Disclaimer - I do not own Fate/Stay Night nor do I own Naruto
"I-I'm home!" Naruto nervously announced as he closed the front door behind him and took off his shoes.
Nothing but silence greeted him.
"..."
He felt a small chill run down his spine.
"H-Hello? Is anyone there?" He tried again.
Once again, only the crushing sound of nothingness answered him.
Naruto walked into the living room in an effort to find some clues, but instead of any clues, he found Saber herself sitting at the dining table with her eyes shadowed, an unhappy frown on her face, and an eerie atmosphere surrounding her.
"H-hey, Saber," Naruto greeted with a healthy bit of nervous cheer, "Sorry I'm a little late. I got held up with-"
'I wouldn't tell her anything about what happened, if I were you,' Kurama interrupted, 'How do you think she'll react if you tell her that you were in danger and didn't even call for her help?'
"With?" Saber practically growled out.
"With...uh, uhhh," Naruto struggled.
"Go on," Saber prompted in a dangerous tone that made his stomach flop around like a gymnast.
"Uhh, I-I um," Naruto stuttered again before the words practically burst out of his mouth, "I got in a fight with Rin and then some weird person attacked us and now we're allied with Rin!"
"...What?" Saber intoned.
'Dumbass.'
"Ah, well, that's the short version anyway," Naruto clarified.
"After hearing a ridiculous explanation like that, I desire the long version," Saber demanded, "Perhaps then it will make some sense."
"...Yeah, I guess you have a point," Naruto conceded as he sat down, "Get comfortable, it's not a long story, but it isn't a short one either."
"I already am comfortable," Saber coldly responded, "I have been waiting here for quite some time, after all."
"Urk!"
"...And then Dragcher escorted me back home," Naruto concluded.
'...Dragcher?' Saber questioned in her mind.
"My, my, Master. It seems that trouble has a tendency to chase after you," she noted in a blank voice, "Let us train a little so that when trouble inevitably finds you again, you will be better prepared to deal with it."
Naruto felt a pit of dread form in his stomach, but he honestly could not find anything wrong with training, "Training? Now? Sure. I'm always okay with some training."
"Good," Saber stoically stated, "Let us go to the dojo."
"Y-yeah, about that... Saber, I'll definitely train with you, but first I have to talk to Fuji-nee," Naruto told her, his visage sobering, "Do you know where she is? She should be here, considering it's only seven o' clock."
Saber shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry, but I do not know where Taiga is. All she told me before she left was that the school had called her for something very important."
"I see," Naruto said as he nodded his head, "I'll talk to her tomorrow then."
"That means you are fine with training, right?" Saber asked.
Naruto shrugged, "Sure, why not?"
Naruto let out a large sigh of relief, 'Phew, you have no idea how glad I am that Saber's not angry anymore.'
'You do know that she's still mad at you, right?' Kurama asked in an amused tone, 'She's just going to vent all that anger in training.'
'Wait, what!?' Naruto exclaimed, 'Seriously? H-hey, Kurama, please save me! Do something!'
Kurama did not hesitate, 'Hell no. This is going to be so much fun to watch.'
Naruto scowled, 'Kurama, you freaking BASTAR-'
"Master, are you not going to wear the protective gear?" Saber unknowingly interrupted, noticing that he only had his black shirt and orange track pants on.
Naruto forced a smile, "N-nah, protective gear like that is too restricting for me. I'm more of the chainmail fishnet type of guy anyway."
"I see... well then, prepare yourself, Master!" Saber warned, "Here I come!"
She took one step forward and used that step to propel herself towards Naruto.
"Woah!" Naruto, who barely heard her warning in time, dropped to the ground to dodge the left to right downward diagonal slash aimed at his chest and brought his foot up to counterattack.
"-!?"
Saber's eyes widened infinitesimally before she easily dodged the foot shooting towards her head and struck it with her shinai. Unfortunately for Naruto, she hit his foot so hard that his entire body was sent tumbling away and only stopped when it slammed against a wall.
"...Ow," came Naruto's dazed reaction as he tried to clear his head by shaking it and tightly gripped his throbbing foot.
Saber felt a small smile play at her lips, "I'm impressed, Naruto. It seems your reaction time is a lot better than I anticipated."
Despite his situation, Naruto grinned sheepishly.
"I'm glad," he said as he brought one hand to rub the back of his head.
Saber raised an eyebrow, "Hm?"
"I'm glad because you're calling me 'Naruto' again," Naruto clarified subduedly, "I feel much better when you call me 'Naruto' compared to when you coldly call me 'Master'."
"Naruto..."
"I can't imagine how much I made you worry by not coming home at time. I'm really, really sorry," Naruto apologized as he dipped his head.
Looking at his downcast expression, Saber felt all the anger bottled inside her fade away.
She sighed, "If you would have just ordered me to, I would have stopped instantly."
Naruto shook his head, "No. This way is much better. You decided to call me 'Naruto' out of your own free will, and that's much better than you calling me 'Naruto' just because I ordered you to."
Saber felt a spot of unease flash in her stomach.
"Naruto, I must talk to you about something," she told him in a serious tone.
It was Naruto's turn to raise an eyebrow, "About what?"
"Naruto... I am a weapon. A tool to be used to obtain the Holy Grail," Saber informed quietly.
Naruto narrowed his eyes but did not interrupt Saber.
"I have noticed that you tend to treat me like a human being; telling me to sit beside you, telling me to walk beside you, feeling sad when I call you 'Master', feeling happy when I call you 'Naruto'," Saber continued, "It is... disconcerting."
She glared at him, "Naruto, I am not a human being; there is no need to treat me like one. I... I am a Servant."
"..."
The two stared at each other in tense silence for a few seconds before Naruto started chuckling.
"I see..." He quietly let out.
Saber's glare sharpened, "Which part of that did you find funny, Naruto?"
Naruto stopped chuckling but evidence of his amusement still remained in the form of a smile, "Saber, let me you something. I have never once treated you like a person."
'Do not lie, Naruto," Saber reprimanded, "It is obvious that you do."
"Nope," Naruto denied, "I already know that you're not an actual human being, that's why, instead of treating you like one, I treat you like an individual."
"An... individual?" Saber asked as her glare disappeared and her tone became more subdued.
"Exactly. An individual. Because that's what you are," Naruto explained, "You may not be a human being, but you still have likes, dislikes, wants, hobbies, and so many more traits that identify you as an individual. That's why I treat you like one. It's not my fault that that treatment is similar to how most human beings treat each other."
"...Why?" Saber barely whispered out, "Even though I'm saying that I'm a tool, even though I'm a Servant, why is it that you never treat me like one?"
Naruto stood up and pointed his Shinai straight at her with resolute eyes, "If you're an individual with emotions, then I'll treat you like one. It doesn't matter to me whether that individual is a Servant or the very incarnation of hate itself. An individual is an individual."
Saber's grip on her Shinai tightened as the image of a monstrous nine tailed fox flashed in her mind, "Are you saying that you would treat the very incarnation of hate just like you treat me?"
Naruto shook his head, "Obviously not. There are some individuals that I would hate and some individuals that I would like. Some of them I would get in fights with, some of them I would eat ramen with, but... not a single one of them would be viewed as a rabid beast or a tool by me. I told you didn't I? I'll always treat individuals as individuals."
'Naruto...'
"Besides," Naruto started, "Didn't we bump fists? What kind of a friend would I be if I treated my friend like a tool?"
Saber recalled the fist bump she had made in front of the church and felt a small smile appear on her face, "You are quite an amazing person, Naruto."
She readied her shinai, "Never lose that special power of yours."
Naruto cocked his head slightly, "What special power?"
"Perhaps I'll tell you later," Saber teased before her expression hardened, "Now, prepare yourself! Training isn't over yet!"
Naruto grinned wildly as he bent his knees, "Heh, come at me! I'll beat your ass to the ground!"
