Hello! How's life for you folks? I'm doing fine myself, but that doesn't need more explanation, so let's move on.

EllieGmanlovesHalo: I'm sorry, but I'm gonna go with blond hair for Naruto because genetics not because of spiritual influence.

Disclaimer: first chapter

Chapter 9: Once In a Red Moon.

"Sword Knight and Sword Body. Who the hell are you fooling with those aliases?" Kisame hefted his blade in front of him. "Tell your real names, or I'll gut them out of you!" Archer and Saber sported indifferent faces, and soon brandished their blades. They donned their proper outfits, prim and fit for battle. Kisame inspected their battle attire, strange as they were, the Ex-Mist Shinobi had to commend Archer's flexible clothing. He thought that maybe the man was a scout of some type. The other, the boy(?), had an attire any swordsman worth their salt would recognize. The one in red wielded a pair of swords designed like Yin and Yang. The one in blue…held nothing but air. "I demand your names as the swordsman's oath decrees." Saber scowled at Kisame.

"You invoke the oath?" She asked curiously, then lowered her sword. "Then…which of the two of us will you face? My blade is ready to face yours if you desire my skills."

"You!" Kisame snarled. "What's a Knight of the past doing here in the era of Shinobi?! What's more, you speak of a blade, yet you've hidden it's shape and length. I thought the swordsmen of honor would gladly show their blades?"

"You are simply not worthy to gaze upon my sword's magnificence." Saber answered truthfully. Naruto tugged Saber's clothing. She turned to see what her Master wanted.

"Saber…be careful. You too Archer." The Servants listened closely to Naruto's whispered words. The boy pointed towards the sword. "That blade likes to eat Chakra. And because your bodies are fueled…even possibly formed by Chakra…" Saber breathed deeply. Information helped, but if it meant her enemy had the better weapon, did it mean she would lower her sword? She mentally scoffed. The Knight placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. Whatever that meant to the boy didn't show in his facial expression.

"So who will be your opponent?" Saber questioned.

"You." Kisame answered as he pointed to the Knight. "I wish to see how my skills fares against the extinct brand of swordsmen." The man's comment face a small rise towards Saber. Clenched tightly in her grasp, Excalibur's Invisible Air almost desired to unveil the weapon sheath beneath its winds.

"Very well…" Saber poised her sword towards Kisame with her right hand just by her cheek, and her left almost bracing the tip of her sword. "You shall see the strength of Knights!" Saber blurred from sheer speed. With a straightforward motion, Saber thrust her sword at Kisame. The Akatsuki member blocked with the flat of Samehada's hide. Air twisted, curled, bent, and its energy lashed outwards like a thousand whips with power almost equal to a small storm. The criminal immediately felt the force of Saber's strike. He was pushed back, his feet dragged against the ground, and the wind that aided in the action scarred the ground. He had to cement himself to the ground, or he would have been blown away to the water.

"I'm impressed. Your blade is hidden by the very air we breathe. A fascinating technique, if I may say so."

"I'm flattered, but we are in the midst of battle, are we not?" Saber, who held the thrust stance, changed from that to her standard one, where her blade rested by her side and its point pointed towards the ground. She stepped within striking range, and slashed at her enemy. Invisible sword bashed against Samehada's bandages. Another struck from another side. Kisame struggled to continue to keep his guard. Saber strikes were far beyond a normal swordsman's strength should be; hers reminded Kisame of Jinin's strikes with Kabutowari.

'He's a monster! This is at least twice the power of Kabutowari when in conjunction!' Saber flipped grips, and removed Kisame's guard from underneath. 'Damn!' He growled. He grasped what he could of the handle of his sword, then reversed grips. "Take this!" Naruto reached out for Saber, but was held back by Archer. Kisame stabbed his weapon at Saber's body. The woman saw the attack, and guarded against it. The sword went far above her head, but she could feel Invisible Air weathering down as it clashed against Samehada. As the attack finished, bandages unraveled to reveal scales sharpened to the point they're miniature knives on the body. Saber's instinct kicked into high gear. She moved her right shoulder in front of the sneak attack. Her pauldron suffered multiple scratches as the living blade retracted to its master's side. She then sensed another anomaly, then forced herself to dash off to the side as soon as the tip of the sword neared her shoulder.

