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A Shinobi Among Monsters by euphoric image
 Naruto & Percy Jackson and the Olympians Xover Rated: T, English, Adventure & Humor, Naruto U., Artemis, Apollo, Words: 208k+, Favs: 8k+, Follows: 9k+, Published: Mar 21, 2020 Updated: Jan 15 3,237Chapter 18: In Time of Peace
"Oh dear gods," Apollo groaned when Naruto materialized in a flash of silver inside the mansion. For some probably catastrophic reason, Artemis had teleported Naruto into the mansion. "What happened this time?" he asked with a growing sense of foreboding.
Naruto shook his head several times to get rid of the disorientation before Apollo's question registered in his mind. His brow furrowed as he tried to recall if anything egregious had occurred in the past few days. When no incident came to mind, he answered, "Nothing."
Apollo blinked. "... nothing?"
"Nothing," Naruto nodded.
"Huh," Apollo scratched his head, looking mildly confused. "For real?"
"For real," Naruto confirmed.
Apollo frowned, his confusion deepening. "Then what are you doing here?"
Naruto stared at him. "I... live here."
"Ah, I see - " Apollo paused. "Wait, what?"
"I, uhh, live here?" Naruto repeated, now sounding confused as well. "And I've been living here for the past three years or so? What, did you forget or something? I was literally only gone for like, a month."
"Hold up," Apollo furrowed his brows. "You're not staying with the Hunters?"
"No...?" Naruto said slowly.
Realization flashed in Apollo's blue eyes. "Oh, I understand." He smiled knowingly. "It's because staying with a group of girls is awkward for you, isn't it?"
"That's not the reason," Naruto denied flatly.
Apollo didn't respond, instead merely raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"No, seriously," Naruto shook his head. "That's not the reason."
Sure, whenever he interacted with the Hunters, his mind became a veritable battlefield as he struggled to control himself and maintain the purity of his thoughts, but he was still able to remain outwardly composed and act normally. After all, he had not only already experienced puberty once before, but he had also been the apprentice of Jiraiya. Compared to what he had previously gone through - REPRESS REPRESS - this was nothing.
"Really?" Apollo looked intrigued. "Huh. You probably just haven't reached that stage yet." Naruto twitched. "Then why don't you want to live with the Hunters?" he continued. "I thought you became friends with them. Or is there still some lingering dislike and resentment?"
Naruto brightened. "Not at all. As a matter of fact, after the whole situation with Aphrodite, we seemed to grow even closer. Bonds strengthened in the face of adversity, and all that."
Indeed, if there was one good thing that came out of the whole mess with Aphrodite, it was that Naruto's bonds and friendship with the Hunters became stronger than ever. After all, uniting against a common enemy generates a lot of camaraderie and solidarity; not just with Naruto, but Thalia and Bianca as well.
Aphrodite's intention had been to divide the Hunters, but she had accomplished the very opposite. Irony at best.
"Oh? That's good to hear," Apollo said before his gaze grew contemplative. "Hmm... I confess, I'm at a loss at why you're here... Unless it's because you missed my dashing personality?" he grinned while waggling his eyebrows.
Naruto hesitated before nodding. "Yeah."
Apollo did a double take at that. "Hold up, did you just say 'yeah'?!" he asked incredulously before a wide smile spread across his face. "Oh, I thought this day would never come. Can I get that in writing?"
Naruto chuckled. "Y'know what? Sure."
Apollo paused when Naruto actually agreed. "Okay, now I'm getting a little worried." He gave Naruto a suspicious stare. "Are you only coming back just so you can prank me or something?"
"What? No!"
Unconvinced, Apollo took two steps back. Then another three, just to be safe. "You sure?" he asked doubtfully. "Then why are you acting so weird?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, glancing away. "Is it really that weird that I want to stay here at the mansion with you?" he mumbled. "I mean, you're my uncle and my best friend, y'know?"
Apollo drew in a sharp breath, his eyes widening slightly. Best friend...?
"Don't get me wrong," Naruto added hastily, looking back at the god. "The Hunters are cool and all, and I'll visit them often, but this..."
He gestured around them before giving Apollo a small, almost hesitant smile.
"This is home."
Apollo regarded him for a long moment, several emotions flickering across his face. Finally, he spoke. "I see. In which case..." He smiled warmly.
"Welcome home, Naruto."
Naruto beamed at him, a pure smile full of joy and happiness.
Finally, finally there was someone to welcome him home.
It felt... nice.
"I'm home."
XxX
One day after.
"You disgust me," Naruto snarled. "There is something fundamentally wrong with you."
Apollo sneered. "Oh please, like you're one to talk. Don't think that I don't see your shadow clones helping you out. Are you so pathetic that you can't do it on your own?"
Naruto scoffed. "My shadow clones are only there to stop your sabotage effort. And it's honestly hilarious that you're calling me pathetic. You're the god here, yet you're resorting to such cheap tactics. Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - you've always been a filthy cheater."
