I don't own Fate/Stay Night nor do I own Naruto
Night had fallen upon Fuyuki city and even though the clouds had covered the moon and stars, the streetlights and the lit up houses and buildings were doing a fantastic job of brightly illuminating parts of the city.
Parts being the keyword here.
Unfortunately, it was not the same for where the Emiya residence was located. There, the streetlights were barely doing an adequate job of providing enough light to see. The streets themselves were devoid of almost any presence and the air was quiet.
"...And if that happens, then we'll retreat through the back gate," Naruto reiterated the plan that Rin had given him for the third time to Saber as they approached their house, "Happy?"
"Sufficiently so," Saber replied, nodding her head in a satisfied manner, "Now that you have recited the plan three times, the chance of you forgetting it is incredibly minimal.
They took a left turn and entered the grounds of the Emiya residence.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbled as he fished out the house key from his pocket and unlocked the main door, "Just how hopeless do you guys think I am anyway?"
Saber smiled in amusement as she dodged the question, "I shall be waiting in the dojo. Please take your time and make sure to cook up a satisfactory amount of dinner before coming to me to train," She almost salivated, "I shall be eagerly waiting."
Naruto's eye twitched, 'I have a feeling that she wasn't really talking about the training in that last part.'
With a nod, Saber took her leave.
Naruto watched her walk away for a few seconds before he sighed in resignation and stretched his arms out,
"Alright! Let's get this over with!"
He brought a hand to his chin and stroked it as he walked towards the fridge in order to select the ingredients.
'Now, what should I make?' He wondered to himself, 'Let's go with something simple- eh?'
Opening the fridge, Naruto found something unusual.
'Two packages wrapped in plastic bags and a note?'
Leaving the packages for later, he took out the note, closed the fridge (electricity bills were a thing, ya know!?), then started reading.
I know that you've been staying up pretty late and, if you're willing to sacrifice your sleep for it, then it must be pretty important to you.
Which is why I cooked some food for both you and Saber!
So just focus on doing whatever you're doing! I'll do the cooking!
All you need to do is heat it up in the microwave.
Sincerely,
The Super-Awesome and Ultimate Fuji-nee
The note was cheesy and corny and incredibly stupid.
But...
It still made him smile.
Saber sensed a presence enter the dojo and opened her eyes,
"Naruto? I did not expect you to have finished cooking this quick... You didn't make cup ramen again, did you?"
Naruto shook his head, "Nah, Fuji-nee already did the cooking, so I just came here. We'll heat the food up once we're done."
Saber nodded in understanding as she brought herself up, "I see... well then, I have already prepared a bokken for the both of us. here you go."
Naruto took the bokken off her hands and retreated a few steps.
"This is far enough right?"
Saber nodded, "Yes. Prepare yourself Naruto."
Naruto tensed his muscles in anticipation.
Saber took a step forward and used that step to propel herself towards her opponent.
"Here I come!"
In a flash, she was upon him, ready to deliver a left to right, downward, diagonal slash to his chest.
'Well, time to get beat up again.'
"I am well aware that I have mentioned this before, but I must say it again," Saber said as she helped up the battered and bruised Naruto.
"What?" Naruto prompted sourly.
"Every time we train, the speed in which you improve at never fails to surprise me," Saber continued, slight traces of astonishment leaking into her voice, "Not to mention that unnaturally fast recovery speed."
Contrary to what she expected, instead of a smile or grin, Naruto gave her a dissatisfied pout, "Still wasn't enough to beat you though."
Saber looked surprised for a second before she let an encouraging smile overtake it, "Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure that you will be able to surpass me one day."
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto brushed off.
Saber stared curiously at his strange behavior but didn't comment on it.
Together, they reentered the house before they split off, with Saber sitting down at the dining table and Naruto walking up to the fridge in order to retrieve the food that Fujimura left for them.
Just as he was about to open the fridge though, a sudden thought struck him,
'Wait a minute... wasn't Fuji-nee really bad at cooking? Like really, really bad?"
It took him a few seconds and a deep breath to muster up the courage to open the fridge and, even then, his hand wouldn't stop trembling. He hesitantly reached inside and pulled out one of the packages. Another deep breath later, The contents of the package were lying on the platform near the sink.
The sight that awaited him was not pleasant.
Not pleasant at all.
'Wh-what the hell is this?'
The 'food' in question looked like a smattering of ingredients on top of some sort of fried rice. On top of the colorful mixture of... things, was a giant yellow layer that oddly resembled the outermost layer of a cake.
He hesitantly leaned in and took a small whiff before he drew back with a snap and covered his nose with his hands.
'Holy crap, it burns! Ow! How much damn mustard did she put in this damn thing!?'
Honestly, he wanted to just throw the whole thing in the trash, but a small part of his mind was curiously asking, 'Don't you want to know what this abomination is even supposed to be?'
