A/N:

Well, that went surprisingly well. Reading the reviews has been very therapeutic for me, it really has.

We're definitely keeping the 'Meeting of the Kings' scene. However, this story isn't even at episode eight of the anime yet, so that's going to have to wait for a later chapter.

Gilgamesh... Well. I was still kicking myself in the arse for not realizing the unfortunate implications that arise when he takes an interest in something, but now that I look back at it, it would be pretty damn funny to put in an omake, or a Carnival Phantasm version of this story. I should write a Carnival Phantasm style thing, shouldn't I?

Finals are essentially over. We're officially beginning summer. And a part time job. And summer school. Joy. Did I mention it's fucking hot outside? Every day it's going to be triple digit weather, because I happen to live in a desert. Fucking hell. The good news is, I get to stay indoors and write more. :-)

Not much else to talk about this chapter. I'll get to the disclaimer now, before I run my mouth further.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own the Nasuverse. This is for all of you legal types out there. I don't want to engage in some sort of legal debate, so I'm just putting this out there. Don't own anything.

WARNING: OOC (some parts), incomplete understanding of lore(feedback appreciated on this topic: I'll check out the wikis or something later.), obviously AU, and probably some emo-ness/angst going on. I am not a professional. Just putting that out there.

Viewer discretion is advised.

Spoilers for Chapter: Don't read if you haven't read the chapter yet!:

... Goddammit. Really? Is the Amaterasu thing really irritating my reviewers this much? Apparently, I need to re-word some things.

First of all, I am perfectly aware that Jiraya was able to seal Amaterasu (Though I feel like that was a bit of a cop-out: The fire can consume other fire and burn everything... and it gets stopped by a B-ranked seal? Something's wrong here...). However, I feel like I need to clarify some things.

The reason why Naruto needs a specialized seal is so that he can release the Amaterasu, and re-seal it safely. The way I see it, Jiraya's seal could only contain Amaterasu, not release it again. Therefore, Naruto needs to make a seal that is capable of releasing the black fire and re-sealing it, while containing it safely, without any hint of breakage.

Hopefully that clarifies some things. On with the chapter.

Chapter Six: Storming the Fortress (Part Two)

"Katsu."

A cracking sound heralded an explosion that blasted another wooden door off of its hinges. Two suited figures, both blond, walked calmly through the smoke.

Naruto scanned the empty hallway, before relaxing slightly. "Clear. There's nothing here."

Saber scowled. "It seems as if the rat has holed himself up in his den of filth."

Naruto shook his head. "He's a tricky one, a real worm." He paused. "Oh hell no."

There were two passages in front of the duo. Two doors leading to two different locations. One was going to the second floor and the other leading to a basement.

The blond servant sighed. "There are two ways that we can proceed. Or so he wants us to think. Don't you watch scary movies, Zouken? You never split up in the creepy mansion. Bad things happen, every single time." Naruto turned to the door that led upstairs. "Let's go, Saber."

"Yes. Of course." Saber glanced at her master. "By the way, what made you choose the upstairs route?"

"Hmm? I felt like it."

A bead of sweat appeared on Saber's brow, anime style.

"You felt like it...?"

A long silence, before Saber hung her head,

The blond servant sighed, and palmed her face with both of her hands. "Naruto, you act too carefree sometimes..."

"Oi, oi! That's mean!"

"Let's go, Naruto. We have business to attend to." And with that, Saber stormed up the staircase, leaving behind her disgruntled master.

"So cold..."


Meanwhile, the other servants had arrived at the Matou mansion.

Assassin was the first one on the scene, three variants of the servant of silent murder creeping into said mansion. Three male variants, all wearing the iconic white mask, sent by their master Kirei Kotomine. The executor was relaxing at the church, or to be more precise, was trying to relax. To no avail, of course.

Five minutes later, Lancer materialized, and strode confidently into the mansion. For his newly avowed lord, he would eliminate that man that his lord feared.

A while later, a silver-plated bloody knight made its appearance, accompanied by a white-haired woman.

"I can sense other servants here." Irisviel stated quietly.

Avenger harrumphed. "It seems that we're not the only ones present at this debacle. Hmph. Well, it doesn't matter. The more enemies here, the more corpses at the end. Let us go then, Irisviel."

