Chapter 1- Home Sweet Home
Shikamaru resisted the urge to frown as he listened to the report from Kurotsuchi. "When did this happen again?" he asked her.
"Five days ago," came the answer from the Kunoichi.
"That's when this nine headed snake appeared?" Chojouro asked, his eyes glued to the picture Iwa shinobi managed to capture before Kurotsuchi obliterated it with lava. Honestly, this thing's appearance was enough to give nightmares to genins. What kind of snake has nine regenerating heads?! Friggin' monstrous kind thats who.
"Two fishermen died, along with an off duty chunin who went to save them." Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose. It didn't take a genius to guess why Kurotsuchi had brought this matter to the attention of Allied Shinobi HQ. "Guess I'll have to pay a visit to Orochimaru." If anyone had answers about weird snakes, it would be him.
Kurotsuchi had kept a neutral expression so far, she didn't want to point fingers but the truth remained that only four people in the world had contracts with snakes and all four were related to Konoha in one way or another. "Do you think he's up to his old tricks?" She asked.
Nara shook his head, "Orochimaru is under surveillance, he's not doing anything suspicious. He even adopted the Uzumaki swirl for their flak jacket, just like Konoha, to show that he has changed for the better." He looked her in the eyes as he spoke. "If he's behind this somehow or any act of violence against any village in the future, Lord Hokage and Uzumaki Naruto will personally handle it." Orochimaru was under house arrest and not in prison because of Naruto and Kakashi after all.
"Tsk, I don't understand you Leaf people at all," the brunette said as she leaned back in her chair. "Only an idiot would show such faith in a known criminal like Orochimaru."
"True," Shikamaru leaned back in his chair too, "then again, only an idiot will dream of peace in our shinobi world."
...
...
...
"Pfft, hahahahaha," Kurotsuchi began laughing suddenly, completely evaporating the serious atmosphere of the room. Kankuro, Chojouro, Samui and Shikamaru began chuckling too.
"Oh man," Kurotsuchi said as she wiped a tear. "Let's hope the next generation will have more idiots then."
Chojouro tapped his chin as he thought of something, "Well, there's already Konohamaru-kun, he's a student of Naruto-san, correct?"
"I remember him," Samui said as she joined the conversation for the first time. "He won the chunin exams in Iwa with impressive performance."
"Yeah that's him. Konohamaru's been his student since Naruto was 12."
Kankuro whistled. "What did he even teach the kid back then?"
Samui, Chojouro and Kurotsuchi leaned forward. They too wanted to know what the Hero of Konoha taught his student at such a young age.
However, Shikamaru had no intention of embarrassing himself so he said, "Trust me, it's better if you don't know."
"Tsk."
"Aw man."
"Booo."
Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched. "Ask him yourself if you are that curious."
"Fine... Oo I almost forgot, tell Naruto he's been officially invited to Iwa for the Earth Festival."
Shikamaru nodded, "I'll pass along the message. And if that's all, I think we can wrap up this month's meeting."
"Yeah, that's all I had," Kurotsuchi said.
"Not much to report from Kumo either, just the usual stuff."
"Same with Kiri."
"...My sister's favourite restaurant was closed so she was pretty pissed off when I left."
Shikamaru sighed after hearing Kankuro's 'report', "Great, I'll see you guys next month."
Suna
Temari knocked on the door, "Naruto, are you awake?"
She heard no response so she opened the door. Naruto had drifted to the edge of the bed, his blanket had fallen to the floor and the Saviour of the World was hugging a plushy close to his chest.
Temari couldn't help but smile at the sight, if you showed this picture to someone who had no idea who Naruto was, they'd be like- 'Aw, what a cute boy!' They'd never guess that this 'cute boy' was the strongest shinobi in history.
"Damn, I really need to buy a camera," she muttered. "Hey Naruto, wake up!" She yelled after a couple of seconds.
Naruto immediately sat up and looked around frantically, like looking for danger before his gaze finally landed on her and he gasped. "Wow you look beautiful."
She was wearing a white tank top and black shorts and her hair was down, not tied in the usual ponytails. Temari knew she looked drop dead gorgeous. "Thanks, now get up and come down for breakfast."
"Five more minutes, please," Naruto said as he tried to go back to sleep. It was still early.
"No. Get up now," she stood firm. She knew his five minutes would turn into an hour if she let him go back to sleep.
"Urgh okay mom." He said and immediately regretted as Temari grabbed him by the ear. "Ow ow ow, that hurts!"
"If you aren't ready in the next fifteen minutes, there will be no breakfast for you. Understand?" Temari said as she added extra bit of pressure for emphasis.
"OW! Okay okay, I understand, please let go of my ear!"
She did and Naruto got up, nursing his abused ear. When he disappeared in the bathroom, grumbling all the way, Temari smiled. She loved being the big sister. Gaara thought of Naruto as his brother and by extension, so did she. Now she had three younger siblings instead of two! The thought was enough to put a big smile on her face. Naruto even had his own room in her house now. The novelty of the statement wasn't lost on her; in a world where shaking hands while hiding a kunai up the sleeve was the norm, there was a Leaf shinobi sleeping soundly in the Kazekage's house without a care in the world.