''I'll beat your ass to the ground'... is what you said, right?' Kurama asked with a wide, amused grin on his face.
Naruto pressed the ice pack against his bruised forehead and gave Kurama a mental glare, '...Shut up.'
"That is why you absolutely must wear a helmet, Naruto," Saber lectured, "If you had been wearing one, your forehead would not have been injured."
"No... my forehead... there used to be something else that protected it," Naruto informed with slight melancholic smile in a reminiscing manner, "That's why I kinda forgot that my head wasn't really protected anymore."
"..." Saber looked at him curiously but ended up simply sighing.
"I would have suggested that you get some rest, but since you have been hit on the head, it is best if you do not go to sleep right away," she advised, "Perhaps staying awake for twenty minutes should do?"
"Sure," he complied, shrugging, "But, seriously, I feel bad now. I didn't even stand a chance against you."
Saber closed her eyes and gave him a gentle smile, "That is not true. The fact that you were even hit in the head proves it."
Naruto raised his eyebrows but then winced when his forehead stung from the movement.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he pressed the ice pack harder against his forehead to dull the pain.
"You honestly surprised me, Naruto," Saber praised, "I have never seen anyone improve as fast as you did. To be honest, it's still a little hard for me to believe. I was trying to keep my level of combat only a bit above yours, but by the end of the match, you had improved so much that you managed to surprise me into attacking your head reflexively."
Naruto felt a satisfied grin settle on his face.
"I know I'm awesome," he praised himself before his face became reflective, "Although, it looks like I still can't win against any Servants in a fair fight."
Saber shook her hea, "Your way of thinking is incorrect, Naruto. You are not strong enough to fight a Servant on your own and even with your abnormal rate of improvement, you still won't be in the next fourteen days. Do not even think about fighting any Servants. "
"Tch, I know that," Naruto grumbled, "But since I'm improving, we can do a lot more riskier things to defeat our opponents now."
Saber sighed, "While that is true, please do not actually go around making plans that will put you in dangerous positions. I would be very distressed if you did."
"Yeah, yeah, I know,"Naruto said as he waved his hand in dismissal, "To be honest, we can't actually even make any plans since we have absolutely no information on our enemies."
"That is true," Saber agreed as she frowned, "And all we can do is keep going with your plan for now since we don't even know if it worked or not."
Naruto sighed, "Yeah, it was a risky decision to not check our surroundings for familiars before going home after our battle with Berserker. I still think it'll pay off though. Just you wait."
Saber's frowned deepened, "Yes... I don't like it, but all we can do is wait."
"Goodnight, Naruto," Saber said as she closed the door, "Don't forget to tie the string on your wrist when you go to sleep."
"Right, right," Naruto casually responded, "Don't you worry; I'll remember. Goodnight."
He watched the room to her door for a few seconds before she turned off the lights and the entire door became dark.
'You're not going to sleep?' Kurama asked.
Naruto turned his head to look at his futon.
'...No. There's no way I can sleep right now. I have to call and ask Fuji-nee about Mitsuzuri,' Naruto explained, 'I'll never be able to sleep if I don't.'
'Hm, do whatever you want,' Kurama said, 'But in case you haven't realized, it's eleven twenty. She's probably asleep by now.'
'I know,' Naruto responded as he walked into the hall, picked up the phone and dialed Fujimura's number.
The phone ringed for a couple of times before it was finally answered by an extremely drowsy voice.
"This is Fujimura residence. Please call us tomorrow. Grandpa and I are sleeping," Fujimura said.
"Fuji-nee, it's me," Naruto said before she could cut the phone.
"Naru-chan? Why're you calling so late? I need sleep to maintain my beauty you know?" Fujimura asked rhetorically.
Naruto did not smile, nor did he skirt around the point, "Fuji-nee, this is important. Have you guys found any clues, any at all, that could help us find Mitsuzuri?"
"..."
He could almost see Fuji-nee's expression sobering.
"Who told you about that?" She asked seriously.
"...Issei. I pressured him into telling me," Naruto explained, "Please, Fuji-nee. I'm begging you, please tell me."
"Don't worry so much, Naru-chan," Fujimura said in a lighthearted tone, "Mitsuzuri-san was found a while ago. That's why I had to go before you came back home."
"Sh-she was found!?" Naruto asked as he breathed a sigh of relief, "Hah, I'm so glad..."
"Her memory's a bit jumbled, but there's no visible trauma nor does she have any injuries," Fujimura informed, "We still don't know what happened though."
"I see... By the way, Fuji-nee, please don't get Issei in trouble. He didn't actually do anything bad; he just told me because I-" He started explaining before Fujimura interrupted him.
"Don't worry. Ryuudou-kun didn't do anything wrong," She told him, "This was a special case after all."
"O-oh, uh, thanks, I guess," Naruto thanked, a little surprised.
"Heh, heh, don't worry about it," Fujimura dismissed, "It was supposed to be kept under wraps, but like I said, this was a special case."
Fujimura allowed Naruto to spend a few seconds in silence to enjoy his relief before she started speaking again.
"Now go to sleep! It's already really late!" She said in a scolding manner.
"Yes, maam!" Naruto complied in a cheery tone before he put the phone back in its receiver.
He sighed in relief again, 'Phew, that's a load off my mind. Now I just have to speak to Shinji tomorrow.'
"Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash... but you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades... are lower than trash."
"..."
Saber slowly opened her eyes, untied the string on her wrist and regally got up from bed.
She slid open the door separating her room from Naruto's a tiny bit and took a peek inside.
As expected, the blonde boy was there, snoring away even though the sunlight was shining directly at his face.
Satisfied with her inspection, Saber closed the door and walked out the other door in her room in order to practice her daily hygienic rituals. She didn't really need to do most of them, but brushing her teeth and the like never hurt anyone.
She headed towards the bathroom but paused for a second to look back at Naruto's room.
'A ninja... Naruto, the more I see of your past, the more questions it raises about where you're from or what you were. But... the more I see of your past, the more I can understand why you grew up to become the person who is my Master right now.'
"Here," Naruto said as he served Saber a bowl of ramen, "I'm pretty good at making ramen, so I'm sure it'll taste delicious!"
Saber looked incredulously at the bowl of ramen in front of her.
"...Naruto, it is time for breakfast," she pointed out.
"And?" Naruto asked, not quite understanding the point she trying to make.
"Naruto... It. Is. Time. For. Breakfast," Saber repeated slowly.
Naruto laughed, "Yeah, I know that. What're you trying to tell me though?"
Saber stared at him for a few seconds before she sighed, "Do you always eat ramen for breakfast?"
Naruto shook his head sadly, "Nah. I try to, of course, but Sakura or Fuji-nee stop me whenever I do. They keep saying that it's unhealthy and whatnot. Bah!"
"...Naruto. They are not wrong," Saber informed.
"you too!?" Naruto asked, quite indignant, "Even after I worked so hard to make that ramen for you!? Seriously, try it! I'm really good at cooking ramen, ya know?"
Saber sighed once again, "Naruto...when people usually say that they are good at cooking, they don't mean that they are extremely skilled at figuring out the amount of water to put in a cup. Making two cups of cup ramen and then pouring them into a bowl after their done cooking, does not qualify as hard work."
Naruto scowled, "You have no idea how hard it is to figure out the amount of water to put in! It takes years of experience to get it right!"
"...Very well. I shall eat, fastidiousness is the enemy after all," Saber said as she masked her distaste, "Please refrain from making ramen for breakfast again though."
Naruto's scowled darkened.
"...Fine..." He bit out.
"Yo, Emiya," Shinji casually called out from inside his ring of girls as Naruto walked into the classroom, "I heard you were searching for me yesterday."
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I was. I need talk to you in private."
Shinji shrugged with a smirk on his face, "Too late for that. Class is about to start. Wouldn't want to miss class now, would we?"
'That boy never fails to surprise me with the amount of pride and jealousy he leaks out,' Kurama interjected.