Up on a nearby hillock, Kiritsugu Emiya sighed as he looked at the image of his wife and servant through the scope of his sniper rifle.

"Avenger is being as loud as ever. That's certainly annoying." A burst of static on his radio heralded a message from his companion, Maiya Hisau.

"Kiritsugu. I'm in position."

"Roger that, Maiya. Stay in position until further notice."

"Roger."

The Magus-killer grunted a little and peered through the scope of his rifle once more, scanning for any signs of life in the mansion, and in the area surrounding the mansion.

These servants and masters had all gathered here for one purpose: To kill Naruto Uzumaki. The blond had marked himself as being one of if not the most dangerous masters in the entire war. Going toe to toe against a servant was a serious matter. Especially when it was a Berserker. Add that to the fact that he had unknown, clearly powerful techniques and equipment (A mystic code able to take hits from a Noble Phantasm), and the fact that he was maintaining a servant, but was still able to fight like that...

It really didn't make for a good image.

Naruto was the guy that everybody needed to take out. There was no question about that. Kiritsugu knew now, that Naruto Uzumaki was the real enemy to worry about. He was even more of an enigma than Kirei. He was stronger than Kirei. His servant was also stronger than Kirei's. To put it short, if he didn't eliminate Naruto Uzumaki now, he stood next to no chance of actualizing his dream.

Which is why he was perched on a hill, peering through the scope of a sniper rifle.

The plan was actually quite simple. Avenger and Irisviel would go into the mansion, and flush out Naruto and his servant, Saber. From there, it was simply a matter of getting a good shot off. A bullet to the head would probably kill Kiritsugu's new problem. Failing that...

Kiritsugu looked briefly at an oversized pistol. His mystic code, the Thompson Contender.

Well, there were always back-up plans. It was simply a matter of getting close enough to use them.


Inside of her bedroom, one Sakura Matou could hear strange noises. The sounds of something being destroyed. Blown up? And then there was a strange person's voice, a lady's, as well as another voice.

It was certainly strange. Was her uncle or grandfather entertaining guests, or something?

The voices increased in volume, as if they were moving to a location that was just outside of her room.

"Naruto, you cannot simply destroy every door with explosive tags. Were you not complaining about how difficult it was to make them in the first place?"

"But Saber-"

"No buts. Using that many explosive tags was completely unnecessary. Besides, I believe that this is the right room anyway. Blowing up more doors would be counterproductive."

A loud, protracted sigh. "Fine, fine. You're no fun."

Something tapped on the door of Sakura's bedroom. A few clicking noises from the lock, before the unknown male lost his patience and kicked the door in.

"Naruto!"

"You said no explosive tags! And I suck at picking locks!"

Sakura stared dumbly at the blond-haired blue-eyed man that had kicked the door in, and again at his blond-haired green-eyed female companion. Both were wearing black suits, and both had a professional air around them. What was she supposed to feel? Was she supposed to feel scared, or something? She had lost the ability to scream three days into her 'training'.

"Sakura Matou?" The male figure asked gently.

Sakura nodded.

"Alright. My name's Naruto Uzumaki. How do you do?"

The tiny purple-haired girl was even more confused. Why did this guy care?

Naruto sighed when he noticed that Sakura wasn't responding at all, instead having a vacant look on her face and in her eyes. That was a look of a person who had lost all hope, who could never hope again. Those eyes belonged to victims of some extreme trauma or horror. And those were eyes that should never have belonged on a child.

Those eyes reminded the blond master of his own eyes, in his own childhood.

He tightened his fists, and swore to make that despicable worm pay for destroying a child's innocence. And he swore to see that little girl safe and sound, away from this creepy mansion.

"Kariya Matou sent me to get you out of here."

"Uncle Kariya? He sent you?"

"Yeah. Are you coming with us?"

Sakura paused. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

The blond frowned. "You really don't. But your uncle sent me to get you out of this hell-hole. I can't promise that I'm telling the truth, but-"

"Alright. I'll go." Sakura said quietly. "But... Grandfather won't let me go. Don't you know? You can't oppose Grandfather."

