Fuyuki city.
There is where he is living right now. After travelling the whole globe for centuries, maybe millennia even—it's been too damn long for him to care—and he somehow finds a long and hopefully permanent resident in this peaceful city; even if it has not been that long. He moved into this city three years back, back then, he barely knew anyone here. Now… not so much. Socializing with new people is hard, especially how society is today. Everyone's just too darn busy with work, school, their own personal life and the same tid bits!
However, he can't blame them. Life's changed… but not him. He cannot change, he won't change. He has both lived a good and painful life, too good and too bad for him to change. After everything that has happened a very long time ago, the war with Akatsuki, the trouble with Kaguya, the disaster… the same disaster that he has failed to stop; the same disaster that cost him his mortality, and the same disaster that has caused his kind to become extinct.
At that point, he almost gave up. Kurama was there with him through all of it, he is the only one who understands him. They share the same pain, the same joy and the same satisfaction. That battlefield, even as he closes his eyes to sleep, will be something he can't ever forget. He lost too much, suffered too much and gained so little there to just forget about it. Kurama said that it was not his fault, all of them at least, and that he should not be having suicidal thoughts or anything like that.
Of course, he dismissed the fox's accusation, saying that he is not suicidal. But now… even if millennia have passed… it's still so damn hard to move on. There are things that he cannot forget, and it is harder when all of them are a part of his past mistakes and failures. However, failure is to be expected; he hates himself because he can't keep just one promise of saving them all.
Oh well, at least Madara made it quick for them, and Sasuke died without regret.
… is what the backstory you may want to see but,
HAH!
That is not going to happen here! This story is different, it'll be waaaaay different that you'll like your rednecked step cousin for being different!
This story is not going to start like that! No! It'll start like…
This:
"Maaaan… alcohol and mountain dew does not mix…" a gruff and manly sounding voice groans in what seems to be annoyance more than pain.
Fuyuki city is a not-so-busy city; it has its busy hour, but it's nothing like the capital of Japan, Tokyo. He'd been to Tokyo, lived there too, but the place's too damn noisy for him to handle. What's more, Fuyuki city is basically a source of natural energy; he needs the thing to do… well, things! Things like meditating, speaking to Kurama, training in Six Paths Sage Mode and most importantly, making sure that no darn cats be trespassing his garden. Damn cats be like: 'Man, I'm gonna steal yo' catnips meow!'
Waking up was a head start in itself, now comes the running. As a person who had just moved here three years ago from the mainland, he needs to settle up business to give himself incomes, money. You know, money? The only thing that keeps the world running besides the idiocratic ruling system that most governments have these days? As a source of income, he opens a bar café. Yes, it is both a bar and a café at the same time, so that means he also have teenagers as his potential customers.
The idea struck him a few weeks after moving in, since his bought an entire empty building just for housing, he got the brilliant idea to open a bar café downstairs while having his house on the second floor. The establishment is still new, and so is the building. What makes him happier is the fact that his bar café is actually pretty famous amongst the locals. He got students, employees, bosses, and even a freaking maid as his range of customers; talk about being a pro. Anyway, business is running smooth for him, it's a good thing.
Pouring a jar of freshly brewed coffee for himself, the blonde haired whiskered immortal stifles a yawn as he scratches his whiskered cheek. Today is Monday, which means he'll be busy from nine to ten at night… oh well, time for some clone abuse. Sipping the coffee slowly, he avoids on getting his tongue burnt. He finishes the glass of coffee and puts in the sink for him to wash later, right now, it is time to prepare for him to open shop.
As usual, he will start with his morning dailies, and it consists of; making the clones clean the place up, having the clones water his garden, forcing the clones to deal the stocking of supplies and oh, did he mentioned making the clones clean the place up already? So, yes, basically, thank God that Mizuki made him steal the scrolls of sealing; otherwise this would suck, hard.
He turns on the TV, it's also important to know what people are doing out there. Aside from knowing what corrupted politicians and active crime syndicates are doing to maintain their holding in their daily business of power struggle and all that…
"This is Honda Abe bringing you Fuyuki's morning news on channel seven."
Naruto snorts, the woman reminds him of a call girl that some of his single male customers would call; all too flashy and showy, probably working as a newswoman just because she could flash her cleavage on someone else's faced without getting charged for public exposure.
"Today's a brand new day in Fuyuki, and we're starting off with a weather report from our weather man Saotome-san—" yeah, the news in the morning sucks…
Sighing, Naruto proceeds to make his way to his bathroom for a light shower. Walking with heavy steps, his eyes are too heavy themselves for him to open completely. Man, so this is what a Nara feels like whenever they wake up huh? If so, then he is glad that he is not one. His respect for his deceased lazy ass friend grows.
Stripping his PJs, he turns on the shower and basks himself in a cold morning shower. His body does not flinch or whatsoever when the cold shower of water hits his skin, as if he is completely numb. He lets himself be covered by the cold sensation of water, until a few minutes later, he turns off the shower and grabs the towel to dry himself with.
