Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Heroes of Olympus.
Reading: Fils de l'Amour: Mark of Athena
11: Dreams, Clouds and Barriers
Aphrodite gladly snagged the book, eager to read more juicy drama.
Immediately after Morpheus drew Naruto into his realm, Naruto realized that once again he was not in his own body. Again, he was dressed in the awesome sunset tunic.
"He's wearing Sunny D?" Leo asked.
"It's an orange tunic Leo." Piper told him.
"I swear that it's wearable Sunny D." Leo hummed. "Not to self: Wearable liquid."
"I approve of this idea," Hermes said.
"I was going to say that!" Apollo complained.
Aphrodite looked annoyed. "I am only two sentences in, let me continue, please."
"Amazing, she can count."
The love goddess glared at Artemis and then looked back at the book.
His movements belonged to somebody else.
Talk about annoying.
"This...does not bode well." The words left his lips, but Naruto didn't know why they were said. The eyes scanned the area and Naruto mentally gaped. He was literally standing on a starry sky. How the hell was that possible?! Before Naruto could think any more on this, the gaze went down to the blue, green and white planet he stood over. Naruto marveled at the sight of the planet he and the rest of humanity called home.
"Now that is…amazing." Jason breathed. Gaea was peaceful…when she wasn't trying to destroy all of humanity and the gods.
"It's a wondrous sight." Zeus added softly.
It truly was beautiful from here. "I cannot let it happen. I will not lose Gaea."
"Ah, Daddy, you really make the drama so amazing." Aphrodite giggled like a naughty school girl.
Lose Gaea? What was this guy talking about? Naruto could only watch as his body strode down an invisible pathway to the rock that was home. Within seconds, he was back on Earth, a proud and powerful stride that made large lizard-like animals scurry away from him.
"Beloved!" There's a voice that sounds familiar. Naruto's head turned and he felt a smile spread across his face as the young and, oddly enough, beautiful primordial of the Earth quickly approached him.
"So young, so innocent, oh so the drama~!"
"Aphrodite, read." Athena told her.
"Spoilsport." The love goddess pouted.
"Gaea." The voice greeted happily when the powerful arms captured her in a tight hug. When Naruto's body pulled away, the eyes met with Gaea's beautiful green. "Are they-?"
"All healthy and happy. Come see, come see!" Gaea was elated and bright with her excitement. She dragged Naruto over to a small alcove where three nude infants sprawled on the ground.
"Oh, this is going to be bad." Annabeth murmured.
"And this is where the cycle starts." Apollo whistled.
Hera sighed. "The chain of events that lead to today. It is amazing to see it firsthand, though."
Zeus rubbed his beard as he contemplated their words.
Oddly enough, they looked like they were growing larger with each second. The smile that was on Naruto's face fell as the infants turned and looked up at him, each with one single green eye in their heads.
"...They...are not like us," the voice said, a bit disappointed and almost wary.
"Burn them!"
"That won't work, idiot." Hephaestus told his dimwitted and bloodthirsty brother.
"Nonsense!" Gaea rebuffed. "They have your shape and my eye!"
"...They are missing an eye. And their fingers are larger than ours." Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. Of course the fingers were larger, babies fat primarily to cushion their bodies until the muscles finished developing.
"Why does it matter?" Naruto had to side with Gaea on this one. What was the big deal?
Naruto's body was still for a moment before he felt tense and the sky become dark. "I do not want to see them."
"For shame! Shame!" Apollo raved like a loon as he pointed at the screen.
"You're the only shame here." Artemis told him.
"Please, I am the sun. I have no shame!" Apollo grinned. "I show all and see all."
Artemis palmed her face and mumbled. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"They're your sons-!"
"They are no sons of mine!"
Naruto wanted to ask for popcorn, this was getting heavy.
Aphrodite giggled proudly. He was just like his mommy.
He felt his hands clench and his legs move forward. Unable to do anything but silently protest, Naruto felt himself gather the three infants up in one hand by their ankles. Their cries made the sky crack, crafting the first lightning bolt.
Naruto felt his eyes narrow and his gaze harden.
"No! That's not-!"
"Be silent, Gaea!" Naruto mentally grimaced at his words. Whoever he was, this guy was a dick. The glare that was set on the Mother Earth cowed her significantly well and Naruto felt himself turn to the edge of where Gaea's domain ended and a dark pit opened. Naruto absently thought it was a stupid place to raise children. This thought was enhanced as he was forced to live through tossing three innocent Cyclopes into the abyss, they cried out for their mother as they fell.
Zeus shifted, a frown under his beard. Yes, his grandfather was just like the god's own father. However, in Ouranos' case, he didn't eat his children, he just tossed them into Tartarus. Could that have been worse than Father's stomach?
Zeus highly doubted it.
The vision became clouded and the dream slowly faded, but not before Naruto heard and felt one last sentence leave his lips: "I do this for you, Beloved."
"Drama~!"
The gods face palmed at Aphrodite's excited singing.
Well, if that didn't raise more questions than it did answer them, Naruto would stop eating Ramen altogether.
