Naruto Uzumaki, Son of Apollo: The Lightning Thief

Warning: I don't own PJO or Naruto. Don't make me repeat myself.

Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight

Chapter One: From Japan to New York: Greetings, Naruto Uzumaki!

I suppose an introduction is in order. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm twelve years old with sunny blond hair and sky blue eyes. I was born in Tokyo, Japan, but thanks to my dad, my mom and I were able to become American citizens and now we live in New York, New York. Now, a lot of you are about to ask who my dad is and what makes him so special that he could get my mother and I to become American citizens so quickly. To tell you the truth...

...I don't know. I never knew my dad...or rather, I never met him before. My mom, Kushina Uzumaki, always told me that he was a kind, good-looking man who always traveled on business trips that kept him away from us for long periods of time. Whenever I bring him up when I get curious about him, she would laugh and call him a flirtatious, womanizing flake with no aptitude for poetry.

I'd always laugh because I know she loved him even after saying all those mean things about him. When she looked at me, she would say I reminded her of him. Same hair. Same eyes. Her little ball of sunshine. That was her nickname for me when I was little. She taught me how to fight...just in case I was ever bullied in school. She was actually really cool like that.

She taught me a lot of things growing up that I didn't quite understand her reasoning for, but I went with it...if only to see her smile.

She took me to martial arts class after I...'accidentally' beat the living hell out of a kid for picking on one of my friends named Grover Underwood because he was helpless and a cripple. Needless to say, I was the best in my class. After the third grade, mom hired a private tutor to teach me how to play the violin and guitar. Again, somehow, my teacher said I took to music like a fish took to water and after a few lessons, said I would only need experience in order to become a member of a famous orchestra like the New York Philharmonic.

Don't ask me how a single mother of one could afford to send her son to martial arts classes and hire a private tutor in New York, afford to live in a studio apartment, and send him to a boarding school while working for the Department of Transportation. I think my dad may have left her a small fortune before having to leave us for his business. At least, I would like to think he cared that much about our welfare.

Today, I'm on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Mr. Brunner's 6th grade Latin class with Mrs. Dodds, our math teacher at Yancey Academy, as the chaperone. Grover Underwood and I were hanging out with our other friend, Percy Jackson as Mr. Brunner, the wheelchair-bound teacher, began lectures about the various pieces of art as we passed them by. However, I quickly noticed that our next destination was the Greek Mythology display. I couldn't keep my excitement in check as we entered the room.

It was midday when a group of chattering, noisy children led by two teachers. One, Mr. Brunner, a Caucasian teacher bound to a wheelchair with thick, wavy brown hair and matching beard, was trying his hardest to explain to the class about certain artifacts while the other, Mrs. Dodds, a wrinkly old woman wearing clothes that reminded everyone of the things grandmothers wore in the sixties with a purse to match, seemed to glare intensely at Percy Jackson, one of the only three students trying to pay attention to Mr. Brunner's lecture.

Beside Percy Jackson were his two best friends, Grover Underwood, a young African-American boy with curly brown hair and what looked like a soul patch that gave him an appearance that he was older than his records stated, who was walking on a pair of steel crutches to his right while Naruto Uzumaki, a young boy who was admittedly short for his age at a measly 4 feet 8 inches tall with bright golden blond hair and eyes so blue they looked like they were crafted right out of the clear blue sky, was on his left.

Naruto often stuck up for Percy and Grover when it came to bullies, like one Nancy Bobofit. Nancy Bobofit is many things. Good-looking (to her friends). Perfect (to her friends, parents, and every teacher in the school save Mr. Brunner). But there was one thing that only Naruto, Percy, and Grover agreed on. Nancy Bobofit was a Grade A Bitch. She would always pick on Grover out of the three because he was least likely to break your face or fight back and most likely to cry if you picked on him enough.

It was as she was launching peanut butter and ketchup wads at Grover's curly hair that Naruto had enough. He calmly walked over with an overly sweet smile on his face, ripped the sandwich and packets of ketchup from Nancy's hands, and threw it in the trash before spitting a massive loogie on it to prevent her, or anyone else, from willingly picking it up.

"If you throw one more thing at Grover, I'll turn you into one of these exhibits, Bobofit," he said, causing the girl and her red hair to pale several shades before going back to his friends.

"Thanks for that," Grover said with a sad tone to his voice before Naruto gave him a noogie, dislodging any more of the brown and red 'lunch' from his hair before patting him on the back with a brilliant smile that could blind anyone who looked at it.

"It's all good, Grover," he said reassuringly. "We've known each other for a while now. I'll always have your back."

