Shirou followed the one known as Hokage with wariness.
Eight men in masks surrounded him, but at least they kept a respectful distance.
At first the group kept a slow pace, they had assumed that he would be unable to keep up with them apparently.
That changed when he asked how far away the village was.
"Why should we inform you outsider" asked one of the masked men. His contempt for Shirou was obvious
"I would rather be there before the sun rises, so if you don't mind, can we increase the pace?" Shirou replied
"How fast can you go?" asked the Hokage. 'This might be a good way to test this man'
For an answer Shirou began moving at an increased speed, careful not to disturb his little master.
The ninja acted accordingly and speed up as well, some leaping from tree to tree while others stayed on the ground with him.
Shirou noticed that some were having difficulty keeping up with him.
The Hokage surprisingly enough was keeping up very well for a man of his age
"What is the name of this village we are taking him to?' Shirou asked the Hokage
The Hokage almost tripped from hearing the question. Glancing at this foreigner, he concluded that this was an honest answer.
"The Hidden Leaf village. I take it that you are not from around here."
"That would be correct" Shirou replied.
The journey was silent for a while, the Hokage was next to ask "What is your relation with Naruto?"
"He is my Master, and I am his Servant"
"I have never seen you serve him before, and I have known him his whole life"
"The contract was signed today, and I do not serve him, I work with him" Shirou corrected wondering how far this village really was.
The Hokage was deep in thought 'Says he's a servant but does not serve, only cooperates. Is this some cultural thing? In all my years I have never heard of such a relationship. He clearly has superior training keeping this kind of pace and yet does so without jarring Naruto. The way he holds Naruto, one would think this one was a bodyguard, but Naruto could not afford to keep one, nor would he know why one would be a good idea'
Shirou continued running in the indicated direction while keeping an eye on his surroundings when he noticed something, his master was carrying a demon inside him.
It wasn't noticeable at first, as it was apparently sealed inside him, but the revelation alone was enough to startle him.
There was no mistaking the kind of energy that a demon gives off.
That vile hatred and horrible scent that his nose picked up was enough that he almost gagged.
'How did I miss this? This is not going to be easy to work with. The demon is clearly powerful, and if it gets loose, it will kill my master. We are going to have to go over this once he wakes up'
Lost in his own revelations, Shirou ended up missing a vital piece of information until he almost ran into it.
He had arrived at the village and was going to collide with a large number of ninjas waiting at the front gate.
Realizing that he would not have enough time to stop, instead he hit the ground hard for a burst of speed and jumped over the group.
Rather than admit he had not been focused, he calmly looked at the Hokage past the crowd and asked "Where next?"
Unfortunately, the crowd was not so willing to accommodate his Master's need for rest.
"Who the hell are you?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Why do you have that damn Naruto?"
"Are you his accomplice?"
On and on the questions rolled out of the crowds mouth.
"Enough" the Hokage commanded, "Saber here is with me and I will be the one asking him questions. The rest of you go home, the scroll has been recovered .I will inform you later if I deem that you need the information."
Grudgingly the crowd dispersed.
The Hokage turned to Shirou "Follow me, we'll take him to the hospital for a check up,"
Shirou followed him when a thought occurred. "If it becomes necessary to stay over, I believe my master would enjoy being near the one known as Iruka." chuckling he went on, "It seems that my Master would fight to the death to protect him."
The Hokage grunted approval at this idea 'So he's found someone worth fighting for. Good, I was afraid that he would never find one'
At the hospital Iruka was rushed off to the ER while Naruto was examined and found to only to have collapsed from exhaustion, but would need to stay the night for observation.
The nurse questioned the Hokage as to why Naruto was allowed to have tattoo at such a young age. To which Shirou snorted from amusement. The Hokage said he would discuss that with Naruto later.
Placing Naruto into bed, Sarutobi turned to Shirou "Alright Saber, now that he is in bed, we need to talk."
"You have my name, you have my reason for why I am here, I will not divulge where I am from, nor will I tell you the exact reason why I have a contract with Naruto. Other than that, I will answer what I can."
"And why" Sarutobi asked, with steel in his voice "are you not allowed to give me either information?"
"Were I to give that information my Master would be placed in great danger." Shirou said. 'That, and I have no idea why I was summoned myself'
"I need that information so that I can trust you" Sarutobi said trying to reason with Shirou.
"It's not a matter of trust Hokage, my service is for Naruto alone, I fight where he wills and die on his command. I am Naruto's sword and his shield and serve no one else."
Sarutobi was taken aback by this. This man would fight where Naruto commanded?
"So if he ordered you to attack me?"
