Artemis asked in confusion with her arms crossed across her chest. She just spent a few minutes searching for Naruto, after finding out that he was enjoying his breakfast at the big house on Hera's table, his now designated table, the immortal huntress immediately headed to the place to meet him.
Naruto smiled brightly when a nymph put a delicious bowl of ramen down in front of him along with a cup of orange juice, his favorite in the morning.
"Thank you" Naruto smiled at her before turning to Artemis "good morning Artemis, how do you do?"
Artemis raised an eyebrow at his cheerful mood, a complete opposite from the other campers' down mood, which was the reason for her question.
"Did you watch the Capture the Flag game last night, Artemis?" Naruto asked, eating his bowl of ramen happily. He pointed to the seat in front of him "Don't just stand like that, I'm sure my mother won't mind"
Artemis looked unsure of what to do, being blown up by a hateful goddess would be the last thing she would want to do in the morning.
But she sat down nonetheless and waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened.
"See, I told you she won't mind" Naruto said and used the spoon to eat the soup "damn, everything the nymphs make is so delicious. This could give my mother's cooking a run for her money" he praised.
"What happened here?" Artemis asked again
"You see the boy sitting alone over there with a miserable face?" Naruto used his chopstick to point to table three, where Percy was sitting with a down expression "His name is Percy Jackson and he is the son of Uncle Poseidon"
"Seriously? I thought father was the only one that broke the oath" Artemis asked in surprise. She should have known better, her father and uncles were one of the best examples of a typical male in the world in her opinion. Poseidon definitely broke a young maiden's heart by leaving her alone with a demigod.
"You didn't watch the game last night?"
"No reason for me to watch it" Artemis said blankly "plus we were on a hunt last night, the girls are very determined to grow stronger in order to kill you for the humiliation you put them through"
"Tell them I'll be waiting" Naruto finished his ramen and called for another one, which the nymphs happily obeyed and ran away to make another bowl ramen for him. He preferred the hand-made ramen so the nymphs didn't use magic to summon them "and why are you here?"
"I have a favor to ask of you" she said, looking at Naruto directly in the eyes "I want you to be my training partner from now on"
Naruto blinked once then he blinked twice, his eyes still looking directly at her beautiful silver eyes. Naruto reached out for the glass of orange juice and put the straws into his mouth, drinking all the fresh liquid in one suck.
"Excuse me?" Naruto suddenly asked, looking at Artemis with an amused smile "are you...seriously the goddess of the hunt is asking a favor from me, a boy? B.O.Y. did I spell it right?" Artemis raised her hand and tried to smack him on the head for his childish antics, but Naruto dodged her hand easily.
"I'm not kidding here, boy" she twisted her tongue, saying the word 'boy' like it was something distasteful "I want you to help me training".
"And why is that Artemis? In term of experience and skills, you are better than me." Naruto said "If you aimed for the kill that night, I would have used my strongest form to defend myself and our battle would have destroyed this whole country"
"That is if I use my godly form" Artemis said before folding her arms together on the table "what do you think of my skills? In both close and long range combat"
"I can't judge much about long range since that is not my forte, but I can see that you're an extremely skilled archer. You're able to shoot your arrow faster and with way more accuracy than I can throw my kunai, and only need about a fourth of the time I need to take aim, yet as far as I can see you never miss" it was the truth, all of Artemis' arrows shot at him until now would have hit the target if not for him catching them first.
"In close range your agility is amazing, the way you fight is dynamic and don't let me start with your strength, you gods are insane in this category. In Sennin Modo I can withstand the impact from falling down on rock spikes from a cliff, and yet you managed to make me feel the force behind your attack" Naruto pointed out, he could still feel the force behind her thunderous punches and if it wasn't for his Sennin modo, his jaw would have been dislocated and a couple o f teeth knocked out"skills, agility, strength and most of all three thousand years worth of experience, I don't see any reason for you to have me train with you"
"But I don't know how Shinobi like you fight" Artemis spoke up "you had me by total surprise with this...uh...Sennin Modo of yours, hitting you resembled hitting a rock. Not only that but you managed to keep up with my speed, which wasn't much of a surprise since you can move faster" Naruto nodded with a grin "but I can't even read your movements to make out the way you fight, I want to train with you because the next time we fight, I want you to be lying on the ground, under my foot, boy"
"Is that how you ask for someone's help?" Naruto asked.