"…What?" She asked no one.

"S-Ken! Don't let the sword tip near you at all! Look at your armor!" Naruto shouted. Saber inspected her right shoulder, and saw a sight she thought she wouldn't see again. Her armor was damaged to the point it wanted to dissipate into thin air. Thankfully, she was able to fix it instantly. She turned her focus back to her opponent.

"For a swordsman to wield such a unique blade in such fashion rides on the line of breaking the oath." Saber warned.

"The very fact you conceal your blade places you in the same spotlight, Knight." Kisame shot back. "If it weren't for Samehada here tearing through your sheath of air, I wouldn't have truly known if it was a blade or not." Saber's eyes widened.

"You!" Saber wanted to snap, but calmed herself. It would be prudent to maintain composure throughout this battle. She won't know when her enemy would break the rules of the oath. "What did you see?"

Kisame narrowed his eyes, "Relax. I did not see too much." He explained. "I only saw the typical sharp bevels of a double-edged sword you people like to use. Aside from that, I saw no distinct design. Though something tells me the distinct look comes from the hilt of your sword." The woman sighed slightly. Her identity is safe, it seemed to be at the moment. She recalled the name her opponent uttered.

"Samehada…" She said. Whether in awe or fear, Kisame did not wish to know. Saber eyed the sword strangely. The scales gave the sword a strange characteristic fitting for a world ran by assassins for hire. "It's doesn't cut normally as shown by its rather unique design." Her enemy laughed a little.

"You're right, laddie." He said before pointing to his sword. "This here sword isn't the conventional kind, and it would be unbecoming of me to just reveal its abilities to you like a one-dimensional villain, so figure it out yourself!" He rushed towards Saber with Samehada leading the charge. Saber took heed to her Master's warnings, and swiftly misdirected the sword's point away from her. The sword was not Gae Dearg in terms of its nullification ability because of its limited range from the tip only; however, she had to take careful movements to not make the same mistake in that War. Saber's sword grazed Samehada's bandages, and reached closer and closer to Kisame.

Kisame recovered control of his sword, and swung back to meet Saber's counterattack by pinning it to the ground, then pushing its aim far off to his left. Both swords were poised in proper thrust stances. Kisame needed to unravel the Chakra armor Saber had whereas Saber herself needed some extra force in her strikes to push Kisame back. Both sword tips met in cataclysmic retaliation. Samehada consumed the Air while Saber used the Air to blind Kisame to Excalibur's form as shown by the Ex-Mist Shinobi, who covered his eyes, to not be buffeted by the winds. Samehada continued to eat while Excalibur stockpiled Prana into its next strike, its golden form glowed brighter each second. Saber violently jerked her sword upwards, sending Kisame's guard upwards. Saber immediately concealed her blade's form with her body, a golden light emerged from behind her. Kisame's instincts blared, and told him to dodge it with everything he had, or he would die.

Saber sidestepped to Kisame's unguarded left side. She did not want to aim for the graves behind her enemy. Excalibur scarred the ground with its tip. Prana gouged deeper, unearthing more of the crust of the planet. Saber needn't say a farewell to this opponent. Her attack would be enough. A flash of gold streaked through the forest. Fauna scattered, trees eradicated, ground scraped. Saber's line of fire distinctly made a road from the battlefield to the coastline. Her opponent…was nowhere to be seen.

"Ran away…" She trailed off.

"Saber watch out!" Naruto shouted. The boy jumped in front of Saber's defenseless back with his shield in play. Samehada met instantaneous defense, which forced its designated destination away from the intended course. In other words, Naruto parried Samehada in that ridiculously short timeframe. Jostled by blocking the attack, Naruto was thrown off balance in the air. He rolled on the ground due to the lack of proper recovery from the staggering attack Kisame meant to deal to Saber.