Temari put the Kakashi doll on the bedside table. Why Naruto had a plushy in the likeness of his sensei only gods knew, she wasn't going to bother. He was eccentric, that was enough reason. Like his room, the one she was currently standing in, was covered in the posters of all kinds. Every wall had at least one poster. Even the ceiling wasn't spared, if you laid on the bed, you'd see Koyuki on the ceiling, smiling at you.
"Little brothers are such a pain," she said while smiling and went back downstairs.
Naruto arrived just inside his deadline, bathed, dressed and ready to leave since his vacation was almost over. Instead going somewhere like Land of Hot Springs or Tanzaku-Gai he had decided to spend his rare holidays with Gaara. "Good morning, guys!" He greeted cheerfully to the two siblings.
"Good morning," Gaara greeted him with a smile that so few people in the world had the privilege to see.
Temari on the other hand, glanced at the backpack in his hand, "You're going?"
Naruto sat down and began piling food on his plate, lots of bacon, eggs, broccoli and a big glass of orange juice. "Yeah, sensei has a mission for me. Couple of weird reports, it's probably nothing but better be safe than sorry so sensei wants me to check it out." Naruto replied and began shoving broccoli in his mouth.
Gaara nodded and drank his glass of juice. Temari was curious about the weird reports but knew better than to ask. Ninjas don't like people being nosy about their village matters. Plus there was another, more important matter at hand right now. "Slow down or you'll choke! Are you even chewing the food? There's more so no need to eat like that." Temari was appalled at his eating speed.
Naruto paused mid bite and chewed deliberately and swallowed, "Nah, I don't want more. I hate this green stuff."
"Then why are you shoveling it in your mouth?"
"Because I want it to disappear as soon as possible," Naruto said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Temari sighed at his logic, "You can always not eat it, there's plenty of other stuff." She was a picky eater so she kinda understood him, being a guest he probably didn't want to be rude but she didn't mind if Naruto left something uneaten. She may be a bit strict but she was also understanding.
Naruto just shrugged and finished the broccoli in record time. "Oh I almost forgot, Gaara, clear your schedule for 15th of next month." Naruto said between the bites of bacon.
Gaara was intrigued, "Why?"
"Nuh-uh, not telling, it's a surprise!" Naruto said with a grin. "Just make sure you don't have any Kazekage stuff on that day and come to the Leaf."
Gaara smiled, "Sure. Temari can take care of the village for a few days."
"Yeah why not, make me do your job while you have fun in Konoha. That's totally fair." Temari grumbled.
"Thanks Temari," Naruto grinned at her, "I knew we could count on you."
She glared at him for that and threw a piece of bacon at him, which he, of course, caught with his mouth. Jerk.
Mt. Olympus
In the early morning, the twelve Olympian had gathered on their thrones around lady Hestia's hearth. The King and Queen of the gods sat side by side with male gods to their right and goddesses to their left, the only exception being Dionysus who sat on the throne that previously belonged to Hestia. It had been a week since they had relocated to this world and they had gathered to share their observation with the rest of the family.
"I love this place!" Ares, the God of War said with big smile on his face. Everyone else was still wearing white chitons but he had changed his attire already; he was wearing a blood red flak jacket over black shirt and black pants with a headband that had a human skull carved on it. "I can't wait to start a war! It'll be so awesome to see these ninjas fight!" It was no secret he was big fan of martial arts, Apollo had sure of that when he sent that video of Ares attempting a roundhouse kick and falling on his ass to everyone.
His father, the king of the gods, sighed, "For the tenth time, Ares, you will not start any wars here. Lady Amaterasu has been kind enough to welcome us here, and we will not disrespect her hospitality by starting needless wars among her people." He said to his least favourite son, his strict tone left no room for argument. Honestly, if Ares wasn't Hera's son, he would have been stripped of his divinity a millenia ago.
"Tsk."
Artemis, the Goddess of Moon, frowned at her half-brother, his bloodthirsty nature had always annoyed her (given her family, that was saying something) but this time Artemis's annoyance stemmed from the fact that Ares beat her to the wardrobe change. She'd planned on changing the attire of her hunters— silver flak vests and headbands with crescent moon on them would have looked so cool! But now that Ares was donning the ninja clothes she was going to have to stick to parkas. She'd rather fade than be accused of copying Ares.
"Wars aside, this world is awesome! Both the people and land are so beautiful!" Hermes said, while he didn't want to start any trouble, he was very excited to explore the world and meet the mortals once his father allowed him to.
"Yes that's true but I wonder how they'd react to a new pantheon?" Poseidon said what everyone else was thinking.
"I'm sure they'd be sceptical first but we are in charge of this half of the world now, once the people accept that they'll start worshipping us," Demeter stated in a matter of factly tone. Demeter maintained a calm expression but inside, she was bouncing of joy; the Goddess of Harvest couldn't wait to visit the Land of Rice and the Land of Vegetables...and the Land of Spring, 'Oh how Persephone would love that country!' She couldn't wait to go on a trip there with her favourite daughter. She already loved this world a thousand times more than any of their previous homes, entire countries were dedicated to her domain here!
