Chapter 22

Naruto sighed as he looked out over the camp. Things had gotten a bit tense ever since the switch had happened over four months ago.

Annabeth had become obsessed with finding Thalia and Percy after they had gone missing since Percy was one of her best friends and Thalia was her girlfriend.

He found it exceedingly tough to lie to her as he had to tell her they went missing during a quest to scout out a possible threat. She almost didn't believe him when he told her that he couldn't track them but after assuring Annabeth that they were alive due to the fact he could still feel their chakra, just not track it, she accepted it.

Didn't mean that she wasn't constantly asking him to lead a quest to find her.

"Annabeth I've told you many times you cannot leave to search for Thalia." Naruto said with a groan as he preemptively told her no. "I have the hunters searching for her and Percy as it is too dangerous for anyone to be out with this threat that is keeping the both of them hidden from everyone" he said as the blonde haired daughter of Athena frowned as some tears built up in the corners of eyes.

"I-I just want her back" she said as he hugged her gently.

"I know Annabeth, it hurts to have them away from camp but they are still alive and they will be found soon" he said as she cried into his chest.

It broke his heart to have to do this to her as she was like a daughter to him but it was the only way he could think of uniting the camps to help with Gaea without blatantly forcing them to work together. Something he knew wouldn't work as people would want to resist the forced orders but if he could get them to trust the leaders of the opposite camps he knew he could get rid of their grudges with one another.

"I-I'm going to go talk with Rachel, maybe she knows something or can get a vision for once" Annabeth said as he smiled softly at her and ruffled her hair like he did with Thalia.

"Tell me if she has any luck and be strong. We will find her" he said as she smiled and walked off leaving him to groan and sat down on a chair before burying his face in the palm of his hand.

"I know you feel terrible for hiding everything but it had to be done" a warm voice said as he turned and smiled at Hera as she appeared behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"I feel like I am betraying her trust" he said as she smiled sadly and hugged him a bit tighter.

"The switch had to be done. Jason and two other major players in the Prophecy will be ready very soon so it won't be much longer before things start to begin. With the way it changed it will be a bit more difficult given the addition of three others might change the outcome" she said as he nodded with a frown.

Around the time that Thalia and Percy were sent off to the Roman camp Rachel had an Oracle moment declaring that the original seven had been changed to ten. They all knew of the main seven but with the extra three they were still unsure of who they exactly were.

"I know Honey, I know but I still don't like my daughter being away from home" he said as Hera kissed him softly as she held his hand and brought him up off his chair.

"I have made sure that she and Percy are to be looked after and trained thoroughly by Lupa and her wolves until they are ready to be sent to the other camp. Hestia is even checking up on them today so there is no reason to worry" she said as he nodded

"Now come on, I think a progression has been made" Hera said with a giggle as they both could hear Annabeth yelling his name.

"Have fun Dear, it all starts to begin" she said as she kissed him deeply on the lips before flashing away.

"Naruto! Naruto! Rachel saw something!" Annabeth yelled as she burst into the Big House with a large smile on her face as Rachel slowly followed behind with the help of a member of Apollo's cabin to help her.

He sighed as he walked down and helped Rachel onto the porch "So what exactly did you see that has gotten Annabeth so shaken up?" he asked as Rachel sighed.

"It was only one line which is very odd since it isn't a prophecy, I'd say it was more of a hint" Rachel said as Annabeth bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement.

"Tell him what you saw so I can get a team together!" Annabeth yelled excitedly as Naruto chuckled and used his hand to guide her down to sit next to him on the porch.

"All I could see was it was at the Grand Canyon and that 'The one missing a shoe will lead the way'. Everything else was very blurry but I know there are three people there" she said as Naruto rubbed his chin and smiled at Rachel.

"Thank you very much Rachel" he said as he stood up and helped the red headed oracle up. "Annabeth I want you, Luke and Butch to take the pegisi and the chariot to the Grand Canyon. Bring your weapons and be alert for whatever comes" he said as Annabeth ran off immediately making him chuckle.

"Here, let me help you back to your cabin since I bet Annabeth took you away from some of your art" he said as she nodded and smiled.

"I'm fine, these boys have to do their duty. You just focus on doing what you do best" she said as he chuckled.

"And what would that be?" he asked as Rachel smirked at him as she crossed her arms.

"Saving the day of course" she said as he rolled his eyes and smiled.

-An Hour Later-

"We are here and everything is set up. Are we ready to go?" a male voice asked as he turned around and smiled at the man.

He was a tall muscled boy who he figured to be around 14 maybe 15. His head was shaven with brown eyes staring back at him. He wore faded jeans and a sleeveless version of the camp shirt that showed off the rainbow tattoo on his bicep.