A short mental debate later, and the 'food' was curiously being poked and prodded by a pair of chopsticks.
'Damnit, curiosity!'
"Naruto, are you done?" Saber eagerly asked from the living room.
"Not yet," Naruto replied automatically, too focused on his task to spare more than a minuscule amount of attention to Saber.
Saber raised an eyebrow, 'From the sound of it, he seems to be incredibly focused on something... He must be modifying the dish to make it taste even better!'
A faint smile broke through her stoic expression, 'What could he be adding to the dish? I can't wait!'
Back in the kitchen, Naruto broke through the layer of mustard and dug his chopsticks deep into the rice to find some sort of clue.
'-!'
At last, he felt his chopsticks grab hold of something that actually had a bit of toughness in it. Carefully, he pulled out the item and brought it in front of his face to examine it.
The ingredient in front of his face was a small and squishy pink cube that looked like it was as delicate as soft tofu yet still did not split when a small amount of force was applied.
'This is... salmon? Is this supposed to be salmon fried rice!? What the hell!? How did she mess something as easy as salmon fried rice up!? Is she an idiot!? Is she retarded!?'
The chopsticks snapped in hand,
'What the hell do I do now, Saber's going to-'
"Naruto, what... is this?" Saber asked from beside him as she stared intently at the abomination laid out on the table in front of her.
Naruto remained silent, buckets of cold sweat dripping down his back.
"Is this the food that Taiga left for us?" Saber asked harshly, making sure to add extra emphasis on the word 'food'.
Naruto gave her a silent and hesitant nod, his perspiration increasing by the second.
'Damnit, Fuji-nee!'
Saber grimaced, "Even I cannot... but... I must..."
Naruto's eyes infinitesimally widened as a sudden thought struck him.
'Wait... I take back everything I said. Good job, Fuji-nee!'
Naruto put a hand on Saber's shoulder and let an expression of extreme resignation bloom on his face.
"Y-yes?" Saber prompted nervously, a little unsettled by his expression.
"We have no choice now," Naruto announced in a solemn manner, "You can't cook and I'm a pretty terrible cook too, so the only option available to us is..."
Saber discreetly gulped.
Naruto's eye's twinkled with mad glee as his face morphed into a wide and excited grin,
"...CUP RAMEN!"
Saber, the prim and proper King of Knights, groaned.
She saw it.
She saw it all.
From the training trip...
To the rescue of the Kazekage...
To the reunion with Uchiha Saskue...
To the hunt for Akatsuki members...
To the pursuit of Uchiha Itachi...
To...
"Ma, I thought I told you to summon us to Konoha!" Fukasku said as Naruto looked around confusedly.
They were supposed to have been summoned to Konoha, but it seemed like Shima had made a mistake and had summoned them to a giant crater.
Shima gave the bare surroundings a sad look before she slowly gestured to the iconic Hokage monument,
"Look carefully, this is Konoha."
Naruto's eyes widened.
The sun was shining brightly through the window at the end of the room and was lighting up the room in a comfortable yellow light when, suddenly, Saber's eyes shot wide open.
She was panting and sweat dripped down her face as she gripped the futon underneath her in a tight grip.
One could easily tell that her entire body was trembling.
'H-how?' She frantically asked herself as she tried to calm her racing heart down, 'What kind of monster is capable of completely obliterating an entire city?'
She took deep, shaky breaths, before, five minutes later, she was finally able to calm her pounding heart and loosened the tight grip that she had on her futon.
She turned to look in Naruto's room.
'Naruto... did you really fight an opponent like that? An opponent who can destroy an entire city with ease? Did you really gain enough power to stand up to a person like that?' She frowned and gazed at her hand, which was still trembling slightly at the image of the devastated Konoha, 'I'm not sure that I have enough power to even survive against an enemy like that...'
Her eyes narrowed, 'If you managed to survive against an opponent like that, then... just how much more powerful did you used to be than me?' Her mind flashed to the strange behavior that Naruto had exhibited after the spar last night, 'Is that why you are unsatisfied with being unable to defeat me despite your extraordinary growth rate?'
Once Saber had completed her daily hygienic rituals, she walked into the living room and surprisingly found Naruto making breakfast.
"Naruto? Is there a reason for you being awake early today?" She asked curiously.
Naruto turned his head back to look at her at the sound of her voice and gave her a cheerful smile, "Oh hey, Saber," he greeted before answering her question, "Nah, today's nothing special. I just happened to wake up early today."
Saber smiled slightly in return and took a seat at the table. She subtly sniffed the air as Naruto turned back to focus on his cooking.
"Eggs again?" She asked, a little put out.
"Oi, be glad that I can even make eggs," Naruto said, easily picking up on her disappointment, "Before I met Sakura, all I could make was cup ramen."
