A/N: Daily updates are really wearing me out...

Sorry if this seems short; given a certain event in FGO, it felt right to update this early. I also Wanted to update something other than RWBY for a bit. The latest chapter of "Embers at Midnight" didn't do so well. Rest assured, I've not forgotten the Fate series. I'm just stockpiling updates for it. With luck, I'll be able to do them all at once.

Now lets answer your questions, comments and concerns.

Q: Wait, so how old is Naruto in this story?

A: Suppose I ought to clarify that. As a direct result of interacting with so many heroes across so many timelines and borrowing their powers, Naruto's begun to change. Hell, we already know he's aged rapidly already.

By now he looks very much like his Shippuden self, albeit a bit taller and with longer hair.

Q: Why aren't you giving Yakumo screentime?

A: Because Medea's been working on getting that nasty demon out of her. She's been out cold.

But now our little illusionist is awake, and oho, this is gonna be glorious.

Q: Why hasn't Naruto run away from the village if they're treating him this poorly?

A: At this point, he intends to use them. What that means, you'll see.

Make no mistake, he's loyal to his Servants and little else.

As ever, I own no quotes, jokes, laughs, references, memes, or themes. Not a wit nor a one.

Nobunaga is an adorable little spaz in all her forms, and she's a joy to write.

If you think about it, she's got so many. Archer, Berserker, Avenger, hell, she's getting another soon, though I'll not say anything...

So! Here! We go! Hope you're ready to have a good time.

"Love is like fire. It burns and burns and burns. Don't let it burn you up."

"Says the girl with three different classes. What's next? Saber?"

"Hey! That just means there's more of me to love!"

~Nobunaga and Naruto.

Breaking Boundaries (Prelude to Chaos)

Gilgamesh considered himself a generous king.

Nay, he was a merciful king. Downright kind, really...when he wanted to be. After all, was it not kindness to spare one's enemies? Was it not merciful to let those weaker than him live and struggle, so that he might laugh at them another day? Surely it was. In that regard he considered himself most merciful indeed. Since he'd found himself to this world, he'd shown no small amount of generosity.

But there were limits to his mercy; now was such a time.

He'd kept tabs on that little blond fool -not so little now!- on a whim, curious to see what he might do when given such power. The mongrel had surprised him for a time. Then amused him...but now that time was done and he found his goodwill had evaporated like the morning mists that favored this backwater little country.

"Fool!" he all but spat the word as he gazed upon the bridge from afar. "What manner of moron cavorts with a Beast?!"

Even in a reduced form, that...thing could not be allowed to exist. No. She shouldn't exist. And yet she did. In defiance of all logic, all laws that abomination had returned to the world.

Unacceptable. He refused to allow this blasphemy. Anger frothed and boiled in his veins, bubbling just below the surface, longing to be unleashed in all its grisly glory. Enough of this farce. If that mongrel was going to squander the gift he'd given him, then it would be taken away.

It was but the matter of a moment to fix his gaze on them from afar.

Even from this distance it was simple to take aim. A single strike would be all he needed. Like any good king, he would to wipe all memory of them from this world. This diversion had been entertaining for a time, but all good things must come to an end; just as all things must die.

A lone golden portal opened at his side; pride pricked at his heart and he hesitated.

To think, he was even considering using Ea on that mongrel from afar. The gall of him. Yet he could trust no other weapon to eradicate that creature. His right hand twitched toward the portal. Nothing more. Blast it. Why was he hesitating?! He was the king of kings! He feared nothing!

A shimmer of golden light shimmered before his vision. Gilgamesh granted it a glower. A snarl, when it dared to take on his likeness. No, he realized. Not quite him.

It wore his face to be sure, but this semblance of his self was different. Weaker. His brow furrowed yet

...you dare impede my path?" a muscle jumped in his jaw as he consider the fool before him. "Move! That THING must be destroyed!"

"Is that any way to address yourself?" Caster Gilgamesh clicked his tongue at the golden figure before him and raised his ax. "My, my, seeing you now...it reminds me how unsightly I was in my youth. Begone, Archer! He isn't ready for you yet. If you take another step, you will have to contend with me."

"And me." Ishtar snapped a finger at him.

"I as well." Scathach stepped forward.

Jeanne raised her flag. "And me."

"Wahahaha! Might as well!"

"You can't have him!

"Go back already!"

"Begone, boy."

Much to the King's annoyance, the list kept growing.

His right eye began to twitch, followed by his left.

"You must truly wish to die, mongrels!"

