Chapter 10

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

"Hmm… that's rather unsettling to say the least."

I was in one of the rooms in the tower, giving Merem a recap of what had just occurred less than a day ago.

The moment Caladbolg had been summoned, he had made his way over to my location as fast as he could. It took a decent chunk out of me to trace the weapon, let alone trying to sustain the Noble Phantasm.

Michael, the founder of the Burial Agency, was a terrifying opponent to fight against from what I could tell in our short fight.

"Nonetheless, you're a bullheaded moron Emiya-kun confronting him by yourself."

Huh?

"Don't give me that look boy. Even if Michael is considered an extra among the Dead Apostle Ancestors, he is still a formidable foe that once had the power to challenge the top ten." The rat sighed tiredly on the table. "You should consider yourself lucky that he was just playing around and not actively seeking to try and kill you. Otherwise I'd be making a trip back home to explain to that girl of yours why I had to transport what's left of you back in a soup can."

I frowned as he grilled into me. My arms crossed in front of my chest.

"Merem. I think if I can handle Louvre, I'm more than positive that-"

"That pathetic incestuous sycophant Louvre is nothing compared to him. The only reason why he had that tenth position was because of Nrvnqsr's death and Ortenrosse giving that his lackey the tenth position." The white rat looked annoyed now. "Damned White Wing Lord thinking he can just give a spot, let alone the tenth, willy-nilly without courting the rest of us first."

I looked away.

"Alright, alright. I get it already." I didn't feel like hearing anymore of it. "So what can you tell me about his powers? More importantly what the hell did he do to Sasuke?"

A part of me was a little curious as to how he survived the twisting distortion that Caladbolg makes. I was fairly sure that I saw his body twist and coil away in the same way Caster had been when Archer shot his arrow.

"Numerology."

"What do you mean by that?"

"How should I put it? Michael specializes in the Thaumaturgical Theory of applied numerical values to mysteries. In essence he has the ability to change the values of a person's magecraft to whatever he sees fit."

That sounded ridiculous.

"So you're saying he can either increase or decrease the power of a spell with his Numerology?"

Merem nodded. "Indeed. He can multiply or divide whatever magecraft that comes into range whether or not it belongs to him."

My hand rubbed my chin. That would explain how he came out completely unharmed from the distorting effect of the Noble Phantasm. As soon as it entered range, he must've set the value of the attack to where it was virtually useless or the upped the value of his defenses.

"Not to mention his own Reality Marble," he commented offhandedly.

"He has one?" I said with mild shock.

"Of course. Most if not all Dead Apostle Ancestors tend to possess their own Reality Marbles that they can utilize."

Reality Marbles were no joke. The ability to invert and force one's inner world unto Gaia's reality was a scary thing to behold. If a person were trapped inside another individual's inner-world, there was nothing they could do to escape. They would be fighting on their opponent's home turf. Literally.

"Hmm, would you happen to know his by any chance?"

The rat shrugged. "Not exactly, but if I had to guess it would have to do something with his Numerology."

That was a silly question that I asked.

It was a no brainer that if the vampire had activated his world he would've killed the person in it a thousand times over. At least it gave me something to go off of.

"Alright then, how about that seal on Sasuke's neck?"

Again he shrugged. Damn it. Trying to seek answers from Merem was proving to be useless.

"I honestly don't know Emiya-kun. It's been almost half a century since we last heard his whereabouts. If he had reincarnated into a magi's body then we'd be able to place safer bets. But under the chakra system? We're pretty much flying in the dark."

Another silly question I asked.

I began to rub the temples on my head to alleviate the stress that was building up.

"Why? What boneheaded idea do you have to rid her of it?"

When I had brought Sasuke to Kakashi, Anko, and the medical personnel, they had deduced that Sasuke had been implanted with a cursed seal by Orochimaru. In short it was a corruptive agent that was attempting to subjugate Sasuke's body to his will and at the same time give her a boost of power while eroding her mind.

It didn't sound pleasant at all.

"A seal is… basically a contract in one way or another. And well…"

"Nooo." The white rat moved forward. "You're not thinking of using Rule Breaker are you?"

I gave him a look.

"I don't know whether to smack you upside the head or encourage you for the sake of advancing thaumaturgy," he said.

A pause ensued as he seemed to be thinking it out.

"It could work," the rat's headed nodded left and right to show he was unsure of it. "What you speak does have its merits, but it's without basis for us to stand on for sure. On one hand, it might work brilliantly well. On the other, she might die."

That's not what I wanted to hear. I was hoping for something far more concrete so I could go ahead and present a way to Kakashi and Anko to deal with the seal. Maybe going Kakashi's route would be more ideal with just applying another seal on top of Michael's to negate it.

But we all knew that it was a temporary fix at best.

I audibly groaned in frustration.

"I wish Tohsaka was here," I muttered offhandedly.

"Hmm, yes well, if you hadn't ran away after we told you to stay put and rest. We wouldn't be in this situation now would we?"

