A/N: Hello, one and all! Welcome, welcooooome!
Now, before I do anything...I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!
As some of you may know, I once worked on an older story called The Hunter: Warden of Vytal - which was a Naruto x RWBY fanfic. It was a good start for me, and for a time I had some fun writing it!
Unfortunately, I've completely lost my drive to write anymore chapters for it...so now I'm putting it up for adoption! If anyone's interested, please leave a comment in the reviews or PM section, and I'll happily hand it over.
Now...I DID promise the reveal of Naruto's godly parent, did I not?
...I believe it's time I delivered on that promise.
Also, shoutout to Derpysense for inspiring the idea basis for Naruto's newest weapon!
SO!
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO!
A NEW SEVENTH CHAPTER!
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAADE OOOOOOF OOOOLYYYYYYYYMPUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSS!
Chapter Seven: The Child of Fire Part 1
Deep within the forest, a Beast aimlessly wandered.
For countless millennia it roamed the Earth, challenging and devouring any hero it came across. Yet with every few times it was sent back to the realm of Tartarus, it came back ever more hungry for demigod flesh. It does so with an unbridled rage that has festered unchecked since its first defeat thousands of years ago.
Then there was a bolt of lightning, and then - quite suddenly - it found itself within a wooded area.
The Beast was momentarily confused before it started to hear voices.
Demigod voices...
Licking its teeth, it started to close in on its quarry.
Soon, the Beast will feast on demigod flesh...
Naruto yawned as he trekked through the woods, Thalia moving right beside him with spear in hand and shield on arm. They had been patrolling the forest for almost what felt like an hour, keeping an eye out for any monsters within the vicinity.
"Hey, Thals!" the whiskered bond called out to his companion. "They say how long we had to do this for?"
The Daughter of Zeus blinked at his question before shrugging her shoulders. "Said we had to make sure there were no monsters in the woods before the big game."
"...You didn't think to ask, did y-"
"Hey, Whiskers?" Thalia cut him off with a glare before he could finish. "Shut up and keep moving."
"Oooh, yes ma'am..." The young man taunted with a smirk.
"Gods, I'm starting to think this was a bad idea..."
"Whaaaaat?! This is a great idea! Think about it: two young warriors alone in the woods, surrounded by unknown danger. With no way to call for help, they have no choice but to-!"
"I. Said. Shut. UP!"
*ZAP!*
"OW, DAMN IT!" Naruto cried out as he was struck by static electricity from Thalia's fingertips. "That hurts, y'know?!"
"Good!" The Daughter of Zeus replied with a huff. "Don't ever get on my nerves again, if you know what's good for you."
"...Eh, no promises."
"Why you-!" Thalia wanted to throttle the whiskered blond right then and there, but she was soon able to calm herself knowing that would get them nowhere. Regardless, they still had a patrol to finish. "Ugh, forget it. Not like I care, or anything..."
"Sure, whatever you say..." Naruto said as he shrugged his shoulders. However, it wasn't even five minutes further into their patrol before the young shinobi started talking again. "So, what's with you and Luke?"
The rocker-punk teen blinked at his question. "Huh? What're you talking about?"
"Well, y'know...I've seen how you guys hang out around each other. I was just wondering, that's all!"
Thalia looked at him all confused for a moment before her blue eyes widened in realization. "Wha-NO! Gods, no! Luke...I mean he's like a brother to me!"
"...Really?"
"YES!" She shouted, looking him in the eye. "Do I have feelings for Luke? I do, but as family! Between me and Kass and looking after Annabeth, I just...didn't really think about him in that way." When she realized what she had said, the Daughter of Zeus narrowed her eyes at the whiskered blond, who had a cheeky grin on his face.
"You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiike him..."
"Oh, shut up!" Thalia huffed in annoyance. "What, it's not like you're any different! Don't you have someone you think about?"
"Eh?" Now it was Naruto's turn to blink. But when he registered what she had just said, the young shinobi looked away from her. "Well, there's this girl I like...only she really likes someone else. I mean, she likes me, but as a friend. That's it."
"...Ouch. That's gotta hurt."
"Uh, not really!" Naruto quickly waved off her comment. "I got used to it eventually. It still hurt, though-"
*GROOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWLL!*
Thalia and Naruto froze at the sudden sound. "Tell me that was your stomach just now, Whiskers..."
"Wha-do I look like a damn bear to you?!" Naruto exclaimed harshly, his eyes widened as he scanned his surroundings to try and find the source of the growling. "No, it wasn't me!"