The dream didn't end, as Naruto thought it would. He awoke in the body that was not his own, somehow aware that time had moved forward. Again, the body faced Gaea, and again, there was rage that trembled through his form.
"Why!?" Naruto heard himself demand. "Why are our children so...so...Hideous!?"
Before Naruto were three men that stood easily as tall as the sky, a hundred arms on their torso while fifty heads were piled atop one another like strangely crafted pyramids. Hundreds of warm brown eyes stared fearfully at him while he scowled at them. Naruto looked them over once again, and their feet had eight toes each. Sixteen toed giants. That's a new one.
"Ugh." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose. "I agree with you, Daddy. So hideous."
"Hey." Hephaestus warned his wife. He happened to like the Hundred-Handed Ones, just like he did the Cyclopes.
"Isn't Briares sort of my brother in-law?" Percy asked his father.
"He did marry your half-sister, so yes." Poseidon nodded.
"Wow, Tyson's going to flip out."
"Beloved, please, they are your sons!" Gaea pleaded, with a hand gripped onto his arm. "Briares, Cottus and Gyges just want to know you as their father."
Naruto raged and again the sky darkened.
"Gaea should've build bunkers." Hades commented.
"We did for him." Poseidon pointed a thumb at Zeus, who ignored them both in favor of the story.
"They are foul-smelling abominations, Gaea! Don't you see what they could do?!"
"They've made you a gift! A gift for a king!" Gaea looked to their children and the middle giant with fifty pairs of teary eyes stepped forward hesitantly. A bronze staff that Naruto recognized instantly was held out to him.
"How'd that thing even get to camp?" Ares asked. He wanted it!
Hermes shrugged. "The stuff just floats there for some reason."
"Father-"
"You, monster, are no child of mine!" Naruto heard himself hiss. He grabbed the staff and held it over his head in both hands, then it was brought down over his knee and snapped in half. His action made the triplets cover their heads and duck away, their whimpers booming as the sky thundered. Naruto threw the staff pieces to the edge of the cliff so that they'd fall into the abyss where the cyclopes had gone – seriously, why did Gaea insist on having the kids here?!
"He's got a point." Hazel frowned. "It's a terrible idea."
Naruto's next action wasn't much of a surprise to him. Like with the three Cyclopes, Naruto grabbed them by their ankles. He pulled them from the ground and let them tumble into the abyss.
"They are not the monster, Our-!" The name Gaea used was partially muffled, but Naruto filed the part he heard away for later. Something about the 'our' and this whole situation was familiar to him, but for the life of him he couldn't place it. Gaea's words stirred Naruto back to the situation at hand. "You are a monster!"
Leo gasped in mock shock. "How hypocritical of her!"
"Duh, she's a goddess." Nico told him.
The goddesses, minus Hestia, looked at him.
"What? Gods in general are always hypocritical."
"He has a good point. I've come to terms with my hypocrisy," Hades said as he agreed with his son. He gave those glaring at Nico a stern look. "Can you own up and say the same?"
Needless to say, the goddesses, save for Hestia, all looked away as Aphrodite continued.
"I?" Naruto returned heatedly. "I who loves you, Gaea?! I who cherish you more than anything?! I who protect you from what your children are?! I am the monster?! No!" His eyes narrowed and Naruto sneered at the sobbing mother. "I am your partner, Gaea, and I am doing what's best for you!"
Hera rolled her eyes, there were just too many similarities with her relationship with Zeus, but still, he was at least better than their grandfather.
Gaea's green eyes glared at him, the added tears made her eyes look like the planet he saw not so long ago in the last vision. "Leave! Begone! You are no longer welcome to my plane without my explicit permission!"
Naruto scowled as he suddenly left earth, the last image of the beautiful world being the heartbroken Gaea. He reappeared on the starry sky and stared down at the earth that was hidden by darkened clouds and shook ever so subtly. His scowl deepened and he turned from the planet.
"That's basically go sleep on the couch in Primordial." Hermes translated with a snicker, getting a few all around.
"You will call me back, Gaea. Who will protect you if not me?"
"Why, my murderous Titan children of course!" Percy declared in a girly voice. Annabeth elbowed him in the side. "Ow, what? It's true."
"Shush!"
Naruto's eyes closed and he crossed his arms. With his eyes shut, an image that Naruto found enlightening and disturbing flash in front of him. It was a shadowed creature that had several sets of arms and had a tight grip on Gaea's arms, pushing her back. Naruto felt his teeth clench and his hands tighten on his arms.
"I will not lose you, Gaea. Family comes first, and while those things are not my family, you certainly are."
Hestia sighed. "That's very sweet, yet disturbing."
"Welcome to the club, Aunt Hestia," Thalia said.
Naruto's eyes opened and he sat up with a soft groan. He rubbed his head and recalled the dreams he'd just had. What did it mean? Something to do with Gaea, sure, but why did he see what happened to her kids?
"Have a nice nap?" Kurama asked with a snort. "Any interesting dreams? Any more visions of Madara?"
"No, Kurama. You didn't see the dream I had?" Naruto asked with a frown.
