Chapter 9: the Problem

Ino's point of view

It was another day at school and Hinata was still hurt. Stubbornly, she insisted she was fine and wanted to go to school but we made Sakura stay to help her heal the last of her bruises so they were still at home, and was probably going to be a touch late.

She really cares about Naruto, Tenten reflected thoughtfully. I was standing by her desk while both of us caught up with our homework that we didn't manage to do last night because we were watching Hinata through the night.

"Didn't manage to finish your homework?" Neji peered at what we were doing.

"Aa. All that excitement yesterday and Hinata got hurt by the explosion as well," Tenten lied easily as she figured out another sum.

What explosion? I asked Tenten.

Demeter caused a car accident where two cars exploded to cover up for the huge hole in the wall and the commotion, She replied absent-mindedly.

"Here," What looked like a completed homework packet with the answers neatly penned in with Neji's writing landed in front of them.

"Thank you Neji-kun," Tenten smiled at him.

I swear I saw him blush, I teased my friend. Tenten just shot a glare at me.

"Ohayo gozaimasu!" Everyone looked up to see Naruto, and oddly, Sekira as well at his side.

"Humph," Sasuke was sitting right in front of us, with Sakura's empty desk beside him. Naruto grabbed the seat directly across the aisle from Sasuke and Sekira helped herself to Hinata desk.

"I didn't know you were dating Sekira," Tenten remarked rather absently as Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Kai, Natsu, Temari and Gaara all looked at Naruto with varying degrees of shock.

"I am! She's my guardian angel, AKA Naiad," Naruto dropped his voice dramatically so that only our group could hear.

"What!" I gasped. No way! This girl is up to no good!

"It's true!" Naruto leaned back, self-satisfied.

"That's… interesting to know," Shikamaru went back to sleeping. I could tell he was rather disturbed.

"But she can't be!" I blurted out, "She-"

Stop it, Ino, Tenten hissed, Hinata wouldn't want her secret out.

"She what?" There was a challenge in Sekira's eyes as she smirked at them.

"She's a greedy little turd. Naiad's much nicer," I finished, my anger clearly showing on my face.

"Don't say that Ino!" Naruto protested. His eyes went hard, "I know you two have your grievances but I'd prefer not to choose between my friends." I was about to reply that I'd rather not be friends with a liar but Tenten stopped me.

"Sorry Sekira-san," She offered a tentative hand to the smirking girl behind Naruto. Most of us just looked at her in astonishment, "Let's be friends, for Naruto-kun's sake."

"Agreed, Demaphone-san," She smiled in a saccharine way.

"Fine," I crossed my arms, "By the way Naruto, Hinata wanted to work on your project tonight, if you could call her-"

"I want nothing to do with her," Naruto's voice went cold. That sentence made even Neji, Shikamaru and Sasuke stare at him dumb-founded. That was so out of character for warm Naruto! Anger flashed through me. He is such a gullible bakayarou!

"Shut up," I punched Naruto in the jaw. How dare he insult Hinata like that! Tenten's eyes flashed as well and she chucked her pencil at Naruto's head, hitting him hard and square in the forehead.

"Ino! Tenten!" Hinata gasped. She and Sakura had just arrived, apparently, and she was staring at us in horror. Dropping her books, she rushed to Naruto side, "Are you alright Naruto-kun?"

"Stay away from me," He pushed her backwards into a desk, causing all her newly healed wounds to reopen.

"NARUTO!" Sakura raged, grabbing a ruler from the wall. Homework forgotten, we rushed to Hinata's side.

Are you alright? I asked, shifting her onto my shoulder. Hinata's mind was a huge mess of emotions, letting them out of hand. Normally, we can only sort of feel each other's emotions, but hers was so overwhelming that I could feel her pain and her heartbreak.

Poor Hinata Tenten murmured sympathetically.

"Leave him alone, Heradite!" Sekira spat, "She was pretending all along!"

"Why you-!" Sakura lunged at her with the ruler. Killer intent was rolling off her in waves and I'll bet all my magic that she was seeing red right now.

"Not so brave now, eh Naiad?" Tenten spat out her words. She took Hinata's other arm, which was trickling with blood, and hoisted it over her shoulder to support her as we started her to take her out to the nurses office.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, shocked Sakura would do such a thing.

