Eiyu no Kage

by AzureFlameXIIIGod

So...I became a 'Master,' apparently. I have this weird tattoo a floating old man pointed out to me, told me to chant some old-school incantation or something. Now i have nine strangers appear inside my head, and they're my 'Servants' who'll also be my teachers to make me more 'competent' in my prisoner's eyes... I don't know how to react to this. I wonder what they'll teach me?

8. Chapter 7: Move Forward

Yo! This is Azure back with more Eiyu no Kage for your enjoyment. Sorry for the long wait, but here's the next update.

So for swords, we have :

Samehada:5

Nuibari:5

Kiba:4

Shibuki:5

Kabutowari:2

A three-way tie with Samehada, Nuibari, and Shibuki. Keep on voting on two of the Seven other than Kubikiri and Hiramekarei to be part of Naruto's arsenal.

Zentari2238: Sorry if it's too slow on the action. I like to be as thorough as possible, and not just skip a whole day to get to the point. As you can see I try to be as descriptive as possible with my work, so it drags on, but in turn, I make chapters longer than 3000 or so words. After this chapter, we actually hit plot. So yay!

Anyways, let's start.

Disclaimer: first chapter.

Chapter 7: Move Forward

"It's happening again…." The older Alice said to no one in particular.

The black-clad little girl summoned a gust that twisted the air in front of Saber. The Knight, caught slightly unaware at the sudden proclamation of the attack, only summoned Excalibur coated in its Invisible Air to send the fireball scattering into flamboyant sparks of light fluttering like fireflies. When done with deflecting the shot, Saber then reequipped her proper clothes and armor. With sword poised in front of her in standard Kendo starting stance and her stern look, she looked deadly.

"Are you seriously going through with this, Alice?" She asked the enemy Master in front of her, "What is there to gain from fighting in this useless battle?"

"Alice gains a new friend." Caster answered malicious tone. The simple few words struck the hearts of everyone, making them sink in sadness. Shikamaru, after witnessing the supernatural abilities he saw Alice displayed, knew that the girl wasn't among the living. His thought were broken by the black-clad girl's words, "Alice…won't be lonely. That's why Alice will fight!"

Alice's determination threw the blonde Master off. He did not expect an answer like that come from the girl's mouth. Now he really didn't want to fight Alice. These girls, whom he treated like little sisters more than anything else, wanted him to stay by their side. In realistic terms, he'd be with the girls' spirits until he died. Plus the fact hat they're little girls does not help the situation; hurting little girls, or potentially killing them is not a very helpful piece of information that will aid in defeating the girls. To win this Servant battle, the enemy Servant must die, or the enemy Master dies; both ideas definitely displeasing to Naruto.

"Naruto! Do not lose focus. If you are to become a leader, you must stay focused on the task at hand!" Saber yelled, "I understand it's hard, but you must move forward. This is something I do not wish to do as well, but for your safety, I will fight! So tell me, will you cast aside your doubt and temper your blade?"

'This isn't right…' Naruto thought, 'This is unfair! I can't do this to a little girl. Why do I have to draw Caliburn for this?' His thoughts clouded his mind. With each doubt placed unto him, the burden placed by Caliburn steadily increased.

"Naruto!" Saber called to him once more, "Do not doubt yourself. A sword is an extension of yourself. To doubt yourself is to dull your blade. Now stand and fight, Naruto Uzumaki!" Within seconds, Naruto summoned Caliburn, and emulated Saber's stance. His eyes were filled with regret; he didn't want to do this at all, but it's necessary. He gripped the heavy blade within his grasp, and breathed deeply.

"Are you done saying your goodbyes, Onii-chan? Good, now let's play!" Behind Caster, Jabberwock, a red, titanic monster with thick, burly arms covered in rock-like structure jutting out and wing behind it, roared loudly to announce its presence. Its orange eyes glowed intensely before it charged at Naruto. With a forceful uppercut, one that Naruto blocked in the nick of time, Jabberwock sent Naruto flying. The Shinobi honestly thought Caliburn would break at the impact, yet it was still intact with no dent or bend to show damage. Shocked at the sturdiness of the sword, he stared at it in awe for several, crucial seconds.

The sound of metal brought his focus back to the battle. Saber stood before him as an obstacle in the berserker's path. It seemed like the hulking attacker had more strength than Saber initially thought. Her anchored feet slid back, digging into the ground as Jabberwock pushed forward. How is it possible for her enemy to overpower her in strength? She didn't have time to think; her main priority is to lead the monstrosity away from her Master immediately.

She pushed the Berserker away from her. The sudden action made Alice's Berserker stumble slightly, but would not fall down that simply. Saber took the moment of opportunity to strike her opponent. She kept her torso parallel to the ground as she closed the gap between her and Jabberwock. To stop her advance, Jabberwock swiped its left hand as a means of swiping her away from it. Saber gracefully evaded the attack by spinning the the direction of the attack, and stopping herself as she did the maneuver. She spun on her right foot, and with her back facing her enemy, she placed her left foot on the ground and slid it towards Jabberwock. Her sword, at her side and pointed at Jabberwock. The sword impaled itself in Jabberwock's ribs. Saber stepped towards her enemy more, and pushed her sword hilt-deep into Jabberwock. As soon as her veiled sword couldn't go any deeper, she pulled the sword out as if she drew out her sword from a scabbard. Jabberwock's left side tore open due to Saber's attack. The King of Knights did not stop her offense; the act of pulling her sword was merely a link to her next act. With her sword drawn, she turned to her right to face Jabberwock, and raised her concealed blade right before cutting deep into Jabberwock's chest. Despite the damaging attack, the Berserker does not flinch in the slightest, and guards itself from Saber's sword thrust.

Jabberwock backhanded the woman as a counter to her strike. It continued its advance, making its fist come down like a hammer onto Saber's guard. The hammering force destroyed Saber's guard, and it forced her sword to almost dislodge from her hands. Jabberwock chose to do the same motion again, but Saber was prepared this time; she swung her sword upwards with enough force to neutralize the attack.

Meanwhile, Naruto dodged the various magical attacks aimed at him. He did the opposite of beating Alice and Caster. The moment he gets close, he more he stops himself from hurting the girls. His thoughts lingered back to Kakashi's words; he killed before. He killed a man with his own bare hands, and he would do the same to a little girl possibly no older than ten years old.

"Gah!" Naruto yelped in pain. Caster struck true with a wall of wind aimed dead center at the torso. The explosive force made the young Master fly away and roll on the ground. It also caused Naruto to lose his grip on his sword; Caliburn laid several meters away from his position. He stared at the sword in disgust.

It is a tool of death. A sword is meant to end a life.

No…he won't kill Alice, both of them! He reached into his weapons pouch, and grabbed smoke bombs to throw in front of Caster's line of sight. The black-clad girl scanned the open area, and waited for the inevitable attack that would come sooner or later. The ground cracked in front of her. She stared at the spectacle, wondering what might pop out of the crack. She did not expect a fist to emerge from it, and did not guard herself from the upward punch. The punch lifted Caster off the ground, and gave her an airtime of about five seconds before landing on the ground again. She cupped her chin to try and numb the pain, but Naruto didn't stop yet. He punched her in the gut and her sides to force her to kneel in pain, and force her to surrender. He aimed to knock out Caster with a punch to the head, yet he only felt a heavy body push him away from his opponent.

Naruto and the object crashed together by a tree. The object, Saber, was on top of him with her armor slightly dented, but steadily repairing the damage. She quickly stood up to return to the fight with a vengeance. She got manhandled by that thing! Oh she would make it pay dearly. As for Naruto, he reverted to jumping away from fireballs, gusts of wind, and ice like a maniac. One such attack blasted him across the area, and landed him right next to Caliburn.

"Naruto! You must use your blade! It is the only way to resolve a Servant battle!"

No! No! He refused to do it!

"Grab her, Jabberwock!" Alice ordered the red mass of muscle. The berserker complied, reaching for Saber's leg, and threw her across the battlefield, away from Naruto.

"Saber!" Naruto yelled in concern. He tried going to her side, but the towering enemy backhanded him away, making the boy tear through several trees by using his body before he stopped under the rubble. The pain paralyzed the boy, groaning in the agony of the beating. Jabberwock jumped to Naruto's position to finish the boy off. With a raised fist, the Berserker aimed it at the boy's face, and punched the boy. Dust picked up, obscuring the general area of the battlefield. Saber, who was already on the move to retaliate, couldn't reach in time. She thought the worst possible scenario, yet her speculation was cut short because Jabberwock was thrown out of the dust cloud.

Upon closer inspection, Berserker interfered, catching Jabberwock's fist before throwing the red mass of muscle away. Berserker disappeared soon after, his black shroud was replaced by a red hazy fog. Naruto's red eyes pierced the dust cloud, giving him a demonic look none of the rookies could see from their viewpoint. He bellowed, and charged blindly at Jabberwock with a fist ready to cave in the berserker's face. Empowered fist met a giant one, and made a fist bump worthy of an explosion of outward force. Unfortunately, Jabberwock was stronger, allowing him to win the struggle. His punch overpowered Naruto, who floated in the air for an instant, then was pummeled repeatedly, then eventually landed back into the pile of broken trees. Jabberwock followed with the intent to keep Naruto in there. As soon as he got there, Naruto erupted from the debris, but slammed back down by Jabberwock's large hands. Jabberwock hammered his hands down on the young Master, almost flattening into the ground.

"Naruto!" The rookies cried, the girls showing the most concern for him whereas the boys cringed. The barrier placed between them muddled noises and vision so that none could assess the situation. Caster's barrier prevented them from coming to Naruto's rescue. As such, Saber came to her Master's aid, stabbing Jabberwock at his side, the blade piercing through his thick body. The Knight twisted her blade at the handle like one would do to open a door. The squelching sound was followed by a bestial roar. Jabberwock had enough pain tolerance to swipe back at Saber, who was forced to move out of its warpath to avoid the attack.

"Need any help, Saber?" Lancer asked, "I could eliminate the girl right now while you handle the monster." Saber denied the aid. She couldn't risk the discovery of the existence of Servants. Only those select few who Naruto allowed would know of this, not anyone else, even the friends he would leave behind, excluding Sakura, who was already present to hear the truth. Plus, her pride as a Knight had been damaged; she allowed her Master to get hurt. As such, she had to strike back, retaliate with all of her might. Thus, her sword glowed golden as her sword becomes unveiled from its concealed state.

"W-Woah! What sword is that? A genjutsu? She hid it under a genjutsu?" Tenten asked out loud. Her question certainly sparked interest from the others, who stared at it in awe.

"Hmm…So Alice gets to meet a King! Onii-chan is so cool to have a King as a friend!" The White Alice recognized the Knight's identity immediately, yet Saber could care less. This had to end quickly for her Master's sake. "Can I be the princess, King?" The eager, cheery voice of Alice was displaced by Saber's dejected response.

"Sadly no…I am no King anymore. I am but a teacher to Naruto. However, I am still a Knight. It is common courtesy to reveal your identity if you know mine, Caster."