Kurama growled lowly. "As with the last dream, no I have not seen it. As long as it does not contain any shinobi, I could care less."
Piper frowned. "Wow, someone's tweaked."
"Majorly." Leo nodded. "He needs his ears scratched."
"It is belly rubs that sooths the savage beast," Frank said wisely.
Nico snorted. "You'd know, Mr. Fuzzy."
"Wow, way to be a team player."
"Shut it, brat. I'm helping you, the other meat bags on this boat are not my concern."
Naruto arched a brow. "Hostile, aren't you?"
Kurama snarled at him. "While you were in la-la land, I was stuck translating and running this meat sack you call a body. After about three hours, the sea urchin realized that I was the one pulling your strings. Isn't that right, you no good calamari?!"
"Piss off, Kurama!" Gyuki called distantly.
Hades rubbed his temples and sighed. "It's like Zeus and Poseidon, but in monster form. It oddly fits them."
"Say that again." His brothers dared as they glared at him.
"Why? Hard of hearing already, old men?"
"Says the eldest one." Zeus grunted.
"I'm not the one graying." Hades smirked back, since his brothers did have tinges of gray in their hair.
It was a three-way glaring match until Hestia gave them a cough and a stern glance. They sat like good little gods after that, hands in their laps and halos above their heads.
Until Zeus glared at Apollo and the light illusions disappeared.
Naruto snickered at the siblings' interaction and he looked at the door as Kirabi walked in, a small smirk on his face.
"Glad to see you're up, Mr. Nine. Those girls been worrying 'bout whether you fine," Kirabi said as he offered his fist in greeting. Naruto grinned at him and bumped knuckles before he got up and stretched.
"How'd you know they were worried?" Naruto asked the rapping shinobi with an arched brow.
"Like yourself, Naruto, B is very empathic. Most Jinchuriki tend to be able to sense and discern emotions, but not on the level you can." Gyuki explained through their mental link.
Kurama gave a distasteful snort. "Most likely due to his bitch of a mother."
"Can you read that again, Aphrodite?" Artemis asked with faux innocence. "I didn't hear it clearly?"
Aphrodite glared at her before she continued to read the story with her perfect teeth gritted together in irritation at the very unflattering comment on her person.
She now understood why Apollo disliked the fox.
"The goddess of love? ...Yes, that could make sense. I'm surprised you took notice of it, Kurama. Then again, you always were the most emotional of all of us." Gyuki added as an afterthought.
Kurama snarled. "Come in here and say that to my face, Gyuki! Then we'll see who is the most 'emotional'!"
"Let's all settle down," Naruto said with a chuckle. Last thing he needed was for the two strongest Biju to get into a fight with him and B stuck in the middle. Naruto looked at Kirabi. "So, where is everyone?"
"Puppet dude's checking the ship's engine
"If he so much as touches my stuff I'm burning his puppets." Leo frowned and his arms firmly.
while the hotheaded Iwa girl is training," Kirabi said with a grin. "Chōjurō's on the deck looking through some seals and I'm back down here to grab my own meal, whee~!" Kirabi scratched his tattooed cheek and chuckled awkwardly. "But, uh, with all the commotion from before, I remembered that I don't know where to get food anymore."
Naruto laughed while Gyuki groaned in their heads. Kurama released his own snort of amusement. Apparently he took solace that his brother suffered as he did. Naruto opened the door and led Kirabi to the dining room, where he found Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper.
"Naruto!" Piper expressed her relief with a sigh as she got to her feet and gave her brother a hug. Naruto hugged her back and then poked her in the forehead with two fingers. He chuckled at her pout.
"I just love the cute little sibling bonding you two share." Aphrodite smiled at the smiling Piper.
"He's a good big brother, its hard not to enjoy and envy these moments."
"Hey, Imouto. Anna-baba," Naruto said with a nod to the daughter of Athena. He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about passing out like that. Like I said, I was exhausted."
"Exhausted my tails. You were pulled into sleep." Kurama grumbled.
Gyuki sighed. "Must you always be snide to him?"
"Must you always be a dry rag?"
"Fuck you, Kurama."
"I'm not into tentacle porn, Sea Urchin."
"Oh great, that joke is back." Percy muttered. He pouted at how it had to be explained to him from a red-faced, but very cute, Annabeth between chapters.
Naruto and Kirabi burst into laughter while Gyuki roared in outrage at Kurama's retort. The demigods watched as the two shinobi tried to pull themselves together, both greatly amused by the Kyubi's comment.
Percy frowned and looked at Annabeth. "I don't get it. Did I miss something?"
"For once, Seaweed Brain, you're not alone in that." Annabeth returned, a frown on her face as her nephew and the shinobi she really didn't like chattered together in the language of the Elemental Nations. She really should've taken Japanese when it was offered at her school.
"Please don't." Percy asked Annabeth with a groan. If she took thatin college, she was going to make him do it, too. He still had trouble with English!
Annabeth grinned at him. "No promises."
"Want to let us in on the joke?" Jason asked the duo.
