AN: I have no excuse why this took so long. "Lu Bane Na," correction noted, but I know I am crap so I will probably forget. firebluebird2006, possible…but not perfect with how many servants I plan on having appear in the course of the story. HolyKnight5, good suggestion…I have my own plans, but I will keep it in the back of my mind if I find that my own are not going down the route I would like. God of Vampires aka Alucard, she won't be with Naruto, but will have her own happy ending. KeyofSolomon.M.E., it could be interesting…but all the "King Arthur" variants know of Merlin in some shape or form, and I do not think they be happy to see another Merlin. One last thing before I get back to it, I decided to break up the opening day of the war into a few chapters so I can develop this AU a bit more. Anyways on with the chpt.

Speech

Thought

Higher Being (i.e. Demon, Grail, ect) speaking, Scene/POV change

Higher Being thinking

The Grail War Begins Pt 1: The Dawn of War

6:00 AM: March First: 2013: Fuyuuki City: Emiya Compound Workshop

The sound of an alarm clock, and then it's subsequent smashing, broke the silence of early morning. An unidentifiable figure rose from the ground covered in a blanket, grumbling about having to wake up for school; it slowly made its way over to a sink with a mirror over it, glazing blearily at the reflection revealed an older face then we last saw on our hero.

Naruto was now a very respectable six foot two inches tall, with a well-developed physic from his martial arts training and his time as a member of the kendo team for the Fuyuuki Middle School and High School. His hair style hadn't changed at all from the day Kiritsugu adopted him, short spikey blond locks that could possibly be weaponized with the right amount of prana and hair gel.

After splashing water on his face to wake up, the adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya left his small workshop, locking it and activating the minor defensive arrays he had engraved into its walls out of habit; and leisurely strolled over to the main building of the compound so he could finish getting ready before he started making breakfast.

Along the way he reminisced over the past six years of his life. The day his father was buried was unpleasant, as had been the surprise that his enemy, Kirei Kotomine (a ruthless enforcer, a fix-it man for all things supernatural, for the church), was still alive; it was only due to his training that he managed to keep his shock at seeing the man, or really any recognition of him, from showing.

There were several other much brighter spots that broke his training and regular routine over the years.

One of these spots was when he met the heiress to the Toshaka magus family, as he thought back to that moment a wry grin spread across Naruto's whiskered cheeks. It was the day after his father's funeral, and he had returned to the church to pay for the service and burial; as he had made his way to Kotomine's office, he had heard a young female voice calling Kirei a "shitty fake priest."

That was the only warning he had before the office door slammed open in his face, causing him to stagger back a step while rubbing his face. When he moved his hand out of his face he was met with the site of a raven haired girl his age blushing in embarrassment while stammering out apologies.

That incident would be the start of a good friendship between the two, or at least the part that happened afterwards…When Kotomine decided to tease Rin over her reaction, and Naruto over him getting hit with the door; prompting both youths to tell him to shut up and mind his own business.

As he placed plates out for himself, his "guardian" Taiga Fujimura (the granddaughter of the local Yakuza head), and one of his schoolmates, Sakura Matou; his thoughts turned to one of the incidents that reminded him of why exactly he was training so hard.

He had first met Sakura in the local park when they were kids, she had been shy but nice. The two had cultivated a friendship over the years, however one day Naruto had discovered that her home life had not exactly been…pleasant. The blonde's suspicions had first been aroused over this fact when Sakura started wearing long sleeve shirts…in the middle of summer. Other minor clues had him keep an eye on her, which led to him stepping into a particularly violent disagreement between Sakura and her brother Shinji; well violent on Shinji's part.

The blue haired prick had gathered a gang of "friends" with the intention of beating his sister up; our protagonist wasn't going to have any of that, and knocked them all out without being seen by anyone. Of course knowing this wasn't that beneficial to Sakura, as when he confronted her about it, she told Naruto not to worry as it wasn't as bad as he thought…Despite his instincts to the contrary, he backed off; his father had, when explaining some of his life and philosophy towards it, explained that you can't truly help someone unless they want to be helped.