A quick wash of his face using soap won't harm him, and his clothes and pants should be in the cabinet in the bathroom. Rubbing soap on his face, he then rinses it clean using tap water and finally drying his face with towel. Opening the cabinet, he pulls out a simple orange t-shirt and a pair of red pants with pockets stitched to it. Now that he is done with his morning hygiene, it is time to head downstairs.
The entrance to the shop downstairs is through a stair from the top floor's balcony, yes the place has a balcony. The stairs goes down and eventually leads to the back of the building. He is the only employee for this bar café—including his clones whom he has taken the time to disguise them as part timers. Their identity does not matter to him, unless if his clones are somehow clumsy enough to trouble a customer.
Opening the back door, he ends up in the kitchen of the bar café. As expected of the kitchen of a bar café, though it may not be as big as those fancy five starred restaurant kitchens, it is still neat, tidy and well maintained for its hygiene and appearance. Now, he does not need trouble with the health inspector; it will suck to know if his business got shut down because of poor maintenance.
"Kage Bunshin."
Uttering those words alone ends up in him having five perfect, solid, corporeal copies of himself in the room. Without instructions given to them, he walks to the bar counter; where he acts as a bartender as well as the master of this place. On the shelf behind the bar are liquors of many brands, types and bottles. There are vodkas, whiskeys, beers, wine, tonic water and common bases for cocktail making. Living as an immortal for so long is boring, he needed a hobby. Turns out, being a bartender is pretty fun, unless if you have to listen to the rambling of forever destined single men and women.
Normally, he would let his clone do the bar cleaning, but this time; he'd like to do it. Maybe this is a set of discipline from his old days that has stuck itself in him. Shinobi training really gets to you… there is also a TV for the bar café area, but to save electricity bills, he won't turn that on unless a customer asks him to; or if it's football season. Why? It's fun seeing people stealing and passing over balls from and to each other, he finds that ridiculously funny.
His meeting with the boy was… unordinary. Well, it would be better to let the whole thing explains itself.
Flashback
He was walking, searching for a place to eat out. One Emiya Shirou had forgotten the most important duty of all times, and that is to buy ingredients for supper. This is a huge mistake for someone like him. Why? Since he has people coming over to his house to mooch off his food, well, at least one of them; the other one is a guest. Today is both a lucky and unlucky day for him, since he didn't have to deal with his moocher who is also his sister figure and it's unlucky because he forgot to buy supper ingredient for supper.
Going to the store and buy them would be the main and only logical thing to do… but… who says that he can't eat out once in a while?
Even people who are good at cooking like him gets bored at eating their own cooking, especially when their moocher keeps on asking for the same food every goddamned day! So this evening, Shirou will eat out and—for once—leave his kitchen!
Wait, he just made himself sound as if he is someone who is useless in everything other than cooking.
"Tch…! Why…?" the reddish orange haired teenager wails in the middle of the street, looking crestfallen and was kneeling on one knee while acting so defeated. "Why…?!"
"Mommy, why is that Onii-chan so sad?"
"Don't stare Hiro, maybe he just got rejected by a girl."
Shirou sighed, today is really a bad day for him. Looking around, he noticed that there are a few places to eat, from family restaurants and cafés. He is not in the mood to deal with noisy and crowded places right now, so a café is probably his best chance of getting rid of this heaviness from his shoulders. Randomly choosing a place, he walked towards one building that had caught his attention. The café is big, perhaps a little too big to be called a café, yet it had this type of atmosphere radiating from it, he couldn't really explain but he was drawn into the place.
The sound of bells ringing signaled his entrance to the café.
"Welcome, a table for one?"
To Shirou's surprise, the café was so quiet that he could hear the man's voice all the way from the bar section without problem. Shirou approached the bar, still a little bit new to the silent and soothing atmosphere that the place had. There are quite a few number of people here too, so it's a surprise that this place wasn't chatty or noisy in the slightest, everyone's just… chill.
"Ah, yeah." Shirou answered the man when he'd walked nearer to the bar. Shirou analyzes the man behind the bar table, and he is surprised to hear him speak fluent Japanese. The man basically screams 'foreigner' to him, his blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin… he had the looks of a foreigner, it almost made him speak in English.
"Then grab a stool and sit boya." Shirou did just that. "So, what can I help ya' with? You're too young for a drink that's for sure, unless you're a rebel like I was when I was your age?"
"N – No, I'd like to order food actually."
The man laughed. "Haha! That's what I thought too." The man reached below the bar to grab what seemed to be the menu of the food and drinks they are serving here. "So, what would you like to order boya?"
Shirou browsed the menu, looking at them and analyzing them. For a café, this place acted and looked more like a bar for some reason. Half of the menu was alcoholic beverage that Shirou could not consume due to him being under aged, and the rest are light meals and specialty drinks. "I'll have the large beef bowl and iced tea, please."
"Coming right up." The man retreats to the back, no doubt the kitchen, and returned a second later with a glass filled with iced tea. "Here you go."
"Thanks."
"So, from your looks, I'd say that you're a student." The man says, striking up conversation while cleaning a drinking glass.
"Yes I am, I'm in my second year of high school."
The blonde man blinks. "Ah, high school… 'never been to one before, too much of a pain for me. But enough about me, your food should be here right about… now." As soon as he said the word 'now', the sound of a small going 'ding!' is heard. "There it is, wait for a while ne?"
