Blade of Olympus Chapter 3, a Naruto + Percy Jackson and the Olympians Crossover fanfic

A/N: Hello, one and all! Welcome, welcooooome! Oof, I'm telling ya things have been going hectic at my place lately! My sister moving to Jacksonville, her upcoming graduation, co-workers coming and going from my job and what not with me and a few others to pick up the slack. Anyway, how's about we throw all that unwanted business to the side and get down to the reason y'all came down here to see!

Now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!

I proudly present for you delectation and delight!

I give you…

BLADE OF OLYMPUS!

Chapter 3: Exploring the Camp and Capture the Flag

A few days had passed since the eventful spar between Naruto, Thalia and Kassandra. Each one with its own events:

On Monday, Chiron had taken the liberty of taking them to the camp's Arts and Crafts to see where their creative skills lie. Only Annabeth excelled spectacularly. Naruto and Luke trailed behind the young demigoddess-Naruto due to his survival training under Jiraiya, and Luke due to his experience of both being on the run and as a son of Hermes. The whiskered blond, for his part, crafted a simple black half-mask and a bandana for sneaking missions.

Of course, the same could not be said for Thalia...

"AAARGH! I HATE THIS THING!" Thalia roared as she prepared to call down a bolt of lightning upon a block of misshapen clay that she tried to fashion into a bird. Kassandra was attempting to calm her down to no avail, finally getting her friend to cool down after what felt like forever.

Annabeth, on the other hand, demonstrated a perfectly-miniaturized scale of the Parthenon, pillars and all.

Immediately Naruto picked up the little girl and carried her on his shoulders as he ran around the center, much to her embarrassment. Thalia-now calm-and the others, however, thought it was funny, seeing how the young shinobi could pass for being Annabeth's older brother.

"PUT ME DOWN, NARUTO!"

"Aww, but I don't wanna!~"

"I MEAN IT! PUT ME DOWN NOW!" the little blonde fiercely roared with the most terrifying pout on her face, causing him to cackle loudly as ran even faster. Annabeth desperately turned to her friends in hope of escape. "THALIA! NARUTO'S BEING MEAN!"

Thalia Grace, proud daughter of Zeus, did not giggle at the little girl's "torment". Luke and Kassandra, however...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Annabeth Chase would never live it down for the rest of her stay at camp...

Following what the young Chase would forever dub "The Unspeakable Day", Chiron took the small group of five to the Archery Field on Tuesday for lessons.

Standing in front of the group, the Activities Director gestured to the targets posted up to 750 yards. "Alright, children. Here we will get to test your skills with a bow. Do not feel ashamed if you don't succeed on the first try." The ancient centaur looked up at the sky as though checking for any eavesdroppers before whispering: "Frankly, you should have seen Hercules on his first archery lesson. He kept snapping the bowstring for five years straight-the look on his face each time, by the gods!" Chiron nearly guffawed at the memory before distant thunder could be heard overhead. Composing himself, he began his lesson. *Ahem* "Sorry for that. Anyways," he continued, " you all will be firing at the very minimum of five to ten arrows. This is solely to see where you five stand in the sense of long-ranged combat."

"Looks like a piece of cake-OW!" Naruto found himself getting slapped upside the head for that remark courtesy of Kassandra, who was giving him the stink eye. "What was that for?!"

"Don't judge a book by its cover, gringo."

"Focus, you two," Chiron lightly reprimanded the pair. Gesturing to the rack of bows and quivers full of arrows, he continued. "Now if you'll please choose your bow, we can get started."

As they went over to grab their bows, Naruto had to think about what he wanted to use it for.

To hunt?

To kill?

No, to protect.

There weren't many that stood out for him. Longbows were too big and bulky. And the compound bows just felt too mechanical for his own tastes. So far, he couldn't find any that would suit him-wait...

There was a small wooden recurve bow-the kind normally used on horseback. On his brief trip with Jiraiya, the whiskered boy saw some of the local big game hunters use such bows to bring down deer, boar, or even bears with well-placed shots.

Well, shinobi don't normally ride on horseback, but he knew one of Orochimaru's lackeys that used a bow in combat and this one was just about his size.

Grabbing the recurve bow and a quiver full of arrows, the blond boy made his way to the archery range. As soon as he got into position, Chiron came up to them individually and demonstrated the correct way to draw, or nock, an arrow.

"Ready...LOOSE!"

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

Naruto released his arrow, only to frown as he saw it only landed just within the outer target circle. Nocking another arrow, he fired again.

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

Again, it landed just next to the first shot. He nocked another.

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

And another.

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

This time, the fourth shot was slightly better, only hitting the middle-most circle. Good, but...

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

As he kept firing arrow after arrow, the whiskered blond found that he was indeed improving, if only barely. He quickly looked over to see how his new friends were faring. So far, only Thalia was doing slightly better than he was. Most likely being a Daughter of Zeus thing, what with the wind control and all that-she had to direct those thunderbolts from her spear somehow.