The black Alice stared eerily; her hollow, childish voice resembling those little girls portrayed in horror films. "I am nothing but whatever my Master wants me to be, King. As I am now, I embody Alice's fantasy. I am the hero of her stories."

"Nursery Rhyme…" the Black Alice acknowledged the name, and curtsied to the woman.

"Nice to meet you, King Arthur." beside Caster, Jabberwock roared and charging blindly in madness. The giant enemy made an uppercut that could be easily avoided. A simple sidestep was enough to disrupt her opponent's balance. She twirled her body, adding force to the swing. Jabberwock had enough sense to block, yet it wasn't enough to nullify Saber's damage. His forearms were bleeding one he made contact with Saber's blade.

"So you are able to summon potential Servants if they are a part of literature, Alice?"

"Indeed. But Alice has a strange attachment to Jabberwock. Thus, I only summon him for battle. On the plus side, Jabberwock can only be truly harmed by a Vorpal blade; however, now that you've revealed yourself, I do wonder if the Sword of Promised Victory can vanquish this creature?" Her answer seemed suffice for Saber, and also unnerved the Knight. The Knight poised her holy sword in front of her, ready to make a counterattack. "Can you handle an attack from two fronts, Saber?"

"If I couldn't wouldn't it mean that I was weak?" Caster smirked, thinking that was Saber's final words on the matter. She signaled Jabberwock to fight, and the hulking mass obliged with its arms outstretched in a form of a strange embrace. She rolled backwards at the last second, allowing her time to retaliate with a deft swing of her blade. She placed a very deep cut on the berserker, bleeding out as she continued her attack. Jabberwock received yet another deep gash on his torso, and he roared in pain. He pushed himself to go on the offensive, yet Saber guarded in time, allowing her to brush off the attack, and lunge at her opponent and plunge her sword inside Jabberwock all the way through. The monster bellowed as his blood spurted from both openings Saber's sword created. Left in a stunned state, Jabberwock could not counter the rapid swings Saber delivered before the powerful, diagonal, downward stroke of her sword. She coated her sword in Invisible Air, and punctured Jabberwock again with her sword. At once, the air distorted; the potential storm brewed inside the monster's torso, and exploded inside the body. Blood spurted everywhere but Saber, her face did not show any any emotion. She lowered her sword, and gave a snide remark, "Does that prove my claim?"

Both Alices stood side-by-side. Saber, being accustomed to strange Casters, readied herself to counter this next attack. Black Alice spoke first.

The story will go on forever.

As long as the slender fingers return to the first page,

As if picking up the next volume.

Once again denying reality to the reader.

Caster and Archer's eyes opened wider. They realized what would happen next and tried to warn her. Both Alices sang together now, finishing up whatever the incantation may be.

Beyond beyond the rainbow plains,

Black and white squares, the King of Games

Run, run, the maze of mirrors,

Farewell, oh pitiable rabbit~~

Time began to reverse for the girls. Well not exactly…It's as if the world shifted the perceived reality in favor of the girls, and returned the battle to its starting phase. Caster looked rejuvenated along with a perfectly healthy abomination next to her. Jabberwock roared, taking the frontline once more, and charged at Saber.

The Knight couldn't process what happened in time, and was forced out of her hypothesizing to block Jabberwock's attack. Clanging metal met hardened fists, and Saber could not change the tide of battle wise this much offensive pressure placed upon her. If this was going to happen again, then she has to finish this quickly, or else she would be defeated by steadfast tenacity. The ground vibrated with each clash. While that happened, Caster shot projectiles of Prana at Saber to make the woman lose focus. Saber's magic resistance allowed her to shrug it off, but the way Caster shot them allowed for momentary blindness that Jabberwock could exploit.

"Guh!" Jabberwock punched Saber's gut. The woman floated in the air at that moment, and unable to recover in time. Jabberwock slammed its fists down on Saber's back, knocking her down into the ground. Dust rose from the ground due to the impact caused by the attack. He attacked the downed Saber inside the cloud, but missed. Saber had already moved out of the way, and slashed parallel to Jabberwock's punch. The blade inched closed to the berserker's head, who couldn't react in time. Caster released a gust of wind that pushed the sword away, hindering Saber's attack. She frowned upon this, yet her warrior's pride did not allow her to complain, but rather, adapt to the situation. "You think this will be enough, Caster? You've made a grave mistake if you did!" With one hand, she opted for a wild pattern of attack, slashing in amateurish, yet effective offensive action. Her body made rotational motions, adding to the force of the attack, and unconventional movement inspired by her Master to outmaneuver this beast. Saber's onslaught forced Jabberwock to move back with each attack; his punches were ineffective at attempting to halt Saber's charge.

"Stop her, Jabberwock!" As if by divine aid, Jabberwock ignored the pain, and met each strike with its hands. With each block, neither advanced nor retreated. Saber did all she could to get past her towering opponent, whose defense seemed to resemble a wall that protected its king, Caster. She lunged forward, thrusting her sword's point into Jabberwock. In a flash, Jabberwock's large hands clasped the sword in between its palms. He raised it up, revealing Saber's unprotected torso. He punched her, sending her away.

The Knight rolled into a crouch, and her sword stabbed the ground to slow her down. "Unbelievable…" Saber said, "For a beast without a mind to counterattack in such a manner…Most interesting. Alice! As a Knight, I will tear down your wall with this righteous blade of mine, and skewer you with it!"

Caster smiled, "Come and try, Saber…"

---

Naruto's mind wandered. As if in a pool with no way to tell which is up or down, he wondered how this even started. He was just following the girl in her little game. Traversing the maze while finding the girls was a huge hassle. He and the rookies split up to cover more ground in search of the Alices. Naruto had paired up Sakura. The others were as followed, Hinata and Ino, Kiba and Shino, Shikamaru and Chouji, and finally, and the odd group with Neji, Tenten, and Lee.

They entered the verdant maze to search for the girl, and as soon as the saw a fork in the road, they split up, making the group smaller and smaller with each new fork in the maze. Despite the dwindling population, their persistence to find the girls only grew with each passing second. The rookies except Naruto could feel their minds, their memories crumble to dust every minute; they needed to hurry while they still had their basic motor functions to catch the little girl.

When they would see the girls, they chased after them with their Shinobi speed. The girls would turn a corner, and a group would follow. But when they reach them, the girls disappear like thin air. Shikamaru saw this as a Shinobi technique, and devised various plans to catch the girl in his Shadow Possession technique. Optimally, that would be his strategy, while Chouji would try to capture the girls in his Partial Expansion technique. He didn't know about the others, but at least Hinata, Neji, Kiba, and Shino can track the girls.

Unfortunately, after ten minutes of chasing, the mentioned four could not find the girls. Kiba showed his frustration by yelling, "Dammit! Why can't I find a scent?" Shino beside him could not even hope to find a track on the ground. A little girl like her shouldn't be this light on her feet. Neither Hinata, nor Neji could find the girls' tenketsu at all, making this chore an even more daunting task to overcome with their intelligence dwindling by the minute. These tracking teams were among the first to fail to capture the girls.

The girls of Victorian Era stood in front of each of the tracking teams mentioned before. The Alice in white smiled eerily, telling all but Naruto, Sakura, Chouji, and Shikamaru these words, "Oh! You found Alice! It seems you won this game. Do you want to play another one? Let's try this. What's your name?" None of the rookies barring the four non-tracking oriented teams mentioned would be able to answer because their vision turned to black after feeling something hit the backs of their heads.

The black haired Alice could not help but stand as an observer to this event. She wanted to help the victims caught in the Master/Servant pair's trap. But to do so, she needed to find the solution that could help them retrieve their memories. Cheshire said that the easiest solution might be the only solution, but to figure that out, she has to decipher Cheshire's words. She had to think deeper. 'The young Alice's Servant erases the existence of a person. And what would be the easiest way to solidify a person's existence?' She kept on looking for answers that might answer her plight, and the most simple one she could find was 'A name…' That had to be the answer! A baby is born nameless; to solidify the infant's existence, one must place a name to designate it by. From the child's name will be its foundation. All the good and bad done in the future will be linked to its name; all the memories accumulated under that name, if deleted, would in turn delete the person.

She had no time to waste. This information was vital to helping the Shinobi. She jumped into the maze in search of any of the remaining Shinobi.

"Sakura-chan, which way do you think we should go? We've been at a dead end several times, but we have to at least have an idea of where we've gone, right?" Sakura couldn't say much in the matter. She too lost her memory to recollect her name. All she knew was to follow the boy in front of her to find the strangely dressed girls. He keeps on saying 'Sakura-chan' to her. Was that her name? She can't confirm…

"I've been meaning to ask this, but…who's 'Sakura'?" The question baffled Naruto. He didn't expect his teammate to succumb to the effect so quickly. He underestimated the power of this gen-no…this Noble Phantasm. if his friends were being affected, then what about him? Why isn't he being affected? His thoughts on the matter were left aside for the moment to focus on his teammate.

He placed a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder and asked, "W-What do you mean, Sakura-chan? That's your name. You're part of Team Seven, whose members are as follows, Karachi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki - me, you - Sakura Haruno, and…Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura noticed the boy's change in mood, and wondered why. Is it because of this Sasuke person? Naruto continued to speak, "Sa-ku-ra Ha-ru-no. You try it. Repeat after me, okay? Sakura Haruno." Sakura reluctantly agreed, and repeated her name. She honestly thought that there's no possible way this would do anything, but…

Memories flooded in, her childhood, her Academy days, the start of Team Seven, all of the things leading up to this moment overloaded her brain with the intake of information. Yet, strangely enough, there is no pain. The slightly empty void of her memories were filled to its proper capacity, never harming her for the memories filling that void. "I remember!" She grabbed her teammate's shoulders and shook him, "I remember, Naruto-k-" She silenced herself right there. She did not know what compelled her to say that. Thankfully Naruto hadn't heard that. Unfortunately, the Servants heard that.

Caster fumed. Her pouting face said it all. Everyone sighed deeply.

"That's great, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "Um… How did you get back your memories?" The Servants palmed their faces. Of course their Master's A rank luck would help him figure out the dispelling key, but not actually be able to explain how he helped his teammate dispel the Noble Phantasm. Sakura grumbled disappointed that Naruto couldn't figure out how he did it.

The two heard rustling sounds behind them and prepared their Kunai to retaliate if there was an enemy behind the foliage. Thankfully, the older Alice appeared, slightly fumbling her footsteps as she escaped the hedge. "There you are!" She shocked the two young Shinobi. "I've great news! I have a method that may let your friends regain their lost memories!" Out of her stupor, Sakura bounced back to reply to the strangely dressed teen.

"Well that's great, Alice-san. Naruto here managed to get my memories back, but he doesn't know how he did it. If you would kindly explain the method of fixing this mess…"

"The person affected must remember his or her name. I can't really explain how or why in a manner that won't confuse, but the victim must know his or her name."