"That's how I ask for a BOY's help" she pressed
"Alright, it's not like I have anything to do other than training these kids" Naruto nodded his head "but, I am going to go back to the mortal world tomorrow"
"Don't worry about that, I can flash you back to this place so that we can spar and I get the pleasure of beating the hell out of you..."
"...before you get knocked to the ground again, that's how the story will go" Naruto continued her words and stood up from his seat "and for your information I can use my power to 'teleport' to Camp whenever I want"
"Can we start now?" Artemis asked, she really wanted to punch that smug grin off his face and show him what would happen when a boy disappointed her after she thought so highly of him.
"Later" with that, he disappeared in a flash of yellow before Artemis could grab him.
Not a second later, in the emptied movie theater of Olympus, the prince reappeared again in a flash of yellow right at the place he left a Hirashin mark last night for emergency teleportation.
Putting his hands into his pocket Naruto headed to the throne room where the eleven Olympians, save for Artemis were having a meeting with Hestia sitting in the middle since taking care of the main hearth was her duty. With everything that happened last night Naruto didn't feel any surprise when his father called for an emergency meeting like this.
Without the need to knock Naruto pushed open the doors of the throne room and walked in.
The tension in the throne room was rather tense, Naruto didn't have to step inside to feel that. Zeus was glaring at Poseidon and the older brother wasn't affected by the powerful glare one bit, he was also countering it with his own glare. The female goddesses like Hera and Hestia were trying to calm their husband and brothers down, no doubt the two looked like they just had a heated argument with each other.
Aphrodite was the first one to step into the throne room and instantly put the make-up equipment she was holding away, fixing her always perfect hair and smiled brightly at him, at the same time crossing her legs seductively on her throne, waving her hand at him.
Naruto only laughed nervously and waved back.
"Naruto?" Hera asked in surprise when she saw Naruto walking in. She was sitting on the throne next to her husband and of course at her full godly height.
"Hey mom" Naruto smiled at his mother.
"Naruto what're you doing here?" Zeus asked, finally stopping his glaring match with his brother and turning to look at his son, who was looking around with his hands in his pocket.
"Sorry to interrupt dad" Naruto spoke to the King of the Gods "but I'm here to find out the reason why some of the campers and especially Chiron are looking at Percy like he is about to destroy the world and you're glaring at Uncle Poseidon like he was about to help his son do that" he then turned to Poseidon "No offense uncle" Poseidon nodded.
"It is very complicated Naruto" Zeus said while shaking his head.
"Look dad, not that I don't understand that you feel...threatened by the presence of a son of the Big Three" Naruto joked and nearly all of the Olympians chuckled at the mention of Zeus' paranoid personality "children of the Big Three are stronger than the others I get it, but as far as I know you also had a daughter a few years back, right?" He knew about the story of Thalia and how she was turned into a pine tree by their father Zeus to create a barrier that protects Camp Half-Blood from mortals and especially monsters.
Thalia's barrier was one of the most powerful he had ever seen in his life, it showed how strong Thalia's will to protect others was. If not for Sennin modo, he would never be able to pass through the Camp Border, maybe Thalia's tree recognized him as a natural spirit or something like that and let him pass.
"Care to explain dad?" Naruto asked. Zeus looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing.
"Naruto, did you know about the oath the Big Three swore to the Styx after World War II?"
"About never having another demigod again?" Naruto's eyes turned to Hestia slightly before nodding "I know dad, because World War II was actually the war between your children and Uncle's children against Hades' children."