"Ha!" Apollo barked contemptuously. "Don't you dare take the moral high ground here. I may have been the one who started using less-than-honest methods, but you were the one who finished it. We're both cheaters here, Naruto - the only difference is that I'm better at it."
"Well, at least you're finally admitting that controlling the controller with your mind is cheating," Naruto returned viciously. "And don't get me even started on you using your Sage-be-damned prophecy powers. I mean, come on! Who even does that?! Are you really that washed up?"
Now that Naruto had returned to the mansion, he and Apollo were finally able to have their Super Smash Bros contest to decide who was objectively the superior player. After consuming enough sugar and caffeine to knock out a horse - the only thing preventing them from getting acute liver failure via overdose being their respective healing powers - they powered up the console and began their ultimate showdown.
As they had previously agreed, it had been best out of twenty.
And, twenty rounds later... They tied. Naruto won ten rounds, Apollo won ten rounds.
For a moment, they had considered acknowledging and accepting that they were equals in terms of skill, and simply letting the contest end there.
Just a moment though.
"I'm a god, so I automatically get a bonus victory. Therefore, I win. GG EZ."
"Oh hell no! Another round!" Naruto snarled. "Tiebreaker! Let's settle this once and for all."
Needless to say, things were intense as hell. And the more intense it was, the more insults, trash talk, and barbs were exchanged - all in the name of friendly banter, of course.
Apollo's eyes glowed golden as he employed his prophecy powers to see into the future, allowing him to predict and react to Naruto's moves before he even did them. Unfortunately, Naruto's godlike intuition was unable to provide him any information due to it being a video game, thus he was at an inherent disadvantage. Furthermore, Apollo was controlling the controller with his mind, meaning that Naruto, even with his advanced reflexes and hand-to-eye coordination, was doomed to lose.
Unless he stooped down to Apollo's level.
Typically, he wouldn't. However, he could make a special exception for this.
A clone dropped down from the ceiling on top of Apollo.
Bunshin Daibakuha.
A shield of golden energy formed around Apollo, absorbing the blast, but in the split second he was distracted, Naruto managed to land two hits with his Pikachu.
"That was dirty," Apollo snarled once everything stopped trembling. "I thought we already agreed on no explosions in the mansion."
"Yeah, well - "
Naruto was cut off when Apollo opened his mouth and unleashed an ungodly noise that caused Naruto to instinctively flinch at just how awful it sounded. Every tone was perfectly dissonant with the rest; it was like a combination of nails scratching down a chalkboard, styrofoam being rubbed together, and a three car pile up - only worse.
Apollo chained a combo while Naruto was preoccupied, chunking a good amount of his health.
"What the Sage did you just do to my eardrums?!" Naruto asked, wincing as he quickly disengaged.
"Did you like it?" Apollo grinned. "I just replicated the sound Heracles produced in order to scare away the Stymphalian birds - only it was several magnitudes more severe. It may have been a crime against music, but it worked."
Naruto growled as a shadow clone lifted a stick of dango to his mouth - homemade by Hestia - and he bit down angrily, letting the sugar enter his system and empower his movements. His fingers blurred as he pushed the controller to its limit.
His eyes widened as golden arrows materialized in the air around him before streaking at him at immense speeds. Shadow clones immediately leaped into the way, gladly sacrificing their lives to ensure that Naruto wouldn't lose precious concentration trying to dodge or block.
Even more shadow clones charged Apollo, Rasengans in hand. However, they were unable to get near; the moment they entered a two feet radius, they would disperse from the scorching heat Apollo was emitting. Strangely enough, even though Naruto was sitting next to him, it wasn't hot at all; apparently, being a god allowed Apollo to casually break the laws of thermodynamics at will.
As the duel progressed, it slowly became clear that Naruto was losing. And if he lost this round, he would lose the contest. He refused to let such an atrocity occur. Apollo would never let him live it down.
Mini Rasenshuriken!
Apollo's eyes widened. "YOU WOULDN'T DARE - "
A shadow clone hurled a mini-Rasenshuriken the size of a frisbee at Apollo.
It should've been the perfect diversion. However, Naruto had failed to take into account one crucial factor.
There wasn't an anti-teleportation field surrounding them.
Unlike with Ares, Apollo could just teleport away and continue playing as normal with his powers. As such, Apollo simply vanished in a flash of golden light right before the mini-Rasenshuriken hit, exploding outward in a miniature wind vortex that tore through the room, a golden barrier shimmering to life to protect the television.
Naruto cursed as Apollo's attacks on the screen seemed to grow even more ferocious; clearly, he was pissed that Naruto had just wrecked a section of the living room. Distance didn't matter to the god; he could control the controller with the mind, and he had perfect awareness of not only what was happening on the screen, but also what was going to happen in the future.
After the explosion died down, Apollo teleported back in, his expression truly livid. "That's it," he hissed. "Kiddy gloves are off. You're going down."