"Hey! That's what I did!" Naruto exclaimed. "I told her her name and to repeat it after me. Then she had this strange look, and bam! She got her memories back!" Alice narrowed her eyes; her hypothesis was correct! If she found Cheshire later, she would have to thank the phantasmal feline.

"But the way you did it seems rather off with Alice's method, Naruto." Sakura said to her teammate. "If the victim needs to know his or her name, then why…why didn't it work the times you've called me by my name?"

Naruto closed his eyes to think; a sight that looked strange in Sakura's eyes. When he got his answer, he made a fist and hit his other hand's open palm. An imaginary light bulb lit up as he said, "It didn't work before because me saying your name has no meaning until you say it!" That was a possibility that Sakura had to admit was at least believable. She couldn't even fathom how Naruto even got the idea. The situation was too quick to assess in her opinion. "Look at it this way, Sakura-chan. Until you said your own name, you had no idea who you were."

"That does make sense. As loathsome it is to admit, you might be right on this one." The Uzumaki grinned, his still red hair framing his head like fire. "But don't count this as one of your many rare things to happen to you. You may have gotten this one right, but it doesn't necessarily mean you got smart."

"I'm not trying to be." Naruto answered, "It was just observation and common sense. If you only reacted after you said your name, then what does that say?" Sakura groaned at the evidence. "Really now…I may be dumb in studies, but I am at least observant to my surroundings." Sakura lightly snickered. If he's so observant, then why doesn't he see that Hinata is head-over-heels for him? She had sympathy for the Hyuuga for she had experienced the same thing with the man she loved. At least this one would be kind to the Hyuuga if he would reciprocate the girl's feelings. But on to serious matters.

"If you're so observant, then tell me where we are relative to the entrance and where the girls are, Naruto." The boy twitched. 'Aha! Gotcha… Not so big on the boasting now, are you?' The Servants chuckled slightly at seeing their Master look nervous with the on-the-spot question. In this situation, not even Archer would be able to say the distance without getting to high ground. Naruto turned around and frowned when he saw Sakura's amused expression. "Well? I'm waiting for an answer." He grumbled lowly, causing the outsider to just watch awkwardly at the two.

She coughed, "If you don't mind, I think your friends are in trouble, and I think this little side show won't help them one bit." Caught in the act, the two stiffen. "Rather endearing to see teammates bonding, but at a time of crisis such as the loss of your friends' existence, I think you could do that at a later time. Who knows how long your friends have before they fully lose their memories?"

"We are not bonding, Alice-san." Sakura answered in a serious voice.

"Oh? So was it flirting? Strange way if I ever saw one. I wasn't one to search for love, but I'm pretty sure one does not insult the other (no matter how stealthy the insult) when trying to get a date." Sakura's mouth gaped open. Alice's astounding words, which no doubt was meant to tease her, twisted the Kunoichi's words effectively

"No! That's not it at all!"

"Well this is into the future… so times have changed. No doubt culture would change along with it." Her low mutterings were not heard by the two as she ignored Sakura's protest to tease the girl. "Still…it's quite not so much disturbing but rather unusual to see. I might need to take note that insulting your potential partner might net one a date." Sakura fumed while Naruto chuckled weakly.

The redhead spoke, "Alice-san. Didn't you just say we needed to go?"

"Indeed I said that. Come now, we haven't much time. We must find the others as soon as possible!" She sprinted off, making the other two follow to keep pace. The three didn't need to search far to see Chouji barreling through the hedge walls to clear a path. Naruto quickly ran after the boy to stop him. Sakura looked for Shikamaru, who followed the trail of destruction behind his teammate.

"Hey, Shikamaru, why is Chouji using his clan jutsu?"

"Who?" The lazy boy asked.

"No time to explain. Just repeat after me. Shikamaru Nara."

"I don't know why I'm trusting you, but I'll play along. Shikamaru Nara." Sakura saw the shadow manipulator's facial expression change. The tiny cringe the boy gave answered it all. So their guess was actually correct. Shikamaru shook off the pain and looked to the bubblegum-haired girl, "Gah…that stings a bit. Thanks for the save, Sakura." Sakura waved it off, and pointed her thumb to the redhead once blond.

"That's the guy you need to thank." Shikamaru looked to see Chouji's expression change to glee as the boy regained his lost memories. The stout boy slapped the redhead's back. "He's the one that unknowingly figured it out how to get my memories back."

"Eh…how troublesome. The idiot's getting smarter."

"Is that so bad?" Sakura asked.

"Not necessarily, but it could mean he's going to be craftier with his pranks." The girl lowered her head. A craftier Naruto is a dangerous Naruto. If he does reach that threshold, (metaphorical) blood would be spilt, chaos would ensue, and worst case scenario, he won't be satisfied with one prank, and continue to do so until sated. Just imagining the scenario managed to scare her. Naruto walked into view, making Sakura discontinue her thoughts on the topic lest she gets a headache.

"Hey, Shikamaru. You got your memories back?"

The boy smirked and knocked his cranium, "I got it memorized right here."

"Well that's great to hear!" Naruto said with a grin on his face. "Now let's go find those girls and catch them. Whaddaya say?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to help get her." Shikamaru answered.

"Ehhh! The maze is ruined!" The high-pitched voice of Alice the little girl said. "That's cheating mister!" The Shinobi and one older Alice turned to see a pouting Alice stomping in a rhythmic manner. "We're supposed to play tag, not destroy the garden!" In a normal situation, Naruto would coo at the little girl's tiny outburst. In an abnormal situation, he shouldn't act like a poker player. His blank face hid everything he thought about the current circumstances. His arms were crossed, and within a second, hi right hand flicked outward, a Kunai flung out and hit the ground just beneath Alice's feet. Alice jumped back in shock when she saw the weapon, then jumped even father back when Naruto substituted with the Kunai. He wasted no time to rush at her and grab her shoulder.

"Tag. I win!" Naruto cheered. The others jumped for joy, well at least Chouji and Sakura. The other two smiled. Naruto himself lowered himself on one knee to pat the girl's head. "You did a great job running, Alice-chan. It was a lot of fun!" His elated voice sparked a bit of happiness in the little girl. She stared with childish awe at the Shinobi who actually had fun with her. His deep blue eyes stared at her as he said, "Now would you please stop the technique, Alice-chan? My friends really need to get their memories back. I don't want them to disappear into thin air…"

Her awe turned to melancholy when she heard the words Naruto requested. If she ordered Caster to let go of the Noble Phantasm, Onii-chan won't play with him because he has his friends back. But then if she doesn't, then Onii-chan definitely won't play with him! Her mind spun in circles trying to figure out which course of action to take, and Naruto could see her distress. The boy chose to not say anything to allow the girl time to decide her own way. "A-Another game! Alice would like to play another game before Alice dispels the Phantasm!" Her declaration shocked everyone except Naruto. The boy patted the girl's head once more, lowering the hem of her hat just above her eyebrows. He showed no sign of disappointment nor anger.

"Of course, Alice-chan. But after this, you'll let my friends have their memories back, okay?"

"Alice understands!"

"Do you promise to keep your word? I don't play nice with people who don't keep their promises, you know."

"Alice promises to let Onii-chan's friends have their memories back!" She holds out her right pinky finger to Naruto's face, "I pinky promise!" Naruto smiled at the little girl and returned the gesture, intertwining his pinky finger with hers to solidify the promise they created together. They let go of their pinky fingers, and Naruto awaited the next game they would play patiently. "Next we play…Specter Inspector! First one to find five of nine animals wins!"

"Animals? Will we play it here in the maze?"

Alice shook her head, "No, you silly Onii-chan. We'll play in the castle!"

'A castle? An actual castle? Well…where is it? Its not like it'll pop out of nowhe- Oh wait.' The ground shook wildly, the hedges tear apart, seemingly sinking down into the ground to replace the gray bastion of a medieval castle. 'Really now…You've got to be kidding me.' Naruto groaned at the humongous sight. Sakura and Shikamaru gawked. Alice showed an unamused expression. All in all, no one wanted to go in it because why on the world did they have to go into a huge castle for a simple game? Its gigantic arched mahogany planked doors opened for the competing duo. "Hey, Alice-chan. Where's the other Alice?"

"Hmm? Alice is playing with your friends. Alice said that Alice could play with Onii-chan, and that Alice could play with Onii-chan's friends." Naruto scratched his head; the third person speak is starting to confuse him continuously. It doesn't help that there's a third Alice in the bunch. "Onii-chan's friends are fine. Trust Alice." The boy couldn't get much closure from that statement, but he had to take her word for it.

"If you say so. Let's start this game, alright?" He gave the girl a grin, and the little girl nodded in excitement. "So to be sure, we need to find five animals, correct?"

"Uhuh! Five animals. First to five wins! Are you ready, Onii-chan?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Do my friends get to come?"

"Yes, but they won't help at all."

"I understand. Let's go!" He sprinted off into the castle, forgetting the fact that Alice hadn't initiated the game. Alice would have yelled at Naruto for cheating but… that invisible wall of electricity had something else to say about Naruto's maneuver. Naruto sure got a shocking experience with that one (Badum-tsss…). Awful pun aside, Naruto felt the electricity shot through his nerves, then pushed him away from the door. His body, singed by electricity, began to make wisps of smoke.

"Onii-chan, you shouldn't cheat like that." Alice's disappointed face served to make the Shinobi shake their heads at Naruto's still apparent incompetence. "Until Alice says go, we won't be able to get in. So please wait. Okay?" On the ground, Naruto waved his hand and gave the girl a thumbs up in understanding. His slightly charred body made him look tanner than usual; though it didn't affect his bright smile to show his eagerness. "Ready…Go!" She stormed off leaving a downed Naruto to scramble and stand up. The other three calmly walked into the castle to inspect its interior.

"H-Hey! Wait up!" Naruto wobbled for a while, but soon recovered to a full sprint. The inside of the castle gave a spacious feel to the building mores than what the exterior of the structure implied. The masonry looked splendid and professional with no imperfections in between bricks. Stone pillars support the gothic, arched ceilings painted in murals of various stories ranging from fables to epics; however, the boy wouldn't be able to recognize those as such, and thought of them only as 'pretty pictures'. "Wait…I HAVE TO FIND FIVE ANIMALS IN THIS HUGE PLACE?!" Sakura snickered at Naruto's misfortune, and turned to look at the structure of the building once more to admire the work.

Alice already ran into the deeper corridors of the castle. She was on the move to search for the animals. Though the question at hand was, "What animals would Naruto be looking for?" A white rabbit with a collar holding point cards sat in the middle of the atrium.

"Hm? A rabbit?"

"Sakura-chan, watch out! This might be another ambush!" Naruto warned.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura bellowed, "This isn't like that at all! There's no way that'll happen again so do your job and find those animals!" She huffed as she saw her teammate ran to the west wing of the castle to start his search. Another bunny, adorning a scorecard collar as well, followed the boy. "Really now…that guy can be a bit too lively sometimes."

"Isn't he like that most of the time?" Shikamaru interjected, "Knowing his obnoxious personality, I'm sure that's what happens in missions." The girl sighed, making the older Alice raise an eyebrow. Surely the boy wasn't that annoying, right? Being lively isn't a defining drawback to a person's personality, but he can't be at the border between lively and aggravation in other people's eyes, right?