He was Butch Walker, son of Iris the goddess of rainbows.

"I believe so. You are to take the modified flying chariot to the Grand Canyon, Annabeth knows who to look for, someone with one shoe" he said as Butch nodded.

"Anyone else coming along?" he asked as Naruto nodded.

"Annabeth and Luke are coming along with you" Naruto said as Butch rose an eyebrow at him.

"Both people with chakra? Must be real important since you always like to keep them near camp to defend it" he said as Naruto frowned.

"It is a possible link to where Thalia and Percy are so let's just say I want everyone skilled to track down the lead" he said as Butch nodded and got up on the chariot as Annabeth and Luke connected the pegisi to it.

"Fly safe and be back quick" he said as they all got into the chariot before Butch made them take off.

"Do you think they will be successful?" Calypso's voice spoke as he turned around to see her carrying the twins as Medusa was off with Hestia, or Vesta since they were in Roman territory.

"Well either way the prophecy is beginning" he said as he picked up the twins from who, who were smiling at him with few teeth that were coming nicely.

He was grateful that Calypso was able to help ease their teething pain.

"Dada? Where Tala?" Naomi asked as he frowned and kissed her cheek.

"Your sissy will be back soon, she is just busy" he said as Chloe frowned.

"No hurt?" Chloe asked as he smiled and bounced a bit.

"No hurt, just busy" he said as he stared at the sky with a small smile.

-Grand Canyon – A Few Hours Later-

Luke POV

"We are nearly there!" Luke yelled over the sounds of the wind rushing by them. "I think I see some fighting going on ahead!"

Just as Luke said those words a bolt of lightning flashed out in the distance, hitting the ground and the winds grew steadily stronger.

"That has to be Thalia! Butch go faster!" Annabeth yelled as she unsealed her bronze trench knives.

"Got it! Come on you guys! A little bit more!" Butch yelled as the pegisi started flying faster and Luke unsealed Kusanagi

Once they got closer they were able to make out the retreating forms that flew off into the distance.

"They don't look like Thalia or Percy" Luke said as he eyed the three kids around their age.

The first one was a boy that reminded him of a Latino elf. He had curly black hair, dark brown eyes, pointy ears, a cheerful, elf-like face, currently with a mischievous smile on it, and somewhat short height with a slim build.

Luke took notice of the fact he was tinkering with some paper and paper clips to make some odd helicopter thing.

The second was a girl that Luke could swear had some Native American blood in her as she had dark tanned skin. She had chocolate-brown hair that was cut choppy and uneven with thin strands braided down on the sides, and eyes that seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope, going from brown to blue to green as Luke looked at them, noticing her worried and nervous expression in them.

The last one had an aura of a leader that Luke could always feel around Naruto or Percy from time to time. He had electric blue eyes, tidy, military cropped blond hair and a small scar on the corner of his lip. He was a quite tall only a few inches shorter than himself.

Luke frowned as the chariot landed "Sorry Annie, doesn't look like they are here" he said as she frowned and clenched her fist as she got off the chariot to look around.

"No, th-this can't be" she said as she looked around. "Where are they?" she asked as the shorter smirked at her.

"I don't know who you are talking about but maybe I can take their place" he flirted before Annabeth glared at him before Luke calmed her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry excuse her, we were expecting someone else" Luke said as he stared down and frowned at the feet of the blonde boy to see only one shoe was on him. "Though it would seem you are who we were sent to pick up" he said as Annabeth frowned at the group.

"Perfect, just perfect" she said as they all looked confused. "Get on the chariot, you all are coming to camp" she said as they looked confused.

"Why should we listen to you?" the girl of the trio asked as Luke sighed and got in between Annabeth and the girl.

"Because what we just saw you fight off is something related to what you all are" he said as they looked at him confused. "We can explain more on the way to camp and I'm sure Naruto will be even better at doing it so we need to get back" he said in a calm tone as they frowned until the blonde nodded.

"Camp…yeah, that sounds good" the blonde said absent mindedly as Luke smiled.

"Good, now how about some names" he said as Annabeth got on and stood next to Butch.

"I'm Leo Valdez, in case you were wondering" the shorter boy said with a flirtatious eyebrow wiggle that made Luke struggle to hold in a laugh since he knew full well of Annabeth's orientation.

He let out a chuckle as the girl of the group slapped Leo's arm. "Sorry about him, I'm Piper McLean and this is Jason Grace" Piper said pointing to a semi-dazed Jason.

Once the name Grace was said Annabeth and Luke shared a worried and somewhat terrified look.