Naruto kneeled and placed a hand on Sakura's head. "Don't worry about that old worm. We'll get you out of here, and you'll be back with your uncle soon."

"... Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Sakura nodded, the tiny girl getting up from her bed. Her situation couldn't get shittier, could it? Besides, what did she have to lose? No, she'd go with this man, because he said he was sent by Uncle Kariya, and Uncle Kariya was a good man.

Saber spun around, and donned her dress and armor. "Naruto."

"I know. We have company. Well then... We're leaving."


The first enemies that the group encountered were Assassins. Servant Assassin.

A blade embedded itself in the wall as Naruto dodged a lunge by a black-clad figure.

"Naruto!" Saber's cried out.

The blond dodged another lunge, before speeding forward and hitting the figure in the chest with the palm of his hand.

A wheezing gurgle emitted from the Assassin, before it toppled to the ground, dead. It dissolved into tiny particles shortly afterwards, leaving behind a small, short tri-pronged knife.

"Something's off. That was Assassin, but Assassin was supposedly killed on the first night. Clearly, something's off about that, hmm?"

"So then, that means…"

"The church isn't a safe place. Assassin was the servant of Kirei Kotomine, and Kirei has sought sanctuary in the church. So, he faked Assassin's death as to draw away suspicion. While I would say that is ingenious, he has given the game away. But why? Why would he reveal that Assassin is still in the realm of the living…"

Naruto froze. "Unless he was sure that there would be no one left alive to know that Assassin was still alive. And seeing as Assassin is clearly not dead, and this one looks different…"

"Assassin has the ability to make copies of himself." Saber concluded. "Similar to how you can make clones of yourself then."

The blond sighed, and picked up the kunai, before re-sheathing it in his sleeve. "Keep your guard up then. Kirei Kotomine, from all reports, is not a stupid man. He wouldn't have sent in just one version of his servant to deal with us, especially after the previous night." The blond then proceeded to grin. "Heh. This is a good thing though… It means that my plan is working. Regardless, our first priority is to get Sakura Matou away from this place."


Kiritsugu Emiya peered through the scope of his rifle once more, checking every possible avenue of escape, like a true professional. Then again, he was a professional.

"Still no sign…" He muttered under his breath. "It's been thirty minutes since Irisviel and Avenger entered the mansion… What's taking so long?"

Personally, Kiritsugu was curious as to why Naruto Uzumaki was even at the Matou mansion. There was no discernable reason as to why he would go to the place. There was nothing of import, there was in fact no reason for Naruto to risk his life like that.

It really didn't matter in the Magus Killer's eyes, but it was still something to think about. Just why was Naruto Uzumaki here in the first place?

He was shaken out of his thoughts when a new figure materialized, appearing in a shine of golden light.

Archer. Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, dressed in expensive looking modern clothing, extremely shiny golden jewelry, and an extremely arrogant and conceited smirk.

"… Shit." Kiritsugu uttered. "Maiya-"

"I see him. Kiritsugu. What do we do?"

The Magus Killer cursed mentally. He expected other masters and servants to show up, but Archer? While expected, it was still an unwelcome occurrence. Kiritsugu's anxiety was only compounded when the golden servant looked in his direction and smirked haughtily.

Shit. That guy know that I'm here, and he knows that I know that he knows that I'm here… What do I do, what do I do…

The Magus Killer breathed a sigh of relief when the servant looked away, clearly uninterested by his presence now.

Why on earth is that guy here?

Gilgamesh was highly amused at the sudden anxiety that Kiritsugu was exhibiting when he looked at the master. His presence was annoying, but he thought it funny when he scared the crap out of the Magus Killer. The Magus Killer's reaction brought much amusement to the King of Heroes, indeed it did. Enough to tolerate his annoyance, for now.

Yeah, he's a troll.

The servant pulled out a golden chair from his Gate of Babylon, and sat down, holding a golden cup filled with wine in his right hand. Essentially, acting the part of the indifferent monarch, while he waited for the source of his interest to reveal itself.

"Are you going to entertain me again, mongrel? Regardless, this should prove to be quite interesting… Show me. Show me the power that has drawn my attention."


"Fuck!" Naruto cursed as he dodged another strike to the stomach, before retaliating with a savage uppercut, hitting the would-be assassin in the jaw and sending him reeling.

