[The Fox and the Hunter] Chapter 2 - The Hunt Begins (Patreon)

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2/28/26

Chapter 2- The Hunter’s Mark

“Milady, are you about to depart?” 

“I am, I know he’s close, three miles north, there I shall have my quarry,” her goddess concluded, already knowing he would be there. 

She could almost smell him, almost see his presence under her feet, then she would have the last laugh.

Artemis had been searching, searching for years to see him again, that damned fox that had frustrated her so, and many times she had been close, but he had slipped away before she had spotted him. This time would be different, and this time she would have her prize, she would see to it, or there would be hell to pay.

“Then, might we make a request, Mistress?” said Zoe Nightshade, her lieutenant within her hunt. They were in her hunter's campsite, surrounded by tents at what was the ‘entrance/exit’ to the whole camp.

Her goddess only raised a single eyebrow, “We?”

“Yes, Milady, we…” Zoe told her, as she then got down on one knee, bowing the divine figure before her, her life, her mistress, the only deity that had been kind to her, and she had given her everything to serve.

Just then, all of the other hunters got out from their positions, moving towards them and kneeling before her. 

Her hunters numbered in a little under fifty, and all of them were there before her, lying at her feet. 

“We ask of you, Lady Artemis, our goddess of the Hunt, the wild and the moon, we ask that you take us on your quest so that we shall slay your opposition valiantly. Doing our duty as your maidservants, as we foreswore, the nights each of our people took up the hunt so that we may serve you. Aiding you in your battle against the man who has wronged you so,” Zoe pleaded with her goddess to join her on her hunt. 

Of course, she knew who their opponent was, their goddess having revealed her of his presence, and his sins against her, and of course, as her most loyal follower, she had been furious, just as her Goddess was. She had requested they go after him; however, even with her anger, Artemis did not want to change their course, only going after the male when she was sure he was nearby. But even with both of them searching for him for some reason, he had managed to slip past them, hiding his tracks and making himself undetectable.

This time would be different. 

This time, with the entirety of their hunters, they were sure he wouldn’t escape them.

Then he would have reaped what he had sown. 

“My opponent is dangerous, elusive. Are you willing to bear the risks of facing such an enemy?” Artemis questioned, her face stern, morphing into a look of utter seriousness.

“We are, Milady,” Zoe nodded.

“And you all decided this together?” her goddess asked.

“We have, Milady,” Zoe confirmed.

Artemis nodded as well, taking heed of her request, specifically what it meant. Knowing how dangerous her prey could be, though not knowing the full extent of his capabilities— a fact which still frustrated her to no end. She knew he was strong, quite possibly at the same power level as a minor god or deity in his own right. However, the true strength he had lay in his skill for combat, which she would say, in their brief spar, was at a similar—though she would always admit lower— level to her own. 

Surely her hunters would not hope to match such a being, though; they didn’t have to.

If their presence meant slowing this immensely powerful being, she would surely be able to catch him and get him to face the consequences of their last meeting. 

She have him at last.

“Very well, if that is your decision, you may accompany me on my hunt,” Artemis resolved.

As Zoe stood up, “Sisters, on this day we got after our prey, the fox that has wronged our goddess so, and on this day we shall have our game! For the will of our goddess!” she chanted.

“FOR THE WILL OF OUR GODDESS!!!” the hunters all chanted back, all of them eager to go after their target. And with a band of over 50 hunters, all of which trained by Zoe’s or another of her experienced hunters' hands, who could hope to match them.

Certainly not a single cunning fox, that was for sure. 

XXX

While forces collided, strategies, battle plans, and sneak attacks, their prey was doing nothing of the sort. In fact, if one were to look at him at that very moment, they would say he was doing nothing at all. If a passerby were to come near him, if there were perhaps some random voyager were to come near him, should they spot him, they would see that he was perfectly still. Literally. 

The blonde was sitting in a small clearing surrounded by oaks and foliage, green grasses sitting along the ground, accompanied by glowing over sticks, leaves, mosses, weeds, and even a few flowers. Flowers in which the bugs and the bees would congregate, the bees traveling to collect their nectar, spilling their pollen everywhere. Eventually, it would spread its pollen towards another plant of a similar nature, and then that plant would reproduce and drift its seeds to some other place, spreading its influence and giving new life to the forest once again. Whereas the bee would travel back to its nest, with other bees who would then create honey; honey in which the bees, insects, or maybe even a bear would consume for sustenance. Animals that would later die out and feed the forest, helping it grow even more lush with its greens and large trees as they fell into the ground, fulfilling the cycle once more. 

There was a balance to these things; the plants would help the bees, the bees would help the animals, and then the animals would help the plants as well. That was how life carried on, how life sustained.

Before he became a Sage, he didn’t appreciate such things; before he was able to take in the energy of nature and give it back tenfold. It was his job to maintain such things, such balances.

It was why the lands of Mount Myouboku were so rich in their ecosystem. Why its waters so clean were able to sustain its giant fauna, flora, and the toads themselves that aided its nature.

Get and give back was the philosophy that the toads lived by, the sages of old. Gain what you need and relinquish what you didn’t. And provide what you can to the nature around you. 

Mixing your energies with the land around, filtering it of harm and of impurities, empowering life, spreading prosperity in the ways that he knew how. That was his job, a task he had performed for as long as he could remember.

Sitting upon a stone boulder in the lotus position right in the middle of it all, all the life, all of the forest, he could feel it, he could sense it. He wasn’t just in nature; he was a part of nature, and nature was a part of him. 

To a sage, gathering and purifying natural energy was as simple as breathing. An inhale of oxygen is taken into the lungs, mixed into his bloodstream, taken into his heart, and pumped throughout his body. There, his cells would produce carbon dioxide, which would flow back into his lungs, and he would breathe it out back into the air, for new oxygen to take its place. 

Purification of Natural Energy was much the same in that aspect, as it required the user to be perfectly in tune with his chakra, for his physical energy and his spiritual energy to combine, mix with, and blend with the energy of nature. Not exactly storing it, or using it, but setting it free, just as much as he released his breath from his lungs, he too released this energy into the world. His own energies cleansed the corrupted energies of nature and replaced them with his own clean mix that aided the forest.

This process was the true ‘mastery’ of Sage mode, and where many aspiring trainees failed in their endeavors to become a sage. It required an immense amount of chakra to maintain, with an inherent cost that was given when he relinquished his own reserves, a small price to pay considering he had as much chakra as, well… a Bijuu, he supposed. 

This was why his father hadn’t ‘mastered’ such a technique, because while he could use natural energy within his attacks for a brief period, he couldn’t filter nature as well as any true sage could. It was why he hadn’t been good with it, but he was. 

He could be one with nature for hours, days even, if he wanted, it didn’t matter to him, and at times, he would completely lose track of how long had passed.

The intervals in which he would open his eyes became ever increasingly long.

The first time he opened his eyes, he spotted a sparrow, building its nest within a tree, its wings flapping in the air as it wafted down to the ground, picking up whatever sticks, leaves, or grass it could with its tiny beak as it flew back into its tree. Sparrows were actually pretty territorial, he had come to find out, despite being such small creatures, fighting for their space, and land to conquer, trying as it might to do whatever it could to make its mark on the world. He could tell this one was a female, and sooner or later, it would find a mate, where its territorialism would really shine through. Fiercely protecting its eggs with such vigor to protect its offspring and let its genetics shine through.

The next time he opened his eyes, he spotted a rather plump-looking rabbit, chewing on some grass. It was eating quite alot if he were to point out. Likely due to the fact—at least he would assume— it was pregnant, with a litter of what could range from four to even twelve small rabbit kits to nurse and care for.  

There were other times he opened his eyes, whether it be to look at the sun, the moon, the stars, a bird, an insect, an ant, whatever caught his fancy, really. But even with such ‘distractions’, he still stood one with nature, absolutely still. 

One might assume he was a statue, or a dead man, but they were wrong; he was more alive— more sentient, than anyone or anything. 

And just like that, his eyes were closed again. 

He could feel the breeze on his skin, the weather against his brow; it wasn’t too moderate, all things considered. Not too hot, not too cold, though he wouldn’t complain either way. He had spent missions out in Sunagakure, the land of wind, and he would say that the days there seemed to seep the water right out of him. Whereas he had also spent days within lightning country, with mountains that seemed so white, he couldn’t quite imagine any other colors, except for what was on him, which he found would slowly faze away to frost and white just like where he stood.