"I still can't believe lord Tsukuyomi allowed some mortal man to live on the moon!" Artemis said with a frown.
"And I can't believe you killed that man," the beautiful Goddess of Love Aphrodite said with a dramatic sigh, "It would have been such a romantic story, a man living on the moon and the goddess of that moon!" She got a dreamy look on her face as she said that.
Artemis's eyebrow twiched, "I'm a maiden goddess." She said dryly.
"Oh my, so you are! Sorry, it completely slipped my mind." Aphrodite batted her eyelashes, feigning innocence. Not that it fooled anyone.
"I don't know what you are complaining about lil sis, you got a readymade mansion on the moon," Apollo grinned at his twin.
"The Shinto pantheon rarely like to involve themselves with mortals, he probably thought it wasn't worth it." Hera said. She liked them very much for that reason, since it meant that your husband would not cheat on you with some mortal woman. A huge plus.
Zeus knew where his wife's thoughts was going so he quickly decided to change the subject. "You've been quiet, Athena," Zeus addressed his favourite daughter, drawing everyone's attention to her. "What do you think of our new home?"
Indeed, the Goddess of Wisdom was deep in thought, barely paying attention to the bantering of her family. Her father's voice got her attention however. "Hm? Oh yes, the civilization here is much more interesting than anything we've seen before, that's true," Athena spoke with a hint of worry in her voice, "but those seven monsters make me uneasy."
The mood in the room took a nose dive as soon as she said that.
"Yes, those seven could be a problem," muttered the Goddess of Hunt. "I'm pretty sure not even my hunters can kill them. It would probably take a god or goddess to even fight one of them. And it's fairly obvious they are related to each other in some way. Other than that we know nothing more about them."
Poseidon grunted, "One of them is in my domain, all the sea creatures are terrified of him. It's a pain in the ass trying to calm them down whenever it swims by. I didn't even get to observe the mortals because of it." The God of the Seas grumbled.
"Imagine if they start attacking villages," Hera muttered with a frown.
"So it'll be like the good old days of ancient Greece then?" Ares said, his smile returning in full force. He loved the 'good old days' when monsters roamed freely and heroes could be found in every city. He may not be allowed to start a war but this was the next best thing!
"Not exactly," Athena said as she flicked her hand and conjured up a video for everyone to see, she had recorded it earlier. It showed a black haired young lady completely destroying the Lernean Hydra with lava.
Every god and goddess in the throne room leaned forward to get a better look, just in case their divine eyes were deceiving them. Everyone was surprised at the video clip, a mere mortal spouting a river of lava from her mouth, it was surreal. They would have thought it was a prank but everyone knew that Athena didn't joke about serious matters. Scratch that, Athena just didn't joke.
"Just to be clear," Demeter said, "that is the Lernean Hydra, right? Not just some similar looking D-list serpent?" She wasn't the only one shocked by the scene.
"Indeed, aunt Demeter, it is the original Lernean Hydra. That means, while it is like the good old days of ancient Greece in some ways—"
"—Holy Shit! That girl easily defeated a monster who almost killed Heracles! ...Sorry." Ares exclaimed enthusiastically before noticing Athena glare at him for interrupting her.
"Go on, daughter," Zeus distracted her before she could summon her spear.
"As I was saying, girls here can kill monsters like the Hydra but individuals like that are probably few, seven days are not nearly enough to get the full picture of this society so it's hard to say for sure. We were told people here know magic, but I never imagined they'd be this strong," Athena marveled before frowning a little, "and that's probably for the best, given the circumstances."
Poseidon glanced at his brother. Zeus had his eyes fixed on the scene, particularly on the girl and the king's fingers twitched slightly, barely noticeable. 'Yup! Now he's paranoid.' The Earthshaker mused. 'That, or he wants to sleeps with that girl.' Knowing his brother as he did, it was probably both.
"Athena, are there any other monsters running loose?" Apollo asked the important question, he regretted not keeping a closer eye on the potential dangers that might arise due to their presence. Apollo from a year ago wouldn't have cared either way but his time as Lester had changed him for the better; he was a better man now, and a better god.
Athena shook her head, "The gods of the underworld are good at their job. My guess is, the Hydra and perhaps a few other monsters slipped in the mortal world right when we relocated; exactly when the boundary between the underworld and mortal world was at it's weakest."
"It was an accident, then?" Artemis asked her sister, "if not, my hunters will be a lot busy here."
"An accident sister," Athena agreed. "We know now that the people here can handle the monsters but I think the lid needs to be reinforced every now and then if we don't want him to force his way through."
"Very well," the God of the Sky nodded at his daughter, "we shall take turns helping the gods of underworld. It's unfair to put all the responsibility on their shoulders." He said as he rose from his throne. "Ares, you're first, go to lady Hecate and offer your services. Return only when someone comes to take your place."
The God of War grumbled his affirmations. He knew he was being sent away because he talked of war but Ares knew better than to voice his protests, he didn't want to be the recipient of 'Lester Treatment' anytime soon.
