Ninja Headquarters

To say he was frustrated was like saying the ocean was a bit wet. Shirou had spent hours pouring through the files at the ninja headquarters. Getting in had been easy, Spirit form allowed him to pass through walls easily and undetected. Shirou spent a good ten minutes hunting for the most secure room in the building. Seeing a door guarded by two ninjas with masks, Shirou had thought he had hit pay dirt.

Turns out, that was the Hokage's room.

Shirou shivered, old naked man performing yoga exercises was a nasty thing to see. Shirou spent another ten minutes searching until he had found a room filled with scrolls. From there, Shirou began looking into the mystery of Naruto. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.

Many of these scrolls were mundane things like mission logs and taxes. A few of the scrolls were descriptions on jutsus. 'Not like I'll be using them.' Shirou had gone through half the scrolls when he detected someone and had to revert to spirit form again. Shirou had to waste several minutes waiting for the presence to leave before he went back to perusing the scrolls.

Whoever had been guarding the area had wanted to make sure that they weren't imagining things. Shirou had only gotten through a few more scrolls when his instincts began screaming at him. Shirou jumped back while shifting back to spirit form while a shuriken passed right through where he had stood. 'Did they see me?' Shirou worried

"What is it Gin?" came one voice

"I thought I saw something." came the second

"Who'd want to go in here?" the first voice said.

Shirou saw a man and a woman walk over to the shuriken

"Its not like there's anything worth taking here." the female said

"As far as we know anyway." The man, Gin probably, said "Its possible someone is looking for something from a mission."

"All the missions here are C rank or lower. And the rest are budgets and receipts." The woman said

Shirou mentally sighed at this. Too many hours wasted looking in a useless room.

"Better tell the others to increase security in the secure archives." Gin said, "Just to be safe"

"Security was already increased after that damn demon stole the forbidden scroll." The woman complained.

"We still need to alert them." Gin continued

'Chance! These two might show me a better place to look.' Shirou smiled

Shirou followed the two ninjas down the hallway and up to the top floor. There Shirou saw another set of guards standing at attention. 'Who puts archives on the top floor where anyone could scale the wall?'

Shirou listen to the two guards

"What are you two doing here Gin, Hitomi?" one of the two guards asked

"Gin says he thought he saw someone in the archives in the basement." Hitomi answered. "Stay alert, we could have a spy in the building. We're off to warn the Hokage."

The other guard nodded once and said, "Will do, be careful."

Shirou sighed 'At least I know where a second archives is stored.'

Shirou was struck by an idea 'They said Naruto stole a scroll, was it the scroll Naruto used to summon me with? I'll have to ask where he found it.'

Shirou debated whether or not he should explore the room, but decided that these men were to alert at the moment. Besides, dawn was approaching and he needed to return.

Shirou headed back to the apartment, plans were already being considered. 'A direct question will make him go on the defensive. Too obscure, and he'll be lost...'

It was a flash reflecting the moonlight that made him stop. Shirou looked at the source, and felt a lump in his throat. It was a ring in a jewelry store.

Shirou had never had an eye for gems, that was Rin's problem. It was the fact that it was an engagement ring that had made him paused.

Seeing the ring, 'I should have carried a ring with me. I should have given one to her.' Shirou loved his Saber so much it made his heart hurt. She, in turn loved him till his heart was at ease, but he still felt he owed her something.

Shirou sadly turned away from the store and hurried home.

Naruto's apartment

Shirou returned to the apartment about an hour before he had to wake Naruto. Looking upon his master, he saw tears were running down his cheeks. 'What's he dreaming about? Lancer wasn't sad, he was terrifying.' Shirou was now worried. Whatever Naruto was dreaming was getting him wound up. 'Is it dad's funeral? The time I found the village infested with ghouls? The defense of Gibraltar?'

Shirou placed a hand on his master's. Instinctively, Naruto reached out and grabbed the hand like a drowning man to a rope. 'Whatever he's dreaming about is scarring him deeply'

For the rest of the hour, Shirou sat by his master waiting to hear about what had occurred during the night. When the alarm clock went off, Naruto jumped out screaming "I'm up, I'm up"

"Calm down Naruto," Shirou said softly. Naruto rounded on Shirou pointing a finger and said. "What was that?" Shirou was confused at this "What was what?"

"The funeral" Naruto accused

"Dad's funeral? What about it?" Shirou replied, he didn't recall it being that big a deal.

Naruto tried to hit Shirou, who calmly evaded the punch. Gripping the arm Shirou asked again "What about it?"

Naruto was glaring at Shirou "Your funeral stupid. You're dead" Shirou blinked at this.