A swift knife to the heart ended his life shortly afterwards.

That had been the second attempt on his life since he had entered the mansion. Inwardly, Naruto frowned at the attempts. They seemed...

"Saber. Don't you feel as if something is off?"

"Naruto?"

"Assassin is the master of the silent kill. The knives that that guy used were meant for mid to long range combat. Same with the weapons of the one before him. Don't you think it's odd that he would engage in close combat like that, when he's clearly unsuited for it?"

"Now that you mention it... Do you think that Assassin's master is gathering information?"

"Yeah, that's probably it. He's testing us... Testing the waters so to speak. To see how we would react to these unexpected attacks. The third time will be the determining attack. That's when he'll fight seriously. We had best leave before that happens." Naruto scooped up Sakura, who had been wandering aimlessly about behind the pair. "Alright then, up you go. We're getting out of here, now."

The trio continued trudging their way through the sinister mansion, senses alert for any more confrontations now that Assassin's presence had been noted. Tensions were running at an all time high. Naruto knew better than the rest, the type of things that could lurk in the dark. He had been trained as a Shinobi after all, he used to be an assassin by trade. He knew that the shadows could hide many things, all of them unsavory.

Eventually, the group reached the burned out remnants of the main entrance. Sakura noted the destruction that some explosion had caused. Shattered glass, broken wood, the doors were stuck in the walls and-

"Is that uncle Byakuya?" She asked curiously. "What happened to him?"

Indeed, the blue-haired man was still on the ground, curled in the fetal position. His face was blue and he was frothing slightly at the mouth. The cause of his immediate discomfort was probably the giant 'splinter' of wood stuck in his crotch, that was actually more akin to a fucking stake.

He wasn't in a good way.

"Hmm? Ah, that guy? Er... He was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And I may have overdid it with the explosions."

"Oh." Sakura wrinkled her nose slightly. "He smells bad. Really bad." Coming from a girl who has spent time in a worm pit, one could imagine just what would smell bad to her.

Naruto paused. "Eugh. He must have crapped himself after getting shot in the balls. That and he's drunk as sin."

Saber sighed. "We might as well leave him here. He seems to be healthy at the very least."

It was just a few more steps to the ruined doorway. A few more steps, and then Sakura and her rescuers could say good-bye to the accursed, twisted mansion. Unfortunately, fate had decided to give our protagonists the middle finger.

Metal rang out, armored boots striking the stone floor.

"I didn't think that I'd see you this soon, Father. What a pleasant surprise."

Naruto bit back a curse. This was the one opponent that he'd really rather not face, and the one person that could potentially derail his plan.

"Avenger." Saber stated coolly. "I should have known..."

"Enough talk, Arthur. Let us settle our differences, once and for all."

Saber scowled, and pointed the tip of her invisible blade at her wayward 'son'. "I do not wish to fight you, Mordred. My priority right now is making sure that that girl is rescued. Step aside, before I force you to step aside."

"We both know what my answer is going to be."

Saber sighed. "Very well then. Naruto-"

"On it, Saber. You can handle Avenger, can't you?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll leave you to it then." He turned to leave, carrying the little purple-haired girl in his arms, before stopping a few feet from the doorway. "Saber. Win."

"Of course, Naruto."

The blond gave his servant a slight nod, before vanishing into the night.

Saber sighed and turned back to her opponent. "You're not going after him?"

Mordred snorted. "No, of course not. My quarrel is with you, Arthur. I care not for a mere human. Now... Let us fight. Let our swords speak rather than our tongues."

"So mote it be."


Naruto took a deep breath of air as he exited the blasted out remnants of the main entrance of the Matou mansion.

Sakura could scarcely believe it. "This is... This is the outside? Does that mean that..."

"You're free." The blond stated quietly. "I told you, didn't I? You'll be with your Uncle soon."

"But what about..."

"Your 'Grandfather'?" At this, Naruto gained a completely sadistic smirk. "That should be taken care of, shortly."

Line break

When Zouken Matou felt the wards on his mansion go down, he knew that something serious was going on. More so when he saw that strange new upstart master blow his front door to pieces.