That was to say, he wasn’t going to complain; the seasons changed, the weather grew harsher and brighter, and as a wanderer that he was, he just accepted it. 

He could hear the leaves rustling, whether that be from the wind, an animal, or even an echo that came hollering off from the distance. He could hear the bugs sounding, crickets chirping, as well as the birds. Squirrels sounded as they climbed up the trees; elsewhere, there might even be a few wolves, bears, or foxes within their dens, waiting for dawn or dusk to forage and hunt for their meals. 

There was a peace, there was an order; this area in particular, he had chosen because of its abundance of polluted natural energy in its area. No, entirely harmful just yet, as he could tell, but in a couple of years, it might result in a rather abrupt change in the place’s ecosystem. Animals might move to other habitats, infesting them and overcrowding them, causing such environments to fail, wilt, and decay as well, disrupting the balance he had thoroughly tried to maintain. 

And so, he breathed in again, taking in the natural energy of the world, and expelling his own purified energies into the world in an exhale.

“You know, if you were trying to sneak up on me, you’d think you would bring a little less people,” he spoke, not even opening his eyes.

All around him, surrounding the clearing was about 50 or so young women of various ages, ranging from around 12 to 17, filling the area in a circle and leaving him no room to escape. He had to wonder who these women were, Artemis’s students perhaps? If he had to guess, or something of the sort. He couldn’t fathom why she had rallied so many people after him; each of them holding various weapons and bows, all trained at the ready and pointed directly at him. There were even a few hunting dogs that some of them had reigned in, which was good, because if they weren’t held back, their teeth were poised to bite into him. It would look as though they might tear him apart and eat him as their next meal, as if he were some usual hunted animal. 

“All this trouble for little old me? Red, come on, you shouldn’t have.” Nevertheless, all he did was smile, still not opening his eyes, “If you guys are selling cookies, I’m sorry to say, but it would seem I lost my wallet about… a couple of decades ago, you think you could give me a minute to help me find it?” he joked.

An arrow flew past his shoulder; he was starting to think that this crowd wasn’t in the mood for humor.

A shame.

The woman who shot the arrow, a copper-skinned, black-haired young woman who was next to Artemis, spoke, “Silence, Man, thou hast said enough in front of our goddess.”

Naruto looked towards them, a placating expression upon his face, as he held up his hands, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, I’ll have you know I’ve got a bit of an allergy to pointed objects, causes my skin to rash and all that, you think you could ease up on the weapons here? Wouldn’t want my skin to flare up.”

They didn’t lower their weapons; they only walked even closer to him, surrounding him in an even tighter hold. 

Naruto had to sweat drop at all of their readiness for violence. Seriously, what was Artemis teaching these… whatever they were. Students? He supposed.

Zoe shot another arrow at him, this time even closer to his face. He didn’t flinch, knowing it wouldn’t hit him. But the woman’s pension for violence did give him cause for concern. 

“Enough, Fox! You know why we are here, and why you shall be punished for your crimes upon our last meeting!” Artemis told him.

Recollection dawned upon him, “Is this about the note? Because I didn’t leave a message, that totally wasn’t me, and you can’t prove anything! Or is this about me seeing you in the—”

“You know what this is about!” she cut him off in a huff, dropping her regal demeanor in lough of her embarrassment at being seen in a watering hole in such a state. The only one she did tell was her lieutenant, which was a closely guarded secret— though Zoe did spin some other tale to her fellow hunters about how Naruto had wronged her in such a way. Her hunters, not wanting to let a man go unpunished, were fully supportive in aiding her in her endeavor to defeat the male.

In all her years, there had been only a few males who had seen her naked at the watering hole, many of whom did not live to tell the tale. The fact that there was this fox here and now that seemed to be immune to her curses and influence baffled her, and made her even more angry everytime she thought about how he had constantly gotten away from her all of these years.  

But now he was in front of her, unable to do anything, as clearly he had met his match. 

She wasn’t going to let him get away this time.

She had won.

It was that notion within her mind that allowed her to regain her composure; how the insufferable blond was able to do such a thing to her constantly irritated her. But she found solace in the fact that she would never see him again; he was a challenge to find, that she was sure of. But like many, he had fallen in the wake of her hunt.

“I suppose it is customary to ask if you have any last words?” Artemis told him, regaining her god-like figure, a smirk igniting upon her face.

But even with her victory, Naruto wasn’t deterred in the slightest, “Umm, I think I left my oven on, you think I can run home and shut it off, wouldn’t want to burn down any forests, Y’know!”

They all took a step forward, their spears and weapons pointed at him in a circle so that they were less than a foot away. Naruto could already feel them, envisioning them ripping into his flesh; that wasn’t a vision he liked, he supposed. 

“Unbelievable, even now, you struggle not to make a fool of yourself, Naruto,” he silver eyes glaring at him. 

“Wait!” Naruto shouted. “I do have some last words!” he decided, finally dropping the air of humor he was always allowing himself to have.

“Methinks he is trying to beg for his life, Milady, such is the way of man,” Zoe said, a bit of scorn in her voice as she thought of just how his ‘kind’ were. A coward is what she thought he was, not able to die with dignity or honor; she imagined he would soon plead for his life, rationalizing that it was only his nature in which he saw their goddess in such a dishonest state. What little good that would do.

“Speak your peace,” Artemis commanded, narrowing her eyes.

“Well— I, Uhh…” Naruto scratched his cheek. “To be honest, I’m just a clone. The original Naruto made me, as soon as he caught wind of you all about an hour ago, and headed North. So… do you think you could like, not dispel me, it’s rather painful, and I like not having swords in my body,” he requested.

Poof.

“What?” Artemis questioned, as she drove her fist straight into Naruto’s face, his figure dissolving and dispersing within a cloud of smoke as quickly as he once appeared. Leaving Artemis, and 50 of her hunters and their hunting dog, bewildered at what had just occurred. Though one thought did ring true in the goddess’s mind:

Naruto had tricked her again. 

That made her especially irritated with the blonde, “Hunters! We head North! I will not allow such a Fox to make a mockery of our hunt today!” she ordered, and soon her hunters followed.

One thing is certain: Artemis wouldn’t let such a fox get away.

XXX

“GahhhH—!!!” 

Thud!

That was the sound that all things heard as Naruto fell out of a tree.

Previously, he had been meditating, allowing himself to become one with nature from Artemis, having replaced himself with a clone as soon as he caught whiff of her presence and company. He had been calm, he had been serene, and, well…

That was enough to get the memories of his clone to hit him like a truck, startling him just enough that he fell. 

“Note to self: I got to remember Artemis does not like to negotiate!” he realized, of course, he knew this already. This had been nearly the one thing he did realize about her during their initial meeting, practically the only thing. 

He had to hand it to the woman; she was nothing if not relentless.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or so they would say. And he had seen that put in action several times, mainly whenever he was hanging out with his old sensei Jiraiya after he had peeped in on the women’s bathing area at the hot springs. Of course, they would eventually spot him; it was very hard not to hear a perverted hemit giggling at a noise so loud even a mouse could hear him. 

The women would, of course, riot, getting their pitchforks and knives, but somehow, someway, pervy sage always managed to make it out alive, a few more punch marks in his skin, but that didn’t stop him. 

Artemis had assembled a similar army, full of feminine fury. And instead of pitchforks, it would seem they carried bows and swords to their name.

If he didn’t know any better, he would suppose that Artemis was actually trying to kill him; that couldn’t be it, could it?

Nevertheless, Artemis had tried so hard to catch him. “Best not keep her waiting, I suppose,” he muttered.

Though believe him, he wasn’t going to make this easy for any of them, but he always did like a challenge. 

XXX

Zoe Nightshade was angry.

Being the lieutenant of the hunters, the second in command, only to Lady Artemis herself, she was also the most experienced in the entire troop, meaning she had lived longer than anyone. Staying at a young age through her pact with the goddess of maidenhood, as she served her dutifully. She had seen many things; she had seen many hunters, she had watched many of them forsake their oaths, and she had seen many of them die in battle. Their souls were given to the Underworld, housed by Chairon, as she gave them a golden shekel for their fair, sending them on their way. It, of course, was the least they could do given their lives spent with them, as she and her fellow hunters would throw a feast in their fallen comrade’s honor.

Though she was getting off track. The point was, she had many things as such, and outlived many of her former comrades and hunters as they left the hunt. And in that time, she would admit, she had never come across a male as insufferable as Naruto Uzumaki, the last male she would say she found as unbearable would be… she would rather not name him, rather not even think his name once again. That damned Hero of 12 labors, she was glad he was gone, and would rather not remember him in any light.