Luke and Annabeth were doing okay, but Kassandra had somehow managed to get her arrows landing on a column behind where she was standing. Naruto had to blink to make sure he wasn't seeing things before letting a chuckle escape his lips. Unfortunately, the Latina rebel heard him and turned to give the shinobi a glare. "Shut up, Naruto. I've yet to see you make a bullseye."

"Aw, c'mon Kassie-"

"DON'T you call me 'Kassie', gringo."

"Too late!" he replied with a grin. "Besides, how on earth did you even pull that off? Were you even aiming?"

"...Yes." she said with a downcast look. Naruto's grin softened at her expression before lowering his bow.

"Hey, it's alright." she looked up at him. "Maybe you can't get it now, but I'm sure you will! All it takes is a little practice, y'know?" Kassandra blinked at the blond shinobi before giving a thankful smile as she nodded her head.

Turning back to face the target, Naruto raised his bow and prepared to nock another arrow. He paused, and then-!

*TWHIP!* *TWANG!*

The last three shots left his hand one after the other, this time each with two landing within the inner circle, and the last finally hitting center. Nodding to himself in accomplishment, only to frown as he saw that Thalia landed two arrows right on the bulls-eye. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, the Daughter of Zeus gave him a challenging smirk as she pulled her left eyelid down.

Naruto gave the mature response of blowing her a raspberry as they went to put away their bows, earning a chuckle from the punk-clad teen. Sighing at their antics, Chiron trotted over to give out his assessment.

"Well, judging by both your aiming percentage and technique, I would say that Thalia and Naruto would make excellent archers. Luke, Annabeth, Kassandra, well done." the ancient centaur spoke as he turned to face the other three. "Don't feel bad about how many times you hit a target, or at all. There are other skills to learn, after all."

Annabeth cocked her head cutely to the side with a curious look on her face. "Chiron, sorry for asking, but what do you mean by that?"

Chiron smiled at her inquiring mind before opting to continue. "Take for instance, you have been assigned a quest from the gods. Knowing the importance of such, you must always assume that every moment presents a danger. Therefore, you must plan accordingly, and have all your bases covered. Too many archers would leave your group susceptible to a close-quarters ambush. Likewise, having no long-range fighters would be just as disastrous, as you would be picked off from a distance." Here he gestured to the campgrounds, where they could see other kids learning and training. A few of which, the children of Hephaestus, could be seen working at a forge hammering away at Celestial Bronze into swords and shields. "Here you have every opportunity to learn many skills to better prepare yourself. One can never be sure of the future ahead."

"For nothing is true, and everything is permitted."

Naruto blinked as he took a moment to register exactly what he just said. 'Where did THAT come from?' he thought to himself as the others gave him puzzled looks, trying to make sense of what he was saying. He turned to look at Chiron, who bore a look of regretful understanding on his visage.

Almost as if he knew the true meaning of those words personally.

Then on Wednsday, Chiron took them to the Camp Forge, where they could see most of the Cabin Nine kids forging new weapons and armor. In one of the corners, a young man of about fifteen was hammering away at a sword. He was tall, dark-skinned with a partially shaved head, leaving only white high-top dreads. Wearing a sleeveless Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, khaki pants and work boots, he left quite the imposing figure towering even his cabinmates at 6'3". Defined muscles lay within the skin of his arms, every movement threatening to cause them to pop and burst.

When he was close enough, Chiron made his presence known. "Ah, Marcus," he said, "How are things?"

"Hmm?" the towering young man turned to face the aged trainer, chestnut brown eyes gazing at the small group of awe-struck demigod teens in front of him. "Oh, Chiron! It's nothing much, really. Just working on a new sword. What brings you here?"

Chiron gestured to the group behind him. "These are the new campers that just arrived the other day, my dear boy! Surely you remember?"

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, guys. It's kinda hard to tell the time when I'm working in here." The dark-skinned young man then made to introduce himself. "The name's Marcus Baratheon, son of Hephaestus and Councilor of Cabin Nine. Nice to meet you!" He turned to face Thalia first, right hand extended foward. "You're the daughter of Zeus, Thalia, right?"

The punk-clad teen blinked as she gazed at the massive limb before shaking his hand. "Yep. You wouldn't happen to know Cerys from the arena, would you?"

Marcus grinned, his eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the daughter of Ares. "You guys met Cerys? Yeah, I know her-went to the same school together before coming here! She's the Councilor of Cabin Five now, but we still find time to chat every now and then."

Luke blinked before adding his two cents in. "Wait you guys knew each other? Huh, small world..."

The son of Hephaestus gave the older blond a raised eyebrow before continuing. "It's not really common, but not unheard of. I'm sorry, you're..."

"Uh, Luke, son of Hermes."

"Right..." Satisfied with having a name to work with, Marcus turned to the rest of the group. "And who're you? Claimed, or..."

"They are still undetermined, Marcus." Chiron replied.

"Meh, so long as they're still breathing and working they're welcome here. So, wanna tell me your names?"

"I'm Annabeth!" the youngest cutely blurted out, only to bow her head in embarrassment at the amused chuckles from the others.