Kisame eyed his opponent. "Saber, eh? Another alias? Fitting I suppose."

Saber paid no heed to Kisame's rambling. "You broke the oath of a honorable battle of swords."

"I may follow that oath, but when it comes down to it, I'm a Shinobi, and Shinobi use tricks. We live and die by these tricks." Kisame explained easily. It was an easy to understand concept. Though knights were such brazen warriors who held on to honor almost as much, if not more than the samurai.

"Then die along with your tricks, Kisame Hoshigaki." Said a voice from behind. Not a moment too soon, a pair of Yin and Yang swords, bloody from going through his chest, burst like a thorn. Kisame spat blood from the mouth before he turned to face his assassin, Archer. "Y-You!" He growled out between deep pants of ragged breaths. "You have no pride in your swordsmanship!"

"As do you if you run away from your opponent's decisive strike." Archer shot back. "Now die, enemy of my Master." Archer twisted his swords inside Kisame's chest so that the sharp ends faced away from each other. He slashed outwards, which meant Archer cut through lungs, ribs, the liver, tissue, and most likely prominent arteries in the body. The same swords impaled Kisame once more, but in the heart, then cut outwards to the shoulders. The once great swordsman of Mist fell to his knees as he grasped for his last bits of air before death consumed him. He died on his knees with his eyes glazed.

Kisame Hoshigaki was effectively defeated…

Meanwhile back at Tazuna's house, Everyone heard the destructive attack. No dialogue between the warriors was needed to show their worry. They swiftly left to investigate what happened.

A slow clap rang from behind Archer. "Bravo, bravo." From the shadows of the forest, Kisame appeared unscathed. His face was cheery, and easily showed a mocking expression. "You dispatched a blood clone in record time. I guess it really was worthwhile to just sit in the shadows to look at your strengths and weaknesses. Then again, this only proved your stature as a knight since you're so stuck up on honor, Saber. I guess this means you're also a girl?" He guessed. "Your face is so uncannily feminine, so I'm guessing so. And as for you, red guy. You're a servant to that kid? Wow."

"And if I am a servant? What does that have to do with anything?" Archer asked the Shark-man.

"It tells me your "master" is weak, incompetent, and an easy target to capture right now." Kisame simply answered. Archer and Saber tightened their grips on their respective swords. Both Servants glared at the enemy with the fury of a volcano. However, Archer recovered his composure quickly.

"You may call my Master weak, but what does that make you if my weak Master parried one of your blows? I guess your savagery equates to the lack of brain cells you have." Kisame growled a little at Archer's mockery. That was arrogance in the red man's voice.

Saber and Archer took their places in front of Naruto. "You've made a slight to my Master. For that, you will learn pain." She didn't care her gender was discovered; her Master was far more important than that. She was ready for battle once more. She commanded Archer to keep to a support role. The Servant of the Bow nodded in agreement. They were fighting an assassin swordsman with abilities akin to Caster-class escapism and possibly offensive magecraft -erm...jutsu.

"There we go… no need for your stupid oath crap. Why I even followed it in the first place eludes my brain." Kisame sneered at Saber's rising rage. It was easy to rile up a knight. Just mock their code of honor or their swordsman's oath, and then bam! Instant rage. Though technically, he hadn't met a knight before. This one was his first ever meeting with a swordsman of that particular breed. He only ever managed to do that against samurai, and it was very effective in cutting down their stoic personas, and left themselves vulnerable to sneak attacks. "Now…let me see raw swordsmanship in a battle of the death with no-holds-barred rules!" He shouted with malicious glee. "Let Samehada drink your Chakra and blood!" He flipped through hand signs rapidly, "Water Style: Water Shark Bomb justu!" Water from behind the group morphed into a shark, and dove into them like a kamikaze attack.

Naruto saw the attack, and charged towards it to block. Metal met jutsu, and surprised by the result, both Naruto and Kisame expressed shocked looks of disbelief as the shield won the contest of durability. Though in the contest of power, the jutsu won easily; it pushed Naruto back towards his Servants. In the end, Naruto was only soaked a little instead of heavily injured by the attack. The boy looked to the shield, 'I gotta thank Tenten for this next time I see her.'