Yet for some reason, she knew that Naruto reminded her of such; he was wisecracking, boastful, and confident, sure. But it was that grin, that unseemly grin, that he sported that she disliked. The look of a hero, although she wasn’t sure if he actually was a hero.

Looks-wise, he did have the blond hair and blue eyes that Apollo held. Perhaps he could also be a son of a different god, like Dionysus or Ares, though she doubted it, given he didn’t hold such physical qualities as the usual ones held, like the heavy muscles of an Ares child, or a penchant for drinking like a child of the God of winemaking. Perhaps a child of a minor god? That could be it, maybe he was a child of Pan or Nike. However, from what Artemis had said, she didn’t sense a divine presence from him. And besides, it wasn’t like any ordinary demigods could stand up to one of the big 12 Gods of Olympus, such as Artemis. Not to mention…

He had fox appendages.

Actual fox appendages, nine-tails to be exact, and fox ears, to boot, and she didn’t have the foggiest idea where they came from. Could he be a monster, perhaps? Of course, there were many tales of humans being cursed to be more animalistic, Medusa, Arachne… Atalanta. So it wasn’t like someone resembling Naruto was unheard of.

But most of those monsters had a particular aura, a feeling she got, or a scent the hunting dogs could detect and chase. Naruto, however, despite his faults, didn’t have such an appearance about him. And it wasn’t like the blonde held a disposition for murder and an insatiable appetite for killing those with divine blood, or else Artemis would have surely slain him upon their first meeting. He also had a certain level of intelligence to him, and strange, extraordinary abilities, such as apparently cloning himself. An ability she had only really heard of gods having, given they could split their existence across multiple locations, should they choose to do so to complete their duties. 

That brought on some other thoughts that she would best not get into. 

All of her headaches, all of her problems, came from a single person.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Thinking about what or who he was just made her mind even more frustrated, and she didn’t even want to know how much he frustrated her goddess in his antics.

For some reason, of which she had no doubt, it was due to Naruto’s own meddling. The blonde, having somehow had the ability to throw off even the goddess of the Hunt’s tracking skills, albeit for a time, though she did not doubt that eventually she would catch the male. Which was her unwavering doubt in her deity. 

He just had tricks, that was all; petty deceptions that they were unfamiliar with. 

Even now, he was tricking them, their hunting dogs having detected several scents, 5 in particular that Naruto’s scent had traveled in. 5 different directions that Naruto had seemingly gone with his clones, somehow replicating his scent in a manner that not even the best hunters could figure out.

The best thing they could do was split into sets of 4, with Artemis taking on the scent that seemed to go on the furthest. As the other companies went after the other scents, each of them poised at the ready, waiting to see if they would finally catch the blonde that had evaded them so.

Zoe, however, felt a slight unease when following the trail, her instincts warning her that the more she and her company strived their way, the worse things were going to turn out for them.

Nevertheless, she pressed on, ignoring such notions as she and the rest of her hunters tried as they might to catch one measly and pesky fox that had ever so wronged them. 

At her side traveled two other hunters that she would deem elite among her fellow hunters, two women who had entered the hunt several decades ago and had served their goddess well in their vow. As several others of her company followed them, 5 in number, making the group a total of 8, given the fact that their numbers were more suited towards splitting into 5 groups rather than four, she decided to take the lesser company. Placing some of her best-trained fighters and tacticians to take hold of the other groups whilst they search for the blonde that had earned her ire.

Whoosh!

A rustling of the leaves was heard as they were traveling, different than a blow within the wind or a wild animal. As their own hunting dogs went wild, barking and howling, trying as they might to alert their owners that something was nearby. And they listened, Zoe realized, they were getting close. 

“He’s close, Theta formation!” Zoe gave her hunters an order, as they did so,  realizing that their prey was nearby, or perhaps… their predator.

“Miss Zoe, where’s Fianna?” one of her hunters asked, as Zoe widened her eyes, turning towards the right end of their formation to realize they were missing one of their hunters, making their group total 7.

Whoosh!

There was that noise again, the sound of leaves rustling next to them, as she felt a certain amount of dread. Zoe turned her head, this time in the offending direction, only to realize that 2 more of her hunters were gone.

“Damn it, we’ve lost two more—!” another of her hunters shouted. She was gone before she had a chance to speak again.

“Delta formation!” Zoe shouted, realizing their numbers were at 4, as each of them moved with their backs to each other, forming a square so they couldn’t be snuck up on. “Show thyself, craven!” she shouted. 

He was hiding himself, waiting for the perfect moment when they lowered their guard, that was when he was going ot strike. Well, they wouldn’t give him any opportunity.  

“Misstress Zoe, what are we going to do?” the last of her non-elite hunters spoke. She was gone before any of them had a chance to respond. 

“We lost Rosa!” another of them pointed out, as they closed the circle, forming a triangle between them. 

They couldn’t afford to lose any more. How was such a fox doing something like this? How was he able to take out a group of her hunters without even leaving a trace? 

She was caught up in wondering such a thing that she only barely heard her fellow hunters scream out.

“There he is!”

“Raaaaahh!!!”

At the clangs of metal, Zoe turned… and there was nothing.

Not a wink of her hunters, not a notion of the battle that had just occurred. There was just nothing. 

That made her all the angrier. 

As she rounded, moving herself in a circle to make sure he couldn’t sneak up on her. Zoe trusted her senses with absolute faith, her eyes darting towards every sound, every rustle, anything that made a noise. Even a single flap of a butterfly’s wings was not unknown to her, anything that might give her the edge in finding her opponent. 

“Coward! Reveal thyself, Man!”

“Now, that isn’t very nice.”

Zoe shot in the direction she heard the voice in that instant, not even bothering to trust her sight and solely relying upon her ears to aim her bow. True enough, the arrow hit its mark, heading the right direction and hitting its bullseye, right towards her target’s head. 

Thwap!

It would have struck, had Naruto not caught the arrow as soon as it was about to strike him. He raised an eyebrow at it. 

“Seriously? You and Artemis are always shooting first and never ask questions, would it kill for one of you to at least try to talk these things out sometime?” he asked her, his response.

“RAHHHHHH!!!” A war cry like a scream as Zoe charged at him, a dagger made of celestial bronze in her hands as she tried to stab him with it, angered at him taking her entire troop. He couldn’t quite blame her, all things considered. 

Zoe’s strikes were clean, precise, and above all, nearly perfect. With her vast experience, it was no wonder that everything about her was fluid, her movements all without a single inch of hesitation, a single forethought to slow her down. Everything about her strikes he had no doubt had been practiced a countless number of times, with each strike ready and poised for the kill, just like Artemis. Though, unlike Artemis, Zoe’s strikes were alot slower, a touch more sloppy to the trained eye like his own. It wasn’t that she was lacking anything in fighting per se, but compared to Artemis, her goddess was in another league altogether. 

And given he could dodge Artemis’s strikes with pointed effort, dodging Zoe’s was mere child’s play. 

None of her hits connected, as Naruto either dodged, blocked, or parried her attacks, and, just like Artemis, this only caused her to become more and more frustrated. 

“You know, you’re actually pretty good,” he complimented. She didn't see it that way.

“Don’t patronize me, Fox!” she growled out, aiming a rather deep slash towards his chest the moment she saw an opportunity. It didn’t hit, of course, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t well executed.

“I was being serious,” Naruto said with a frown; so what if he had fox ears and tails, that didn’t make his words any less truthful. It was kind of racist to think that he was being dishonest just because of his features, or was that species-ist? Bijuu-ist? There had been alot of those in his time. Or perhaps she was just being sexist… which, to a point, he couldn’t blame her; men were evil creatures, but he had also met some pretty evil women in his day. Kaguya Otsutsuki is one of them. 

“But there’s one thing you should realize,” he pointed out.

“Oh, and what is thy message?” she asked, still attacking him.

“If a person is playing on the defensive, they’re either unable to match their opponent on the offense, or they are waiting for something.”

“And what are—” Zoe didn’t even have the time to ask what he was waiting for, as Naruto seemingly teleported, using his vast speed to move around Zoe’s back before she could react. Delivering a swift and strong strike to the back of her neck, the former hesperide fought unconsciousness, but was unsuccessful. Her dark brown eyes slowly faded, her eyelids covering them as she drifted to sleep. 

“There, that takes care of that,” Naruto said, patting his hands together, as he picked Zoe’s unconscious form up, being ever so careful not to hurt her or touch her inappropriately in any way as he did so.