Zeus listened to his family and kept a cool look throughout the meeting, but inside, he was feeling a bit paranoid. He didn't say it out loud but he didn't like mortals wielding powers like that, it was... disturbing to see. He really hoped that girl was an anomaly and those beasts were peaceful or he'd have to take some precautions.
"If that's all then I announce this meeting over. Go handle your domains...but don't go over board in this new world." Zeus deemed it necessary to say that last thing. Not that he could blame their impatience, he himself was very excited to visit the Land of Lightning. He had seen the place from afar in the last week and it was like someone had dived in his mind and created a piece of Elysium on Earth just for him. He couldn't wait to go there.
"Great!" Hermes said as he rubbed his hands, "I'm going to go visit the hot springs in the Land of Hot Springs," he said and chuckled. "That's one more reason I love this world, places here have the best names ever!"
Everyone, even Hera, laughed at that. Land of Rivers, Land of Spring, Land of Tea, Land of Frost- the names were enough to give you an idea about that country. It was like naming Canada as Land of Maple Syrup or Egypt as Land of Pyramids.
One by one the Olympians teleported away leaving only Athena, Zeus and Hera behind. The king and queen of the gods looked curiously at their war goddess who had a look of surprise on her beautiful face.
"What is it, Athena?" Zeus asked her.
"Someone's praying to me!" She said in a tone of disbelief.
"Odd, the mortals here don't even know of our existence yet," Hera's head tilted in curiosity.
"Show us who it is," Zeus was equally curious and Athena obliged.
She conjured a scene of a beautiful, palace like wooden temple on a hill full of large trees and wild flowers of almost every variety. By design the shrine looked like it belonged to a Shinto deity— with a huge Torii gate at the base of the hill and steps leading through the gate and to the shrine. There was a Temizuya too which was fed water from the mouth of a beautiful stone statue of a toad. And inside the shrine was a woman dressed in an orange hoodie and black pants, praying to a twelve-foot statue that looked exactly like Athena Parthenos.
On Olympus, Athena, Zeus and Hera looked at the scene with eyes as big as dinner plates.
"Is that who I think it is?!" It was impossible for Hera to hide the shock from her voice.
"But how is that possible?! Athena, your curse, it's gone!" The King of the Gods exclaimed. "I thought it was irreversible?!"
"I thought so too," Athena was super happy that her priestess was free from that horrid curse she herself placed on her but it did raise a very very big question. "Who cured her?" She could hug the deity who did this, okay maybe not a hug but she'd definitely like to thank them. (that was like the biggest gesture of affection you could get from Athena).
Earlier that day-
Naruto smiled as he crossed the land of Rivers and entered his home country. Usually the journey would have taken three days for a ninja. Naruto, however, was confident he could reach the gates before noon. He decided to take a shortcut, intent on reaching the village as soon as possible. He crossed the hills, rivers and streams with ease.
When Naruto was passing through the forest that bordered the Back Hills of Konoha, the hair on back of his neck stood up and Naruto froze in his tracks. 'Such strong negative emotions!' He frowned as waves of anger and hatred washed over him; it lasted only a couple of seconds before vanishing. And even stranger was that he didn't sense a drop of chakra. It wasn't a normal occurrence by any means so it confused him. 'Who could it be? Is this what sensei meant by those weird reports?' He fished out his canteen from his bag, took a couple of sips and poured the rest of the water on a bush. He was going to check out who it was.
Naruto climbed the hill cautiously and stood outside of a small hut. He'd made sure that whoever it was, hadn't noticed him. 'Weird, who'd live in a place like this? There are no roads near here, let alone villages. Even shinobi don't come this way.' Was it perhaps some outcast? That would explain all those negative emotions. Or a rogue ninja? That would explain the lack of chakra— a good enough ninja would know how to hide their chakra.
He knocked and waited for the person to respond. When the door opened, Naruto saw a person covered from head to toe in black clothes, even the face was hidden behind a black veil so that not even their eyes were visible. But he could tell it was a woman from the petite frame. He had never seen anyone dress weird like that before but still Naruto put on his best charming smile.
"Nee-chan, I came all the way from Suna and am really thirsty. You think you can fill my canteen for me? I'd really appreciate it."
"Of course, my dear! You must be terribly exhausted after such a long journey, come in. You can rest for a little while here, I'll get you some water and food."
"Really? You're so awesome! Thanks!"
That was so weird. Naruto had expected to be turned away and the last thing he'd expected was to receive such a warm welcome, so most likely not a kunoichi. If she was, she definitely would have reacted differently to seeing him at her door step. 'How is she hiding her chakra so well?!' Her negative emotions fluctuated as soon as she had company, her hatred and anger would resurface every couple of seconds, only to be pushed down again. 'She's trying to control her emotions. Interesting.'
"Say nee-chan, do you live here alone?"
The woman had vanished in the only other room of the hut that was seperated only by a veil of vines, he guessed it was kitchen.
"Yes, I just moved here a week ago," came the answer from the other room, "The houses in the village were a bit expensive for me so I came here on this hill."
Ah, so she guessed what he was trying to ask, smart lady. But still, did she have to choose a hill in middle of a practically inaccessible forest?