Archer smirked all the while. "Well? I guess that beastly appearance is nothing more than that, and doesn't apply to your actual strength. That Shark theme you've got going on doesn't seem to be helping you beat us in the slightest." He playfully twirled his blades because he knew his Master could hold his own now even if it's only a little bit.

"That arrogance in your voice will kill you someday." Kisame warned threateningly.

"What? Are you saying your swordsmanship is so subpar that it's as useless as a stationary (read: dead) shark?"

Kisame sprung himself forward to stop Archer's mocking words. His swordsmanship was deadly! It was not useless as a dead shark! "I'm going to cut you to ribbons, bastard!" With a wide swing, the Akatsuki member had hoped to bisect the man. Though that was hardly the case as Archer easily ducked under the scripted attack. Archer parried Samehada skywards, and then signaled Saber to retaliate. Saber swung her sword above Archer's head, but failed to hit the opponent because Kisame flipped in the direction of his sword. As he flipped, his Chakra-infused foot kicked the sword. When he landed, Kisame prepared a jutsu with his sword. Water Chakra coated Samehada's mouth, otherwise known as its tip. Kisame raised his sword in a thrust stance, and activated the jutsu. "Water style: Shark Fang!" The Water Chakra coating morphed into a Shark's head that was ready to bite off its next meal.

Naruto went past his Servants to go to the front lines. "I got it!" He declared. Saber and Archer were far too slow to react to Naruto's gung-ho action. Naruto reequipped his shield, and wanted to experiment with something. With a firm grasp, Naruto yanked the shield off the gauntlet, and held it by a built-in handle on the inside. His feet skidded the ground. "Meet immovable object, Shark-man!" Naruto channeled Chakra to his feet as it dug into the ground. Next, he also poured Chakra into the shield. Four extrusions from each corner of the kite-shaped shield extended. From these extrusions, hexagonal patterns filled the void in between. Blade met shield in a powerful collision. Yet…all Naruto felt was a small recoil that rocked his body. He didn't move a single millimeter from his original position. What's more…

"What?!" Kisame shouted in disbelief. His jutsu was disappearing; a normal occurrence. But the way it disappeared was something never before seen. His attack was being sucked into the shield!

"Heh! Tenten, you sly blacksmith, you…"

Archer and Saber moved in a pincer maneuver, and shot down any immediate escape from the left or right. Archer slashed at Kisame's feet. Saber conducted an attack at Kisame's midsection. The former missed by mere centimeters because Kisame walked back as response to the offensive pressure. The latter's attack was blocked by Samehada. Occupied by the Servant's attacks, the Tailless Tailed Beast never saw the charging piece of metal that tackled into him full force. Out of pure instinct, Naruto released the Chakra poured into the shield, and blasted it outwards. The jutsu that was sucked into it came outwards with ten times the amount of Chakra inputted and twice the size of the original attack. Kisame was easily blasted into the forest.

Archer projected his bow, and asked Saber, "Precise, or Collateral?"

"Precise, Archer." Saber replied. "We don't need to scar the area with battle like I did moments ago."

"Right…" Archer pulled on the string of his bow, and shot multiple arrows of Prana off into the forest. The arrows streaked into the forest like small, homing missiles. They bent to home in on Kisame, but it didn't have the ridiculous ability to constantly do so. Such an act disrupted the very law of physics when it came to projectile motion. The arrows only changed direction slightly, and with this correction, it usually hits the target. But against a Shinobi, Archer wished he could have homing arrows. Oh wait he did, but would he use it? He decided against it. Each of his arrows struck tree trunk, and lucky few only managed to graze Kisame's general position. The density of trees sorely hampered Archer's accuracy. "Tch…not my ideal place to shoot." The Servant wished he had Robin's ability to be a sneaky shot in a forest. Now that he was concealed, Kisame had all the things he needed to elude a decisive blow. Despite that, Archer ran into the forest; the enemy knew far too much for his own good. Saber and Naruto went in to follow after the man.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, you walking fish and your overcompensating razor!" Archer taunted. Kisame gripped his sword in order to not lash out, and reveal his position. "Or are you suddenly fearful of having your worthless pride shamed by a superior swordsman?!" He continued. Saber caught up as did Naruto. All three searched for the hiding Shinobi. Though the woman had something to say.