They only knew one other Grace.

Thalia.

"W-Well let's get this back to camp, it'll be a long ride. I am Luke Castellan, this is Annabeth Chase and Butch is the guy driving" Luke said as he sealed away his sword making the trio widen their eyes a bit and then more as Annabeth did the same as Butch just waved with a smirk.

Butch liked how shocked people got when they saw stuff like this.

"Whoa, where did the sword go?" Leo asked as he tried to peer up Luke's sleeve.

"Well it is a power given to us by our patron slash uncle of sorts" Luke said with a small chuckle.

"Patron? Patron what?" Piper asked as Annabeth looked the group over with her analytical stare.

"God. We, and you, are all half-bloods" she said as Piper grew a look of anger before Luke cleared his throat.

"Half-blood as in half Greek god and half mortal, not race, ethnicity or anything like that" he said as she visibly calmed down and blushed a bit from embarrassment.

"Half god? This is crazy" he said as Jason chuckled.

"Considering what we saw I don't doubt it" Jason said as he looked at Luke with a smirk. "So who are your godly parents?" he asked as Luke smiled.

"Son of the very best thief Hermes, god of messengers, travelers and thieves" Luke said with a small salute as he tossed Jason back his golden coin, making the blonde's eyes widen.

"Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy" Annabeth said bluntly as she went back to her thoughts.

"What about you big guy?" Leo asked as Butch sighed.

"Iris, Greek goddess of rainbows" he said in a flat tone as Leo let a small laugh escape. "Is that a problem Valdez?" he asked as his tone changed to a threatening one, making Leo back away.

"Rainbows, very manly. Nothing wrong" Leo quickly said as cowered a bit under Butch's glare.

"Calm down Butch, focus on driving since I figure Naruto will want to see them soon" Luke said as Butch nodded. "It won't be much longer until we reach camp so just relax" he said until they heard a roar and the wind grew fierce.

"Dylan? Is he back?" Piper said worriedly as Jason frowned.

"I don't think so but it must be other Venti" Jason said as Luke smiled.

"Ah so I was right, they were storm spirits" Luke said as he eased his way past them and peered off the side of back of the chariot. "Yup, three Anemoi Thuellai coming for us. Annie, keep them safe and Butch keep doing what you do best" he said as they nodded and Annabeth took back out her knifes.

"Let's see if I remember correctly wind beats lightning, lightning beats earth, earth beats water, water beats fire and fire beats wind. Anemoi Thuellai are a bit of lightning and wind so fire should be easiest" Luke said to himself as the three new demi-gods looked at him confused.

"How does fire beat wind?" Jason asked confused as Luke hoped up and stood on the edge of the chariot, making Piper gasp in worry of him possibly falling.

"Now fire is not my natural element but I believe it would be like so" Luke said as he ran his hands through the seals, that also confused the new trio before inhaling.

"Fire Style: Jet Stream Flames" he said as he blew out a massive stream of red hot fire towards the Venti that were charging towards them.

"Holy crap!" Leo said in shock as the fire shot from Luke's mouth.

"Won't the wind extinguish the fire?" Piper asked as Annabeth shook her head.

"Our fire is different from normal fire. It can't be blown out, only dowsed by water. Wind will only make it stronger" she said as the saw the flames burst up and expand once the Anemoi Thuellai tried to blow the fire away.

They watched as golden dust burst from the fire before bolts of lightning started to fly around as without the wind to keep the lightning controlled it started to shoot out everywhere.

"Crap!" Luke cursed as a bolt struck one of the wheels on the chariot. "Can you keep it stable Butch?" he asked as Butch nodded.

"I'm not one of the best horse tamers in camp for nothing" Butch said as Leo struggled to hold in another laugh before Piper hit him upside his head.

"We'll be back in camp soon so just hold on" Luke said as they nodded and grabbed onto the sides of the chariot.

Luke didn't quite know why but he felt these three kids were very important.

He just hoped they could lead them back to Thalia and Percy somehow.

-Camp-

Naruto POV

Naruto smiled as he saw the chariot growing closer in the sky but frowned as it crashed partially in the lake.

He rose an eyebrow once he noticed the three new people in it as they started to get out of the crashed chariot that was only partially in the lake and a crowd of campers gathered behind him, curious as to who they had found.

"I see you found something that you weren't looking for" he said as Annabeth stomped towards him and hugged him tightly as he frowned and hugged her back.

"She wasn't there" she said as he pet her back.

"We will find her, don't worry" he said as he smiled at Luke. "So Luke, who are these young kids?" he asked as Luke led them off the chariot.