Saber raised an eyebrow, even though her Master couldn't see her, "When did you meet Sakura?"
Naruto shrugged as he stirred his frying pan, "About a year ago, I think?"
"Then what did you eat before you met Sakura?" Saber asked curiously, "Clearly Taiga cannot cook, and, as you have stated, neither can you. On that matter, I have never seen Kiritsugu cook either..."
Naruto shrugged again, "I always just ordered food from restaurants," he recalled as his tone became oddly wistful, "Kiritsugu was never around much. He was always out doing god knows what. Whenever he was here though, we always tried to cook some food ourselves. Kiritsugu said that always eating restaurant food was way too unhealthy."
He laughed as he brought out the plates and poured the scrambled eggs evenly onto them, "We sucked though. Anything we made tasted like crap. We'd always have to force ourselves to finish that trash."
Saber surveyed the Naruto's nostalgic expression as he set down the plates on the table.
She masked a frown. It was quite surreal hearing the cold-hearted Master that she'd fought for in the last war spoken about with such fondness. Even more surreal was the way he was being described. She simply could not picture the stone-faced Kiritsugu cooking food alongside Naruto and warning him about the dangers of restaurant food.
"Did he really do that?" Saber asked disbelievingly.
Naruto grinned and nodded, "Yep!" He even had his own personalized apron!" His grin curved upwards mischievously as he leaned closer to her and whispered conspiratorially, "Want to see?"
She wanted to say no. She really did.
"...Yes."
She just couldn't resist.
Naruto's mischievous grin widened, "Wait right here."
With that, he headed back into the kitchen, bent behind the door, and opened a cupboard.
Saber waited patiently for a few minutes and slowly ate her scrambled eggs before she heard the loud slam of a cupboard closing and spotted Naruto walking out of the kitchen with a folded up black apron on his hands.
He set the apron down on the table, making sure to avoid the food, and flattened the entire article of clothing in order to display it properly.
Saber took a curious look at it and noticed one fact stand out to her immediately, 'Black... why am I not surprised?'
True to her thoughts, the apron was indeed black with a giant orange spiral crudely spray painted in the centre. The orange spiral did not look like it was meant to be put on there and clashed horribly with the black background.
Naruto grinned proudly, "The spiral was made by me. It looks awesome, doesn't it?"
Saber imagined Kiritsugu wearing this apron and smiled amusedly. Her amused smile widened as she imagined him wearing this over his professional outfit during the previous war.
Suddenly, his final interaction with her flashed into her mind,
"Saber, by the power of my third Command Seal, I order you to use your Noble Phantasm to destroy the Holy Grail!"
She quickly sobered at the memory.
"You okay, Saber?" Naruto asked, not missing the plummet in his Servant's mood as he picked up the apron and gently folded it up.
Saber nodded stiffly, "Yes, I'm fine."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Saber stared at his expression before she sighed and caved, "Tell me, Naruto, how much did you really know about Kiritsugu?"
Naruto shrugged, "Practically nothing."
Saber blinked at his quick and honest response, "I honestly thought that I would have had to make you disbelieve the fact that you knew anything about Kiritsugu."
Naruto shrugged again, "It's not like I have any delusions. I know that Kiritsugu hid more than just a few things from me."
Saber's forehead wrinkled, "Why do you recall him so fondly then?"
Naruto smiled, "Why do I have to know what a person is hiding to be close to them? Sure, knowing someone's secrets is an easy way to tell whether you're close to them, but it isn't the only way. If you're really close to someone, then you don't need to know their secrets to instantly tell that you're close to them. Kiritsugu and I were like that. Kiritsugu kept his secrets from me and I kept my secrets from him, but I have no doubt in my heart that Kirirtsugu and I had a bond."
Saber's forehead wrinkled further, "Bond? What kind of bond?"
Naruto took a bite of his scrambled eggs before he answered, "He was kinda like an uncle to me, I guess? I don't really know what having an actual uncle feels like, so it's the best spot that I could choose for him."
"He already made it into your surrogate family?" Saber asked, more than a little surprised.
Naruto's smile turned into a full blown grin, "Of course! Sure, he wasn't around much, but he still took care of me, visited when he could, and even gave me his last name. There's no way that the wouldn't make it into my family!"
Saber finished the last of her scrambled eggs and looked contemplatively at the table as Kiritsugu's hateful glare, the one that he had shot at her after the death of Lancer and his Master and their debate of ideologies, flashed into her mind.
The black, folded up apron caught her eye and she involuntarily once again recalled the image of Kiritsugu wearing the apron over his professional clothes during the previous war.
Her lips twitched upwards.
"Yo, Emiya," Shinji greeted with a smirk as Naruto entered the classroom, "You ready for tonight?"
Naruto pumped his fist and grinned, "Obviously! This is gonna be a piece of cake!"
