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

Child of the Moon: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 4

"Hey Naruto!" Annabeth called out to his fellow blonde that was very far away from the group. "Guh, I swear. He's even worse than before. Why's he got to run off like that?"

"Oh, I guess he didn't tell, did he?" Kakashi spoke.

*FLASHBACK*

A massive nine-tailed fox was standing face to face against a massive one-tailed Tanuki.

"KEKEKE! YOUR CHEAP TRANSFORMATION WON'T DEFEAT ME!" The Shukaku cackled.

"Remember Gaki, one blow on the Jinchuriki to wake him up," Gamabunta spoke from within the nine tails.

"Got it, boss," Naruto replied.

"FŪTON: RENKŪDAN!" The Shukaku took a deep breath. Its belly grew considerably. Slamming a hand on the belly, compressed pressurized air was shot out towards the fox.

The fox leapt into the air, causing the attack to miss.

Landing on its feet, the fox charged. It raised its claw and slashed.

The tanuki blocked it. With its free hand, it blew more compressed air.

The fox zig-zagged in between the air bullets and bit into tanuki's flesh, or more like sand.

"OWW ! YOU STUPID FOX!" The Shukaku roared in pain.

At that moment, the fox' transformation was undone, revealing Gamabunta, the toad boss, who was biting the tanuki in place of the fox despite having no teeth. On top of its head, there was Naruto, poised to strike.

"Go, gaki!" The toad boss ordered.

Naruto leapt towards Gaara, who was under his Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu. Sand gathered around Naruto and tried to wrap around him, but the blonde was quicker. A kunai appeared in his hand and he sliced through sand.

He landed on the tanuki's head, which proved to be a mistake, as the sand body turned into quicksand, causing his feet to sink.

"Gaki!" The toad boss yelled in concern.

But Naruto was not phased by his situation. He tapped into the fox' chakra. The sand exploded around him as he dashed forward. He landed one well-placed strike on the sand shinobi's cheek.

"NOOOOOO!" The Shukaku wailed, as the Sand Jinchuriki started to wake up.

Gaara's eyes fluttered open from the pain of the punch. He held out his hand and sent sand onto Naruto to restrict his movements. Naruto powered through and flipped, struck with his heel.

That was the attack that did it. Shukaku's form began to crack and crumble. The two genin fell onto the tree tops.

Gaara stood up and glared at the blonde. Naruto returned it with a ferocious glare of his own.

"Gaki, my time is up. Good luck," Gamabunta bid his summoner goodbye.

The two combatants took the massive puff of smoke as their cue. They leapt at each other.

Naruto was the first to strike, giving one solid blow to the head.

Gaara tried to counter, but the blonde disappeared. He felt a finger touch his back. Tilting his head back, he was surprised to see Naruto behind him, matching his descent to the ground.

Before the sand shinobi could do anything, Naruto wrapped his hands around his opponent. They then began to spin as they continued their descent into the ground, breaking through the sand that tried to form to protect him.

As they slammed into the ground, the ground shook slowly from the impact and dust was kicked up. When the dust cloud was cleared, it was revealed that Naruto was standing over a beated Gaara.

"Y-you…" Gaara croaked. "Why are you so strong?"

"Someone once told me, you are your strongest if you fight to protect something precious to you," Naruto said.

His eyes then turned cold, turning into the slit pupils of the nine-tailed fox. "That being said. If you ever lay a hand on my friends, I'll kill you."

For the first time, Gaara felt fear. He felt remorse for daring to hurt this boy's friends. He felt like he could actually die at this blonde's hands if push comes to shove.

"Wh-what are you?" He asked, his voice quivering in fear.

"The same as you,"

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"So that's why Naruto feels this strongly to save his friend," Bianca said after hearing how Gaara and Naruto were connected.

The group made it to the edge of the forest. The border between the Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. They were now walking, not too slowly, they still had the sense of urgency.

"But still, he should still think of us," Silena complained. "Not all of us are shinobi."

"I'm sorry guys," Bianca apologized. "I could Shadow Travel us there, but since I haven't been here before, who knows where I would take us."

"Shadow Travel?" Sakura asked. "Is that related to the Nara Clan Hidden Techniques?"

Bianca clicked her tongue internally at her slip up. She tried to come up with some excuse, but Kakashi beat him to it.

"It's from where they came from," Kakashi spoke up.

"O-okay," Sakura answered, but she wasn't buying it. From his sensei's prolonged absences and the secrecy around Naruto's story, she began to suspect something fishy going on. She really is a smart girl.

She then clicked her tongue. She saw Annabeth sitting beside Naruto. She could see the adoration in her eyes. It was unlike the eyes she held for Sasuke back in her fangirling days. This girl, her feelings go deeper than she could ever imagine.

She saw Naruto's expression soften everytime this girl would talk to him.