He respected her as much as he could, as among Artemis’s hunters, she was undoubtedly the strongest, and he had seen her devotion to the woman she called a goddess, and had probably served her for some time. Even if she looks young, he tended not to judge appearances in this day and age, having met many people who look younger yet are much older than their appearance suggests. Having met a few Satyrs and Nymphs, satyrs aging at twice a lower rate than humans, and nymphs, he wasn’t sure aged at all—mainly because if you asked them, they would usually play coy with such a question, not wanting to reveal their true ages. Nevertheless, it was best not to judge based upon appearances, and he had wanted to see her skill in action, even if it had just been a few minutes.

He wasn’t dissatisfied. Had he been a normal opponent, or a beast she was hunting, he didn’t doubt Zoe would be more than capable of facing him. As for the rest of the hunters… he would say they could each use some work.

Speaking of which, he wondered how his fellow clones were doing, as well as the original.

The ‘clone’ Naruto looked off into the distance with just that thought.

XXX

(Elsewhere)

They were surrounded by trees.

Big trees, thick trees, trees with brown bark, and trees with browner bark. Some of them were larger than others, and some were shorter. Some had moss on them, some had critters, off to the side, she even spotted a few squirrels, or sparrows, in a few of the trees, whether they were collecting nuts or bedding for their nests. And some of the trees were dead, decayed, and rotting on the floor, ready to be overtaken by the forest. 

She saw all of this; she had always been good at observing, it was one of the few things she could do, well, that and fight. She had naturally been a fighter, even as a young girl, living on the streets; she was resourceful. Able to fashion whatever she needed into a weapon, one time she used an old umbrella to fight off a low-level cyclops for enough time to run from it.

If she were being honest, she had spent a good deal of her life on the run. From a young age, she was abandoned by her parents, being seen as cursed. Many people thought she was cursed, not only because she could see monsters, terrible monsters that made her terrified, but because when she tried to tell anyone about it, she couldn’t. As a matter of fact, she couldn’t tell anyone anything; from the moment of her birth, she hadn’t been able to speak a word or even cry out. It had been as if her mother had given birth to a doll, a voiceless doll. She had been a frail, premature, and very pale girl. And of course, for some reason, she had the strangest hair colors and heterochromia. Hair that was both black and pink, and eyes of the same color.

No wonder her parents thought she was cursed, being born with such an unnatural set of physical characteristics. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find she was part monster, given her rather unusual appearance.

Eventually, she found her way into the recruitment of Lady Artemis’s hunt, having found out that she had been born clear-sighted, which meant she was a regular human with the distinct ability to see through the mist and behold monsters. It was in her Goddess’ hunt that she had learned many things, tricks for survival, monster hunting, and the fact that gods and goddesses truly did exist. She had been surprised at first, but what was even more surprising was finding a place with people more strange than she was.

Demigods? Nymphs? Immortal Greeks? Compared to that, she was as normal as could be, in the hunt, at least she didn’t have to appear like such a freak.

“Nervous?” a voice spoke next to her.

Right, there was always that one thing she couldn’t do.

Her superior, a woman who by rights looks similar to her given age, that being around twelve, though she knew that she was actually alot older than she was, given the fact that she was the leader of the 13 girls within their group.

She didn’t deign to respond, or more accurately, it was that she couldn’t respond. 

“Sorry, I just saw you were looking around, Neo. Don’t worry, I’m sure things’ll be fine. I mean, you saw how much he ran from us, I doubt he’s all that tough anyway,” the girl—woman spoke in such a tone that only elevated the fact that she was alot older than she appeared.

That was right, Neo, short for Neopolitan, a strange name for a strange girl like her. 

A girl who couldn’t speak and had been mute her whole life. 

Nevertheless, even though her superior knew she couldn’t respond, she acted as though she had. “I wouldn’t fret too much about this being your first time on a hunt, Miss. Zoe trained me personally, and I know you are more than ready to take on whatever foe we’re facing. You just have to stay vigilant and remain with the group, I’m sure with Lady Artemis here, nothing can go wrong,” she assured, reminding Neo that it was, in fact, her first time on an actual hunt.

It wasn’t that she was nervous, far from it in fact, but she didn’t quite understand why they were hunting such a person. Sure, Miss Zoe had organized the event and had mentioned that the male had somehow disrespected Lady Artemis in some way, though she didn’t know the details.

One thing was for certain upon seeing him: he was entirely unusual. She hadn’t ever seen a person like him, with such canine-like appendages. What’s more was his utter lack of contempt and rather lackadaisical appearance. He appeared and acted as though he had met Lady Artemis, and even regarded her with some familiarity; some of the other hunters had placed this as a disrespect, but she wasn’t exactly so sure. To her, it appeared he was… being playful with her? An actual goddess, he was talking to like she was an old friend. Or perhaps he talked to everyone like that.

Even so, she had to wonder, just what kind of person out there would do such a thing? What kind of person were they? That had been what was truly on her mind.

What was such a person was capable of, and whether it was enough to take on even the gods. If they were facing such a being, would they hope to be a match for him? If he could stand across Lady Artemis and live to tell the tale, just what kind of person was he?

A rustle of leaves caught her ears, as she turned towards it, though she saw nothing, he instincts felt as though they were being watched, not just by an animal, or a bug, but something else. 

As her group traveled, she couldn’t shake that feeling, the feeling that they were being watched, that she should be privy to something. More rustles were heard, and each time she noticed them, every so often. Something wasn’t right, her instincts told her. Why was nobody else paying attention to that fact? Didn’t anyone else think that there was more to these woods than met the eye? Sure, they were hunting someone, but that didn’t mean that he was running; he could be waiting, waiting and watching, luring them into…

Snap! 

One of her feet went towards a stray branch left on the ground, dried and utterly dead, fallen on the floor by the nearby trees and the wind. She would have thought nothing of it, as she was reprimanded by one of her fellow hunters, though she threw their words off, too engrossed in what lay at her feet to give them any mind. Because, you see, there wasn’t just a stick at her sandals. 

Her eyes caught a single moment, a slight glint in the air.

At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, that for some reason she had stared at the sun for too long and that it had burned spots into her retinas. But that hadn’t been the case.

There was a glint, and upon inspecting it, she saw a thin wire, about as thick as a person’s hair, floating above the ground. She looked at it, inspecting it as she traced its origin as it went into the distance to where she couldn’t see its end.

A trap? Out here in the wilderness? Then, that would only mean…

Instantly, her head turned. If she were a normal person, she would be able to scream, to alert her fellow hunters that something was wrong. But unfortunately, like always, she couldn’t find her voice, and as such, she could only watch in horror as many of her companions were taken by traps that were of a similar design, pulling them right off of their feet and tying them high up in the trees.

It would seem her superior had also noticed such a commotion, “Hunter’s halt! He’s here!” she shouted, already noticing that many of their numbers had fallen without their notice, all of them assembling into battle positions, wrapping themselves in a circle for maximum defense. 

A rustle was heard in front of her, as Neo immediately shot out an arrow, trying to stop whatever or whoever might be lurking in the trees. She didn’t know if she hit the shot, and expected to miss; however, it would seem her shot had rung true, her hit sounding, as a small amount of relief ran through her body.

Relief that only lasted for a second, as a new voice spread over them, one that all of them recognised. 

“Wow, you’re actually pretty observant, reminds me of a guy I once knew,” Naruto complimented, holding her arrow within his hand, as if he caught it solely by himself. 

“He’s up there, fire!” One of the hunters shouted as they all turned to fire a shot at the newly revealed Naruto, whose eyes widened in surprise at such a display. Of course, what they hit was nothing more than a log, courtesy of a quick substitution technique, but it was still impressive.

Appearing to be on the opposite side of them, high up in a tree, he continued. “You people and your pension to shoot your arrows at anything that breathes, I mean, seriously, can’t we just talk this out? What, no? Okay then,” he sighed.

“The fox is playing tricks on us, don’t fall for his lies!” one of them shouted. 

“Hey now, that’s actually quite rude, what kind of stereotype is that? That just because I’m a fox, I have to be a trickster? I mean, not entirely wrong, but still, that just kind of hurts,” Naruto said, a foux look of pain upon his face, as if he had been struck right in the heart. “Speaking of which,” he pointed towards one of the hunters, a dark-skinned girl with brown hair. She stepped back… right into another trap he had set. A wire coiled around her leg and immediately hoisted her upward, breaking their formation. 