Grover smiled brightly in response. Something about Naruto just made you want to smile and look at the world in the best light possible. Like you couldn't avoid being his friend. He was incredibly charismatic when he needed to be and incredibly violent when he wanted to be or when someone was dumb enough to threaten his friends.

As they made their way into the Greek Exhibits, Mr. Brunner had just gotten through grilling Percy about the story of the Titanomachy started, how Zeus and the first generation of Olympians had defeated their father, Kronos, and the other titans, with the exception of their mother, Rhea, and cast them down to face their punishments, as well as demigods and how they were born from the 'relations' between the Greek Gods and mortals. Kronos had been cut into thousands of pieces and his immortal body scattered throughout Tartarus.

Then, Nancy Bobofit made a sarcastic remark about how knowing about how Kronos ate his kids and started the war between Titans and Gods would matter in real life.

"Well, Mr. Uzumaki, how would, to paraphrase Ms. Bobofit's question, this information be useful in real life," Mr. Brunner asked.

Naruto looked pensive for a moment before saying something he had no idea why he said in the first place. "Well, there are no stories about how the Gods died, so one can only assume that they still live and continue to give birth to new demigods, even in this day and age. For all we know, the person or people standing right next to us could be Demigods, for all we know." Mr. Brunner and Grover looked at him with analytical eyes, but he chuckled, as if recalling a joke to himself. "But that's just wishful thinking. I suppose...if we were to go to Greece and try to get a job in a museum or as archeologists, the information and knowledge would help us, but outside of that, I can't think of much else."

"Indeed," Mr. Brunner said carefully. "Anyway, a full credit to Mr. Jackson and Mr. Uzumaki. Now, seeing as it is almost noon, Ms. Dodd will escort you all to the pavillion to eat your lunches."

Percy and Grover were about to leave when they saw Naruto staring at one of the statues in the corner. Turning around, Naruto gave them a soft smile and waved them off before walking closer to the statue. He didn't know how long he'd been staring at it, just that he felt some kind of connection to it. "That statue is of Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun, Music, Poetry, and Medicine, you know," called Mr. Brunner from behind him, startling the young boy slightly.

"I know."

"Do you feel some kind of connection to that statue," Mr. Brunner pressed.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "Nah. It's just...he seems kinda flaky to me." Mr. Brunner waited for something to happen, but the only thing he noticed was that the sun shone a bit brighter.

"I see," he said calmly. "I believe Mr. Jackson and Mr. Underwood are waiting for you in the cafeteria. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting." Naruto walked back to his friends without another look back at the statue.

As soon as they sat down, Naruto pulled out what had to be the strangest lunch ever created. It was a miso-flavored ramen sandwich with jalapeno ranch mayo and provolone cheese on whole wheat bread. Without hesitation, Naruto quickly dug into his sandwich with gusto that not even Percy or Grover had seen from anything remotely human. A part of them were disgusted, but another part was intrigued at how Naruto, in spite of eating like a pig, was still a relatively clean eater.

The trio were enjoying themselves, often chatting about some random subject or another, when Nancy Bobofit walked over to them, pretended to trip, and tossed her entire lunch in Grover's face. Percy went to stand up, but Grover placed a hand on his shoulder and practically forced him to sit back down.

Naruto, on the other hand, had just about enough and reached for one of Grover's crutches while looking the smug bitch directly in the eye, causing her to pale and hightail it to the fountains.

"I'm going to kill her," Percy growled, causing Naruto to nod in agreement.

"It's times like these that I hope Karma hits her before I do," the blond said harshly.

"People like her aren't worth getting worked up about, guys," Grover chimed.

That didn't stop Percy and Naruto from glaring at the redhead with every intention on watching something horrible happen to her. Unknown to them, a strange feeling made its self known to the two and without warning, they watched as Nancy screamed, putting her hands over her eyes before something pushed her into the fountain.

Several students were gaping at the sight as Nancy stood back up, her clothes thoroughly soaked, before glaring at the three and pointing at them. "Mrs. Dodds! Naruto pointed a laser pointer in my eyes and Percy shoved me into the fountain!"

"Karma bites, doesn't it," Naruto called out to Nancy. "I wish I could say I did point a laser pointer in your eyes, but I didn't bring one on the trip with me. Unlike you, I was more interested in learning than making the lives of every student on this trip as miserable as possible. And I know for sure that Percy was eating lunch with me and Grover across the building from where you were. So why don't you just tell the truth for once and admit you slipped on a puddle of water rather than blame us for something we couldn't have possibly done."