Truth be told, he viewed the blond master as nothing more than a slight annoyance, and an opportunity. From what he could glean from his worms, the idiot had made a deal with his idiotic 'nephew'. How foolish.

Apparently, his objective was the rescue of his 'Granddaughter' Sakura. Zouken, the old worm, laughed at this. Apparently, this Naruto Uzumaki was one of those noble, well-intentioned, goody-two-shoed chumps. That meant that he would be easy to manipulate. All he had to do was-

"You know, you disgusted me the first time we met. Did you know that, Zouken-bastard?"

What.

The worm-loving man spun around, to find himself face to face with the object of his plotting, Naruto Uzumaki. The blond man flashed a cheesy grin and made a V symbol with his index and middle fingers on his right hand.

"Yo!"

"How the fu- How did you get in here? You left! I sensed you leaving!" Zouken cried out hysterically, clearly shocked by this turn of events. The fact that he couldn't even sense the blond's presence was truly disturbing. Was it some bastardized form of Presence Concealment or something? Regardless, he had a potential enemy within his inner sanctum now, and that surprised him more than anything.

"Ah, you don't need to know that. Dead men don't need to know just what I'm capable of."

Zouken sneered. "Do you honestly think that you can kill me? You're welcome to try." He blustered, regaining some of his previous bravado. He was basically indestructible, wasn't he? Yeah, as long as his soul was tied to his familiars, he was nigh un-killable by normal means.

Naruto sighed, obviously annoyed. "The problem I have is that you actually did horrible, horrible things to your family. That's unacceptable. Zouken Matou, for the crime of using your kin to advance your own selfish goals, I pass judgement on you. The punishment is death." The blond proceeded to look positively evil, and Zouken had to take a step back at the sheer presence that he was exhibiting. It was absolutely terrifying, like some great predator that had cornered a shivering rat. And said predator was going for the kill. This wasn't intent to kill, it was more like certainty that he would die.

"You... You can't kill me..." Zouken sputtered out. All his bravado was gone, vanished in the presence of such a diabolical being. Naruto, to put it bluntly, wasn't a nice guy, or the easy-going man like Zouken had thought he was.

Naruto, in that moment, was fucking evil.

"You know, it's idiots like you that annoy me to no end." Naruto replied calmly. "Ah, why am I even speaking to you? Just die." He pulled out a piece of paper, innocent looking, if not for all of the intricate seal-work on said paper.

"Oh, I know about how you've tied your essence to those familiars." Zouken froze. "Didn't you know though? If all of your familiars die, then you die. And I know for a fact that you haven't transplanted the greater portion of your soul into Sakura or Kariya... Yet. I couldn't feel your disgusting essence in either of them. Meaning that you're stuck here. So, all I have to do is kill all of the worms that are inside the mansion."

"You... You can't do that! It's impossible! You're bluffing!"

"The word 'impossible' isn't in my dictionary. Sorry about that..." And with that, Naruto placed the seal on the floor and channeled a tiny amount of od into it, almost minuscule really.

The tiny piece of paper fizzled slightly.

"What did that-"

It then proceeded to explode into black flame. Pitch black flame, extremely demonic looking, and incredibly hot to the touch. The black hellfire, which consumed all that it touched, be it floorboards, walls... Even the decrepit body of Zouken himself.

The old ancestor of the Matou family proceeded to scream in agony, as he felt his familiars burn and burn. To his horror, he realized that his body wasn't regenerating from the flames, the impossibly black flame was simply burning and burning, consuming all that it touched in its implacable maw.

"Some trivia for how you're going to die. That's Amaterasu, the black flames from hell said to be as hot as the sun. It's unquenchable, and it burns for seven days and seven nights, until whatever it touches has been completely burned to ashes. Complete destruction."

Several more thumps indicated that more of these seals had been set off at various points in the mansion, including the worm pit. Zouken continued screaming in agony as he felt his familiars continue to die, be turned to ashes by this fire of damnation, and those same ashes be reduced to nothing but molecules in the wind.