Naruto opened his mouth, but remembered who was in the room and quickly decided to say something else. "Our, uh, Biju are just talkative."
"Our Biju?" Percy repeated. He glanced at the tall muscled and shade wearing shinobi. "Right, he's like you...He's got the Hatchet in him."
"Now talk about an iron gut, eh? Eh?" Ares grinned widely.
"Ares, shush." Aphrodite's order made the war god frown. Apollo and Hermes snickered, but not because of the joke.
Annabeth rubbed her head with a sigh. "Hachibi, Percy. Hachibi. It means eight tailed."
"His name is Gyuki." Naruto clarified while Kirabi nodded.
"Stronger than I, he's my most powerful ally!" The Kumo nin crowed happily.
Gyuki groaned. "I take it all back, Kurama. You must kill me."
Kurama snorted. "And miss out on listening to you suffer? Hell no."
"Yep." Hades nodded. "Like Zeus and Poseidon alright."
"Then which one are you?" Zeus asked snidely.
"I don't know, but since I am more mature, none most likely."
Poseidon barked a laugh. "Ha! More mature my a-"
"Ahem." Hestia cleared her throat to make her brothers quiet down. Honestly, this was becoming tedious. Her brothers were not used to being cooped up together for so long.
Guys, c'mon. Naruto pleaded. It was already difficult switching from two languages mid conversation, but he didn't want to add having three conversations at once.
"Right..." Jason said to Kirabi's rap. He looked at the skull pommel on the bandaged sword and then looked at Naruto. "So, what's with the bandaged weapon? Some kind of ninja tool?"
"That's Samehada, the Shark Skin sword," Naruto said nonchalantly. With its name said, the sword let out a hissing growl and shifted on Kirabi's back.
"...Uh..." Percy looked at Naruto. "Did it just move?"
"I must make one!" Leo declared.
"Trust me, Leo, it's not worth it. Especially the backtalk, talk about a headache," Hephaestus said with a sigh.
"Yeah, Samehada's alive." Naruto nodded. He looked at Kirabi. "Wanna show them?"
Kirabi shrugged as he reached up and grabbed the handle of the sword. "Ain't got nothin' better to do. Just make sure he doesn't try to make a meal out of you."
Kirabi pulled Samehada from his back and then spun the handle in his hand so that the bandages began to unravel. What was revealed to the four demigods made their jaws drop.
"It's so big!"
"Aphrodite!" Hera frowned at the tittering goddess and glared at the snickering gods.
The sword was scaled from the hilt to the tip, but rather than a regular point at the top, a toothed mouth greeted them. Three scales in particular looked like fins, so that in hole, the sword looked like a scaled shark.
Kirabi grinned as the eight foot long blade jumped from his hand to the floor and slithered around at his feet. "Take a walk Samehada, stretch those legs, but remember you gonna go back into sealed mode again."
The sword shuddered and shrieked softly at Kirabi's words before it shuffled over to Naruto and began to sniff his leg.
"Aw, like a soul devouring puppy." Ares cooed. "It's so adorable."
"That is just wrong." Hermes whispered to Apollo.
"I know... Do you think he can surf on it?"
Hermes just gave him a baffled look. "Seriously? That's what you're thinking about? ...Are you on the grass again?"
"It's a legitimate question!"
Naruto arched a brow as some chakra was drawn from him and looked at Kirabi.
"Isn't he full from your chakra?" Naruto asked, not caring that visible blue energy was absorbed from his body into Samehada's mouth.
Kirabi chuckled. "Samehada likes to taste, even when he's not hungry. Should've seen it when it wanted a bite of Omoi, that was funny."
The demigods were not as amused, as when Samehada finished, it turned its attention on them. Samehada's tongue came out and swirled around the mouth, like it licked its lips.
"Take a bite out of Jackson!" Ares demanded gleefully.
"Holy Hephaestus!" Annabeth jumped from her seat with Percy and both stepped away as Samehada moved on from Naruto and shuffled towards them. There was a sniffing before Samehada whined and moved towards Piper and Jason. Another round of sniffing came.
"Naruto, get it away from us," Jason said as he fingered his sword.
"Its just curious about its surroundings," Poseidon said. He liked the sword somewhat. It reminded him of a shark.
"Too curious in my opinion." Athena frowned at the sight of the monstrous 'blade'.
Samehada shuddered and shrieked loudly before it turned back to Kirabi and Naruto. As it shuffled towards them, Percy frowned.
"Hey! What is that supposed to mean!?" he demanded. Percy lifted his arm and checked his scent. "I don't smell like processed meat!"
"Oh gods." Annabeth palmed her face. "You can understand it."
Percy shrugged. "Go figure."
"...Percy, you can understand it?" Annabeth asked. She gave Kirabi and Samehada a wary glance.
Percy looked at her, like he was about to say something, before he caught himself and blinked. "...Yeah? I guess so."
"Cool. What'd it say?" Naruto asked when Samehada released a heated hiss. He was curious what a sentient sword would be angry about.
Percy crossed his arms and glared at the sword. "Well, I'm sorry we don't have cat-tra or whatever the heck it's called. I think we all smell just fine!"