Then it was Kassandra's turn. "Cute, Annie. Name's Kassandra, though I prefer Kass."

Marcus smirked, remembering how he used to be at that age. "Kass, huh. Well, alright, welcome to camp." Finally he turned to the whiskered blond. "And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you!" the whiskered boy answered with an infectious grin on his face. One that was returned by Marcus.

"Well, welcome to the Camp Forge. Here you can make whatever projects or weapons you want, and even fix any of your gear that becomes broken or damaged. Because we have it at the edge of the stream, the waterwheels power the bronze gears that keeps the forge running so we don't have to worry about power shortages. Aside from the Arena matches and Capture the Flag, it's one of the best spots in camp-and no, I'm not saying that because of who my godly parent is." The tall demigod muttered that last part with a straight face. He quickly righted himself before gesturing for them to follow him. "Right, that's everything. So, who wants to make something?"

It took them an hour for both Chiron and Marcus to teach them the basics of smithing. Soon they were starting off with making small Celestial Bronze rods and spheres. Naruto was beginning to remember about all the D-Rank missions of helping Tenten and her father around the forge. How you had to cool the heated metal just long enough without cracking it, and how effective such a skill it would be to have in the future. It was one of the only times he and Sasuke ever agreed on anything.

"CHIDORI!"

*CLANG!*

"Naruto, my boy! Are you alright?" Chiron cried out as he trotted over to the whiskered blond, seemingly lost in the head as he dropped the hammer he was using. The young Uzumaki blinked a couple of times before shaking his head. Looking up, Naruto gave the aged centaur a convincing smile. "It's nothing, Chiron. Just let myself get distracted, is all."

Chiron gave the boy a concerned look before nodding his head, mentally filing the incident for a later date as he trotted to see a frustrated Annabeth and Luke trying to make a metal ball. Kassandra, on the other hand was managed to make a foot-long pole and seven-inch leaf blade to her excitement. Marcus gave her work a once-over before helping her and Thalia in pointing out what she did right and where she could improve before taking them for final touches. All he and Thalia were able to make were a pair of crude nine-inch straight blades. Again, Marcus looked them over, gave them some advice and praise and took them away.

Once the son of Hephaestus carried them further into the forge, Chiron took them out for a game of volleyball. It was boys against girls, Naruto and Luke on one side, Kass and Thalia on the other. Two hours later, they had managed a tie of 5-5 before they were called in by Marcus. So, after putting the volleyballs away, the small group walked back to the forge where their beginner projects were finished and laying on the table covered in black veils.

Annabeth couldn't help herself as she started bouncing on her heels. "Are those what I think they are?" she started to ask impatiently.

Chiron gave her a small chuckle as Naruto rubbed her head, much to her frustration. "Yes, precisely. Seeing as how you spent nearly a whole three hours on your small projects, Marcus and I saw fit to help you along with a few final touches. Consider them a welcome gift. Now who wants to go first?"

Kassandra went first and revealed her final project. It was a 17" long spear with a seven-inch leaf-like blade at one end. The entire weapon itself was composed entirely of Celestial Bronze, with the shaft being wrapped in brown leather. Carefully, the Latina demigoddess picked up her new weapon with both hands before giving it a few twirls. Satisfied, she thanked both Chiron and Marcus before turning back to her spot.

On Luke and Annabeth's turn, the small seven-year-old was all too eager to yank off the veil to reveal two miniaturized globes of the world. Somehow, Marcus and his cabinmates were able to inscribe the physical terrain as well as each and every single city on the known world.

'No,' the whiskered jinchuuriki lamented, 'their known world. I'm not from around here...'

When he and Thalia came up to receive theirs, it was only revealed to be a pair of nine-inch daggers. No hilt was visible on any blade, and it was composed completely of Celestial Bronze. Giving their thanks, the two teens grabbed their daggers and left. Once the five newcomers gathered outside of the forge, Marcus cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"Well, congrats all of you!" He shouted, gaining their rapt attention. "You got to make your first objects in the camp forge. One day, you might even make an actual weapon with your godly parent's blessing, as I did."

Naruto furrowed his brow, not knowing what the older teen was talking about. "Uh, Marcus? I don't see any weapon on you..."

Grinning, the dark-skinned son of Hephaestus reached into his apron and pulled out a simple bronze ring. "You see this here ring?" he asked the whiskered blond, getting him to nod in reply. "This is what I got from my first quest. I wasn't much older than you, kid. Cerys and I were to help out a pair of demigods right off the coast of Washington State and guide them back to camp. It was smooth sailing 'till we got to the Appalachian Mountains-pair of Colchis bulls and a big old drakon waiting to tear us up for supper. While Cerys dealt with the overgrown wallet, I had two cows to melt down." He put the ring on his left hand as he walked up to the group, a fire dancing in his eyes as he told his tale. "Imagine a giant bull made of bronze the size of an elephant with silver horns and rubies for eyes charging at you, its maw filled with violent raging flames yearning to melt you down through flesh and bone. And I had to face two!" Marcus chuckled at the awe-filled looks on their faces. "So that's exactly what I did. I fought, I won, and in turn they left behind scraps of Celestial Bronze for me to claim as spoils."