(.0.0.0.)

Naruto's ear twitched.

"Did you hear something?"

"Nope~!" Nobunaga smacked her lips. "Not a thing, why?"

He cast his gaze out across the water from the bridge, toward the distant haze that was the shore. If he didn't know better he could've sworn he saw someone. Several someones. He blinked and they were gone; for a moment, just a moment, he felt the bridge tremble underfoot. Must've been his imagination...

Tiamat's tiny form shifted from her perch on his back. "Aaaah? (Problem?)

"No," he muttered, pinching the brow of his noise. "Its nothing."

He turned back to find Nobunaga leaning over the railing with a cherubic smile.

"Oooh!" she cooed, grinning from ear to ear. "That's a lotta water."

"Nobu, you do realize this ain't a beach...?"

A pall of sullen silence stretched between Master and Servant.

"I know that look." Naruto broke it first and circled back the long way round, blocking her with his body. "Nobunaga, no." he flicked her forehead when she started to grin again. "We're on the clock here. Don't you dare."

"Yeah, about that. Her smile prove positively impish. "Imma do it."

"No. Bad Nobu." Blue eyes narrowed. "Don't you do it!"

Red orbs flashed. "Still wanna."

And then:

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY BEACH EPISODE!"

His girlfriend all but vaulted into the air with a triumphant cry. Bare feet alighted upon the bridge railing. When he made a grab for her she laughed and leaped again, kicking herself into the air. Red eyes alight with light and life she twirled once in the air, dark hair flying out behind her like an ebony curtain. For a singular moment she actually hung there, defying gravity, grinning in defiance of fate itself.

"NOBUBUNGA~!"

Then she struck the water at speed.

Naruto shouted down after her. "That was a horrible pun and you know it!"

"I regret nothing~!" Her head broke the water with a guffaw and a grin. "C'mon down! The water's fine!"

"Never!"

"Fine!" She huffed. "Then I'll come up there and drag you down myself!"

"They're all insane." Tazuna shook his head and focused firmly on his work. "Absolutely bonkers." He cast a gaze over his shoulder as a distant splash -and a triumphant cry from Nobunaga!- informed him of Naruto's fate in the water. "Please tell me you're different." he said to his guard. "You're starting to seem like the only sane one here, kid."

Medea scoffed from her own vantage point. "Sane. Right. She's just as batty as him...

"Insanity is a relative ting, teacher." Yakumo didn't looking away from her painting. "I only just woke up. I can't really speak to Naruto's mental state...but I believe he's on our side."

"But you're his teammate! Can't you stop him?!"

"Hmm." The illusionist tittered a little as she finished with one color and took up another. Teammate. That's a very loose word when it comes to him. Friend? Possibly." her brush dipped down, selecting another color. "I don't know him all that well. Its funny." the ghost of a smile touched her pale face as she continued to weave her art. "It feels like I've been asleep for so long, and only just now opened my eyes. I suppose I owe him for that. My heart feels so much lighter now."

Another swathe of her brush came and went, shimmering with chakra.

...do I even want to know what you're painting?"

"Genjutsu." she murmured, carving another swathe of darkness onto the easel. "Rest assured, it won't harm you or yours." Tazuna winced but a little at what he found there. "But any intruders will find it quite...potent. If you want to watch that's fine, but don't you have a bridge to build?"

Tazuna shook his head and returned to the task at hand. "Crazy brats...

A faint chime was the only warning he received.

Yakumo smiled softly.

"Showtime.."

A/N: Felt nice to write something short and sweet for once. Get the old gears going again, ill as I am.

As ever, reviews keep me writing. If a chapter doesn't get any...my inspiration dries up.

Soooooo in the Immortal Words of Atlas......Review...Would You Kindly?

Now then...have some potential previews in the meantime.

I await your opinion and feedback.

Sooooooo...which do you like?

(Potential reviews!)

"Surrender."

"You think this is over?!" Gato frothed at the mouth. "Its not over until I say its over! I have friends! Powerful friends!"

Nobunaga began to clap her hands.

"Oh, that is just ADORABLE...!"

"And I have this!"

There was a card in his hand.

"Where in blazed did he get one of those?!"

Nobunaga dove into Naruto's arms.

"Marry me~!"

"Smart move, hiding behind a hostage. A shinobi would do whatever it takes to get the job done. But you're forgetting something… I'm not a Shinobi. And you?

He twisted his arm just so.

"You're done hurting people."

R&R~!

~Nz.