"Yes…but he has his moments. It's just really rare to see."

"Mm." Shikamaru understood, and followed up on the conversation, "So was he referencing your first C-rank mission?" He got a nod.

"A domesticated rabbit was used as a substitute. The caster was Zabuza, demon swordsman and one of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist…"

"…I can see why Naruto would be wary of rabbits."

"Not you too…"

"Now where could those animals be?" Naruto asked himself while strolling through the bastion's hallways. The boy pivoted his head left and right in search of his targets; he saw a grand staircase layered in red velvet made stark contrast to the alabaster statues beside the rails. Deciding that going upstairs may have what he's looking for, Naruto sprinted up to reach the next level. Unknowingly, the statues eyes followed the boy's movements as well the rabbit following the Shinobi. An eerie snicker echoed in the hallway just as Naruto became out of earshot.

Naruto searched frantically for animals in nooks and crannies like he would expect any critter would do to hide from a person, yet all his efforts did not seem to pay off. He wasted minutes that might have been at least half an hour looking for animals he thought he would never find in this castle. But he couldn't give up. For his friends, he would win this game! He ran to a nearby flight of stairs and headed upwards to see if the elusive animals were hidden away there. He skipped two to four steps as his desperation rose steadily. At one of these steps, highly unstable, he placed a heavy foot, and fell through the stairs. "Oh come on!" He flipped himself to face the ground, and faced one of the larger chunks of falling debris before landing on it. He scanned his surrounding when he noticed a sparkling pool to his left. What interested him further was the fact that the pool had a mosaic design in the form of what resembled a biju. "Is…that the Sanbi?"

He landed roughly, but the chunk he crouched on took most of the impact. He dusted himself off before walking to the pool's edge. He went on his knees and looked closer. A giant crustacean turtle with three tails ravages the shoreline.

"It is, Kid."

"Kyuubi?"

"Indeed. And I can verify that what you're looking at is the Sanbi." Just then, the rabbit that followed Naruto hopped next to him. On the rabbit's collar was a scorecard that had a score of zero, which visibly turned into a one.

"So…I'm looking for images of Biju from different places and things inside the castle. The rabbit nodded as if it actually understood what Naruto asked for. "Say…I can't count you in my score, can I?" The rabbit smacked the scorecard it held on top of Naruto's cranium. "Nope… ugh…Didn't think so." He rubbed the affected area, and placed his hands to his sides while groaning, "One down! And four more to go…"

He looked at the rabbit, rubbing its ears, and asked, "Do you want me to carry you? You must be tired from following me." He made a cradle with his arms, and the rabbit looked at him skeptically. Ultimately, it hopped into his arms, and leaned its back on Naruto's chest. "Okay. Back to finding the Bijus." He ran to a hallway in search of his next target. As he ran haphazardly, he had the stray thought of using his clones to help find what he's looking for. It would certainly help his efforts. One thousand clones could easily sweep this castle clean in record time. Yet he knew it would be unsportsmanlike to do it against a little girl.

Actually, "Hey rabbit, how many has Alice seen?" The animal flipped its scorecard to show that Alice had already found two. "Eh~ I gotta work fast then. I'll be picking up the pace, rabbit." His regular sprinting speed increased, making the poor mammal cling to Naruto's jumpsuit.

The boy made a mental map of the layout of the castle as he ran, and Archer was surprised at this latent talent. This skill would be beneficial to an Archer. If he could memorize the terrain, he could easily find weak points or areas where he can sneak up or shoot a person from afar. Archer already wanted his Master to learn under him. Oh the fun to be had with sharp, pointy things times two or infinity!

Naruto turned a corner and bumped into a large, extravagant vase that was two heads taller than him. It tilted on its base, and spun on it. It weaved from side to side, threatening to end its life. It looked like a very expensive vase with its smooth, and elegant craftsmanship. Both onlookers panicked and pushed on the tilted side of the vase. When stable, Naruto used one hand to wipe the nonexistent sweat off his forehead. "Close one, eh?" He asked the rabbit, which nodded in agreement. Naruto looked at the vase, "Who makes vases this tall? And who draws a tanuki on it? Some people have no sense of art." He turned around to walk away.

Only to get smacked by the rabbit's scorecard once more. The rabbit hopped off Naruto's cradle, and showed him the score to be two. "Eh?" He looked at the vase closer. "Eh!? Ichibi? Shukaku? Well I guess that's number two. I can't believe my luck right now. I've literally stumbled on what I'm supposed to look for. Strange…I'm never this clumsy." He shook his head at the oddity of this fact, and never wondered about it again to focus on his goal.

As he trekked the hallways of the castle, Naruto felt the ominous presence of something stalking him. He honestly thought some shadows were moving while he walked past them. It could be a trick of the eyes, but maybe not. The rabbit wasn't happy about this either because it was terrified like Naruto. Yes, the boy was terrified of ghosts, and with good reason that he can't punch them, nor blast a just at their face. However, his goal was more important than his fear of the souls of the dead.

One such shadow sprung from a corner and shot past him, and startled the still red haired boy. His steel resolve bent. He screamed at the top of his lungs, and hugged the rabbit choking force. With the rabbit in tow, he made a run for it. "Screw this corner of the castle!" He yelled with tears welling up in his eyes.

During his run, he managed to spot the Nanami and Hachibi. The former was on a lampshade that displayed its ability to spew reflective particles able to blind those who stare at it. The light underneath it accentuated these particles by lighting up the dark room with spots of light the resembled the stars in the night sky inside the dark room. As for the Hachibi, Naruto found the beast in the shape of a piano with its tentacles forming the place where the keys were placed. With four down, Naruto only needed to find one more.

"Hey, Shiro. How's Alice doing?" The newly named Shiro -incredibly original, no?- showed the scorecard to be four as well. "Eh~ So she's got four too. We have to step it up then." It was obvious that they vied for the last Biju. He ran for the last unexplored place left in the castle, the garden.

The garden, encased in a dome of glass, was supported by a central pillar with the image of the sun surrounding it at the base. There were nine subordinate arches that supported the shape of the dome, and it led to a separate section of the garden with its batch of flowers. The transparent and glistening surfaces reflected the setting sun's rays to the flora inside. The garden itself was a rainbow of both colors and types. From roses, to lilies, to tulips, and much more, Naruto was enthralled by it all. 'Maybe Ino too' he wondered. He kept walking into the garden with his mind and eyes taking in the scenery. He stopped when he saw a painting.

"Kyuubi…"

"…Indeed."

"Huh…so you can take a Hanyou form. Cool."

"I can take on many forms, brat. Foxes are naturals at illusions after all."

"Yet I suck at them…"

"You have the transformation technique down to an art."

"I guess. But it would be cool to know that your true form was a girl. I'd give you my full respect if you were because the strongest Biju as a girl sounds hilarious!" He laughed a bit. "Imagine the Kyuubi on a rampage because it's that time of the month!"

"It would make sense…if you know, if I had a gender to speak of. Plus if it did work like that, I'm pretty sure the Elemental Nations as a whole would be a giant smoking hole in the ground."

"Haha…yeah that would make sense." He looked down to Shiro. "Is that the fifth one?" Shirt flipped the scorecard, and received a "You win!" message. He jumped for joy, "Yes! I did it!"

"Aww…Onii-chan won."

"Alice-chan?" Naruto asked while turning back to the source of the sound.

"Congratulations, Onii-chan!"

"Thanks." He replied back. "It was a fun game. Say, what did you see?" He asked the little girl.

"Alice saw a blue cat with two tails while on fire!" Alice exclaimed with her arms outstretched. "Alice also saw a four-tailed monkey in a volcano, a weird horsey thing with five tails leaping over mountains, and a white slug with six tails!"

"Wow~ That sounds cool. You think we'd be able to meet some of them?"

"Alice doesn't know… But Onii-chan, did you really think it was fun playing with Alice?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah it was! Me and Shiro here were through some awesome stuff! Like this one time, we ran away from what I think was a ghost. We didn't check because we were too chicken to do it anyway!" He grinned despite admitting his fear. Alice looked elated to hear Naruto's story.

"That sounds so cool!"

"Not really. Running away is never cool." Naruto said to the little girl. "Say…can you let go of the Noble Phantasm and my friends?"

"Okay." Alice complied, and soon all of Naruto's friends were transported next to him.

"Everyone! You're safe!"

"Naruto!" They shouted in glee.

Naruto turned to the little girl, now accompanied by her Servant. "Thank you, Alice-chan. Thank you very much. I don't know what I would do if I lost my friends."

Alice's Servant frowned. She narrowed her eyes, fury slowly building underneath. It was amazing to see how a person changed within a second when they got what they wanted. And Naruto now looked far more happy to be with his friends than with her Master. The Servant clenched her hands. For her Master, she would curtail to her every need. And to do so, she would disobey her Master's order just this once. "Then let's find out what would happen then…" The Servant ominously told. Naruto's friends disappear, and were transported outside the dome of the garden. Trees and vines grew, surrounding the arches and dome like a cage.

"Hey, Alice! What's the meaning of this?"

"You're all the same!" The Servant yelled. "When you're done playing with Alice, you want to leave! Every time, I'm left to console Alice, and every time, it always ends like this! Not anymore… You, Naruto Uzumaki, will be my Alice's friend forever!" Caster placed a bounded field over the dome, not letting anyone in or out of it.

"Alice! Stop it!"

"No. This is one order I won't obey."

"Alice!"

Naruto looked downcast. "Is this really what you want? Did you want a friend, Alice?"

"…Sorry. Alice is sorry!" The little girl stifled her cries. "Alice is sorry, Onii-chan! Alice is sorry for tricking Onii-chan. Alice really wanted a friend, but they wanted to leave after we're done. Alice doesn't want that. Alice doesn't want to be alone! It's scary…" The little girl leaked tears that ran like waterfalls. She trembled at the fear of losing Naruto. "Onii-chan…Alice is scared. It's so lonely…it's dark, and Alice can't be the only friend Alice has."

"…" It was there that Naruto knew what Alice was. A ghost with a will to search for a friend. All he did was for her to have fun. To have a friend. He clenched his fists tightly. To leave her would be an injustice to the girl. A dead soul had no place with the living, and as sad as it was, Naruto understood that it would be impossible to stay with the girl.

"I will let your friends go, but only if you stay with Alice!" Caster bargained.

"…I'm sorry." Naruto spoke solemnly. His face looked to the ground; he was ashamed to make this girl cry.

"Master." Saber spoke. "It's dangerous here. We must leave at once!"

"Imposible." Caster answered. "We're bounded inside this place."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"We'll have to fight her."

"What?"

"Master! On guard!" Saber yelled. She materialized before him, shocking the Rookies easily with her entrance.

"It's happening again…"

---

'Ahh…That's how I got in this mess.' He answered to himself.

"Gah!" Saber screamed as she careened towards the tree next to Naruto. The impact tilted the tree, and made the swordswoman slide down its bark.