Either Mrs. Dodds didn't hear or didn't care because she immediately pulled the two aside, muttering about being 'disrespectful on a class field trip' and 'bullying innocent students'. For some reason, Mrs. Dodds absolutely loathed Percy and took every chance to make his school year as miserable as Nancy, if not more so since she was the pre-Algebra teacher.

Once the two were far enough away from the class, Mrs. Dodds spun on them and glared at them as though the look she gave them would immolate them on the spot. "You two have been making trouble for us," she growled out harshly. "Well?"

"Ma'am," Percy started before Naruto interrupted him.

"We have no freaking idea what the hell you're talking about," Naruto said flatly.

"Return what you stole and you will suffer less pain," she screamed, having seemingly disappeared and reappeared atop the scaffolding near one of the exhibits that was being worked on. "Time's up!"

Where Mrs. Dodds once stood, now something reminiscent of nightmares was waiting. Mrs. Dodds had somehow turned into a massive, ugly-looking bat-like creature with talons where her nails once were and thick, leather wings where her jacket used to be. Naruto's and Percy's eyes widened in a combination of shock, awe, and fear as they looked upon the mass of leather and dagger-like talons.

"Percy," Naruto asked hesitantly, not taking his eyes off the creature. "Are we dreaming the same dream?"

"I don't think we're dreaming at all, Naruto," Percy replied.

"Gods damn it," Naruto cried, absently forgetting he said gods instead of God. "She's going to kill us if we don't get the Hell out of here!"

"What ho, boys," called the familiar voice of Mr. Brunner as he waved a bronze pen over his head along with a small bronze ring. "Catch!" As the bat creature that was formerly known as Mrs. Dodds dove, Percy uncapped the pen, watching as it turned into a sword while Naruto put the ring on his right ring finger before watching it turn into a compound bow with a small quiver of 6 arrows.

Naruto quickly nocked an arrow and released it into one of the creature's wings while Percy reacted naturally and bifurcated Mrs. Dodds cleanly, only to watch her disappear in a fine golden dust as two talons fell to the ground dully. Naruto hurried and picked them both up before pocketing them while Percy tried to regain what felt like the shattered remnants of his sanity.

Percy turned quickly toward Naruto, watching as both of their weapons began turning back into the ring and pen respectively. "Did that really just happen," Percy asked. Naruto nodded.

"It had to," the blond teen replied. "But I think the real question here is...what the hell happened, what did Mrs. Dodds turn into, and how are we still alive after that?"

Much to their own chagrin, neither could come up with an answer. It got even weirder when Nancy Bobofit approached them with a nasty smirk dancing on her lips. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whooped your butts?"

Percy was about to say something when Naruto snorted. "After we showed her that I didn't have a laser pointer on me and Percy was with Grover and I eating lunch, she let us go with a warning. But believe me. You won't be so lucky when Karma comes back to chew on your ass some more, you prissy little brat. Your daddy's money may buy you friends at the school and keep you out of trouble, but you will end up in a situation where daddy won't be there to help you and I'll laugh my ass off when that day comes."

With that said, the students filed back onto the bus, but not before Mr. Brunner took back the ring and pen and said something. "I see you found my lucky ring, Mr. Uzumaki. Thank you for returning it to me. I've been looking for it everywhere. And as for the return of my pen, Mr. Jackson, please bring your own writing utensil in the future."

While Percy was asking around about their former pre-Algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, and getting looks like he was crazy, Naruto was busy observing their reactions to his constant questions. While almost every student seemed to genuinely not know who Mrs. Dodds was or that she even existed in the first place, Grover clearly knew something he wasn't telling. The same could be said for Mr. Brunner, though he clearly hid his reactions much better than their friend.

After days of trying to trip someone up and being told they had a major test coming up, Percy and Naruto were in Percy's dorm room reading their Latin books. Naturally, their Dyslexia was severely crippling their attempts at studying, though Percy's growing frustration certainly wasn't helping. Rather, it was making his Dyslexia act up even more than usual. Just as the green eyed boy was about to chuck the book at the wall, Naruto placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him an understanding smile.

"I know that the whole 'Mrs. Dodds trying to kill us, us killing Mrs. Dodds, and nobody even remembering she existed' thing is getting to you, but you have to try and calm down," Naruto said soothingly.

"The letters just keep jumping off the page and mixing around with one another. I can't even tell you the difference between Chiron and Charon."

"Chiron is a centaur who was granted immortality to help train the children of the Gods and Goddesses to become heroes. Charon is the ferryman of the dead who resides in the Underworld," Naruto said with a chuckle. "If that still confuses you, Chiron the trainer has an I while Charon the ferryman has an A."