Naruto coughed into his fist, “Ouch, I mean, that’s just kind of a lesson for you all, if you’re walking into enemy territory thinking you have the upper hand, at least be aware of traps. Come on, that’s like… the first rule in the book,” he instructed, jumping down from his tree and landing on his feet as if he were lighter than air.

“Melina!” One of the hunters shouted at her fallen friend, charging at him

Of course, she was one of the comparatively younger hunters, much more prone to outbursts, so when she did actually go to attack Naruto, she was sloppy and inexperienced, which was her downfall. 

“You’re letting your emotions get the best of you, not exactly a bad thing to fight with but if you don’t have a plan you won’t be knowing what your opponent is going to do against you, leaving you unprepared,” Naruto said knowingly, as he blocked a jab of her blade that was aimed at his head, deflecting her wrist. He aimed a counterattack, a punch aimed at her side, and she hastily tried to block it, but in doing so, she left herself open, as she found a swift knee to her gut, finding his initial attack had been a feint. Her body folded, falling onto the floor in a heap as if she were nothing more than a small cloth.

This happened all the same for her other companions, Neo realized; each of her fellow hunters fell, one by one, all the while Naruto made comments on how exactly they were or had been taken down. 

“You raise your arm too high there.” “You favor your right leg too much.” “You need to expect the unexpected.” “You need a better stance; you won’t be able to keep your strike strong enough to actually hit me. ”

He was a monster of combat… no, that wasn’t it. 

He reminded her more of a god. A divine being. It was like he was a fundamental force, rather than a man, a person whose victory was as absolute as the wind.

“You’re actually pretty good,” he commented towards the leader of the troop, the hunter who had talked to her earlier. “Many people will tell you that the key to predicting your opponent is looking at their chest, but I’d say that’s wrong. You know, I had a sensei who was able to track an entire person’s body just by looking at their feet. Go on, try it!” Naruto told her, being reminded of Might Gai back in his youth.

“Oh please, as if I—” she said, but unconsciously, she ended up looking at his lower half, just when Naruto stepped towards her, delivering a swift chop to her neck. Much like his fellow clone had done to Zoe, not that she knew that, as she fell limp.

“Of course, that also requires the speed and reflexes to be able to react to your opponent,” he finished his words, leaving Neo alone, surrounded by the unconscious bodies of her fellow hunters. 

“...” 

Naruto turned to her, seeing the pink and brownish-black-haired young girl, a look of utter horror on her face. “Hiyah!” he shouted with a smile, seeing that it was the girl who had shot at him before, recognising her. 

“...”

“Not much of a talker, are you? Don’t worry, I once knew a girl like that,” he commented, being reminded of a shy pearl-eyed girl he used to know.

He took a step forward, out of impulse, Neo readied her bow, and shot at him, but her hand was far too shaky to get a clean shot. As such, Naruto merely moved his head a little to the side, dodging the arrow completely, much to her fear. 

“Well, now, that wasn’t very nice,” looking at her with that fanged smile, a smile that looked all too threatening to her.

‘No,’ Neo thought, he wasn’t quite like a god. She had met some of them, seeing them from afar on the rare occasions, such as visiting Camp Half-Blood, or the rare times when they would enter their camp to see Lady Artemis meet with her. And whenever they met, they had this unusual aura to them; they didn’t look at mortals, and when they did, they looked as though they were beneath them, that humans were lower. The only god who was the exception was Lady Artemis, of course, who had cared for them when they needed her most. 

But this guy looked at her, he smiled, unlike the gods who kept a regal figure. She was at a loss for words— moreso than she usually was. 

Just who was this guy? And why was he so powerful? It was scary. Terrifying even.

“Say, you look kind of familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” Naruto asked, taking an inquisitive expression. “Hmmmmm… Hmnnnn?”

Neo took another step back; Naruto took a step forward; she took a step back… only to fall flat on her butt, a stick getting in her way, and be left to crawl away. 

“...”

Like a fox in the midst of its hunt, he rounded on her. 

A fearful expression, she tried to scream, but of course, she couldn’t, so all she could do was scurry back, trying and failing to move faster than him, but it was to no avail. 

And, when Naruto was close, so close that she assumed that the blonde was going to finish her off, much like her fellow hunters, but then he stopped… and he looked to his right. 

“Come on, you don’t think I see you over there?” He pointed.

As exactly where he was looking, Neo’s eyes widened. 

Wait, no, he couldn’t have, he couldn’t see her…

“You’re actually pretty good with that, all things considered.”

Naruto was seeing two Neos, two of the same girl, which was odd, but then again, as a kid who could clone himself several thousand times, it wasn’t that out of the ordinary. And yet, he knew this wasn’t a clone, so what was it?

Neo realized she had been found out, as she had been preparing for a sneak attack, her knife having been raised. It was then her ‘other’ self seemed to crack like glass, dispelling in the wind like it was never there. She had always been able to do such things.

Mist Manipulation, the other hunters called it.

Her ‘special’ ability, so to speak, was the ability to manipulate the fundamental barrier that separated humans and the divine, allowing them to see whatever she wanted or so desired. Illusions, was another name for them, and she had thought— hoped it would be enough to get at least some edge on the man. Her skills with manipulating the mist were exceptional, the best in the whole troop; she had even been able to fool Miss. Zoe from time to time. But alas, it would seem that somehow, she had been found out.

Neo expected the worst, expected to be knocked out, just like the others had been; from then she didn’t know what would be done to her. Would it be something unspeakable? Something detestable? Is that perhaps what he wanted with her, with all of them? If you listened to the other hunters— many of whom detested men— they would agree with that notion of thinking. All in all, she was scared; she knew she couldn’t stand up to him. He was just that powerful, and like always, she could say nothing.

She could pray, but she didn’t know if any gods would answer her.

Snap!

The sound of Naruto snapping his fingers rang through her, dispelling her thoughts. “Pink hair. Black hair. A pension for very realistic illusions! That’s it!” he shouted, a smile on his face so wide Neo didn’t know if she should feel safe or even more fearful. 

“...”

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to be related to a dark-haired bruting emo with pink eye, would you? He’d be like your Great-Great-Great… grandfather or something,” Naruto asked.

‘Hwah?’ was all Neo could think in that moment, not understanding what the blonde male was talking about.

“You’ve got to be their descendant, I should’ve known!” he said to himself.

Before she knew it, she found a hand resting upon her head, like that of an older brother or father, which she found strange. As he leaned down to where he was at eye level

“Say, do you want to have some fun?” he questioned with a mischievous smile.

Neo… didn’t know what to think about that.

She wanted to know if any of her fellow hunters were experiencing just as much trouble.

XXX

As the other groups of hunters were… in a similar situation to their fallen companions, that is, many of them lying on the floor with more bruises and soreness than they had woken up with that day. All the while, Naruto gave them his own ramblings as recompense when dealing with a superior opponent.

“Come on, guys, you guys are hunters, even when your formation falls, you guys should still act as a group, it makes you much harder to deal with.”

“Seriously, I just laid that trap! You guys are walking into an area of unfamiliarity. Would it kill you to have a little awareness every once in a while?”

“Dealing with humans as an opponent is alot more challenging than dealing with a hunted animal. While we don’t have big claws or fangs, we make up for it in ingenuity. Be prepared for whatever I might do.”

“There’s a bit of hubris in you. Not sure why, but it's always better to assume that there’s always going to be someone better than you at something, that way, you can always improve!”

Every opponent he made such comments, all the while, he had that same grin upon his face that never seemed to leave him. 

Until all of the hunters were unconscious, incapacitated, or had given up. All of them realized just how outclassed they were. 

Meanwhile, they each had to wonder if what they were dealing with was a mere copy, then how the original was faring against their goddess, and what sort of tricks he had in store?

XXX

(With Artemis)

“He’s close, I can feel it…” Artemis said, more to herself, as she touched the ground, and although it was faint, she could sense a small trace of him. Call it hunter’s instinct, or perhaps it was the powers within her domain that were active, but she could tell that the way she had chosen was the right way towards her target, the real Naruto. Unaware of the state of her fellow hunters, though, she did have suspicions, receiving a few prayers, though the details were foggy. She couldn’t quite make out what they were meaning; however, it was her solemn hope that her hunters were alright. 

Meanwhile, she had her own hunt to do. 

Naruto, this ‘Fox’ that had eluded her for some time now. He had made a mockery of her with his tricks! His tricks, she said, and it would be the last time, too! She would finally get him back, and believe her, the taste of it would be all the sweeter.

