Naruto snuck back into the Einzbern castle a few days later...only to be hauled up by a less than amused Berserker on Illya's orders.
Illya was tapping her foot expectantly waiting for his explanation.
"Shiro is willing to talk to you, and I found some allies in taking out the Makiri family. I also found the identity of two Servants for you," said Naruto quickly.
"Start talking and I may allow you to go without having Berserker throw you," she said darkly.
"The Tohsaka heir, Rin Tohsaka, has summoned an Archer class servant like her father did. Shiro has summoned the same one Dad did last time, though how that happened I haven't the foggiest. I sensed an Assassin class on the temple hill, and Shiro had a run-in with Lancer, an Irishman in blue," said Naruto.
Illya growled at him for mentioning Shiro summoning the same Saber servant Kiritsugu had.
"To be fair Illya, dad did try to come back to us, but Grandfather kept him away. According to Shiro dad kept leaving him alone with some civilians for months at a time before his condition grew so bad that he couldn't leave anymore," said Naruto.
"What?" demanded Illya.
"Dad tried to see you again, but Grandfather forbid it. The only reason I even got to see him again was because Zelretch took me here to Fuyuki and we ran into Shiro on the second trip," said Naruto.
"How was father in his last days?" asked Illya, despite her anger at being left all alone with just Naruto after the war.
One idiot heir had even mocked Illya about Irisviel openly in front of Naruto when he was fifteen and about to become Zelretch's official apprentice.
Needless to say that fool didn't live after Naruto, Illya and Acht had gotten through with him, though Naruto had claimed the idiot's circuits as spoils of conquest since he had beaten Illya to the fool first.
No one mocked Irisviel or Illyasviel in front of Naruto and lived. Especially not when they tried to make Illya cry just because her mother was a homunculus and her father hadn't been able to see her before his death.
There was a reason why Naruto's nickname among the family was the Einzbern attack dog. If you pissed him off, or if you had angered the Head of the family by doing something monumentally stupid enough to damage the family name, then your days were numbered and Naruto would claim your magic circuits.
He already had a sizable collection of Mystic Codes in his arsenal.
"Dad was in pain the last time I ever saw him. He told me the Grail had been corrupted during the Third war, and that any wish made on it would be wrecked beyond recognition. I think old man Acht would be happy just knowing that the Einzbern family won this war instead of actually asking for a wish," said Naruto.
"The Grail was what killed him?" asked Illya.
Naruto nodded.
"He said when he had Saber destroy it, something evil spilled out and caused the fire. It apparently wasn't happy with him because it cursed him...he barely had enough circuits to make a decent barrier around that house he left Shiro. He did give me what circuits he had left though," said Naruto.
Illya was happy their father had acknowledged Naruto's skill enough to leave his gun to her older brother. Naruto preferred to keep it a secret weapon, but he always had it on him as a reminder of their father.
Besides, he had yet to find a good reason to actually use the thing as it would eventually spread that he had it if he did.
"And what of our younger adopted sibling?"
"Apparently dad was feeling so relieved that even one person survived being in that fire that he adopted Shiro because he didn't have any family left. I think dad had a habit of taking in strays," shrugged Naruto upside down.
That calmed Illya down, as she vividly remembered how Naruto entered the family to begin with.
"So father adopted him out of mercy instead of leaving him to an orphanage?" she asked.
"Shiro seemed eager to hear anything about Kiritsugu, apparently he was so happy about the adoption that he even took over Dad's original wish, which was to save people without sacrificing them for that greater good tripe," said Naruto.
"You can put him down now Berserker. I've heard enough."
"So you're not going to have him toss me?" asked Naruto with amusement.
"Oh you've earned a punishment, just not something as simple as being thrown by Heracles. Berserker, punt him," said Illya with a smirk.
Naruto paled as Berserker pulled back his right leg and kicked him all the way past the boundary wards, as he screamed "FUUUUUCK!"
Illya laughed evilly. Revenge was sweet.
It took Naruto almost two days to make it back, and he brought a stray back with him. An Enforcer from the Magus Association who had her command seals ripped off.
Bazette apparently had information that had Naruto's interest the second she told him who cut off her right arm.