He snapped his fingers, the room repairing itself, before sitting back down on the couch. Before, he had been slouched; now, he sat with perfect posture, his spine so straight it looked like it hurt. His eyes were literally burning; white-hot flames lit up his irises as he channeled every ounce of his concentration and willpower into winning the match.
"Dear gods," Naruto muttered as Apollo began systematically destroying him with perfect combos, counters, and reactions. A bead of sweat slowly trickled down his face. "Just how hard are you tryharding this?!"
"I'm currently seeing two seconds into the future," Apollo responded tightly. "I'm going to have a killer headache after this, but worth it."
Naruto cursed in Ancient Greek as he took even more damage. This was bad. Apollo was pulling out all the stops for this one. Seeing just two seconds into the future may not seem like a long time, but in a battle where a dozen strikes could be exchanged every second, it was practically an eternity.
It appeared Naruto had no choice but to use that technique -
"Hey Naruto," Apollo suddenly spoke up. "On a scale of one to ten, how hot do you think Zoe is?"
Naruto choked, his concentration snapping like a loose thread. "What?!"
A triumphant smile burst across Apollo's face. "YOU FOOL! YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL!"
Naruto's eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock as he realized that he had just fallen for Apollo's distraction like an utter idiot.
A split second later, his Pikachu was hit with a perfect chain combo attack before getting sent to the arena's stratosphere - a star KO.
The controller slipped from Naruto's hands and fell to the ground with a heavy thunk, his eyes still wide and disbelieving as the announcer's voice declared Apollo's victory from the surround speaker system.
Naruto had lost.
Dead silence.
"Ha!" Apollo exploded, a massive grin on his face. "I won! Eat your heart out! How does it feel to be outclassed?"
"What in Tartarus's name was that?!" Naruto demanded. "Bullshit! That was a dirty move! I should've won! Redo! I demand a redo!"
Let it be known that neither was Apollo humble in victory, nor was Naruto gracious in defeat.
"Excuses, excuses," Apollo laughed. "Accept it. I'm just built different."
"You - " Naruto let out an incoherent scream of pure rage.
"Ah," Apollo smiled in satisfaction amid Naruto's screams. "The sound of a demigod being mentally broken... it's truly beautiful."
Naruto finally recovered enough to form words. "Not cool, Apollo! Not cool!"
Apollo smirked. "Yeah, well, once you threw a Rasenshuriken at me, all bets were off. Deal with it."
Naruto growled in frustration. "I blame puberty. That's literally the only reason your distraction worked. But..." A grudging look of respect appeared on his face. "Though I may not like your tactics, they were undeniably effective. Well played, Apollo."
"Thanks," Apollo grinned. "You did pretty good yourself. Just not good enough."
"Shut up," Naruto grumbled.
There was a moment of silence.
"You never answered my question, by the way."
"Oh for the love of - "
XxX
One week after.
"I can't believe it," Apollo muttered as they were having breakfast.
"Hmm? What is it?" Naruto asked curiously as he cut into his pancakes.
"You know how we had our tournament a week ago?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I sent the recordings of our matches to several bigshot Super Smash Bros players in the mortal world. Streamers, pro players, head coaches, world champion, the works," Apollo frowned. "And apparently, all of them believed that we were cheating."
Naruto blinked. "Well, we were."
"No, you misunderstand," Apollo shook his head. "Their exact words were, and I quote, 'Why would you send us matches with such obvious hacks and scripts being used? This is literally just two bots playing against each other - there's no way these are real players. Is this a joke? LMAO.'"
"What is 'lemao'?" Naruto questioned.
"It's the French way of laughing," Apollo answered.
"I see," Naruto nodded before a smile spread across his face. "Wait, so are you saying that we were both so good, they thought we were hacking and using scripts?"
"Yup," Apollo had a similar smile on his face.
Naruto laughed. "We're just too good, I guess."
Apollo smirked. "Indeed."
A beat.
"I'm better though."
"Okay, you know what, you can go ahead and shove a - "
XxX
Two weeks after.
Naruto fidgeted under the combined stares of Zeus and Athena in the living room of the mansion - Apollo had temporarily granted them permission to enter his domain. Normally, Naruto was fine with people staring at him - he was used to it already - but... well, Athena and Zeus's stares were scarily intense; he could definitely see the resemblance. Artemis sat off to the side, and Hestia stood behind Naruto. They were just waiting for Apollo now.
"Alright, I'm back," Apollo called cheerfully as he strolled back into the room, a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of Coke in his hands. "Shall we get started?"
"Popcorn? Seriously?" Artemis blurted out, looked vaguely scandalized. "Brother, please. We're having
a serious meeting here."
Apollo shrugged. "Hey, I'm just getting prepared to enjoy the upcoming show."
Artemis sighed tiredly but didn't respond, clearly writing him off as a lost cause
Zeus cleared his throat. "Now that we're all here, shall we get started?" He swept his stern gaze across the room. "First off, well done everyone. Excellent job."
