The Lost Kunai (Naruto x Fate-Stay Night)
Disclaimer: This story is fiction. All the characters, names and places belong to their respective owners.
It has been a while. Sorry about that, I just have plenty of other stuff to do in real life. I do enjoy writing somewhat when I'm on a roll, but getting started is kind of difficult for me. Anyway, the Prologue Arc ended a while back so we're going to the next arc of the storyline!
=[Walpurgis Night]=
Scouting Mission
It was peculiar for him, at least, to be here in this place; a country that used his native tongue. The language was called Japanese as he'd learnt. The world that he came from did not have such distinction between languages as there was only a universal spoken and written form. When he was summoned those months ago, the Grail had upgraded his vocabulary without his consent to include his master's native tongue. Fortunately, Illyasviel von Einzbern had great comprehension for the Japanese language as she spent most of her childhood in Japan during the Fourth Holy War, allowing him to be more comfortable using his own speeches.
"Maybe I'm feeling a bit homesick?" Naruto questioned himself as he passed through the cheerful and busy bodies going about. Moderately paved streets and roads with countless building adoring both sides while multitude skyscrapers towering uncontested in the distance. Wealth of information about the world, granted by the Grail, was one thing, but experiencing it himself was another. For him, it was a nice change of scenery from the secluded Einzbern's ancestral home in the mountain in snowy Germany.
A few days had gone by since they arrived here in Japan using the national airline as it was the fastest way to travel between continents. It was quite shocking to the Shinobi that thousands tons of metal could be flying in the air without the aid of chakra or magic. The trip across the vast ocean was quite unnerving to a certain fearless Sage as he constantly pondering when the contraption was going to fail and drop from the sky. The long train ride that followed was another disconcerting experience, but thankfully, the locomotive was grounded so he wasn't too worried about his master's safety.
It then took nearly four hours by foot for one Master and one Servant to travel from the virgin forest, or rather mountain range, on the outskirt of Fuyuki City to their final destination. There was no actual road cutting through the sea of trees as the landowners, the Eizenberns, refused to develop the area, making the strolling through the murky forest a bit disturbing as it was very easy for one to lose all sense of directions. The lack of sunlight and chilling misty air infected the surrounding trees seemed only to further amplify the existing dreary atmosphere. No wonder this area was a subject to many ghost stories like those about the illusionary castle attended by phantom maid sisters, whose names were actually Leysritt and Sella. Both were homunculus created by the Einzbern family to serve as a maid, bodyguard, and caregiver Illyasviel.
Naruto chuckled at how close to the truth the stories were as he stood before the front gate of the local high school, Homurahara Academy. His original attire, consisting the black shirt, dark orange long pant, and red coat with black pattern along the hemline, was replaced with a more befitting wear in order to blend in via the usage of transformation jutsu, Henge. After checking and approving the amount of prana it drained from his diminishing reserve to maintain the technique, Naruto passed through the school's outer gate and onto the emptied ground as the sun continued its descent, shifting the world into late evening. He hastily made his way into the incoming building in order to continue his scouting of a certain individual against his master's wishes.
Whoosh…. Screech… Boom… Whack…
The sounds of combat refocused his attention from Shirou Emiya, who stayed behind long after all the students had gone home for the day. Leaves descended from their swirling path around his body as he crouched down away from view on the rooftop and suppressed his presence while Shirou spied around the building corner below. The Sage's hawk-like blue eyes narrowed at the two combatants engaging in a death match from the distance. The blue haired individual in deep ultramarine full body tights covered in runic protections, using a lance as a primary weapon, was immediately equated as Lancer. Lancer's dual-wielding opponent could be Saber, but those deadly blades look more like meat cleavers than actual swords.
"Seems like the fierce battle has been going for a while," Naruto muttered lowly, rubbing his chin in thought while his mind remember all the rules he had to follow. He knew that he would have to stake out his competitions eventually in order to improve his odd of winning, but he didn't expect it was this soon as the seventh master had not been found yet. This was all according to the current Grail War's overseer, Kirei Kotomine. It was quite disturbing meeting that man as only the feeling of hollowness could be felt from him.
"And here I thought we all have to follow the rule of engagement? Is that just me?"
With a cracking sound from a branch, Naruto's ears twitched while Lancer's eyes snapped to the unwelcomed spectator. Without any pause, a lance strike pierced through the corner wall with little effort. The blow narrowly missed its intended target.