"Percy smells like sea bass?" Nico asked.
"No." Percy told him.
Nico pointed to Jason. "Hm, I want to say wet dog, but I'm unsure."
"Dog?" Jason deadpanned as Nico moved on to Piper.
"If you so much as say-"
"Nah, I'd get in trouble for that one." Nico looked at Annabeth. "An owlery."
"…I'm going to suffocate you one day," Annabeth said casually.
Nico nodded mockingly and stopped.
"Should've seen that coming." Naruto muttered.
Samehada shuffled and shrieked again. Percy's eye twitched.
"I'll show you a real swordsman," he said with a scowl as he drew Riptide. Samehada let out a low shriek and Percy's eyes narrowed in hate. Annabeth grabbed the son of Poseidon under arms and held him back while he tried to charge at the sword. "Let me go, Wise Girl! I'll cut that thing into fish sticks and serve it to the Giants!"
"Now I really want one," Ares said with a grin. "If it can piss off Jackson, how can I not?"
Naruto scratched his head and looked at Kirabi. "Any idea what he said?"
Kirabi shrugged while Gyuki sighed. "It called the boy's mother a cheap chakra-less sow that's only good for repopulating."
"…I'll fucking smite it!" Poseidon snarled as he seethed.
Percy looked ready to go psycho, but Annabeth made sure to keep her boyfriend calm and remind him that it was just a story.
"Damn, mom shots." Apollo whistled as Hermes shook his head.
"Not cool. Never cool."
Kurama burst into laughter while Naruto arched a brow. He said all that in one shriek?
"That was the gist of what I understood. I could be paraphrasing." Gyuki rumbled. Kurama laughed harder while Naruto palmed his head. That figures.
"That wasn't nice, yo. Talkin' bad about some kid's Mom is a huge no-no." Kirabi grumbled with a small frown directed at his weapon. Samehada whimpered at him and Kirabi shook his head. "Like bro said to me: If ya can't play nice, you can't play at all. Next time we fight, I'll give ya a call."
Kirabi grabbed the bandages and started to restrict Samehada again while Percy glared at it. If looks could kill, Samehada would no longer be sentient and Naruto was pretty sure that Kirabi would be without a badass living sword.
"I need some tartar sauce." Percy mumbled. "Shark is on the menu tonight."
"I'm gonna get some grub, Mr. Nine. Maybe you should go check out what Chōjurō's doin' with his time," Kirabi said as he pointed a thumb at the fridge and kept the bound Samehada on his back. Annabeth started to pull Percy out of the room, all while the boy grumbled and glared at the sword, who shuffled as well as it could in its bindings.
"Sounds like a plan to me, B," Naruto said with a light grin while their Biju groaned.
Kurama snorted. "Great. Your container broke mine just as he was starting to become bearable. Way to go, Sushi Steak."
"It's not my fault Kirabi's a fool! From what I understand of his history, his father was similar. It's probably genetic." Gyuki quickly rebuffed.
"Uh-huh. Sure. You have fun with that fantasy." Kurama retorted.
Play nice, guys. Naruto thought as he left the dining room and went topside to the deck. When he finished his trek up the stairs, Naruto saw Kurotsuchi as she went through a few kata near Festus' head while Chōjurō looked at a few sprawled out scrolls while seated behind the mast.
"Yo, Chōjurō," Naruto said with a grin as he approached the swordsman. The spectacled warrior looked up and smiled lightly at him.
"Naruto-sama." He greeted.
Naruto frowned. "Don't call me that. I don't like honorifics."
"You are the Hero of the Shinobi World, Naruto-sama. It would be rude of me to speak lowly of you," Chōjurō said firmly.
"Why don't I get that?" Percy asked aloud.
"Because you're you, Percy. You hate that stuff." Thalia told him.
"I'd like it every once in a while." The son of Poseidon pouted.
Annabeth smiled at him. "It makes you more approachable."
"For girls?" Piper asked innocently.
The blonde girl glared at her. "That's not funny."
"If one does not show respect to others, how can one expect to be respected in return?"
"By pulling the stick out of your ass and hitting others with it?" Kurotsuchi asked from where she performed a high roundhouse kick.
"Man, it stinks that she's not wearing shorts." Leo complained. Piper gave him a look and he shrugged. "What? I can window shop."
"Absolutely." Aphrodite nodded in agreement. Always added to the drama.
Chōjurō rolled his eyes while Naruto tilted his head in thought. Both had points that he could understand, but if he chose a side now, he'd be drawn into an argument that wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead, Naruto just shrugged and fell into a cross-legged seat with an easy-going grin aimed at the Kirigakure shinobi.
"Well, if you're going to be that way, fine. So, you said something about a translation seal?" Naruto asked as he peered at the scrolls. He hummed and tilted his head. "That's an interesting translation formula, though wrong."
Athena smiled. She enjoyed scenes where Naruto showed his intelligence. It really reflected how much of her wisdom he'd inherited.
Chōjurō blinked. "Wrong? This was made by some of Kirigakure's best seal craftsmen."
