70Hi, everyone! I'm really, REALLY sorry it took me so long to update. I won't take that long again, I promise. Seriously. Okay, I don't own Naruto, or the Percy Jackson series.
Well, duh.
ON WITH THE FIC!
I was back in Konoha.
It was perfect, spotless, the sky an unbroken azure blue. The sun was shining down, straight on me, it seemed, bathing me in a pillar of warmth.
It was only then that I dragged my gaze back to earth and saw the crowd.
Sasuke. Sakura. Kakashi. Iruka. Lee. Tenten. Neji. Ino. Chouji. Shikamaru. Kiba. Tsunade. Hinata. Even the sand siblings were there.
Everyone.
Everyone who had told me, in their own way, they believed.
They smiled.
I don't know how long we stood there, watching each other. Then the clouds drifted across the sun.
And suddenly everything was fading, the color washing out of the world like a bleached photograph. And their faces changed.
The words that came out of their stone mouths were flat, icy, and wickedly barbed.
"Coward."
"Failure."
"Brat."
"Monster."
My eyes seemed to open a second time. And I saw the flat texture, the sharp corners that couldn't be there.
They faded away, just like their trust in me.
And I was alone in a white, white room as the blood began to drip down the walls.
Annabeth and I sat in uncomfortable plastic chairs next to the infirmary bed. Chiron had put the fox boy into a separate room, as we had no idea who or even what he was. We were allowed inside, but no one else.
The whole camp was in an uproar. By now, word had spread to even the youngest campers from those who saw us carry him in. Chiron was out there trying to calm them right now.
Annabeth fidgeted, watching him with worried eyes. He could have been dead except for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest. I glanced again at his furry ears. Peeking around furtively, I slowly leaned over and gently brushed his hair away from them.
"Percy! What are you doing?" Annabeth hissed.
I just shook my head and glanced down.
They were natural, all right. The ears grew right out of his head. The strange thing was, his ears and tail were the only furry parts of his body. It was almost as if they'd been surgically added, somehow. Even so, I could see no stitches or other marks where his ears joined his skull. It was smooth and unblemished.
Chiron had said the tail was real too, and now I believed him. Real ears, why not a tail? How he knew was beyond me, though. Maybe it was an animal thing. No offense intended.
But the question still remained: Who was he? A monster's child? Some kind of weird mutant? But he had to be a demigod. If he meant us harm, then the camp borders would have kept him out.
Right?
"Percy!"
I jolted and glanced at Annabeth. She was staring at the blonde's chest, her eyes wide and her mouth open slightly. I followed her gaze and nearly fell out of my chair. Somehow, the bandages had disappeared off the worst wound, a large, ugly slash on the right side of his body. But that wasn't the strange part. Steam rose from the possibly fatal cut in curls. We watched in stunned silence as the bleeding ceased and the skin knitted together, leaving no evidence it was ever there.
My wide eyes turned to Annabeth's silent questions on both our lips.
She spoke first. "N-nectar and ambrosia?" she asked halfheartedly.
I shook my head. We hadn't given him any, for fear his body would reject it. That was not something anybody here wanted to see. I had not explanation.
We watched as several other deep cuts and mottled bruises faded and disappeared. It seemed though, that the healing got slower and slower each time. When it finally stopped, several minor scratches and scuffs still remained.
Ten silent minutes passed. No one moved.
Suddenly Annabeth leaned forward.
" Look, Percy," she breathed, "He's crying."
Liquid diamonds were rolling silently down his lightly tanned cheeks. Some settled, glistening, in the ruts of his strange, whisker-like scars.
I leaned closer.
One of his ears twitched, and that was the only warning I had.
Suddenly his eyes shot open and he screamed.
He used his feet to shove himself back against the wall. In a panic, he swiped his vicious talons an inch from my nose.
"Whoa!" I yelled, toppling backwards off the chair. I slammed to the floor hard, jarring my elbow painfully.
He screamed again, the sound ripping from his throat like a banshee. The door crashed open.
Chiron burst in, yanking something small out of the bag he carried. He dodged the flailing claws and jammed it into the boy's leg.
His brilliant red eyes dimmed and he slumped listlessly against the wall. Chiron yanked the now-empty syringe out and trotted over to me. He stretched his hand out to help me up.
"Are you alright?"
And then Annabeth was there too, yanking me up by my other arm.
"Don't scare me like that!" She scolded, though she looked shaken. "I thought he was going to shear your face off!"
"What was that?" I asked, sitting back down in my chair. "Some kind of…spazz attack?"
Annabeth snorted, and Chiron shook his head.
"His position could be very unstable," he explained, "I believe he thought you were whatever attacked him."
I raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
He sighed. "I honestly don't know, Percy."
I glanced at the blond. "When will he wake up?"
"No earlier than tomorrow."
I nodded.
Chiron smiled. "Go back to your cabins, Percy, Annabeth. It's getting late."
I glanced out the window and was surprised to see that it was already dark outside. We'd been here for much longer than we'd thought.
Annabeth looked at Chiron and opened her mouth to speak.
"No, Annabeth." He said gently. "You need to sleep."
She looked down and nodded.
We walked away silently.
I leaned back into the plush chair and glared daggers at the mound of paperwork on my desk. The job of kazekage could get so boring.
I tilted my head towards the ceiling and closed my eyes. Absently, I wondered how Naruto was doing. It had been too long since I'd last seen him. If he hadn't destroyed something important in the last week, I'd wear Kankuro's stupid face paint for a month.
I rolled my eyes. Might as well get the paperwork done now. Picking up the pen, I scrawled my signature onto the first few documents.
My eyes drifted to the window, my hand still automatically writing my name over and over. The sky was a perfect blue, shining down on the busy streets. The people of Sunagakure were so used to the heat, a day as hot as this was nothing. But today the world was lazy, wisy clouds drifting past in abstract patterns. It was so peaceful…
Slam.
"Gaara!"
I jumped, spilling ink all over an official document. Normally, Temari wouldn't hesitate to tese me relentlessly about that. But this was different. Her face was chalky pale and her eyes were dark. She ran to me, causing papers to fly everywhere.
I blinked. This wasn't good. This wasn't Temari. I pushed my chair back and stood up.
"Temari?"
She didn't respond. Her whole body trembled.
I bit my lip. "Big sis?" I asked tentatively.
She looked at me in shock. That was possibly the most un-Gaara-ish thing I could have said to her. But it seemed to do the trick. She took a deep breath.
"Konoha…they're all dead."
Everything shut down and the world went black.
Okay, there you go! I'm sorry it wasn't all that long, I'm working on the third chapter and I should have it up soon! Plus, I need a vote.
I'm having a major case of writer's block right now, and I need help deciding what pairing to make the story. The pairing will shape the entire story, so choose carefully!
NarutoxGaara
NarutoxIno
NarutoxOC (It's a girl)
I was going to put NarutoxSasuke in here, too, but then I'm like, "He's dead. Duh."
There is some TemarixShikamaru and PercyxAnnabeth in the story, too. Just a bit, though.
Reviews and criticism are appreciated, flames will be stuck up your….yeah.
REVIEW! (I'll give you a cookie!)