Athena nodded. "Indeed. The plan went off perfectly with no complications whatsoever. Aphrodite is currently hiding away in her temple; it appears she has completely accepted her defeat."
"Or she's just biding her time and recovering her strength," Artemis muttered darkly.
Athena chuckled. "I doubt it, Artemis. There's not a lot she can do, considering the oath we forced her to swear on the River Styx."
"Can't Aphrodite just break the oath though?" Naruto asked.
"No," Athena replied. "Aphrodite is nowhere near powerful enough to casually break an oath sworn on the River Styx without suffering devastating consequences - unlike some gods we know," she muttered, looking at Zeus pointedly.
Zeus coughed into his fist. "Guilty."
"But that makes no sense," Naruto frowned. "I mean, Aphrodite is the daughter of Ouranos, right? Shouldn't she be theoretically even more powerful than Zeus?" Zeus looked amused at the very thought.
Athena shook her head. "That isn't how it works. A god's parentage doesn't factor into their power. For example, Hypnos is the son of Nyx and Erebus - two primordial gods - yet he's still a minor god weaker than all of the Olympians. When it comes to oaths sworn on the River Styx, only the strongest gods - the Big Three, several Titans, the primordial gods - are able to resist its effects."
"I see," Naruto nodded.
"There have been rumors circulating around lately that Styx punishes my demigod children due to me breaking the oath," Zeus added, "probably because of just how unlucky and terrible my children's lives have been so far. However, those rumors are blatantly false; Styx isn't petty enough to punish innocents."
"Children?" Naruto frowned. "I thought Thalia was your only child."
"Ah, right, slip of my tongue," Zeus replied smoothly.
That's a lie, Kurama spoke up sharply.
Oh? Interesting.
"At any rate," Athena continued. "I think it's safe to say that we no longer have to worry about Aphrodite for the foreseeable future. Perhaps in a few centuries, she may become brave enough to act again, but for now, we should be good."
Naruto blinked at how just nonchalantly she said 'a few centuries'. To him, it was an insanely long amount of time; to them, it was probably their equivalent of only a few years. Kinda mind-boggling, if he thought about it.
"Moving on..." Zeus leaned forward and steepled his fingers, the scent of ozone filling the air as his stare bored into Naruto. "You've been holding out on us," he stated.
Naruto shrugged. "Fair."
"Six Paths Sage Mode," Athena mused, a calculating glint in her eyes. "That's what you used against Ares and Aphrodite, correct?"
Naruto nodded. "Yup. It's essentially an enhanced version of Sage Mode."
"An extremely enhanced version, apparently," Athena said wryly. "One that let you utterly annihilate Ares even breaking a sweat."
"Six Paths Sage Mode is overpowered as hell," Naruto agreed.
"That, I won't argue against."
Naruto turned to Zeus. "You're fine with it though, right?" he asked tentatively.
"Hmm?" Zeus blinked. "Why would I have a problem with it?"
"Umm... you know," Naruto gestured vaguely. "You're paranoid and stuff... right?"
Zeus's expression became positively amused. "What does that have to do with anything? I'm paranoid about threats to Olympus. You are not a threat to Olympus - that's plenty obvious to anyone who has half a brain. You're far too attached to your family and friends for that. Sure, you may have jumped about six threat levels with your Six Paths Sage Mode, but unless you're going to turn on Olympus, I'm fine with it."
Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise. "So even if I managed to defeat you in combat, you would have no problems whatsoever?" he asked.
Zeus shrugged. "Well, that won't ever happen, so you don't have to worry about that."
"And there's the arrogance we all know and love," Apollo muttered.
"It's not arrogance if it's actually true," Zeus returned, his expression utterly serious.
"I rest my case."
"But yeah," Zeus turned back to regard Naruto. "As long as you remain loyal to Olympus, then there won't be any problems, even if you did manage to do the impossible and defeat me in combat. After all, even my own brothers could defeat me in combat under the right circumstances - but don't tell them I said that."
Naruto couldn't help but snort slightly.
"Of course," the King of Olympus added, his eyes narrowing, "if you decide to betray us, Six Paths Sage Mode or not, I will personally obliterate you into fine mist before casting you into the deepest, darkest hole of Tartarus."
To accentuate his threat, power exploded out from Zeus's form, an immeasurable aura of sheer absolute presence. The walls cracked and Apollo yelped as he hastily enacted a shield in front of the TV to protect it.
Naruto stiffened and his eyes widened in shock as an immense, commanding pressure bore down upon him. It was like back in the council meeting - only this time, it seemed to be several magnitudes stronger than the previous combined auras of the Big Three; it was almost incomparable. But how-?
Ah, yes, that was right. Back in the council meeting, the Big Three had had to restrain themselves for the sake of the demigods. Hades had even mentioned how he had to make sure that he didn't accidentally stop their hearts. But now, with no such limitations... Naruto was facing the full brunt of Zeus's unbridled power.