'Jealousy? Pride, I get. Why jealousy though? Is he jealous of me about something?" Naruto asked.
'No... I don't think so,' Kurama answered, 'He's constantly leaking a large amount of jealousy but barely any of that is aimed towards you.'
'I see...'
'What are you going to do?' Kurama asked
Naruto thought about it for a second before he gave his answer, 'Shinji's problem is private; I have no right to interfere or investigate. I'll focus on Sakura for now.'
"What's wrong, Emiya?" Shinji asked derisively, "Going into autopilot mode already?"
Naruto glared at the blue haired boy, "Oi, if you have something to say, then come out and say it. I don't have time for this crap."
Shinji chuckled and shook his head amusedly, "You're always so easy to anger, Emiya."
Naruto's glare darkened, "Shinji, I have no problems in kicking your ass right now; if you want me to do that, then just say so."
"My, my, Emiya. You really need to keep that temper under control," Shinji said before his countenance leaked a bit of sadism, "By the way... have you heard about Mitsuzuri?"
Naruto's eyes widened a little, "How do you...?"
Shinji's sadistic smirk widened, "I heard about it in the dojo this morning; really terrible isn't it? I heard that she was found with her eyes glazed over and her clothes in tatters."
Naruto grit his teeth and clenched his fists, "Shinji... If you don't stop right there..."
Shinji shrugged again, "Don't worry so much, Emiya. These are all just rumors."
'RING!'
Suddenly, much to Naruto's relief, the bell rang and he was forced to go to his seat before he did anything drastic.
'That bastard... why's he always like this!?' Naruto mentally complained as Fujimura walked into the classroom.
"Stand! Bow!" The class rep ordered, just like everyday.
"Hello everyone!" Fujimura excitedly started, just like everyday, "Let's get started with homeroom!"
And four blocks went by before he knew it.
Just like everyday.
"That bastard, Shinji!" Naruto raged, "I told him I needed to talk to him in private and he still disappeared somewhere during lunch!"
He stomped out of the class and was about to head to the roof, when a female classmate of his whose name he didn't remember grabbed a hold of his arm and stopped him.
"Hello, Uzumaki-san," She greeted as she let go of his hand, "Rin-san told me to tell you to meet her here after school."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "After school?"
The classmate nodded.
"Yes," she said before her expression became a little nervous, "I-if you don't mind me asking, Uzumaki-san... what exactly does she need you for?"
Naruto shrugged, "I have no idea. This is the first time I'm hearing of this."
Evening had settled and almost all the students had gone home already due to the new rule established by the faculty. After that Ayako incident, the school wasn't willing to take any chances.
"Good, it seems like my message reached you, Naruto," Rin nodded in a satisfied manner.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto casually responded before he looked at her with curious eyes, "So? What did you want?"
Rin's features became serious as she started explaining, "Today we're going to be hunting for sigils. This school is pretty big so-"
"Wait," Naruto stopped her as he brought his hand up in an indication for 'stop', "we're gonna be hunting for... what?"
Rin let out a large sigh.
"I forgot how terrible of a magus you are," She complained as she face-palmed, "Look, this school is surrounded by a boundary field that'll use every non-magic user inside as sacrifices to gather magic energy. It's probably a Master looking to replenish their Servant."
Naruto's eyes widened, "By sacrifices you mean..."
Rin glared at the ground and nodded, "Yeah, the same thing that happened to that girl we healed will probably happen to everyone here. Except the effects will most likely be much stronger since this barrier's so powerful."
Naruto frowned as he put a hand on his chin, Hey, Kurama, could it be...?'
'I can't think of any other explanation...'
"Naruto, are you okay?" Rin asked, noticing that he wasn't paying attention to her anymore.
"Hey, Rin... the day before yesterday I found a few places that were leaking out magic energy," Naruto informed, "As you keep reminding me, I'm not good with magic, so I don't know why those places were leaking magic nor do I know what was going on. Maybe those are the sigils you were talking about?"
Rin too brought her hand up to her chin, "Hmmm, I guess it wouldn't hurt to check. It's certainly better than wandering aimlessly and hoping for the best."
Naruto fished out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it.
"This way," he said as he turned around and started walking.
As soon as the back of his head faced Rin, her eyes narrowed a tiny bit, 'He can sense magic too? I thought he was hopelessly abysmal at anything related to magic, but it seems like he has a lot more tricks up his sleeves than I thought. I have to watch out for him... I know he won't betray me, but once our alliance is over..."
"Wow, I'm surprised, Naruto," Rin commented as the two Masters finished putting on their regular 'outside' shoes at the front entrance, "You found almost all the sigils without even knowing what they were."
"Good thing too. I thing we got all of them," Naruto noted as he let loose a tired grin, "I guess that means we can go home now?"
Rin looked around one last time before she addressed his thinly veiled request.
"Sure, doesn't look like we'll find anymore anyway," She agreed, "Keep in mind though, this doesn't mean that we've taken down the boundary field. It only means that we've delayed the time it'll take for it to activate."
"Eh!? How do we put a stop to it completely then?" Naruto asked, quite surprised with this little tidbit of information.
"This is a Servant's Noble Phantasm; the only way I can think of to stop this, is to take down the Servant who put this up," Rin answered, "The Servant who set this up is probably the same Servant who attacked us."
Naruto gave her an impressed look, "Wow, looks like you've already figured everything out. You're pretty active in this war, huh? I bet you've found kinds of info on the other Masters and Servants."
Rin smirked proudly, "Obviously."
Naruto gave her a mischievous grin, not unlike the one he used to give Iruka-sensei whenever he asked for more ramen, and asked, "Ehehehe, mind sharing some of that info with me; you know, since we're allies?"
Rin gave him a sly smirk.
"Oh? That's a bold move, Naruto," She said as she shook her head in faux-apology, "I'm afraid I'll have to refuse though. The alliance is only effective until we take down the Servant threatening this school after all."
"Tch, so stingy..." Naruto grumbled.
Rin's smirk widened, "Anyway, you should go straight home, Naruto. It's probably not a good idea to wander around when there are no witnesses to stop anyone from attacking you."
"Right, right," Naruto casually said as he walked out the main door and waved behind him, "See ya."
Rin cheerfully closed her eyes and returned his wave even though he couldn't see her, "Goodbye, Don't die!"
She waited until she was sufficiently confident that the blonde haired boy had left the school before she opened her eyes to reveal steel filled, aqua colored irises,
"Around three meters..."
"Hm?" Archer asked without leaving his spirit form.
"That's his range of magic sensing," Rin clarified, "Around three meters."
"I don't doubt that information, but may I ask how you found that out?" Archer asked curiously.
"Naruto found a lot of the sigils when he came here the other day with Saber, but he didn't find all of them back then," Rin explained, "To be precise, he managed to find five more sigils today."
"And?" Archer prompted.
"We only found these five extra sigils by wandering around the academy and relying on his magic sensing skills," Rin continued, "And each time he sensed the sigils, we were always about three meters away from them. Always."
"I see... you are quite devious, Rin," Archer noted, almost sounding like he was complimenting her, "Searching your own ally for weaknesses... what a shrewd person you are..."
Rin crossed her arms and glared at the invisible Archer, "Hmph, it's not like I was the only one doing it. I'll bet you anything that he was doing the same thing."
"Did you notice anything?" Archer asked.
"Well... no..." Rin admitted, "But that guy's really shrewd too, you know!? I'm almost a hundred percent sure that he got some information on me just by hunting sigils with me today!"
'As I thought... Rin's taken an active stance in this war...' Naruto noted to himself as he let his legs automatically lead him back home.
'What do you mean by that?' Kurama asked curiously.
'Since we don't really have a lot of skills that are useful for dealing with magic, we can't really track our enemies. That's why we're stuck baiting our enemies to us,' Naruto explained, 'Rin, on the other hand, has a large variety of skills that are useful for dealing with magic. That's why she can actively track down her enemies and can actually attack them first. We're just stuck counterattacking.'
