The Jade Emperor kneeled from exhaustion, his features marred with sweat, grime, and ichor. His once pristine robes were barely held up at the seams and his red hair, once expertly coiffed, was singed and messy. But the most problematic injury seemed to be on his forehead which was grasped tightly by his left hand as ichor escaped through his fingers.
His opponent walked towards him with a steady gait, hefting an obsidian-colored bo-staff on his shoulder.
The large man stopped before the kneeling redhead, and the latter needn't look up to see the man's cold expression.
"It is saddening that it had to come to this" the man spoke looking down at the kneeling deity who only chuckled mirthlessly.
"Saddening? Please, spare me those false platitudes! It would have always come to this!" the Jade Emperor snarled.
"Would it? I have offered you my hand in friendship many a time, if you had tried letting go of your useless pride then we could have lived side by side as allies" the man's tone was a contrasting calm to the Emperor's rising ire.
"Side by side? With humanity? With demons? You dare imply our kind would ever stoop so low as to consider you lot our equals?" the deity's face had started to purple in rage.
The Sage simply smiled pityingly at the fuming man, inadvertently causing his anger to boil even more.
"Immortality is a privilege! The power you hold is a privilege! Only our kind should have access to it! HOW DARE YOU BESMIRCH OUR LAND WITH YOUR VERY EXISTENCE?!" the red-haired Emperor finally lost it and removed the hand he held to his face, showing a healed third eye.
The organ that allowed him almost complete control over the Natural Forces of the Universe.
In response, the Sage shifted the staff into a Mala bead bracelet and clasped his hands in prayer in front of him, eyes closed.
"Jade Emperor. No, Okhwang...there is one thing you and these other 'gods' never seem to understand…"
The Sage opened his eyes, as a grim smile slowly bloomed on his face and his power spiked in response to the deity's own.
"And that is a creature's infinite potential for evolution"
Thus, their battle resumed once more.
~~ A battle forgotten by time ~~
Many millennia ago
'What is this?'
Zetsu knew who he was from the second his eyes first opened. The first thing he ever saw was the giant face of a whiskered blond man giving him a large toothy grin.
He knew who he was.
'This is my Lord'
The man's grin did not waver, even as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Hey, there little fella" he cooed softly "What should I name you?"
Assuming the question was directed to him, Zetsu automatically gave his response.
"I am Zetsu" he said emotionlessly, before continuing, "What is my purpose?"
The man lost his smile as his face morphed into an unrecognizable emotion.
"Eh?" The man uttered, which Zetsu assumed as a request for clarification.
"My Lord, what is my life's purpose?" the newborn intoned.
The man staggered, still holding the little boy.
"W-what? Purpose? What do you mean Boyo? Why are you asking me? Shouldn't you know?"
"Should I? You are my Creator, I shall thus serve you to the best of my ability" Zetsu answered simply as if speaking about the weather.
"HA? Y-you! Zetsu-chan! NO! That's not- I-" The man seemed confused, he wasn't making an entire and concise sentence.
"Did I do something wrong?" the boy asked innocently and the man finally snapped out of his stupor, he looked at him and muttered something inaudible under his breath.
The silence between them stretched for a long time as the man gazed at him, although his eyes were distant as if he was lost in thought.
Finally coming out of his stupor, the man frowned before his expression shifted into a gentle one.
His voice was but a whisper yet his words were heavy.
"Zetsu-chan, you are my son"
The blond man then held Zetsu above and turned him around.
Zetsu finally saw where they were.
His vision was filled with pink as he saw the forest of cherry blossoms they stood in the middle of.
The newborn was momentarily taken aback by the beauty of it all, so much so that his eyes involuntarily watered.
"I am your father," the man said kindly yet firmly.
If there was any way to describe it, Zetsu would say his soul suddenly felt lighter, although he had no idea why.
"This beautiful world is yours to explore and to frolic in… Grow up to be healthy, strong, and happy, but most importantly Zetsu-chan..."
The young Uzumaki was hooked on his father's every word.
"Your purpose is whatever you decide it to be"
These words would remain etched into the newborn's soul for the rest of eternity.