The blonde returns to the back again, and returned with a tray and a bowl full of rice and beef. The blonde bartender slides the bowl on the counter to Shirou. "Here you go, one large beef bowl for the hungry boya."
Shirou took the spoon from the small container next to his bowl, and proceeds to dig into his food. "Itadakimasu." He took a spoonful of rice and beef into his mouth, savoring the taste in his tongue. He swallowed. "T – This is…" he trembled, unable to comprehend the taste. "This is delicious!" he began to wolf down all the contents, getting rice on his mouth and cheeks.
"Hmph, kids these days are so hungry and noisy." The blonde mused with a shake of his head, stroking his chin. "There's nothing I can do about that."
For a moment, Shirou stopped what he is doing and blushed in embarrassment. "Hehe…"
At that moment, a waiter comes out from the back and began to whisper into the blonde man's ear. The blonde sighed, looking displeased. "Our cook got burnt and has to be sent to the hospital immediately? Great… just great… and when this place's so packed with people too?"
"I'm afraid so boss…"
"Well, that can't be helped. I'll help out."
"Yes boss."
Shirou watched the brief exchange between the two while taking a sip from his tea. He looked around and was surprised to see the place crowded but still capable of putting up and maintaining its original peaceful and quiet atmosphere. He looked at the blonde, who appears to be in deep thought. One glance at the man's blue eyes told him that he is troubled. Shirou quickly finished the content of his tea, before speaking.
"Um… if you don't mind, I would like to help!"
Both waiter and boss looked at him with confused looks. The blonde was the first one to speak. "Help? But you're a customer boya, I can't make you do that."
"No. I insist, I'd like to help." Shirou stated with determination.
Both men exchanged looks, until the blonde sighed. He then smiled, eyes glinting. "Then I can't say anything if that is what my customer wants, now can I? Alright, let's get cooking boya."
"Shirou."
"Hm?"
"My name, Emiya Shirou."
The blonde smiled. "Aw, now I'll be compelled to tell you mine. My name's Uzumaki Naruto, but you can call me Naruto, Shirou boy."
That night marked the start of a beautiful friendship.
Flashback End
"I've been getting double the customer of what I usually had whenever he comes to help." The whiskered man chuckled. "Hmm… I need to let Shirou-kun come and help me sometimes," he muses. "I hope that nothing bad happens to him after school."
After school
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!"
Emiya Shirou has never cursed so blatantly and many times before. But there is a reason for that, a perfectly good reason! A few moments ago, he was just taking a walk around town; causing him to end up within the school's area and complex. It is a quiet night outside, too quiet, yet it is peaceful. Nothing could go wrong. Wrong.
"Come back here brat! I can't let you live after everything that you've seen!"
To start off, Emiya Shirou is not a normal boy; well, at least when compared to people who do not know of magic. Yes, Emiya Shirou is capable of doing magic, but a shitty one to say the least. Aside from reinforcement magic, one that is slightly below average, the boy is a third rate magus; the bottom most of the tier. Or maybe, he is not even in the tier in the first place. Regardless, his skills in magecraft is only limited to reinforcement.
"Leave me alone! I didn't know that there're people using the school's field for fights!" Shirou shouts back while running, in hopes to lose his pursuer. On his hand is a metal pipe he picked up earlier to be used as a makeshift weapon, of course, he reinforced it earlier; but seeing how fast this spear wielding guy is, he stands no chance against him.
"No can do kiddo! You saw it, you die for it; hyaaah!" the man chasing him lunges toward him at great speed, almost undetectable to the untrained eye. Shirou barely dodged the strike, missing his hair by a few inches; but the striking man is experienced, he reacts immediately and switches his course in an instant to gran Shirou by the collar of his uniform and throwing him to the hallway further.
"Gyaaaah!" the boy screams as he skids on the floor, painfully. His body hurts so much… he should have tried to reinforce it before, now he lacks time to do that. "WHOA!" Shiro, again, barely dodged a strike for him from the man's deadly spear. He uses his reinforced metal pipe to block the incoming attacks, but with every attack the spear guy is giving him, the faster he is striking and the heavier the blow becomes. Gritting his teeth, Shirou ducks underneath a swipe and dashes forward to swipe at the man with his pipe, but it is no match for the man's maddening red spear.
Shirou finds himself at a clear disadvantage, he will die like this.
"Heeeh, impressive considering that you're not dead yet kiddo, tell me; was that magecraft you use, or was it something else, hmm?" the spear guy half asks half taunts, pointing his red spear at the boy.
Gripping his reinforced pole, Shirou refuses to look oppressed; even though he clearly is at this state. "What of it?"
"Nothing." The blue spear guy grins diabolically. "It means that you're the first useless and shitty magus I'll kill." His spear begins to ooze out with red energy, energy so overwhelming that it causes Shirou's very being to demand for retreat. "Don't worry kiddo, I'll make this quick for you." The spear guy begins to take a stance, definitely deadly at this range. Shirou could not do anything other than to brace.
"Take this!"
As soon as the spear is thrust, the spear struck Shirou's heart.