I grimaced at his statement and moved my eyes away to avoid contact.

I hate it when he brings this up.

"I thought I said I was sorry?"

He scoffed at me. "I could care less about your apology. The only person that you should be groveling at the ground for forgiveness is her." There was something that he muttered to the side, but I didn't quite catch it.

It was just one thing after another.

The stress must be getting to me as a sharp pain flared up in my right arm. I winced at how strong it seemed to be getting after the passing months.

"We're going to have to get a look on that soon Emiya-kun. How many times does the pain occur in that arm of yours?"

"M-Maybe… maybe once a day I think. More so after I use projection and reinforcement." I grit my teeth in pain as I waited for it subside as usual. I rubbed my arm as it slowly faded away.

"The offer still stands by the way."

"No." I shut it down immediately.

He seemed disappointed as usual. "It'll solve most of your problems, if not all. Your body will be able to withhold all that power if you would just let me-"

"No! I said no Merem and that's that." I stomped my foot down on the subject he was trying to bring up again.

Merem clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That tenth spot that you and Saber left vacant isn't going to fill itself." He was adamant on pushing the issue. Why now of all times damn it? "You're the best candidate that I know of that I would like to have the spot. You have the ability to fully actualize your reality marble, the power to back it up, and the nomination from me and possibly several others. All you would need to do is allow me to perform the process on you!"

I let him finish. It was best to let him run through the whole speech as usual.

He was really adamant on converting me.

The whole thing was starting to wear on me at this point.

"Let's just deal with one thing first ok? I'll make that decision when… when I feel ready for it."

There was a momentary pause between us.

"If that's what you wish for Emiya-kun. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

"No. I think I got everything."

"Alright then. We'll meet again after you decide what to do with that seal on that girl's neck. I'll be snooping around as usual. Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained Emiya-kun."

I nodded and he took his cue to vanish into the air ventilation system.

A tired and stressed sigh was released.

"I hope I'm making the right decision here… God knows I haven't been making them lately."

The room was dimly lit as I stepped in to check on how Sasuke was doing.

Walking up to the bed, I pulled up a chair to sit down next to her.

The girl that I've been mentoring the past few months was fast asleep. It didn't look like she was in pain anymore at this point.

"At least one of us is getting some sound sleep." I mumbled.

I sat there staring at her contemplating on the decision that I'll be making.

"Trace on."

The dagger of Caster is projected unto the world and in my hands. The dagger was jagged and held an iridescent purple tinge to it. The blade itself was woefully thin, brittle and blunt. The thing was practically ineffective as a combat weapon.

But to my knowledge it's the single greatest thing that could break down thaumaturgical contracts.

"All spells must be broken…"

Should I wait for her to wake up or throw caution to the wind and stab her with the dagger?

The power that I sensed behind that seal was staggering, so the moment that Rule Breaker is invoked and the blade pierces her. I can only imagine the chaos that will ensue thereafter.

I stared at the noble phantasm.

The last time I used it led to some utterly disastrous results.

My hand began to tremble as my mind wandered off onto events that led me to where I am.

When it was first used, we had assumed it would break the contract and free her from the grasps of the corrupted grail. Instead all it did was serve as the catalyst to completely merge them together.

The sight of her violet hair bleaching white and her eyes turning into a demonic red haunts me to this day. Everything went out of control after that. All the precaution and planning that went into it went up in flames in our hands…

…in my hands.

My stomach was starting to churn the longer I held the dagger.

Was this the right idea? I was only trying to save Sasuke and potentially others right? That was my sincerest intention.

To save her.

To save Sasuke from Valdamjong's cursed seal.

I am doing the right thing…

Aren't I?

Matou Sakura's face flickers into my vision reminding me of my mistake.

I only had the best intentions that night to save Sakura.

Just like tonight, I only have the best intentions to Sasuke.

It's that same feeling as before. I'm trying to desperately rationale my thoughts together to provide an excuse for me playing with the scales of balance. It was all for the greater good right? I was just trying to be pragmatic about it.

So was Kiritsugu.

So was Archer.

But this was the only sound way of getting rid of the seal! I was sure that I-

The door behind me opened as someone stepped into the room.

"Oh? Naruto? What're you doing in here?"

I quickly dismiss the projection away and turned around to see who it was.

The faces of Kakashi and Sakura greeted me as they turned on the light for better visibility.

"I uh… was just checking up on her to see how she's doing. It looks like Sasuke's doing better at least so that's good."

"Well that's nice of you Naruto-kun!" said Sakura as she came around to inspect Sasuke's vitals.

Kakashi gave me a suspicious look. Did he see the projection that was in my hand?

"Mah well, you saved me the trouble of having to go look for you. I've been meaning to talk to you about some matters along with other things." He knew. He definitely knew I had just projected something in the room.

"Yeah I'm free," I said tiredly. "Let's just go and get it out of the way."

"Good!" His eye smiled at me sweetly. "Sakura, keep us informed when Sasuke-chan wakes up now will you?"