Percy still looked at him as though he had just grown another head in front of his very eyes. Naruto sighed tiredly. "Mr. Brunner is pretty cool about helping his students out. If you want to, I'll go with you to visit him. Alright?" Percy nodded and smiled at his friend before the two took off to Mr. Brunner's office.

As the duo got closer to the Latin teacher's office, they could hear a familiar voice coming from within the doors. Naruto motioned to just outside of the door's window to overhear the conversation from.

"...worried about Naruto and Percy, sir," came the voice of their friend Grover.

Another voice came forth, probably Mr. Brunner, but he was whispering something the two could barely make out.

Pressing their ears to the door, they could hear Grover begin to reply again. "...alone this summer. I mean, a Kindly One in the school!? Now that we know for sure, and they must know something is wrong now..."

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner replied. "They both need time to mature."

"But they may not have time," Grover said adamantly. "With the summer solstice deadline coming..."

"It will have to be resolved without them," Mr. Brunner stated calmly. "Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."

"They saw her..."

"Their imagination," the Latin teacher reminded him pointedly. "The Mist over the students and staff should be enough to convince them of that."

"Sir...I...I can't fail in my duties again," Grover implored to the teacher. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed in your duties, Grover," Mr. Brunner said reassuringly. "For now, let's worry about keeping Percy and Naruto alive until fall."

As soon as Percy heard the part about keeping them both alive, his Latin book slipped through his fingers and landed on the floor, alerting the two in the room to a presence nearby. Naruto picked up the book and dragged Percy up the stairwell, where they flattened against the wall.

Once they were sure the teacher and Grover were gone, they hightailed it back to Percy's dorm before shutting the door quickly.

Percy looked over at Naruto, his nerves were clearly shaken by the conversation. "What do you think they meant by keep us alive until the fall, Naruto?"

The blond bit his bottom lip anxiously before muttering a small, silent curse. "I don't know, but I don't like being kept in the dark about things that involve my well-being." Naruto swore again under his breath before the tension seemed to ease its way out of his body. "For now, we should just stay alert. Keep an eye out for anything that seems off...like Nancy Bobofit being nice to you, me, and Grover."

Percy chuckled a bit at the joke. He couldn't be more thankful to have a friend like Naruto around. He could put people at ease with a smile and a few kind words. He always spoke his mind and was, though completely unaware of it, the most blunt person you could ever meet. If he thought you were an idiot, he would just up and say it rather than sugarcoat it like others would. For that, Percy often blamed and thanked his mother, depending on the circumstances surrounding his bluntness.

"Thanks, Ruto," Percy stated in a calmer tone. "I needed that."

Naruto grinned and gave Percy a thumbs up. "No problem, Perce. For now, let's just get back to studying and put this whole deal with Mr. Brunner and those 'Kindly Ones' on the back burner."

The following day, Naruto and Percy walked out of Mr. Brunner's Latin class with frowns on their faces. While Naruto was confident he passed, albeit with a low grade. Percy was complaining about the words looking like alphabet soup when he tried to answer them to the best of his ability.

"Mr. Jackson," came the voice of Mr. Brunner from the doorway once the last student had gone to the next class. "Mr. Uzumaki. May I speak with the two of you alone for a moment?"

Percy looked hesitant, though that may be because the conversation from last night was still fresh in his mind. Naruto put a reassuring hand on Percy's shoulder as the two walked back into the classroom with the wheelchair-bound teacher with the scruffy brown hair and beard.

"What did you want to talk about, Mr. Brunner," Naruto asked cautiously.

"Naruto, Percy," he started, seeming slightly awkward as he tried to pick the best words to use. "Don't be discouraged about having to leave Yancey. It's for the best."

Percy looked like he wanted to object...to look offended. Naruto simply sighed in what could only seem like resignation.

"I understand, Mr. Brunner," Naruto said.

"What I mean is that this isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time," he said.

This time, Percy did look offended and Naruto couldn't blame him. Of course, he could hardly blame Mr. Brunner either. He was...clearly not the best in the world when it came time to delivering bad news without making it worse.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said angrily at himself. "Confound it all. What I'm trying to say is that neither of you are normal. That's nothing to be..."

"Thanks," Percy said abruptly. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

With that said, Percy stormed out the door while Naruto took his hand and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Percy-"

"Don't worry about him, Mr. Brunner," Naruto said calmly. "I know you were trying your best to make him feel better."

"Thank you for your patience, Naruto," the teacher said.