"They are Leo Valdez, Piper McLean and Jason Grace" Luke said as Naruto rose an eye and frowned at the mention of Grace.

"Well we might not have found who we were looking for but I think we found some people just as important" he said as he took a step towards them and Annabeth let go of him.

"W-Who are you?" Piper asked as Naruto smiled at them.

"Resident god of the camp, Naruto Otsutsuki" he said as he gave them a small nod with a smile.

"God? God of what?" Jason asked confused as he rubbed his head as if his head was hurting from a headache.

"Greek god of Nature, Time, Heroes and Family as well as the Shinto Primordial of Peace, Balance, Energy and Beasts" he said as they stared at him in shock.

"Yeah I get that a lot but never mind that, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. If you follow me I can take you through it and hopefully you will get claimed soon" he said as he smiled. "Hmm that was fast"

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Leo asked nervously as everyone had turned to look at him before bowing. His eyes widened once he looked up to see a glowing hammer above his head.

"All hail Leo Valdez son of-" "Vulcan" Naruto had started to say before Jason had interrupted him.

"Wait I'm the son of some Star Trek dude?" Leo asked confused as Naruto chuckled.

"No, you are the son of Hephaestus, the god of the forge and volcanoes. Though he has gone by Vulcan a very long time ago" Naruto said as he smiled at Leo and calmed him down.

"Now Beckendorf! Where are you?" he asked into the crowd as a large hand was raised.

"Here Naruto! We got him" the large African American boy said as the crowd let him through and he stopped before Leo.

"So, welcome to camp! I'll show you around" he said as he slung his arm around Leo and started to walk away, pulling Leo along.

"Where is he taking Leo?" Piper asked curious as Naruto smiled.

"Just to visit around camp and get situated with his new cabin, he'll be back in time for dinner" Naruto said as he smiled at Piper, unintentionally making her blush. "Now we need guides for both of you" he said as he looked around.

"Oo! Oo! Me! I'll show the stud muffin around camp!" a female voice spoke out as Naruto sighed and turned to her.

"He has a name Drew and I was thinking maybe Luke and Silena could show them around" he said as Silena smiled and walked up to Piper as Luke patted Jason on the back, snapping the fellow blonde out of the daze he was in as he was staring at Naruto blankly.

"Aw come on! She already has Castellan, let some of us woo the new guy" Drew whined as Naruto rolled his eyes and stared at her.

"Stop it now or I will increase your chores" he said as she quickly shut her mouth and blended back into the crowd.

"Now everyone go back to your activities, Chiron should be back from Florida soon so training with him will start back up soon. Also remember do not go in the forest! I don't want any more injuries because of that dragon" he said as he heard some cheering and grumbling as the crowd broke apart.

As Luke walked past he caught the questioning look in the son of Hermes' eyes. He gave him a brief nod as he headed back to the Big House.

He needed to talk with Hera and ask her some questions as it seemed that the ball on the prophecy was starting to roll.

"Naruto, about Jason" he heard Annabeth ask as she grabbed his arm, making him smile.

"I know and I will talk to you and Luke about it later but for now just be calm. I know the Grace part confuses you as much as it does me but we can figure it out later. Try and help Silena with Piper, maybe get the girl a weapon since she does seem unarmed" he said as she frowned but nodded.

He sighed as he ruffled her hair before she smiled and walked off.

'This is going to be difficult. I have to come up with some lie to cover' he thought as he watched Luke and Jason walk off and Piper, Silena and now Annabeth go in a separate direction.

He of course knew about Jason being Thalia's brother but he sadly had only learnt of the fact once the switch had been done.

Originally he was upset at the fact Hera hid his daughter's brother from him but he understood that they couldn't mix until the right time but after a solemn promise from her to make it up to both him and Thalia he let her off the hook.

-Luke and Jason-

Luke POV

"So Jason, how do you like the camp so far?" Luke asked as he waved at passing campers as they rushed off to various activities.

"It seems relaxed" Jason said with a frown as he looked around at the cabins.

"Well on the outside it might but trust me when I say training is intensive since the last thing Naruto wants is for any of us to die or get hurt" Luke said as he chuckled dryly at the memory of various rough training sessions.

"H-He's a Shinto Primordial and a Greek God? H-How?" Jason asked as he clenched his head in pain again.

"Whoa easy there Jason" Luke said as he caught Jason before he fell to the ground.

"Sorry it's just a bit much to take in in such a short time" Jason said with a sigh as Luke chuckled.

"Well to be expected but Naruto is a special case. He originally wasn't Greek at all being that he is related to Shinto, or Japanese gods that occupied a separate dimension and only came over when Chaos asked him to help" Luke started to explain as Jason stared at him in shock. "The only reason he is a Greek god is because of Lady Hera and the fact he married Hestia before the war"

Jason's eyes glazed over as he tried to remember the mention of a war but snapped out of it once Luke shook him a bit.