Apparently the priest, one Kirei Kotomine (former Master of the Assassin class and the only one Kiritsugu had been truly wary of when he entered the war) wasn't as unbiased as he was supposed to be.
In fact, according to Bazette, the man had stolen her Command Spells and taken control of Lancer mere moments after she summoned him, and she barely made it out alive from blood loss.
Illya agreed with Naruto that the information was well worth sparing the woman's life and even giving her a few potions to restore her health.
Considering how the fake priest could have badly blindsided them both with Lancer and a second Servant that Naruto could only assume was in fact Gilgamesh as his death had never been confirmed by Waver, it was well worth the price of a few potions.
Naruto and Caster immediately started to bolster the castle's boundary fields in the event that Gilgamesh attempted to pay them a visit in order to get to Illya. As her status as a Lesser Grail would be well known to Kirei, Naruto was not allowing that empty bastard anywhere near his little sister. He even started adding seals to delay and distract any intruders once chakra was added.
Rin found Naruto a few days after he saved Bazette with news.
"A servant has a massive boundary field around the high school. Judging by how foul it felt, I can only assume a Master is going to drain the entire student body to fuel their servant."
"And what of the Makiri heir?"
"I didn't see any command seals, though the little prick did try to forge an alliance with me earlier," she said in distaste.
If she hadn't heard what really happened to her former sister Sakura in the 'care' of the Matou clan, she might have tried to turn her away from Shiro's house. Instead she tried to keep Sakura far away from Shinji and Zouken so Naruto didn't have to worry about her when he destroyed them and their mansion.
"It can't be Caster, Lancer or Assassin, so that leaves Rider."
"He did have a book with him...seemed a mite overprotective of it, but wasn't smart enough to keep it well out of sight," said Rin.
"No command seals, but he carries an odd book. He must be taking the place of Rider's true Master. I've been researching the Makiri/Matou clan, and they do have in their possession a Mystic Code called the 'Book of the False Attendant' which would allow them to give control over to a fake Master. Chances are Sakura is the true Master of Rider," said Naruto out loud.
Rin looked unhappy with that news.
"What should we do about it?"
"First we'll kill Shinji and have Shiro keep Sakura at his house, far from Zouken. Rider shouldn't be a problem once they know that we intend to end the threat against their true Master," said Naruto.
"And the field?"
"Try to delay it a little until we know more about which Rider Sakura summoned. If confronted, then have Shiro call me and we'll take it out. Shinji is going to die one way or another, the question now is when," said Naruto firmly.
"Good riddance," said Rin.
The only reason she told Naruto about the book was because he was a powerful ally. He had become well known among the Magus community for his tendency to steal parts of family Crests to those who had earned his ire to make his own. Since it was highly doubtful that the head of the Einzbern clan would make the adopted son of the Magus Killer his heir (though strangely enough he hadn't been taken out of the running and was still allowed to call himself Einzbern despite not having the bloodline) Naruto was determined to make his own magical crest. No one had figured out how Naruto learned the spell to remove circuits, as Zelretch certainly hadn't told him. It was well known that Naruto's stash of jewels held most of his stolen 'magical circuits/crests' to be used when needed...or given away to earn the favor of someone else.
Considering he was a force that even Enforcers didn't like to think of crossing, allying herself with him was only strategic planning. The fact he had Caster as his servant was just a major bonus.
She hoped that by getting on his good side he might spare a few magic circuits her way, since rumor had it that he had turned his thirty well-sized circuits into over two hundred and fifty thanks to his pilfering of other mages he killed.
Naruto was about to make a sandwich when his satellite phone went off. He preferred it to a cell because it had better reception in the areas he frequented...and because old man Acht would never allow a cell phone tower in the Einzbern lands.
"Hello? Shiro, what...You have got to be kidding me. I'll be there faster than you can cast a spell," said Naruto seriously.
Why did Rider pick now of all times to activate the damn boundary field over the school?
Naruto whistled loudly, and Caster bounded up with a smile. She was never far from Naruto, to Illya's annoyance.
"What's up?"
"Rider activated the bounded field around the school. Shiro called to ask for help because they are almost overwhelmed."