"Hmph. Told you that it'll be quick." The lance wielding man comments as he twirls his huge red spear. "Sorry kid, but you just happened to be in the wrong place and at the wrong time; don't take it personally alright?" with a final smirk, he disappears in blue dusts, leaving the dying boy alone in the hallway.
As Shirou's body grows colder by each passing minute, another presence enters the scene. This time, instead of a spear wielding maniac, it is the white haired dual swordsman who was fighting the spear wielding maniac. On his face is an obvious frown, it is clear that he has no need to hide it. In his eyes are feelings, traces of doubt and disappointment are evident. The sound of frantic footsteps echoes the school's empty hallway, the sounds are sourced to be coming from the stairs.
Not long later, a girl of black and red reaches the scene breathing heavily and sweating. She stares at the lifeless body sprawled face first into the floor, what's more important is the uniform the victim is wearing. That is a male school uniform, so the person is indeed a student, confirming her suspicion.
"Archer! Is he…?"
"See for yourself."
The girl swallows, hard. This is the most dreading thing of being a magus. Lancer has all rights to eliminate this poor soul, since it is a part of the agreement of the participants of the 5th Holy Grail War. No witness. The perfect solution to that would be to kill every witness, making their deaths as a part of the war's 'casualties'. The girl's body grows cold, her muscle tense. But she prepares her body and mind, not wanting to be weak.
"Archer, chase after Lancer, we've at least seen him combat so it'll be a waste if we don't try to figure his master's face."
The white haired man gives the girl a knowing look, before eventually disappearing into dust particles. The girl takes in a deep breath of air, before releasing it. "Rin, this is your responsibility. Face it."
The girl approaches the body, kneeling next to it. "Lancer's spear hit his heart… there is no saving him."
"I'm sorry that it had to be like this… the least I could do is to stay next to you until you pass." But curiosity got the better of her. When Tohsaka Rin moves to inspect the body, her mind screamed. "Oh no… no… no, no, no, no! No…. why…?" warm, unrestrained tears, begin to pour down her face. "No… why must it be you…? You idiot… you dumb idiot!" She hugs the victim's body closer, crying.
"What will I tell her tomorrow? How will I ever bring myself to see her again?" she asks weakly, her voice dry and restrained. Rin quickly dry her tears, making them appear as if they were never there in the first place. She lets go of the body back to the floor, slowly. "There is something… yes, there is something I could do."
Little does little red riding hood knows, if she were to search the boy's uniform, she would find something that will solve problems quicker.
"Eh… Naruto-san, the cup, it's overflowing."
A snap in reality makes him realize the mistake he has made. He looks at the cup that he was supposed to filled coffee with, and yes, it is filled and is currently overflowing with it.
"Oops, sorry there, blacked out all of the sudden…"
"It's fine."
Naruto gazes out to the far window of his bar slash café, a frown slowly forming into place. 'Damned kid… I told you that you should use that thing if you're in trouble.'
Flashback
"Shirou boy, c'mere."
At being called by his part time boss, Shirou abandoned whatever task he is doing—currently mopping—and approaches the rugged blonde man from the front of the counter.
"What is it Naruto?" his boss disliked it if he called him 'Naruto-san' or 'Uzumaki-san', he said that it made him feels old.
The blonde bartender slash boss pulls something out from the bottom of the counter. The item which he pulled out brought great interest in Shirou. It was a dagger, or a knife of some sort with a three pronged blade, a clothed hilt and a circular ring at the end of it. If Shirou was knowledgeable in complex seals, eastern typed seals, then he might just notice something unordinary about the blade.
"Listen to me: it's a big world out there, and with a big world comes bigger trouble. I want you to have this, and before you ask me, no, you do not use this to defend yourself; though it is possible." The blonde man looked deadly serious, whatever traces of humor left his face. "If you are in trouble, I want you to throw this to the ground as hard as you can."
Shirou looked at the blade in awe and confusion. "Why would I throw a weapon away during trouble? That doesn't make sense."
The man smirked, his usual knowing smirk. "Because I'll be there, in a flash."
.
.
.
"Yeah right, that's so uncool Naruto."
"Hehehe… say that now, and maybe later, you'll owe me." He shook his head. "Anyway, you can stop mopping now, go prepare the kitchen; today's rush hour."
Flashback End
The blonde then sighs, shaking his head. "Kids these days… always getting into trouble." He could act now, but he promised himself that he will only act when someone needs him to. Right now, the kid needs him, yes, but he will let this whole thing resume for a little more while and hope that the boy does not die throughout the whole ordeal. But more importantly…
"Just what kind of mess am I going to get myself in this time?"
His lips twist into a deeper frown. "Okay, maybe I should stop jinxing myself. Because I know that it'll be bad for me, real bad…"
Shirou's head is a mess.
His head hurts, his body hurts, hell, every part of his body hurts like hell!
The bleeding auburn haired boy groans himself to consciousness, feeling his vision regaining, albeit slowly and shakily. He forces his body to lift himself up, but unable to do so immediately due to the numbness and pain he is feeling coursing through him. He makes it to his knees, using the nearby wall for support. He winces in pain as he grits his teeth to hold it in, his chest was bleeding… it is no longer bleeding but the pain is still there alright.