Silena saw the look that Sakura was sending their way. She smirked. As a daughter of the love goddess, she understood what was going on here.

"Getting jealous, are we?" The girl teased.

"Wh-wh-what? N-n-no, what are you talking about? I don't know what you're talking about! It's not that I like him or anything!" Sakura sputtered out and scrambled her words together.

Silena smirked. "I didn't say you like him.

Sakura turned beet red. She covered her mouth in embarrassment "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, yes you did," Kakashi answered. "What happened, Sakura? Here I thought you hated Naruto."

"I-I-I…it's not that I hated him…he was just annoying and stupid…and then…" Sakura struggled to find a reason. "Then he disappeared."

"Well, you don't know what you have until you lose it," Silena said.

The group was silent as they watched Naruto start to laugh. It seems Naruto had cheered up after a little pep-talk by Annabeth.

To break the awkward silence, Silena sent a question to the Suna nin. "You and that pineapple-haired boy are dating aren't you?"

"What? No!" Temari denied vehemently in disgust. "I would never date someone as lazy as that guy.

Silena held her hands up. "I'm just saying. I know a date when I see one."

Temari narrowed her eyes. "What are you? Some kind of love guru?"

"I guess you could say that,"

That was the last thing that was said before the ambush began.

It was then the leaves rustled around them. Then, a lone figure stood in front of them.

"Uchiha Itachi," Naruto said coldly as soon as he recognized the man.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," Itachi greeted him.

"Get out of our way!" Naruto demanded. "We have to get to Gaara right away!"

"I cannot do that, Naruto," Itachi shook his head.

Naruto grit his teeth and rushed forward.

"Naruto, wait—"

Despite the warnings, the blonde lunged for an attack. The attack connected. But as soon as the attack landed, Itachi's form burst into a murder of crows.

Naruto found himself in a formless world with a reddish hue. He was floating in the air. In front of him, another murder converged and in front of him, was Itachi.

"Relax," Itachi spoke. "I just want to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about!" Naruto snapped. "You were the cause of Sasuke leaving the village! As a leaf shinobi, it is my job to bring you in, dead or alive."

"And what of Sasuke?" Itachi asked. "He and I are in the same predicament now."

"I will save him. I promised Sakura I would bring him back to Konoha," Naruto said resolutely.

Itachi smiled. It pained him to keep his side mission to himself. He regretted not confiding in anyone. He regretted shouldering the whole Uchiha Defection all on his own. Perhaps now, with Sasuke's disappearance from the Elemental Nations, he could entrust it to someone else. He just had to atone for his sins in his hand in the massacre of his clan. He had to die by Sasuke's hand.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked.

"It's nothing," Itachi said. "I assume, whichever place you disappeared to, Sasuke was there."

Naruto was surprised. Only he and Tsunade-no-baachan had intel on the Land ruled by the gods. And maybe even Orochimaru, but apart from them, there is no one else who knows. He knew from his history that Itachi was considered a genius, but that doesn't explain how he was able to deduce that far.

"So what if he is?" Naruto said.

"I'll take that as a yes," Itachi nodded. "And as a thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I will give you two gifts. First, a tidbit of information that I know that you will appreciate. And the second…"

Itachi sent a crow towards Naruto. Not expecting the animal, he wasn't able to do anything as the bird forced itself down his throat.

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Naruto complained.

"With how things are going so far, I do not see a better time when I could give this to you," Itachi said. "I know Sasuke's next move after he has dealt with me."

"Okay?" Naruto didn't know what to say to that. "And the information?"r

"Oh, I've longed to see how you've improved all this time," Itachi smiled. "You will get the information you seek once you defeat me. Words of advice: don't hold back."

With that, Naruto was thrust back to the real world.

"-ruto! Naruto!" He could hear the girls calling out to him.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he was back in the world of consciousness. He saw Bianca and Silena standing guard as they were trying to get him out of his trance.

"You were spacing out there!" Silena scolded. "What's with you? This is so unlike you?"

"Genjutsu," Naruto explained. "He caught me and talked to me. More importantly, where are the others."

Silena pointed ahead. Kakashi and Sakura were engaging Itachi. The rogue nin was gracefully avoiding their attack, with Sharingan active. Through sheer instinct, he was also able to avoid the invisible attacks.

"Alright, guys," Naruto began. "Continue the attack. Overwhelm his visual prowess. And Bianca, when you get the chance, sneak up behind him with your shadow travel."

"Right," The two said.

Naruto and Silena joined the fray. Naruto had to hand it to the visual prowess, it was able to keep up even with four opponents gunning for your throat. He dreaded to think how Madara Uchiha fought. And he was beginning to see why Itachi was touted as a prodigy.