Naruto took a look around, the wooden logs of the shack looked freshly cut and it looked like it was recently cleaned up. There was a crudely made bed which was covered in a mattress of fresh leaves. The hut definitely looked like it was recently constructed by someone who had no money so that part matched up.
Naruto wondered what the lady's deal was, did something bad happen to her? Was she mentally unstable? Why was she living so far away from people? Did she need money? If so, he was willing to lend her some.
After a few minutes, the lady came back with a plate full of food he didn't recognize.
"What's this food? I've never seen it before," Naruto eyed the meat between the two buns, there was lettuces, cheese and tomatoes as well.
"It's a burger," she told him kindly, "it's food from my previous home."
"It smells delicious," his mouth watered, "You are not a native of this continent, are you nee-chan?" He asked. There was no food resembling anything like a burger anywhere on this continent, he knew that much. There was a legend that the Sage of Six Paths had travelled to the continent in west, maybe this lady was from there, he thought.
She didn't say anything for a couple of seconds. "Yes, I came from very far away."
Naruto sensed a shift in her emotions but he acted like he didn't notice a thing, "Um, how do I eat it? There are no chopsticks or anything." Naruto eyed the burger curiously.
"You don't need chopsticks for it, just eat it with your hands. But make sure to chomp down hard so the condiments don't fall out."
Naruto opened his mouth wide and took a big bite of burger, "Woah, this is really tasty!" He quickly took another bite, and then another. "I think this is my new second favourite food!"
"I'm glad to hear it," the lady said, "I'll bring something to drink." She said and went back to the kitchen.
Naruto quickly finished the burger and licked his fingers clean, it tasted way better than he imagined. He could see himself eating burgers regularly from that point on.
"Hey, could you come here for a sec?" Naruto heard the lady ask.
"Sure," he replied immediately and got up to help. "What can I—" Naruto ducked as a claw went through right where his head was a moment ago. A kick came to shatter his ribs but Naruto grabbed the leg and pushed it down, making his attacker stumble back. "Hey, why are you... attacking...me?!" He looked at her.
The angry but sweet mannered lady was nowhere to be seen, instead there was a hideous creature standing there, glaring at him. She was misshapen and disfigured and had green vipers for hair, her long hands were metal talons and she had golden bat like wings. And her face, it was the ugliest thing he had ever seen (and that was saying something because those ten-tails' clones were Su~per Ugly), it had reptilian features and was very disorienting. Naruto felt nauseous the more he looked at it.
"Ah, so this is why you wear those clothes!" Naruto nodded in understanding and sympathy, "It all makes sense now— why you are living here, your anger- you aren't a human at all. An oni? Or a yokai?" He tilted his head as he asked. Ah, he shouldn't have poked his nose in demon business.
Medusa sputtered, "Y-you are supposed to turn to stone!" She was confused, this boy looked human and acted nothing like a god so how was he resisting her stare?— wait, was he a god?! Probably, most likely- like 70%, not. A demigod made immortal by the gods? Yes, that was most likely the case. She instinctively took half a step back, her instincts telling her to do so. She would attack him again but he was far better fighter than she could ever hope to be, that much she realised from their two-second altercation.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion, "Why?" He worked hard so he wouldn't turn to stone.
This made even less sense, a hero who doesn't know about her stare? Medusa couldn't help but laugh a little, "It's only been a week since I resurrected and she already sent you? Who are you then?! At least tell me that much before you kill me!"
Naruto frowned, her previous negative emotions were replaced by a primal fear now, "Look nee-chan, I'm not going to hurt you, okay? You don't have to be afraid of me." He put his hands up to show that he meant no harm to her and took a step towards her.
She backed away, "Yeah, you just came to my lair to get some water, didn't you?!"
Naruto took another step forward, her face was still disgusting to look at but he kept the eye contact. "I admit that was just an excuse, I was curious but I promise I'm not your enemy."
"Like I'll believe that!" She spat, her courage returned and she attacked him again. With a flap of her wings, she rose a few feet in the air and threw herself at him. Naruto let her get close, grabbed both her claws and slammed her on the ground, hard. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs and with a sharp jab to her pressure point, she lost consciousness.
"I'm sorry about this," Naruto said as he touched her forehead with his bandaged index finger and dived in her mind. Normally he wouldn't have done this but this lady- um, yokai- was giving him a weird feeling and she wasn't in mood to talk.
Naruto found himself in a beautiful grassy meadow. There were five children playing there, three girls and two boys.
So this lady was human once?! That's good to know.
"Your days of tormenting innocents are over, monsters! For I am Athena, the strongest and most awesome goddess there is!" A small girl of about ten years boasted with a hand on her waist and raising a stick in air with her other hand like a spear. It's end was wrapped with cloth to blunt the point. The little girl poked one of the boys and the kid dropped to his knees.
"N-no fair! Athena is just too powerful! And beautiful! I guess I'll die then, argh—" the kid played dead as dramatically as possible.
Naruto couldn't help but smile. These kids were so sweet. But he didn't have much time so he moved on. 'How did such a sweet girl into that hideous creature?!' He thought with a frown.