"Yes Kakashi-sensei!" she bowed as we left the room.

I'll just lay it all out to Kakashi. Maybe a second opinion is needed here. One that'll tell me that I'm insane.

Kakashi hummed as he thought everything over.

"It might just work, I think…"

No way. He was actually agreeing to it.

I came clean to him with everything about the noble phantasm that I held along with its powers. I told him about my plan of using it on Sasuke to free her from the cursed seal, but also my worries about the potential backlash that can happen.

"Well. It sounds a lot more concrete than the Evil Sealing method at least."

I sunk back into my seat as I quietly mulled it over. The sealing method Kakashi had mentioned was only effective if the applicant was able to use his/her will to suppress the corrosion effects brought on by the cursed mark. But Rule Breaker removes the possibility altogether. The thing is, is that I don't know whether the seal will be broken by the noble phantasm and dispelled or cause something much worse.

"You don't seem very confident in that idea of yours Naruto."

"I'm not. Not at all. Thaumaturgy isn't an end all be all. It's highly reliant upon a give and take system. Equivalent exchange if you will. These things can have disastrous effects that can lead to a person's death when one practices magecraft."

To be a magus is to walk with death.

Damn that quote for ringing ever truer right now.

"You seem to be an avid practitioner of that magecraft of yours and you seem perfectly fine to me," he commented. "I don't see how-"

I shot up from my seat.

"That's because you don't Kakashi." He didn't. I did my best to hide the rebound effects that were afflicting me from my usage of projection magecraft. I guess I was doing too good of a job that he didn't notice a certain spot on my hair that was bleaching white, the tanned skin, nor my eyes subtly going gray.

So I showed it to him.

Hair, eyes, and skin. "Everything has a price Kakashi, some more so than others."

I refrained from showing my arm. I was far from ready to ever discuss about that topic, let alone showing it to anyone.

His eye softened as he continued looking on.

"My apologies. I don't understand enough of your thaumaturgy to get a clear picture of what you mean, but you must understand that in a way this sounds better than my idea. The sealing method will only go so far and serves as a temporary fix rather than a permanent fix. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Better safe than sorry huh?

"Besides Naruto… I have faith in you that it will work!" Kakashi beamed a smile at me. A genuine one this time. "You seem to have lost a little faith in yourself, so I'll do it for you. After all, I still believe in your dream to be a hero."

Faith.

Hatake Kakashi believed in me that hoped for a better tomorrow. He still believed in my dream of being a hero.

A melancholic look settled on my face.

"Thank you… Kakashi."

It was tough. I wanted to believe in that as well, but what Kiritsugu had said all those years ago rings true.

"When you become an adult, it's much harder to call yourself a hero."

Damn it all to hell. Why was everything starting to become so damn complicated? Were these the types of decisions Archer and Kiritsugu had to agonize themselves over and over? Back then it was so much easier, bad guy was doing bad things. Eliminate bad guy and help the innocent.

That's how it's supposed to be right?

But what happens if a neutral, or even good, person becomes harmful to others that were outside of their control? Was it still the right thing to do?

"Was killing Matou Sakura the right thing to do?"

I frowned. The shroud was starting to become ineffective rather quickly which was unsettling. I haven't heard from the tailed beast that resided within me in a long while.

As in years, if not almost a decade.

I pushed it to the back of my mind to ignore it. I don't need any more on my plate as I have enough to deal with as is. I'll have to tighten the shroud to squeeze every bit of its power of suppression.

"Come on, let's head back to the room and check up on them. We'll run it by Sasuke first so she at least has the decision to make. We either do it your way or my way. Though I think I would hope she would go your way if I were honest."

I inhaled deeply. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan."

I was praying she would choose Kakashi's method over mine. I don't think I can handle have any more innocent blood on my hand.

Especially one that I had been mentoring for the past few months. That made the feeling in my gut all the more worse.

Soft chatter could be heard going on in the room when Kakashi and I neared the door.

"Seems like she's up." Kakashi opened the door and entered first. "Hello! Glad to see Sasuke is up and about chatting lively with you Sakura-chan!"

An eyebrow was cocked up in question giving Kakashi a dry stare. The raven haired girl was still lying in bed looking exhausted. It could be likened if she had just ran a marathon back to back.

Sasuke merely grimaced in annoyance and pain as her hand shot up to her neck.

"Ah! I'll go and grab some hydrocodone to take the edge off for you. I'll be right back! Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-kun, would you two watch over her for a minute?" she asked.

"Yeah, no problem! We need to have a little chat with Sasuke-chan here anyways! Take your time!"

Sakura nodded and bolted out the door to grab the pain medication.

"So do you want me to explain or you?"

I waved my hand, signaling for him to take the lead.

"I'll cut to the chase Sasuke. Orochimaru has implanted a cursed seal on your neck that's slowly corroding you away. I'm sure you can already feel the taint in your chakra system, so we've devised two ways for you to choose to deal with the problem."