"Yes, after the war we both swore to the Styx that we would never have a demigod ever again" Zeus then cleared his throat, glancing slightly to his wife "that is only one of our reasons, because there was a prophecy announced that day, a Great Prophecy" the King of the God then turned to his other son, Apollo "Apollo, tell Naruto the prophecy"
"Yes father" Apollo nodded his head and began to chant
A half-blood of the eldest gods
Shall reach twenty against all odds
And see the world in endless sleep
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze
"And you think Percy Jackson is the half-blood mentioned in this Prophecy?" Naruto asked.
"We tried to prevent this from happening, apparently neither of them could keep it in their pants" Hera sighed with annoyance, glancing at her husband who was looking a little uncomfortable.
"Aside from Uncle Hades" Naruto added, thinking about the lines in the prophecy before saying "wait a minute, why do you think that you can stop the prophecy from happening? It's after all a prophecy right?" Naruto asked he was after all the center of a prophecy announced by an old toad many years ago "And is it just me, or the prophecy did say that the half-blood shall reach twenty against all odds?" at least the prophecy said a half-blood, Naruto was also the son of the eldest gods but he was a mortal.
"At least somehow, we could prolong the time" Athena said while shaking her head.
"So we have about...four years until Percy's twentieth birthdays." Naruto said.
"Yes, Olympus to preserve or raze, by a single choice of a demigod" Zeus sighed "too many things happened lately"
"I have to return to Atlantis" Poseidon turned to Zeus and said "Amphitrite will kill me if I don't return soon and explain it to her"
"Then this meeting is dismissed" Zeus announced and almost all the Olympians gods flashed away, all save for Naruto's parents, Hestia and unfortunately for Naruto, Aphrodite decided to stay as well and was holding a silver nail file in her hand, fixing her nails while humming to herself.
"Naruto," Hera walked to him and said with a low tone, making sure Aphrodite couldn't hear their conversation "with the Jackson boy now known as the son of Poseidon, Chiron will definitely give him a quest to search for the Lightning Bolt, what are you going to do?"
"I will stay put mom" Naruto said "the Lightning thief and his partner already know about me, if Percy goes on a quest then I don't think I can lend him any help. Having me go with them won't be a wise choice" his father listened to Naruto's words beside Hera, deep in thought. He wanted his son to be the one who goes on the quest to find his weapon and Hades' Helm of darkness, not Poseidon's boy.
"Are you sure Naruto?" Zeus asked and Naruto nodded his head firmly "I understand"
"I will return to the mortal world tomorrow, you know I still have about three years left at Harvard so better returns soon" Naruto told his parent.
"Make sure to keep in touch my son." Hera smiled at him and stroked his hair gently "and be careful with Aphrodite" she warned him before flashing away with her husband.
Instantly Aphrodite jumped from her throne and ran at Naruto, but the blond was faster, he quickly got to Hestia's side and sat down next to her much to the love goddess' disappointment.
"Don't try to force yourself to ignore her Naruto" Hestia said softly as she used a long stick to stir the fire.
"Yes, listen to your auntie Naruto" Aphrodite giggled as she stood right behind him.
"Go on, she's waiting" Hestia smiled to Naruto. He didn't know if he should feel happy about this or not, his auntie, the person he trusted the most was encouraging him to get along with Aphrodite, who last night tried to seduce him and nearly crashed his iron will down.
Naruto stood up and turned around; facing the woman he feared the most in his life so far, even more so than Kaguya. She was smiling rather seductively and the dress she was wearing clearly didn't help him at all.
"So? What do you want?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms together.
"Hang around, have fun" her hand moved down to her chest, just above her large cleavage, swirling a strand of her curly hair with her finger.
Naruto then got an excellent idea to spend the last day at Camp Half-Blood before returning to his college life; a foxy smirk appeared on his face.
"Then I know the perfect place to start" Naruto offered his arm to her, of which Aphrodite happily linked her own with him "we're going to have a lot of fun" He turned away and grinned evilly before they both disappeared in a flash of yellow.