She always liked a good hunt, a challenging hunt; those were her favorites, if she was being honest. Feeling the dirt below her feet, the foliage as her company, the wind as her guide, all the while she gave chase to her prey. The best catches were the ones that had a certain level of intelligence to them, knowing that they were being hunted. That was when the battle truly began. 

She was reminded of her times hunting tigers, which, while not magical, could still give any of her hunters a fair fight if given the circumstances. They were fast, they were strong, but more so, they were intelligent and patient. If aggravated, they would remember and know the person who had wronged them; they would wait, then stalk them, waiting for the perfect moment when your guard was down, and strike. When hunting, if your prey was worthy of you, they would be able to ascertain you were coming for them. A game, to say the least, and it was then begun. Leading to her prey becoming the predator, and the roles were reversed. The predator would become the prey, which made the victory all the better.

However, Naruto… did not play the game as much as she liked. 

He didn’t hide himself, not as much as she would have liked; he just… ran away. He didn’t attempt to conceal himself; if anything, he showed himself plainly, with all the confidence. It was like he didn’t even see her as a threat to him, that he could walk away from her and keep standing at the drop of a hat.

The worst part? He wasn’t exactly wrong.

He had evaded her, as much of a blow to her pride as it was to admit it.

Well, he wouldn’t get away this time. 

‘Not this time,’ she repeated to herself, much like a mantra, keeping her head cool and her heart level; it wouldn’t do for her to become overzealous with her emotions in this. She needed to think straight, to make this like all of her other hunts, and not to let him get the best of her. Artemis realized that was what he wanted; he wanted her to catch her off guard, he wanted her to be emotional.

She didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

She could already imagine that look of his, were he to get away. Artemis promised herself that she wouldn’t let that happen, no matter what, on her honor as a hunter, a woman, she would not let her target get away this time. 

She would claim her prize, and Artemis would be sure of it. 

And so, tracking his trail, as faint as it was, she deduced exactly where he had gone. It hadn’t been easy, despite Naruto’s usual penchant for making himself known, but somehow be unbelievably undetectable. Which only made her anger rise at the notion, though she bit it back, trying to remain calm.

Eventually, she found herself on a small trail, the trees surrounding her from all sides, as well as some foliage, leaves on the ground, and a few sticks. That was where the trail ended.

“He’s here,” she said to herself, her steely silver eyes roaming around every brush, every tree, every blade of grass around her, trying to perceive where Naruto might have gone. Perhaps he was leading her, perhaps he had wanted her in this location; she needed to figure out why. 

A rustle of leaves caught her attention, and immediately Artemis retrieved her bow and shot an arrow with such speed and grace that it would leave any quickdraw master in the dust. 

But she didn’t hear the usual piercing sound she was used to hearing, nor the sound of it hitting a tree or a log, so she had to wonder, just what exactly was the noise that she heard?

Her answer was given when a rabbit stepped out of the bushes, a brown hare that was obviously startled. Of course it would be, she had just shot an arrow at it, nearly carving it through its head clean through; she couldn’t. Although she had killed many rabbits in her time, this wasn’t the target she was going after. No, she had a much bigger game in mind.

But that did bring up the question: had her instincts been wrong? Had she shot an arrow at a plain rabbit, thinking that it was the hiding fox, lying in wait for her? Perhaps she was getting too paranoid. Her skills were becoming dulled, but that couldn’t be it, could it? She wanted to believe that this may be another of the blonde’s tricks, which would only make her more irritated.

Sure enough, she had been right, as above her came an all too familiar voice. “Wow, what’d the little rabbit do to you?” Naruto questioned, lying on the branch of a tree lazily, as if he had been there from the start. 

He was reminded of his genin days, when he and the rest of Team 7 had been escorting Tazuna, the bridge builder, back to his home. On the way, he had heard a noise and reacted, revealing their ‘attacker’ to be nothing but a small white bunny. Like always, he had been ridiculed by his other teammate, Sakura, but as it would turn out, the small rabbit had actually been a substitution tool used for a kawarimi by Zabuza, a man hired to kill the person they were supposed to protect. Of course, like many of his missions, they became less than expected. Trouble always seemed to find its way, much like this red-haired woman in front of him. 

She didn’t take his comment lightly, as several more arrows flew towards him, faster than any of her hunters had been able to produce. He only barely managed to dodge them, falling down onto the ground, with the dirt at his feet.

“Wait!” He raised his arms, Artemis’s bow at the ready, “Is it too late to say I’m sorry! I mean, it’s not like I meant to see your—”

“Raahhhhh!!” Artemis said, releasing her arrow and letting her anger at ‘the incident’ flow through, it wasn’t like she was ever good at keeping a cool head. That was more Athena’s department, when her hubris wasn’t getting the best of her, that is. No, if anything, she had inherited her father’s rage from him,— which was about the only thing she had been grateful to inherit from him— the rage of Zeus, the thunder god. And like lightning, her arrows came to strike him where he stood. Her body leaped into action before her mind could even give her the thought. 

“Shit!” Naruto said, moreso to himself than anything, dodging the arrows by the skin of his teeth, as Artemis came charging at him, bow in hand, attempting to use it like a budgeonding weapon. Naruto was forced to put up his arms in an X-formation, unable to react and run away in time. 

He blocked the bow, to be sure, but he had to say, Artemis was alot stronger than he remembered, perhaps it was because he was blocking a divine weapon, or Artemis was just that strong physically. But it felt like he was receiving a blow from a bijuu, or one of Granny Tsunade’s punches. His arms felt numb from the impact, a tingling sensation in his muscles.

She wasn’t really pulling back any punches, was she?

Just as Artemis followed up with her attack, retrieving a hunting dagger from her side, she swiped horizontally at his chest. Naruto had the decency to dodge, but that only meant Artemis could follow up with her attack, sending several more slashes his way, all of which he evaded. Though it did shift his balance a little, as she was trying to catch him off guard. He couldn’t allow that, so he did something a little unorthodox.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity, when Artemis was trying to push him even harder back, he went back. Leaping backwards after performing a backflip into the air to gain some distance and right himself, Artemis reacted accordingly. Now, usually, when fighting an opponent, taking to the air unassisted by anything was a death sentence. Your body wasn’t given any structure to right itself, and you couldn’t change your direction mid-air. If your opponent was faster than you and could catch you as you landed, the fight would end there. Artemis aimed to do this, reacting to where he landed on the ground and defeating him then and there. This was her opportunity. Only…

Naruto didn’t land on the ground. 

Or more accurately, he didn’t try to; the angle at which he aimed was towards the side of a tree. She expected him to rebound off of it, to try and get some measure of control as he flew, but that wasn’t his plan. Instead, he did something that Artemis could have never predicted, which seemed so utterly in character for him.

When his feet hit the tree, they just… stuck. 

His body landed on the tree and stuck to it as if gravity, for some reason, pulled him onto it, utterly defying the usual laws of physics that most beings subscribed to. 

Naruto must have noticed her baffled expression, which indeed caused a lull in their fighting. “Surprised? Yeah, so was I the first time I saw it.”

“What? What manner of mockery is this?” she asked. He could clone himself, then he could walk on walls, and create energy objects like the ones she had seen the last time— not to mention a strength that was able to rival her own. 

Just what kind of person was he? 

“Magic? Is this Hecate’s doing?” She had heard about sorcerers having specific powers, but never such a weird or odd subset. 

“Haha, not magic, but Chakra,” he told her, hoping that he might finally be getting somewhere with her. 

This only caused Artemis to furrow her brow, “Chakra, I have not heard of such a thing.”

“Ah, well, it’s actually pretty simple, lets me do a bunch of stuff, cloning, seals, the sky’s the limit. Most of my people could do it, in fact,” he explained.

“Oh? And what sort of people do you speak of?” 

“Well, that’s… complicated,” he said, which was putting it lightly.

As Artemis got into a fighting stance, “Very well then, I shall just beat the information out of you.”

“Wait, now hold on just a—” She didn’t hold on.

Crash!

Instantly, and without effort, the tree he was standing on was cut, stump and all.

“Holy Shi—” Naruto said, the only source of ground he had plummeted, though that wasn’t his only concern, as Artemis was there waiting as he fell. Quickly, he vaulted himself off the falling log, landing onto a few branches that could hold his body weight, jumping off of it and onto a few more subsequent branches.

“Don’t think I’ll let you get away this time!” Artemis shouted as she jumped up to the trees as well, leaping from branch to branch, trying to catch him.