"A-And what are they?" gritted out Sasuke in pain.

"There's option A. You go my route and we seal it away with the Evil Sealing method to control the cursed seal. It's a short term fix, but it's a guarantee to put you back in working order to continue on in the exams."

"O-Option B?"

"We go Naruto's route. He has the capability to rid you of yourself permanently, but at the same time there's a lot of risk that you'll be taking."

I was staring at her, silently pleading with my eyes to side with Kakashi.

"How r-risky is it?"

"Fifty-fifty at best is what he was able to garner."

"What'll h-happen if it… fails?"

I bit my lip. "I… don't know. I've never really attempted to see how prana and chakra would interact with each other. It'll either work miraculously or… disastrously."

"Ah… I see then."

Silenced ensued the room as Kakashi and I waited for her decision. My heart was starting to beat faster as I waited in anticipation. The anxiety was starting to kill me. Please don't pick me. Don't go with option B and opt for A!

"Naruto-kun has yet to ever really hurt me. So I'm sorry to say Kakashi-sensei, but I'll go with Option B."

I closed my eyes as I felt an invisible weight settle on my shoulders.

"Are you sure that's what you want Sasuke?"

She nodded.

I clench my hand.

"I-I believe in him, that it will work. I trust him."

"Aww," cooed Kakashi. "Isn't that cute Naruto! My student sounds like she was a little crush on you!"

I stared blankly at him with my arms crossed. I was not amused right now.

Kakashi had the decency to cough into his hand. "Ahem – moving forward. We'll proceed with our plan after you receive your pain meds from Sakura."

For the first time in a while, I actually began muttering off a prayer to God that everything goes without a hitch for once. I'd appreciate not having someone's death on my hands again, especially one that could have been easily avoided.

"Sit down here."

I directed Sasuke to the stone floor in the sealing room.

A glance to Kakashi's way and a nod in return told me he was ready to go.

"I'll need you to take off your top." My hands were starting to sweat. I was nervous.

Sasuke did so as instructed and I was given a clear view of the Cursed Seal of Heaven. It was a simple three tomoe seal that shared resemblance to a fully developed sharingan.

"Trace on."

I projected unto the world once more Rule Breaker, the Noble Phantasm of Princess Medea.

The dagger was positioned just above the seal. Its tip was hovering ever so closely ready to cancel out the seal. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

"Forgive me."

Sasuke closed her eyes in anticipation of the pain.

"Rule Breaker!"

The girl wasn't ready for it at all.

I wasn't ready either.

The moment phased through her skin as if it were nonexistent and attacked the cursed seal. An enormous wave of pure refined prana burst forth from the rift created by the contract being broken.

"AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sasuke began yelling her lungs out. She started to flail and thrash about and I struggled to keep her under control.

Kakashi immediately jumped in to hold her down.

The cursed seal was actually trying to push against Rule Breaker to prevent the contract from being broken. With both hands I met the challenge and grit my teeth as I pushed the dagger down further. The girl screamed harder until her throat went hoarse.

My eyes squint at how much prana was actually in the seal. There was a column of vile energy surrounding us as it struggled to withstand the might of the noble phantasm.

"Just! A little! More!"

I pushed further and further. I could feel the seal cracking and withering away. There wasn't much more to go!

I fed the noble phantasm more and more of my own magical energy to where it was on the tipping point of being turned into a broken phantasm. The dagger in my hand started to vibrate violently to where I was struggling to hold it.

Magical energy was leaking everywhere from the broken seal.

"NO YOU FAKER! HOW DARE YOU BREAK THE CONTRACT! HOW DARE YOU DEFY THE SERPENT OF AKASHA?!"

It was Michael's voice. He had implanted a little bit of himself inside the cursed seal! I was going to need a little boost to expel him! We were almost done!

I willed as much magical energy as I could into the projected noble phantasm.

"NOOOOOOO!"

A rapid buildup of prana bubbled at the focal point where the blade met the seal and exploded. It blasted me straight into a pillar. I reinforced my body just moments before impact to bear the brunt of it.

Medea's dagger faded from my hand.

The light died down and the smoke cleared. My vision swims momentarily before I get a clear view of Sasuke and Kakashi.

"It worked!" Kakashi rushed over to help me up. "You did it Naruto!"

"I-I did?"

"Yes!"

A wave of relief washes over me.

From what I can tell, Uchiha Sasuke was knocked out cold on the floor. She was in an almost comical position with her rear high in the air.

"We should get her back into bed. She's going to need the rest after all that."

"Can you walk?"

I nodded. I was fine now.

All that worrying. All that fussing earlier was for nothing.

I was feeling dead as I carried Sasuke's sleeping form back to her room. My eyes were starting to droop and the struggle to keep them open was real. Terrible sleeping habits coupled with being stressed out for the past day or so was taking a toll on me.

Michael was right about one thing. I was only human.

As we neared the door, I let out a tired yawn which caused Kakashi to give me a look.