"Naruto-baka, you have just insulted one of her closest friends and caused her a bleeding that reopened her wounds from last night because of us," I heard Temari snarled as I closed the door behind us. We met Sensei as we took Hinata down the hall, and she seemed to understand why we were out of class. Hinata had tears silently pouring down her face and her school outfit was slightly soaked with blood.

I'm going to kill that baka, I swear, Tenten snarled, unusually mad.

Don't… Hinata thought as she passed out.

She's STILL standing up for him? Sakura joined us, hurrying to catch up to us.

Yep, Tenten and I grimaced as we entered the nurse's room. The nurse wasn't there so we hurried into an empty cubicle. Laying Hinata down on a hospital bed, we began to work.

"This is not good. Hinata's dry and I can't do a scan properly because I'm as good as dry," Sakura murmured.

"Need help?" Huh? We all looked up to see Natsu, Kai and Temari peeking between the curtains.

"W-Wait…" I trailed off as Kai's hands began to glow bright blue. She closed each of the bleeding wounds carefully with magic and turn the angry purple bruises a mottled yellow as well. As she leaned back, exhausted, Natsu shot a bolt of orange energy from her palm into Hinata's body.

They don't have any evil or malicious intent, I observed. I think we can trust them.

I believe you, no danger, anyways, Sakura complied.

"You guys have the gift?" Tenten voiced our thoughts.

"Yep but don't tell anyone," Kai nodded affirmative.

"It's ok, we saw you last night," Sakura shrugged.

"Then you were-" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"Halcyon, Gaia, Phoenix and Naiad at your service," I mock bowed.

"So Sekira isn't really Naiad!" Natsu smacked her fist on her palm understandingly. "She's a big fat liar!"

"Yep. I think she's Envy, though," Sakura nodded sagely.

"What?" I exclaimed, not even bothering to talk to her through telepathy.

"How else could she have fooled Naruto? It would have token a huge amount of energy to fool the necklace, not to mention Naruto's senses," Tenten explained.

"She's envious definitely, but Envy?" Kai looked puzzled.

"We've hit gold. Our job is to track down the seven sins and Foreboding and destroy them so mankind doesn't go out of wack. Pandora did release the Foreboding and the seven sins, but we kept the demons at bay since the beginning of time. Now, however I have a feeling this may be the fight that decides the fate of Mankind." Sakura explained

"So you're that old?" Natsu's eyes were huge.

"Reincarnated, actually," I grinned. Ha! Imagine me in wrinkles!

"Mm…" Hinata rolled over on the bed.

"Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Kai peered at her, worried.

"I-I think… I h-have a r-really big h-headache," Hinata murmured softly.

"That's understandable. Naruto pushed you into a desk," Kai reassured her, "He's a baka."

"Why? N-Naruto-kun…" large tears started rolling down Hinata's face.

"We healed you," Natsu gently put a hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Y-You did?" Hinata was more than a little surprised, "Y-you have th-the gift?"

"Uh-huh," Sakura backed them up. She knelt and took Hinata's hands, "Hinata-chan, I think we've found Envy."

"It's in Sekira," I scowled.

"It gets worse; she's got powers," Tenten shook her head, "I have a feeling that she's a shape shifter and that she shifted into Naiad then purposely changed back to her real form in the morning to convince him she was you."

"B-But why?" Hinata asked, perplexed as she was sad.

"Envy doesn't like competition," Temari shrugged, "And neither did Sekira."

"I think we should take this to the higher ups," I interjected significantly, "besides, it's been months since I've seen Iris or Artemis!"

"Alright. I suppose we'll have to bring you guys along as well," Tenten glanced at the three other girls.

"It's settled!" I joined hands with Kai and Natsu, who looked slightly hesitant.

"One… two… three…," Sakura counted down and we teleported, all at once. See doing this is rather tricky because even though Sakura and Hinata are dry of magic, they can draw from our magic but they have to execute the spell at the same time. But luckily, we can do it fairly well, since we've had years of practice, and we managed to bring all seven of us to Mount Olympus.

"Halcyon? Is that you?" Iris had met us at the door. She is my all time favourite goddess, even if she does seem younger than me and serves under Sakura at times.

"Hello Iris! It's been a while," I hugged my guardian. She was the Rainbow goddess and she always seemed so warm and welcoming.