Shinji's smirked increased in size, "Just try not to hold us back," he shook his head condescendingly, "It'd be really terrible if you get lost behind."
Naruto promptly flashed him the middle finger.
Shinji chuckled before he went back to flirting with the crowd of girls around him.
Naruto turned away from Shinji and made his way to his seat. He greeted Issei, who was sitting at the desk behind his, and dropped his bag beside his chair before dropping down on the chair himself.
"Is there something happening tonight, Emiya?" Issei asked curiously.
Naruto smirked, "Heh, tonight Shinji and I are going to have a little competition. Obviously, I'm going to kick his ass."
Issei raised an eyebrow, "A competition? What kind?"
Naruto's smirk allowed a hint of dark enthusiasm show itself as his cerulean eyes glowed with excitement, "it's just... a little event to see who can get the most bad guys."
Issei looked a little nervous at Naruto's facial expression, "I-I see. You're talking about a video game, right?"
Naruto "Hm"ed as the bell rang and he turned back to face the board.
"I'm late!" Fuji-nee's voice came from the hallway.
Naruto sighed at her antics, all traces of adrenaline gone from his face.
Fuji-nee rushed in and, surprisingly, actually managed to avoid tripping on the ground this time.
"Hello everyone!" She cheerfully greeted.
"Stand!" The class president ordered as per the custom.
Naruto stood up along with he rest of class.
"Bow!"
After bowing, everybody took their seats.
"Listen up, everyone, 'cause today there's some really important stuff that I need to tell you guys!" Fuji-nee ordered, "There's a university coming over to give a presentation and they..."
Naruto smiled as Fujimura kept speaking.
He mentally shrugged, it wouldn't hurt to actually pay attention to class for once.
"You look like crap," Rin noted as Naruto collapsed in front of her.
It was time for lunch and the two were once again situated on the roof. The sun, which was laid completely bare above them, would have brought down unbearable heat upon them were it summer. Thankfully, the cool winter air was doing a great job of staving off the heat.
Rin had made her way to the rooftop as soon as lunch had started but Naruto took about five minutes longer to make his way here and stumble through the door before he promptly collapsed.
"What happened?" Rin asked with an unashamed amused smirk plastered across her face.
Naruto's eyes glazed over, "So... many equations..." He mumbled out.
Rin's smirk got wider, "Oh? Math? You actually paid attention? I'm surprised, Naruto."
Her eyes narrowed as the focused face that Naruto had made in the confrontation against Berserker flashed in her mind.
Her smirk dimmed, "You didn't really strike me as the type of guy who actually paid attention in class."
It was true; the face that the cheerful blonde boy had made back then and the one that he usually made was different. Normally, it would be very hard for someone to notice, but if one contrasted the face that he made usually and the face that he made during combat, then one would instantly notice just how infinitely more focused Naruto looked in situations concerning the latter.
Naruto, oblivious to Rin's thoughts, slowly pulled himself up and plopped down beside her.
"It was terrible," he said as he tiredly rubbed his eyes, "It was so hard to try and remember equations again."
Rin raised an eyebrow, ""Again"? When was the last time you used these equations?"
"I had to practice similar equations about ten years ago," Naruto absentmindedly answered as he continued rubbing his eyes, "They weren't the same equations but they were very similar."
"You used to practice eleventh grade equations when you were ten years old?" Rin asked, surprised.
Naruto's eyes subtly widened as he realized his mistake, "A-ah yeah. I was forced to do it."
Rin suspiciously narrowed her eyes, "Oh? Who forced you?"
Naruto nervously scratched his cheek, "Uh, just a teacher of mine."
"A private tutor?" Rin probed.
Naruto shrugged, "Something like that."
Rin eyes narrowed further before she smiled sultrily and put her arm around Naruto.
She pulled the blonde boy closer,
"Why don't you tell me everything?" She asked huskily.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What're you doing?"
Rin stayed in the same position for a few seconds before she sighed and backed off.
"Ugh, I seriously thought that I could embarrass you enough so that you would tell me everything!" She exclaimed with a pout.
Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion, "By just leaning close to me?"
Ron's pout got... sulkier, "It would've worked on any other guy!"
Naruto confusedly stared at her for a few seconds before he laughed, "Ha, you're so weird!"
Rin sighed as her shoulders slumped, "I can't believe that I got called weird by the largest weirdo of them all..."
Naruto's laughter stopped and his eye twitched, "Oi."
School had ended and, on the desolate road and underneath the vivid madder sky, Naruto, while walking home, found himself trying to identify a strange yet pleasant feeling that had infected his body ever since the bell indicating that school had ended had rang.
The sensation felt quite familiar, but there was nothing quite supernatural about it.
For some reason, Mitsuzuri's words responded to his pondering.