"I would be trying to put a sword in you right now" Shirou stated calmly "On the other hand if he orders it, I will plunge a sword in my heart to show my loyalty."
Sarutobi felt a mix between horror and skepticism.
'If he really is telling the truth, this man will fanatically obey any order give by this boy. I just cannot believe that anyone would willingly do that. What have I done wrong Minato? Your son is despised as a demon instead of worshiped as a hero, and now a fanatic is willing to throw his life away for the boy.'
"You can't possibly mean to follow every order this child will give"
Before Shirou responded to that statement, he noticed a slight movement in the corner of his eye.
Turning to his 'sleeping' master he spoke softly "No, not every order if I can help it. But I will follow most of his orders"
"What makes you so determined to do something like this for a child?"
"The bond between a Master and a Servant can be more powerful than any friendship, deeper than any marriage, and more synchronized than identical twins. He is my Master, and I will do what I can to help him achieve his dreams."
It was official, his Master was awake, and it sounded like he was crying. Leaning down he whispered "Let me know if you need anything Master" Naruto nodded slightly
The Hokage figured there was not much more he could do short of ordering the interrogation squad in.
He excused himself and returned to his office which would no doubt be covered in paperwork.
Naruto sat up and turned to Shirou "Would you really have tried to kill the old man?"
"Only if you ordered it Master."
"Why do you call me that?"
"Because you are my Master, it is your rightful title."
"Call me Naruto"
"Very well Naruto, my name is Emiya Shirou, but you may refer to me as Servant, or Saber"
"Why not Shirou?"
"There is a reason for that Naruto, but I'll explain in the morning."
"Tell me now, there's no way I'm going to be able to sleep now."
Shirou looked at him skeptically. "You just used up most of your energy summoning me Naruto. I'm surprised you're even awake"
"Bad dreams" Naruto stated, with a touch of fear.
Shirou felt his eyes narrow as he examined his Master. "Tell me about it"
"There was this fire, a lot of dead people, and a boy walking, I think he was dying. Then this man showed up, then there was this glowy thingy."
Naruto continued to ramble on about what he saw not even noticing Shirou's expression of horror.
'He saw that!'
Shirou wrapped his arms around this young scared boy "I'm sorry you had to see that. I had forgotten about the dream cycle."
Naruto had never been hugged in his life before. The sensation was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. In fact, it was rather nice and made him feel safe.
"It was just a dream" he said
"No, no it wasn't" Shirou said sorrowfully, "The bond between us Naruto allows you to see my past when you dream. That fire really happened, that boy was me."
Naruto broke free of Shirou's arms "Wait what?"
Shirou placed a hand on Naruto's shoulders
"You are going to see major events from my life Naruto. Some of them will be frightening, some of them will be sad, but you need to remember that they happened to me, and I'm here with you now. Ok?"
Naruto looked at his Servant and asked "How did you survive that? How could you stand that?"
Shirou's eyes grew a little sad. "I got lucky, my dad saved me" Looking at Naruto "You really do need sleep Naruto, don't worry the next few dreams will happier."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Naruto seemed to relax a little and began to look a little Now I need you to promise me something Naruto."
"What is it Saber?"
"I need you to tell me what you dreamed about every night so I can prepare you for the bad dreams"
"Okay" Naruto said happily, no one had ever been interested in talking about his dreams before.
"Also I want you to promise me that you will never tell anyone else about these dreams. Some of them are" Shirou paused "Private things"
Naruto nodded his head. 'Nobody's ever asked me to keep secrets before'
"Now then, it's a good idea to get some sleep Naruto we've got a long day ahead tomorrow and we both have some things to ask"
'Like why you have a demon in you. Granted, I've faced worse, but still...'
Naruto yawned and his body began going limp.
"Hey Shirou?" Naruto asked
"Yeah?"
"Could you stay here tonight, in case I have more bad dreams?"
Shirou smiled "Naruto, as long as you're my master I will be by your side till death."
"Promise?"
"Promise" Shirou reassured his young master
As soon as Naruto was fast asleep Shirou reverted to Spirit form and waited.
Sure enough the rat climbed down from the ceiling and was about to leave the room with a scroll in hand.
Shirou went directly behind the spy.
Drew back his arm and reverted to physical form.
Using his superior speed and position, the ninja was out cold in an instant.
Shirou reviewed the scroll's contents ripped up the contents. 'Can't let this information get back to the Hokage'
He then proceeded to dispose of the scraps in various bins and windows making it near impossible to piece together the information.
'Ninjas 0 Epic Spirits 2'
Shirou took the unconscious ninja and unceremoniously dumped the body onto a bench outside the hospital.