"I'm surprised that sword of yours can actually defeat Jabberwock seven times.. No many last after the third time. Such a fine blade crafted by the Fae wouldn't you say, Saber? A sword that can cleave Jabberwock even without the need for a Vorpal blade. Ah, but I'm sure there is one Servant in your little group that can copy it." Caster remarked cryptically. "A red man with white hair…" Saber and Naruto widened their eyes at that. Caster knew Archer?

The man in question stayed silent for a time until, "Caster. Prevent anyone outside the dome to see or hear this." Caster quickly made a seal by mixing his fire and ice seals to make a mist thick enough to block the sight of Archer appearing out of nowhere. The Hanyou then made a sound-blocking seal to prevent the rookies from hearing this now.

"Long time, no see…Alice, Caster. How does the afterlife fare?"

'Archer…' Naruto stared silently.

"Still uncouth as ever, Archer." Caster snapped back. "Alice, do you remember Archer?"

It took a bit of time, but the little girl managed to remember the Servant, one of her previous opponents she lost to during their Grail War. "Ah…Archer Onii-san."

"Let my Master go, Alice. There doesn't need to be a fight, and there certainly doesn't need to be an encore." Alice lowered her gaze, ashamed by her actions. Her Servant stood in front of her, defending her actions. It was only natural to protect her Master's dignity.

"You've no room to talk, Archer! Last time I checked, you were weak to not be able to handle me in a fight, which almost ended in your loss."

"Ah, but that was because of Hakuno." Archer answered. "She wasn't a Magus like most people were when she participated in that War." Archer crossed his arms, "Her inexperience utterly weakened me, made me fight on equal terms with you, and use skills I only had at the moment. Had I had a Master like the one I have right now, who has raw potential waiting to be refined and released, I would have wiped the floor with you, Caster."

Jabberwock roared, and Caster kept her composure, "Well then, if you're so confident, then come and try once more!" It charged with its fists ready to pummel the Archer to dust like he almost did before during that War.

"Predictable, Caster." Archer remarked. The man outstretched his right hand, and projected a Vorpal Blade, a strangely curved sword, and slashed the monster's head cleanly. "I would have thought a crafty Servant like you would not be so hasty to lose." He took a stance, and readied himself to eliminate Caster. "However, I don't wish to fight, Caster. Return from whence you came! The dead don't need to stay in the land of the living!"

"And what say you, HERO?!" Caster roared. "You are not among the living as well! You, Wrought Iron Hero, are nothing more than a cog of the past like us! You've no say hypocrite!" Caster threw projectiles of Prana at Archer, forcing the man to deflect the attacks with ease.

"Memento mori…" Archer said calmly. Caster halted quickly because she knew what those words meant.

"'Remember that you must die…'" Caster translated.

"Most Servants were humans to begin with, so I'm surprised you knew the saying. So let me be clear; your Master must move on, Caster."

"You damn Archer! You know I can't do that!" In her rage, Caster attacked. Archer was ready to deflect it again when Naruto went in front of the attack. Smoke enveloped Naruto's body.

"Master!"

"Guh…! I'm fine, Archer." Naruto said. The boy removed his jumpsuit top, damaged beyond repair. "That really hurt you know." The smoke dispersed, revealing a almost equally damaged mesh shirt armor in the shape of a hole that burned the surface of the boy's skin. Thanks to Kyuubi, Naruto quickly recovered. "Archer, Saber. Stay back." The two Servants stared in shock. "That's an order." Reluctantly, the two relented, and let their Master do what he wished.

Alice's eyes shook with tears, "O-Onii-chan…" She stared at the impassive face of Naruto.

"Alice-chan, Caster. Stop this." Naruto pleaded. "I don't want to fight."

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible." Caster replied swiftly. "To do so would violate my Master's wishes."

"A model Servant…" The boy muttered to himself. "Well then…how about a bet? I win, I leave. You win, I stay. They aren't a part of this."

Caster scoffed. "So you would prioritize the safety of your friends, than your own life?"

"I cherish my friends, Caster." Naruto replied. "They're the first things on my mind. I've always been a gambler, for my life that is. Living all alone, I've come to think of myself as a survivor." Naruto explained calmly. "So why not take up the offer? It's a simple bet."

"Master! I must advise that you-"

"Let me do this, Saber."

"…"

Naruto bent his legs with a widened stance and loosened his arms. "So? Have we got a bet?" Saber stiffened to obey her Master's wishes. She wasn't under the influence of a Command Spell at all, but she wanted to help. Archer could see Saber's hesitance.

"Good luck, Master. May lady luck be on your side." The red clad man disappeared with his hopes placed on his Master. From what he'd seen, Archer had a feeling that his Master was capable of beating this Servant. Either psychological or physical, his Master would beat Caster. "Caster, you may destroy your seals."

"Okay, Archer!" The furry Servant did as told, and destroyed her seals, dispersing the mist, and allowing the Rookies to hear what was happening once more. The other Servants stayed silent because they too believed that their Master would win. It wasn't a matter of chance. If their Master lost here, then what was their purpose?

"Woah!"

"Naruto?"

"What happened to him?"

"…"

"Very well, your life as the prize. I shall take that bet for my Master."

"Let's go!" Naruto charged towards the Servant. Caster responded in kind with a barrage of Prana projectiles. The Genin bobbed and weaved around the attacks, and managed to dodge most of the attacks. Some grazed his sides, yet did not affect him too badly. Singed marks covered his arms and legs, and his clothes were slowly disintegrating with each attack that landed.

"The hell is going on in there?" Kiba barked.

"Your friend is betting his life in order to see whether he leaves or he stays." The older Alice answered. "All and any who play with Alice are forced to stay with her to be her friend. Those preceding Naruto perished under the black Alice's rage."

"That idiot!" Sakura said. "He's being selfless again. Naruto, you better win!"

Naruto did not hear Sakura's words of encouragement; he was blasted across the field by a direct attack. He rolled on the ground, his shirt barely hanging to his body's frame. He made a handsign, "Shadow clone jutsu!" Multiple clones backed the boy as the original charged towards Caster. The clones followed and used unconventional movements to close in on Caster. Going zigzag, Naruto and his clones were quickly closing the gap. They used Shuriken cover and smoke bombs to hide their approach in the area between the two.

The Servant easily blocked incoming projectiles with a wave of her hand before returning fire. With more targets, Naruto had more leeway to not get struck by the oncoming projectiles. His clones disappeared with each decent hit, and soon, the small army he amassed dwindled in numbers. Though that didn't matter. He was close enough. He was already in front of her with a fist ready to sock the Servant in the face. "Alice! Let's see you grit those teeth!"

"Not if I can help it!" Caster swiped her hand in front of her to launch an attack of her own. The burst of light pierced Naruto's chest. The boy's face contorted in pain. Eyebrows furrowed, mouth open, and blood spurting out of his mouth, Naruto shocked all spectators.

The shock was dismissed quickly when that Naruto poofed into a cloud.

"To your left!" Caster reacted and shot a clone. "To the right!" The Servant attacked again. "Up above then down below!" Two clones appeared as announced, and both landed a glancing blow to Caster's chin before dispersing from the Servant's retaliatory attack. Then she realized that the attacks were a ruse to give Naruto cover. She scanned what she could, yet the visibility was so low that she could only see a meter in front of her. Naruto's right foot swung itself right at Caster's face. The Servant couldn't dodge, and was forced to change her perspective. Her line of sight now showed a fist rising towards her in an uppercut motion that lifted her off the ground. Caster then reflexively used Magecraft to burn the clone.

"You're not gritting those teeth. Prepare for a world of hurt!" Naruto emerged from the cloud in front of Caster with a Chakra coated fist bearing down on the Servant. The still airborne Servant experienced the impact of Naruto's punch. The surrounding area exploded as the sheer force of the punch created a shockwave a second after the hit. Naruto quickly chased after her to keep the pressure.

The sound fists breaking bone and trees echoed in the dome. Explosions emerged as well, showing signs of retaliation from Caster. A massive cloud spread through the area, and the flora fell one by one with each second the fight continued. Pillars of fire, ice, and the occasional gust tore through the garden. Many screams of pain accompanied the explosions, but most of them came from clones, and not the original. Though that didn't mean the Genin was unscathed.

The two broke out of the wall of trees. Caster still looked presentable whereas Naruto looked barbaric with the tattered clothing he had. His pants were significantly reduced in length as shown by burnt edges and vaporized stray pieces of string holding on. His shirt might as well be gone from existence because his chest had a significant burn mark on it that was being treated quickly by Kyuubi.

"Not bad…" Naruto commented. "Though could you lay off on the explosions? If this keeps up, I might end up naked." Because of the critical event, the Rookies now came to realize this little detail. None were too happy with the boy's attempt at humor. Hinata didn't even blush at the fact she's seeing her crush's bare -albeit bruised, burnt, and scarred- body.

"I would ask you why you can hit me, but it seems you've aid from them."

"Them? Now that you mention it, I guess they are helping." Naruto sensed an energy almost similar to Chakra flowing in his fists, and Kyuubi's Chakra was mixed in as well to add a bit more lethality. "In the end, I'll be beating you into submission." Naruto grabbed some Shuriken from his pouch as he kept on charging. He swiped his hands as fast as he could to make his attack nigh invisible to the naked eye. Caster effortlessly blocked them with a wall of Prana. The star-shaped weapons detonated into clouds, and revealed something the Servant did not expect.

"Onee-chan!" cried several, sailor uniform-wearing boys and girls. All who watched were stunned by this unexpected development only Naruto could produce.

"Master…you are by far the strangest one I've ever made a pact with." Saber muttered silently with a smile. "And it's quite the refreshing sight."

"Oh my goodness!" Caster squealed. "Look at those cuties! I want all of them!"

"Heh. Why want illusions when-"

"By the gods you're a genius, Rider!" Caster interrupted. "I can make Master produce some of those cuties himself!"Assassin groaned, and Ruler followed suit. Alter studied the children, and wondered what to do with them. Berserker wordlessly analyzed his Master's tactic -unorthodox if he ever saw one- and approved of his determination to end this fight peacefully.

"What a heartbreaker you are, Master." Archer snickered.

"I can totally see that, Archer." Lancer nodded. "Say, when do you think a rather volatile femme fatale would steal his heart?"

"Oh I'm pretty sure the femme fatale's heart would be stolen first."

"Agreed. Plus to make it so, I'll teach him the ways to charm a woman."

"Cheesy lines that equate to amateurish romantic prose?" Archer guessed.

"Yep!" Archer fumbled. His perfect posture became askew by Lancer's admittance; Lancer was even smiling like an idiot.

"I'm rather surprised you'd actually admit that. It seems you're a dog in that regard."

"It works." Lancer defended. "Especially on the maidens. And I'll let that insult slide…this time."

"All right…no need to get your spear at the ready."