"Enough, Archer, you've taunted enough. There's no need to crush the man's pride anymore."

"Oh really?" Archer asked. "Because I'm not sure I could trust those words, considering they come from the same woman who was about to snap earlier," He completely ignored Saber's words. Saber took Archer's words to heart, Archer heard a shuffled in the trees behind him, and immediately threw Kanshou into the direction of the sound. The Yin blade made contact with something, and bounced off in a completely different direction. But because of the connection with Bakuya, the other half of the Married Swords returned to Archer's left hand. Archer blurred out of existence from his position, and reformed right in front of Kisame. Both swords drawn to cut down the enemy struck tree branch rather than the intended target.

"Water style: Water Shark Bullet!" Kisame spat out the jutsu, and out came a shark-shaped projectile. The impact of the attack knocked Archer through a tree, but did not hurt the Servant much. He easily stood back up. Though Kisame wanted this next attack to make Archer stay down. The Akatsuki member closed his palms together, and shouted, "Water style: Exploding Water Shockwave!" Kisame drew forth Water Chakra from the depths of his stomach. He produced, produced, and produced more until his body could not hold any more water. He then spat out the jutsu right above Archer.

'Did he just…?' Archer wondered. 'Did he just spit out the largest ball of spit?!' Archer turned into his Astral form, and completely disregarded the attack. Kisame did not notice the disappearance of the Servant underneath him, but he did notice the lack of struggle. Neither the Jinchuriki, nor that knight were even in the vicinity of his sensory range. Kisame landed on his jutsu, which became an elevated platform of water.

"Where did they go?"

"I'm surprised you can manage to spit that much in one go." Archer told the swordsman of Mist. "You were weird from the get-go, but this just adds on to your collectively growing weirdness." Archer pulled the string of his bow, and shot multiple bolts of arrows at his target. With his elevated position, the Servant had an easier time to shoot at his target even with the multiple natural barriers in his way. Kisame, caught off guard, was forced to block the incoming attack. "Well? Are you just going to take my attack and hunker down? Or are you going to act like a predator, and kill me? Right now, I'm not so sure whether or not you are even shark anymore with how defensive you are."

"How are you not even the least bit drenched?" Kisame shouted from behind Samehada. "You are an experienced fighter, I'll admit, but from near point-blank… You're not the least bit human, are you?"

Archer chuckled. He shot another salvo of arrows at Kisame. "Oh I beg to differ. I'm human 'as possible', and as a human, I'm entitled to secrets of my own, Shinobi. Now are you going to fight like a swordsman, or are you going to make shark-shaped spit again?" Kisame was about to answer, but Saber effectively cut off communications. Kisame brought Samehada over his head to block the diving attack.

"Strike Air!" Kisame's knees buckled under the storm that brewed overhead. Excalibur, in all its holy glory, was displayed to the whole world, yet to the one who wanted to see its appearance, Kisame could not see a smidgen of its form. The powerful, battering winds pushed Kisame deep into the flooding waters of his jutsu while its violent updraft kept Saber afloat just above Kisame. "Fall to your knees, Kisame!" Saber ordered. "Admit defeat!" Oh Kisame was far from that. He would not fall to his knees, not to this knight, nor anyone!

"Rasengan!" The spiraling sphere of Chakra emerged underneath Kisame's feet. Too late to do anything, the swordsman let the jutsu hit full force. His struggled face turned to utter agony; his mouth opened from moaning out his pain, and his hold on Samehada slipped. The churning, burning, grinding sensation scraped cloth, then skin, muscle fibers, and tissue, then at one point, latched on one place. Kisame was forced to follow the motions of the rampaging squall in a ball as he was propelled upwards. He then felt a hot blade, searing with a heat of a great fire, gouge his left collarbone. Before he was launched into the sky, the battering force of two sources of wind smacked his silly. The orb in Kisame's gut shrunk in size, then exploded in a funnel of violent Chakra.