"Easy there, don't hurt yourself too bad" Luke said with a chuckle. "Let's just continue the tour and I'm sure Naruto will explain things more later at dinner which isn't too long"

Jason nodded as Luke continued to lead him around camp.

-Campfire-

Naruto POV

Naruto frowned as he saw the campers at the dining area. It wasn't dinner time but Annabeth, Rachel and Piper apparently had something very important to tell them

From what he heard Leo had been accepted into the Hephaestus cabin and apparently was focused on saving the Bronze Dragon that had gone haywire after the war.

Piper had found a weapon, Katoptris, the dagger that once belonged to Helen of Troy. She also seemed to have a hard time accepting the whole demi-god thing but thankfully Silena and Annabeth had calmed her down.

Jason was the most unsettling. It seemed that his Shinto relations weren't good for him since as a Roman they most likely refused to acknowledge any other pantheon being real. Most likely a Roman pride thing that would most likely annoy him if he tried to think about it.

He smiled as Calypso helped calm the twins and he stood up.

"Fellow Campers I would like to take a moment to welcome Jason, Leo and Piper, our three newest campers to camp and pray that Piper and Jason get claimed soon" he said with a smile as they cheered loudly making the twins squeal and clap along making everyone laugh.

"I-I think I know who I am" Jason said as he stood up and everyone grew silent.

He noticed as Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden coin his eyes were slightly glazed over.

Jason flipped the coin into the air before catching it as it transformed into a lance before it was struck by lightning.

"I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter" Jason said as silence filled the dining area.

"Well I don't doubt that you are a son of Zeus" he said as he hid the venom when referencing Zeus. "Now for the reason we are here, Rachel you had a vision apparently?" he asked as she nodded and stood up with Annabeth next to her.

"It's about Hera. She has been kidnapped" she said as his eyes widened and she cleared her throat to recite the prophecy.

"Child of lightning, beware the earth,

The giants' revenge the ten shall birth

Son of the thief will lead the way

The forge and the dove shall break the cage,

And death unleash through Hera's rage"

Naruto clenched his fist as he grew worried for his other wife Hera until Luke patted him on the shoulder.

"It will be okay Naruto, with me, Jason, a member of Hephaestus and Aphrodite's cabin we will go and save Hera" Luke said as he nodded.

Luke was one of the few people who knew of him and Hera. The only others were Annabeth, Thalia, Percy and Rachel since Hera wanted to keep it relatively secret from others for now.

"Do we have a volunteer from Hephaestus cabin?" he asked as no one raised their hand until one hand shot up.

"If Jason is going then so am I!" Leo said with a smirk as Jason smiled at his friend.

"I wouldn't want anyone else to come friend" Jason said as he pat Leo on the back.

"And what about Aphrodite cabin?" he asked as Drew shot forward.

"I will! I will be more than happy to go with two of the camp's hottest men" Drew said as Silena and Piper glared at her.

"No! I should go!" Piper yelled as she shot up as Drew glared at her.

"You are unclaimed girlie! You have no right to try and worm your way in!" Drew yelled as Naruto cleared his throat.

"I think she is fine now" Naruto said as Piper gasped at the dove symbol above her head.

"All hail Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of love!" he said with a smile as everyone stared at Piper

"W-What is going on!? What happened to my clothes!? My hair?!" she yelled as Silena calmed her down.

She was now wearing a white chiffon dress and her choppy hair had been fixed. She felt her face and felt make-up on it as she used her dagger as a mirror to verify.

"Piper, it's okay. Mom just has a way of claiming us, she likes to make us look our bests. It'll go away in a few days" she said as Piper still had a heavy frown on her face.

"Wow Piper, you look…" Jason said as he grew a loss for words, making Piper blush.

"Okay enough flirting!" Naruto said making the two demigods blush dark red with a chuckle. "You will leave for your quest in the morning, I hope you have transportation" he said as Leo nodded and Beckendorf smiled.

"Don't worry Naruto, we got that covered" Beckendorf said as Leo smirked and nodded.

"Good, then I wish you luck in the morning. Dinner is still soon so until then I would advise getting everything ready" Naruto said as Calypso smiled and handed him Naomi as she held Chloe.

"Naruto, Lady Hera will be okay" Calypso said as he nodded.

"I know but doesn't mean I can't worry for my wife" he said as they headed back to the Big House.

He just hoped the quest could get her back in time since it was clear that the prophecy had started to begin.