“Oh come on, that really isn’t fair!” Naruto yelled back, deciding to run away from the woman.

How had she learned tree-hugging? Why? Something he had only shown her sparsely during their last encounter, was she truly able to learn the technique after only seeing it once?. 

Nevertheless, he ran south, hoping from tree to tree, hoping to get away from the mad red-headed woman. Needless to say, she ran after him, hot on his trail.

XXX

Eventually, they made it to a large clearing, which was pretty much a dead end for Naruto, forcing him to jump down into the field. Artemis jumped after him, satisfied that the cat-and-mouse game of theirs was at an end. 

“It’s over now, you have nowhere to run,” she pointed out.

“That’s where you’re wrong, I’m always able to use the secret Uzumaki-family technique!” He smiled, striking a very strange and ridiculous pose which consisted of his left hand spread over his face, and his right hand struck outward as he stood on the soles of his feet spread outward.

“What?” Artemis blinked.

Naruto shrugged, “I uhh… I don’t know, it just seemed right.”

“You are a buffoon,” Artemis said in a deadpan.

“Hey, I resent that! I’m a fox, not a baboon!” Naruto yelled. 

“What? That wasn’t— hold on, will you just cease your pointless drabble for five seconds!” Artemis said, finally getting angry again.

“Now hold on, let me count! 1…” 

“Enough!” Artemis said, putting a stop to his brand of foolishness, stepping towards him. 

“Hey, watch out!” Naruto shouted suddenly, as Artemis was just confused. “Watch your step, you never know what could happen to you!”

The goddess paused, and looked down, seeing that her sandaled foot was about to… step into a mud puddle; absolutely puzzled.

“I mean, you might slip, or worse, there could be a trap laid there or something!” he warned. 

Artemis lowered her foot, only to find… nothing happened. “Enough of your pointless tricks!”

“H-Hey! My tricks aren’t—” Artemis was upon him.

“Rahhhh!!!” she yelled out in a cry, jumping at him. 

If Naruto were being honest, he had only come across two people who had terrified him. The first was, of course, his grandmother Lady Tsunade, a woman who could punch mountains, and they would be the ones to give out instead. She was a monster and utterly unable to hold back his punches. The second person? Surely it must be one of his greatest enemies, like Madara, Orochimaru, or even Kaguya, but he had faced those enemies without a moment's hesitation. The true second person to scare him, or it was truly the first… was Kushina Uzumaki.

Call it instinct, call it being her son and all, but meeting her that one time in Mindscape. Describing herself facing off against the kyuubi of all things, even after it had been ripped out of him, he had felt that, having your bijuu ripped out of him, he died; he couldn’t even imagine what it felt like to keep going even after all that. And when her hair rose into nine ‘tails’, whether it was a technique or her pure feminine fury leaking out, it always put the fear of god into him.

He would say that Artemis emulated Kushina Uzumaki, charging at him like a raging beast; he couldn’t even react.

“Oooof!” The wind instantly knocked him out of him, as Artemis practically tackled him, using various Greco-Roman wrestling techniques, as she pulled him to the ground, trying to get a hold of him.

Arms and legs collided around, trying to get a hold of one another, Naruto trying to pry the angry woman off of him, as she tried to find a hold, filling the courtyard with several grunts, pants, and growls. Artemis was strong and tenacious when it came down to it, and perhaps he deserved it, given he had riled her up so much, but at that moment, he would say she was utterly terrifying. Wrestling with a god always was, especially if they were a goddess that was fueled by righteous feminine fury.

The two rrolledalong the ground, grass and dirt caking their figures. 

Eventually, Naruto found his hold, much to her frustration. Holding her arms in place with his hands, his figure straddling her waist, as she struggles to move from him.

“Okay, okay, Red, can we please calm down for a second!” He tried to reason. 

“I yield for no man!” Artemis growled, a pointed look, which was pretty much all she could do at that moment, and not much else, trying to move her arms, though she found them firmly locked to the ground, she tried to push herself up with her feet, but Naruto’s body weight prevented it. 

No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t free herself from his hold. 

“Alright, alright…” he tried to say, catching his breath. In the end, she did the same. Both of them were breathing for oxygen from their shared exertion, Artemis ceasing to squirm in his grip.

“Okay…” he said again, hoping that the fight was over, thankfully it seemed to be. 

Naruto on top of Artemis, straddling her. You know, it was then that Naruto began to realize what kind of position they were in, which was rather compromising if her were being honest. Him on top of her; of course, he would never do anything. But it was then he noticed again just how beautiful Artemis was, even with all of their fighting, sweat marking her form. Her red hair was disheveled, tangled in places he didn’t know could tangle, but there was a kind of allure with that. The fact that she wasn’t like other girls, that fire within her. Her eyes, silver like the moon, her face as beautiful as Tsunade. 

It was hard to believe he had been fighting such a woman, being so close to her, he could almost forget the fact she had been trying to kill him. 

She seemed to notice his distraction, noting that he was staring at her. Any other girl would have flushed; he was rather handsome… Artemis didn’t do that.

Crash!

Immediately noticing that he was distracted, and took advantage, striking him in the only way that she could.

Colliding her head with his own in a vicious headbutt, a crack sounded as they collided. Artemis was nothing if not determined.

Of course, Naruto was not expecting such a maneuver; he was taken aback, which gave the hunter the perfect opportunity to get the edge on him, shifting her bodyweight forwards as they collided once again. The blonde, being caught off guard, found himself in a new position, or rather, a choke hold, as she lay on his back. 

Her legs wrapped around his waist, as one of her elbows saw positioned around his chin, the other one locking him in his place as she held his head. All in, it was a perfect rear naked choke hold, and as the name suggested… she was choking him. 

He tried to stop it, of course, feeling as she relinquished oxygen from his lungs. A normal person could hold their breath for a maximum of four minutes, sometimes for 30 seconds. At that mark, their brain would stop receiving oxygen, in one minute their brain cells would begin to die, and at three, their neurons would begin to suffer permanent damage. Now, he wasn’t a normal person beyond many means, but he still did need to breathe, need to eat, and need to drink to sustain himself. Which meant being in such a hold was less than optimal, even for him.

Artemis’s grip was restrictive, like iron, or perhaps even stronger, unshakeable as he tried to get his hand in between the hold, trying to break it through sheer exertion. Pretty soon, his body would start to give out. Her execution was near perfect, and surely, a human wouldn’t be able to break out of it.

The only difference was… he wasn’t quite normal.

He didn’t have a normal person’s physiology. He was effectively part bijuu, at least appearance-wise, that was to say… he had extra appendages the hold didn’t account for. 

Snaking one of his tails through the hold, he was able to pry himself out of it, jumping away from her as he did so. 

“What the fuck!” Naruto shouted, panting. “Are you trying to kill me!” he said, actually appalled at the prospect. 

“Get back here!” Artemis shouted, as she wasn’t done with him. 

“Oh no, you stay away from me!” he shouted, a little fearful, as he began to run away. Of course, Artemis followed after him in the clearing.

“Stop running!”

“Stop chasing me!”

“Cease your pointlessness and just submit yourself already!”

“No! Help! Help, someone! There’s this crazy redheaded lady, and she wants to kill me!”

“Will you just shut up!” she growled, cornering him. 

“Okay, okay…” Naruto said as he realized that he was losing ground. 

“Do you yield?” Artemis questioned, finding that it was about time he accepted his punishment, whatever that might be.

“No, I just wanted to say… if you keep chasing after me, you might not like how this game of tag ends,” he warned her.

“Are you doubting my capabilities, man?” she narrowed her eyes. 

Surprisingly, Naruto shook his head, “No, no, I think you’re a wonderful fighter, honestly, one of the best I’ve fought in a while. But it’s just… don’t you think you’re being a little obsessive?”

“Obsessive?”

“Yeah, I mean, sure, you’re angry and all, but don’t you think you’re taking it a little far? I mean, really, tracking me down all this time, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were stalking me or something,” he teased.

Artemis’s face flushed, of course, flushed beet red, as he expected. “I-I… Y-you…” she struggled to find her words, at a loss. Though the reason wasn’t that he was right. No, he couldn’t be further from the truth…

Her face was flushed, but it was out of anger.

“Yup! That’s right, I mean, I don’t blame you, I am pretty awesome! But I mean, I think it’s time we put this to rest; it would only be fair to us both,” he said somberly. 