"I had to ask, okay?!"
Naruto was about to respond back, but suddenly found that he couldn't.
How could he, when something clamped tightly around his left arm and dragged him away from Thalia...
"Whiskers?!" The Daughter of Zeus shouted in alarm. All she managed to see was a giant blur of bright metallic gold before it crashed into Naruto, eventually dragging him into the woods too fast beyond her line of sight. "Shit!"
With no other option, Thalia followed in hot pursuit.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Naruto cried out as he felt himself being dragged through the forest. It happened so fast:
One minute he and Thalia were scanning the forest to try and find the source of the growl, the next? The whiskered blond felt pain emanate from his left arm, as though a giant animal were trying to rip it off with their teeth.
'And it hurts like HELL!'
Without thinking, the young shinobi summoned forth the Blades of Chaos and attempted to cut into the side of his attacker. But to his shock, the blades seemed to bounce right off.
'Shit!' he thought to himself as he could feel the bones in his trapped arm slowly breaking. The pain he felt from being dragged across the forest floor didn't help, either. Desperately he kept hacking at his attacker, if only to force it to let him go. Pretty soon, he could start to smell barbecue and hear the clashing of-
'Crap, it's headed for the camp!' Naruto panicked as he could see the forest boundary rapidly approaching. Trying to think up a plan - and quickly losing ample time and ground! - the whiskered blond could only take a deep breath as he held out his right hand close to the monster's neck. He prayed to the gods as he readied his chakra for one of his most trusted jutsu.
"RASENGAN!"
*FWO-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
That seemed to have done something to the monster, which grunted in what Naruto thought was pain even as it charged even further. But it did loosen its grip on the whiskered blond's arm, for which he quickly removed from the creature's bloodied maw. As soon as he freed himself and hit the ground, however, Naruto found that it did absolutely nothing to slow the monster down; causing him to chase it until he was able to land onto its back just as it crossed the camp borders.
When he had safely landed atop its back, Naruto was able to get a good look at the creature...and immediately paled upon recognition.
It was a giant male lion the size of a pick-up truck, with thick, glittering, metallic gold fur. Shiny silvery claws that could rend his flesh apart, and fangs that gleamed like stainless steel adorned the inside of its gaping hungry maw.
'Oh gods-what's the NEMEAN LION doing this close to camp?!'
Suddenly the young shinobi was able to hear the sounds of alarm from the camp as demigods raced to arm themselves. Noticing the Nemean Lion was moving too fast to stop left Naruto with no other choice but to grip its mane and hold on for dear life. Conjuring the Rasengan once more, the whiskered blond kept hammering away at the monster's head in the effort to steer it away from fleeing demigods within the camp itself. Naruto could've sworn he'd heard Chiron calling for his bow and Cerys for weapons.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The young shinobi's attention was dragged in front of him to find Annabeth nursing her left ankle, having sprained it from amidst the chaos. In that moment they locked eyes: one of fright, the other desperation
'No...NO!' the whiskered blond panicked as he tried to think of how to save his young friend. He was running out of ground between the lion and Annabeth, when suddenly an idea came to him. One that was absolutely crazy. Downright insane. Suicidal, even.
'This is gonna hurt a lot, damn it! Here goes nothing...!'
Bringing forth his blades once again, Naruto swiftly wrapped the chains tautly around the monster's head, muzzle and neck in an attempt to bind it. Holding his weapons in a reverse-grip, the young shinobi pulled harshly to the left, narrowly missing Annabeth by a whole two feet. Maneuvering himself as though he were riding a horse, the young shinobi wasted no time in keeping the Nemean Lion away from the younger demigods.
In just the span of a few seconds, Naruto Uzumaki had just turned one of the most feared monsters in Ancient Greek mythology into the world's most dangerous bull ride...
"OH CRAP, I'M GONNA DIE! THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!" The whiskered blond screamed out as the Nemean Lion tried and failed to throw him off its back. The monster paraded its way in between the cabins next, smashing against spears and arrows. Naruto was more afraid of some poor demigod kid getting caught in its rampage rather than being struck by a weapon of some kind. Though with the way the lion itself was thrashing about rather violently, that seemed to be the most likely scenario.
Hopefully, he could trust his fellow campers to have good aim.
No, wait, he spoke too soon...