"Yeah, but this is translating what the ears hear. The ears don't process sounds, the brain does." Naruto explained. He spun the scroll around and picked it up. "And there's nothing about visual translation, either."
"We were going to use a separate seal." Chōjurō gestured to one at his side. He scratched his head. "And then once we perfected them, get them into one."
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Man, why is it everyone thinks seals are that simple? Ero-sennin wasn't surprised when he learned I hadn't had any training in it, but when I thought it'd be easy..." Naruto shuddered. Those first few storage seals were murder...all the explosions. He had to wear a hat a lot to cover some bald spots.
"My poor baby!"
"Aphrodite, do we need another reader?" Demeter asked with a stern frown.
"No." Aphrodite pouted. She silently lamented over the fact that no one understands her or her children's troubles as she continued to read.
Kurama laughed. "I almost forgot about that! Ah, you looked ridiculous!"
Shut up, Fuzzball! I still became a better seal master than Ero-Sennin! Naruto thought with a scowl as he looked over the visual seal. "Again, this uses what the eye perceives as the focus, not what the brain registers. Our best bet would be to start with a combination of the two into a universal translation seal and then work on minimizing it."
Chōjurō frowned. "But wouldn't we need to know other languages for that?"
Naruto sighed. "The goal isn't to learn other languages, it's to understand them. Thankfully, I know the two languages we want to deal with. We can start there and, if need be, work our way to other languages later down the line."
Naruto sat back and set the scroll down. He summoned a clone and sent it to his room to get his things. The clone returned quickly and it, along with other clones Naruto summoned, began to search through Kirigakure's notes and seals for inspiration.
"Now that's what I call a think tank," Annabeth said as she pouted. she'd love to work with herself like that.
Percy had a similar thought, though he'd work with the Annabeth clones in another way.
Fifteen minutes in, Kurotsuchi had stopped training and watched the many clones work on one seal. She looked at Chōjurō, who was just as flabbergasted, and arched a brow. "This is why our countries destroyed Uzuoshigakure no Sato."
"Attack and destroy the intelligent ones, of course!" Athena bit back a snarl. Masters of such an art, destroyed out of petty fear? Honestly, it was like her father freaking out if he left his lightning bolt in the latrine, which happened far more often than one would expect in recent years.
"It's like they're just writing a report..." Chōjurō muttered. He could see why the Uzumaki Clan as individuals and as a whole were feared. If Naruto was capable of getting further than his village's experts were within an hour, which he was, then imagining a clan – no, a Village with the innate ability in the art of Fuinjutsu was absolutely terrifying. No wonder it took three of the five Great Hidden Villages to destroy the Uzumaki's home, the casualties on the three villages side had to be enormous.
"Now that sounds like a great story." Ares grinned. "I say we hear more about the messy slaughter! Who's with me?"
"Pass." The Olympians denied.
"You guys never let me have any fun anymore!"
"And Konohagakure was the smartest of them all," Kankuro muttered as he joined the two. His war paint was washed from his face, revealing quite similar handsome features his father and brother were known for, and a light frown crossed his face. He fingered his sealed puppet containing scrolls. He looked at the complex formulas the many whiskered blonds were developing and sighed. "The Sunagakure sealing knowledge is nowhere on this level. Konoha is the go to place for seals because of their vast records given by their allies."
"Uzumaki seals are no joke. Meet one on the battle field and you're smoked!" Kirabi nodded from where he stood. "The cloud's forces were dwindled by the Habanero's traps, and they always were moved before we could put them on maps!"
Athena glared at Aphrodite. She managed to get the information the wisdom goddess wanted to know covering these seals. First the foolish Apollo, which Athena could live with as he was a god of intellect, but the one-track dramatic Aphrodite having such knowledge? It wasn't fair!
Aphrodite gave Athena a smile of victory when she noticed the glare and it made Athena's glare intensify as she silently fumed even more.
"Hey, you guys mind?!" One clone glared at the four from where he was hunched over a scroll close to them. "This stuff is tricky and one slip up co-!"
The clone was forcibly dispelled as a drip from his brush onto the formula he had started caused him to explode. The rest of the blonds shivered as the memory came to them.
"And having them used to test something dangerous?" Annabeth complained. That was ingenious! She needed it, needed clones, but where? How?
Annabeth turned to Leo with an intense look in her eyes. "I need a cloning machine."
"It'll cost you a pretty penny, plus all of your cabin's pudding desserts. For a year."
"Deal," Annabeth said.
"Cha-ching!" Leo pumped his fist.
Percy was just as pleased by this deal as Annabeth was, but for very different reasons. All of those Wise Girls...
The one they presumed to be the original stood up.
"Okay, anyone else notice the seal he was in the midst of adding?"
The clones nodded.
"Don't add that one."
The clones saluted. "Right, Boss!"
Kurotsuchi shook her head as the original sat back down and was lost in the sea of blonds. She looked at Kankuro and arched a brow. "So, what'd you figure out from the layout, Puppet Boy?"