Bianca stabbed the ground with her dagger that was as black as the night sky. Bones of the undead rose and answered her beckon call, but she didn't expect what happened next. The bones formed flesh and clothes. Now, she had an army of undead shinobi wearing attire from Iwa and Konoha. Shrugging this off, she ordered the zombies to charge.

Sakura lunged forward zigzagging through the hobbling zombies. She threw a punch in the first opening she saw. Itachi raised his hand to block, but he didn't expect the girl's strength. The sickening sound of bone breaking rang throughout the battlefield. The force of the punch sent him skidding backwards.

Naruto sprang into action. With kunai in hand, he began to engage. With his non-dominant hand, Itachi brought out a blade of his own to defend himself. The two blades clashed as Naruto pressured the Konoha deserter. He and Silena were actually overwhelming him as the Akatsuki member was not used to fighting with his non-dominant hand.

Just then, Naruto smirked. The ground beneath Itachi broke as Naruto emerged from underground, sending a mean left hook to the Uchiha.

With quick thinking, Itachi leapt in the air to avoid the blow.

Unbeknownst to him, the pink-haired kunoichi was in the air ready to give a chakra-laced punch to Itachi.

"Shānnarō!" The girl screamed as the punch connected, creating a shockwave behind him.

Sakura's grin disappeared as Itachi's form broke into a murder of crows.

In the shrubbery where Itachi disappeared to, he caught his breath from the earlier skirmish. Fighting six people at once was a tall task. That's for sure. He smiled. Despite how strong Naruto was growing, he still relied on his comrades, unlike himself.

As he mused to himself, the final steps of their plan was going underway.

The shadows around him contorted and seemingly spit out two figures. Not expecting the ambush, he was unprepared as he was stabbed in the chest by a Raikiri.

Back with the rest of the group, Sakura was beaming with pride as the kid who was once touted as the dead last of their class had improved so much.

"Wow, Naruto, you— you've improved so much," Sakura complimented. "Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Oh you know—"

Annabeth took off her New York Yankees baseball cap. She walked up to them before Naruto could answer. "He's learned from the best teachers at camp."

"What's your problem with me?" Sakura asked. "Can't I talk to my friend right here?"

"Fine, but I'm watching you," Annabeth narrowed her eyes.

Kakashi and Bianca emerged from the foliage, dragging the body of their defeated opponent.

"Everyone, come take a look at this," He called out to his squad.

"What's up Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto walked towards the jonin with his hands behind his head, ignoring the two girls who were now glaring at each other.

"You have to come and take a look at this," Kakashi said as he laid the body on the ground gently.

It was a man with black hair that hung over his right eye, a goatee, and dark eyes. He was wearing an Akatsuki cloak with mesh armor underneath and black trousers and sandals.

"Wait, this is not Itachi," Sakura pointed out the obvious.

"That's right," Kakashi nodded.

"What's happening?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know. There's so much we don't know about the Akatsuki," Kakashi said. "But one thing's for certain, the man we were fighting really was Itachi."

"The Akatsuki have some weird jutsu," Naruto sighed

"There's nothing we can do now. We have to seal his body in a scroll and bring him back to Suna," Kakashi said.

"But won't they think we killed him," Naruto asked.

"We'll cross the bridge when we get there," Sakura put out.

"My, you're sounding a whole like Naruto," Kakashi pointed out.

Sakura blushed, "What? No!"

"I will have to agree on that," Annabeth interjected, earning a glare from the pinkette.

"That's enough," Kakashi stopped them before any more arguing could break out. "We continue onward to Suna."

"Right!"

CONNECTICUT

It was Percy's personal recommendation not to go shadow traveling. He could say it was worse than the Flying Raijin. At least after the disorientation was over, you were good to go.

This one, you were subjected to darkness the whole trip.

But it was as instantaneous as the Flying Raijin.

They found themselves in Connecticut. Percy had been here a few times so he was familiar with the place. There were lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses. Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. On the other side of the cliff, there was someone's property.

The house was a two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. The boys could see a light glowing in the kitchen window. A rusty old swing set stood under an apple tree.

It was then that Percy remembered Nico's instructions.

Percy slipped down the hellhound just in time to see her let out a huge yawn, then she turned in a circle and went to sleep.

As the son of Poseidon was admiring the big girl's cuteness, the shadows darkened around him and 'created' Nico beside Percy.

"How'd you do that?" The Son of Poseidon asked in amazement.

"A little practice, and a few accidental trips to China," Nico answered nonchalantly.

"So, are you going to need a nap too?"

Nico yawned. "No, but it'll make me drowsy though. Mrs. O'leary won't be going anywhere for a while though."

"So, we got quality time in Connecticut, what now?"

"We ring the doorbell."

Any normal human would be cautious of two strange kids ringing the doorbell at this hour, but Ms. Castellan was no normal human. That should have been their first warning.