He had no memories of a funeral. The last thing he had seen was a Broken Phantasm Ea, the sword that split heaven and earth, splitting the Beast in half. Tracing that sword had been the hardest thing he had ever done. It kept defying his tracing to the end. What came out was something nowhere close to the original, but it was exactly what he needed. Using that sword had drained him of everything he had, but it had finished off the monster.

Shirou sighed "Start from the beginning" Naruto realized that he sounded like an ingrate and began what he had seen during the night. The dream had started normal, Saber training at home, Issei, Sakura, and Fuji-nee, but then the dreamed changed.

When Shirou heard the description of the terrain, he paled. 'I hadn't expected him to get that far for weeks.' Shirou continued to listen to the funeral. Naruto was describing the scene in vivid detail, he seemed to have remembered the most important speeches from the funeral.

'Rin, Luvia, Fuji-nee, Acruied, Shiki, Aoko, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I had to do it.'

Shirou could feel tears running down his cheeks, but didn't care. 'I just couldn't let them die'

When Naruto ended he looked at Shirou's face. Sorrow was etched upon Shirou's face, tears flowed like a faucet. Naruto could have sworn he had heard a soft sniffing.

With a calm and resolute voice Shirou answered "Yes, Naruto, I am dead. The only people who can be summoned as servants are the dead and the dying."

Naruto could only stare at him. To was one thing to see a dream about someone's funeral, and another to hear it from Saber admitting he is dead. "So how are you here then?" Naruto quivered

Collecting himself, Shirou answered "All Servant are Heroic Spirits Naruto." Naruto looked curious at that. "Heroic spirits are the spirits of fallen heroes called forth to serve and protect Masters. When I died, I became a Heroic Spirit of sorts myself."

"So you were a hero?" Naruto asked.

Shirou smiled at this "I am a Hero Naruto."

"Wow," Naruto said wistfully. "A hero" Naruto looked at Shirou with a glint in his eye, "I wish I could be a hero too."

Shirou shook his head at this "No Naruto, your dream is to be a Hokage. The life of a Hero is different."

Naruto pondered this for a bit then said "Can't I be both?"

Shirou grasped Naruto's hand, "The road of a Hero is a long and dangerous route that few can ever complete. A hero will always die young in a blaze of fire. If you choose to be a hero, you would have to give up a Hokage. A Hokage protects his village, A Hero tries to save everyone. That is the difference."

Naruto pondered this. If he became Hokage, he could protect the village and they would acknowledge him, but if he became a hero, everyone would acknowledge him. Shirou held up a hand to stall his train of thought. "Naruto, I believe you have the qualities of a great Hokage" Naruto beamed at that, "But I don't think you could handle being a hero."

"Why not?"

Shirou looked down sadly, "A hero can only save who he saves. In there lies the problem. What do you think saving someone means?"

Naruto considered the question then answered "It means helping someone in trouble."

Shirou smiled and nodded... Naruto was so naive "Right, but that means someone has to be in trouble."

Naruto was lost at this.

"A hero can't be everywhere at once Naruto. Nor is a hero a god. Not everyone can be saved. For every life you save, another life somewhere will be lost. For every ally you save, you have to kill an enemy."

Naruto widened at this

"I have been in situations where I had to kill a hundred to save a hundred, kill thousands of men to save millions, kill one to save billions." Naruto looked sad for Shirou.

"Don't mourn for me Naruto, I made my choice and died without regrets." Shirou said with a sad smile

"I had my reasons, and if I have the choice, I'd do it all over again."

Naruto respected that "Then I'll just be a Hokage."

"Good" Shirou replied "Now onto lighter things, breakfast is in the fridge"

Naruto went to the fridge and saw what looked like thin pancakes rolled around fruit with whipped cream on top. Turning to Shirou he asked "What are these?"

"Crepes, try them, they're like pancakes."

Remembering the pancakes, Naruto dived in.

While Naruto was eating, Shirou was pondering the dream. 'How did he see my funeral, not only was it out of order, but he shouldn't have been able to see it either. Something is very strange about our bond.'

Shirou grabbed the lunches for themselves and prepared to leave when Naruto asked one last question

"What's it like being dead?"

Shirou considered that and decided to be truthful "I wouldn't know Naruto, Heroic Spirits don't go the same place as everyone else. For me, it was peaceful, I met my love again"

Naruto was content at that tidbit.

Training ground seven

Shirou and Naruto were the first ones at the site. After carefully placing the covered lunches in front of the memorial, the two went through a morning exercise routine. Pushups, crunches, stretching, jumping jacks, and a light jog around the clearing. After they had finished the warm ups, they waited.