Archer found his chance to deliver the final blow, and took it. He projected his most favored projectile, a helix-like sword with ribbons of blue and gold fashioned on the hilt, or what would become the fletchings of the arrow. Archer nocked the arrow, and the drill-shape it formed stretched aerodynamically as an arrow shaft would. "My bone shall twist all in its way…"

"That's far enough, archer." A kunai flashed underneath Archer's chin. "Lower your weapon." The voice ordered.

"Hoh…someone snuck up on me. Commendable." Archer noted. He didn't turn around to face his assassin. He simply asked, "How about no?" He jumped off his perch as soon as his would be assassin exploded.

"What was that explosion?" Naruto asked.

Archer retreated to his Master's side to protect the boy. "Reinforcement appeared. It seems that it's the shark man's partner." Archer easily explained. Naruto's eyes widened at the implication. It meant Itachi was here, which meant bad things considering Itachi could incapacitate him in his genjutsu. Archer dismissed his bow, and recreated his preferred swords. Archer took Naruto's left side while the other took the right. Naruto himself used his brain to protect his back by facing his glaring weak spot at his back.

Kisame fumbled as his body crashed into the trees. Itachi, the murderer of the Uchiha clan, stood next to the fallen man. His drooping, black hair hid his eyes from the side. He voice, monotonous as always, held a birth of concern. "You look pathetic. Did you let your pride cloud your judgement, Kisame?" The man in question stabbed Samehada into the ground to use it as a cane of sorts.

"Not really. I'm just pissed off." The shark man growled.

"Hn…while a lucky encounter, it led to a bad outcome. It's about time we leave and report back to Pein-sama, Kisame." Itachi ordered. "Judging from those two, they are not any normal mercenary." Kisame scoffed at Itachi's hypothesis. "I'd the liberty to use my Sharingan on those two, and what I found was quite peculiar…"

"Oh? Do tell…" Kisame answered with mock interest.

"Their bodies are radiating Chakra." Itachi told Kisame. "Unlike when Shinobi use a jutsu, those two were constantly flaring out Chakra as if their bodies were made out of it." Oh boy…that was news to Kisame. "It should not be possible, if their bodies were made out of Chakra, why did Samehada not eat them?"

"Tell me, Itachi. Can someone eat with his or her shoulder?"

"A strange question, but no."

"Exactly." Kisame answered. "Samehada can only eat what's in the vicinity of its mouth. So if you're wondering why, then that's why." The Uchiha found the answer to be suffice, and let it be. The two Akatsuki members heard footsteps coming to them, but had not felt the need to be worried.

"So this is where you were!" Saber said with sword at the ready when the battle restarted. "Kisame! You and your friend…surrender peacefully, or I will draw out my sword." She asked the two.

"Oh we're far from surrendering, lassie." Kisame grunted. "But we'll be making a tactical retreat for now. This was…a disadvantageous encounter. I admit I was holding back, but so did you and that red guy. Next time we cross swords, I won't be as merciful. Samehada will be ready to tear both of you apart. So…tata for now." Naruto rushed in without warning. In his right hand, a faulty Rasengan formed on its own.

"Naruto!" Saber ran after him.

Itachi moved in front of Kisame, who was about to smack the boy with the flat of his blade. With his Mangekyo Sharingan fully activated, Itachi stared into Naruto's own set of blue. Itachi activated Tsukuyomi at that exact moment. The masterful illusion sent Itachi's consciousness into Naruto's own due to a violent reaction between Sharingan and jinchuriki. Both Shinobi's vision turned to black as both minds met at the Uzumaki's mindscape.