That blue tights wearing spear wielding bastard… he'll get him one day, but just not today. Now, he needs medical attention, quick. Shirou makes it his first objective to get out from school, after he is out from the school's perimeter, he will make his way to his house; that is of course easier said than done.
"Hm? Wha… what's this…?" a red gem necklace? Does it belong to someone…? He wonders. Picking it up, he places it inside his uniform's front pocket.
The boy clutches his chest in pain, but groggily limps downstairs. As he limps his hurting body outside of the school, he could feel his head ringing. What was it that saved him? Was there someone else? Questions will not get answered in this manner… he needs to get out from here, quick. The boy manages to exit the school's property, finally outside, and feeling his body no longer in a pained state as before, he starts to make a run for it to his house. Whatever it is he is feeling right now, it's bad.
But dammit! His house is still quite a way from here, he won't be able to make it there in one piece if that blue tights spear wielding bastard appears again!
"Better take the alleyways…!" he speaks to no one in particular but himself.
The auburn haired boy makes it to his house, tired, bloody and hurting. It took a lot of effort to just make it to the front door, so as soon as he reaches his living room, he falls to the tatami mat floor. He pants heavily, his breathing strangely rigid.
"I'm alive… no… I was dead." He makes sure to touch the bloody wound on his chest, right where his heart is at. He winces at the small searing pain. "But here I am, alive. There was someone…" he recalls his memory, but still unable to identify his savior. "someone who came along and saved me. Who… was it? The least I could do is thank them…"
A moment of silence passes by, giving a rather eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere for Shirou to dwell in.
"And those two… the blue and red guys… they were fighting, but who on earth fought like that?" he wanders to himself, confused.
"Those who are good at what they're doing apparently."
Shirou barely dodges it. He saw it coming, a familiar and ever dreaded red spear along with the man in blue who wields it. The boy had exactly a second to dodge the stab, he rolls away to safety, finding space on the other side of the room. He glares warily over the spear wielding man, a roll of poster in his hand as a weapon. He did it without thinking, how can a roll of paper beat that spear of his?
Lancer pulls his spear from the mat, resting it on his shoulder. With a tired but cocky smile, he shakes his head. "Maah… I was trying to be nice, figured that it won't hurt as much if you didn't saw it coming…" he flicks his gaze to the auburn haired teen. "Now I have to kill the same kid twice in the same day…" twirling his spear, he gets into a stance, a stabbing one. "Looks like the world is still as I used to remember it, bloody and hard."
"Trace on." It was nothing but a whisper, but regardless, it does what it is supposed to do. Shirou's makeshift weapon, the roll of poster, is then highlighted with green lines in vertical patterns. His hands too, the palms more noticeably.
Lancer blinks twice, before realizing what the boy had done. "Make sure you die for good this time, kid." He makes his move, slowly.
Shirou reacts by distancing himself away from the spear wielding man. "Strengthening component materials…" he whispers, adding whatever mana he has in him.
Lancer moves to thrust his spear and when he did, the spear strayed away from its original target being Shirou's body, but not by leaving a gash on the boy's arm. What caused this is the paper, it has somehow gained the sturdiness and strength similar to that of a harder material, like metal. Shirou winces at the pain, but this is nothing.
Lancer lowers his spear, a little intrigued at the display. "Hooh? That's an odd technique you got there kid. Heh, it's faint but I sensed mana in that. Maybe that's the reason as to why you're still alive even after I skewered your heart. This might be fun, after all." He raises his spear, thrusting one more time.
Shirou deflects the thrust, and he almost and barely manages to deflect the follow up one. The battle is forcing him outside, which is both a good and bad thing for him. It's good because he would have more space to dodge, it's bad because Lancer will have more space to attack him with. Regardless, staying here is no good. So he retreats to the veranda, and smashes his way out to the backyard through the window.
Thank God for incredibly thin windows… that or his head is extremely hard. Maybe the second one.
But as soon as he touches the ground, Shirou is not given any chance to gather himself; no. Lancer's foot is too quick for him. A well placed kick to the sides launched Shirou all the way to the other end of the yard, all the way near the storage shed of the house. Shirou gags but is unable to scream, the kick was strong, so strong that it causes every air in his lungs to burst out from his mouth. Cursing under his breath, Shirou retreats inside the shed in hopes of increasing his odds there.
Lancer, seeing the boy's action, cannot help but click his tongue. "If you're a man then at least face me…"
Shirou scurries to his feet, planning on getting himself deeper into the shed. But Lancer is too quick for him, however, Shirou is quite quick and lucky too. Just as Lancer manages to reach within a range where he could harm Shirou, his spear struck nothing but magic reinforced paper, which disintegrate upon contact due to Lancer's spear being harder and sharper.
"This is kid, no more running. Still, what you did there is impressive; can't say I expect that." Lancer throws in his compliments. "But too bad eh? You're going to die here, you know how to use magic too; shitty, but it's still magic. Maybe… maybe you're meant to be the seventh. Oh well, regardless, you'll die here kid."