"And you brought the others too!" Smiling, she hugged Sakura, Hinata and Tenten as well, "Oh, who are your new friends?"

"Sabukano Temari, and she is Kaijuuonna Nekonee and she is Natsuko Nekonee." Temari introduced them formally, squinting a little. I suppose all mortals have to squint while they're looking at a goddess.

"It's nice to meet you," Iris bowed graciously, "Here, drink this. It will help you see us better."

"Thank you," each girl took a small sip of diluted ambrosia and shook.

"It feels like I've just become punch drunk," Natsu shook a little.

"It always feels like that at first," Sakura laughed a little, "Now let's go! I want to see the rest of the gods!" Laughing, we all went into the Parthenon.

"Phoenix!" Zeus at the head of the table on his large throne thing stood up, shocked. Sakura grinned happily and hugged him.

"Hello Zeus!" Hera got up as well, "Hello Hera! It's been a while!"

"Dear child, yes it has," Hera smiled gracefully. I can see why these two are called the rulers of the gods.

"Hey, hey, hey! I want some time with my favorite guardian!" A very flamboyant and gorgeous goddess sauntered over. She hugged Sakura grandly, "It's been a while, Pho!"

"Hi to you too, Aphrodite," Sakura laughed as she squeezed her back.

"Naiad! Let me go get Amphitrite," Poseidon, the sea god stood up as well as Athena swept over gracefully.

"It's good see you," Athena hugged her guardian, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," Hinata smiled.

"Oh Naiad, my little baby!" A crooning mother figure rushed into the hall, enveloping Hinata and Athena in a big hug. Both hug-ees were turning slightly blue in the tight embrace until Poseidon stepped in.

"Amphitrite, you're choking them," Poseidon pointed out to his wife.

"Oh, sorry," She laughed.

"Gaia, it's nice to see you again," A tall woman wearing a green toga walked over to Tenten and embraced her, "I hope you weren't hurt by the accident."

"No, but I wish Apollo would look at Naiad's ribs," She frowned, "Where's Persephone and Hades?"

"They'll be here in a few minutes. I believe Zeus sent Hermes for them already," Sure enough, the two underground rulers walked in.

"Hades, Persephone!" Tenten hugged both of them.

"I'll always wonder how Gaia manages to defrost Hades and Persephone," I spun around, to see Artemis standing behind me.

"Hi Arty!" I glomped her. It always irritates Artemis when I call her that.

"Because I haven't seen you in a while, I won't set my dogs on you," She half-smiled mischievously.

"Glad to hear it," I laughed, "Besides, you know they wouldn't hurt me!" I really don't know where everyone gets the thought that Artemis is an all mighty stern woman. She's such a prankster inside.

"Hey, it's my favorite Guardian!" Apollo wandered over and hugged me.

"Hi Apollo, it's been a while," I kissed him on the cheek, "Didja miss me?"

"Of course! Sis right here was being a down right grouch and none of the nymphs wanted to hang out with me," Apollo made a face. He was always so childish.

I laughed, "Can you take a look at Naiad's ribs? She got them bruised a while ago and she's dry."

"Don't worry, Amphitrite and Athena will make sure she's got plenty of magic by the end of your visit," Apollo reassured me as Temari caught his attention.

"I take your word for it," I shrugged, "That's Sabukano Temari."

"She's cute," I sighed as he drifted over to the three, who were looking kind of lost.

"Oh boy," I shook my head. Apollo was such a playboy sometimes, I swear.

"So, why are you here?" Artemis asked, turning back to me.

"Right. Well, get the gods together because I think we might have found a sin," I informed her.

"No way!" Artemis' eyes grew huge, "Dad! Call a meeting!" She yelled to Zeus.

"Alright," Zeus banged a lightning bolt on the table with a mighty crash. That sure got everyone's attention, I winced a little.

"Zeus! You've knocked out my friends!" Sakura exclaimed. Sure enough, Temari, Kai and Natsu had keeled over. I guess Divine thunder is a little too much for their ears, even with the hint of ambrosia.

"Sorry," He apologized as Hera glared at him, "Take a seat, take a seat," Accordingly, some mini-thrones were pushed forward for us and some seats for the others. Hephaestus, the forge god, came out of his forge, wiping his hands.

"I heard the clang. What's up?' Aphrodite's husband was still a little ashy, but she kissed him anyways.