"Uzumaki-kun, it's almost as if you're in a dream. Instead of acting, all you do is react."
He brought up his fist and clenched it,
'Maybe...'
His feet came to a stop and he simply stood there for a few seconds before he made his decision and turned around.
There was something he wanted to do before he went back home.
Around ten minutes of walking through an easily memorized path later, Naruto found himself standing in front of an innocuous house.
The worn, bronze colored plaque at the entrance of the path read,
'Mitsuzuri Household'
He rang the bell and waited for a few seconds.
"Hello, who is this?" A feminine voice politely asked from inside the intercom built into the bell.
"Uh, hello," Naruto greeted back, "I'm a..."
Ayako's words flashed in his mind,
"We're your friends after all."
"...friend of your daughter's. I just wanted to visit her."
"A friend? I'll go ask Ayako about you. What's your name, dear?"
"Naruto," Naruto replied, "Uzumaki Emiya Naruto."
The sound from the intercom died away before, around a minute later, it buzzed back to life,
"Yes, Ayoko said she knows you. Sorry for the trouble, please come in."
The metal gate blocking the way into the property swung open.
"Thank you," Naruto said as he walked in.
He walked through the front garden and spotted the main door into the house slowly swing open. From inside, a woman who resembled Ayako a fair bit and looked like she was probably in her mid-forties, waited politely for him.
The woman bowed courteously as he walked up to her, "Welcome, my name is Mitsuzuri Eriko. I am Ayako's mother; pleasure to meet you."
Naruto shifted uncomfortably at the polite atmosphere and masked a grimace with a polite smile before he bowed in return, "A-ah, yes, pleasure to meet you too."
Eriko took a second to inspect Naruto's appearance before she suddenly put a hand over her mouth and giggled.
"You and Ayako are quite similar," She informed, "both of you seem so out of your element when forced to be polite."
Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at being found out and laughed nervously.
Erika stopped giggling and gave the blonde boy a smile, "Oh, don't worry, dear. Like I said, I'm more than just a little used to seeing this from Ayako."
Naruto chuckled, genuinely this time.
"Go meet her," Eriko said, "Her room is at the end of the hall and then turn right." Her smile disappeared, "None of her other friends have visited her, so she's been cooped up in there all alone for the past few days."
Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise, "None of them?"
Eriko nodded with a sad smile, "Unfortunately, none of the friends that she spends time with are actually close enough to her to visit her. The only one that I know of, is a girl named Tohsaka Rin."
Naruto nodded as he recalled how Rin had reacted when he'd told her about Ayako's disappearance.
"Ayako's missing?" She'd said. Not "Mitsuzuri" but "Ayako". Rin knew Ayako well enough that she was already on a first name basis with her. He hadn't payed attention to it before, but it was certainly a clue that he'd missed in hindsight.
Eriko's smile morphed into a happy one, "She was quite happy to hear that you had come, you know? Of course, she tried to hide it from me, but does that girl really think that she can fool me?"
Naruto barely managed to stop his surprise from showing up on his face, "I-is that so?"
Mitsuzuri was happy to see him? While it was true that she tended to call out to him a lot, he hadn't thought that they had really connected on a deeper level. Had she created a bond with him without him even realizing it?
Eriko nodded happily, "Yes. Thank you for becoming friends with my daughter."
Naruto nodded guiltily, "N-no problem."
Eriko brought her hands together with a clap, "Well then, I'll leave you to it."
With that she stepped aside to let him inside and closed the door behind him as he entered.
He took off his shoes and looked around.
The house was fairly large and brightly lit with lcd lights. To the right, there was a dining table and beyond it lay a door that was half opened, displaying the kitchen behind it. To the left, there was a large couch and an amazingly large 140 by 140 centimeter tv hanging on the wall. To the right of the left wall, there was a small mahogany staircase that led to the upper floors. Finally, down the middle, there was a long hallway that led deeper into the house. The house's walls were covered in cream colored and slightly worn out wallpaper that had floral patterns on it.
Following Eriko's instructions, Naruto made his way through the hall in the middle and glanced occasionally at the numerous doors that he passed. As he walked, he recalled all the interactions that he had had till now with Ayako.
To be honest, he didn't even know why she had approached him in the first place, nor did he remember when.
"Uzumaki-kun~, do you wanna help me with my project?
For some reason, she had kept pestering him for long time now.
"No, no, you're doing it all wrong! You pull the bowstring back like THIS!'
Almost everyone else had left him alone since he never really started a conversation on his own initiative. Everyone was friendly with him, but almost no one actually got deeper than his first layer.
'Hey, hey, Uzumaki-kun, your class already took Fujimura-sensei's test, right? Can you please tell me what was on it?'
Not even Mitsuzuri.
'Are you sure you don't wanna come over and study? Your grades are really bad y'know?'