Now he was in a beautiful temple. He was near an alter in front of a huge statue of a goddess. The statue was made of ivory with golden clothes, it had another small statue of another goddess in it's palm and a shield in other. It looked so beautiful! So... lifelike! The sculptor must have been a genius.
Suddenly, Naruto realised that he had never heard of a goddess named Athena before. The Shrine of Masks had a mask for almost every major god, but no Athena. Even the name of the goddess sounded so...exotic.
"Athena Parthenos! I can't believe I'm actually in Athens!" He heard the girl say with all the awe she could muster.
Athens? Again, he'd never heard of it before. Was it the name of this temple?
The memory changed.
"Medusa,"
It was same kid that played dead, a few years older now.
"Will you marry me?"
"No," the girl, Medusa, rejected him without hesitation.
'Ouch! Tough luck, kid.'
"Hey, you answered that way too quickly! At least think about it for a little bit."
"Okay, let me think about it," Medusa tapped her chin, pretending to think. "Yeah, my answers still no."
"So you really like that jerk Lysander? I thought Stheno was just messing with me." The boy grumbled.
"That's not it, dumbass. I'm going to be a priestess of my lady Athena. So I can't marry anyone."
These are this girl's most prominent memories, he realised. The only ones which were completely intact. Naruto moved on again.
"Hey sis."
"Hey Stheno, It's so good to see you!" Medusa hugged her sister.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, something was off about this Stheno girl.
"You look as beautiful as ever Medusa," Stheno smiled at her sister, then frowned. "So beautiful that even the sea god has taken notice of you."
"Really?" There was a gleam in her eyes.
"This is no joking matter, you dolt!" Stheno chastised her sister. "Listen to me, that sea god's attention is bad news. Stay away from him okay?"
Vision changed.
It was dusk. Medusa was picking herbs in her back garden when he arrived. Even in the waning light, Naruto could make out the features of the man. He was handsome, even a straight man like him could see that. The man had huge muscles, his arms looked the size of tree trunks. His face was regal with neatly trimmed beard and green eyes. Salty smell filled the air, like he was on a beach suddenly. It was a memory so obviously he couldn't smell, but Medusa did. And she had come to a conclusion. And by proxy, so did he.
So this is the sea god? Is it Susanoo? Or Ryujin? He didn't know which one. Either way, gods meeting humans?! He never knew they did that. He never even heard of even a folklore like this. Sage was a different story.
Naruto saw the god flirt with the young woman. Medusa, ignoring her sister's warning, chatted happily with the god and went with him willingly.
The god took the girl to an empty building nearby. Suddenly, Naruto had a really really bad feeling about it. But he couldn't warn the girl. The building they were in was a temple and the couple was right at the feet of Athena. 'Uh-oh!' The statue glowed briefly and Naruto watched in horror as the beautiful young girl slowly turned into a hideous monster.
The god, when he came to his senses, jumped away from her and fled the temple. The girl was confused and hurt by the sudden departure. "Lord Poseidon?" She called after the god to no avail.
'Another god I've never heard of before.'
The girl looked around, and with increasing horror, realised that she was in Athena's temple. Right near the feet of statue, in fact. She quickly ran out of the temple, not even bothering to pick up her clothes.
As soon as she was outside, she heard screams. When Medusa looked to behind her, there were half a dozen people there, their mouths frozen mid-screams- in fact, everything about them was frozen. Worried, Medusa ran towards the villagers.
"Hey, what's wrong? What happened?" She made to check on them but as soon she saw her hands in the light of day, her concern turned to horror.
"No, nononono! Did-did I—" she turned and fled towards her home.
'The poor girl!'
Chaos increased by the second, many villagers were petrified and some, who had their backs to her, were saved from that fate.
"I'm doing this to them!" She realised with horror.
A mob was coming from the direction of her house, she spotted the pitchforks and torches so Medusa changed the direction and headed towards the forest, running for her life.
Memory changed.
Naruto saw Medusa inside a crude hut, not unlike one he was in now. The gorgon came outside and flinched at the statue— it was of a man in armor, petrified in the middle of an attack. There were many statues like that nearby.
Memory changed again.
Naruto saw Medusa intentionally petrify a man. Many years had probably passed since she was cursed.
It's probably the memory of the first time she had taken a life a willingly. Naruto thought with a frown.
He saw the realisation on her face of what she had done. The horror and regret. And he saw her move deeper into the forest. So busy was she trying to get away that she tripped and fell. Looking at the cause of her accident, she saw a marble helmet buried in earth. Curious, Medusa removed the soil with her claws. As soon as the statue was revealed. Her tears flowed and gorgon began wailing. It was a small statue of Athena.
"M-my lady, I'm so s-sorry!" She sobbed as she hugged the statue. "Please, forgive me!"
Naruto didn't want to see Medusa suffer anymore. He exited her mindscape.
Medusa groaned and opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in the arms of the same blonde boy. What was he doing?! Trying to stab her in the back?! Crush her bones?! She wouldn't let it happen. Her arms were firmly trapped so she bit down hard on his shoulder. The snakes unanimously decided to bite him. But the boy didn't so much as flinch.