With a snap of his fingers, the ring glowed bright. When the light died down, Marcus Baratheon now held a six-foot double-ended Celestial Bronze war-hammer in his hand. The massive head was easily the size of Naruto's torso, with steam emitting from its surface.

"WHOA!" the whiskered boy yelped as he backed away in surprise, the other kids joining him as Marcus shifted a small mechanism in the grip of the hammer. Almost immediately the head was doused in Greek fire.

The older teen gave out a grin. "Guess I might've gone overboard, huh? Cerys had that same look on her face when she first saw it." He slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground. " This is Steel Breaker. I managed to infuse the head with Greek fire that can be activated with a switch I built into the handle. And no I'm not gonna tell you how I did it, that's a trade secret." Marcus was quick to point out that last sentence as he saw their eager faces. Tapping the ground twice, the war-hammer reverted back into the ring with a flash of light. "Well, that's all for today! Thanks for bringing them in, Chiron."

"With pleasure, Marcus." the ancient trainer responded with a smile.

On Friday, Chiron led them around the campgrounds before the dinner horn was sounded. Thalia went to sit at her table while the others sat with the Hermes kids, Luke being regular and the others were undetermined. They feasted on meat and cheese and drank goblets of soda, conversing with one another. Naruto recalled when they went rock climbing on the Lava Wall. He then started to tease Thalia, who kept falling off, her fear of heights not doing any favors. Of course, since she couldn't walk over to the Hermes table, the daughter of Zeus settled for glaring at the whiskered blond who merely stuck his tongue out in reply.

It was starting to trickle down the time before Chiron stomped his hoof on the floor. As soon as the pavilion quieted down, he began.

"Campers!" the aged trainer bellowed, "As most of you already know, it is Friday night. For those that do not, we here at Camp Half-Blood have ourselves a little tradition every Friday night after dinner. The name of it?"

"'''''''''CAPTURE THE FLAG!"""""""

Mr. D raised an eyebrow at the noise before returning to his wine magazine, not bothering to entertain the gathered demigods with a response. Chiron, however, gave a big smile on his face as he raised his hands to quell the noise. "Now, now, most of you remember the rules. So clean up and ready yourselves, campers!"

With loud yells and cheers the masses went on to do just that, soon the five newcomers found themselves at the Armory grabbing whatever they could. Swords, shields, and spears were being grabbed and hauled off left and right. Naruto was caught up in the masses of kids brandishing weapons and putting on armor that eventually he realized that he needed to find some armor for himself fast!

So, with the little time he had left, he found a pair of batons, a decent leather cuirass, and a set of leather greaves and bracers that provided him with just the right amount of defense and maneuverability. Tightening his headband, the whiskered boy marched towards the woods alongside Thalia and Luke. As he looked at the gathering crowd Naruto noticed that, despite the leather armor, most of them were wearing colors of red or blue. Eventually Chiron led them to the entrance to the forest, turning around to make his announcement.

Naruto tuned him out, only retaining the important parts such as no killing or maiming of any kind in favor of looking at the woods and trees. Most of which provided good ambush spots, and if need be he could pass above them undetected using the many branches.

'Most people would often look up and see me coming where I come from,' he thought before letting a vicious smirk form on his face. 'Then again, this ain't MY world.'

Nodding to himself, the young shinobi waited for Chiron to finish explaining the rules before delegating teams. According to some of the other demigods, the Ares and Athena cabins were always put against each other. Then came picking sides, which was done throughout the week. Trading favors or chores, which was how Hermes and Apollo cabins managed to side with Athena. Thalia, as the daughter of Zeus, found herself siding with the Ares cabin much to their delight. Luke gulped, Kassandra sighed in irritation, Annabeth looked nervous, and Naruto?

He grinned.

"RIGHT, THEN!" Chiron bellowed, "EVERYONE TO YOUR RESPECTIVE HOME BASES!"

The groups were gathered, and into the woods they marched. Naruto was alongside Luke and Kassandra, who were following the older Athena cabin members. While they were marching to their base the trio got to talking.

"So, anyone got dibs on Freckles?" Naruto asked.

Kassandra couldn't help but giggle as Luke bit the inside of his cheek. "I swear, it's like you've got a death wish! Do you WANT to be fried by a lightning bolt?"

"CHIDORI!"

Naruto found himself impaled by a lightning-coated fist through his lung by someone he once called friend. He looked into the eyes of his former teammate only to see cold red orbs willing to do whatever it takes for power...

The whiskered blond lightly shook his head at the memory before shrugging his shoulders at the son of Hermes. "Eh, wouldn't be the first time..." he replied somberly. Seeing the confused look on their faces, he just kept walking forward. "C'mon. This game's not gonna win itself."

They were nearing a pile of rocks known as Zeus's Fist when they saw their team flag: a blue standard on a bronze pole with a silvery-gray owl proudly displayed. Once arriving, the large group had gathered around two individuals.