Kurama paused for a few seconds before he let out a small chuckle, 'Heh.'
'What?' Naruto asked defensively.
Kurama shook his head, 'It's nothing... I'm just thinking about how this is the most alive I've seen you in years.'
"..."
Naruto stared at the vermillion colored street for a few seconds as he walked before he pulled his own hair in frustration, "Goddamnit, Rin!"
'Hm? What happened now?' Kurama asked amusedly.
'This waiting crap just isn't for me!' Naruto complained, 'I wanna go on the offensive like Rin, not wait for enemies to come to me! Gah!'
Kurama chuckled again, 'Heh, always the impatient type... can't say I disagree with you though...'
'Right!? Isn't waiting around just getting annoying? I wish the enemy would hurry up and attack already!' Naruto grumbled.
Kurama smirked, 'As they say; be careful what you wish for. That wish might just come back to bite you in the ass.'
'Heh, let it try,' Naruto challenged.
"Thank you for the food!" Fujimura thanked as she put her bowl on her plate and clapped her hands together in a prayer fashion.
Saber too, put her bowl on her plate and clapped her hands together in a prayer fashion, "Thank you for the meal, Naruto."
"You're welcome," Naruto responded to them both in a bored tone as he collected all the dishes on the table and brought them to kitchen.
Fujimura sighed dissatisfiedly, "This house just doesn't feel the same without Sakura..."
Naruto glanced back at the brown haired teacher as he put on his his cleaning gloves and turned on the water.
"Yeah, she only started coming here a year ago, but for some reason this house just doesn't feel like home without Sakura," he lamented.
Fujimura flopped to the floor and frowned, "What's she busy doing anyway?"
Naruto shrugged and put another dish on the drying rack, "Beats me. She didn't tell me."
Fujimura sat back up and looked at the entrance to the living room, "I hope she comes back soon..."
The moon was hanging high up in the sky and the entirety of Fuyuki city was illuminated by the combined strength of the moonlight and streetlights. The streets themselves were empty, save for a few night owls and the rare drunks. The inside of the Emiya residence was enveloped in darkness and the only sounds that could be heard were the chirping of crickets, the soft breathing of Saber, and the loud snores from Naruto (that oddly blended in with the tranquil night rather nicely).
Suddenly, the loud snores died away.
Nobody could've noticed that something strange had happened.
Nevertheless, Kurama did.
'This is...!'
Naruto, who had been peacefully sleeping up until this point, dazedly stood up. Drool leaked out of his mouth as he slowly wobbled towards the front entrance of the house. Were anyone were to see his manner of walking, they would inevitably compare him to a zombie.
"Wake up, Naruto," Kurama tried.
Naruto did not respond.
"...I said, WAKE UP!" Kurama yelled.
'Ah! What? What happened,' Naruto blearily asked as he materialized in his mindscape, 'And why the hell did you call me here?'
Kurama crossed his arms on the wet ground and rested his head on it like a normal fox, "Looks like you're body's being controlled by someone else. Luckily, it seems like the've put the main catalyst for the technique inside of you. We can't expel our chakra to affect outside world, but we sure as hell can manipulate your chakra inside of you. This catalyst is inside of you so we can easily get rid of it by washing it away with our power."
Naruto rubbed his eyes to wipe the sleep away from his eyes before he plopped down to the ground with a wet 'SPLASH' and put a hand on his chin, "...Explain to me exactly what's happening."
Kurama stretched his hand out and tapped the water right in front of Naruto.
The ripples from the tap expanded and left the image of an empty street in its wake. As soon as the ripples died down, the image started moving, not unlike a movie.
"This is what's happening outside at the moment," Kurama explained, "It seems like someone out there is controlling your body to go to them. The catalyst for this controlling technique is located near your heart; since the catalyst is inside of you, we can easily wash it away with our overwhelming power in an instant."
"Are there going to be any side effects from washing away this 'catalyst'?" Naruto asked, "You said it was located near my heart right?"
Kurama shook his giant head, "No, there won't be any side effects from washing this thing away. Like I said, This thing inside of you is just a catalyst; the rest of the technique is working outside of you right now. There's no way for someone to just shove a giant technique with failsafes inside of you from afar."
Naruto nodded to indicate his understanding, "I see. That means that getting rid of this technique is always an option. That's good to know."
He looked up at Kurama and raised an eyebrow, "How do you know that this person is bringing us to them though? Can you track the technique back to the user?"
Kurama snapped his fingers(?) in realization, "Oh, right! I blocked out this sound because it was getting annoying, but this should explain everything."
He snapped his fingers again and suddenly an eerie and feminine voice echoed around them over and over again.
"Come... Come...Come...Come...Com-"
"Uwah, what the hell is that? It's way too creepy!" Naruto asked as he grimaced.
Kurama snapped his fingers again and the voice disappeared.
"Yeah, you see why I blocked it out now?" Kurama asked rhetorically, "But yeah, that's why I know that they're calling you to them; why else would they keep repeating come...come... otherwise?"
Naruto gave the fox a questioning look, "Why do you keep calling her a 'they'? That person clearly sounds like a female."
"Yeah... I'm not risking anything after that Haku crap," Kurama shot back.
"Urk!"
"Anyway, so what do you want me to do now?" Kurama asked, getting back to the point, "Keep in mind that the time it'll take for us to break out of this technique is about half a second."
Naruto narrowed his eyes in contemplation before he gave his answer, "Let that person bring us to them; in the first place, the best case scenario of this whole plan was getting whisked away to the enemy's hideout. If it looks like I'm about to be run over by car or something then break me out of this technique. Same goes for if someone is about to attack me."
"Gotcha."
'Ryuudou temple, huh? I hope the enemy Master isn't Issei...' Naruto thought to himself as he watched his body slowly walk up the stairs, regardless of his will.
It took a few minutes with his pace to climb up the stairs and as soon as he got to the gate, he noticed another person standing in front of the gate.
Well... his physical appearance was like that of a normal person's but his unique attire and dangerously long katana suggested that he belonged in a different time period altogether.
'Hey Kurama... that guy's a Servant right?' Naruto asked as his body walked past the man dressed as an ancient samurai.
'Yeah,' Kurama confirmed, 'Based on what we've seen, no normal Magus could emit that much magical energy.'
'I think it's called Prana,' Naruto corrected.
'Whatever,' Kurama dismissed.
Naruto stumbled through the gate and came to a stop after walking two-thirds of the way to the actual Temple's entrance. Right in front of him was a dark mirage-like figure that he could instinctively feel was the cause of the technique controlling him.
"Welcome... Saber's Master..." The figure welcomed as the dark illusion surrounding her faded to reveal an eerie woman whose head was covered by a hood and whose elaborate purple dress was covered by an equally elaborate purple cloak.
Naruto felt sweat run down the back of his neck, 'H-hey, Kurama. She looks like a Servant too... Please tell me that she isn't one.'
Kurama grunted, 'Bad news... She's a Servant.'
Naruto grit his teeth as he berated himself, 'Crap! I made a huge mistake! I thought that after seeing how I couldn't even sense any familiars, no enemy team would agree to an alliance where the goal is to take down such a seemingly vulnerable enemy like me! In the end, there can only be one winner after all.'
'Looks like your prediction was completely off,' Kurama noted, 'Even with such an easy target, this Servant didn't take any chances.'
Naruto's mind raced as he tried to come up with a suitable counter strategy, 'Crap, crap, crap, crap! I can't think of anything here!'
"Hm? You look nervous, Saber's Master," The enemy Servant pointed with a smile.
Naruto forced a grin, "There aren't a lot of people who wouldn't be in my situation."
The enemy Servant laughed amusedly, "True, true. Welcome to my humble abode. Call me Caster."
Naruto grimaced, "Caster, huh?"
"Yes... looks like you are truly unfortunate, Saber's Master," Caster said, "I need Saber to beat Berserker, and you... you are in the way."