"The girls are here, honey," Aphrodite led him to the seat. I rolled my eyes, as did everybody else at the table. Temari, Kai and Natsu however had just awoken and were staring at them in shock.

"B-But, you two are-" Natsu stuttered.

"Typical mortals," Aries snorted, "That was a joke from years ago. Zeus thought it would be funny to say Aphrodite hated Hephaestus and was cheating on him. Made me rather unpopular for a while."

"Millennia, Aries," Sakura corrected him.

"Whatever, Millennia, year, no difference to us," Aries snorted again.

"You see why he likes horses so much?" I muttered to Temari, who was sitting right next to me.

"Shut up Halcyon," Aries snarled.

"Make me," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Stop it, you two," Zeus scolded both of us.

"Anyways, why did you bring us up here?" Persephone asked, very composed like always.

Sakura took a big breath and then said, "We've found Envy."

"You're so melodramatic," I rolled my eyes.

All at once, the gods started chattering, throwing questions and whatnot at us. They were all looking rather concerned – even flighty Aphrodite was questioning Sakura.

"SILENCE!" Tenten roared, rubbing her temples, "We'll explain everything."

"Start from the beginning, Gaia," Hades commanded. He slumped back in his chair, Persephone's hand resting over his.

"Well, currently, we're in Japan, sniffing out another lead. Whoever gave you that clue was right – Japan is a huge magical energy center but not where you'd expect. Believe it or not, Envy currently resides in a school girl," Tenten explained.

"Interesting…," Persephone murmured.

"She's in our class, too," I added, "and she's very persuasive, since she managed to convince Naiad's crush of a lifetime to hate her for some obscure reason."

"Halcyon!" Hinata blushed, turning fifteen different shades of red.

"What? You like someone? Oh, my little baby's grown up!" Amphitrite grabbed her in one of her killer hugs again.

"Honey," Poseidon tapped his wife's shoulder, making her release a choking Hinata.

"Thank you," She gasped, still fifteen shades of red.

"She's kinda on the outs with him…," I added.

"Halcyon!" Tenten and Sakura exclaimed.

"WHAT?" I asked them, exasperated. I could see Natsu, Kai and Temari were asking the same thing. I looked around, only to find everybody had ducked under the table, "Where is…?" Then… I saw HER.

"WHO IS THIS BOY!" Amphitrite roared. Eek! She looks like Medusa with her energy lifting her hair up like it does to those super evil villains in Manga and Anime!

"He's a guy in our class, ok? Besides, Amphitrite, we need to decide on a proper plan of attack," I said soothingly.

"Hmm…" Instead of flaring up at me all over again, she sat down and began to think – Hard.

"Honey, are you ok?" Poseidon asked, peeking from under the table.

"Uh huh… oh yes, I am very alright," There was an odd gleam in Amphitrite's eyes that was gone as soon as she lean over and pecked each of the girls on the cheek. "You girls just run along now, I can take care of this situation. It was nice meeting you girls, by the way."

"Well, I'm going to make you girls some new weapons, so I'm off to the forge," Hephaestus got up and hugged Sakura. One by one, the whole pantheon got up to leave as the guardians were hugged by their respective gods.

"See ya later," I hugged Artemis.

"Bye," Artemis gave me a squeeze.

"Don't worry, I doubt Amphitrite will go too overboard," Iris whispered in my ear as she squeezed me.

"I hope so, for Naiad's sake," I whispered back and released her, joining the others in a circle as we prepared to transport ourselves back to Japan. My last thought? Oh boy…

TO BE CONTINUED!

A/N: The plot thickens! Bad, bad, bad Naruto – but don't worry, this is NaruHina. And do I see Temari, Kai and Natsu actually knowing Sekira beyond her disgusting fan-girly-ness? And what is Amphitrite planning (Be afraid, be very afraid.)? Some more will be revealed in the next chapter!

And by the way, this is my portrayal of the Greek gods, not exactly the ones in described in Mythology, so don't sue me! I don't own them, but I'm not exactly sure who does, either.

Sorry about the slow updates! I just lost my story plan (hehe) so it might be a little bit more slow than usual. (Which is still pretty slow) But you guys love me anyways, right?

Thankies for all the reviews! I hit over a hundred! Yay! –celebrates- Anyways, leave me a thought please and See you in the next chapter!

Lurve,

Nyte