“I CANNOT BELIEVE SUCH INSOLENCE, TO THINK THAT YOU WOULD BE SO FOOLISH TO BELIEVE SUCH A THING!!!” she shouted, irate and irritated. Harnessing the full fury of practically every angry woman in his life and multiplying it tenfold. 

She charged at him, whether it was to kill him or otherwise, he didn’t know. But she brought out her hunting knife.

Of course, that was what he wanted.

Instead of dodging or blocking, Naruto ducked low as Artemis stepped towards him, right over a mud puddle, covered in leaves. Just when Artemis was upon him, ready to stab him…

She froze. 

Stopping in her tracks right where she stood. Naruto had channeled chakra into the ground, or more accurately, what he had placed there. 

“What? What manner of magic is this?” Artemis shouted, finding she couldn’t move at all. 

“Ah, not magic, but seals,” Naruto pointed out, standing up, even as her pointed blade was mere inches from his head.

“Remember when I told you to watch out for mud puddles? You probably should’ve listened, Red,” Naruto told her. As he did so, he kicked a few leaves away at her feet, revealing a modicum of strange glowing red symbols—kanji, appearing below her. A ‘barrier’ surrounds Artemis, stopping her from any movement.

“Honestly, the whole trick was getting you angry, I mean, did you not even notice where we were?” he asked.

“What do you—” Artemis asked, before she looked around. 

They were in a clearing, one with trees and a giant rock in the middle, now that she noticed it… the same rock that Naruto had been sitting on when she had seen him earlier. 

“That’s right, you didn’t even notice, if you had, you would’ve been a little more warry at where your prey was leading you. You were overconfident, and that’s how I got you,” he told her.

“I wasn’t—”

“Don’t you remember what I told you? If you didn’t have that big stick up your ass, you’d be an amazing sparing partner,” Naruto said. 

“I-I… y-you…” she huffed, glaring daggers at him, which was all that she could do.

Though to be honest, even he was unsure of how long his seal would hold her, one of his clones having erected the seal once all of the hunters left, he was just thankful that it did; he didn’t want to know what would’ve happened if it didn’t. This being a seal that was designed to capture Bijuu, stalling them in place just enough so that they could be sealed much better.

He didn’t know if such a seal would work against her, and he had taken a chance. Given the fact that she was a divine being and insanely powerful in her own right, he assumed he only had about fifteen minutes or so before the seal ran out.

And so, he had to get to work. 

“Alright,” he said, clapping his hands. “Looks like it's time for me to get a little even, I mean, you did chase me all this time, didn’t you?” As Naruto got close to her, inching forward, right in front of her body. 

Artemis felt a chill run down her neck, realizing that she was incapacitated; she could do nothing to stop him. Just what sort of dastardly and deranged things did he plan on doing to her? He took something out of his pocket. 

“Don’t! Naruto… I’m telling you—Stop! Stop! I’m warning you!”

“Don’t worry, red, this’ll only take a second.”

“I’ll get you for this! You hear me, I’ll find you again!” she shouted, but it was on deaf ears.

“Annnnd… done!” Naruto shouted, an ink brush in his hands, and he had written something on her forehead. 

She would later find out it was a strange symbol that consisted of a spiral with a triangle on its left side, which made it look like a sort of arrow—— or more accurately, a leaf.

Naruto thrust his fist up in the air like a particular green-dressed warrior. “Yosh! Konoha one! Hunters zero!” He yelled. 

Before he went to look at her, a smile upon his face. “Well, Red, it’s been nice, but I suppose this is where I’ll be heading off.”

Artemis’s eyes widened, “What? No! I’m not done here yet! You hear me, I’m not—”

“See ya!”

Naruto disappeared within a flash of yellow light.

Leaving Artemis utterly bewildered, but one thing was certain, this encounter leaving her more angry than when she arrived. 

She didn’t know how that was even possible.

XXX

As it would turn out, Naruto didn’t just write the symbol on her forehead; no, he would never do such a thing. Besmirching the body of a goddess wasn’t enough, but every single hunter had a similar leaf-like symbol on their foreheads, courtesy of the blonde bastard they called Uzumaki Naruto. 

Rounding up all the hunters, many of whom were either trapped or unconscious, each more irritated and sore than when they woke up in the morning, it took some time for all of them to recover. Though that was in no part due to their injuries, most of which were only small bruises that they had suffered.

No, the biggest wound was their pride.

A single person had taken down their entire troop, and they had been unable to stop him. 

The creature known as Naruto Uzumaki. 

Of course, Artemis had eventually found her way out; she was a goddess after all, and such seals would only seem to hold her for a short while. Though she hadn’t talked much since the encounter, mostly whispering to herself about defeating and cursing such blondes. Everyone had seen the mark upon her head, as somehow, even through the use of magic or otherwise, Naurto had made it so she couldn’t hide or remove it; none of them could. None of the hunters mentioned anything to do with it as they made their way back to the camp. Hoping the marks would somehow go away.

“Milady, there seems to be a problem!” Zoe shouted, Konoha mark clear on her forehead, written in black ink.

“What?”

And what a problem it was, as they returned to their camp, they realized one thing.

Their camp had been exactly as they left it, except there was one minor change…

It was orange.

Almost every single tent, every single wall constructed, every post, every one of their supplies had been painted, hell, even the ground. All of it is such a hideously bright orange color that it would be able to blend into a sunrise.

That’s right, when Naruto had led them away from their camp, he had sent a clone to paint every inch of their camp, making it no secret that he had been there. 

Poof.

In a plume of smoke next to Artemis, courtesy of a seal that happened to be there, another piece of paper appeared. 

She took hold of it. 

“Grrrraaahh!!!” … and instantly tore it to pieces.

The note reads: ‘Looking forward to the next time you try to kill me. Oh, and, decided to do some renovations while you guys are away. I hope you don’t mind the color; it really goes with your hair and complexion. See ya, fiery-chan— or should I say Stalker-chan?’

The note wasn’t signed, but she, of course, knew who it was from. 

Her face was as bright red as her camp was orange. 

None of them noticed that one of their companions, a hunter, wasn’t as they seemed.

XXX

“Ahaha! You see that, see I told you she’d love the prank we left her!” Naruto shouted, miles away, but still watching. 

His ‘partner in crime’ didn’t reply; in fact, she couldn’t reply. He was beginning to think that she wasn’t able to.

He shrugged; it wasn’t any of his business, as both he and Neo sat on a tree branch, eating a few sweets he had given her. Neo munching happily on them, as he ruffled her hair, a konoha mark nowhere to be seen on her figure. As he smiled as he did so, he liked the girl; she was fun, much more fun than her brooding ancestor. Maybe she took more after Sakura, she was always the more reasonable of the two, not like that teme Sasuke was, who would always try to be better than him. 

“Huh? What’s that? Why do I keep trying to rile up Artemis?” he questioned, seemingly reading her unasked question.

Nonetheless, he did answer. “Well, I suppose… It’s because she’s fun,” Naruto said with a smile. “Honestly, this has been some of the most fun I’ve had in years. I just can’t wait to see what else she’ll do next time!” he told her honestly. 

Neo just sweatdropped, finding that Naruto was a very weird person, able to look at an Olympian goddess and want to try and antagonize her like she was an old friend, not caring about the repercussions as he did so. He had wanted to paint their entire camp orange and had coerced her into helping. Neo didn’t really mind as much; he had told her that the paint wasn’t permanent, as all of it would last for about a week or so, including the marks on their foreheads. So it beat having one of those marks on her person.

She would just create an illusion of herself when she got back to camp, slipping through in all of the chaos as nobody noticed she had ever been gone. 

“Candy?” Naruto asked, giving her a small piece in his hand. She happily took it, kicking her feet in the air as she sat next to the strange fox man who had wrestled with a goddess. And he was crazy enough to want to anger her more. 

One thing was for certain: Naruto was weird.  

End Chapter. 

An: There we go. I know alot of people wanted this and I know ALOT of people liked the first chapter. And to be honest I can’t believe it. With the first chapter over on ffn receiving over 700 follows in just the first chapter, which is kind of insane to look at and definitely not expected considering it released among several other chapters. So thanks for that. 

Now, onto this chapter, it’s a bit longer than the first one, and tbh I don’t exactly expect that trend to continue. This chapter clocking at around 14.5k, with a number of events happening. Though in reality this chapter ended much like the first, with a very angry and agitated.

I was hoping to update this alot sooner, but the time kind of flew by. 

Let me know if you all would like a third chapter. 

Hoping to introduce another god in the next one, but which one will it be?

Please leave me Lots and Lots of NICE reviews.

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