"Now then," Shirou said, waiting for the rest of the team, "I think it would make a bad impression on the rest of the team if I participated Naruto."

"Why is that Saber?" Naruto asked

"Remember Naruto, you are my priority, not them." Shirou answered while pointing at Naruto "I'm no ninja, I am a Servant. I serve no-one but the Master who summons me. It wouldn't do for the others to rely on me to help them."

Naruto nodded at this. He was beginning to understand that Shirou was his man alone.

Five minutes later

It was Sakura who showed up next with Sasuke appearing about a minute later. Both looked tired but not sloppy.

"Did you guys remember to eat breakfast?" Shirou asked. Both muttered and nodded their heads.

Shirou instructed both of them to splash some water on their faces and go through the same routine as he and Naruto had gone through.

Afterwords, they sat down to wait.

Forty minutes later

The sun was now clearly up in the sky, so where was the jonin?

Shirou stood up and directed the genin "It's possible that he's waiting for you to find him. It would be best if you three went and looked around for him. Who knows, this might be your test." 'Not likely, he's probably running late. At least this gives them something to do and might instill a habit of scouting the area'

The three kids walked all over the grounds but failed to find any trace of Kakashi.

Annoyed at their instructor they waited once more

One hour later

"Where is he?" Naruto yelled.

"Meet us at dawn he says...yeah right" Sakura agreed

Sasuke glared at Shirou "Now can you train me?"

Sasuke had been asking for training for over half an hour. Shirou had denied this request stating that any energy wasted before an unknown test was asking for failure.

"It's tempting," Shirou answered, "but you still need to wait till after the test. Then we can start training."

Shirou looked over to Naruto and Sakura "It would be best if we all trained together after the test. The more time spent sparring, the better your coordination."

Sakura and Naruto nodded but each had a different reason for wanting to train

'More time with Sasuke,' Sakura thought

'HELL YEAH, CHANCE' Inner Sakura added

'With a real hero training me, there's no way I won't become a Hokage' Naruto smiled

Sasuke merely imagined himself killing Itachi.

Thirty minutes later

Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke. "Hi there."

"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto yelled

"Yeah, sorry bout that. There was this old woman who needed help grocery shopping"

"Liar." Naruto and Sakura yelled

'That's the best excuse he could come up with?' Shirou thought

"Anyway," Kakashi continued, "Today's test is simple." Pulling out two bells and an alarm clock, the kids look at him confused.

"Your objective is to take these two bells from me before noon. Those who get a bell will get to eat lunch." Kakashi pulled out a pair of lunch boxes. "Those that don't have bells will be tied to the stumps while I eat lunch in front of you."

'So that's why he didn't want us to eat breakfast.' the three genin thought. Each were grateful that they had listened to Saber and had a good meal in their stomach.

"There are only two bells here, so at least one of you will not eat. If you don't have a bell, you will fail, so that means at least one of you will fail." Kakashi said ominously "You can use any weapons you wish, but come at me with the intent to kill or you won't be able to get the bells."

"But you could get hurt," Sakura yelled in shock.

Naruto, already used to that kind of feeling from Saber put on his gauntlets and pulled out his knife.

"Good stance" Kakashi told Naruto 'He's showing more promise than his files indicated. It must be from his training with Saber.

Looking at Saber Kakashi called out, "I'm going to ask you to not participate in this."

"Of course," Shirou replied. He walked to the stumps and sat on top of one. "I'm no ninja."

"Indeed," Kakashi said, "Your test will come after them."

'Test huh?' Shirou mused. "I'm okay with that."

"Well then," Kakashi began "Start"

Sasuke and Sakura scattered, but Naruto remained still. Kakashi blinked at this. Shirou on the other hand was smiling and trying to not laugh. He had seen the whole set-up the three had planned.

"Naruto, this is where you need to flee not spar." Kakashi scolded

"Sorry, my bad." Shirou called out

Naruto charged at Kakashi, alternating slicing attacks between targeting Kakashi and the bells.

Kakashi sighed at this and said "Ninja skill number one Taijutsu. I'll teach it to you." Kakashi reach in his pocket and pulled out...a book.

'A book?' Shirou observed 'That's different'

Naruto paused as well. "Whats with the book?"

Kakashi was busy reading and answered with a bored tone "I want to read it. Don't worry, it won't make any difference with you guys."

Shirou watch as Naruto tensed up at that 'Too rash Naruto.'