"What? Don't give me that look. I've been up for like two or three days now with no rest and a lot of stress. I'm tired as hell Kakashi. Now move your ass and open the door."

Yeah – I was being a bit moody with him.

He simply chuckled and waved me off before opening the door.

Sakura greeted us as we came in. "I'm guessing everything went smoothly?"

"Yeah," my yawn interrupts me, "went… really perfectly." I went straight to the bed to lay her down before crashing onto the seat where Sakura had just been sitting on.

"Ah! That's good to hear! I'll just hook Sasuke-chan back up to the medical equipment and…"

Whatever Sakura was saying was slowly going mute as darkness encroached my vision. I think I deserved a nice long nap after everything.

"There all finished!"

Sakura turned around and was met with the sight of Kakashi giggling like a child while he poked away at a sleeping Naruto who had his mouth slightly open.

"Oh geez, Kakashi-sensei will you quit that! For him to just knock out so quickly he must've been completely exhausted." The pink haired girl chastised here teacher.

"Maa – maa Sakura-chan, I've never seen him like this before so it's quite funny." He dusted his hands off. "Let's just leave them be. Throw a blanket on him if you want. I think he deserves a bit of rest as a small reward for getting rid of that cursed seal."

"There's a spare bed right next to Sasuke." She pointed out to behind the man. "Shouldn't we- I mean you move him so he's at least a little more comfortable?"

Kakashi waved his hand. "Nah – a little crick in the neck never hurt anyone before. Besides! He looks pretty comfy to me don't you think? Now come on. These two need their rest. Let's go see if there's any other teams that made it yet." He hastily pushed Sakura out of the room and shut the door behind him.

It was relatively silent as they walked to the general meeting hall where most teams would check in after they completed the second task.

"Sensei?" Sakura broke the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Do you happen to know where Tsubasa is?"

The man hummed. "I don't know actually. After he dropped off Sasuke, he just upped and disappeared. I'm sure he's still in the tower as you can't exactly just up and leave, but what got you curious?"

"Well," she crossed her arms in irritation. "It's just that he hasn't visited Sasuke at all to see how well she's doing. You'd expect that boisterous arrogant idiot to check on his girlfriend, but no! The nerve on that asshole…"

"I didn't expect you to be so heavily invested in Sasuke and Daisuke's relationship," he teased a little.

Sakura huffed and turned her head away. "That man I swear. Naruto seemed more worried about her health than Daisuke was! Hell that jackass didn't even seem like he gave a damn!"

Kakashi's exposed eyebrow raised slightly. "Naruto he… takes the hero thing very seriously and I'm very certain that he cares about you three- well more like just you and Sasuke very much. Outside of Anko and me, he doesn't talk to many people besides the two of you."

"Really? Considering he has an endearing personality and um… does very well in the looks department, he'd have no problems in making friends."

Kakashi shook his head. Sakura didn't understand Emiya Naruto very well then. "True, but he's far from it. Very far. Have you looked at his psyche profile from when he was on the active roster years ago?"

"Can't say that I have really, why?"

"Well… you'd understand a lot more why he doesn't tend to go out and socialize with others."

It only fueled Sakura's curiosity. "Is there something important that happened? Something traumatic like that?"

Kakashi wanted to laugh. Naruto and trauma went hand in hand together. A man such as himself who had also experienced many pains was easily able to discern the horribly fractured person that was the blonde haired hero. The man exhibited all the major qualities of a sociopath to an extent. Everything was geared towards replicating his adoptive father's smile through saving people.

"I guess he never told you then… ah well I suppose that's his business." He shrugged. "You'll have to ask him or look for yourself in the dossier."

Sakura went silent after that. From her face it looked like she wanted to know more, but refrained from asking as it would lead to nowhere. Later on she would resolve to have a look to sate her curiosity.

"And we are here." Kakashi opened the door to reveal an empty meeting hall. "Ah – well then…" he deadpanned. Not a single soul was in sight. "Let's go see the check-in."

Nothing.

"Are you kidding me?" He flipped the single page that currently only had Team Seven scribbled down on the front page. "I know you guys finished fast, but… this fast?"

Sakura had the decency to look abashed. "Ah – you see Kaka-sensei, we may or may not have gone a little overboard with some of the other teams and burned their scrolls. And uh… well there's a giant crater in the forest now and Naruto-kun may or may not have picked off a couple of teams that tried attacking us."

"How about we keep the whole Naruto taking out other teams between me and you alright?" It took a moment. "Wait – wait. Did you just say… giant crater?"

She scratched the back of her head and nervously laughed. "I take it that he didn't tell you about that?"

"No…" he drawled out. "…he did not."

"Ah…"

An awkward silence.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Y-Yes Sensei?"

"Naruto was never there. He never showed up."

Sakura gave him a bewildered expression. "But-"

"He was never there. Got it?"

The medic of the team fumbled over her words.

He emphasized again. "Never. There. Got it?"

"I-I uh… I see. Never there."