So why did she talk to him so much? This wasn't even like his situation with Sasuke, Mitsuzuri and he had never even met before she had started pestering him.
'Whoa, your eyes are so BLUE!'
Well... he couldn't say that he didn't like her. Someway, somehow, she had managed to become his friend, even though she hadn't even made it past the first layer.
'Hehe, bullseye! I win again!'
He mentally shrugged at the mystery as he reached the end of the hall and turned right. In front of him was a light brown wooden door with "Ayako" written in colorful bubbly letters and surrounded by cartoonish rabbits.
He rapped his knuckles on the door, making sure to avoid damaging the decorations.
"Come in," Mitsuzuri's subdued voice allowed.
Slowly, Naruto cracked open the door.
The contrast was vivid. While the outside was brightly lit, the inside of Mitsuzuri's room was completely dark. The only light source in there was a tv which was simply playing static.
He closed the door behind him and let his eyes wander.
Even with only a minimal amount of light provided, his keen eyes easily noticed the plain wooden walls and the numerous posters of bows and arrows that adorned them. The TV was located at the middle of the right end of the room and, facing it, was a large sofa that was located at the middle of the left end of the room. The only other notable piece of furniture was the desk, which had a PC on it, which was located right beside the TV and was facing the right wall. The lavender colored thick curtains, which were located at the opposite end of room and faced the door, were drawn, refusing the red light of the setting sun from entering.
Mitsuzuri was huddled up on the sofa and had a large lavender blanket wrapped around her.
She looked terrible. Her hair was messy, she was unusually still, and her eyes were unfocused.
She looked nothing like the cheerful and vibrant Mitsuzuri Ayako that he was used to seeing.
"...Where do you sleep?" Naruto asked by way of greeting.
Mitsuzuri cracked a small smile, "The sofa can turn into a bed. It's very useful." Her voice was very soft, which was incredibly out of place when it was coming from the Mitsuzuri Ayako.
They spent a few seconds in silence to collect their thoughts before Naruto sighed tiredly and plopped down beside Mitsuzuri.
"You feeling okay?" He asked.
Mitsuzuri nodded slightly as her smile receded, "The doctor says that a lot of my blood was taken from me and that I'll have to rest for a few days. Other than that though, I'm fine."
Naruto stared at the ground melancholically as he recalled Shinji's admission on how Rider had attacked Mitsuzuri. He wanted to believe Shinji when he said that Rider had gone out of control, but past experiences and a good grasp of Shinji's character easily suggested otherwise.
"Do you remember what happened?" He asked, a little hesitant to hear the answer.
Mitsuzuri shook her head, "No... all I remember is a flash of black and purple before waking up on a hospital bed."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the ground and clenched his fists.
Mitsuzuri let a small yet amused smile appear on her lips, "I'm surprised that you came to visit me."
Naruto took a quick glance at her before he fixed his gaze on the ground again,
"Hey, Mitsuzuri... I came here to visit you but, now that I'm here, I can't help but ask a question that's been bothering me ever since you gave me that lecture on not spending enough time in reality."
Mitsuzuri looked surprised, probably at his willingness to bring up the topic, before she nodded her assent.
Naruto licked his dry lips before he hesitantly started speaking, "Why did you keep talking to me even though I never tried to strike up a conversation with you? Why did you keep chasing me even though I never came to you. Why... why did you become my friend... even though I never let you in?"
Mitsuzuri blinked at the question before her smile turned nostalgic, "Do you remember? I first spoke to you in sixth grade."
Naruto guiltily refused to meet her eyes.
Mitsuzuri smirked, "I thought not. It was a normal day and I was just talking with my friends, when..."
"...And then, he fell into the puddle!" A black haired girl, Tenri, laughed.
Ayako and another brown haired girl, Sachi, who were both crowded around a desk alongside Tenri, laughed at the conclusion of the Tenri's story.
"W-wait, seriously?" Ayako giggled, "Did that really happen?"
Tenri nodded furiously, "Yes! There's no way that I could come up with a story like this!"
Ayako's laughter increased in volume as she doubled over.
"Oh god, that's way too funny!" She exclaimed as she gasped for air.
Tenri grinned, "I know right?"
Ayako wiped her tears and picked up the wrapper of treat that she'd eaten a few minutes ago. She excused herself and walked towards the front of the room, where the trash can was located. She dropped the wrapper into the trash can and was about to head back, when...
Her eyes met cerulean irises belonged to a blonde haired boy resting his chin on his hand which was propped by his elbow.
She was about to look away in order to avoid any misunderstandings but...
She couldn't tear her eyes away. It took her a moment to realize why.
It was because they were unusual.
She wasn't talking about the strange color that was rarely seen in Japan, and nothing was unusual about the shape.
No, the unusual part was how he was looking at her.
Or, more accurately, how he wasn't.