Naruto discarded his earlier stance and began wildly swinging his knife screaming "I'll kill you"

Kakashi swirled around the clone and crouched. His hands formed a fist with the index and middle fingers out. "Nippon," Kakashi began. Kakashi rammed his fingers up Naruto's ass causing him to fly into the river. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique A 1000 YEARS OF PAIN"

'That would have hurt' Shirou winced 'Long name though'

Kakashi kept looking at the stream. Obviously, he was waiting for Naruto to emerge. The next attack, however, came as a projectile thrown from the forest. Kakashi caught it easily enough however.

Kakashi turned to the direction of the attack. "Kage Bushin Naruto?"

'Impressive, he knows a jonin level technique.' Kakashi mused

Naruto was constantly shifting between trees while throwing various kunai and shuriken

Shirou smirked at that. 'He remembers what I taught him. It seems that sparring is the best way for him to learn.'

Kakashi dashed towards Naruto, who was retreating as fast as he could.

Shirou watched as Kakashi jumped up for no apparent reason. Reinforcing his eyes, he say that there was a trip wire. 'So, he tried to lead him into a trap.'

Naruto saw that the trap had failed and moved in for close combat. Once again, Kakashi dodged every move while reading his book.

Shirou suddenly felt a large number of presences in the river.

Keeping one eye on the battle between Kakashi and Naruto, Shirou glanced at the river watching as a dozen more Naruto copies emerged from the river. They all charged straight for Kakashi. Kakashi pulled out a kunai with a tag on it and threw it at the group of Narutos.

The knife hit the ground and exploded causing all the copies to disappear.

While Kakashi was throwing the kunai, several shuriken came from Kakshi's blind spot. Kakashi barely dodged these and turned to a fleeing Sasuke. Before Kakashi gave chase, however, Naruto thried to stab Kakashi with his new knife. Kakashi merely blocked it with two fingers. That was when Sakura burst from a nearby bush and tried to attack Kakashi from behind.

Kakashi had to jump away from the duo only to encounter Sasuke who had finished a few hand signs. "Great Fireball Technique"

Kakashi disappeared in the flames. When the fire was extinguished, Kakashi was nowhere to be found.

Shirou had to concentrate his magic detection to locate him.

A hand burst from the ground and grabbed Sasuke's leg. "Earth Style, Suicide Decapitation Skill"

Sasuke was instantly pulled into the ground up to his neck.

"Ninja Skill 2 Ninjutsu" Kakashi said.

Shirou was busy laughing. It reminded him too much of the time Illya had buried him in the sand and left him until the tide came in. Rin and Luvia were so pissed at her. It had been one of the few times that the two had agreed on something. Poor Illya, she never could look at a sand castle the same after that. Glancing at the clock, he saw that the team had less than half an hour before they ran out of time.

"Sakura," Naruto yelled, "Get Sasuke out of there, I'll cover you."

Sakura began digging ferociously at the ground trying to free Sasuke.

Naruto summoned six more Kage Bushin who all went into a diamond formation.

'Not bad teamwork' Kakashi admitted. 'They are probably the closest ones to get the bells yet.'

Kakashi fell back to the clearing and waited for the next move.

'Fifteen minutes and counting' Shirou thought. While he had no reason to interfere in the test, it wouldn't do well for Naruto's moral to fail the test. 'But this is his test, if he can't pass it, then he still has a ways to go'

Shirou watched as Sakura finally freed Sasuke. All three of them knew that time was almost up. They had no choice but to gamble everything on a frontal assault. The Narutos charged, while Sasuke prepared a jutsu while Sakura began throwing projectiles. Kakashi dodged all attacks and ran up to Sakura. Shirou saw a subtle hand seal from Kakashi, then watched as Sakura foamed at the mouth and passed out.

"Ninpo number three Genjutsu." Kakashi said.

Enraged, the Narutos charged Kakashi. Before the Naurtos could land a hit, however, Shirou watched as Kakashi moved amazingly fast and switched himself with Sasuke then changed himself to a copy of Sasuke.

Shirou was holding his sides trying not to laugh at the scene before him. 'I haven't laughed like this in a long time.'

The result was inevitable. The Narutos beat up Sasuke while Sasuke kept calling Naruto an idiot between beatings. Kakashi stood to the side waiting for Naruto to figure out the deception.

In the end, without Sakura, Naruto could not comprehend that Sasuke was telling the truth.

Then, time ran out.

"My, My" Kakashi said looking at the exhausted genin. "I have to say you guys were the closest of any year yet."

"Dammit,Why am I tied up?" Naruto yelled. He had been bound to the stump after the test.

"You're there because you injured your own teammate and didn't look beneath the obvious." Kakashi explained while looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke was covered in bruises from the beating, while Sakura was giving Naruto death glares.