Naruto rolled on the floor of his mindscape whereas Itachi stood normally as if this was a normal thing that happened. Itachi scanned the room, and saw the seal, a gigantic cage that house the Kyuubi on the other side. Besides the elephant in the room, there were others in this place: six more excluding Naruto and himself. They wore strange, almost archaic getups from a time long forgotten. However, there was one individual that seemed to be of this era because of the kimono she wore. A bit seductive and quite modified for mobility, the clothes the individual wore were certainly the most startling feature. Two fox ears and a tail stood in high alert due to his intrusion. In her hands were a set of sealing tags, professionally made, complicated matrixes etched within the calligraphy.

The others were just as startling. The Shinobi saw a female pirate, a fully armored knight, a scantily clad girl with curious greaves, another swordswoman with resemblance to the one he saw on the outside, and finally, a hooded girl who knew how to hide -an assassin. If Naruto's mind bore multiple personas that could materialize in the real world, then this was a disadvantageous plan of attack. Itachi needed to find a way to change this situation into a good one. He flared his Mangekyo Sharingan, and waited to see if anyone took the bait. Those under his influence would be hypnotized.

Itachi saw the hanyou fell to her knees. The pirate stiffened. The girl with the greaves became sluggish. The hooded girl keeled over. Even the mighty Kyuubi showed signs of succumbing to the will of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Only the knights stood tall and proud in front of his target.

"B-Bastard! You…dare use t-those eyes?! DAMN YOU, UCHIHA!" Kyuubi bellowed. It flailed inside its cage as the Sharingan's influence got stronger by the second. Humongous hands slammed at the bars of the cage. It roared continuously; its mind degrading to a mere animal.

"Master!" cried out by the remaining Servants. "Stay back!"

"…" Itachi stared at the two armored warriors curiously. They were separate entities then? They were not manufactured personas cause by trauma? One would think the jinchuriki, the boy, to make false identities in his head to fill in the void of loneliness as a child. These strangers here…they…well some could pass of as some old folktale from a time long past. Knights and pirates…idealistic for the former, adventurous the other. The assassin could have been the spark to be a Hokage in human form. Itachi had no idea why there were a hanyou and a strange greave-wearing girl in this place. If these people weren't made by Naruto, who were they?

"My name is Itachi Uchiha. Who are you people?"

"We are our Master's Servants." Berserker replied. "That is all you need to know, Uchiha."

"I thought a chivalrous knight like you would fall to customs." Itachi commented.

"I would, but you've gone and done an attack before introducing yourself." Berserker called for his blade. "Had you not done so, I would be more amicable and responsive to your request."

A sword gleamed next to Berserker. "Thou hast overstepped thy bounds, vermin." Ruler claimed with a heavy accent in her voice.

"It seems so." Itachi admitted. "I guess even here, I am at a disadvantage." Both Servants lowered their swords slightly. "However, information is information. I know what I'll be dealing with if I come after your Master. I'll be taking my leave now." He left Naruto's consciousness without another word after that.

Itachi faced Saber, whose sword was drawn to kill him. Sharingan met jade eyes. Saber flinched at the action. Who was this man if he could momentarily paralyze her in place. She felt her consciousness wane slightly; whatever this man tried to do disoriented her world only at that exact moment. Strange the sensation may be, it had not deterred her from finishing her blow. I quickly saw his technique failed, and substituted with a log. Kisame did the same before Saber destroyed the area she slashed.

"So…Saber and…may I call you Archer?" The red Servant mentally laughed at the nickname he got. "My name is Itachi Uchiha. You know my partner here already, so I won't spare details. You two are an enigma at the moment. Unknowns in this era tend to be hazards to look out for. I've gathered enough from this confrontation. Therefore we shall take our leave." The two Akatsuki members disappeared into thin air; not a single trace of their presence remained.

None of that mattered to Saber. She tended to an unconscious Master that laid in front of her feet. The knight in blue caressed her Master's right cheek, and lightly slapped the other to make the boy wake up. Not even two seconds, Naruto woke up groggily.

"S-Saber?"

"Yes?"

"Did he…did they leave?" He panted. His mind hurt. Itachi's intrusion into his mind really did a number.

"Yes."