The children wore white sailor uniforms with black accents on the seams and collars and cuffs of their outfit. They wore pearl white berets that revealed a pair of animal ears, and tails poking out of their pants or skirts. The children tackled the Servant to the ground with their glomping, and kept the Personification of Children's Stories planted firmly on the floor. The children giggled and squirmed above the Servant, who could not, or rather would not move. As the Servant that appealed to children, she wouldn't lay a hand on them if it meant harming them, illusion or not. "Haha, we got you!" cheered one of the children, who almost looked like Naruto without the marks on his cheeks. "Onee-chan, no fighting! Fighting is bad!" said another child, a blonde little girl who almost looked like Saber. "Let's play instead!" after that, she continued to hug the Servant tighter than ever. The pile of white uniformed children mounted the Servant rather well if one were to look closely at their interlocked legs and arms.

"Okay…Alice-oneechan will stop."

"Yay~" The children chorused.

"Well that's something you don't see everyday." The black-haired Alice commented off-handedly.

"What? That easy?" Kiba asked for everyone's sake.

"Only Naruto would be that stupid to use it that it actually works." Shikamaru explained to the feral boy. Akamaru barked in accordance to Shikamaru's comment; Chouji, Lee, Shino, and Neji agreed on this idea.

Tenten and Ino were in a much different place.

"Ahh~ what cuties they are!"

And moving on…

Sakura and Hinata sighed. Both girls placed a hand on their chest to relieve themselves of a breath they didn't know the held in. "Thank goodness…" the two chorused silently.

"Now…that - ugh - wasn't so hard, was it?" Naruto asked the Servant. He plopped himself to the ground, his phantom wounds taking a toll on his body. "I know that you want to please Alice, but to torment her with the idea of having her play with living people, who have their own lives to live, is not something you should do. Let your Master rest in peace, Caster."

"Onii-chan…" Alice said weakly as she collapsed. Naruto grabbed the girl by her arm with his left cradling her back and his right firmly grasping one of her wrists.

"Hey! What's wrong?"

"Alice is sorry." She said while pouting and looking to the ground and on the verge of breaking into tears.

"You don't need to apologize, Alice." Naruto softly spoke. He patted the girl's head. "You only wanted a friend, and I understand that. I don't mind you haunting the village, but don't keep them here to play with you forever. They have family, friends, and lives to go back to."

"…"

"Besides, you have me as a friend!" Naruto said optimistically as he pounded his chest with an enclosed fist to his heart. "I admit I won't be here for a long time, but I promise to come visit this place once in a while okay? I can't have a sad little girl alone without a friend to play with after all." Alice had a hopeful smile on her face. Naruto returned the gesture with his trademark grin.

"Onii-chan… You sounded really cool just now…" Alice said to the young man cradling her.

"Really?"

"Uhuh… Hey, Onii-chan…when we meet again, let's play house instead. Okay?" Everyone but Naruto gawked at the implication. Though the more sensible ones thought that the little girl would be too young to understand her double entendre. At least they hoped that the girl didn't know what the second meaning was. The Kunoichi were with gaping mouths, unable to comprehend what Alice uttered in that sweet, innocent voice. Hinata promptly fainted, Sakura blanched, Ino adopted a thinking pose, and Tenten scratched her head. The last two were trying to figure out whether or not the girl meant it in the way they thought she meant.

Meanwhile…Naruto's Caster was infuriated. That's it on that matter.

On a completely different note, Naruto had no idea what Alice implied. He thought that they would play as brother and sister, and never thought about it on the other way. Actually…he couldn't think of the other way because he hadn't learned about the birds and the bees. Kunoichi were told earlier in their life, and clan children as well, but for the rest of the new Shinobi in the force, they had yet to learn their X-rated subject matter. So in a simplistic, naive reply, Naruto answered, "Sure!" The men gave a resounding facepalm while the women looked terrified of what Naruto signed himself to.

Caster was restrained easily. No need to hear about her sporadic outbursts of hate.

To top it off, Alice kissed Naruto's cheek. One can only imagine what Caster's outburst may look like: battlefield, massacre, absolute destruction…or armageddon.

Lancer unknowingly activated his battle continuation skill out of battle; Archer proceeded to use his Eye of the Mind to foresee any attacks. Berserker howled in laughter, his amusement soaring far above his madness. Rider did the same as Berserker, and laughed loudly. Assassin was merely questioning how naive her Master was. Alter Ego smirked, finding all of this to be a fresh sight. Ruler sighed. Kyuubi was asleep, but it knew it had missed something amusing.

And Saber?

Right…

As for the woman outside of her Master's head, she had no idea how to react to this. All she knew about this rather interesting encounter would be the fact that this would be her Master's first dose of flirting. In a weird, responsible way, this might be the spark that just might force her to teach the boy about sexuality and sex. And Archer will be there to help. There will be dolphins and dragons to be discussed and much more.

Archer had the distinct feeling that he would regret teaching a rather critical point of adulthood.

Somewhere in the village, both Jiraiya and Kakashi felt the urge to corrupt a late-blooming, young man. They would tell the boy of the wonders of the female body with excruciating detail. Also in the village, Tsunade resisted the compelling force to hurt Jiraiya and Kakashi from corrupting an innocent boy. Shizune scurried away when she saw her master made cracks on her desk for no reason.

"Alice…" Her Servant spoke. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Alice. Alice gave Alice a friend. Thank you." Caster stiffened when she heard her Master's simplistic answer. She thought the ghost girl would be mad at her for her failures. "Thank you so much."

Caster muttered her last words before disappearing into a golden glow. "Heh…I've been blessed." The space occupied by the Servant was vacated, and eventually made the pile of little boys and girls collapse into a cloud.

Everyone was left speechless by the Servant's disappearance, but it was Alice's disappearance that actually caught them off guard. The little girl in white was visibly fading from existence like a flickering light.

"It looks like this is goodbye, Onii-chan."

"Nope. I'll see you later. That's a promise." The little girl's face had the biggest smile she could ever put. Tears leaked at the corners of her eyes, and she was laughing for a joy she never thought she would obtain.

"Thank you, Onii-chan. Alice will be here and waiting." The words of a lingering spirit stayed for a while. "Bye."

"I think it's time for me to leave too. I've been haunting these parts for a long time now, and I think it's a nice change of pace to go to that light. See ya!" The last of the Alices blurred from existence, leaving the Rookies and one Saber in another part of the park they were in before they started this mini adventure.

"…Well that was a thing." Kiba stated.

"Understatement if I ever heard one." Neji said to the Inuzuka.

"You know…" Naruto started to say. "I think that was my first exorcism." He stared all around him, and saw translucent silhouettes of people most likely dead, and among them, Alice was along with a pair of brown-haired teenagers in tan uniforms that both Archer and Caster recognized. These two waved at him, and smiled before disappearing like many of the lingering spirits did soon after. Naruto smiled.

Alice was in good hands.

"Still scared of ghosts?" Sakura asked her teammate.

"I…I don't think so. If they're as cute as Alice-chan, I think it'll be fine."

Inside the boy's mindscape, Archer and Caster were treated to a past they thought they would never see again.

"Haku/no" The two said morbidly. While their Master couldn't hear their previous Masters' words, the two Servants heard it clearly.

"Off to an adventure, I see. Take care of yourselves and that Master of yours." said the teenage boy.

"Safe travels, for you and your Master, Archer." said the girl in that soft voice of hers.

'We won't disappoint!' the two Servants proclaimed silently. The other Servants beside them stood silently to let the two reminisce. Except for Lancer. The blue-clad Servant was reminiscing in his own way as he remembered his Master in that War.

"Hey, Caster. What happened to her?"

"Hm?" Caster proceeded to take a thinking pose. "Oh…your Master, right? She became an anomaly in the system, but was never deleted. So she decided to help us out, and got us out of a lot of tight spots. I'm pretty sure if it weren't for her, we wouldn't have won. She was there in front of the Grail with us when my Master, Haku, walked up to Moon Cell to be deleted."

"Wait…deleted?"

"All anomalous data is to be deleted upon touching the Grail. My Master was formed from the physical appearance of a boy stuck in cryogenic freeze because he was infected with a virus. He was the last subject the doctor was about to treat on for a cure, but it seemed the doctor perished before he could concoct the cure." Caster explained thoroughly. "As for your Master, she was transported back into the real world as per my Master's wish. She's fine, Lancer."

"That's good to hear. So I take it the lass acquired some unwanted affection for him?"

"Hmph! Don't even start that conversation."

"Aha! You-"

"Lancer please be quiet. I don't want to die." Archer interrupted.

On the outside, Sakura was glad her teammate somewhat got over his unnatural fear of ghosts. They had supernatural abilities too; why should he be surprised about ghosts? "Oh by the way, Naruto. When are going to put on a pair of pants and a shirt?"

Naruto looked at his overall appearance, and chuckled nervously. From all that battling, his jumpsuit was nothing more than a pair of raggedy shorts and arm bands and a choker. The former almost revealed the boy's blue boxers while the arm bands and choker were the collar and cuffs of his mesh shirt. "Oh! My bad. Let me look for-" The boy flew backwards as his backpack hits his face.

"Here's your bag, Naruto."

"T-Thanks, Saber-sensei."

While he was in the middle of changing, he was interrupted by the girls screaming, "Get a room, idiot!"

"It's not like I'm going to get naked." Naruto deadpanned. "Sheesh. I have boxers on ya know." The males of the group sighed with a palm to their faces. Naruto grumbled something about never understanding girls as he put on his pants.

"When you're done, why don't we go to Ichiraku's?"

"Why the nice act after yelling at me, Sakura-chan?" The boy griped.

"The fact that you have no sense of shame bothered us." The Haruno girl replied. Naruto scoffed before finally putting on his shirt and zip up his jacket. "Seriously, no one just goes and strips in their underwear in front of their friends."

"Right…" Naruto droned. "Okay sure, you're paying for my ramen right?"

"That's the idea of a treat isn't it?" Shikamaru yawned. "C'mon. The more time we waste, the closer it is to when you leave." The Nara smirked, "Besides, you wanna gobble up some thirty-something bowls before you leave, eh?" He walked away towards the direction of the ramen stand. The guys followed with grins on their faces, and soon the girls were giggling as they walked away as well to leave a stunned Naruto beside Saber.

"Master?" Saber asked the stunned boy with a slightest hint of worry.

"Heh. Since when have you been a joker, Shikamaru?" The boy rubbed his nose with an index finger, and chased after them. "Hey wait up!"

---

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "Thanks for the free meals, Teuchi-jiji!"

"I can't have my best customer get homesick can I? With all the ramen you inhaled, I'm pretty sure you'll remember my ramen for a long time." Naruto chuckled, admitting that he wouldn't forget the taste because of the amount of ramen inside his stomach. "Oh, and before I forget…Ayame, could you please get it?"

"Sure dad." answered the daughter of the restaurant owner. She returned with a scroll inscribed with the words 'Emergency food supply.' She presented it to the boy, and said, "Here you go. It's a food supply that'll last at least two years or half a year depending on how much you eat it."