Shirou was still shivering a bit, holding back the laughter.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura asked nevously, "Does this mean we go back to the academy?"

"Normally yes," Kakashi said. Holding up a finger, "But because you three are the best batch I've ever had to deal with, I'm willing to give you one more chance after lunch."

Kakashi presented a lunch to Sasuke and Sakura and said "You two can eat, but Naruto doesn't get any as punishment for injuring Sasuke. Oh, and if you two give him some food, you all fail. A ninja that doesn't follow the rules is trash the village doesn't need."

'Lets see if they pass this test' Kakashi thought. Standing up, Kakashi left the training grounds.

At first, Sakura and Sasuke ate their lunches, but Naruto's stomach kept growling. It was Sasuke who offered some food first "Here" Sasuke said, "It's safe, I can't sense him anywhere." Sakura followed Sasuke's example and offered him some as well.

Shirou silently watched the three. While he would not interfere, or warn the three that Kakashi was watching them, secretly, he was impressed at the level of teamwork and compassion the three had.

'They've come a long way from their flawed selves back in the academy room'

Shirou felt before he saw Kakashi come running towards the children.

"YOOOOOOOOUUUU" Kakashi roared as he drew near

The three genin flinched

Kakashi stopped right in front of them "Pass" he said with a smile

The three genin blinked at that. It was Sakura who asked the question they all had. "Passed? But why?"

"You guys are the first" Kakashi explained. "Everyone else followed my orders like morons. A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break rules and codes are called trash."

Shirou finished the speech, "But those that don't care about their comrades are worse than trash"

Kakashi's blinked, Saber had taken the words out of his mouth "Yes, exactly."

Shirou smiled, "I thought that what was going on."

"So," Naruto said cautiously, "We did it?"

"Yup" Kakashi answered

"ALRIGHT" Naruto yelled, "WE DID IT"

"Settle down Naruto," Shirou said lightly. Shirou quickly undid the knots and freed Naruto. Turning to Kakashi, Shirou said "I suppose it's my turn to be tested?"

"Later," Kakashi replied "Right now lets have a look at those lunches you brought."

Shirou obliged with a smile. A collective gasp could be heard from the group.

Unlike Kakashi's store bought lunches, Shirou's homemade lunches were amazing.

Sekihan red rice for celebrating the victory, several types of sandwiches and sushi, sausages cut in the shape of octopi, egg rolls, on and on the list grew. It was apparent that Saber had pulled out all the stops for the meal

Confidently Shirou said, "I had no doubts that the three of you would pass."

Naruto tackled Shirou proclaiming "You're the best Saber!"

Sasuke and Sakura were both stunned at the amount of effort Saber had put in their meals. Deep inside, they felt proud that Saber had so much confidence in them.

"Um," Kakashi interrupted, "Do you possibly have one for me?" pointing at himself and looking sheepishly.

Shirou laughed and pulled out a spare set for Kakashi. "I figured you would be hungry as well."

Team Seven dove into the meal. Each of them were clearly enjoying every bite.

'Kami, this is the best,' Naruto thought 'And I get to enjoy it every day.'

Sakura was busy trying to work up the courage to ask Saber for lessons. 'Come on, it's just a few words. A few lessons and Sasukes ours' Inner Sakura yelled

Sasuke was content to enjoy the food

Shirou was fascinated at how Kakashi was somehow eating while never taking his mask off. 'That's impressive. Not sure why he's doing it, but impressive none the less.'

Finishing the meal, Kakashi told Saber, "Okay, time we left for your test."

Wait, What about us?" Sakura called out.

"Take the day off, tomorrow we begin our duties as Team Kakashi"

Shirou was reluctant to leave Naruto's side, it would be moments like this where Naruto was vulnerable, but this had to be done. "Naruto, clean up the leftovers and head back to the apartment. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Seeing that Naruto understood, Shirou followed Kakashi back to the village. From there, the two of them headed for the Hokage's office. The Hokage was in the middle of a mountain of paperwork

'Naruto wants this job?' Shirou wondered,

Without looking up, the Hokage held out a form for Kakashi to fill out.

"All the details have been arranged," the Hokage said while Kakashi filled out the form. "It's unusual, but it will make for a good test. Surprisingly, the Hiashi volunteered his clan when he heard about the test."

Kakashi was stunned. While he had hoped that one of the clans would volunteer for the test, he hadn't expected the Hyūga to jump at the chance. "Might I ask why sir?" Kakashi asked

"Apparently the clan had seen something and wanted to confirm it. The test seemed to appeal to them."