"Shh, it's okay. You suffered so much for your mistake, didn't you? It's fine now, you'll be safe here. No one will come after you again." Medusa heard the boy say.
Huh? What was this brat saying? Wasn't he a hero? Wasn't he here to kill her?
"You don't have to hide from people anymore. I'm pretty confident I can take care of your curse. I'm sure Athena has forgiven you by now."
...
...
...
'Huh?! Weird, my vision got blurry all of a sudden. My eyes are stinging.'
The boy let go of her but still kept his hands on her shoulder. The snakes stopped biting him. Then he smiled at her. Medusa couldn't help but stare at him, this boy—her words failed describe what she was feeling. No one had ever smiled at her like that in a millennia! It was full of sincerity. She was reminded of age long past, when she was still a beautiful young girl- a lot of young men had asked her hand in marriage, they'd smiled at her like this.
But that was then, she was a hideous monster now. Men, heroes, sought her out only for glory—so that they could claim to be the conqueror of the Gorgon Medusa. This man— he wasn't like anyone she'd ever seen before. A man who was kind to a monster like—wait, did he say he can cure her?!
"Y-you said— I m-mean, can you really?!"
The man's smile grew.
"Of course! I said I would, didn't I?"
For the first time since she was cursed, Medusa saw the light at the end of the dark dark tunnel that was her existence. 'My lady has finally answered my prayers!' Her heart felt so light.
"Hm let's see," the blonde hummed as he put his hand on her forehead. His eyes shut in concentration and his lips pursed.
'He looks so young,' Medusa thought in a random observation.
"Ah, I see the problem now. Your very spirit has been distorted."
Medusa's breath caught in her throat.
"Hey, don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle." He smiled warmly at her again and her worries disappeared like fog in morning sunlight.
"Yin and Yin-Yang release should do it."
He said and his bandaged right hand glowed gold. Medusa's eyes widened in shock, it wasn't something a mortal should be able to do! The glow looked like it should belong to a Sun God.
"A-are you lord Apollo?!" She couldn't help but ask.
The blonde paused for a bit and then laughed, making her feel silly.
"No no, my name is Naruto, now stay still. It might hurt a little bit."
Medusa nodded and stilled herself.
The tips of his now golden fingers lit up in black flames and some kanji appeared within the flames. The boy put his hand right above her heart and his fingertips dug in.
Medusa felt like ice had replaced the blood in her veins. A terrible chill spread throughout her body, from the snakes on her head to her toenails. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes. It lasted only a couple of seconds but felt like forever. Warmth slowly began to return to her body then. And she felt lighter, like she had discarded a heavy weight from her shoulders.
She opened her eyes to see the grinning face of Naruto.
"See? It worked!"
Huh? She hastily looked down— instead of bronze claws, she saw delicate, much smaller hands; she wasn't misshapen anymore, her body was petite and her hair didn't hiss or move. She touched her face, her skin didn't feel leathery, it was smooth and her features were symmetric as far as she could tell.
She did the first thing that came to her mind. She threw herself at him and hugged him with all her might.
"Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She sobbed on his shoulder.
"Woah! Okay okay, it's fine," she heard him chuckle.
She let go off him. "H-how I can repay you?"
Naruto shook his head and wiped her tears with his thumbs. "You don't have to repay me, I just did my duty towards a citizen of Land of Fire. Just don't hurt anyone again and we'll call it even okay?"
'This guy—' her words failed her again, so she just resorted to looking at him with her mouth open, gobsmacked. She felt so happy then, she laughed. And laughed and then laughed some more.
"Here, wear these," Medusa heard the blonde say.
He had clothes in his hand, when did he leave the room?!
"I don't think those fit you anymore."
She looked down, now that she was human again her previous clothes were several sizes too big for her. She got dressed while Naruto waited outside- frog print boxers, orange hoodie and black pants- these were a bit big too but she'd manage.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked her when she was outside.
"Go? Where?" She asked.
Naruto tilted his head. "To Konoha, where else? Let's get you settled in society once again."
Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise but still, "You'd take me to your home? Why?! I was a monster just a moment ago."
He nodded, "You were a monster moment but you're not a monster now, are you?"
She had no answer to that. Her mind told her, 'go with him, you've always wanted to be a part of the society again'. But her conscious held her from acting on that thought. "I can't go," her tears flowed again. "You might have changed me back but still I've killed a lot of people. Many of them innocents. I can't live like my past didn't happen."
"You too huh," Medusa heard him mumble. "Very well. What will you do here alone?" Won't she be bored?
"I'll build a temple for my lady."
"By yourself?"
"...Yes."
"Nah that's stupid!" He said and Medusa hung her head. Sure she wasn't an architect but he didn't have to be so blunt. "I'll help you, so you'll have a decent place to live. It's the least I could do for that delicious burger!" He grinned and put his hands together with fingers intertwined. The next second, her small hut was swallowed by the earth.
Medusa opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to find some words. But nope, nothing came out. She was speechless.