One had to be an older Apollo kid of about sixteen. She was a short, wavy blond haired, blue-eyed California girl (and it's a wonder how the knuckleheaded ninja knew that term.) with a bright smile wearing leather armor, the Camp T-shirt, green cargo shorts, and sneakers. Naruto also took notice of the arm-guards and golden finger-tabs suggesting that she was left-handed. A short xiphos was hanging off her waist and a longbow was slung over her right shoulder.

The other was a young man about his age, with stormy-gray eyes and short black hair. He was rather tall and appeared to be of Asian descent, with leather armor and bronze arm-guards with stylized owl etchings that seem to have some sort of mechanism built within. Unlike his blonde companion he was rather stony-faced, all serious and with no room for error. Hanging off of his belt was a spatha and he bore a bronze shield on his back with an owl's head engraved on its surface.

"All right everyone, GATHER UP!" The blonde shouted, immediately gaining the crowd's attention. "Perfect! For any newcomers here, listen up! I'm Luna Summers, the Councilor for Cabin Seven. And this is Kaz!"

"Luna, enough." the boy muttered, to which the daughter of Apollo muttered an apology. Clearing his throat, he made sure he was heard when he spoke. "I'm Kazuhira Masters, Councilor of Cabin Six. I'll be taking charge of Blue Team for this game. Now, pay attention because I'm only going to say this once."

Directing their attention to a nearby tree, it was revealed to have a map of the forest with two colored flags on opposing ends. The blue flag-their flag-was neatly posted near the depiction of Zeus's Fist. The other flag, in red, was posted somewhere on the other side of the woods surrounded by mounds. A creek leading to the Long Island Bay divided the forest, acting as a natural boundary for the game.

"Here is our objective, the Red Team's flag is surrounded by three small mounds. Knowing Cabin Nine, they're bound to have defenses set up to try and fend us off. Marcus Baratheon comes from a long family line of engineers and knows his way around siege engines, so be sure to look for any hints of automated machinery once further into enemy territory. And be thorough, since he'll probably be collaborating with Cabin Four in assisting with camouflage. On the other hand, Cerys MacLeod is a known expert in guerilla warfare, having survived on her own for a year in these woods-long enough to know these grounds like the back of her hand. She'll most likely be leading a small group to our flag by using a larger group as a distraction, and she never takes the same route twice. That's how they've won the last few games. Any questions?"

"What about Thalia?" Luke asked, not looking forward to fighting one of his friends.

"Funny you should ask," Kaz replied with a subtle hint of a smirk. "Since your group has known her the longest, I suggest that you could take care of holding her off. I take it that it won't be a problem?"

The son of Hermes grumbled something about know-it-all pricks before nodding his head in reply, not liking this idea at all. Thalia tended to be a little zap-happy in a fight. And judging by the look on her face, neither did Kassandra.

"Right," the son of Athena continued, "now we need a small team to scout deep onto their turf. Any volunteers?"

A hand shot up immediately. Naruto soon realized that it was his own.

"Perfect," Kaz spoke up, "That's one! Now who else?"

A few minutes later found Naruto hopping from branch to branch, traversing deep into enemy territory as the sky was getting dark. From what Kaz told him, he was looking for a small group of the Red Team further towards the back guarding the red flag. Three branch-hops later found the whiskered teen in the midst of a clearing where he could catch his breath. From the distance he could hear the beginnings of battle in the distance. Pulling a small canteen from his back pouch, he took a sip of water as he debated his next move.

Since no one else wanted to go with him, Kaz ordered Naruto to go ahead and scout the numbers, as well as pinpoint where the enemy flag was.

Would having more people help him? Sure, if they wanted to set up an ambush. No, it was easier like this-nobody getting in his way. And judging by the sounds of distant battle on his left, they would've made too much noise anyways.

A snap of a twig from below halted his thought process as the blond shinobi looked down in front of him at the forest floor. And what to his surprise: Cerys quietly leading a small unit of five kids-probably her cabin mates, no doubt-towards the boundary line. They were still a ways far from where he was perched, but have yet to look up.

The whiskered boy tried to think up a plan to get their attention when suddenly it came to him.

And then he grinned...

"Alright everyone knows what to do?" Cerys asked her brothers and sister as the silently made their way to the creek. The plan was simple: go around the major skirmish without alerting any outward patrols and find the enemy flag. One person carries the flag while the rest covers their retreat to the boundary line. The councilor of Cabin Five made sure to handpick her siblings that she trusted the most: Two swordsmen, two archers, and an axe-wielder with a shield. She held her weapon in spear form, and her steel pauldrons were on proud display. The redhead didn't wear her fur cloak so that it wouldn't snag on a nearby branch.

"Yeah, yeah, we know the drill sis. Not like there's much to do." One of the swordsmen droned out, the lack of enthusiasm evident in his voice.