Their eyes were directly staring at each other, but only her's were locked to his. It was as if... as if he wasn't even looking at her, even though she was standing right in front of his line of sight. His eyes were unfocused and didn't even regard her as a presence.
She shrugged forcefully as she tore her gaze away. Who knew, maybe he was just one of those guys who daydreamed a lot?
But, even as she thought that, she couldn't help but want to investigate more.
"Hey, Mitsuzuri, you wanna join us? We're going to the cafeteria," Tenri asked with Sachi in tow.
Ayako debated the choice for a few seconds before a quick glance at the whisker marked boy settled it.
"Nah, I don't fell like walking too much today," Ayako declined with a smirk, "You guys go."
Tenri shrugged, "'Kay. Let's go, Sachi."
Sachi nodded and they both left the classroom.
Good, now she could focus on investigating that strange boy.
She made her way over to him and cleared her throat to indicate her presence.
The whisker marked boy didn't react.
Her eyes twitched in impatience before she leaned down and tapped his shoulder. The blonde haired by blinked as he turned his head to look at her.
"Yo! What's up, umm..." He trailed off, probably because he didn't know her name.
"Ayako," Ayako cheerfully provided, "Mitsuzuri Ayako."
"Right, Mitsuzuri-san. Do you need me for something?"
Ayako shot him a grin, "Nah, it's nothing. I was just wondering why you were just sitting there. It's lunch time y'know?"
Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up, "I've already eaten. Finished my cup ramen in like two minutes!"
Ayako raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Two minutes? Doesn't cup ramen take at least three minutes to cook?"
The blonde boy nodded, "Yep, but I cooked it at home and brought it in a lunch box."
Ayako laughed, "Won't that make the cup ramen all disgustingly cold though?"
The blonde boy looked indignant, "Listen up! I'm about to tell you the most wise thing that you'll ever hear in your life: cold or hot, it doesn't matter. Ramen... is ramen.
Ayako snickered at his antics.
The two continued to chat throughout the entire lunch period and only stopped when the bell indicating that lunch had ended rang.
"Sorry, uhhh..." Ayako started before she realized that throughout the entire conversation, she hadn't even gotten his name.
"Naruto," Naruto provided, "Uzumaki Emiya Naruto."
Ayako nodded and committed the name to memory, "Sorry, Uzumaki-kun, but I'm in class in class A so I gotta go." She turned around and waved behind her, "I'll talk to you later!"
Once she had exited the classroom, she let her cheerful smile drop into a solemn frown.
His eyes.
Even though he was straight up talking to her, his eyes never even once acknowledged her. His gaze was focused on her, but, somehow, she could tell that those cerulean irises were looking at something completely different the entire time.
She glanced behind her and took in the sight of Naruto leaning on his hand again, staring at something that only he could see.
Was that all that this world was to him? A minor annoyance not even worth acknowledging?
She clenched her fists and strengthened her resolve.
She would make sure to bring him acknowledge the real world. She would make sure to have him acknowledge her!
That... was a promise.
"...And that's how our first meeting ended," Mitsuzuri finished.
Naruto remained silent.
Was that why Mitsuzuri had talked to him so much? because she was worried about him? Because she pitied him? If so, then why did her mother say that she was happy to see that he had visited? Why... why had she proclaimed her his friend?
"Was that why you kept trying to interact with me?" Naruto asked quietly, "Because you pitied me? Because it was a simple challenge that you had set for yourself?"
Mitsuzuri nodded slowly, "Yes."
Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to banish the sting from his heart.
"At first, at least," Mitsuzuri continued, "But, over time, the reason changed. The more I talked with you, the closer I got to you." She gave him a happy smile, "Eventually, you came to be one of my closest friends."
The sting in his heart vanished but guilt moved in and took its place, "How can you be friends with me when I haven't even let you through my first layer yet?"
Mitsuzuri's lips twitched upwards, "You didn't need to let me through your "first layer". You may not have noticed, but whenever we talked, your true self would almost always surface at least partially. It's not like you hide anything when you talk to someone, you just never acknowledge anyone. That's why, without you even noticing, your true self reflexively climbs its way to the surface. Normally, nobody would notice, but with how much time I've spent interacting with you, there's no way that I would miss that."
Naruto smiled slightly as the guilt ebbed away, "That so?"
Mitsuzuri nodded in manner more fitting the cheerful Mitsuzuri Ayako that he usually interacted with at school, "Yep."
Naruto sighed and reclined on the sofa as he silently reflected on Ayako's words.
"Your eyes look much brighter now," Ayako informed, "I'm glad that after five years, I've finally been able to see those eyes of yours acknowledge me and this world."
"..."
Naruto felt his lips tug upwards but managed to keep them under control as he brought himself up from the sofa. He looked Mitsuzuri in the eye and gave her a wide and grateful smile that seemed to light up the whole room,
"Thanks, Ayako, for trying so hard for me."