His hands were trembling slightly, he idly realized. He hadn't felt this way since - since he last fought Madara and Kaguya.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he clenched his fists tightly, determination roaring to life in his eyes. He refused to back down. He had conquered Madara's terrifying presence, he had conquered Kaguya's cosmic presence, and he would conquer Zeus's as well.
After several seconds, Naruto regained his composure, calming down. He had acclimated to Zeus's presence.
Then he countered with his own Killing Intent and chakra. The walls cracked even more as the room suddenly flooded with chakra and pure intent. However, it wasn't enough; Zeus's presence still outweighed his own. He closed his eyes before opening them again to reveal cross-shaped pupils with no pigmentations around his eyes.
There was no outright change in his intent or chakra, but every gods' instincts began screaming at them. Zeus's eyes flickered, hesitation passing over his gaze, before he narrowed his electric blue eyes. Naruto noted that the sky god's hands had stopped trembling as well. He too had gotten used to Naruto's presence.
And thus the battle of wills began - Naruto staring down Zeus and Zeus staring down Naruto, neither side backing down. The tension in the the room increased and increased, the suffocating pressure overwhelming, until -
"Brother, Naruto," Hestia spoke up warningly. "That's enough."
Naruto and Zeus blinked, as if just realizing where they were. The walls were crumbling under the sheer force, and Apollo, Artemis, and Athena were pale and tense. Only Hestia appeared to be unaffected.
"Apologies," Zeus muttered as he released his powerful aura.
"My bad," Naruto muttered as he exited Six Paths Sage Mode.
"That was definitely impressive though," Zeus said. "We should spar sometime."
"Sure," Naruto agreed, grinning in anticipation at the thought. "That sounds like fun."
"At any rate," Athena cut in, "Now that you two have finished your measuring contest, I believe we've covered all the topics we needed to get through. This meeting is over." She tilted her head. "It's certainly been... interesting."
XxX
Two weeks, three days after.
"You two should speak to Aphrodite," Hestia advised.
"What? Why?" Zoe blurted out, looking horrified at the very thought.
"I literally punched her in the face like two weeks ago," Naruto said. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to even be in the same proximity as her, much less talk to her."
Hestia sighed. "Please. At least hear her out." She stared meaningfully at Naruto. "After all, isn't it your dream to seize peace in the world? How could you do that if you don't even try to reconcile with Aphrodite?"
Naruto hesitated before determination appeared in his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Hestia. I'd almost forgotten."
Hestia smiled. "It's no problem."
"Seize peace? What?" Zoe frowned. "That's your dream?"
"I'll tell you later. For now... Zoe, can we go see Aphrodite? Please?"
Zoe sighed. "Fine. But only because I want to rub it into Aphrodite's face even more."
XxX
"What do you want?" Aphrodite asked flatly.
They were inside her temple, sitting on a luxurious couch. It was by far the most well-designed, aesthetic temple Naruto had been in so far. Light streamed in from the glass ceiling, the walls were painted bright, bold colors, and all the furniture and whatnot were assembled just right.
"I'm just here to gloat," Zoe smirked. "Not sure about Naruto though."
Aphrodite's eyes flashed. "I gave you a gift, you ungrateful little girl," she snarled.
"A gift?" Zoe narrowed her eyes. "More like a curse."
Aphrodite scoffed before dismissing her and turning to Naruto. "Are you here to gloat too?"
Naruto shook his head. "No. I'm here to say only one thing."
Aphrodite shrugged. "Well? Spit it out."
"I forgive you."
Aphrodite froze. "I'm sorry?"
"I forgive you," Naruto repeated.
"You... forgive me?!" At Naruto's nod, Aphrodite burst into hysterical laughter. "Thank you," she laughed. "I needed that - "
She paused as she looked at Naruto's resolved face. "Oh, you're serious," she said in genuine surprise.
"I am," Naruto inclined his head. "Aphrodite, I'm willing to let everything that's happened be water under the bridge." He sighed. "I just wish you would too. Contrary to what you may think, I legitimately don't want to be your enemy."
Aphrodite scoffed. "Sure. So you actively scorn the gift I gave you - letting you fall in love with Zoe - but you say you don't want to be my enemy. Right," she drawled, doubt dripping from her voice.
"Don't you get it?!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, looking frustrated. "The issue wasn't that I had fallen in love with Zoe - "
"Though that certainly was an issue," Zoe added.
" - but rather, the fact that you had forced me to," Naruto emphasized. "I had no choice in the matter; you were the one in total control. I don't like that - no, I despise that. I'm fine with falling in love, but I'm not fine when I'm forced - "
"Hold that thought," Aphrodite frowned. "You're okay with love?"
Naruto frowned. "Yeah, of course."
"Wait, what?" Aphrodite leaned forward, intrigued. "Like, you're fine with romantic love?"
Naruto nodded slowly. "Yup. Didn't you know? I never swore that part of the Hunter's oath."
"I didn't know, actually. Wait, so you're the son of Artemis, but you're fine with falling in love?" the goddess of love asked hesitantly.