The second warning came in the form of her yard.

The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed bean bag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper. Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time—since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks.

The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons tinkled like water and made me realize I needed to use the bathroom. I didn't know how Ms. Castellan could stand all the noise.

The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek: Διοικητής φρουρίου.

Nico looked at Percy. "Ready?"

He didn't wait for Percy's answer.

But even before his hand touched the door, the door swung open followed by a happy cry.

"Luke!" The old woman cried.

The old woman was thin as a scarecrow. Her hair is white and stuck out in tufts all over her head. Percy could see her cloudy eyes intermittently become blank green giving him horrible memories of the oracle at camp. She had an unnaturally stretched smile on her face, despite the scorch marks and smears of ash over her pink houdress.

"Oh my dear boy!" She hugged Nico, which puzzled Percy because the two looked nothing alike.

As Percy tried to think of the reason for the old woman's confusion, she turned to Percy and gave the boy a bone crushing hug. Don't let that stature fool you, she can crush you with that hug.

She let go of the Seaweed Brain, looked into his eyes, and smiled, "Luke." Her voice was sweet and serene now.

"Come on in," she insisted. "I have your lunch ready."

She ushered them inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock.

Then, Percy noticed the picture on the mantel, and he froze. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch in his latest dream — Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person—carefree and happy.

It made him wonder how his clear-sighted friend knew about that.

"This way, my dear," She led him deeper into the house with Nico in tow. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"

She sat the two boys down on the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds—I mean hundreds—of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside. The ones on the bottom were green and moldy while the ones on top were freshly made.

On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess.

May Castellan started humming. She got out a peanut butter and jelly and started making another sandwich. As she did, the smell of burning cooking wafted through their nostrils, more were coming on the way.

Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads—pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners, pictures of the caduceus from medical ads.

Despite the terrible condition of the house, Ms. Castellan held a smile on her face.

Nico coughed. "Um, Ms. Castellan?"

"Mm?"

"We need to ask you about your son."

"Oh yes! They told me he would never come back. But I knew better!" She patted Percy's cheeks.

"When did you last see him?"

Her eyes lost focus, "He was in the Third Grade when he left. Too young! But I waited. He'll be back very soo —" She met eyes with Percy. "Luke! There you are! You look very handsome! You have your father's eyes!"

Percy gave Nico a pleading look. Silently, he was trying to say: 'Can we go now?'

"Uhm, what happened to your eyes…uh…mom?" Percy asked playing the part of Luke.

Her gaze seemed fractured—like she was trying to focus on the Son of Poseidon through a kaleidoscope. "Why, Luke, you know the story. It was right before you were born, wasn't it? I'd always been special, able to see through the…whatever-they-call-it."

"Mist?" The boy offered.

"Yes, dear." She nodded encouragingly. "And they offered me an important job. That's how special I was!"

Percy glanced at Nico, but he looked just as confused.

"What sort of job?" He prodded further. "What happened?"

Ms. Castellan frowned. Her knife hovered over the sandwich bread. "Dear me, it didn't work out, did it? Your father warned me not to try. He said it was too dangerous. But I had to. It was my destiny! And now . . . I still can't get the images out of my head. They make everything seem so fuzzy. Would you like some cookies?"

She pulled a tray out of the oven and dumped a dozen lumps of chocolate chip charcoal on the table.

"Luke was so kind," Ms. Castellan murmured. "He left to protect me, you know. He said if he went away, the monsters wouldn't threaten me. But I told him the monsters are no threat! They sit outside on the sidewalk all day, and they never come in." She picked up the little stuffed Medusa from the windowsill. "Do they, Mrs. Medusa? No, no threat at all." She beamed at me. "I'm so glad you came home. I knew you weren't ashamed of me!"

Percy shifted in his seat. He couldn't imagine a young Luke living with his mom who wasn't exactly there.

"Mom, when did I last come home?"

A shadow seemed to pass over the kind old woman's face. "The last time, you looked so different. A scar. A terrible scar, and your voice…full of pain."

"Were my eyes gold?"

"Oh heavens no, your eyes are blue dear! Beautiful blue eyes!"

Nico placed a hand on the old woman's arm. "This is very important, ma'am. Did Perc—I mean Luke ask you or anything?"

She frowned. "My—my blessing. Isn't that sweet?" She looked at both boys with uncertainty. "He was going to a river. He said he needed my blessing. I gave it to him. Of course I did."

Percy and Nico's eyes met. Nico gave him a triumphant look. "Thank you ma'am. That's a—"

AHHHHHHH

May Castellas suddenly straightened. Percy scrambled away. He could feel the same creepy energy that he had felt from the oracle back on his first quest as a demigod. He did not want to feel that again.

Then, in the deep raspy voice of the oracle: she said.

"Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate—NOOOOO!"