The night staff had tried to get him to stop but one glare perfected over countless exposures by the Queen of Glares Tohsaka Rin put a stop to them.
Looking back at the nurses he said with an edge in his voice "I hate peeping toms" 'Let them make what they will of that statement'
A few hours later Iruka was wheeled into the bed across from Naruto.
"Hello Iruka."
"Hello Saber" was the warm response.
"How you feeling?"
Rubbing his shoulders Iruka replied "Been better"
"Mind answering a question for me?"
Iruka's eyes narrowed a bit "Depends"
Shirou smirked at the response. "What is up with the head plate? Naruto clutches it like it's a big deal."
Iruka smiled at that "The head plate signifies that he has been accepted as a genin. He's been trying so hard to earn that. I'll have to take him out for ramen when I get out."
"You sound like you're close"
"I'm one of the few people that doesn't hate him"
Shirou narrowed his eyes 'Hate him? He's a child.'
"It's not his fault really, everyone blames him for something that he has no control over."
It became apparent to Shirou that the drugs that Iruka was on were causing him to blabber a bit.
'This seems as good a time as I'll ever get'
"Excuse me Iruka," Shirou said as warmly as he could "Would you be referring to the demon in him?"
Iruka's eyes widened like saucers and his jaw dropped. "Wha- what-"
"Don't try to lie please. I could tell as I was carrying him to the village."
Again Shirou noticed movement in his Master's bed. 'Oh crap.'
Realizing that this could cripple his Master he knew that he had already gone past the point of no return.
"Why did someone put a monster inside a child? Who could do something so reckless?"
Iruka looked like he was going to pass out.
Shirou strode to Iruka's side grabbed his hand and squeezed. "What were you thinking? You could have killed him." his voice was getting louder.
Iruka sighed and said "I'm forbidden to tell about that, you will have to ask the Hokage for information
Shirou nodded, this was not unexpected. "Just one thing,"
Iruka opened his mouth but Shirou placed a finger in front of it "Do you hate Naruto?"
Iruka shook his head "I hate the demon, it killed my family."
Shirou tensed up, he knew his master had as well.
Iruka continued "But I don't hate Naruto. He may not be the best of my students, but he works so hard for what little results he can get. He plays pranks, screws around and can be very annoying, but I believe that he can go far."
Shirou felt his entire body relax.
This would be a powerful moment in his Master's life one that would help him get through many tough obstacles.
Iruka Smiled "Do you know what his dream is?"
Shirou could only shake his head.
"He dreams of being the Hokage and have everyone acknowledge his existence."
'Acknowledge his existence?' "Wait Iruka," Shirou interrupted "I've been wondering about this but where are his parents?"
"He doesn't have any" Iruka said, sorrow filled his voice.
"What happened?" Shirou said, his heart began falling into his stomach
"Don't know, you'll have to ask the Hokage." Iruka's reply came.
"We're the same" Shirou's statement was so quite that Iruka barely could hear him.
Releasing Iruka, Shirou returned to Naruto leaned down and whispered.
"Go to sleep, we'll investigate tomorrow"
Settling in a chair for the night beside his Master's bed he watched over his Master go to sleep again.
For Shirou, he cannot help but worry.
Worry about Saber, alone in the field of gold.
Worry about Rin, had she finally masted Second Magic.
Worry about his Master, his poor abused, condemned Master.
Worry about what was to come tomorrow.
Looking ahead, he could only think 'What am I supposed to do now?'
There's no holy grail war here, there's no dead apostles, Hell, there probably aren't any other Servants in this world.
For Emiya Shirou the night was long and tense.
Right now he regretted that epic spirits did not need things like rest and food.
Naruto dreamed of family. He saw Saber in a hospital room similar to the one he was sleeping in. He saw the man from the last dream talking to Saber. Asking if he would like to be adopted to him.
'Hey this is kind of what is happening to me.'
He saw Saber leave the Hospital with a new name and a new dad. When they got to the house both Naruto and Saber gawked.
The place was huge.
The man, Emiya Kiritsugu, turned to Saber and said "I have a secret to tell you. I'm actually a magus."
Naruto could not understand that word, what was a magus?
He continued to watch as Saber continued to explore the house.
As large as it was, it felt cold, empty, even a bit dead.
Naruto couldn't understand it, homes were supposed to places of warmth and happiness. All the other kids had homes like that.
Saber never noticed, maybe never cared. He had gone through hell, maybe, maybe this coffin was enough.
Naruto kept looking at Kiritsugu's eyes. They seemed dead, maybe desperate.
Naruto dreamed.
Dreamed of a home that stank of death.
Dreamed of a father that seemed dead.
Dreamed of a boy that seemed not to mind