Cerys rolled her eyes as she quickly turned to her half-brother. "Listen, punk!" She hissed dangerously, "If you decide you just want to crack a few skulls in the next game, then fine by me. Right now, you do what I tell you to do. Understand?" She got a frustrated snort in reply-the closest thing to an acknowledgement amongst children of Ares. Sighing, the Sparrowhawk turned back towards the creek and started to march onto enemy territory when suddenly-!

*POOF!*

The small unit of six immediately crouched in surprise as thick white smoke filled the area of the forest they were in, seemingly out of thin air. Gripping her spear with both hands, the daughter of Ares did a quick scan of her surroundings, and to her shock, was barely able to make out the silhouette of her nearest cabin-mate behind her. Even the ground had a thin layer of smoke, though she could still make out the

"Sound off!" she ordered, "Anyone got eyes?!"

"Nope!"

"Nothin' here!"

"Fuck, I can't see shit!"

"Damn it!" Cerys cursed as she tried to peer through the smoke. Opting to wait it out, she told her siblings to stay put. Then-

*SNAP!*

"What was that?!" One of the archers murmured, aiming her bow at the source of the noise. The smokescreen didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, and the night sky wasn't doing wonders for them either.

*SNAP!*

As one they quickly snapped to the other direction to the snapping of twigs. Multiple light footsteps echoed around them, skirting their defenses and leaving them on edge. Laughter echoed throughout the forest, one that was jeering and creepy.

*SNAP!*

Realizing that staying in one spot wouldn't get them anywhere, Cerys ordered for her team to advance towards the creek. She had only made it about five steps before-

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

The daughter of Ares quickly brandished her spear behind her, the others moving into a kill circle. It was only when they gathered that Cerys noticed they were one man short. One of her swordsmen had vanished, the fog-like smoke seemingly swallowing him whole.

"MIKE!" She cried out, only to hear his anguished screams from the distance. "SHIT!"

"How're we gonna play this, boss?!" The axe-wielder hollered, weapon raised to sweep across the ground in an arc.

Curling her lip, the auburn-haired demigoddess growled out in frustration before giving out orders. "Fuck this! If there's a monster looking for a quick snack, then we've got to kill it! Chuck, cover our rear! Becca, Sean! I want those arrows at the ready! Anything comes at our flanks that isn't human, shoot it down! Joey, you're with me! We're taking point to the creek! Now, MOVE!"

*SNAP!*

As one they hustled, the footsteps never pursuing them relentlessly from behind and either side. Jeering laughter soon gave way to hungry snarls and howls, forcing them to run faster. Seeing shadows running across the floor, Cerys looked up to see dark blurry shapes running across the branches and leaves.

"They're in the trees..." she muttered under her breath, eyes widening as the sounds of hungry monsters drew near. "THEY'RE IN THE GODS-DAMNED TREES!"

Becca and Sean fired arrows into the deep smoke, hoping to hit at least one of the fast-moving shapes surrounding them. One of the blurry figures seemed to move his hand as if to throw something, and tiny objects seem to fly and spin at their heads. Ducking their heads, the group of five started to move as a cohesive unit, not wanting to risk splitting up against an unknown number of enemies. Then-

"Cerys, we've gotta move! We're getting pinned out here!" Joey yelled as he deflected one of the flying objects back into the smoke. She could see that Chuck was doing his best to cover their rear, but he was beginning to tire from the amount of small projectiles he blocked using his shield.

That was the last she saw of her half-brother before the ground seemed to swallow him whole at that moment.

"SHIT! MOVE, MOVE!" the daughter of Ares roared as she and her siblings raced their way out of the smoke. Cerys led on, Joey close behind her. Becca and Sean kept covering their flank, but were slowing down with each arrow they fired into the smoke.

A mistake that would cost them as the archers were yanked up off their feet one after the other, screaming as they disappeared into the canopy above...

The remaining pair kept running through the smoke until finally it started to clear up, the creek visible in front of them.

The Sparrowhawk turned to face Joey, eager to tell him the good news, only to see nothing but the thick fog of smoke behind her.

Now furious at the smoke and shapes for taking her cabin-mates, Cerys gave an angry bellow as the last pair of her dog-tags glowed to form gauntlets that covered her hands and forearms. They were the same style and color as her shoulder plates, with etchings of screaming, pain-filled faces on the backhand of the gauntlets. Gripping her sword with both arms, the blade glowed an bright azure before she slashed at the obscure forest.

As she did so, the auburn-haired daughter of Ares yelled out: "ZEPHYR!"

A gust of wind burst forth from the blade, evaporating the smoke from the trees. But what she saw emerge was no hungry monster, eager for a snack.

It was a person, a boy by the looks of it and at least one year her junior. He wore a strange ninja-like headband over a bandana and mask to cover his face, leaving only blue eyes that seemed to glow slightly. He was a camper, as made evident by the leather armor and the camp T-shirt he wore. His hands, however were otherwise occupied. In his left hand was a Celestial Bronze baton.

In his right, was the bound and gagged form of Joey, eyes widened in fear.