"T-Then we have to…to get them!" Naruto struggled to say through the pain. He clutched his head. "E-Everyone…he knows about you guys! We can't let them get away." Saber shook her head; she told the boy that his safety was far more important than hiding the existence of Servants. Archer scanned the area with reinforced eyes to see if their enemies were nearby. It took a while, but he found them on the water. The Servant drew his bow and drill-like arrow. He considered Hrunting as the arrow to use, but decided those two were too slippery to keep his aim on. At this range Caladbolg would just steer clear of any structures or civilians in its blast radius.

"My bone shall twist all in its way…" Dull grayish gold irises trained themselves onto its targets. Archer nocked the arrow, and pulled the bowstring to its maximum length. He poured Prana into the construct, causing it to break from overloading the construct with power. The Broken Phantasm screamed in pain; cracks almost seemed to form on its surface. The two retreating Akatsuki members sensed a terrible foreboding. "Caladbolg!" The projectile streaked across the water, displacing the water's surface as the arrow pierced through the air.

The arrow exploded once it made contact.

A giant sphere grew from the impact point. Waves formed as high as the treetops. As if a pebble thrown in the water, Caladbolg's explosion rippled outwards. These ripples reached the Great Naruto Bridge, and battered the side with great force. The people on the bridge screamed, and held for dear life because of the brute force of the waves.

And yet despite all the power poured into the attack, it was useless. The explosion dissipated. And from ground zero emerged a gargantuan, crimson aura that was shaped like a human figure. Within this humanoid construct, both Itachi and Kisame remained unscathed. Kisame launched a counterattack quickly after that. His hands flew through the signs he needed to do.

"Water style: Water Shark Tsunami!" As the name goes, a wall of sharks barreled towards Archer, Saber, and Naruto. With this thing in the way, pursuit was impossible. Archer proceeded to protect his Master. Archer searched for his defensive Phantasm, and mentally grasped it. Prana poured into his right hand. Archer thrust his palm towards the wall to project his Phantasm.

"Rho Aias!" The legendary shield of Hector, whose seven layers of protection equaled the strength of seven fortress walls, bloomed outward as a seven-petaled red flower. The wall of water surged forward, and made landfall. The tsunami tore apart the crosses of Zabuza and Haku before it struck against the shield. The immediate area behind Archer, where Saber and a mentally weak Naruto were, was protected from the water. Trees struggled to stay upright with each second the forceful current pushed against the trunks. Some were uprooted; Archer was not. This attack meant nothing compared to Lancer's blow.

The water receded, and returned back to sea with just as much vigor just before it came onto land. Uprooted trees, torn bushes, exceedingly muddy ground, and a sense of defeat surrounded the group.

"I'm sorry, Master. I let them get away."

"You tried." Naruto told softly. "That's what matters."

"But!" Saber interrupted.

"I know." Naruto said. "They realize you guys exist, but they probably have no idea what you guys are. All they possibly know is that you're really good fighters, and that you live in my head. I have no idea what countermeasures they'll manage to make, but it can't be good."

Two sets of footsteps reached the ears of Master and Servants. "Naruto!" Jiraiya cried out in worry. "What happened?"

Archer walked to the Sannin. Eyes flared with anger locked onto Jiraiya. "Background check (Throne of Heroes) says Akatsuki, a group of missing-nins." Archer supplied the answer. "We fought them, they found out about us existing, and they got away because we underestimated them. Now mind filling us Servants in with who those people are, old pervert?" Kanshou and Bakuya placed themselves onto either side of the Sannin's neck. "My Master! They were planning to capture him! Tell me all I need to know now!"

"Hey, Archer!" Lancer called with a restraining hand on the red-clad Servant's shoulders. "Calm down!"

"Let's go back to Tazuna's house, and I'll explain everything."

And done for this chapter. This was purely a fight chapter, and I'm ashamed I did barely anything to move plot. Aside from the Akatsuki finding out about the existence of Servants -well not exactly a Servant, but you get the idea- , nothing much happened.

And I admit this could have been better, but that's what the part 2 fight will be: more destructive and no one will be pulling any punches.

So review, follow, favorite, I don't care.

This is Azure, signing off.