"Ahhh…" Shirou was surprise by the attack while Naruto frowned from hiding spot as he contemplated his next logical action. He knew that magic must be kept a secret along with the knowledge of the Holy Grail War to non-magi. Shirou, being adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya, might just be an ordinary human and thus must be eliminated to preserve that secret. Naruto, as a person, didn't like that rule one bit, but as a war veteran, he knew the rule was there to prevent ensuring chaos if magic was known by the general masses.
'No… the hell…?' Shirou thought with dread as his legs began to work. 'What the hell is this…?' He questioned mentally and ran for his life as Naruto watched on from his confortable spot. Without further indecisiveness, the Sage's hand gripped tightly around a Kunai he just unsealed, readying to render aid without revealing his location, but Lancer had vanished from view like a ghost when Naruto tried to locate him.
'Tsk… spiritual form…' Naruto cursed mentally, still holding the weapon in a throwing gesture. That ability was one of the things he could not do. Servants can switch between Spiritual Body and Material Body at will as true to the second part of their name, Heroic Spirits. While in spiritual form, they cannot be easily detected by enemies due to being invisible to the naked eye and most forms of scrying or affected by physical interference. They can travel where they please without being impeded by walls, but they also cannot carry anything in that state. It was an incredible useful ability, but Naruto was a unique case as he was unable to utilize it. He was not a spirit in a sense as he did not reside in Throne of Heroes.
With a subtle movement, Naruto was about to chase after Shirou in order to prevent him from being killed by Lancer, but a powerful arrow forced Shinobi to jerk back on reflex with his eyes widened. It was aiming for his head with pinpoint accuracy. His position had been compromised when he determined to stop Lancer, allowing his spiritual presence to be felt briefly by those in the immediate vicinity. Naruto sighed and paid the former dual wielding Servant on ground level some required attention. The silver-haired man now was holding a matte black, western-style straight bow with deadly seriousness in his eyes.
"That kind of precision with an arrow… which class are you? Saber or Archer?" Naruto asked, standing up from his spot to reveal his entire body. He was now backed into his usual attire as his red coat flustered a bit in the gentle breeze. Without much thought, Naruto leaped off the building, landing perfectly on the ground before the two opponents.
'I didn't even notice him,' Rin thought and pondered if it was an ability he used.
"Archer," Archer answered as his eyes narrowed a little at the blond. His memory was still hazy since his summoning by Rin Tohsaka a day ago, but there was something odd and unfamiliar about this person. The blond felt like a Servant from the aura he emitted, but at the same time he was not. "What are you?"
Naruto wanted to return the courtesy by revealing his actual Class, but he wasn't sure which it was. From what he'd leant thus far, his class wasn't Archer or Lancer as there was only one of each in every Holy Grail War. In addition, he could feel powerful magic lingering around the school, indicating Caster might have set up something around the area. Whatever it was doing, he wasn't really sure as his knowledge about magic was pale in comparison to his master, but Servant's magic was distinctively different than that of a magus. Considering all that and by the process of elimination, he could either be Saber, Berserker, Rider or Assassin. Beserker was still the most plausible one from the derange growling he heard in his mindscape occasionally.
"I don't know my exact class until all the Servants appeared. Sorry… but my real name is Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet you, Rin-chan and Archer-san," Naruto greeted politely with a cheerful smile. Ilya-chan will probably scold him later as he was not supposed to reveal himself until she allowed it, but it really hard to have a conversation with others without giving one's proper names.
'What does that mean? A servant, who does not know his own class? And revealing his true name!?' Rin thought. She was a bit stunned at the information that was carelessly divulged. Every Servant summoned should already know their class immediately. Furthermore, true name of a Servant was something vital to battle, as it can reveal much about them like their weakness and prowess through their legend. Most often had their Masters refer to them solely by their class name unless they no longer care. 'So he does not care if people know his true name or it wasn't his real name in the first place?'
As if Naruto was able to read her mind, he answered her mental question: "Doesn't matter if you know my name or not since I'm a unique case myself. Knowing my real name reveal next to nothing about me even if you search through all the recorded history of…" Naruto trailed off that last bit, stopping himself from saying: "of this world". That would give way more information than he liked.
"Really?" Rin asked skeptically as she eyed the blond with suspicion, trying to gauge his expression and failing at it.
"Yes. Now that the introduction is out of the way, I suppose we can get to the real business," Naruto hinted as he sapped much of his remaining prana to summon a black orb in his hand. Truth-Seeking Ball can be molded into many things, making them very versatile in combat. He had only enough power for one, but one was sufficient from his estimation.