'No…! This… I can't allow this! I was saved before, so I'm not going to die now!' the boy gathers every single bit of courage and magic he has in him, clutching his heart to feel the bitter and searing pain. He gives Lancer a furious and determined look, unwavering and strong. "I can't die here… I can't!" he slams his hands to the ground, and what happens next, is completely shocking; to Lancer at least.
"You…! You really are—!" Lancer has no time for getting surprised. An invincible force struck his spear, preventing it from reaching the boy. Another one follows, sending the servant of the spear skidding away from the shed and outside.
Shirou groggily rubs his eyes, unable to comprehend what he is seeing.
"You, are you my master?"
A girl's voice… young.
When Shirou opens his eyes, he came face to face with a girl of blue and gold.
He decides to close the shop early tonight, for obvious reasons. Whoever it is that is currently fighting out there is so bad at minimizing their presence to a point where it is easy for him to detect and predict every single movement that they will make with Sage Mode. But there is something troubling… this energy he is feeling, it is not chakra, nor is it something familiar to him. Sage Mode enhances all of his senses, making him more sensitive to sudden energy bursts and the likes; especially foreign energy since his receptors will pick up foreign energies faster than they do to chakra.
Yet again, he could always be wrong. Whatever this constant burst of energy he is feeling, it is nearby and what's troubling, he knows that a certain auburn haired employee of his is involved with whatever mess is making itself out there…
"Oh well, no use in thinking anymore." All he could do is wait, really. He knows that Shirou will eventually use his kunai, even if the boy forgot. No… the boy cannot forget, he cannot. He senses it again, there is a bigger and more sudden spike of energy; as if something irreversible has been done. "Okay, now I'm getting impatient."
There is a ninety percent chance of him being forced to be involved in whatever it is that is transpiring outside, and whatever it is, it is not pretty; nor is he looking forward on participating. But Shirou is involved, sooner or later, that kid will start to drag everyone he knows along with him. He could just ignore him and live his quiet and tranquil life… but if his experience with brewing storms is right, whatever storm that is brewing, will involve him whether he likes it or not.
He is a direct man, and if he is about to get into trouble, then he will at least make it look like he can deal with it perfectly; even if he has to be responsible of a teenage boy with a severe case of PTSD and mental disorder. Really… Emiya Shirou… that boy is unique, too unique even for his liking. If he'd done his research, he is a survivor of a great fire which happened in Fuyuki years ago; he'd seen a few shares of people suffering from survivor's guilt, but none of them takes it to Shirou's level. Nope. That boy seriously thinks that there is no wrong in helping others, even if it will put him in total and obvious danger.
It is a little bit funny, because he knew a boy like that too. But that boy is as good as dead, killed by himself and this one thing called 'growing up'.
But there is one huge difference.
Where Shirou is born from guilt,
That boy was born from sacrifice.
"What's the matter Lancer? Are you afraid?"
Lancer clicks his tongue. "Tch."
The armored girl gazes sharply upon the spear wielding servant, her hands gripped tight on the invisible air within her grasp. "You're acting like a scared dog Lancer, if you're too scared to come to me, then I shall come to you instead." The armored girl readies herself, taking a stance.
Lancer twirls his spear into a defensive stance. This girl is stronger than him, and she could keep up with his incredible speed head on. "Yeah? But before you do that, let me ask you a question. Your Noble Phantasm… is it a sword?"
There is no change in the girl's emotion, instead, she shows a stoic but a rather cocky glare. "Oh, what makes you so confident in stating that it is a sword? It could be an axe, a mace, a polearm," she raises her hands slightly, setting her incoming attack. "or… it could be a bow?"
Lancer smirks, shaking his head. "Hmph, yeah right. Anyway, since you're not kidding right now; I'll get serious myself too. Keep up, Saber."
To Shirou's eyes, it is as if Lancer has disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Saber. But to Saber, someone who has lived so long to be so trained in seeing things moving at such break neck speeds, it was nothing more than a thrust. Saber deflects the incoming strike with her invisible weapon, the sound of metal hitting metals and along with the sparks coming at every contact are the only things that Shirou could see.
Saber is fast, but so is Lancer. Lancer's skill with a spear is deadly, and he has yet to confirm whether or not this girl is truly a Saber. It is easy to tell from her stance alone, hands raised both are gripping on the same thing and her footwork… she must be a Saber. The two exchange blows as if it is the only language they speak. Their individual weapons screech and clang with every contact, every spark they emit quickly flickers away into nonexistence. Lancer's strike is fast, but Saber's hold more power behind hers; overwhelming Lancer in both speed and power, truly, she is someone from the Saber-class.
Lancer leaps away, drawing space between him and the now confirmed Saber. He readies his spear. "Enough playing around now…" his spear glows violently red, it is then enveloped in an even darker and brighter red aura; blazing with fury and the intent to kill. "I'll rip your heart to pieces, Saber!" Lancer disappears again, this time, he reappears in the air, spear aimed towards Saber.
"Gae…!"
Saber readies herself, her invisible blade the same.
"Bolg!"