Shirou was busy trying to determine the test. 'A duel? Possibly. It could be a series of duels, this would increase the likelihood of them discovering something.'

"Very well then Hokage-sama. We'll be off." Kakashi bowed and left with Shirou

'This would be a good opportunity to see what kind of person we're dealing with' the Hokage thought.

Hyūga compound

"Alright Saber, Here we are." Kakashi told him

Shirou looked at the compound, it was huge. Several times bigger than his old house. Granted, his house hadn't been made to hold an entire clan before. Though only two men stood before him, Shirou couldn't help but feel as if a hundred eyes were looking at him.

The men in front of him were introduced as Hiashi and his bodyguard. Shirou noticed that the bodyguard also had a modified Swastika on his forehead. In addition, both men were showing distened veins around their eyes. While not exactly sure what the two were doing, Shirou was certain that this Mystical Eye was looking deeply into him. 'Still, not as bad as Rider's'

"Thank you for allowing me to take your test" Shirou said with a slight bow.

Hiashi nodded slightly. "The test is simple. One of my family has kidnapped my youngest daughter. Find her and bring her back. They were last seen headed north."

'Strange test, but I can see how this will test my abilities. Tracking, chasing, avoiding ambushes, and battles...sounds like an average Tuesday.'

"Understood, do we have any idea how many conspirators there were?" Shirou said looking northwards. Shirou had already begun Reinforcing his body.

"We believe that he had at least to other conspirators at this time."

"How long have they been gone?"

"Less than half the day."

'I'm going to have to go all out if I'm going to catch them.'

"One last question, what constitutes as failure?"

"They must be found before the day ends."

Without another word, Shirou bolted for the Northern gate. Kakashi was rather upset by Hiashi's demands. Less than half a day to find someone gone even longer. This wasn't a test, this was rigged.

'When he fails, I'm going to arrange my own test. Many jonin couldn't pass this test. I'm not even sure if I could pass this test.'

Northern gates

Shirou stopped at the guard house. "Have any of you seen an adult Hyūga with a younger girl?"

The guards shook their heads "The Hyūgas we've seen today were two men." one guard replied

"Were they carrying anything?" Shirou demanded

"Just a large sack"

Shirou grabbed the guard "Which way?" Shirou hadn't noticed his voice had become harsh. This scenario was too much like when Kotomine abducted Illya after stabbing Rin.

The other guard saw Saber meant business and pointed towards the forest.

"How long ago?" Shirou hissed

"About four hours ago."

Shirou focused his reinforced eyes on the forest. He spotted a fairly new twig snapped from someone passing. Judging by how the sap had dried, it had been snapped at about the right time.

Shirou took off constantly watching for signs. Twice he had to stop as the path separated. Each time, Shirou saw that one of the paths had been crossed twice from doubling back. 'They're good, but I'm better.' Shirou thought. Kakashi was impressed by the skills Saber was displaying. 'He tracks like a veteran Anbu.'

Saber suddenly called for a halt. "How you doing Kakashi?" Shirou said as he retrieved something on the ground.

"I'm still good," Kakashi replied. He went to Saber and saw what Saber had picked up. It was a scrap of torn cloth. "It's cold, we're still too far away. The girl must have torn a piece in hopes of it being discovered." Shirou explained as he continued forward. "That or it was a random piece of clothing a bird was carrying. Keep your eye out."

Shirou was becoming optimistic. 'The broken twigs are still wet. We must be less than an hour away.' Glancing at the horizon, Shirou saw that the sun would set in about two hours. 'It''ll be close though.'

Shirou focused on the path ahead and saw something. It looked like a set of thin trip wires. 'Traps? Either we're getting closer, or one of them stayed behind.'

Shirou had to make a split second decision. Charge on through and rely on his reinforced body to get past the traps, or go around them and lose precious time. Shirou decided to compromise. Tracing Kansho, Shirou three the weapon ahead to trigger the traps early.

A massive explosion filled Shirou's view. Multiple weapons converged on the area. Unconcerned with burns and cuts, Shirou charged through the storm. What he saw past that almost made him trip. Tied to a tree was a Hyūga with a gag in his mouth.

"Kakashi, deal with him." Shirou ordered. Shirou looked quickly and determined that the enemy had gone east. Continuing on as fast as he could, Shirou pondered.

'Something's wrong. There's only two reasons why that man would have been tied up. Either he was meant to be a distraction, or there was a betrayal. Since there was only one sign of flight, it had to be a betrayal.'