"Yes, but only if I'm not forced to," Naruto answered.
"Huh," Aphrodite sat back, looking as if her entire worldview had just been shattered. "I... see. You've given me much to think about. Goodbye, Naruto, Zoe."
She snapped her fingers, and suddenly Naruto and Zoe found themselves outside of her temple.
Naruto shrugged. "That went well. I think."
XxX
Three weeks after.
"I still can't believe you ditched us for Apollo," Zoe groused. "Seriously? Apollo?!"
Naruto shrugged. "He's cool."
Zoe raised an eyebrow incredulously.
"For real! I might complain about him sometimes, but he's actually my best friend."
Zoe hummed. "Is that so."
Naruto sighed. "Are you mad at me?"
"She's just really disappointed," Phoebe cut in, smiling. "You should've seen her moping the night you left. 'Why did he have to leave? Why? Oh, the pain!'"
"Phoebe!" Zoe hissed. "I did not say that!"
"Yeah, but that was the general gist of it," Phoebe grinned. "In any case, it's good to have you back, even if it's only for a few days. C'mon, we're going on a hunt in about twenty minutes."
"Oh?" An interested gleam appeared in Naruto's eyes. "And what exactly are we hunting?"
XxX
"It's so weird seeing you with a bow," Thalia made a face. "And it's even weirder just how good you are at it - though you are the son of Artemis, so it makes sense. Why didn't you use a bow on our quest?"
Naruto shrugged. "Had to keep the fact that I'm the son of Artemis a secret, y'know?"
"But... weren't you disguised as a son of Apollo? That would've explained why you were so good at archery."
Naruto opened his mouth but then closed it a second later. "An excellent point. If only I had thought of it at the time."
Thalia laughed. "Fair enough. Anyways, are you ready?" she lifted up her own bow, nocking an arrow.
Naruto nodded, his expression turning serious. "Yup. Let's do this." They were already in a forest, so he already had his perfect awareness; no need for Sage Mode.
A moment later, a silver arrow whizzed past them.
Thalia instantly shot her own arrow at it, redirecting its trajectory. Naruto waited half a second before firing his own arrow at a tree. His arrow ricocheted off before striking the original arrow at a certain angle, redirecting its trajectory even more.
"Nice shot," Naruto complimented.
"Thanks, you too."
They waited several more seconds before off in the distance, a shout of "DIRECT HIT!" could be heard. Cheers sounded in the forest a moment later.
Naruto and Thalia smiled triumphantly, giving each other a high five.
Since hunting regular monsters was literally child's play for the Hunters, they gave themselves challenges to make it more difficult - and fun. This time, the Hunters had split off into pairs of two and took positions around the forest. After which, the first Hunter, located far away from the target, would shoot their arrow, and every Hunter would have to fire their own arrows to alter the trajectory so the original would hit the target - a hellhound.
Every Hunter easily had Itachi-level skill in terms of projectiles attacks, even Thalia and Bianca. One of the perks of being a Hunter.
"I still can't believe I did that," Thalia breathed, shaking her head in amazement. "This newfound skill in archery... it's so - strange. Everything is instinctual."
"It's awesome, isn't it?" Naruto grinned.
"Oh, for sure."
XxX
One month after.
Music was a wonderful thing. It could heal the soul, it could ease the pain, it could spark imaginations and creativity.
It could also annoy the utter shit out of someone.
MAKE IT STOP! Kurama roared.
"APOLLO, PLEASE!" Naruto begged. "STOP!"
Apollo smirked. "Say the magic words, and I'll stop."
Naruto resisted, but his resolve quickly crumbled under the sheer terribleness of the song that was currently blasting at max volume over the speaker system.
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry for saying your poetry is bad!"
"That's what I thought," Apollo smiled satisfiedly.
"Because it's even worse!" Naruto continued.
DAMN IT, NARUTO!
I SPEAK ONLY THE TRUTH!
Apollo narrowed his eyes. "Those were not the magic words," he said dangerously as the volume increased.
NARUTO!
XxX
One month, one week after.
"It's still stuck in my head," Naruto said hollowly. "Even after it finally stopped, the stupid, unreasonably catchy tune is still stuck in my head."
Bianca winced. "Was it really that bad?" she asked tentatively.
"You know how Apollo is the god of music, so he can use magic to make his songs sound fundamentally, intrinsically terrible?" Naruto's gaze was utterly desolate. "Yeah. Yeah, it was that bad."
Bianca winced again. "Ah, I see."
"Yup," Naruto shook his head in an attempt to clear those thoughts, ignoring Kurama's weak groan. "Anyways, let's get started with the basics."
"The basics?"
Naruto smiled. "Lesson Number One: Taijutsu. Come, Bianca. Attack me."
Since Bianca was still new to the world of demigods and monsters, the Hunters were taking turns to teach her valuable skills. Obviously, Naruto couldn't teach her anything about chakra. He did, however, know a lot of combat techniques, which he was teaching to her now.