Naruto frowned slightly. "Mr. Brunner, I want you to tell me the truth. You know something about Percy and me. Something you have felt fit to hide from us. At the time, I wanted to believe you were looking out for us, and I appreciate it. More than you know. But I need you to tell me what's going on. Mrs. Dodds turning into what you call a 'Kindly One'. The pen that turned into a sword. The ring that turned into a bow and arrows. Please. Tell me the truth. I deserve that much, at least."

Mr. Brunner bit his lip and looked Naruto in the eyes before sighing in resignation. "Very well, but I won't be able to tell you everything here." He pulled out a business card written in some kind of foreign language, but Naruto was able to read it with ease in spite of never having seen this before in his life.

Chiron

Trainer of Heroes

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800)002-0002

"Now, this is where I work over the summer. The answers I can't give you, you can find there," Mr. Brun...I mean, Chiron explained. "You and Percy are both demigods, at least, we suspect Percy is. You, however, are definitely one. Who your godly parent is largely unknown. You must wait for them to claim you. Some gods and goddesses claim their children immediately while others sometimes go their entire lives without being claimed."

Naruto nodded to himself. He could see that some gods had so many children that they could easily forget more than a few or that they were so embarrassed by their children that they didn't want them to represent them on any quests. However, for a god or goddess to not claim their child felt the same as simply saying 'I never wanted you to be born'. It disgusted him greatly to know that the gods sired children and refused to claim them.

"How do I get to this camp," Naruto asked carefully.

"Your father should have given the instructions to your mother when they realized she was pregnant with you, but if she hasn't," he said before pulling out a small map in his pocket with a blank forest area by the Long Island Sound circled in red followed by a line that traveled the map from point a (Yancey Academy) to point b (Camp Half-Blood), "then this will help guide you there. I should warn you now, you can either be a year-round camper and stay there permanently or you could only go during the summer and come home for the other three seasons to go to school. It's up to you."

Naruto took the map and tucked it away in his pocket. "What about Percy?"

"Grover will help get him there," Chiron stated. "He has placed himself in charge of Percy's safety and journey to camp. He deserves this chance to prove himself as a capable protector."

Naruto looked up at the clock and saw it was getting late. He and Chiron must have been speaking to one another for some time. "Well, since I doubt I'll be coming back next year, I'll just go ahead and pack my stuff for home. Get a head start to get ready for camp. Not really much I can do if I'm just barely gonna pass the year, ya know?"

Chiron nodded. "I understand. I look forward to your arrival at camp, Naruto."

The boy nodded and left just as the last bell rang.

A little bit later, Naruto met back with Percy in his room and already started packing for his trip home. Percy noticed his sunny disposition as he packed and decided to ask a few questions.

"What's up," the raven-haired boy asked curiously. "You going home early?"

"Yeah," Naruto said plainly. "I barely got by with a passing grade and the headmaster already said we weren't invited back next year, so I'm going to go ahead and split for home."

"Won't your mom be upset at you leaving early?"

Naruto gave a hearty laugh. "No way. I've gotten into so many fights at my other schools that she'd think it was weird if I didn't get kicked out of school. She'd probably congratulate me for lasting this long into the year, though, before getting expelled."

"You going anywhere special?"

"Maybe some kind of summer camp. I got this weird pamphlet for a 'Camp Half-Blood' in my locker, so I might give them a shot," Naruto said, causing Percy to freeze in place.

"Grover gave me a business card with 'Camp Half-Blood' on it, like that was where he lived or worked," Percy said.

Naruto smiled. "All the more reason to go then."

"What about the Mrs. Dodds incident?"

Naruto sighed. "Well, we haven't seen or heard anything outside of the ordinary since then. Maybe it was just a one-time deal. Mistaken identity and what not."

"And Mr. Brunner insulting us. Saying we didn't belong here?"

"Are you sure he meant to insult you like that," Naruto asked. "He may have just been trying to find the right words to explain it to you since...you know, you are his favorite student and he hated to tell you that the headmaster said you weren't welcome back next year. Some people just aren't that good at giving bad news. I didn't take it personally and neither should you."

Percy sighed. "Now that you say it like that, I feel kinda bad about blowing up on him like that. I'll apologize to him the next time I see him."

Naruto closed his suitcase and fastened the latches on it. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Perce."

"Yeah," Percy said with a sad smile. "I'll see you later, Ruto."

And with those parting words, Naruto took the local bus back home, unable to wait to tell his mother about what happened, his face-to-face with an actual monster, fighting and defeating said monster, discovering he was a demigod, and his meeting with Chiron.

It was going to be a long summer indeed.