'Shit, I've still got nothing! I need to stall!' Naruto thought as Caster slowly made her way towards him.
"I saw another Servant outside; I'm surprised that you decided to create an alliance with another team just to get to me," He said, his forced grin still in place.
Caster stopped, put a hand on her mouth, and laughed, "Hahahaha! You think that Assassin is my ally?"
She stopped laughing and glared at Naruto - at least he thought she did seeing that the hood kinda blocked her eyes - and frowned, "I really wish you wouldn't put me on the same level as him..."
"Wh-what?" Naruto asked, quite confused with her statement.
Caster smirked, "Since I was summoned as 'Caster', it isn't really that hard to make the leap that I am a Magus, is it? Since I'm a Magus involved in the Holy Grail war, that means I can summon my own Servant, right?"
Naruto's eyes widened, "Assassin's... your Servant?"
Caster's smirk widened, "Exactly. That Servant outside is nothing but a dog. A dog chained up to his doghouse; Assassin can't even leave this temple. He's stuck here for the entire duration of this war."
Naruto grimaced as she started walking towards him again, 'Tch, I wasn't wrong about the people not allying to attack me thing. I just got really, really unlucky...'
'What's the plan, Naruto?' Kurama asked as he glared at Caster from inside his mindscape.
'...I'm guessing that since she's a magus, she doesn't really have a lot of physical capabilities,' Naruto started, 'As soon as she gets close to me, break the technique and I'll aim a punch towards her face. Obviously the punch won't actually do anything, but if I can get her to flinch in surprise... then maybe, just maybe I can use that chance to escape. Servant or not, she'll still react to a punch coming to her face instinctively.'
'...That's it!?' Kurama growled out incredulously, 'That's the best you could come up with!? The chances of that plan working are insanely low at best and you know it!'
'What the hell do you want me to do then!?' Naruto yelled back, frustration leaking into his voice, 'She's got me completely cornered! I've got nowhere to go!'
Kurama glared at the blonde boy and grit his teeth before he relented with a sigh, 'Fine... This is the best we've got anyway.'
Caster took another step and was barely a meter away from Naruto, when thirteen arrows rained down on her. Caster, in an impressive display of speed, shot backwards and avoided every single one.
"Who-!?" Caster asked as she landed.
"Tch, looks like I missed," A man garbed in red complained as he landed right in front of Naruto.
"D-Dragcher? Why're you here?" Naruto asked, a little surprised and more than a little relieved.
"I was just patrolling around when I caught a curious sight," Archer easily answered, keeping his gaze fixed on Caster the entire time, "By the way, you should be able to move now; I already got rid of the magic binding you... And don't call me Dragcher."
Naruto tested out that claim by moving his arm a bit.
'He's right...' He noted to himself, 'What about that thing near my heart, Kurama?'
'Looks like the catalyst inside your chest is gone too,' Kurama answered.
"Archer..." Caster more or less growled, "What the hell is that Assassin doing!?"
Archer smirked, "Don't be so angry, Caster. Assassin's quite busy fighting Saber; the fact he hasn't lost yet is impressive in on itself."
'So Saber made it...' Naruto noted to himself.
Caster scowled, "hmph, Assassin's only job was to not let any Servants in. If he failed in such a simple task then he is even worse than a dog."
Archer shook his head in a what-can-you-do manner, "My, my, what a difficult woman you are."
"Do not make me angry, Archer," Caster warned, "If you do... you will not like the consequences."
Archer stopped his taunting and aimed a glare at the Servant dressed in purple, "Caster, I heard what you said about Assassin..."
"And?" Caster prompted amusedly.
Archer's glare darkened, "Caster, you broke the rules!"
Caster's smirk widened, "Now, now, if you really did hear the explanation I gave that boy, then you should already know my justification."
"Obviously you would resort to such tactics..." Archer muttered.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Hm? What do you mean by that, Dragcher?"
"Since Caster is a Servant who mainly relies on magic for offense and defense, Saber, Lancer, and Rider, all three who have extremely high magic resistance, are enemies that she has to rely on underhanded tactics to defeat," Archer explained, "Breaking the rules to summon Assassin, creating a territory here, where there's a protective field that rejects Servants and only allows them to enter from the entrance. Not to mention the fact that this place also dispenses large amounts of magic energy because of the leylines... Oh, and she's collecting souls from the innocent people in this town. Basically, these are types of tactics she's been using."
"Collecting souls?" Naruto asked as he felt a pit of dread form in his stomach.
"Yeah. Rin found more than a few people that this witch rendered impotent by stealing magical energy from," Archer informed, "Looks like she's stopped killing the people she's been taking magical energy from though."
Naruto leveled an intense glare at Caster, "You bastard! Why're you getting innocent people involved in this!?"
Caster's smirk remained in place, "I will do anything to win. If that means rendering men impotent, then so be it."
Archer gave Caster a smirk of his own, "Too bad your luck has run out, witch. I'll only need one blow to defeat you."
Caster stared at Archer as if he was a novice in magic and was challenging her to a spell-only duel, "You stand no chance, Archer. There's only two people I have to worry about; Saber and Berserker."
"We'll see about that," Archer challenged as he took a step forward.
Before anyone could do anything though, Naruto took a walked up to Archer and put his arm in front of the clad in red Servant to block his way.
"There's no need for any fighting," he announced.
"What do you mean by that, boy?" Caster asked confusedly just as Archer raised an eyebrow.
"What do I mean by that?" Naruto mockingly repeated before he glared darkly at Caster, "Well...in simple terms, we've already won."
"TSUBAME GAESHI!"
"ARGH!" Saber yelled in pain as she barely managed to stop the two blades coming at her simultaneously from hitting her vital points by using her Noble Phantasm, Invisible Air, just in time as a propellant to send herself hurling backwards.
She bounced on the ground as she kept falling but managed to regain her sense of balance landed on her feet just in time to come to a stop before she fell down any more steps.
She took a moment to calm herself and to review exactly how she had gotten in this position in the first place.
As soon as Naruto had up and left, Saber, notified by the gentle pull of the string loosely tied between them, had waited for a few extra minutes for her Master to gain a bit of distance between them before she had started tracing his steps and direction in order trail him discreetly.
It had been incredibly hard for her to keep her distance and not to rush to her Master to snap him out of the clearly unnatural state for an upwards of eighty minutes that it took for him to get to the enemy's hideout in the pace that he was moving in.
Luckily, their efforts had been awarded and one of their enemies' hideout had finally been found out.
The next step of Naruto's plan called for her to rescue him safely and later they would come up with a strategy to assault this place.
Too bad that the plan hit a giant snag though.
A giant snag called Assassin.
Contrary what one would expect after hearing that, Assassin was actually quite cordial.
He had even given his name away. Saber, honor-bound, had been about to do the same, but Assassin had easily stopped her. Assassin had claimed that his "blade would tell him all that he needed to know about his opponent."
Not to mention the fact that Assassin was a fountain of information. He had told her about everything, from the fact that he was fictional Heroic Spirit who had been summoned by Caster, to the fact that Caster was stealing enormous amounts of magical energy from an incredible amount of innocent civilians in Fuyuki city.
Still, at the moment, there was only one thing she had wanted to do and still wanted to do.
And that was, to save Naruto.
Yet, Assassin did not let her pass. He was cordial and gave her information, but he did not allow her to pass.
So, she tried to force her way in.
Where Saber had 'weight', 'power' and 'speed', Assassin had the terrifying advantage in 'technique' and 'positioning'.
Instead of simply blowing past him, like she had expected, she had been forced to lose entire minutes in their fierce clashes. Assassin had even figured out the length of her blade in under a minute. By the time the three minute mark had passed, Saber had been contemplating about using her strongest Noble Phantasm.
Unfortunately, Assassin used his, first.
Well, the attack wasn't a Noble Phantasm, it was his 'ultimate technique'.