Funnily enough, he had given Nico the exact same training back at Camp Half-Blood. As Bianca charged at him with a heavily telegraphed punch, Naruto idly wondered how Nico was doing.
XxX
"No... more..." Nico gasped out, panting in exhaustion. "Please."
Theseus looked at Achilles. "You think we should give him a break?"
"Nah," Achilles grinned. "C'mon, Nico. One more time."
Nico whimpered. "Wait!" he cried out. "Before we continue, can you just answer one question?"
"Shoot."
"You're Achilles, right? The ancient Greek dude who got insta-killed by an arrow through the heel," Nico recalled from a lesson he had actually been awake for at Westover Hall.
"That's me," Achilles nodded."
"But you lived, like, three thousand years ago."
"Mhm. Your point is?"
"So why is your hair green?" Nico asked incredulously.
Achilles laughed. "It's a perk of being in Elysium - you get access to all the high-quality hair dye you want. And green is a nice color, isn't it?"
"It does look pretty cool," Nico admitted.
"Ayyy, thanks, kid. I appreciate it," Achilles grinned. "Now then... Come at me."
XxX
One month, two weeks after.
"Naruto, we need to talk."
"Okay."
Apollo coughed. "No, I mean..." his voice became layered with bass, ominous tones. "Naruto. We need to have The Talk."
It took Naruto approximately 3.2 seconds to understand what Apollo meant. When he did, he paled drastically.
It took him another 1.8 seconds to enter Sage Mode, then Kurama mode, then Six Paths Sage Mode in an attempt to get away.
Before he could get the hell out of the mansion, however, Apollo simply held up a sign. The god knew that since Naruto could outpace sound itself, speaking to him would be ultimately pointless because Naruto would travel faster than the vibrations. He would literally be gone before the sound of Apollo's voice even reached him. Thus the sign.
Out of curiosity, Naruto paused long enough to cast a glance at the sign.
Instantly, he froze, rooted to the spot.
There it was, in full high resolution color glory. A picture of him as a girl dressed in a pink, frilly magical girl costume.
Naruto... He could almost hear the grin in Kurama's voice. You never mentioned anything about this.
Memories Naruto thought he had suppressed long ago surfaced to his mind. It had been about a year ago when...
"No," Naruto said, looking horrified. "Not that. Anything but that."
Apollo chuckled menacingly, an unholy light in his eyes. "You lost the bet, Naruto. You don't have a choice in the matter."
Floating in the air in front of Naruto was an utter eldritch abomination: a pink, frilly magical girl costume.
And Apollo expected him to wear it.
"I refuse," Naruto flat-out stated. "No. Nuh uh. Not in a million years. My pride as a man doesn't allow it."
At that moment, Naruto knew. He screwed up.
A grin of pure delight slowly spread across Apollo's face. "Hey sis," he called. "You heard him, right?"
Artemis had a small smile on her face as she responded. "Indeed. Naruto, if your pride as a man doesn't allow it..." she tilted her head. "Then it wouldn't be an issue if you weren't a man, yes?"
Naruto sighed. He knew when he had walked straight into a checkmate. "Just... just get it over with."
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Apollo gestured at Naruto. "Would you do the honors, sis?"
Artemis nodded. With a wave of her hand, Naruto transformed into a girl. With another wave, the magical girl costume replaced his normal outfit.
The twin gods burst into laughter at the sight. Apollo collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath, while Artemis laughed lightly, her eyes brimming with mirth.
Naruto's eye twitched. "I feel like some part of the Geneva Convention was just outright shattered..."
After a few seconds, their laughter slowly died down to chuckles.
"You look wonderful, Naruto," Artemis smiled.
"Absolutely stunning," Apollo added, getting to his feet and brushing some dust off himself. A camera then materialized in his hand. "Smile for the camera," he grinned.
Naruto looked resigned as the camera flashed, immortalizing his embarrassment.
"Send it to me later?" Artemis requested.
"Of course."
"For the record," Naruto grumbled, "I hate you both."
And now, it appeared that Apollo was finally pulling out this specific blackmail material he had undoubtedly been saving for this very moment.
"You wouldn't dare," Naruto said quietly as his mind raced to think of some way out of this mess.
"Oh, I assure you," Apollo grinned. "I absolutely would."
"You won't," Naruto told Apollo bluntly, "because I have blackmail material of my own that I doubt you want anyone else to see."
Apollo raised an eyebrow. "No you don't."
Naruto smirked. "Are you sure about that?"
A beat.
"Not really," Apollo admitted. "But... well, I'm more than willing to go straight to mutually assured destruction." He smiled dangerously. "The only question is... Are you?"
There was a tense silence as they stared unrelentingly at each other.
Naruto gave in first. "Fine!" he growled.
The sun god had successfully called his bluff. Unfortunately, in all his years living with Apollo, Naruto had never acquired any blackmail material; Apollo had been extremely careful. Naruto would have to rectify that later. But for now, all he could do is grit his teeth and admit defeat.