Gae Bolg rushes faster than the normal could see, it is so fast that Saber could only see a streak of red coming at her. She side stepped, but the blow hits her on the blade, then, something happened. Truly, Gae Bolg is a fearsome Noble Phantasm. The spear that reverses cause and effect… Saber was uninjured, but before she was uninjured, she was already injured. Or for simpler understanding, the moment Lancer utters the spear's name, the spear already hits its target.
But the Saber class is not only famed for their skills with the swords, they are also famous for their incredibly high luck.
Gae Bolg misses her heart, piercing her right above it, near her shoulders and scrapping her armor. Lancer lifts the now struck Saber into the air, throwing her away from him. As expected from a Saber class, she is quick on her feet. She lands with little difficulty, but a bleeding shoulder that needs tending.
"You…" Saber breathes in, feeling the sharp pain starting to get to her. "That spear… the spear that reverses cause and effect… You're Ireland's child of light!"
Lancer breathes heavily, before steadying himself. "That's amazing Saber, you completely dodged by one hit kill attack. It was supposed to be fatal or else it'll be useless in the first place." He lowers his guard, but not visibly. He turns his back to the two observing him. "My master is playing this safe, see? You can follow me…" he then looks, back, giving them a fierce look. "but be prepared to die."
"You're going to just run away, Lancer?"
Yes, yes he is.
Lancer disappears into the night, leaving a messy backyard for Shirou to clean later.
An uncomfortable silence reigned the area, Shirou approaches the maiden, still bloody and bruised himself. "Um… what is going on?" he cannot help but wonder.
Saber turns her focus to him, giving him a confused look. "You are my master, are you not? You summoned me so that you could participate in the war?"
At the mention of 'war', Shirou is wary instantly. "War…? What do you mean?" his eyes then trail to the tattoo like marking on the top of his hand. "And what're these?"
"You are a master, a participant in the Holy Grail War. I am your servant Saber, and that is a command spell. A powerful tool not to be used frequently."
Shirou is still confused, but the least he could do now is to introduce himself. "I am Emiya Shirou… and I have no idea how on earth am I in this kind of mess right now…"
"Emiya…?" Saber utters the name as if she is familiar with it. It is because she is familiar with the name. She looks around, taking in the view of the house.
"This house is my father's… anyway, that's not important, what I want to know is what am I supposed to do now?" he asks.
Instead of answering him, Saber shakes her head. "There is no time for questions, Shirou. Can you heal me?"
"I'm… I'm not that good with complicated magic…" the boy confesses, a little bit embarrassed.
Saber shakes her head again. "This is fine." Her armor replenishes itself, along with the tear on her clothing. "I sensed two foreign presence nearby, I should be able to deal with them even like this." She then jumps to the roof, going after the presence she is sensing right now.
Shirou panicked. "What?! She just—! That idiot…!" he is in no place to say that, but he cannot help but panic at the moment. He chases after Saber, his hand trailing to his pocket. "This…?" as he runs, he feels something strange in his pocket, something cold and hard. He pulls it out. "This is the knife that Naruto gave me…?"
"If you are in trouble, I want you to throw this to the ground as hard as you can."
Shirou grips the kunai, hard. "I'll trust you on this, Naruto."
After a good minute of running later, Shirou manages to reach the source of fighting. And when he sees who the fighters are, he is surprised to see the man in red, the one he saw fighting with Lancer earlier tonight. Saber is currently engaging him, and there is no doubt that she is overwhelming him. But there is something, or someone that catches his attention.
The twintailed girl kneeling in the middle of it all, the girl in red.
"Saber! Stop!" Shirou unconsciously had thrown the knife over at the fighting servants' direction, the knife stuck itself into the ground between the two, just as the two of them are about to clash.
Steel meets steel meets… steel?
Everyone had to register what just happened seconds later than their minds could comprehend. Saber is shocked, Archer is no better, Rin is the same as the previous two but Shirou is more relieved than shocked.
"Oi, oi, oi… Shirou boy… when I said that I'd come when you get yourself in trouble, it doesn't include stopping a fight between two sword wielding warriors, ya'know?"
Both Archer and Saber tries to pull back, but they are unable to. But… it's not like they have to do it anyway.
"Shinra Tensei."
A powerful shockwave sends both Archer and Saber skidding away from the man who casted the technique. Said man stares lazily at the surrounding area, he scratches the bottom of his chin with the identical kunai as the one Shirou had just thrown to the ground. The man's unruly blonde hair billows lightly underneath the night's gentle wind, his tan complexion makes him easier to detect due to the bright shine of the moonlight; that and the orange turtle neck he is wearing right now.
The man gives Shirou an almost bored look, as if being here itself is getting his time wasted for him. Which it really is. "Well Shirou boy?"
Shirou reacts immediately. "I… I – I don't even know what happened, everything's just—!"
There is no warning the blonde man when Archer swoops in with dual blades in hand, but there is no need for a warning anyway. It is quick, forget quick, he does not even move. All he does is to raise his hand, left hand, to break Archer's blade into pieces. This shocked everyone present, especially Shirou for some reason. The blonde man turns to the white haired servant, giving him a rather scolding look.
"Would you mind? I am currently in the middle of a conversation with someone here."
Archer needed not to be told twice, he leaps back, distancing himself from the blonde man. Said blonde crosses his arms, returning his focus to Shirou once again. "So, Shirou boy?"