"Finally some action!" said Caster.
Naruto smiled at her.
They vanished and reappeared at the high school where the air had gone blood red.
"Let's have some fun shall we?"
Naruto took out the skeletons while Caster started stabilizing the students with a minor bounded field through her talismans.
Caster, it seemed, used a similar method to Naruto's use of chakra seals. It only made working with her much easier for Naruto.
Finally they reached Rin, Shiro, Saber and Archer. Rider was standing in front of Shinji, and Naruto looked at him with a particularly bloodthirsty smile.
Shinji, the coward, took one look at the blond and nearly wet himself. Clearly Zouken had not informed his so-called heir that the Einzbern Attack Dog was in the War as Caster's master.
"Shiro, Rin, would you mind allowing me to deal with this piece of filth?" asked Naruto.
Shiro and Rin didn't think twice, and moved out of Naruto's way. He ignored Rider completely and went after Shinji who was so terrified of Naruto that he failed to command Rider to stop him. Naruto closed the little bastard's voice box before he got his wits about him to try.
Rider went back to Sakura upon Shinji's messy death, after Naruto had left fake evidence that Shinji had released some sort of virus to incapacitate the school. Several fake canisters full of dry ice, among other things, and the police wouldn't think twice about the incident.
Naruto waited for Sakura in Shiro's home as she had fled the mansion once she heard Shinji's plans. Shiro and Rin came back to find a terrified Sakura across from a rather annoyed Naruto.
"Came down Sakura! He isn't going to hurt you," said Shiro.
"I heard what he did to Shinji," she said in a bare whisper. She was naturally terrified of the Einzbern Attack Dog, as Shinji had used Naruto as the equivalent of the bogeyman to the girl once they had a name for him at the Clock Tower.
Shinji used to tell her that if she didn't cooperate, he would call Naruto to steal her magic.
"Sakura...Naruto plans to kill off Zouken. He heard about what happened to you from Kiritsugu, his adopted father and he plans to finish what Uncle Kariya started," said Rin quietly.
Naruto looked Sakura dead in the eye.
"I have no plans to harm you...or Rider for that matter. My main concern is to protect Illya and kill off the Makiri family. Grandfather Acht has given me permission to go all out in order to take out that undead scum. Since you were a Tohsaka before you were given to the Matou, I have no reason to come after you."
Sakura shivered at the reminder, which sometimes gave her nightmares.
"Furthermore if we deal with Zouken now, then he won't become an issue once we dismantle the damn Grail once and for all."
"What of the Einzbern head?" asked Sakura quietly.
"All he cares about is us winning the Grail. Once we tell him about why Kiritsugu originally destroyed it in terms he would understand, he shouldn't care about us removing the Grail from existence...though it might be easier to just remake the damn thing altogether if he's that desperate to reach the Root."
Naruto already had a plan for that eventuality. Once Acht was informed the Grail had been corrupted to the point that it could affect the Root, he might be open to the idea of moving it away from Fuyuki and someplace less populated. As long as Naruto stole the original notes to the Servant system, which was what Zouken contributed and convinced Zelretch to reconnect the Throne of Heroes again, he didn't see any real issues.
Now he just had to 'win' the Grail War to butter the old grouch up.
With the assurance that he wouldn't come after her if she stayed far away from the Makiri mansion, Sakura was deftly taken care of by an increasingly worried Rin and a rather dense Shiro. Illya was less than pleased that her brother had left without warning.
"Where have you been?"
"Dealing with Rider and taking out a Matou. I even made Rider a non-issue by insuring her true Master wouldn't be around to witness the destruction of the Matou mansion. Coincidentally would you like to join the fun when we raid that place?"
Illya smirked.
"Explosions are sure to be a guarantee, correct?"
"Absolutely. And Root knows we're going to have to burn the place to insure those damn worms are dealt with permanently."
"Count me in. Grandfather would definitely be pleased if we robbed the Makiri mansion for all their magecraft notes," said Illya.
"Which reminds me, I need to have a little discussion with him. He might be open to us dismantling the thing if we buttered him up first," said Naruto with a smirk.