In her mind, other than the 'not requiring extra magical energy to use it' part, the distinction was pretty damn hard to make.
And that's how she'd gotten here.
"My, my, Saber. Your instincts are honestly terrifying," Assassin praised as he let go of his follow-through and went back to his usual, elegant yet effective stance, "Even though I attacked from above you and that's why there were only two slashes instead of three, the fact that you dodged those two strikes is truly impressive."
"Assassin... what was that?" Saber asked, unable to hold her curiosity back.
"During my life, I once strived to cut down a swallow," Assassin narrated, "Unfortunately, swallows are fast little birds who can dodge both vertically and horizontally and can feel the disturbance in the air. Since a sword can only move in a straight line and since there is no possible way to swing a sword without disturbing the air, swallows cannot be taken down with a single slash. Although, you see... I had nothing better to do. So instead of giving up, I simply tried again and again until one day I noticed that I had finally succeeded. Since swallows cannot be killed with a single strike, I consecutively slashed three times instead. Two of the slashes were to block off its escape and the last one... the last one was the slash meant to kill."
Saber grimaced, 'Consecutive? No. Those slashes weren't consecutive; they both appeared at the same time. That attack was more along the lines of a multi-dimensional refraction effect. What a frighting opponent...'
Assassin smirked, "Shall we continue?"
Saber glared at him as she bent her knees.
Before any of the two combatants could do anything though, a shimmering globe, that looked to be around the size of their head, unexpectedly appeared before them in a brief and small storm of darkness. The globe rotated for a bit before it came to a stop and the faces of Archer, Caster, and Naruto appeared on it.
"Yo, Saber!" Naruto cheerfully greeted, "It's fine to stop fighting now; we've reached an agreement with Caster!"
Assassin gave the Caster in the globe a questioning look and neither he, nor Saber failed to notice the absolutely livid expression on Caster's face.
"Assassin... stop fighting..." Caster ground out.
Naruto gave the two Servants an angelic smile while Archer just kind of stared at the them with a neutral expression on his face.
"Caster and I are going to make a Geis, so make sure that she doesn't do something outside the ordinary, okay?" Naruto merrily ordered, "That goes for you too, Dragcher."
"Right, right," Archer casually assented, "And don't call me Dragcher."
Naruto gave Caster a nod and Caster took that as a sign to start creating the Geis. All she did was hold out her hand and a stereotypical magical parchment started forming out of thin air. A few seconds later, the entirety of the parchment had been created.
She looked it over for a few seconds before she passed it onto Naruto.
Nobody present at the scene missed how her hand twitched in rage and frustration as she handed the dangerous magic over.
Naruto took a moment to scan it himself before and nodded in satisfaction before he passed it onto Archer.
Archer's scan took a lot longer and his eyes lingered at parts of the parchment for a few seconds before he too nodded in satisfaction,
"Looks like everything's in order. I took a careful look at it, and I'm a hundred percent sure that there aren't any loopholes that she can exploit."
Naruto grinned, "You're the last proofreader, Saber. You're free to read it too I guess, Assassin."
"My thanks," Assassin said with a smile as Naruto turned the parchment towards the globe.
Saber and Assassin both slowly walked up to the globe and curiously read the contents of the parchment.
As the two Servants who had just recently been fighting each other worked through the conditions of the binding magic, Saber's eyes dramatically widened while Assassin started chuckling amusedly.
"N-Naruto! If you sign this contract then not only will she tell you the way to Berserker's Master's hideout, she'll also tell you everything about her own Noble Phantasms!" Saber exclaimed, unable to mask the surprise that she felt, "How did you-?"
Naruto gave her a reassuring grin, "don't worry, I'll tell you the 'how' of it on the way home. For now, just tell me whether you see any tricks embedded in there or not."
Saber gave the Geis a once over again before she shakily spoke up, "I-I don't see any loopholes. it seems like the conditions are clear; Caster will tell us the way to Berserker's Master's hideout and all the details of her own Noble Phantasm. In return, we will not attack them tonight and nor will they be able to do the same."
Assassin nodded as well, "Yes, it seems like, if you sign that Geis, both factions will walk away with a ceasefire for tonight, and our faction will you give you two extra pieces of information. Not a bad deal for you, I'd say."
Caster glared at Assassin, "Keep your mouth shut, dog! Do you want me to rip out your ribcage again!?"
Assassin raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Sorry, sorry. My, you are a difficult woman to deal with."
"Assassin!" Caster warned, raising her voice.
Assassin amused smile remained but he did not speak any further.
"Looks like the deal's checks out, Caster. I'm impressed," Naruto commented as he turned the parchment back towards himself and signed in the indicated area, "With this, the curse is complete. Now, go ahead and keep your part of the deal. I'm very interested in what you have to say.
Caster grit her teeth.
Naruto, Archer, and Saber were all walking towards Rin's house while Saber relayed her entire battle with Assassin to the other two males in their group.
"Unavoidable, you say?" Archer asked as Saber described Assassin's ultimate technique, Tsubame Gaeshi.
Saber nodded, "Yes. If he had used the full version that is. It was only my incredible instincts that saved me from certain death, even though there were only two slashes."
"An unavoidable attack..." Naruto mused, "What a dangerous guy."
The three spent a second in silence as they pictured the Tsubame Gaeshi in their minds and tried to come up with a counter for it.
"Anyway, I cannot believe that Caster willingly gave us so much information just for a ceasefire in return," Saber noted, changing the subject, "How did you get her to do that, Naruto?"
Archer chuckled, "Just for a ceasefire? You've got it all wrong, Saber."
Saber raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
Archer turned to look at Naruto, who was grinning like a loon, "This boy... he's a lot more dangerous than I gave him credit for. The situation went something like this...
"Well... in simple terms, we've already won," Naruto claimed as he smirked mischievously, his cerulean eyes dancing in dangerous glee.
Caster, even though she knew that she had the upper hand, could not help but feel a little nervous at the expression that the blonde boy was making.
"Y-you've already won?" Caster asked incredulously, "Do not be ridiculous, boy; in what way have you won!?"
Naruto chuckled as he brought his hand up to show Caster his command seals, "Tell me, what do you think would happen if I summoned Saber here?"
Caster took a step back and Archer was ready to bet anything that Caster's eyes had also widened.
"If I summon Saber, someone who has rank-A magical resistance, you wouldn't stand a chance," Naruto continued, "Saber's your worst enemy after all."
"Why should I believe that rank-A magic resistance claim of yours!? You could be bluffing!" Caster yelled.
Naruto shrugged, "From what I heard from the priest, all Sabers usually have a high magic resistance. Is it really a stretch of imagination to believe my claim?"
"Kuh!" Caster took a step back before she counterattacked, "Even if you do summon Saber, I'll simply get Assassin to stop her again. As Archer said, Assassin is clearly skilled enough to face Saber."
Naruto grinned predatorily, "Hey Dragcher, what range does Assassin fight in?"
"Close range," Archer answered instantly, "His sword is longer than average, but it's still a sword... And don't call me Dragcher.
"Like Dragcher said, Assassin is a close range fighter, so that mean that if I summon Saber and order her to attack you and if Dragcher simply keeps Assassin away with arrows, then you would get no support against Saber," Naruto explained, "A situation you definitely can't afford to land in."
Caster grit her teeth as her mind raced, 'This boy... could it be that he... outmaneuvered me? Just a few minutes ago I had him cornered and now... now I'm the one in his position. I need to think... what can I do to reverse this situation?'
She clenched her fists, 'I can't think of anything! What should I- ...wait. Wait a minute, why hasn't he...?'
"Boy, You've given me this layout of what will happen if you summon Saber, but why haven't you actually summoned her yet?" Caster asked, "If events will truly proceed as you say, then you would have summoned her as soon as the idea appeared in your mind."
"I would have to waste a Command Seal to summon her, and I really want to conserve them in case of some emergency in the future," Naruto explained, "That's why I haven't summoned her yet."