Line Break
"This is not a date" Aphrodite shouted and punched the punching bag in front of her as hard as she could, which in Naruto's opinion was very girly "This is clearly not a date!" Even though in term of power, Aphrodite was stronger than Artemis because she was more or less the eldest Olympian, born from the flesh of Ouranos himself, she should have more strength than the goddess of the hunt herself.
And yet, Naruto being the one who was standing behind the bag, holding it could barely feel any force from her punches.
Did she only use her strength and stamina for her more...intimate activities?
"You never bothered to train yourself didn't you?" Naruto asked.
"Why should I?" Aphrodite asked, glaring at Naruto, her body covered in sweat and it was somewhat an erotic sight. An extremely busty female boxer "I have my own diet, I can use my power to change my look to whatever I want and the best one yet, I CAN'T GET FAT" she said and punched the bag harder, but Naruto still standing still, even his hands holding the bag didn't bother to move.
"Considering the fact that you only eat Ambrosia, the thing that looks like cookies, I can't even see where the diet is" Naruto chuckled "Artemis is not as powerful as you in term of power, but she can take you down faster than you can even blink with her arrow." this time, Aphrodite punched the bag a little harder and to Naruto's surprise, he was forced back a little bit "you two are always head to head against each other, aren't you?"
"Kind of, among the Olympians you can say that we're the only two opposite goddesses. We really hated each other" Aphrodite stopped for a bit to wipe away the sweat "I'm the goddess of love, she is the goddess of maidens. She likes to run wild and get dirty in the woods, I like to stay at home and make myself perfect in front of a mirror. I really love the feeling of love and she absolutely hates it. You see I always tried to help her end up with someone good, but last time I tried that boy was stripped naked and hanged in the middle of the Central Park with the panel 'rapist' on his chest" Aphrodite shrugged her shoulder.
"Kind of harsh" Naruto commented. Not even the greatest prankster of Konoha could think about pulling a harsh prank like that.
"Really much so" Aphrodite said and began punching again.
"Did you two ever fight?" Naruto asked "I mean, like you annoyed her to the point she couldn't hold it anymore and shoot you with her arrows, chasing you around Olympus?"
"It did happen before" Aphrodite said at the memories "though I'm proud to say I'm the only target that she always missed or she just purposely missed. I tried to give her a lecture about love, it didn't end well"
"Try kicking" Naruto told Aphrodite and she did raise her legs to kick, but she couldn't kick very high and the force was even weaker than her punch, even though the strength of the legs were three time the arm "Try again" Naruto pushed the bag forward, smashing into Aphrodite's body and nearly knocked her off her feet.
"How could you be such a meanie to me?" Aphrodite asked and tried kicking again
"Did you ever win against her?" Naruto asked her "tell me the truth, don't be shy about it"
"No, I always end up hiding somewhere" Aphrodite shook her head "Artemis is violent, harsh, rude...to me at least"
"You want to learn how to fight back?" Naruto asked.
"You're completely out of you mind, aren't you?"
"No I'm not" Naruto shook his head, saying firmly "Artemis asked me to train with her and as you can see I'm not always free, I'm a college student in the top University of the world. When I finish with her I can guarantee you that she will be a lot more powerful and dangerous, probably as strong as my father in term of skills alone"
"You're absolutely crazy, she's already a monster" Aphrodite reasoned "but wait a minute; don't tell me you're going to place me in this plan of yours as well"
"Yes, I will need a training dummy for her" Naruto joked but quickly corrected himself when Aphrodite looked at him with eyes wide in horror and tried to run away "relax I was just kidding. Anyway I will need someone to fight her, someone she absolutely hates so she won't hold anything back and..."
"No way I'm in this!"
"AND..." Naruto pressed "someone who also hated Artemis to be her training partner and this is where you come into the picture" Naruto said "look at the bright side; maybe you can beat some sense of love into her. I will be your trainer and you will be as strong as her in no time"
"Aphrodite, I will say it very bluntly but your children are absolutely useless" Aphrodite looked stunned by his announcement "not all of them inherited your only useful weapon in the battlefield, Charm speak. They didn't bother to train themselves, they didn't care much about the other campers other than the ones they saw as attractive. Why?" Naruto pointed at her "because of you, their mother one of the worst examples to follow ever"
"Sorry to say this Aphrodite but if an actual battle start, the cabin who will have the most death will be yours" Naruto said sadly "all because they're like you."