"The engines are powered by some sort of chemical combination that I'm not familiar with yet." Kankuro frowned, a bit miffed that there were some ingredients he didn't recognize, which meant more work for him. "And their design...far more advanced than anything we have back in the Villages. Well, anything that's not classified."
"Please!" Leo scoffed. "My stuff is way better then whatever they got."
Kirabi hummed and decided not to mention his brother's latest project since the discovery of more godlike entities.
"Oh, what are they going to do? Shoot a magic cannon at us?" Ares snorted. He did sound amused by the idea.
"And you?" Kurotsuchi looked at Chōjurō. "Figure out some of this 'Ancient Greek' stuff yet?"
Chōjurō crossed his arms. "I've found a few books in Naruto-sama's room, but nothing noteworthy. From what I can gather, they're mostly storybooks about myths or some sort. I mean, there was a picture of a three headed dog."
"So, giant toads, energy monsters, and spitting fire is fine, but once a three headed dog comes into the picture it's all too much?" Hades rolled his eyes. "Mortals, Shinobi, they're all the same."
"It could be a book on the Inuzuka," Kankuro said thoughtfully.
"I doubt it." Chōjurō muttered. He looked at the oddly silent Jinchuriki of the Hachibi. "What have you discovered, Kirabi-sama?"
"The kids on this ship have a lot of woe, it makes sense since they face a huge foe," Kirabi said smoothly. "Each has their own secrets that they hide, but none hold grudges or amnesty to our friend, Mr. Nine."
"How does he do that?" Frank asked and scratched the back of his head at all the rhymes.
"Because he's awesome." Apollo beamed.
Artemis scowled as she recalled something the Hachibi had said earlier. If Apollo did have a rapping son with powers akin to Naruto...
Her eye began to twitch. Violently.
"We had to be sure," Kurotsuchi said with her arms crossed. "I'm not going to risk losing the hat because some brat wanted to off the Savior of the World."
Kankuro snorted. "Like that punk I knocked out. Pretty sure he was hostile."
"Guys, seriously?" A clone to their left whined. He gestured carefully at his work. "I'm trying to focus here!"
"Yeah!" the rest of the blonds chorused.
"At least Percy can't multiply," Thalia said. "Now that would be horrifying."
"I know." Annabeth nodded. She could only handle one Seaweed Brain.
Piper's mouth twitched upwards. "Really, I'd thought having multiple Percy's would be just what you wanted, Annabeth."
The daughter of Athena flustered and glared at her friend. "I could say the same for you and your Superboy."
Piper shrugged. "I deny nothing."
Leo rubbed his hands together and grinned madly. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna be stupid rich."
"I'll patent it for fifty percent!" Hermes offered.
"Deals can come later. Aphrodite, read," Hephaestus said quickly before anyone else could try to infringe on his son's new business venture.
Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes. "Deal with it, Uzumaki. We were sent here partially to be your bodyguards. Part of the job is hovering over you." The Narutos grimaced and got back to work while Kurotsuchi smirked. "I knew you'd see it our way."
"I pity the guy that marries you," Kankuro said under his breath.
"Like you're going to be a better husband to your wife." Kurotsuchi huffed.
Chōjurō sighed in dismay while Kirabi snickered at their banter.
Two hours passed before Naruto declared that he was finished. He applied the first seal to Kirabi, to see if it messed with his Iron Armor Seal. Then he called the demigods out to see if it worked.
"So what exactly is a seal supposed to do?" Leo asked as he munched on a breakfast bar.
"Anything you design it to do." Naruto returned as he double checked Kirabi's seal and the seal he placed.
"...So, basically it's a computer?"
Athena hummed. "A well deductive analogy, Leo Valdez."
Leo shrugged. "I'm savvy like that."
"No. It's Fuinjutsu, not technology."
"But they do the same thing."
"Leo, please don't start an argument just because you're bored." Piper sighed. She'd seen it happen when they were at the Wilderness School. Leo just grinned as he took another bite.
"Whatever, Beauty Queen."
Kirabi looked at Naruto as the blond backed away and clapped his hands into the Ram hand seal. "Alright, let's see if it works. Ready, Octopops?"
Kirabi let a grin cross his face and held a thumb up.
Naruto grinned back as his chakra flared. "Fuin!"
Kirabi grunted as he felt Naruto's chakra invade his system. A minute passed and Kirabi grinned again. "Not even a single squeak, nice job with the ink!"
"...Does he always speak in rhyme?" Hazel asked at the odd method of speech.
"Rhyme?! Little girl, that wasn't a rhyme! The Killer B's Raps happen all the time!" Kirabi frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.
Leo shook his head. "Way to go with cultural relations Hazel. First word contract and you already got him upset!"
"It was just a question!" Hazel said with flushed cheeks.
"I like him." Leo grinned.
Kirabi grinned back at him while Naruto looked at the rest of the shinobi. "Okay, who's next?"
Within the next twenty minutes, Naruto had applied the translation seal to the rest of the shinobi. Conversations ensued, and Naruto watched the interactions between cultures with a smile on his face. He laughed as he shamelessly eavesdropped on the group.