Another weird hand sign and a huge temple in the likeness of a shinto shrine rose from the earth with another smaller house right next to it.
"Gate of the Great God!"
Medusa heard something like a meteor impact the earth with so much force she almost lost her balance. Looking in the direction, she saw a huge red torii gate at the base of the hill. Then Naruto made several hand signs and steps formed from the gate to the shrine. She tried to speak again but her shock was much to great to form even a single stuttered syllable. 'Come on say something! Anything!' The blonde just held out his hand and yellow energy poured out his palms, coalescing together and creating matter out of nothing. A few seconds later, a Temizuya stood where there was nothing two second ago.
"Come on, this shrine will be incomplete without a statue."
Medusa wordlessly followed him inside.
There, the blonde stood near the alter, both his hands stretched out like he was warming them over an imaginary bonfire, same yellow energy from before poured out of them and created a statue of gold and ivory.
Medusa watched with reverence as Athena Parthenos slowly came into existence right in front of her eyes, being formed from the heel and up. It was exactly like she remembered down to the last detail of Lady Nike's wings, just smaller.
"Whew, that was harder than I thought!" He laughed and Medusa was snapped out of her trance.
This guy, he couldn't be a mortal, no way! He had to be a god! So she knelt on both her knees and pressed her forehead on the newly formed wooden floor. "Thank you, my lord!" She finally managed to get a coherent sentence out.
"Hey, no kneeling like that okay?" He lifted her up by the shoulders. "Just Naruto is fine."
She didn't want to disobey a god's will so she nodded quickly. "Of course Lor- uhm, I mean, of course Naruto. Thank you so much for all you've done for me." She bowed. Out of corner of the eyes, she saw him scratch the back of his head and smile a bit sheepishly.
"Ahem, so, okay, you're welcome. I just realised all your supplies went underground when I, uh—"
Medusa shook her head. "That's okay, Naruto. I'm used to living in forest. It's no trouble."
Naruto sighed in relief. "Still, I'll send someone with supplies for you. I'd do it myself but I've to go back to duty, y'know."
"Of course, my lord." She bowed. 'Of course he has godly duties.'
"I told you, don't do that," he sighed. "Now I gotta go. Take care of yourself."
She saw him flicker for half a moment and then vanish. She wasn't surprised since now she had realised his divine status. The previously unknown god didn't know it yet but he just became one of her top 2 favourite gods— pushing lord Poseidon in third spot.
Later that day—
The cobbled main road of Konoha that led to the Hokage Tower from the east gate was adorned with various shops on both sides. From restaurants, gift shops, pharmacies, cafes and weapon shops, you'd find almost anything you need if you strolled down this path. In one such restaurant, the Goddess of Love Aphrodite sat alone by the transparent glass, her eyes peeled on the road as if searching for something.
As far as she could tell, everyone loved their new home, it had a little bit of everything for every god and goddess—there were ninjas, most male gods and Athena loved ninjas. There were plenty of forests so Artemis and lady Rhea had plenty of domain, the sky was free of aeroplanes so Zeus was undoubtedly happy to be rid of pests intruding on his domain, the seas were free of pollution, that meant lord Poseidon's kingdom was free from mortal greed tainting it's waters.
As for her, it seemed like they were in peace times so love was blooming all over the world. Aphrodite hardly had to lift a finger and youngsters were falling in love left and right.
One man approached her, shaking like a leaf and sweating bullets. "Ex-excuse me?"
"Move along buddy, you're not my type," she said without even looking. The man ran out of the door, possibly crying. Aphrodite rolled her eyes and took another spoonful of her sundae. This was 17th man she had rejected in last fifteen minutes. The one she was waiting for and heard so much about through the gossip vine had yet to make an appearance.
In the last week, Aphrodite noticed that teenage girls from all over the continent fantasized about one man in particular- a so called 'god among men'. So obviously, she wanted to meet him and see for herself how 'godly' he was. So far no luck. She was patient though, and she had plenty of ice cream.
Still, it didn't change the fact that she was sitting alone in a restaurant. Her! Alone! That was a tragedy in itself. True, she had seen a few men so far who were handsome enough to keep her company but she wasn't willing to settle. That man would be her first date in this new world, nothing less than the best would do. There was the Hokage who looked absolutely delicious but he was the type of man Athena would fawn over, so she let him be. Athena would pay him a visit sooner or later, that she was certain of, but not if another goddess had approached Kakashi first. It was sort of like an unwritten rule on Olympus that another's flings were off limits. Which was why she refrained. Never say Aphrodite isn't a benevolent goddess.
Just when she was thinking that it'd be a long day, he finally appeared— looking absolutely gorgeous in the orange shirt and blue pants, his spiky hair glinting in the sunlight like shards of gold and blue eyes that danced with joy as he signed autographs for the teenage girls that swarmed him. Aphrodite subconsciously licked her lips, "Not bad. Not bad at all!" She put enough cash on the table to cover everyone's bill and got up, "Well, let's go say hi."
Thanks you for reading! I hope you have an excellent rest of your day.
Note- Just to clarify, Naruto isn't a god nor is he immortal. Medusa just confused him as one and honestly you can't blame her.