"What the fuck...?" Cerys whispered incredulously, shifting her feet on the ground as she settled into a stance. The masked boy in front of her tilted his head to the side before dropping her brother like a sack of potatoes. With his hand now free he moved to lower his mask, revealing the grinning face of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Sorry, Cerys! Couldn't help myself."

The Sparrowhawk blinked in disbelief before letting out a small chuckle. "Shit, kid, you're a scary sonofabitch when you want to be, you know that?"

"Eh, I wouldn't have noticed." The whiskered blond grabbed the spare baton from behind his waist before twirling it in his right hand. "But, as much as I like to stand around and talk, I can't let you get the flag. You get me?" Suddenly, multiple copies emerged from the canopy as they dropped to the forest floor.

Cerys grinned in anticipation as she raised her blade. "HA! This is gonna be fun! Let's dance!"

Meanwhile...

'Here's to hoping my clones hold off Cerys long enough, or I'm in trouble,' Naruto thought to himself as he quickly neared the Red Flag, having spotted it while circling Cerys' raiding group from above. Realizing that he could never take on Cerys in a straight fight, yet knowing that he couldn't let them cross the boundary line, the boy ninja, made a few more clones in the wake of the chaos while he made his way further into enemy territory. Dropping to the ground, the whiskered boy could see that the flag-blood red with a boar's head on its field-was planted in an open clearing amidst the tall trees.

'It's a trap,' he thought as he slowly stood up straight from his crouched position. 'even a Ninja Academy student could see that much. And I'm the Dead Last of my classmates!'

Looking around, the blond genin found a few small pebbles on the ground not far from where he was standing. Reaching out, he picked them up and held one of them in his right hand and the rest in the left. Running the thumb over the smooth surface, Naruto threw it into the clearing towards the flag.

He was rewarded moments later by hearing the a distant sound of a mechanism firing, and looked up to see a thick wooden bolt with an large iron tip emerging from the overgrowth of bushes. The bolt separated to reveal several blunted spikes built within immediately jettison themselves towards the pebble, knocking it out of the air twice before hitting a nearby tree trunk.

'...Okay that's a pretty cool defense system, I'll admit. But damn, Marcus! Auto-Firing Scorpions?! Are you trying to kill someone with those?!' Naruto thought exasperatedly, having only learned the name of the powerful siege engine from his lessons with Chiron. 'I don't care if those spikes were blunted! If Luke, Kass, or worse Annabeth had walked in here, they'd be swarmed!'

Opting to take care of the camouflaged siege weapons, Naruto used the rest of the pebbles to pinpoint the other Scorpions. He flicked them all into the air, one after the other. And just as what happened earlier, more bolts and spikes came raining down on the poor targets, soon starting to litter the ground. In the short time that had taken place, Naruto Uzumaki could count at least three on the ground, four on the branches, and the last two on the very canopy.

'I've REALLY gotta thank Pervy-Sage for teaching me about surroundings...maybe I'll find him something from here.' "Right, let's get this over with." He declared while cracking his neck. Willing forth his chained blades, he started spinning them before leaping into the fray.

He'd not made it ten steps before the first bolt was fired at him, only parried by one of his blades sent careening in front of him. Soon, every Scorpion rained down bolt after bolt, spike after spike on where he stood.

Only then, did the young man dance.

Spinning the chains violently in a circle, Naruto parried and deflected every strike aimed at his person, without fail. For every shot blocked, two or three more would be fired at him. Blunted spikes covered more and more ground, leaving him very little to traverse on. Still he marched on, inching closer and closer to the red flag. When it became clear that he would need to free one of his hands, the whiskered blond started using his blades to send the bolts rocketing back to the Scorpions.

He sent one rocketing back through the engine on one of the branches, the projectile snapping one of the arms off and rendering it useless. A few more spins and the whiskered boy managed to do the same with the two siege weapons on the ground, this time jamming the firing mechanism of the second. Ducking beneath a barrage of spikes, the young shinobi managed to make it to the flag before using his chains to deflect many of the spikes back, cutting through the ropes of all four siege engines perched on the branches. With the added breathing room, Naruto willed away his blades in favor of plucking the flag from its stand before making a beeline for the boundary. Already he could hear Thalia's cackling as electric booms echoed from the distance by the creek

'Eh, that was fun. Probably should have used my clones to find the damn things and-YEOWCH!' the whiskered young man visibly flinched as he made to cup his groin as though shielding it from a phantom pain before stopping himself. 'Oh, CRAP that hurt! Note to self: ALWAYS watch where I'm grabbing someone in a fight. I better apologize to Cerys later...'

*KRA-THOOOOM!* "KYAAAAA!"

Naruto blinked as he witnessed Kassandra's flying form nearly slam into him. Not wanting for her to get hurt, the young man carefully grabbed her around the waist before setting her feet first on the ground.

"Wha-Naruto?!" she exclaimed, eyes widening at the sight of the red flag in his hand. "How-"

"Hey, Kass! Long story, but I'm gonna need your help! You ready?"

"THERE, YOU IDIOTS! LOOK, HE'S GOT THE FLAG!" They didn't need to turn around to know that Cerys had found them

'Cono, I've got a bad feeling about this, but screw it!' "Fine, mister, but you're telling me everything after this!"