Kakashi pulled off the gag. The Hyūga immediately began screaming "We've been betrayed, Miyato is taking Hanabi to the Hidden in the Clouds village." Kakashi quickly cut down the man and both ran off to catch the traitor. 'So, the test becomes reality. Did Hiashi predict this? No... I doubt it.'

Shirou noticed a definite change in the chase. Where the trail before had been clumsy before, the other man was now moving stealthily. It was increasingly difficult to trace the man's movements. Only a lifetime of tracking and the hot trail allowed him to find any trace of the man. 'Clearly, this is no longer a test. This is reality. I need to be ready to fight.'

Shirou traced both Kansho and Bakuya, his twin black and white Chinese swords and put on a new burst of speed marking trees as he went for Kakashi.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly as Shirou chased his enemy. A few minutes ago, he had seen several new footprints join his quarry. 'Reinforcements, have to hurry.' Shirou was getting angry. Illya had been too close to dying from Kotomine. He would not let this girl suffer as Illya did. It had taken two years of comfort before Illya had fully recovered from her ordeals.

It almost came as a surprise for both when Shirou spotted the group resting and preparing a line of traps. The four cloud ninja and the traitor all dropped what they were doing and prepared themselves. Shirou was in no mood to dance with these vile men. Shirou threw Bakuya so fast, one of the men didn't see it coming. The sword imbedded itself halfway through the ninja.

Shirou next traced a new Bakuya and dived into the enemy. His first target raised his sword to deflect a mighty swing downward and blocked Kansho, only to have his hand cut off by Bakuya. The man let out a horrible shriek at the loss of his hand, but Shirou paid him no mind. Shirou ducked a flurry of Kunai and threw Kansho at the female ninja. She ducked the blow then raised herself to throw another flurry of weapons. Shirou was busy assaulting the third ninja and paid her no mind. The woman didn't even know it when Kansho reversed it's trajectory and imbedded itself into the back of her head.

In his free hand, Shirou traced a new Kansho. He began slicing the third ninja with deadly precision. Blocking a strike to his legs, Shirou rammed the hit of his sword on his opponent's wrist causing him to drop his dagger. From there, Shirou raised Bakuya and cut with all his strength. The results were impressive and gruesome. Bakuya had cleanly cut the ninja's head in half. Shirou turned to the last of the Cloud Ninja's and began raining blows against his opponent's sword.

Miyato was scared. This was supposed to be a simple job. Pretend to abduct Hanabi, knock out Sanada, and rendezvous with the others. Once at the Cloud village, they would reward him handsomely and remove his cursed seal from his head. There shouldn't have been anyone who could have found them.

Instead, this crimson monster was butchering his team before his eyes. Gen had died from the throw sword in an instant. Hideo had his hand cut off and was now going into shock. Chou had been killed by the flying sword in the neck. How that had happened had paralyzed him. When he saw Masahiko's head sliced in two, he felt his bowels empty. 'We're all going to die. We're all going to die, and there's nothing we can do.'

Hanabi watched with fear and terror. Bound and gagged, she was unable to do anything but watch the carnage that unfolded before her. This man, if he could be called that, was killing her captors. She had thought that this would be a fun deversion. Go out with Miyato and Sanada and pretend to be abducted. Waiting in the clearing, she had suddenly been knocked unconcious by Miyato. The fate of Sanada was unclear, but it was obvious when she awoke that she was being abducted for real.

She had never been so terrified. She had heard the stories of her sister's attempted abduction, but she had never realized how terrifying this was. The Cloud ninja had made dark jokes about her fate, and the thought of rape made her want to black out. She had been ashamed when she started crying, but there was nothing she could do.

Then, this man had arrived. Hanabi wasn't sure if he was her savior, but she could tell he hated the others. As she watched, the fourth ninja had his leg cut off. As he fell, the red clothed man sliced off the fourth ninja's neck. All that remained was her, her traitorous fourth cousin, and the man.

The man charged her paralyzed cousin and knocked him to the ground. The man held the sword to Miyato's neck and said quietly, "Who are you, who are they, and why did you kidnap her."

Hanabi watched as Miyato's eyes glazed over. She listened as how Miyato had sold her to Cloud for money and the removal of his seal. She had figured it was something like that. Many of the branch house hated being branded and treated as inferiors. Hanabi activated Byakugan to see if this man was manipulating Minato to telling the truth. As far as she could tell, Minato was just to frighted to tell a lie.

What really caught her attention, however, was the man with the swords. While she could normally see the chakra lines on a person, this man looked as if he was made completely from chakra. He stood so brightly to her eye, she had to shut it off least she go blind. 'How? How can a person have so much chakra? I couldn't even see the lines.' Hanabi had overheard her family discussing the man's unusual abilities, but she had never imagined what she was seeing.