"Oh, wonderful. He's just like his mother." Artemis palmed her face as Aphrodite tittered like she would over her dirty novels.
"He's a ninja, spying is a necessity," Apollo said with a shrug.
"You're nearly as bad as she is!"
"Your hair is naturally blue, huh?" Percy asked Chōjurō, who was talking about his sword with a very impressed Annabeth.
The swordsman looked at him and slowly nodded. "Yes. Why do you keep going back to that question?"
"No reason..."
Annabeth groaned while Percy sheepishly shrugged. He couldn't help it. Blue is the best.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You're not allowed to dye your hair, Percy."
"But Annabeth!"
"No."
Chōjurō frowned as Percy sulked mildly. "Is he okay?"
Annabeth waved Percy's depression off. "He'll be fine. So, how exactly was the Hiramekarei forged again?"
Piper and Jason listened to Kirabi as he described the Lightning Armor technique to Jason. "The power of the sky covers your body, making it nearly impossible for anyone to stop you, even me!"
"...But how does he cover himself in lightning?" Jason asked.
"Duh!" Apollo said. "Just look up Surge from the X-Men. Honestly, why you kids don't use comics more often to help you with your powers just escapes me! Imagination people!"
"Hey Apollo, step down from the soapbox, would ya?" Hermes asked dryly.
Apollo looked down at the box he stood on before he sat back down. "Huh, how'd that get there?"
Kirabi shrugged. "Dunno, man. Never gave it a try. Last time I did, bro made me cry."
"...You use puppets?" Frank asked Kankuro.
Kankuro sighed. "For the hundredth time, yes. I use puppets. I'm the only active expert on puppeteer warfare in Sunagakure no Sato. Puppets can not only be entertaining or distracting, but deadly when the right poison or tools are applied to them."
Frank stared at him. "...But why puppets?!"
"Why do you insist on using a bow?" Kankuro asked in return.
Ares nodded. "Use a blade, kid."
"Bows are better." Apollo whispered to Frank, who nodded in agreement.
He looked at Hazel. "And this guy's your boyfriend? Seriously?"
Hazel flushed and frowned all at once. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. He just gets really focused on one thing far too easily." Kankuro shook his head. "Kids today, I swear..."
"You're not that older than me!" Frank returned with a frown.
"I've been a part of an invasion on another country, threatened from age three to fourteen with death, and fought against immortal undead shinobi in the last war, including my own father. ...Well, I never fought him directly, but I was there in spirit when my brother and sister did..." Kankuro mumbled. He shook his head and glared at the young archer. "Who are you to judge me, furry boy!?"
"Shots fired!"
"Leo!" Frank's face burned as he glared at the impish look on the Latino's face.
"What? I didn't start that rumor."
"…What rumor?" Frank looked horrified, even more so at Leo's growing grin. "Dear gods…"
"Yes?" the gods asked him, but Frank gave no answer.
"...Wait, what's a furry?" Hazel asked.
Everyone, even Hades and Nico (though Frank was paling rapidly), broke into laughter.
Hazel frowned and looked at her boyfriend. "Seriously, what is a furry?"
Frank choked on his own spit.
Frank flushed brightly as Kankuro stared at her and then looked back at Frank. "...Okay, starting to see why you two are together now."
Leo and Kurotsuchi, however, probably stole the show.
"So...You're hot and I'm hot..." Leo waggled his brows at the Iwa kunoichi.
Piper groaned. "You're going to get your butt kicked, again."
"No way, that's my best line!" Leo argued.
"I reiterate. Butt. Kicked."
Kurotsuchi glared at him as hard as she could with her pink irises. "Shrimp, you've got three seconds to find a new place to stand, or I'm going to melt you."
"You've already melted my heart."
Apollo flashed Leo a grin and a pair of thumbs-up. "Nice one kid."
"Thanks!"
Artemis frowned. "Don't encourage this. Ever."
"Please, sis, you just don't understand." Apollo waved off her concern.
"One..."
"So feisty~!" Leo grinned at her. "I like that."
"...Okay, new plan. I'm just going to throw you off the ship into the ocean." Kurotsuchi decided as she held her hands out to wrap around Leo's neck. "First, you've got to lose consciousness."
"Ocean?" Leo blinked and looked around Kurotsuchi to see two large pillars that reached from the ground to the top of the Argo II. "Hold that thought, Hot Stuff."
"Hot Stuff! You little-!" A few chakra strings held Kurotsuchi back from closing the distance between her and the Latino captain that rushed towards the controls.
"Puppet dude saved your life, man," Jason said.
"I'll let him see Pinocchio later." Leo shrugged.
"Brace for breaks! All hands hold fast!" Leo cried as he ran into his control room. Naruto and the other shinobi clung to the ship with chakra, but the demigods lost their balance and fell as Leo slammed on the breaks.
"Huh, seems like we've reached the Mary Sternum." Naruto noted.
Jason groaned. "Mare Nostrum."
"That's what I said."
"I will take the next one," Hera said with a bright smile as the book was handed to her.
Zeus gained a look of concern. That smile meant nothing good.