With the declaration from the blond, an arrow was launched from his bow at an alarming speed while Rin Tohsaka immediately gave her Servant support with her mastery of magecraft. She knew what the Holy Grail War entitled and there was no reason to hesitate as magical runes appeared on her around her arm and wrist. Naruto grabbed the incoming projectile with one hand while sidestepping and used the orb in his other hand to form a shield before the twin-tailed girl's assault. Rin's magical blasts impacted against the blackened barrier, and the moment they touched the slick onyx surface of the construction, the blasts vanished without the expected explosion.
"What!?" Rin was a bit shocked as the shield reverted back into its previous form. Naruto didn't say anything as there wasn't anything needed to be said during battle, so instead, he wrapped his hand around the orb as it spread outward vertically into a pole a first before forming a black bow similar to his opponent. Using the arrow that Rin's Servant so graciously given him, Naruto returned it in kind with extra. The silver-haired Servant quickly materialized his twin swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, to deflect the incoming arrow with one. However, the arrow weaved around the first sword, evading it like if it had a mind of its own before it was smashed apart by the second sword.
Archer didn't take the time to think about how it was possible for an arrow to change course during flight and rushed toward his opponent. Rin paused and watched from the side, trying to think of way to help her Servant after her failed attack.
Boom!
"Hmmm…" Naruto muttered as he blocked the double strikes with a massive black sword that taking the shape of Kubikiribōchō with a hand at each ends. Kanshou and Bakuya became unstable and shattered in flakes as Archer disengaged and reforming them again with troubled expression before evading a powerful thrust that meant to decapitate him.
'Is that why he did not know what class he is?' Rin thought as she saw the giant broadsword in the blond's hand. He had demonstrated Presence Concealment from Assassin Class by remaining hidden during spying, Marksmanship from Archer Class by bending arrow along the air and now Swordmanship from Saber Class. He was not a novice from the way he handled the broadsword, forcing her Servant to retreat instead of holding his ground like he did against Lancer.
With a prana-empowered step, Naruto propelled himself toward Archer to close the gap in a blink of an eye and did a powerful downward swing with all intention of killing his opponent. The silver-haired Servant evaded it only narrowly by dashing to the side, allowing the heavy broadsword carved up the ground. Naruto then swung the blade to the side without any pause.
Archer was not firmly on the ground yet from his recent maneuver so he defended himself from the incoming strike. Once again, his dual weapons was cracked and shattered on collision even though they were projected perfectly this time, sending him further away. Naruto was about to follow up to finish the disorientated Servant, but a range attack from his blind spot forced him to use the sword flat side to shield himself. Like previously, the magical blast vanished the moment it collided with the weapon, but it procured enough time for Archer to recover from the recent blow and get to a safe distance.
"That is one troublesome Noble Phantasm," Archer admitted as Rin nodded in agreement from a different side. Naruto sighed and scratched his cheek with one hand while the weapon was held firmly with the other. He wasn't at all interest in the girl since his target was Servants, not the Masters. However, he might need to cripple her so she would not interfere with his battle.
"I never heard a Noble Phantasm that can negate all form of magic," Rin claimed, fidgeting jewels in one of her hand. The precious gems were actually containers to store large amount of mana so she could use in combat readily, but against such an opponent, magical attack appeared to be useless. She had figured out the black orb's passive ability the moment her attack failed, and the second time was to distract him long enough for her Servant to get away. Archer, on other hand, also noticed that dangerous ability when his weapons came in contact with that black blade. Since his swords were projected from his imagination and experience through the use of prana. They were magical construct.
"Since you know what it does, there's no way for you to win so surrender," Naruto told them as he twirled the blade in his hand almost playfully. The Truth-Seeking Balls had the power to negate all form of ninjutsu and it extended to all prana construct, including magical spells, the moment he was summoned into this world. Such ability was only realized a month later during one of his limitation test with his master, and he was thankful for the replacement of Chakra by Prana. Any magical objects that came into the orb automatically reverted back into its purer and truer state, thus it gave him quite an unfair advantage against magic user like Caster.
"Surrender? There's only one end," Rin retorted while thinking of ways to get out of their current situation. Archer was not in his best shape, fighting against one Servant after another. Lancer wasn't able to inflict any wound upon her Servant, but the stress of combat did take its toll regardless how brief it was. Now they were up against a far more dangerous Servant, whose class still eluded her.
Naruto rolled his eyes a little. "I mean you no harm, Rin-chan. I'm only interest in your Servant so you can go," he said before doing a shooing motion with his free hand at the black-haired girl as if she was just a incontinence.