"Train yourself, grow stronger, to be feared by the others not all because of your power over love." Naruto said strongly "you care for them Aphrodite, you immediately claimed your children every time they step into the Camp's border, you sent them chocolate every day as well as make-up equipment. Show them that their mother could be something more than just pretty face so that they can have the courage to push forward, to walk on the equal ground with the other cabins, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Aphrodite cried out and punched the bag as hard as she could, forcing Naruto back a little.
"I can't hear you Aphrodite" Naruto roared "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"YES!" Aphrodite cried out like her throat was about to tear itself apart, gathering all her strength and punched the punching bag before losing her balance and fell to the ground.
Naruto's eyes widened in shock when the top of the punching bag was ripped apart and the whole thing along with him were sent flying into the opposite wall. Naruto braced himself for the impact but it came harder than he thought, his whole body smashed into the wall hard, creating a spider-web crater around the wall.
" HOLY ZEUS!" Aphrodite cried out and quickly got on her feet, running to him "Are you okay Naruto?! Dear Zeus I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"Hehe, don't worry I'm fine" Naruto looked up at her and scratched the back of his head "That's quite a punch by the way"
Training these two goddesses was going to be so much fun...and painful as well.
Line Break
Caitlyn Sharpe didn't know if she should feel happy or relieved when she saw the blond who Daniel self-proclaimed himself to be his best friend walk into the class with his trademark orange outfit.
"Hey Cait" Naruto smiled at her and took the seat behind Caitlyn
"Naruto, my man, where the hell were you?" Daniel shouted happily and opened his arms in a welcoming hug, but Naruto quickly grabbed his face and shoved him back to his seat.
"Good to see you too Daniel" Naruto greeted the black haired boy lazily.
"How cold" Daniel winced.
"How did everything go Naruto?" Caitlyn asked, turning around to face him.
"Good, I got everything settle down with my parents" Naruto smiled at her, giving Caitlyn a nod. The talk she gave him helped him a lot about how to settle things with his family "I got too see some of my cousins as well and let me tell you there was a lot of them"
"You had fun babysitting them Naruto?" the beautiful model asked teasingly.
"Of course not, they're as noisy as hell" he said and leaned back against his chair.
"By the way Naruto," Caitlyn reached her hand into her bag and pulled out a colorful leaflet with the picture of herself on it "I already gave this to Daniel, but I think you will be interested in this as well"
Naruto looked at the leaflet and read:
"Do you want to step into the professional world of entertainment? Do you want to be in the same movie with the new icon of Hollywood Caitlyn Sharpe? Do you want to know what it feels like to be the male protagonist of a blockbuster movie and loved by our passionate Sharpe? Come to the Audition at 9 a.m. this Sunday and see if you're the lucky guy" Sunday, it meant the morning two days from now.
"You want me to come?" Naruto asked Caitlyn and saw her nod rapidly "Sorry, not interested" The experience during the mission to protect Koyuki the Princess of Ice Country was enough to make Naruto to stay away from all kind of film studio.
"Aw c'mon Naruto it will be fun" Caitlyn tried to change his mind "you already got the look, I will be surprise if the director didn't choose you"
"Listen to her Naruto" Daniel said very seriously "Ring of Fighters also featured Caitlyn Sharpe first ever nude scene, if you're in you will be the first male in the existence got the pleasure of...OUCH!" Naruto smashed Daniel at the back of his head hard, saving Caitlyn from her moment of embarrassment, which her face already as red as tomato.
"So, you want me in it?" He asked and Caitlyn nodded her head "Okay, since I got nothing to do tomorrow and I'm kind of short on money, I will give it a try" the idol's expression immediately brighten and she flashed him a thousand watts smile.
Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18