Chapter 4

After Naruto beat Percy in battle, he returned to his workshop and looked over the order slips he had.

"Let's see," said Naruto as he looked over the slips, "alter a dress, armor order, repair a skirt, nothing out of the ordinary."

He divided the orders by priority and went from there. He brought the metal sheets over to his workbench and began to weave. The armor he was making was his creation, and the story behind it was interesting. He was in his second year, and he was walking around the camp. He noticed that the armor they currently had was bulky and unwieldy. An idea struck him and ran back to his small workshop. After three days of trial and error, he managed to weave a lightweight but durable chest piece. The pattern consisted of broad strands of metal with finer strands filling in the gaps. To finish the piece he put in a layer of fleece were the armor met the user's chest. The chest piece was flexible to fit the user better as some of the female campers were entering adolescence.

Naruto presented his new armor to Chiron, as Mr. D. could care less, but Chiron was skeptical, so Naruto offered a suggestion, a test to prove the armors durability and overall ability to protect the user. The children of Ares and Apollo gathered at the training field and were briefed on what they were going to be doing. Chiron placed the armor on the mannequin and let Ares's children go wild on it, the result the armor passing the test. Next up was Apollo's children and they formed a volley line and pleated the shirt with arrows, at the end of the trial the armor was again fine. Now that Chiron was convinced that the armor was safe to use he began the process of making space for them in the armory but didn't get rid of the old armor as some of the older campers wanted to use the older model for hazing purposes.

Naruto managed to fill all of his order by the time the dinner horn rang throughout the camp. He rarely ate at the mess hall as most of his days consisted of him filling orders for the campers or clients. He entered the mess hall and made his way his table, it was stationed in the corner away from his siblings. Naruto didn't mind this as the space allowed him to think but this only made him more of a social outcast. Annabeth would sometimes join him and try to a conversation with him, usually consisting of Annabeth talking and Naruto listening. Today's topic was the Capture the Flag match tonight.

"How is tonight's strategy coming along?" asked Naruto as he ate some chicken.

"Fine, but our chances of succeeding are still around thirty to forty percent," replied Annabeth

"I wish I could help, but I am banned due to my powers," said Naruto as he took a drink of soda.

"I know," said Annabeth, "you were our best trapper."

"I still am," rebutted Naruto, "remember they didn't ban me for my traps, they did because I flattened the whole forest."

"True," said Annabeth, "by the way how is the business going?"

"business is going well," said Naruto, "I should be able to buy the camp more wood and supplies."

"That's good, but how are getting our parents to pay for your serves?" asked Annabeth

"Pity, mostly pity," replied Naruto, "I think they also try and bribe me to only make clothes for them."

"What makes you think that?" asked Annabeth as she finished her dinner.

"The fact that I get envelopes full of money from the dove and flower," replied Naruto in a dull tone.

The conversation ended when the plates that were in front of them were replaced with piles of armor and weapons, except Naruto as he had a medical bag in front of him. Since Naruto couldn't participate in the game, Chiron decided to teach Naruto about medicine. The camp found out about his healing abilities when a fight between a child of Apollo and a child of Ares. The child of the sun lost and had a long gash traveling along his forearm; fortunately, Naruto was nearby. As he was looking at the wound, his body went on auto-pilot, his hand hovered over the injury as thread descended onto the wound and sutured it shut. The fact that he can heal came to a surprised both Naruto and Chiron as healing was Apollo's domain.

The time for the game to near as the campers split into two teams and began to discuss strategies among one another. Naruto was looking around to make sure no one was injured before the game started, but he stopped when he spotted Percy in the bulky armor. He looked ridiculous as the armor seemed too big, and the blue plumage on his helmet made things worse. Percy later ditched the helmet and went back to his team.

"So, do you thing Clarisse with pull another victory?" asked Naruto to Chiron

"I don't know, Percy is the wild card so he may be the deciding factor," replied Chiron

"Maybe, but from what I observed he's still green compared the rest of the camps," said Naruto

"He may surprise us tonight," said Chiron before he began to explain the rules to the campers.

The centaur and weaver observed the game through the crystal ball that Mr.D. supplied as he lost interest after the first minute and just passed the ball to them.

"Looks like they stationed the Percy near the river to act as a decoy as the main force retrieves the flag," said Naruto

"I wonder why they did that?" said Chiron

"Probably to distract Clarisse," said Naruto, "From what I know she has a grudge against Percy. He did embarrass her and Annabeth probably used that to her advantage."

"Seems underhanded," replied Chiron

"Sacrifices need to be made in war," said Naruto, "Since Clarisse is the primary force on the red team, the blue team may now have a chance of winning."

The two stopped talking when they saw red team's flag cross the river with Percy acting as support.

"Well, looks like you were right, "said Naruto, "Percy was the deciding factor."

The next surprise came when Percy was claimed and discovering who his godly parent was.

"This is not good," commented Chiron when he saw the trident hover over Percy's head

"The Big guy is going to have a fit," added Naruto as he saw Mr. D. disappear with the scent of grapes lingering behind "Why did he have to be claimed now."

The morning that followed as bad as the weather became stormy and the seas became unruly. The only reason the camp was still dry was that of the barrier that protected them. Mr.D. returned and was told why his father was angry, again. Zeus's bolt was stolen and Percy's father, Poseidon, was being blamed, that's way Percy was claimed. Poseidon wanted his son to retrieve the bolt and figure out who the real thief was. Naruto went back to his workshop thinking about the current situation. To him, this didn't make any sense as Poseidon didn't have a motive and as far as he knows the Gods can't steal each others symbol of power. Annabeth later visited Naruto's workshop to hopefully resume their later conversation, or just strike a new one. After the two talked for ten minutes, their conversation let to the newly claimed camper, Percy Jackson.

"Should we do something?" Asked Annabeth

"That's honestly up to you," said Naruto, "Now that we know that Percy is the son of the sea, the likelihood of mother letting us be friends with him are shot. You know that mother expects us to hate all things sea-related."

"You're still angry at what happened at the lake," said Annabeth, "Aren't you."

"He let that fish smack me," said Naruto, "I just know it."

They would have continued if not for the thunder constantly hounding the camp.

"Looks like the big man is getting impatient," said Naruto

"The quest is coming; it's only a matter of time." Said Annabeth

"This was what you were expecting," said Naruto, "All those years waiting paid off. Mr. D should be back with word from the council, the need for a quest would be the only logical solution."

"I agree," said Annabeth

"You're going on the quest even if Percy doesn't pick you, won't you," said Naruto

"What! I wouldn't do such a thing," said Annabeth, but not very conveniently.

"Su~re," said Naruto

When breakfast was over Naruto went back to his workshop to begin his large, but manageable workload.

"Aphrodite's daughters should really learn how to take better care of their cloths," said Naruto as he looked through the orders.

"Hoot," said Fluffy, "Hoot, hoot, hoot."

"That may be true, but they know I can predict the future of fashion." Replied Naruto

"Hoot," said Fluffy

"The money is good, I'll admit that," said Naruto once he got to his workbench, "summer is coming, my personal Tartarus."