"What was that!?" Rin was pissed that the Servant took her so lightly. True that Master could never matched up against Servant's power, but she wasn't some immature magus. She had trained for the better part of the last ten years for a chance to claim the Grail.
"He's right. You attacked him twice now, but he ignored you completely even when you were closest to him," Archer asserted smugly while Rin calmed down a little. When the blond defended her first magical assault, she was closest to him and he could have attacked her then, but instead, he paid his attention toward her Servant, who was much further away. "Maybe he simply doesn't think you as a threat. I'm honored that he's only interested in me, but I don't swing that way."
"Baka!" Rin shouted on reflex as Naruto cracked up a little while placing the massive broadsword on one of his shoulder.
'Damn, that should have been my line,' the Sage thought, scratching the back of his head with the free hand. Granted, he'd walked right into that one, but it was funny nonetheless. "Fine, you can stay, but don't get in the way, Rin-chan." The black Kubikiribōchō distorted before collapsing into itself and forming a much slender blade. With both hands, Naruto did a slanted horizontal slash with the newly formed Katana, forcing Archer to evade by dropping flatly down to the ground. The weapon's sharp edge extended in an instant, bisecting the building further behind the Servant without any hint of resistance.
"That's insane! What kind of Noble Phantasm is that!?" Rin shouted, seeing the building slide off the incline cut and crashed into the ground from her spot. Not only it could take on any form the user desired, it was immune to magic and seemingly cut through everything with minimal effort. Naruto ignored her and continued his assault with vertical slashes while Archer rolled around the ground, evading it as it remodeled the school's ground and any obstacles that came in the way. Rin was miraculously spared during the rampage, however.
Archer finally ran out of room to evade when he bumped against a half collapsed wall. He couldn't block those deadly slashes with his own weapon as it would slice through them effortless. His Noble Phantasm didn't seem to be that effective against this opponent at all as it would simply prevent him from escaping. "I'm going to leave this to you, Master," Archer said almost jokingly as he struggled to evade the killing strike before entering spiritual form and disappearing from the view.
"Bastard! Get out here!" Naruto shouted with annoyance since he still hadn't found an effective way to counter that ability yet. It allowed Servant to escape near death situation if they utilized it correctly. The Sage glared deadly at Rin as he could still feel Archer's presence around him, probably waiting to see what he would do next. Logically, he would attack Rin Tohsaka, forcing her Servant to rematerialize in order to defend her, but he felt his prana reserve was getting very low. Even though he wasn't able to kill Archer, he felt it wasn't a completely loss as he gained some good Intel. At least he knew Lancer, Archer and Caster would be no match for him.
"If my master was here, I might be ordered to kill you, Rin-chan," Naruto said with a devious smile. Rin tensed up as magical rune around her arm glowed even though she knew she would not able to stop him. "Right now, I'm not interested in you at all. Take this precious time to grow a bit more."
"What was that!?" Rin shouted angrily, thinking he was implying something as the blond grinned and exploded in a puff of white smoke without clarifying what he meant. Archer exhaled a breath of relief after the Servant's presence disappeared completely from the area and rematerialized again.
"Any ideas of how to defeat someone like him?" Archer asked as Rin rubbed her temple a little once she calmed down enough. It was good thing that blond Servant had no desire to attack Master directly or this battle would play out very differently. She looked at half demolished school with a sigh afterward and then went to check where Shirou had gone. She found the boy had been impaled through the heart, likely by Lancer, in one of the still undamaged section of the school. He was still alive, barely, as she held onto her glowing ruby colored pendant.
Meanwhile, on the northern end of Fuyuki City, a blond was ransacking a certain household for any useful information. He'd managed to sneak through the protective barrier around the building quite easily with his ability. There weren't many places around the town that had some sort of magical barrier so the places that did were of interest as he was scouting around the town. This place was his master's old home so it was of great interest. He froze up a bit as new set of memory entered his mind.
"Lancer and Archer and possibly Caster… that's three of them in one go. Well, now we know we're strong enough to fight other Servant one on one so the boss could spend his time playing with Ilya-hime," the clone of Naruto muttered softly and sarcastically before shrugging and continued on with his current task.
Author Note:
There are only nine Truth-Seeking Balls regardless of how many clones there are since clones do not actually have their own ones. They can summon their bosses one though. The first night will take several chapters as it tells the story of what happening across the city as well as with Naruto and Ilya. I will try to incorporate all possible routes of Fate/Stay Night with originality, but no promises since some events are mutually exclusive.