to her story.

Atalanta sighed.

"My husband had never thanked Aphrodite for her help in cheating... and in her anger, she waited until we were on a hunt... and cursed us with sexual passion. We mated in Zeus' temple... and he turned us into lions as punishment... my life ended not as a human, but as an animal." Atalanta had her cat ears and tails twitch as she showed how the way her life ended, was currently affecting her servant body. The cat aspects of her body were taken straight from her legend.

She looked at Naruto.

"... That sucks, but hey... you have a second chance now."

"... This second life is just temporary." Atalanta stated, and Naruto smiled.

"All life is temporary, but this is your second life. You don't have the oaths and you don't need to carry the regrets of your past life... you're my servant, and I'm going to do my best to fulfill both of our dreams... and after hearing you life ended... I'm thankful to you." Naruto stood up and looked down at Atalanta.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You're thankful?"

"I'm thankful you shared your story with me, and your regrets. I feel like I know you a little bit better now... and I hope next time you tell me about yourself, you tell me something happier. I would love to hear a story of when you were happy." Naruto smiled at her as he spoke.

She smiled back.

"Some of my brightest moments of happiness, were when I was hunting and killing those who would wrong me... why, once the Centaurs Rhoecus and Hylaios saw me in the wild, and tried to rape me... I slew them both." Atalanta recalled that memory with a small laugh.

...

"There... is a lot of rape in Greek legends... isn't there... how many times in your life were you almost raped?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Well, personally... not as much as you would think. Many men feared me too much... so... I was only raped by 2 men, and one was my husband who was cursed by Aphrodite... and I would say... maybe 10 made attempts on me... and I killed every man who tried to marry me during the footrace... so-" Atalanta stopped talking when Naruto just placed a hand on her head and soothed her. She wasn't being outwardly emotional, but her cat ears were laid flat on her head. "... thanks, but honestly, I'm fine."

"Fine?"

"I'm fine now. You need to understand, during the Age of Gods... that was just how things were done. It was not as if I lived my life without harming others. I killed many good men who just wished to court me... so... tell me... have you ever tried to court a woman before?" Atalanta smiled as she asked him.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Actually, no... back when I was in school, there was this pretty girl who tried to date me... but 3 weeks into our relationship, her family forbid her from ever seeing me." Naruto told part of his own story.

Atalanta smiled.

"Oh?"

"Well, her family saw me as some no-name, useless orphan."

"Oh?" Atalanta repeated, but the smile dropped from her face, even as Naruto was smiling. She instantly took a lot less enjoyment in his story when she got more details. "... You were an orphan?"

"Still am, I don't have a family. My parents were murdered on the day I was born, and because of my looks, no family in Japan ever adopted me... I was bullied my entire life for being different. That is why it became my goal to conquer my home country... I wanted to prove them all wrong. That I wasn't worthless, that I was greater than all of them would ever imagine me." Naruto grinned as he spoke.

Atalanta smiled again.

"... Your story is not unlike a Greek legend. You know Master. I find it comforting... knowing that you and I have both suffered. Though... I do hope you... aren't exactly like a Greek hero."

"Oh no, I once let myself get beaten half to death to stop some thugs from hurting some girls I barely knew. I'll never turn down a challenge, but I will never let an innocent get hurt if I can help it." Naruto frowned while speaking. He could never imagine letting somebody, even a stranger, get hurt while he could do something to protect them.

Atalanta just smirked.

"Yeah... I figured as much."

"You did?" Naruto asked her with a confused look.

"... When you slapped me, you weren't cruel... you could have made it hurt, but your hand was gentle, even when you struck me. You're not a cruel man... even when you struck me, it was because you wanted me to wake up... I haven't thanked you for that... have I?" Atalanta asked him with a warm smile.

Naruto smirked.

"You gonna... ow..." Naruto yelped slightly when Atalanta leaned up and sank her teeth into his shoulder. She bit him hard enough that she was able to draw blood from him. She had both of her hands on his shoulders, having moved his shirt to the side so that she could bite his flesh. She pulled her fangs from him, and his blood colored her lips red.

She was smiling.

"This is my thanks to you... this will be the last time. I swear my loyalty to you, as my Master and Captain. I swear an oath to you... in this war, this will be the last time an enemy ever makes you bleed." Atalanta let go of him, and she wiped his shoulder with her hand. She showed her hand was covered in his blood, and licked it off.

She bit down on her own hand and ripped open a wound deep enough to spill her own blood on the floor.

"Atalanta..."

"I swear an oath on our blood. I accept you as my Master, and as my Master, you will not suffer being injured by another enemy. You have proven yourself worthy... and now I will respond to your worth with my loyalty." Atalanta extended her bleeding hand towards him. She dripped her blood open his open wound.

Naruto was confused.

"So... wait... this entire time... you hadn't accepted me as your Master?"

"I have not, but I was willing to let you prove yourself. I called you Master, but my heart was not in it... your words have touched me. I will use this second life in service of you, and not as a way to repent for past sins... lets go, I'm sure Tamamo has her dance ready." Atalanta stated as she licked her wound clean. Naruto covered his wound up with his shirt, still stunned by her admission. "... just remember Master... I broke my oath in my last life, so I'm going to make sure I don't break this oath."

Naruto slowed as he walked up the stairs, before he smiled.

"... I swear I'll do my best as your Master."

"I know you will." Atalanta had faith in his words. He didn't need to swear it, because she just knew that he was going to keep his word anyway.

When they reached the main deck they were greeted by a surprise.

The guest on the ship was tied up and tossed out onto the middle of the main deck.

Their stowaway had been caught.

Chapter End!
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