"So…"

"It's every ramen on the menu times one hundred." Ayame's no-holds-barred explanation silenced everyone but her father, who was laughing at everyone's expressions including Saber, who stopped at mid chew when she heard what the gift contained. Saber glanced at the menu, and counted off the numerous ramen flavors starting from miso.

'One…two…~ seven…nine~' Saber dropped her chopsticks, causing everyone to snap out of their daze. "Fifteen? You two made a thousand and five-hundred bowls of ramen?!" The restaurant owner and his daughter cowered under Saber's scrutinizing glare. "How very generous of you." She complimented softly. The father-daughter duo sighed. "Your ramen is amazing. The flavor! The texture! The crisp ingredients! The presentation! Glorious!" All the while as she praised, she made random poses that glorify her bowl of ramen.

Shikamaru sighed, "Great Naruto… You made your Kenjutsu sensei addicted to Ichiraku ramen. Next thing you know, she becomes a prankster. What a drag."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly. "Don't diss the almighty ramen and its followers." The lazy boy exasperatingly wiped his face at his friend's blatant worship of food. He had to admit Ichiraku ramen was something to behold because of its tantalizing quality, but never should it come to the point of worship. He never thought Naruto's Master would come out praising the bowl as if it were god in her hands.

"Enough of that, Naruto." Sakura chided. "We don't have much time, so let's skip pleasantries."

"Eh? What do you have in mind?"

A book on tactics was shoved right beside him. "You may be unpredictable, but at least use this as a template to work on your combat skills or teamwork with your clones to make them last longer." Naruto smiled at the gift.

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

"Hold off on the thanking spree, Naruto. You got more incoming." The Nara warned. "Like Kiba's for example."

The hooded Inuzuka chucked a box of Soldier pills and tracking techniques as well as ways to stalk a target. Shino provided an encyclopedia of insects found throughout the Elemental Nations. Neji gave a scroll on evasive close combat techniques, and possible followups after the maneuver. Lee, with permission from Gai, gave a scroll on the basic stance, kata, and techniques of Goken as well the the ridiculous leg weights and the green tracksuit to go along with it. Ino reeled back as if offended by the sight.

"Thanks, guys. Though why are most of these oriented for combat?" Naruto asked with suspicion in mind.

"You suck." Kiba answered bluntly. This got a small rise from Naruto, but was interrupted before he could say anything. "If this little sacrifice is worth you improving in the future, then by all means let's help you out. C'mon, you have to admit you're getting ridiculous with those clones and Rasengan of yours." The Uzumaki's painted red hair shadowed his eyes; many could see the building fury from his body language, and they silently scolded Kiba's brash answer.

"Um…Naruto-kun. Here's my gift." stuttered a flustered Hinata. She handed the boy a first aid kit, and a book on the weaknesses of the human body for nonlethal combat. Including the Chakra points, the book also contains submission techniques, and ways to manipulate the enemy to throw them off balance. Naruto's confidence lowered as shown by his shoulders drooping lower than before. He grumbled at the fact that even Hinata was giving him a combat-oriented gift.

"Now, now. No need to be rude to Hinata." Sakura said to the depressed boy. "Here." She handed her teammate advanced Chakra control techniques and entry level medical ninjutsu all the way to intermediate if only to heal slightly lethal wounds. "You do need to work on your control; that's something you have to admit."

"Wow…what a hypocrite you are, Sakura." Ino snidely remarked.

"Oh? And what do you have to give?" Sakura snapped back at her best friend.

Ino presented a small pot containing one orange flower in bloom. "I got Naruto this! An Asiatic Lily."

"So pretty." Hinata commented.

"Right? Plus it describes Naruto well."

Naruto leaned back. "Hm? How so?"

"Well the orange means happiness and optimism just like you usually are." She smiled brightly. "Plus I heard you had a hobby for gardening, so I thought why not give you a pot with a flower that describe you so well!" Naruto grinned and thanked the flower girl for her thoughtfulness. Everyone sounded a bit miffed at the comment except Shikamaru, who bothered himself with watching the passing clouds. "Oh and I also got you shampoo to wash off the paint."

"Um…"

"You're supposed to keep washing your hair until the paint is gone. It's still sort of wet, so it'll make for an easier time."

"Thanks. I may like my red hair, but I kinda want the hair color I was born with."

"I agree. Much better as a blonde. As least you look presentable as a blonde with your outfit." Said a man from outside the restaurant. Moving aside the cloth covering the top half of the entrance, Kakashi showed himself. "Yo. I see you're well into the gift giving. I'm not late am I?"

"Just slightly Kakashi-sensei." Sakura replied. "I'm surprised you're remotely on time."

"Ow. That actually hurts. I can't be on time to see one of my students off?"

"Let's be honest, Sensei." Naruto interrupted. "You hardly taught us anything but teamwork."

"I see you're in working order if your mouth is blabbering." Naruto frowned. "Asuma, Kurenai, Anko come on." The Jounin beckoned. The Jounin entered with a bit of difficulty due to the amount of people in the restaurant, but they were comfortable in the end. The three greeted the boy, who simply waved back while trying to stuff most of his gifts into his bag.

"I won't waste time, so here's my gift, Naruto." Karen gave the boy a rather small notebook on how to deal with genjutsu, and how to spot one. A simple gift that one would expect from the Genjutsu Mistress like the next one he would receive from Anko, who gave him a rather visual book on torture and interrogation techniques.

"I really didn't know what to give you, so I just brought myself this little guy." He showed a small piece of blank paper, and handed it to the boy. "Just channel your Chakra into it, and you'll know your Chakra affinity."

"What?"

"It's the element you'll easily get down pat. It doesn't necessarily mean you can't learn other elemental jutsus." Asuma easily answered. So Naruto did as he was told, and channeled his Chakra. The boy was shocked to see the paper split with both becoming soggy to the touch. "Wow…two elements, and wind and water to boot. A rarity on both accounts. I guess my hunch on you being a wind user was right." He grabbed something from his back pouch. "A scroll on how to master manipulating wind Chakra, and some wind jutsus to start off with."

"Thank you, Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, Anko-sensei."

"No prob, kid." Anko answered for the three Jounin. "Say I don't see your new equipment on you. Why's that?"

"Equipment?"

Anko pointed to Tenten, "The one she-"

"Oh crap! I totally forgot about it!" The Genin panicked. "Let me go get it real quick and-"

"Teddy~ You forgot to take your stuff with you!" Yelled one Tetsu Yaiba followed by Iruka and the Konohamaru corps. "I even finished up that one you were heating up in the heating treatment process!"

"Dad! How many times do I-"

"589, Teddy!" Her father yelled back. Tenten growled loudly the whole time her dad and the others finally reached their destination. "I'm…not too late am I?" He panted deeply as he asked.

"No…" His daughter replied. "Thanks for bringing it, dad."

"You're welcome, sweetie." The man straightened himself and turned to Naruto. "I apologize for my interruption, Naruto-san."

"I-It's no problem at all, Yaiba-san."

Tenten grabbed something from the backpack Naruto failed to notice, and saw an object wrapped in leather cloth and ropes. She unwrapped it to reveal her masterpiece of a gauntlet. "Cool!" Naruto shouted. "Thanks-"

"Hold up. You don't even know what it's capable of." She then proceeded to show off the shield and the hidden blades it had, but what's surprising was another secret function that even her father hadn't noticed. With the larger blade in display, Tenten flicked her wrist down, and the blade swung on a hinge, and locked into a gap on one side of the shield. She pointed to the gap, where it showed a small tube that Archer recognized as the barrel of a gun. "This here is a Chakra blaster. You pool in your Chakra in here, and bam! You launched a condensed sphere of Chakra capable of knocking out or obliterating enemies. I call it the Great Night Assault, Rampart Mechanic System!" Everyone was impressed by the technology demonstrated and explained.

"G…N…A.R.M.S?" Naruto, being skeptical, asked, "Nice name, but does the launcher work?"

"Of course it does!" Tenten snapped. Naruto reeled back.

"Okay. I'll believe you." He grabbed the gauntlet and fitted it to his left arm. "Wow…a perfect fit. Thanks!" He grinned. Tenten glared at the boy because she was still miffed at the insult to her smithing skills. She turned away as a sign of her anger.

"Nii-san! This is our gift!" Konohamaru and his friends shouted while pinning the visor on his head. The boy almost fell from his seat, yet managed to recover enough to see through the eye slits.

"A visor? Nice. You made this?" He asked the Sarutobi. Konohamaru shook his head, and pointed to Tenten, still angry at him. He removed the visor and inspected the metallic orange and black on the Knight-like visor. "Amazing craftsmanship, Tenten. And thanks for making the idea, Kono." The three children smiled happily. Tenets relented, and gave the Uzumaki a small smile after appreciating the boy's praise.

"You better tell me the kinks so I can make it better, okay?"

"Roger that!" He chuckled then turned to Iruka. "Long time, no see, sensei."

"Indeed it has. Here's travel money. You're going to need supplies while you're in your journey, so it's best to have a large amount to spend for necessities." Naruto bowed and pocketed the decently sized bag of Ryo inside his bag.

Naruto was then presented with a pair of Kodachis. "Take this, Naruto-san."

"What? A gift from you? Yaiba-san, I may know you, but I don't think I am warranted to be given a gift from you."

"It's not from me, but from your mother." The blacksmith answered. "I may have forged it, but it was your mother who had it in her mind to make you the wielder of this pair of weapons."

Naruto slowly reached for the swords, his birthright. His mother wanted it made it for him… "Thank you very much, Yaiba-san."

"And what's with the pity party all of a sudden?" The signature voice of Tsunade boomed from outside the restaurant.

"Hokage-sama!" Everyone but Naruto bowed.

"Easy now, I'm taking a lunch break." Tsunade said to them. "So, Naruto. Are you almost ready to leave?"

"…Kinda." Naruto holstered the kodachis inside the belt loops of his pants, and put on the gauntlet while leaving the visor just hanging around his neck. "Feels weird. Maybe I'm not just used to it yet."

"Yep." Jiraiya answered from above. "That jumpsuit doesn't do you new equipment justice."

"I'll find a way to make it work." Naruto said to the man.

"Sure you will. Hey, Kakashi. Did you give him your gift yet?"

"I was just about to, Jiraiya-sama."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. There was something strange about the hint of amusement in Kakashi's voice. Her pervert senses were tingling, but it wasn't on a level that warranted her wrath as of yet. She would wait it out to see how it would go. Deep inside, she knew she would regret something. When she saw the ominous glowing coming from the man's back pouch, she paled. In Kakashi's hands was a complete set of the Icha Icha series. The kicker? It's the revamped version with more smut in the material than the original. "Absolutely-"

"What is up with that orange book that you like so much?!" Naruto questioned angrily. He swiped a book from the pile and unraveled its contents. With such determined eyes, Naruto took in every detail possible before-

Smack!

"What the hell are you doing reading this in public!?" Both Sakura and Tsunade demanded. The Uzumaki boy sported a huge, steaming bump as he lay in a crater created by the bone-crushing force of the Master-Student pair. Many passersby halted their strolling to witness the Uzumaki in pain. They cringed at the amount of force used, but were glad it wasn't them. "That's it! Off you go!" Tsunade grabbed Naruto's collar and the hem of his pants, and swung him back and forth like a pendulum.