Bull Run Regional Park in Manassas, Virginia, 7th of June, 2000
"Zetsu! Zetsuuuu!" the annoying voice of his father brought him out of the memory.
"What Pops?! What is it?!" He snapped at the man.
The Sage pouted like a child before looking at the blonde girl he was carrying on his shoulders.
"See Annie? See how my son is so mean to me?" he dramatically wept, making the little girl giggle at his antics.
Ugh, his Pops was so immature sometimes…
"Mmm!" Annabeth patted his father on the head like one would a horse before turning to him "Zetsu! Don't be a jerk to Mr. Naruto!"
His father mouthed the same words to him, furthering the boy's annoyance.
His father was a child.
An immature little child.
"Ugh! Whatever! What do you want, Pops!"
"Hmm" the man frowned "We'll have to discuss that lip of yours later"
Before the son could retort, the man continued "BUT! Little Annie here asked you a question! You gotta stop daydreaming like that my boy!"
Zetsu huffed in annoyance before turning to the girl.
He waited expectantly.
"Well?" he finally asked her and she blushed in embarrassment.
"Umm… uuh… Oh yeah! I wanted to ask what you wanted to be? You know, like when you graduate school and stuff. Wait! Why aren't you in school?! Are you skipping? Are-"
Zetsu held his head at the barrage of questions.
Goddamnit, this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation!
Hell! Why did his Pops insist on taking these kids with them? They were demigods? As in related to the very beings Naruto claimed he wanted to avoid.
Zetsu internally screamed in frustration.
This was why he sometimes hated his father's good nature.
Ahead of the trio, the two elder demigods were having their own hushed discussion.
"Are you sure you can trust them with Annie?" Thalia asked her companion with a frown.
She didn't like the thought of leaving her surrogate little sister in the strangers' hands.
Even if it had been a full week since they all met.
"I don't, but we have to play it cool" Luke answered before adding "and while I think it's still too early to trust them, they haven't shown themselves to have any ill intentions or monsters in disguise"
"You mean besides the ridiculous strength they seem to have?" the raven-haired girl responded sarcastically.
She didn't buy that bullshit about Mr. Whiskers being a black belt in multiple martial arts or his son being a prodigy.
Black Belts don't just punch through Cyclopes… Do they?
The group had come across several monsters in their journey, all of which were very easily dispatched. If not by the Uzumakis, then by the elder demigods.
But that wasn't the problem, however.
The issue came with how both father and son were obviously hiding something.
She couldn't help being suspicious.
From pretending to be awed by how 'tough' punching a Hell hound's head clean off was, to how coincidental their first meeting had been.
It all pointed to interference from their godly family and neither Thalia nor Luke liked it.
Both had suffered enough at the hand of the so-called 'benevolent' Olympians.
Luke lost his only family to a curse-induced madness and Thalia lost her younger brother to her mother's selfishness and her father's rashness.
Yeah, no, both demigods simply wanted to get to Camp Half-Blood to have a safe haven against monsters.
That, and maybe get to know other demigods.
Misery loves company after all.
But getting back on topic, the point was, Naruto and Zetsu were shady.
Apparently, both were Japanese tourists on a vacation tour in the US. Which was surprising with how well they spoke English. No accent, no dragged sentences, nothing. It was like talking with any other American.
Another surprising fact was how weird their dynamic was.
Thalia had no idea of how a functional family should act beyond what she'd seen on TV or in books.
But their own family seemed like a stable one and at the same time...not so much.
Mr. Whiskers for one acted more like the actual son of the pair. He was childish, happy-go-lucky, and made it a habit to constantly annoy his son with awful dad jokes.
At least Annie seemed to like them.
Hell, she seemed to have grown attached to the man pretty fast, going as far as to act like an average little girl around him. Thalia wasn't sure she liked that.
Sure children usually could be instinctually observant about a person's true character but the way Annie just latched onto the man worried her.
And no, she wasn't jealous. Anyone that says otherwise would meet the sharp end of her spear.
Zetsu was weird in his own way. If his dad had whiskers, the teen definitely had a cat's grumpy attitude down to a pat.
She could excuse part of it for being a teenager, she was one too and knew how volatile she could get about the silliest of things.