'Then why would you tell me this possibili-?' Caster asked in her head before realization made itself known, "You... you intend to negotiate?"
"Wow, I'm impressed. You brain works really fast," Naruto said with a mild look of surprise, "You're right, I intend to negotiate. If you don't want to, then I could always just summon Saber here. It's regrettable that I'll lose a Command Seal, but at least I'll take two Servants down with it."
Caster discreetly gulped.
'Even though he's cornered me, I can't forget the fact that he's still just a kid,' She thought to herself as she smirked on the inside, 'Taking down two Servants at the cost of one Command Seal is an extremely beneficial sacrifice; this boy is a lot shrewder than I thought but he still has a ways to go before he can match me.'
'You're probably thinking something along the lines of 'This boy is good but he's still a kid' because of my statement about how I don't want to waste a Command Seal to take down two Servants, but unfortunately for me, I can't really afford to waste Command Seals,' Naruto thought to himself, 'It would be a dumber move to waste a Command Seal to kill you and Assassin than to extort you.'
The two glared at each other before Caster slightly nodded her head, "Very well, let us negotiate."
Naruto's expression became blank, "Tell me, do you know who's put up the bounded field in Homurahara academy?"
Caster narrowed her eyes as she considered her next move, 'Is that it? Is that what he wants? That information shouldn't harm me at all, but... being threatened by this boy... it makes me-!'
"...Yes," She answered after a second of silence.
"Who is it?" Naruto asked, his glare unwavering.
"The girl who set up the bounded field is in senior year," Caster informed, "Her name is Yunoko Taeka."
'Kurama, describe what was going on with Caster's anger the entire time,' Naruto ordered.
'She was seriously pissed before but as soon as she started telling you about the this Yunoko Taeka brat, her anger went down,' Kurama informed, 'She's still angry, but not as much.'
'I see...' Naruto responded as he smirked, "You're lying, Caster."
Caster's eyes widened.
"Caster, you probably already know that I'm horrible at magecraft, but... I do have one incredibly unique skill that I was born with," Naruto continued confidently, "I have the ability... to sense lies themselves."
'...Liar,' Kurama accused.
'Shhh, if I say that I can sense negative emotions then she'll probably do something to her's. There's plenty of ways to distract yourself from feeling negative emotions, ya know?' Naruto explained, 'If I say that I can sense lies and prove it by actually calling her out on one she'll believe me and be forced to tell the truth. Well that, or she'll think that I already know who the culprit already is and I'm just humiliating her at this point. Either way she'll begrudgingly give me the information I want.'
'...Heh. You always surprise me, Naruto,' Kurama praised.
'Obviously. I'm awesome, that's why,' Naruto easily responded.
'He can sense lies? Impossible!' Caster incredulously thought to herself before she allowed herself to entertain the idea, 'But what if it's true? He knew that I was lying when I told him about the Yunoko girl. Yunoko Taeka is an actual senior who goes to his school, so there was no way for him to figure that I'm lying. Unless... He already knows the culprit? Which one is it; can he sense lies, or does he know the actual culprit? No... it doesn't matter at this point... either way, I'm forced to give him the correct information!'
"Very well," Caster vocalized with barely restrained anger, "The person who set up the Bounded field on Homurahara academy is... a boy named Matou Shinji."
Naruto's eyes widened, 'W-what!?'
'Looks like she's telling the truth,' Kurama noted, 'Her anger spiked like crazy as soon as she told you about that purple haired brat.'
Naruto grit his teeth, 'That bastard! I knew he was a dick to people, but to involve random civilians? What the hell is wrong with hi-'
'Don't lose your focus now,' Kurama interrupted, 'You're still dealing with Caster right now.'
Naruto discreetly took a deep breath to calm himself, 'Y-yeah. I'm busy right now; I'll deal with Shinji later.'
"Looks like you're telling the truth," Naruto said, "Next question; what is your Noble Phantasm?"
"There's no way I'm telling you that!" Caster yelled as her mind desperately raced to find something to counterattack with, 'If he gets information on my Noble Phantasm, then he'll gain an enormous advantage over me! Not to mention the fact that if I answer that, then who knows how many more questions he'll ask me!'
'As I thought,' Naruto thought to himself as he suggested an offer that he had come up during the course of this entire negotiation, "How about this, then? We'll establish a Geis. The conditions will be that you tell me all that you know about your own Noble Phantasms and hm... say, the route to Berserker's Master's hideout? Not the the location, the route. Meaning you can't just say, 'Fuyuki city' and be done with it. In return we'll form an inviolable ceasefire for tonight."
Naruto smirked foxily, "It's a good deal, don't you think? We get information and you get to live. It's a complete win-win situation!"
If looks could kill, then Naruto would have killed by Caster a thousand times over, and that was with her hood on.
"Boy, you are underestimating me," Caster said, her fists tightening underneath her cloak, "This is my territory, I am easily capable of escaping you."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Even if you could do that, we both know that that would put you in a huge disadvantage against basically everyone in this war."
Caster's eyes narrowed as Naruto continued, "If you escape, then we'll simply kill Assassin with our superior numbers. You may call him a dog, but we both know that him guarding the gate to your hideout is an extremely huge advantage that you absolutely cannot afford to lose right now."
Caster considered her options, 'Should I take this deal? It's heavily disadvantageous for me, but if I do take this deal, then he'll only be able to get two those pieces of information from me. I rejected giving him information on my Noble Phantasm before, but we both know that if he had pressed his advantage, I'd have been forced to tell him anyway, and if I told him the details of my Noble Phantasm, then would've asked for more and more information until he got everything out of me. Not to mention the fact that after I'd have told him everything, he would've still had the chance to kill me. With a Geis though...'
'I'm surprised that you even know what a Geis is,' Kurama said, quite surprised.
'I know about it for the same reason you do: Kiritsugu,' Naruto told him.
'Yeah, but I honestly thought that you'd have forgotten about it by now,' Kurama explained.
'I did, but ever since this war started, I've been trying to remember everything that Kiritsugu taught me,' Naruto informed, 'Looks like it payed off.'
'...Wow, that's actually pretty smart of you,' Kurama commended in a surprised manner.
'Oi! What's that supposed to mean!?' Naruto aggressively asked.
Kurama chuckled for a second before he answered, 'Nothing, don't worry about it.'
Naruto tried to burn the giant fox to a crisp with his eyes as said fox continued, 'Why did you give her that Geis offer though? You had such a huge advantage and could've easily kept asking her for more information if you pressed her.'
Naruto stopped glaring at Kurama and focused on Caster again, 'If I kept pressing her, then she would've probably decided that risking an escape would've been worth it, simply by considering the fact that she'll have to answer all our questions without the absolute guarantee of us withdrawing. This way is much better. Not only will she be forced to tell us everything about her Noble Phantasm this way, but she'll also probably find this to be a better option than all the others and will take it. In the end, we've already won. We just have to determine our prize.'
'Naruto, you may know what a Geis' basic function is, but you have no idea what the intricacies of that spell are,' Kurama warned, 'She can easily turn the situation on you by tricking you with something in that Geis.'
'That's why I'll ask Dragcher and Saber to look it over,' Naruto revealed, 'I may not be good at magic, but they probably are.'
"...Very well," Caster said, sounding like she was struggling to even speak, "I accept your deal."
'Kurama?' Naruto asked.
'Yeah, her anger just went up with that one. She's probably not trying to trick you,' Kurama responded, easily understanding what the blonde wanted from him.
"Good. So can you contact Saber and Assassin?" Naruto asked, "Since we've come to an accord, there's no real point in fighting anymore is there?"
"Don't get arrogant! Why should I listen to you!?" Caster asked heatedly.
"I don't trust you," Naruto informed as he glared at her, "I need to be sure that you won't try to slip a loophole past me. That's why I need Saber to double-check."
Caster growled while Naruto continued, "Plus, this should be no problem for you if you're honestly not trying to slip any loopholes by me," Naruto said before he brought his hand up to show her his Command Seals again, "Unless you are?"