"Good! Glad we have an understanding between us!"

She could hear Kakashi inhale deeply through his nose.

The Chunin Exam was an international event that was used as a sign of peace and cooperation between the great five nations. If word had gotten out that Naruto, albeit a former ninja of Konoha, had inadvertently stepped in to save his team. There would be accusations of blatant cheating and would quickly devolve into a mud throwing contest between the politicians and village leaders.

Kakashi palmed his face. "Naruto… you're killing me over here."

My eyes slowly opened from the irritation of the bright light being shined on them.

That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I immediately noticed was the huge pain in my neck from sleeping in an awkward angle. My hand rubs at the spot to ease the pain.

"Crap I fell asleep." I yawned as I slowly gained my bearings. "Geez what time is it?" I muttered to myself. How long have I been asleep? Obviously it was long enough that I feel like someone took a baseball bat and practiced their swings on my neck.

I take stock of my surroundings and notice someone was staring.

"Sasuke?" Has she been watching me sleep this entire time? "Were you watching me sleep?"

Sasuke blushed and stuttered. "N-No! I swear I just woke up too!"

"Uh huh sure you did." I rolled my eyes. "That's what a creep would say."

Her whole face turned red.

I smiled benignly with my eyes. I could tell the hamster in her head was running the wheel full speed.

"Nah – I'm joking. I'll take your word for it."

"Grhk… you're, you're just messing with me."

A tiny smirk crept onto my face.

"No, you don't say?" A small playful grin was on my face.

A quick glance at the clock read that it was a quarter until ten. I was knocked out for a good while then.

"Well I suppose I'll be going now." I made my way to exit the room.

"W-Wait! I- uh… I just wanted to say um… ergh…"

Either she was trying to thank me or confess her interest in me. I sincerely hope it was the former and not the latter.

"Yes? Come on, out with it."

"Thank you."

The Uchiha Sasuke before me was a completely different person from when I first met her all those months ago. A lot less boisterous, haughty, and arrogant. She matured as a person from what I could tell.

Speaking of him, I haven't actually seen hide nor hair of him ever since we first arrived at the tower. I internally shrugged, the less I see of him the better.

"Goodnight Sasuke."

I close the door and made my way to find a room to crash in.

My neck was killing me.

"Preliminaries?" I whispered to Kakashi.

The second stage of the exam had run its course and so the ones who stood in the main hall at attention had met the objective therefore passing. It was actually a sizeable group to the one that I remembered when I was moving onto the third and final stage.

"And hey," my elbow nudged him, "I don't remember there being this many moving on when I had my exam."

"If you remembered correctly Naruto, you went above and beyond and took out almost all of the candidates in the second stage back then. There was barely any for the finals!" he whispered back to me. "Plus we need to cull the herd a bit more down to ten so we have a proper final."

I nodded in understanding.

"Well that sounds exciting," I said sarcastically.

Kakashi shrugged.

Everyone separated themselves with their teams up to the catwalk that overlooked the hall to await the match selections on the screen. I noticed as everyone waited with a baited breath for their names to appear on the board that there was a person missing for Team Seven.

"Oi – Kakashi, where's that moron of yours? Shouldn't he be here? I didn't see that idiot in the crowd either."

He simply pointed to my left to where the stairs were. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Along with an entourage as well.

The sound of metal groaning filtered into my ears. It was Sasuke gripping the railings hard. I'll just take a wild shot in the dark and guess that she didn't like them.

"Hey!" It was that same girl from two days ago. The one that sounded sickly sweet and fake. "You guys don't mind if we watch Daisuke-kun with ya right?"

How annoying. Even if one of us protested they'll stay nonetheless.

Ignoring them would be the best thing to do.

"Aww what's with that sour face?"

"Yeah man, we're just here to watch the prelims and support our boy Daisuke here!"

"Hehe, Dai-kun is right, he does look like he's got a stick up his ass."

Very annoying.

I stuff my hands into my pocket and kept looking forward, not giving them any bit of attention. The screen was still randomizing names. How long does it take to pick two people to fight in the damn arena?

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi

Huh. A Konoha match up.

My eyes glance around and pick up on Sasuke's opponent. The man's appearance was rather concealed by a mask that hung around his neck and wore sunglasses that obscured only his eyes. There wasn't much to garner from him at first sight except he wore a rather standard outfit that was uniformly to his teammates.

Kakashi and Sakura had already wished Sasuke good luck as she leapt down from the railings. Where her sword usually hung from her back was missing. It was probably lost in the forest before I had arrived.

Pity. What I heard from Sakura, the girl down below had performed admirably well against Michael to the point where she had managed to draw blood. That is until the vampire decided to stop playing around and thrashed them all.

The snickering and whispering from my left was starting to test my patience. So these were her "supposed" friends huh?

I sigh. Just this once. Sasuke deserved at least that.

"Oi – Sasuke." My voice calls out to her. All the soft muttering is quieted as they turn their attention to me. "Heads up."