"You would not believe how difficult it was to get these flames. It was hard, dangerous, and I nearly died fighting the guy that could cast them. Not to mention it was a pain in the ass devising a sealing method that could actually release the flames while containing them safely, and then I couldn't even control them, only contain them. My teacher's seals could only contain Amaterasu, not re-release it, so I had to figure that out from scratch. It was annoying as all hell, but for mass demolition, these tags are ideal. I'm going to have to re-seal them later... Man, that's going to be a pain." Naruto stood up. "Nice meeting you. Sayonara, bastard."

"You-"

"Oh don't worry. The seals that the flames are contained in have automated containment seals. The fire's going to burn in a set area only, before it stops. That set area just happens to be your mansion. Have fun." And with a puff of smoke, the shadow clone vanished, leaving the decrepit old man to die in the conflagration.

Zouken continued screaming as the fire burned. He could still feel parts of him die as his familiars burned, could feel the destruction of his physical body, piece by piece. And to his mounting horror, he realized that he was going to die, he was actually going to die.

"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! No!"

In seven days, the mansion would be nothing but ashes and cinders. By the end of the week, one Zouken Matou would be nothing but dust in the wind. All of his hopes and dreams, his plans of immortality, nothing more than a malevolent specter of the past.

A fitting end for he who played with the lives of others and took pleasure out of the suffering of his own family.

Zouken screamed for the first three days. By the fourth day, he stopped screaming, and was reduced to whimpering. By the fifth day, he lost the ability to speak, to talk, to even scream.

He wasn't allowed to die until the seventh day. On the seventh day, he was finally granted the absolution of death.


Naruto sighed as he received the memories of his shadow clone.

"Yeah, we're going to have to collect those seals... What a pain."

Sakura looked at him questioningly, from where she was walking besides the taller man.

The blond waved away the questioning look. "It's nothing. Just some scum that was just dealt with."

"Oh. Okay."

The golden-haired magus raked a hand through his hair, and mentally gauged the amount of time that had passed. "We should be leaving now. While I am certain that Saber can buy us enough time to get to safety, it would be prudent to get going now."

"How do you know that Saber is going to be safe?"

"Because, she's Saber. That's really it. I have faith in her skills. She won't lose."

"Oh. Okay."

Naruto mentally snarled at Sakura's vacant replies. She was so emotionless and empty, and it was really depressing to see that such a tiny girl was so traumatized by her experience with Zouken. It made him feel glad that he knew for a fact that Zouken would be suffering from pain of the highest magnitude for the next week.

It really should have been over by now. There should have been no more conflict. He was outside of the mansion. He had saved Sakura Matou, and he was making his way home. Saber would be following shortly.

Then he saw Lancer, the handsome man standing about ten meters away from him, spears in hand.

Naruto smiled. It seemed as if part two of his plan would be carried out after all.

Part one: Rescue Sakura Matou and kill Zouken Matou, through a smash and grab type entry. In and out, as quickly as possible.

Part two: Undoubtedly there would be other masters that would use this opportunity to take out a very large threat. Therefore, in the process of rescuing Sakura...

Naruto took his hands out of his pockets.

Step two:...

The blond knew that there would be others who would jump on this chance to eliminate him. It was what he himself would have done, after all.

"I'm sorry about this, but my lord has ordered me to eliminate you." Lancer stated apologetically.

Naruto raised a hand. "Don't apologize. Just fight me. Now is not the time of words. Are you going to fight me or not?"

The spear-wielding servant steeled himself. "Very well then. I, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, challenge you, Naruto Uzumaki, to an honorable duel. Do you accept?"

The blond turned to his smaller companion. "Sakura, why don't you go wait over there? I'll be done shortly."

Sakura nodded and moved away from the site of the impending confrontation, sitting on a nearby boulder.

"Well then, it seems that I have to stomp some ass today." Naruto muttered, before smiling. "How exciting."

Lancer shook his head slightly. "If you had trouble fighting Berserker, then I doubt that you would last very long against me were I to go all out. Are you still certain that you wish to fight me?"

Naruto scowled. "Oi, oi. Are you looking down on me?"

"From what I have seen, your speed and strength, while certainly above that of a normal magus and human, is more akin to a lower classed servant's speed and strength. Certainly not anything that could match mine. It is not honorable to face such an outclassed opponent."

The blond grinned even more, confusing the servant of the Lance.

"What is this? Why are you smiling?"