"Hey, hey! No need to do that to my precious student, Tsunade!" The Hokage unceremoniously dropped the boy back to solid ground. Naruto let out a small 'Oof,' and quickly sat normally.

"You corrupt him, and I'll castrate you!" Tsunade roared. Jiraiya cowered back, hiding behind Kakashi as support. The human shield was terrified as well, and the two perverted men fought over who would be the shield that would take the brunt of the Hokage's wrath. Everyone laughed at the sight of the two struggling men while Tsunade was not amused by it all.

"Shouldn't you be going, Naruto?" Ino asked the boy. She pointed at the clock inside the restaurant, which showed it was nearly time for departure.

"Ah! Thanks for that. But can I have one request, Ino?"

"Name it."

"Thanks for the flower, but could you take care of it in my stead? I don't think I could take care of a plant while constantly moving from place to place in very differing weather conditions. And if possible, could you plant a small garden of these where we found Alice in the park?"

"Sure, but it'll cost you." Imo smirked.

"Okay. How much?"

"Kidding." Ino pushed the boy, "C'mon, don't you have to be on your journey by now?"

"Right, right. Bye guys! Thanks for the gifts!" The farewell party, except Kakashi, still struggling with Jiraiya, participants waved at the boy heading for one of the main gates. Saber quietly followed right behind her Master.

"So who's Alice?" Asuma asked his student. "Sounds foreign."

"Well…" And so the rookies debriefed the Hokage and their teachers of what happened earlier.

"Shouldn't you grab your Sensei?"

"He'll get here." Naruto said nonchalantly. Jiraiya smiled over them, and landed on the horizon, most likely by the gates. "See? He even beat us." The two kept walking in the direction Jiraiya flew in.

"The lack of care in your voice is a bit unpleasant, Naruto."

"It may be off-putting, yes, but the man deserves it. He can gain his respect from me when he stops being a pervert. Now if you'll excuse me. I'll be doing research on why this book is so good to those perverts." He grabbed the orange book from his bag, which Naruto knew Kakashi slyly slipped in. "If I do turn into a pervert, Saber-sensei, please discipline me."

"I have every intention to do that, Naruto." Saber said calmly. "I am building you up to be a Knight. So you must hold the ideals of one, and being a pervert is certainly isn't one of them. But disposing them is broadly one of those edicts in the code of Chivalry."

"Is that like the Bushido for samurai?" Naruto asked while still reading the book. "Being honorable and respectable in battle and in public?"

"It's a similarity. Though I myself don't know the differences quite well." Saber admitted. "Oh there's your sensei." The two walked past the beaten pulp that was Jiraiya. If he was thrown in their direction, then they had to be going the right way. Or they could be going the wrong way. Did it really matter though? They were heading east, in the direction of Wave country. Maybe he could pay a visit to them. He would love to see how the country has flourished with that new bridge of theirs, and he could also pay a visit to the deceased Haku and Zabuza.

Yeah. He should do that. Last time he checked, Iron country was a sea away to the east. They were good at smithing, so he could pay for armor upgrades. 'Wait for me, Sasuke. You'll see a better me in the future.'

"By the way, Master. Do you know how babies are made?"

A glimpse of the future…

Lancer studied the book through his Master's eyes, and honestly, he thought he could make better art than this literary disaster of an erotic novel. And to add onto that, maybe he could persuade his Master into making his own version that could be more popular than Jiraiya's smutty work. Grinning from ear to ear, he created paper and pencil from thin air, and started writing what would become a literary movement in erotic novels in the future.

"Hmm…maybe like this? No…" he mumbled to himself by the minute, and it irritated Berserker to no end. The black knight minded his own business, yet the constant chattering and mumbling of the spearman annoyed the warrior to no end. So to shut the spearman, he walked up to him to first find out what he kept on mumbling about. He peered over Lancer's shoulder and noticed an erotic work coming to life with each word flowing eloquently to the next scene. Just reading the draft made him remember Guinevere and the first time he made sweet, passionate love to her.

"I'll help, Lan…cer." And he too added his ideas onto paper. Now the two wrote their pieces and revised the other's work with such teamwork never before seen between Servants.

Archer, who also looked at the outside world through his Master's eyes, snapped from his silent activity of reading the smutty work his Master read with great interest and insight. He could already sense the workings of erotic art emerging from his Master's subconscious, but to a small degree. His Master doesn't know the birds and the bees yet, so he doesn't know what's happening at all. He turned to the writing duo, and walked to up them to see what they were doing. Like Berserker, he peered over the two's shoulders, and read their works silently.

Bodies writhe in pleasure, moving in rhythm like a metronome keeps a beat. The beauty with hair which resembles that of fire moans with euphoric bliss as her serenading voice spurs her lover to keep going. She utters her lover's name, and it sounds as smooth as the finest silk found in the world. Just hearing his name moaned with such passion encouraged the man to satisfy and adhere to his lover's lewd wishes.

"More… Haru…" She demanded with tantalizing desire dripping off her mouth as her words escape her smooth lips. Sweat glistened off their bodies like rain hitting a window, and their bodies succumb to the throes of passion with each rhythmic beat the couple dance to. "Haru~"

Entrancing moans and smooth embraces from the man's lover caused him to make the beat go faster. The bed creaks repeatedly under the force, making them bounce off the bed as if they jumped. It almost seemed like the bed wanted to give up under the couple's passionate lovemaking."Haagh…! Haru! Faster~"

His lover's entrancing pants and desperate gasps of air certainly permeate throughout the room like mist. The man needed to hear it more; the pleasured pants, the longing moans, he greedily craved them. He craved them to the point of calling his lover his property. Only he can love her the way he does now, and only he can touch her. The same can be said from the woman's perspective.

His lover's voice spiked, and followed through with the same motion, achieving the same result. The woman's tender legs twitched before they curled around his waist in an attempt to never let go. He cupped his lover's cheek; he led her closer to him, and made their lips combine into a searing and lust-filled kiss, which neither partner refused to let go of the other in their battle of dominance. Legs intertwine, sweat bounces off, the beat's pace quickens and intensifies, and their moans echo all over their bedroom.

"Akane…more…cry out my name!"

"Amazing work you've done here." Rider, who at some point converged at the spot, and read the collaborative work, praised. Archer nodded in agreement. He could clearly see this was not smut, yet divulged into the realm of bodily pleasure. Seeing as Master is already thinking about ways to improve on such a genre, Archer and Rider decided to help as well; they too wrote their versions, each with their specific tastes, and revised them together to make a concise plot with unforgettable characters. Each writer held a correlating theme: to satisfy both the reader and their characters!

Years later…

"Ara…what's with these ridiculous lines?" Jiraiya asked out loud in complaint, "Where does this line lead to? This just keeps on blocking roads…" A person in the line, a woman, heard Jiraiya. She turned to him, exposing her natural beauty to him. Brown hair so straight and smooth, it looked like it was sculpted on her.

Her green eyes entranced Jiraiya, and her voice only added extra when she told them, "You haven't heard? There's this new author that is selling what has been called the revival of erotic novels!"

"Revival? What about the Icha Icha series?" Jiraiya asked.

The woman scoffed, "That smutty trash? It doesn't hold up to the erotic art that is Noble Sword's work! His books actually get a female audience unlike the Icha Icha series. Noble Sword actually understands that women should be able to enjoy literature like that. The Icha Icha series only satisfies the carnal lust only for guys, but not for women, and it makes Noble Sword's Secret Garden of Passion series much more popular because it allows both genders to enjoy it."

"It sounds like you idolize this author, Ma'am." Naruto happily commented to the lady, "Are you proud to be a fan of an author that writes your so-called 'Erotic Art'?" The woman nodded shamelessly, and so did other women who overheard the conversation. Naruto was taken aback by their enthusiasm, and could not help but smile at their reasons on why this author was popular. Jiraiya on the other hand, seethed at this new, upstart author taking his customers and gaining more from women. He needed to see how this author wrote, and learn from it to make his better in the eyes of everyone; he'll make HIS series the revolution in erotic literature, not this no-name writer!

Hours later…

Jiraiya sobbed uncontrollably. He purchased a book of Noble Sword's. The story itself had intriguing characters and plot, and this author emphasized character development and personalities of each character along with the romance; upon reaching the first erotic scene –which took twenty chapters of the novel (Quite a thick novel)- he burst into tears as he became immersed into the scene. He could feel the couple's passion, and how they desperately wanted to outdo the other in pleasuring their partner.

Meanwhile…Naruto became seriously insecure with this pathetic, sobbing version of his perverted sensei, yet at the same time, successful in doing what his sensei couldn't do and achieved a female audience along with the male. He left the room with a grin splitting his face. He gave Jiraiya the same excuse of hitting the town to see the sights when he'll actually be writing his next literary success with his Servants in a peaceful setting…

Away from his competition.

In Konoha, the bookstores were being filled to the brim with both men and women wanting to buy Noble Sword's newest work. Among these people, both civilian and Shinobi, the 5th Hokage was among these customers waiting in line. She too became a fanatic in the author's work. It was by far a better, more artful way to show a couple's passion, and she knew, or at least had an inkling of the author's mysterious identity.

Noble Sword…

After hearing about the orange warrior swordsman, not like any samurai anyone has ever heard of, with sunny and spiky blonde hair, she just knew it had to be Naruto. And my goodness did his work just immerse readers into the steamy action going on. His writing really got her hot and bothered, a feat none except him had done before –through literature of all things! She decided that when the Shinobi returns, she would give him a large monetary reward for making such masterpiece compared to Jiraiya's smut if only to be a big insult to her teammate.

Hi! Sorry about the long wait. I was making the companion fanfic for this one catch up in numbers. The introductory chapters are now over, and we can actually move on to plot. I won't lie, this may take a while because what I deem necessary for progression in Naruto's character will hinder advancement a little to focus on this. If I can make a way to make it flow seamlessly with the plot, I will, but I won't just skip through the training session in a snap.

I hope the fight wasn't too farfetched. I mean Excalibur should be able to defeat Jabberwock even without the Vorpal blade. I mean its name is The Sword of Promised Victory, it should handle killing Jabberwock. If I did any disservice or mistake, do point it out. Because of this chapter's long development time, there are things that may not be seamless or may contradict from previous things mentioned earlier in the chapter.

And I totally stole the name of GN Arms from Gundam 00, but with my twist on it, and its more knightly appearance as a gauntlet.

Also I hope the throwback to Fate Extra is satisfactory, and characterization of Alice and her Caster is decent.

Don't expect lemons anytime in the near future. I'm only giving an example for the omake. In fact, that was my first attempt, and I think I outdid myself by not actually using any obscenities. I don't know how effective this is, but it's something I might attempt later on.

On another note…one more day till UBW airs again! Woot!

Review, follow, favorite, I don't care. I just hoped you enjoyed this.

This is Azure signing off.