I trace out Sasuke's chokuto and toss it over to the railings. She deftly catches it in her hands, marveling at the newly projected sword.

My arms cross my chest.

"Win. So these imbeciles to the left of me can shut up. The excessive stupidity is starting to hurt my head."

I could hear Kakashi giggling to my right. He knew I tend to not have a filter for my mouth, so he waited for me to say something. Damn it. If I wasn't already on their radar now, I sure am now.

A look of determination formed on Sasuke's face; she nodded towards my way and faced her opponent.

"One."

Kakashi looks at me. "Five what?"

"One minute. In fact she'll beat him in under a minute."

"That's a bold statement coming from you Naruto. Where's that coming from?"

I didn't say anything back and focused on the two down below.

The other person, Yoroi, had a certain movement in his steps that reeked of arrogance. He looked like a veteran genin, so he must've assumed that going up against a relatively new genin was going to be easy. Hopefully she takes advantage of that and lures him in.

"Begin!" The proctor's hand comes down initiating the fight.

Sasuke initiated the fight by throwing the scabbard at her opponents head.

He dodged it. The makeshift projectile impacted the wall causing cracks to spider out.

Fifty-five seconds.

They both charged forward at each other. She thrusts her blade out to his neck causing him to duck. Her opponent goes to sweep her legs. With an incredibly display of dexterity and acrobatics. Sasuke nimbly vaults over him.

There's about five meters of distance between them. The mask man closes it under a second effortlessly. His hands glow blue and he jabs forward with his left fist to her head. It misses, only brushing against her hair, but she falters for a split moment allowing him to land a solid punch to her midsection.

My eyes narrow. For chakra to be radiating off his hands to the point that it was visible to the naked eye meant he had a jutsu activated. By Sasuke moving sluggishly for just a moment probably means he had absorbed her chakra somehow. What a dangerous technique to fight against close combat. If he was smart he'd keep it a secret.

"That's right. I can absorb your chakra!" Yoroi brags to Sasuke.

Never mind.

Instead of letting his opponent try to figure it out, he'll just tell them. Typical.

Sasuke doesn't reply. She evens out her breathing.

Forty seconds to go.

Her next attack is another thrust to the heart to destroy the body. It was easy to dodge, but she closes the gap by a little bit.

The follow up was a slash to the right. Everyone gasped as the man had the audacity to grab the blade. Foolish mistake.

Sasuke kept her composure and taps the pommel with a bit of force. The action cuts into his hand. The move surprises him.

Idiot.

His eyes must've been wide open by how high his eyebrows went up. Another foolish mistake to make when going up against an Uchiha.

"Checkmate…" I said to myself.

Her eyes flash red. The bloodline trait of the Uchiha clan is activated.

The stance is shifted. She rears back her blade, ready to strike.

"Ha – how cheeky of you." I knew what she was about to do. I couldn't help but allow myself a small chuckle.

Her red sharingan eyes spin locking Yoroi in a genjutsu. It was an incredibly subtle one that wasn't actually performed on the victim, but rather on the user. When she had tried it out on me, it almost fooled me. Almost.

But for Akado Yoroi? It must be a terrifying sight to see three different blades coming in from three different dimensions. Top, left, and right.

In reality there was only one blade coming at him from one side. A poor man's version of Tsubame Gaeshi.

He futilely tried to block the first two strikes that came in from his right and above. He looked like a fool blocking nothing.

"Hiken: Tsubame Gaeshi!"

I snorted. Very cheeky indeed.

Her slash connects to his chest and blood spurts everywhere onto the stone floor. A solid hit that caused the man to stumble backwards onto the ground. She goes in to finish the job, but the proctor immediately steps in.

"STOP!" The blade is halted just before an inch to the man's neck. "The first match winner is Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Told you," I smugly said to Kakashi. "Twenty seconds left."

He threw his hands up in front of him. "Hey! I wasn't doubting you at all."

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura calls my name. "How'd you know Sasuke would win so fast?"

"Hmm… Yoroi tried compensating his short of reach against Sasuke's sword by closing the gap to where the blade can be considered negligible. For a moment there, he got the drop on her by leeching a good bit of chakra just from grazing her and then landing a solid hit. Luckily she recovered fast enough." I take a breath and move into the Tohsaka Teaching stance number two with my index finger in the air.

"He might've had an advantage had he not disclose his ability. Yes she may have figured it out sooner or later, but that dumb idiot decided to be a braggart. From then on she just played a bit of keep away and waited for a moment for him to make a mistake which was grabbing the blade thinking his chakra coated hands would save him." I gesticulated with my hands mimicking the hand movements of Sasuke's blade work.

"The blade sliced into his hand, stunning him momentarily. If you noticed she kept her sharingan deactivated until the right moment. After that it was checkmate. Although still sloppy footwork on Sasuke's part. Terrible handling on the blade and effectively using the reach to its full potential. Also what a terrible waste of a move to throw her scabbard. Would've been better to use it as a secondary on her offhand and-"

I stop and blink. I was ranting.