Apollo smiled triumphantly. "That's what I thought. Now then... Sit down, Naruto. It's about time I gave you The Talk."
XxX
Oh dear Sage, Kurama whimpered - he whimpered! That was the worst one Talk I've ever been through - and I've already been through two of them.
Naruto didn't reply; he had been rendered utterly catatonic. The only sign of life he gave were the slight rise and fall of his chest, as well as a few occasional blinks.
It wasn't that Naruto was a stranger to sex. It was impossible for him to be, what with how he used to be the apprentice of the biggest Super Pervert in the entire Elemental Nations. So when Apollo began giving Naruto the Talk, he wasn't even phased. Even when Apollo created Mist projections that proceeded to give practical demonstrations of what he was talking about, Naruto had only blushed slightly.
After all, after Jiraiya had given him The Talk, accompanying visuals and all, Naruto was well aware of the many intricacies of human reproduction. He knew more positions than he should have any right to know. Nothing was new to him.
As such, Naruto had just sat through Apollo's explanation with nothing more than a slight blush on his face but no other outward reaction. He did have to repress the memory of Apollo telling him all his favorite sex positions, but that was to be expected.
Then the Mist projections transformed from humans into animals.
And everything went downhill from there.
Indeed, since Naruto was no longer a mortal in this world and was half-god, Apollo had decided to give Naruto not the normal version of the Talk, nor a more detailed version, but rather the gods' version.
And... well, gods didn't limit their conquests to humans alone.
... Yeah.
Which was why Naruto was currently curled in the fetal position on the ground, desperately trying to keep hold of his sanity. And his lunch.
The fact that Apollo spent a good five minutes detailing all the sex positions you can use with a gods-be-damned horse is just... Naruto could practically hear the thousand-yard-stare in Kurama's voice. He agreed with the sentiment completely.
"Hey Naruto," Apollo knelt down next to Naruto, his tone low. "I promised you, all the way back when we were in the Labyrinth, that you would rue that day. And now, I've delivered on that promise." He smirked. "Feels good."
Naruto whimpered.
XxX
One month, three weeks after.
"You're brilliant."
Hestia smiled. "Thank you."
"No, I'm serious. You're actually an unparalleled genius," Naruto breathed in awe. "I had never thought about doing this before."
"You flatter me."
"For the record, I object to this," Kurama grumbled. "I am the Kyuubi. A walking natural disaster. A tailed beast. I am not something to - to cuddle up against."
Naruto snuggled closer into Kurama's warm orange fur. "You have really soft fur," he remarked. "Even softer than Pakkun's paws."
"Oh," Kurama said, sounding flattered. "Why thank you - " he coughed. "You're not distracting me that easily."
"See, I told you it would feel nice hugging Kurama into oblivion," Hestia smiled as she absently stroked Kurama's orange fur, imbuing her hands with comforting magic.
Kurama most certainly did not let out a low purr under her ministrations. Nope. Absolutely not.
"I've been meaning to ask you for a while now," Hestia suddenly spoke up. "You were a shinobi in your old life, correct?"
Naruto nodded. "Yup."
"So why do you wear orange?" Hestia asked curiously. "I thought shinobi were supposed to be stealthy. Or do you wear orange because Kurama's fur is also orange?"
Naruto snorted. "No, that's not the reason."
"I don't know, she does make a good point," Kurama smirked. "Is wearing orange just your way of showing that you're my fanboy? Or rather, fangirl?"
"Ha ha," Naruto laughed sarcastically. "No, but for real though, at first I wore orange because of two reasons: One, it was my favorite color; two, it made people pay attention to me."
"Pay attention to you?"
"Err, I used to be ignored and stuff because everyone was scared of me," Naruto said nonchalantly. "Or rather, they were scared of Kurama, who had been sealed within me at the time."
Hestia paused. "Oh."
"Of course, even after everyone acknowledged me as their hero," a smile unconsciously rose to Naruto's face, "I still wore orange - but for a different reason this time."
"And that is?" Hestia encouraged.
"Well, I had finally met my mom and dad," Naruto smiled brightly at the memory. "My mom had violet eyes and the most beautiful red hair. My dad had blue eyes and bright yellow hair. And that's why I love orange so much. At first, orange was just a color that drew attention to myself, a ploy to try to escape loneliness. But now..."
He smiled softly. "Orange is the combination of my mother's red and my father's yellow," he said simply.
"Orange is family."
Hestia smiled.
Aphrodite is the goddess of romantic/sexual love only. Platonic love (love between family and friends) isn't included in her domain.
When I say "one week after" in the time skips, I mean "one week after Naruto moved back into the mansion". So far, a total of one month, three weeks has passed.
The plot is coming soon.
I do have a question for you guys though. In A Shinobi Among Monsters, who are your favorite characters, and what were your favorite types of scenes? I'm currently deciding and drafting the cast and future scenes of the next arc, and your input would be highly appreciated.
Thank you all for reading, and please review :)
euphoric
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