"Nngh!" Naruto grunted at feeling some of the arrows bury themselves into his back, the sudden impact causing some slight pain at being so close to his spine-
"FOR ARES!" The whiskered blond whipped his head around to see one of Cerys' brothers charging at the monster with a sword and shield, only for the blade to bounce of its golden hide and snap in half as the poor son of Ares was immediately pinned beneath a massive paw pressing down on his shield. Naruto could only try to ignore the sickening crunch of bone and the blood-curling screams that followed as the demigod was instantly crushed to death before the legendary beast continued its rampage closer to the armory.
Suddenly the young shinobi could hear the crackling of thunder in the distance as he saw Thalia emerging from the tree-line of the forest, readying her trusty spear to aim at the Nemean Lion's open maw. Seeing what she was trying to do, Naruto maneuvered his chains to keep the lion's mouth wide open for a perfect shot. The daughter of Zeus threw her electrically-charged spear at the lion's open mouth.
Naruto was sure that would be it.
And then?
At the last possible minute?
The Nemean Lion averted its head downwards...
*SHLUNK!*
Time seemed to slow into a crawl as Naruto blinked at the numbing sensation in his stomach, a sort of numbness he'd barely felt these days as his grip on the blades loosened. He could smell charred flesh nearby, and a scream that he couldn't pinpoint anywhere but was so frighteningly familiar.
That is until the young shinobi looked down and saw Thalia's spear skewered itself through his stomach.
'Oh,' he thought rather indifferently, 'I'm screaming.'
Naruto's grip on the Blades of Chaos had finally gotten loose enough for the Nemean Lion to free itself from the chains before clamping its razor-sharp teeth onto both of his forearms, crushing bone into finely grounded powder as it violently tossed him through the armory and Cabin 11 before landing just before the fire pit, his back newly decorated with unfinished blades and broke spear tips; the whiskered blond's blood slowly oozing upon the grass. He felt his ribs cracking and breaking with every agonizing breath he took; his lungs oozing with blood. The electricity from Thalia's spear would only paralyze him momentarily, but by then he would have suffered too much internal bleeding to be of any use to anyone.
And the Nine-Tails, for some reason, saw fit not to help him this time. Perhaps the young shinobi had overreached in his deal with the fox, if the Tailed Beast was feeling petty and decided to let him die.
For the first time in years, Naruto Uzumaki was rendered helpless...
Thalia froze in shock as she saw her friend bleeding out on the ground.
She'd been aiming for the lion's open mouth; there was no way she could've known the damn thing would move its head at the last second. Panicking, the Daughter of Zeus rushed to his side as the Nemean Lion rampaged elsewhere.
"No, no, no, no, no! No! Don't you die on me, damn it!" She rambled, her hands quickly fumbling to pull out her spear lodged in his stomach. Finally freeing her weapon, she then looked for the bag of ambrosia crackers in her pocket in case of emergencies.
Given the situation now, it was an emergency...
"Come on, come on, come on..." Thalia pleaded as she finally got the crackers in hand...only to find that they'd been reduced to crumbs in her pursuit of the Nemean Lion. "DAMN IT!"
"T-Thalia...go..." Naruto rasped out as much as he could manage, a line of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Help them...I'll be fine."
The whiskered blond wasn't sure, but somehow he had a feeling that everything would be fine.
"No...NO!" The rocker-punk teen refused, wanting to help him somehow. Gathering the crumbs of the ambrosia crackers in her hand, she forced open Naruto's mouth and poured it in - forcing him to take in the healing properties of the ambrosia.
The last thing he heard was the lion's roar as it rampaged throughout the camp.
And the last thing he felt was the campfire's soothing warmth across his numb body...
Thalia was numb to the world in that moment, unable to do anything as her - friend? Partner? Rival? - seemed to stop moving. His chest movement was slowly weakening until...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...*crackle*
...
...
...*crackle*
...*crackle*
...*crackle*
*crackle*
*crackle...!*
*crackle!*
*crackle!*
*crackle!*
*crackle!*
*CRACKLE!*
*CRACKLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
*CRACKLE!* *RUMBLE!*
Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus, saw red as she shot toward the monster, arcs of electricity violently dancing around her body.
-End -Chapter-
A/N: Okay, guys just a quick heads up!
Originally, this was supposed to be a longer chapter detailing the fight. But I started to feel that the chapter was being rushed. That, coupled with my much more popular Beasts of War story, left me trying to ransack my brain for ideas. So I had no choice but to cut this into two to three parts.
I promise, the next chapter will be out soon!
Until then!
CIAO FOR NOW~!