"Ah, so you underestimate me? Good, good... Glad to see that's working. Sorry about this, but your misconceptions about my strength... I'll simply have to break your rigidness. Two things, Lancer. First of all, I had underestimated Berserker. I misjudged his strength, and I paid dearly for it. The second... Did you honestly think that I was going all out on the first night?"

In a distant clearing, far from Zouken's mansion, a set of two clones meditated, gathering in the natural energy of the world. With a puff of smoke, one of the clones vanished.

The blond magus zoomed forth, emerging directly in front of Lancer and taking a fighting stance, much to the servant's shock.

Fast! He's fast! What in the- he didn't exhibit this kind of speed before! Was he-

A punch to the stomach blasted the man back, sending him tumbling and rolling for a ten meters, before he righted himself.

What is this? That's absolutely monstrous!

"Get up, Lancer. You wanted a duel, didn't you? I'm not going to hold back on you."

Naruto's two part plan went something like this.

Part One: Rescue Sakura Matou and kill the old bastard.

Part Two: Eliminate the other servants that have severely misjudged my capabilities in the process of rescuing Sakura Matou.

Those were his two objectives. The rescuing of an innocent girl, and the elimination of potential enemies. He had finished part one, and was enacting part two right now.

Lancer stood up shakily with a short cough. That one punch had actually done severe damage to his body. It could not be compared to Naruto's previous strength. If Naruto's punches from before could shatter cinderblocks, his current punches were completely capable of pulverizing the cinderblocks, returning them to their base components.

Punches like those hurt, even if you were a heroic spirit. Also, Lancer wasn't wearing armor. Therefore, there was absolutely nothing that could have taken the brunt of the blow.

Such speed and strength was completely unexpected. The spear-wielding servant tsked slightly, knowing full well that he had misjudged his enemy and had paid dearly for his mistake.

"It seems that this battle will not be as simple as I had originally thought."

A/N:

Sigh... I tried, guys, I really did. Unfortunately, this was the end result. Another short chapter, sadly. Sorry about that.

So, we have Sage Mode come into play. Yeah. Sage Mode does buff speed and strength by a pretty significant margin. At least, that's what the wiki says. It's the difference between hurting a man and killing a man. Pretty large. And as we can see, Sage Mode is a mega-buff for Naruto. Had he used it on the first night, he probably would have been able to fight more evenly with Berserker. It would have been a close thing when you factor Mad Enhancement and Berserker's martial skill into the equation, but Naruto would have beaten Berserker. He wasn't prepared to use Sage Mode, he didn't think he needed it, and he ended up paying dearly for that mistake. Now that he knows though... Hoo boy. We haven't even seen a Rasenshuriken come into play yet... Fingers crossed on that one.

Yeah, Zouken's in some deep shit. Amaterasu is nothing to joke about. In this fic Zouken hasn't transplanted his heart yet. I think that he hadn't yet in the canon for Fate/Zero, but I could be wrong. If I am, correct me please, but in this fic... Nope.

Shameless advertising: I have a forum now for challenges and the like. Go check that out, link's on my profile. If you have any ideas that you'd like to see made into reality, PM me.

Arc should be wrapped up in the next couple of chapters. Yay.

I'm probably going to be putting this fic on the shelf for a while, simply because I'm frazzled trying to come up with ideas. It's becoming less and less fun really, and I get the feeling that the quality is going downhill. So, I'm going to be focusing on other ideas for now, until my muse comes back. I'm not going to be abandoning or putting this fic on hiatus, it's just a temporary pause so I can regain my bearings.

And once again, criticism is really, really appreciated. Like extremely appreciated. It's so that I know whether or not I'm doing something idiotic. I find myself being more stupid than usual lately. So please tell me what I'm doing wrong, and how I can rectify my mistakes.

Summer school begins in a week. Fingers crossed. Until then, I have been Rein Hellfire. And this has been Fate:Zero Hour Redux. And I'll see you guys... Next time.

Peace out, girl scouts.

Update 1:

Yes, I did have that scene when Jiraya seals Amaterasu in mind. I knew that you could seal Amaterasu, though I am really surprised no one thought about that sooner. Why? Because Uchiha is OP. I'll shut up and stop ranting now.

Update 2:

Thank you Serfius. Edited.