Mitsuzuri closed her eyes in satisfaction before she opened them and responded with a small smile of her own, "Don't worry, these are just normal things that friends do for each other... Naruto."
Naruto smirked amusedly,
"Somehow, I doubt that."
"Leaving so soon?" Eriko asked as Naruto put on his shoes, "I haven't even finished preparing the snacks yet."
Naruto grinned, "Yep. It's probably best that I head back home now. If I don't, then my... friend, who's taking care of me at the moment, will kill me."
Eriko felt puzzled by the blonde boy's situation but did not pry further, "Is that so? Well then, I suppose it can't be helped."
Naruto tucked his heel into his shoe and got up before he nodded, "Yeah, it really can't."
He bowed awkwardly, "Ah, um, thanks- I mean, thank you for having me over."
Eriko giggled at his clumsy attempt at formality, "Not a problem, dear. Be sure to stop by once a while; I'm sure that Ayako would appreciate the company."
Naruto nodded, "I'll try."
With that, Naruto turned around and walked out of the front door. Once he had exited through the front gate and had put a few meters of distance between him and the Mitsuzuri residence, he glanced back at the house and frowned.
It felt good. In fact, it felt great to finally start to acknowledge the world that he had been living in for the past ten years.
But... this newfound acknowledgment gave rise to another, much more distressing, feeling that put an invisible yet heavy pressure on his being and racked his very soul with indecision.
He clenched his fists.
He didn't know what this feeling indicated and why it had appeared in the first place, but if he had to simplify his thoughts and provide an analogy for it, then then the best way to put it would be:
He had acknowledged the fact that he was wounded and lost in the dark, but...
What now?
Matou Zouken almost never spent some alone time with his "grandson", Matou Shinji.
That was a fact and also the reason why this situation was extremely odd.
Zouken was sitting in his rocking chair in his small wooden tiled room, which was barely lit by candles, and was facing his "grandson" who was standing in front of the doorway.
Zouken discreetly licked his lips as he smirked. The quality and amount of the nervousness that his "grandson" was exuding was quite... exquisite.
"H-hey, Oji-san," Shinji stammered out, "What did you want?"
Zouken's smirked increased in size, "Shinji, I know that you have created an alliance with that Tohasaka brat and Emiya brat, but tell me, have you and your allies come up with an actual plan to defeat your opponents?:
Shinji smirked, his confidence returning at the chance to show off to his "grandfather", "Of course. The first plan that we came up with will easily allow us to take down Caster and Assassin."
Zouken raised a nonexistent eyebrow, "Oh? And what exactly is this plan of yours?" He asked, looking more amused than anything.
"Heh, the very first thing that we all have to do is meet up at Tohsaka's house," Shinji answered proudly before continuing, unaware that he had already lost his audience's focus, "Then..."
'That Tohsaka brat's house, eh?' Zouken thought to himself as he drowned out Shinji's voice and surveyed the state of the war within his mind, 'Saber is probably one of the most troublesome Servants in this war. Converting her to my side is most preferable.'
He cackled loudly, interrupting Shinji's explanation and surprising him in the process.
'All the pieces have fallen into place and all the cards favor me. It's time to make may move.'
The shadows darkened and he envisioned a chess piece, the black king, fall to the ground within his mind,
'You've done well up till now, Uzumaki Emiya Naruto, but unfortunately, this is where your luck runs out.'
Author's Note - So, a chapter with not much action, but a necessary one nonetheless. Never underestimate character interactions! I still dislike the last half though. I kept trying to change it, but nothing gave me that "spark" that made me feel like, "Oh yeah! That fits in perfectly!". To be honest, my pace has been completely off. What will happen next chapter, I wanted to happen two chapters ago. It's really weird.
Anyway, sorry for being late, guys, I've been really distracted with a lot of stuff. Just to announce to everyone,
I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF ABANDONING THIS STORY.
The chapters may be updated at a slower rate than they used to be, but there's no way that I'm going to drop this story. Trust me, I know how it feels when a story I like just gets suddenly abandoned.
Moving on, I've tried to add a little more description to locations, but I feel like I'm missing that crucial "flow". It comes off a little too choppy and tedious for now, but I hope to improve and eradicate that problem once and for all!
P.S. I've noticed that the longer my chapters, the worse they tend to get. Starting from now on, the chapters are going to be short and sweet.
P.P.S. Yes, I am aware that there are many beings in the Nasuverse which can destroy an entire city, but I doubt that Saber has faced or seen the power of any of these beings firsthand. Remember, she hasn't even seen Gilgamesh's full power firsthand.
P.P.S. Saber questioning Naruto about all the mismatching age discrepancies will come next chapter so please don't ask a question about that right now.