But the boy's face seemed stuck into either a scowl or a condescending smirk.
Well, that wasn't completely true.
She sometimes caught a small smile from him, especially when his dad started either fussing over him or bragged about him.
There was also the fact he was smart.
Maybe that's why he wasn't in school? All Mr. Whiskers said that Zetsu 'didn't need school anymore. Early graduation maybe? Or homeschooling?
Whatever, she'd continue pondering on the many questions about the pair as she kept an eye on them.
But she was sure of one thing, if the two turned out to be legit, then she'd stick around them.
Maybe ask Mr. Whiskers for some pointers.
Hey, having more power against monsters never hurt anybody…
Luke was in a similar boat to Thalia, although his thoughts were slightly darker.
The teen did not trust the two strangers as far as he could throw them.
Everything they did, from their meeting to their feats of strength only seemed to validate his suspicions.
Did his father send them? Or someone else?
If so then why?
The Olympians already showed they couldn't give two shits about them.
If they did then his mother wouldn't be-
'Nope, not gonna venture down that road again' the boy thought, dismissing his dark thoughts before lightly glaring at the back of the blond duo.
He didn't care for the act the larger man was putting on, he wouldn't buy it. The eldest blond just seemed too tough for a human, no matter what he said about training.
He wasn't interested, he just wanted to get his two fellow demigods to safety for now. He'll think about his future then.
Looking at the pair, he focused on the laughing Annie riding on Naruto's shoulder.
He only agreed to let her do that because he wanted to keep things civil, he didn't know if the man was prone to anger if denied.
He had plenty of experience with that type of people after all.
He internally swore, regardless of his own weakness, Annie and Thals were practically family at this point, and if these two were to end up hurting them...
He'll do his damn best to stop them.
Annabeth liked Mr. Naruto.
She knew she shouldn't, 'stranger danger' and all.
But he saved her and her friends, plus there was just an air about him, it reminded her slightly of her own father, if even better. Mr. Naruto was really kind too and made lots of good food for her, even giving her piggyback and shoulder rides when she got tired from walking.
It was weird that the two didn't have a car, but maybe they just liked camping?
It felt like months since she's met the bigger blond, even though she knew it's barely been one week.
That might be due to just how much fun she's been having.
The entire trip started to feel less like an escape and more like a family trip.
Luke and Thalia have become the siblings she's always wished to have and even Zetsu was getting there, even if he acted like a grumpy pants when Mr. Naruto told one of his funny jokes.
He was smart though.
Like crazy smart.
Mr. Naruto said he was a prodigy or something and Zetsu proved that by always answering the barrage of questions she's had to ask him. Even though he acted annoyed at first, he eventually answered her and sated her curiosity.
She had told Mr. Naruto about how she wanted to grow up to be an architect and the man laughed heartily.
'Architect eh? Well, I hope you'll be ready for the challenges ahead! But you're a smart girl and I know you'll do it! Who knows? You might build the 8th Wonder of the World one day!'
Yeah…
Annabeth liked Mr. Naruto.
He was a nice man.
Even if he did react weirdly when she called him Mister.
There wasn't much that Naruto had to complain about.
Sure this entire thing was risky, since avoiding the gods was the whole point in crafting their disguises.
Zetsu had given him an earful some time ago about this.
But come on! He couldn't leave these kids to their devices! If their parents were such asses that they couldn't be bothered with protecting their progeny, then that meant these kids probably wouldn't have lived long.
He was the sole holder of the Best Father Ever™ title and he will die before he besmirches it by abandoning kids in need of help.
Sure the oldest blond was a bit of an emo and the older girl had a gleam in her eyes that reminded him uncomfortably of his old brother Sasuke whenever he saw a nice Jutsu in the past.
But you know what? These kids were alright.
Especially Little Annie, why if he had his way, the cutie would've become his official daughter from the day he met her.
Too bad she insists on calling him Mister.
Damn...
Welp, nothing he could do about it for now! Just gotta soldier on to that camp the kids kept whispering about.
And maybe see if he could find some ramen around here, or maybe make it? He did spot a small field of wild foxtail millet a while back.
Hmmmm...