Everyone in the hall began to stare and whisper at me. Especially among the Konoha candidates that seemed to be in my age group.

I scratch my head in embarrassment. "Oops – ah… sorry about that. Went off tangent about that, but yeah…" I finish lamely.

Sakura was wide-eyed. "Amazing! That's incredibly in-depth for such a quick fight! Not to mention spot on about the timing!"

I waved her compliments off. "Bah – it's nothing special." Archer could do better and Saber could've gone beyond that.

A slightly pained exhale came out of me. She was a better teacher after all.

"Congratulations Sasuke-chan!" Kakashi says behind me.

I shake my head a bit. No sense in getting emotional right now.

Turning around, I was greeted with a slightly haggard Sasuke. We shared a look at each other.

"Good job."

A smile begins to work its way to her face. I lightly conked her on the head dispelling it.

"But still sloppy all around. What in the world was that? Throwing your scabbard like it's some kind of kunai, you numbskull. Next time don't waste such a valuable secondary. That's a potential weapon for anyone to use against you!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

I could hear Sakura and Kakashi having a bit of laugh from behind me. "Oi – what's so funny you two?"

"Haha, you look like a true teacher caring about his student," said Kakashi.

"Yeah! I'm just imagining you trying to teach a bunch of kids." Sakura was giggling.

"Mhm, yeah laugh it up." I stuff my hands into my pocket.

"Aww Naruto-kun, we're just teasing! Come on! Besides, you got any tips for me?" The pink haired medic smashed her gloved fists together.

"Punch the floor."

A pink eyebrow raises up. "That's it?"

"Mhm. That's it."

Over to the left of me I could feel Daisuke's ire simply roiling off of him. I duly ignored it. Actions spoke more than words.

As soon as Sakura's match was finished I was out of here to go find Merem.

Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino

Huh. Well you look at that.

I gave her a smirk.

"Gotcha. Punch the floor."

She won in under ten seconds. No one ever expects the unorthodox tactics.

I flashed another smug grin to Kakashi.

"Luck," was all he said.

High above in the top floors of the tower. Merem sat in the communication's room that had wires and satellite dishes arrayed above the canopy of the trees.

The shinobi assigned to the room were completely enthralled. None of them being able to control or process a single thought.

"I apologize for the tardiness of the call. I was a bit hung up on several events that took priority for the time being."

The person on the other line spoke.

"Yes, yes I know. I already found your boyfriend, no need to threaten me. I swear it was important."

Merem winced at the description.

"Now, now no need for violence! Emiya-kun and I have been investigating what appears to be remnants of a prototype Holy Grail system. We believe-"

He was cut off by them yelling into the phone.

"Geez, quiet down or else these shinobi people will catch on and then I'll have to enthrall some more of them! Yes, there appears to be a similar set of caverns just like Fuyuki City's. We can talk about this later when you get here!"

A huff could be heard.

"Yes! I understand, we'll show you it as soon as you and the real me gets here. Now I don't have too long so I'll wire you the information on how to get through the customs and immigration department. It'll take a month-"

He was interrupted.

"Yes! A month woman! Now will you let me finish?!"

A mumble.

"Yes, yes apology accepted moving on. The paperwork and red tape bureaucracy will take the most amount of time for you to officially be here. Smuggling you in my way won't do and it'll get the Church in a whole heap of trouble that I don't need. After that it'll be a short trip for you to travel down south to the province of Konoha. Happy?"

The woman responded in a tired voice.

"I know, I know. You must've been a worried out of your mind when Emiya-kun just upped and disappeared. You two will meet again I give you my word. I'll keep him safe and out of harms away as best as I can."

She thanked him.

"No need for that. I owe you and Emiya-kun a few favors. The both of you have done a tremendous amount for the Church and Association."

A pause.

"I'm going to have to cut this short. I'd rather not have someone notice our lengthy international call. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would we?"

A light laugh could be heard, they bid their farewell to Merem.

"I'll see you in a month… Rin."

Author's Note: Apologies for the delay, I wanted to release on Friday, but went back and reworked the middle and last part of the chapter.

So uh… that was quite the load of reviews that I received last week when I posted the new chapter. It's only natural that there comes a certain point where you'll receive negative feedback, but damn I didn't expect for some individuals to throw that much vitriol and hatred my way. It was to the point that I actually started getting spammed in my mail and the user spamming my reviews anonymously. Oh well.

This was a more Naruto-focused chapter, I think I'm starting to get the hang of changing scenes and picking up the pace of the story. So hopefully this picks it up faster and is more direct with things.

As always, thank you to the people who take a bit of their time to post a review. It means a lot to me! I'm leaving a special mention to the user ChaosRune for his reviews that he has left on my story! I greatly appreciate them!

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! If you can, please leave a review of your thoughts on the story and chapter! Feel free to message me at any time, I promise I won't bite! Again thank you all for stopping by to read my story!

Word count before A/N: 8,192