She saw the man nod at the information then raised his arms. It appeared as if he would kill Miyato. Instead, he hit Miyato with the side of the blade causing Miyato to pass out. The man then turned to her, she was ashamed that she flinched. When she looked at his face, however, she felt herself relaxing. The man was genuinely worried about her. "Are you all right?" The man asked.

She felt herself blushing at her knight in shining armor. She watched as he slowly, as if he were afraid to touch her, reached out and undid her bindings. When she was freed, she couldn't stop hugging this man. She felt herself crying again, but this time, she felt no shame.

Shirou held her while she cried her woes away. This horror had been inflicted on a child. If it hadn't been for the fact that Shirou would need the traitor for evidence, he would have killed him without a heartbeat. Illya had been older than this girl, and it took years for her scars to be healed. How long would it take this girl's scars to heal?

Soon, the girl fell asleep. 'Not surprising given what has happened today.'

Shirou calmly waited for Kakashi while he watched the last rays of light disappear over the horizon. It took about fifteen more minutes before Kakashi and the Hyūga arrived.

"You're late" Shirou joked

Seeing the carnage around Saber, Kakashi could only reply "I got lost on the journey of life."

Shirou groaned at the excuse "Is it time for those lame excuses?"

Kakashi turned serious and said "Is she all right?"

Shirou snorted and whispered "Of course not, she's been abducted by her own family, traded like a piece of beef, and saw men die in front of her."

Picking up Hanabi carefully, Shirou began a slow trudge back to Konoha. Kakashi and Sanada were dragging Miyato back for interrogation, while the cloud ninja were left for the scavengers.

It took the rest of the night and part of the morning, but they finally made it back to the village. Shirou could have increased the speed, but he needed time to replenish his stores of Prana and let his battered body heal. In addition, Sanada was wounded from the experience and slowed them down even further. At the gates, the entire Hyūga clan waited. Handing Hiashi his daughter and Miyato to Anbu, Shirou and Kakashi went to report to the Hokage.

Shirou gave in brief detail what had transpired and the fates of all concerned. Sarutobi was surprised by Saber's recommendation to make no note of the whole affair. Hanabi had been kidnapped by Miyato, but both had been returned to the village. No-one saw any cloud ninjas, thus avoiding a diplomatic hassle on both sides. As far as the Cloud could tell, the four had had a run in with a rough company of mercenaries, and thus, no blame could be laid on Konoha for disrupting the peace.

Kakashi led Shirou out of the room and said, "That was good work, I see no reason why you cannot join my team on our missions." Kakashi yawed, "Now I think I'll head off to bed."

Shirou grabbed Kakashi's shoulders. Kakashi looked back at Shirou, "Yes?"

"Before you go, I need you to tell the rest of the team to meet me at the training grounds. We've got a lot to do today."

Kakashi gaped 'Who the hell would train right after such a mission?' "Aren't you tired Saber?"

"No, frankly that test was a nice warmup. Now please give them the message."

Kakashi shook his head, 'This guy's nuts.'

After watching Kakashi leave, Shirou left the building. Outside, he met Hiashi who was still holding Hanabi, who was still sleeping. "Saber-san," Hiashi said. Bowing, "Thank you for saving my daughter."

Shirou bowed his head head deeper. "You are welcome sir. I only wish I had gotten to her sooner."

Still bowing, Hiashi said "If you ever require aid , my house will do what it can to help you."

Shirou shook his head. "Just take care of her. Keep someone by her side at all times for a while. She'll soon have nightmares and jump at shadows. It will take a while, but the damage yesterday can be undone."

Hiashi looked up at Saber and saw a strange look in his eyes. "You've seen this before." It wasn't a question, but an observation. Shirou nodded and said "Someone who is like a little sister to me was abducted. After I saved her, she was the same way for a while."

Hiashi bowed again, "It will be done, thank you."

Shirou bowed again and headed off for the training area. All night he had held back his frustration and hate, now his part time students would help him relieve some of his tension.

Author's note

Been doing research on legendary weapons. Have found over fifty, though most are the same rendition of can kill in one strike or cut through stone. Will add them as needed, but for now, I will stick with the back Bakuya and Kansho pairing

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. If you enjoy fate/stay night crossovers, look up Hill of Swords and In Flight by Gabriel blessing. In addition, FateGeass: The Eden Vital war is an interesting take on Code Geass mixed with Fate/Stay night

Again let me thank my beta L33t Horo for everything and hope he published his next chapter for Jinchuriki Fate staynight soon