The auburn haired teen is in too much of a shock to say anything. Which leaves one thing.
The whiskered man sighs deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose in an irate manner. "Well, since no one is going to tell me what on God's unholy earth is happening right now, I think I'll just leave." Just like that, with hands in his pockets, he walks away. "Oh and Shirou, since you didn't come to work today, you'll have to make it to me tomorrow and no reasons, just because you got two of your ribs broken and your heart pierced, doesn't mean that you could ditch work."
He walks away, into the night.
Yeah, as if Rin would let that.
"H – H – H – H – Hold up! You, you blonde ruffian! Hold up!" Rin's warning cry reaches the 'blonde ruffian's' ears.
Said ruffian stops dead in his tracks, turning his body back so that he could face the group of four who are still shocked at his sudden entrance. "Yeah, what do you want girlie?"
"G – Girl—!" a little bit outraged at the way he called her, Rin barely suppressed herself. Instead, she focuses on the more important part. "Who are you?! How did you get here?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I own a bar-café somewhere in town and I'm the kid's boss." 'kid' here is obviously Shirou. "And as to how I get here…" his lips turn into a cunning smirk. "Ever heard the saying that magicians never reveal their tricks?"
"Y – You're a mage?! Who sent you, the Clocktower?"
This time, it Naruto's turn to get confused. "Why would a clocktower send me? What would it do, tick me to work? Anyway, I was just joking girlie, I'm no magician. I'm just a bartender at a bar-café that I own, and I'm here to make sure that my employee of the month didn't get himself killed." He then looks at the auburn haired boy, giving him a rather pitiful look. "You really do have the shittiest of luck, Shirou boy… is this why you haven't hooked up with that kouhai of yours yet?"
"N – Naruto!"
Archer is observing the whole exchange with a cautious mind. Who is this stranger? He is not a mage that's for sure, he cannot detect even a single bit of mana in him… but whoever he is, to be able to brake his two blades Kanshou and Byakuya with his hand and not hurt even a little bit… just what manner of body enhancement technique did he used?
"A – Anyway, you're not supposed to be here! Much less interfere." Tohsaka says. "And what do you mean employee of the month, Emiya-kun doesn't have a job, it's not allowed by the school!"
Shirou looks away.
"You lied to me Shirou boy, I thought—"
"Don't ignore me!" Tohsaka's scream catches Naruto's attention again. And this time, the man decides that it is not the time for games and jokes anymore. "Seriously tell me. You are interfering in a very important ritual right now, and as the rules, no witness is to be allowed."
Shirou swallows hard. He is a witness too! So does that make him… someone who will also die?
Instead of being intimidated in the slightest by the sight of an angry magus girl, a dual wielding sword, and a girl in knight's armor, the blonde man waves his hand in a dismissing gesture. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed shut. That and I plan to drink 'till I forget every single thing that I'm seeing right now, I can give you a guarantee that I'll be only experiencing a very huge hangover the next day and that I won't remember a single thing that ever happened." He blinks. "That is if Shirou boy never talks about it to me."
Rin is unsure, but there is no trusting the stranger. "In any case, I can't let you go just like that. I should kill you, in fact."
Shirou is a little bit surprised at how cold Rin's tone is. "Tohsaka…!"
"Sorry Emiya-kun, but even if he is your boss, I can't just let him walk away after seeing all of this." Archer reappears next to his master, a new set of swords in his grip. Rin too brandishes one of her many gems, readying herself.
Shirou steps forward, planning on solving this without fighting. "H – Hey, can't we just talk this over?"
Saber, too, is more on the fighting side as she readies herself again. It is unclear whether or not this stranger is at her master's side or not, but she believes in her chances.
Naruto raises an eyebrow. "A fight? Aren't all of you tired? Because I can tell that you are. Shirou boy, you're bleeding. The girl with the wind blade, I can smell blood on you. Guy with the two swords, irritation is getting the better of you. And you, red, you're hot headed." He crosses his arms again, looking at Rin with a bored look. "A cloudy head won't make it easier for you."
Regardless, they still charge.
"Haaah… when will they ever learn." He sighs. "Oh well, I'm getting rusty anyway, an exercise is good after all."
Exactly twenty seconds later, all fighting ceased.
The reason?
Naruto.
A/N: Another story from me, and I'm tackling a very different franchise here.
I'll admit, my knowledge over the Fate series is lacking and that I am using the recently released Fate/Stay night UBW anime as a guide for this, so yeah, I guess I'm going in the Unlimited Blade Works route. Anyway, I'm getting older and wiser… probably… so I'm confident that I'll be able to tackle this smoothly.
Hope that this first chapter is to your liking, but please excuse any mistakes, since I am not that very knowledgeable in the Fate series.
This story was originally supposed to have Naruto starring as a servant in it, a Saber classed servant actually, but that is a story for another time. I'm going to take professional suggestion, and by that I mean professional. Criticism on the first chapter is gladly appreciated, if you can spot any and if you would like to suggest ideas—but please no pairings at the moment—feel free to do so in the reviewer's section.
That is all I have to say, have a nice day/night!