"Great, let's go!"

"GODSDAMMIT, NARUTO! YOU LED US RIGHT TO THE FIGHTING!" the Latina yelled two minutes later amidst the chaos unfolding around them.

Both teams were fighting at the creek, Thalia being the first to spot the pair before making a beeline for them, earning the attention of both sides of the skirmish. In the back of the Blue Team, Luna broke out into a fit of giggles as she fired Sonic Arrows at the opposing forces to cover the duo's retreat. Marcus, on the other hand, momentarily wondered how they managed to get past his defenses before charging Naruto; his giant flaming war-hammer in one hand and reinforced leather buckler strapped to both his forearms. Giving a yelp of surprise at the charging blacksmith, the Uzumaki threw the flag at Kassandra before around sliding forward on his knees beneath the arcing sweep of the giant weapon. Backing away from the hammer-wielding demigod, Naruto was immediately tackled to the ground by a charging Thalia.

They tumbled around the dirt before Naruto found himself lying on his back looking up at the daughter of Zeus straddling his waist while holding her spear at his throat. Naruto blinked at the rather sharp blade in front of him before turning back to her eyes. "I don't suppose surrender is an option, eh Freckles?"

"Hmm, lemme think about tha-no, it's not." the punk-clad teen replied with a savage grin. "Now then, any last words Whiskers before I fry the living crap out of you?"

*Groan* "Well, just two really..." The whiskered teen managed to say with a grin of his own. "Game. Over."

"Huh?"

A horn was blown as Chiron came trotting to the creek. "CAMPERS, THE MATCH HAS ENDED!" he bellowed while gesturing to Kassandra, who was standing in the middle of the creek with a now blue flag. "BLUE TEAM WINS!"

Whoops and cheers chorused throughout the winning side. Luke was racing around with Annabeth in tow, the little girl struggling to keep up with the son of Hermes.

"...I hate you so much right now, Naruto." Thalia growled out frustratedly before reverting her spear back into a mace can.

"Oof, I'm feeling the love here, Thalia..." the forementioned blond sang before remembering a saying his mentor was jotting down in his books. "But as much as I'm liking the view, do you think you can get off of me? We're starting to cause a scene."

For a brief moment, Thalia's face was flushed as she froze, clearly not used to this kind of scenario.

'Huh,' he thought rather shamelessly, though he'd vehemently deny it in public, 'she looks rather cute when she's flustered like that..."

"WOOO!"

Water was being splashed high into the air as Kassandra jumped up and down in joy in the creek, her eyes glowing a beautiful sea-green. Taking a moment to calm herself, she gave a quick look at her surroundings as though a monster could pop out from within the crowd. Most of the campers were surprised at the display, but were soon shocked by the glowing green trident appearing over her head.

"Whoa, que es esto?! What's this thing on top of my head?!" the Southern Latina freaked, waving her hands at the image. However, a voice broke her anxiety.

"I'm afraid we now know your godly parent's identity, my dear child." Chiron summarized as he bowed down in her direction, the campers kneeling in her presence. "Hail Kassandra, Daughter of Poseidon. God of the Seas."

Poor, tired Kassandra took a moment for that to sink in; only when that moment had passed did she will away her weapons before falling onto her knees. From what she had understood, Chiron told her of the Big Three Pact that was made shortly after World War Two-of how neither Zeus, Poseidon, nor Hades would ever sire demigod children again in fear of the Great Prophecy. At first, the King of Olympus was the first to break, siring Thalia. But now, the newly-claimed demigoddess wondered if the Furies were right in hunting them down.

Perhaps, if one day either she or Thalia were to ever-

"Oi, what's with the light show? It looks weird..."

She looked at Naruto, the only person who was still standing in front of her with his hand held out. Looking up, the Latina saw the disarming grin on his face.

"I dunno anything about all this, but do ya need a hand, Kass?"

Kassandra, Daughter of Poseidon, blinked at such a normal offering. She looked over to see Thalia, Luke and Annabeth get up and run over to her; concern over her well-being evident on their faces. The young Latina briefly wondered what exactly the future had in store for her.

Before laughing as she took his hand.

'Maybe it won't be so bad, after all...'

-End-Chapter-

A/N: Ahhhh, another chapter bites the dust! I'm really, really sorry for the long wait guys, but hey! I'd say in my humble opinion it was well worth it!

MAJOR bit of news: My sister-my little sister, my ONLY sibling-is graduating from NSU next month~~! XD XD XD XD XD!

SO! With my folks and I being otherwise occupied getting ready for her very special day, I may or may not be able to push out a new chapter after this one for at least a good month of so. What with all the planning, and the gift-getting, and the party hosting-it'll be a nightmare! A BLOODY FREAKING NIGHTMARE, I TELLS YA!

...But I digress that it'll be worth it.

Here's to hoping I don't go stark-raving mad and start screaming my head off like the late great Sam Kinison!

CIAO FOR NOW!