Caster tightened her jaw.
"Fine, I'll contact Saber and Assassin," Caster reluctantly ground out.
'I'm surprised that she's not lying about the loopholes,' Kurama said, 'Her anger spiked like crazy when she said that she wasn't trying to slip any loopholes past you.'
'It's because she doesn't want to risk it,' Naruto explained, 'She can't be sure whether I was lying about my ability to detect lies or not, but she doesn't want to risk me asking her the question, 'Are there any loopholes that you can exploit in that Geis?' Because if she answers no, and then my ability to "detect lies" picks up on it, I could cancel the deal, and we would go back to asking her any questions we want without the guarantee that we would simply withdraw afterwards. This deal is the best option for her too, ya know?'
"...And that's how we interrupted your fight," Archer finished.
Saber turned her head to look at Naruto with a warm smile on her face, "Once again, you have honestly surprised me, Naruto. The way you handled that situation was better than I could have ever expected. Good work."
Naruto blushed as he rubbed the back of his head, "Hehehe, I know I was awesome. Praise me more."
"Yes, you certainly deserve praise for what you did," Saber commended.
While the Master and Servant duo were talking, Archer, who was walking beside them, discretely analyzed Naruto's features.
'He doesn't look all that bright and certainly doesn't act like it, but when it comes to combat... even without magic, this boy is one of our most dangerous enemies in this war. We need to be careful,' Archer noted to himself, 'Today was probably the first time he's revealed so much about himself. That confrontation against Caster wasn't like the time he forced a draw against Illya, nor was it like the time he convinced Rin to back down. No... this time... this time, he unequivocally won. This time, he completely outmaneuvered his enemy and seized his victory.'
The three took a turn and Naruto laughed at something Saber said before he said something back, to which, Saber turned red.
'Obviously, that only happened because I arrived,' Archer thought to himself as he continued his analysis, 'But... a normal person caught in that situation would have just been relieved with the fact that someone who could match Caster had arrived to save them. This blondie, on the other hand, instantly started comparing everyone's skills and techniques, which he then proceeded to use to maximum effect. That kind of thinking and reaction... it's unnatural.'
"Hey, Dragcher, what do you like to eat?" Naruto asked, pulling Archer out of his thoughts.
"Wh-what?" The Servant of the bow asked, thoroughly confused, "Why're you asking me that?...And don't call me Dragcher."
"Well since we've established that Saber likes to eat basically everything and would eat for eternity, if given the chance-"
"I would not!" Saber protested, her face turning even more red, before Naruto continued,
"And since, as I said, I love ramen, you're the only one here who's favorite food we don't know."
Archer gave them a wry smile, "I have no favorite food. I am a Servant, did you forget?"
"Yeah, and?" Naruto asked confusedly, "Clearly you can taste food, since Saber can and she's a Servant too."
"Yes, but I haven't eaten anything since I've gotten here," Archer pointed out, "And you know, since I'm dead."
"Then, what was your favorite food before you died?" Naruto asked, unfazed by his comment.
"...I really don't remember," Archer replied after thinking about it.
Saber furrowed her brow, "You don't remember the preferences you had when you were alive? How is that possible?"
Archer smirked, "I'm not a normal Heroic Spirit. I am a Counter Guardian. When humanity is on the brink of destruction, I appear. I've been through so much since I died, that I can't even remember what my favorite food was. Although, to be honest, even when I was alive, I didn't really have a lot of preferences."
Naruto looked at Archer curiously, "Didn't have a lot preferences? That's kinda weird, isn't it?"
"Yes, I was weird person. Back when I was alive, there was only one thought that dominated my mind: to be an ally of justice," Archer revealed, "What a foolish dream that turned out to be."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Naruto pointed out.
"It doesn't sound bad, but it was bad," Archer explained resolutely, "Everything I did, was for he sake of that dream, and that dream only. In the end..."
The two (especially Saber) waited anxiously, but Archer, unwilling to talk about his past, quickly changed the subject, "Anyway, can I ask why you two are following me?"
Naruto heaved an exaggerated sigh as if he were talking to someone especially stupid, "Because we're all going to Rin's house of course."
"I get that, but why exactly do you want to talk to Rin?" Archer asked, "Don't you know how dangerous she gets when she's awoken mid-sleep?"
"Yeah, but this is important!" Naruto exclaimed, "I absolutely need to talk to her about this!"
Archer massaged his head, "Fine, but I'm staying far away from you guys when you wake her up. Who knows what she'll do to you."
"F-fine by me," Naruto consented with false bravado.
The group of three talked a bit more after that, before all three fell into a comfortable silence on their way to the Tohsaka manor.
Obviously, they could've easily made their way there in a manner of minutes by jumping on the rooftops, but Naruto wanted to walk and Saber was unwilling to leave him alone after the adventure they had been through tonight. Archer, on the other hand, was walking instead of jumping home because he simply wanted some time and cool air to review the information he'd gained tonight and to sort out his thoughts.
About five minutes away from Rin's home, Kurama spoke up.
'Hey, Naruto,' Kurama started, 'I was just reviewing all the "battles" you've been through so far and I just realized something.'
'Realized what?' Naruto curiously asked as the group of three took another turn.
'Recently most of your battles boil down to: 'If you attack me, I'll summon Saber!' Kurama mockingly noted, 'It happened against that Rin brat and, just now, it happened against Caster.'
'The situation was a lot more complicated than that!' Naruto protested.
'I get that, but I wouldn't be wrong if I said that you didn't die in the last two battles because you threatened to summon Saber, would I?' Kurama asked with an unsettling grin.
'Kuh! That's not fair, you bastard!' Naruto complained.
'You're a ninja and you're talking to me about 'fairness'?' Kurama asked, his grin widening.
Naruto gave the the giant fox a menacing glare, '...You win this one.'
"Wake up, Uzumaki," Archer said, unknowingly interrupting Naruto's and Kurama's banter, "We're here."
The three stood in front of the Tohsaka mansion in silence for a few seconds before Naruto spoke up and revealed his inner feelings,
"...I'm scared."
Archer did not sugarcoat his words,
"You should be."
Author's Note - We finally broke through a hundred reviews! Yay! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who reviewed. I appreciated all of them. Even if I haven't responded, know, that I have read every single one of your reviews. We also broke through 300 favorites and 400 followers. A heartfelt thanks to them too!
So, I tried a new 'time jumping' style of writing in this chapter. I don't really know if it worked out or not, but I gave it a shot anyway.
Now, before anyone says that Caster can beat Saber and before they start using the Fate route as their source, I would like to point out that that specific battle in the Fate route was complete B.S. How can Nasu, who does such a good job with strategy, come up with such a cop out!? I'll give you guys a few examples:
First of all: What were Saber's instincts doing? Saber had just realized that something was wrong and suddenly bone hands appeared from the ground and held her in place. Sure, that makes sense. Now, Caster decides to stab Saber and are you seriously telling me that Saber just kind of stood there, astonished? Because it literally says that she was too astonished to move. What!? She couldn't deflect the stab or anything? She's an experienced warrior, come on! She should have easily been able to react fast enough to deflect that stab.
Second: Saber's reaction time. Rin is fully capable of beating the crap out Caster in a physical battle, but when Caster moves in to stab Saber, Saber is unable to react fast enough at all. Are you telling me that Caster's that fast!? If she is, then why didn't she dodge Rin's incoming beat-down? Sure she was surprised, but still, if she was that fast, then she could have probably escaped.
I could list a few more reasons, but this is already dragging on for too long, so I'll stop here.
P.S. Could someone please explain to me why the rules of God Hand keep changing slightly all the time? Does someone have the complete explanation for God Hand? Can someone please PM me that? Not the wikia explanation, please.
P.P.S. Could any potential Beta Testers please PM me? Reading the same chapter again and again in order to search for grammar mistakes is a huge pain.