This decision was reinforced when his sensei explained a little of the history of the Matou, or as they were once known Marakai. The few details that Segata shared turned Naruto's stomach, but the warning about the Matou patriarch was one he took to heart…One does not live to be well over a hundred years old without being more powerful than any threat encountered, and without having skills and abilities to take advantage of this power.

Beyond that his "guardian," used very loosely, Taiga had signed him up for the Kendo Club at his school, as well as the Martial Arts one at the insistence of her idol, Segata Sanshiro…And hadn't THAT been a shock, as well as a little awkward, when Naruto found out that his "guardian" idolized his sensei based off the commercials for the Saturn.

During his time in those clubs up until today, he had led them to several championships. First as a mere member, knocking out opposing team captains as the last one standing; then later as the captain, more serving to train his club member to be better at the sport than actually being in bouts.

The sound of rapid footsteps shook him out of his thoughts just as the door burst in and a hungry tiger set about devouring one of the plates of food. A slight grin appeared on Naruto's lips as he once again saw proof how appropriate a description that was for the voracious appetite of his guardian.

Taiga took off after a few minutes, needing to finish getting her class ready. This left her students to clean up after breakfast; after doing so, the two left for school, but not before Naruto subtly reactivated some of the bounded fields around the Emiya household.

Along the way they met up with Rin; as per usual there was tension between the two girls, although Naruto, due to how dense he was about certain things his father had failed to teach him, never really noticed this subtle tension between the two…Tension they kept at a low level out of a desire to keep their problems with the other to themselves.

As they walked through the gates Shinji came charging up to berate Sakura, but one deadpan look from Naruto had the blue haired teen turning and walking very fast in the opposite direction. The blond gained a ghost of a smile on his face when Sakura's elder brother turned tail and ran; however he schooled his expression, so that Sakura wouldn't think he had anything to do with it, as the last time she thought he had anything to do with Shinji doing something she scolded him in her half disappointed way that was really embarrassing.

A couple of minutes later, the purplete split off to her own class, as she was a year below her two friends; and the ravenette and blond continued on to their class.

After School:

Naruto smiled as he called out corrections to the stance of one of the newer members of the kendo club. The new crop from the middle school was slightly more competent even than the ones that were members when he was captain of that team, apparently his training methods were carried on by his successor (who moved to a different town after graduation)…despite this they still had some flaws that he was correcting.

The martial arts team was, once again, set to take the title in nationals if they kept to training like they had; as was the kendo club. Indeed it felt like he was building a legacy here. Shaking himself out of his musing, he called an end to the club's events. There was a couple of murderers on the loose in the city, and the blond didn't want any of his team to have the misfortune to run into any of them.

As his team filed out, the Emiya heir smiled as he gathered all the gear they had left and stored it away. Normally his club would have helped, but with what was going on recently, he was completely fine with them abandoning that task.

After storing the gear and locking up, he slowly made his way out of the school grounds, whistling to himself. But then he heard a clang of steel on steel, followed swiftly by other sounds of combat. Blinking in shock as he heard such noises, especially on the grounds of the school, he cautiously made his way around one of the buildings.

What he saw on the other side surprised him. A blue haired Caucasian man in some kind of blue spandex and wielding a red spear was clashing with a tanned silver haired man in a black and red outfit wielding dual curved short swords. Their movements were faster than anything he had seen to date outside of his sensei's movements. But despite the speed of their movements and attacks, he could see them well enough to get a handle on their skills; and they were both beyond him in pure skill alone. The blue haired warrior had been taught by a peerless warrior, while the silver haired man fought with the hard won skill of a survivor. It was a spectacle to behold, but he tore his gaze away to focus on another area he heard the sounds of combat.

Another spear wielder, this one a more Mediterranean looking man with short brown hair. He was clad in an armored green shirt and white pants, in his hands he carried a golden bladed cross spear. Facing off against him was a man in ornate silvery armor with short blond hair who's weapon was a silvery longsword without a true hand guard, but rather the blade flared out towards the grip and turned to some sort of blue metal. The spearman had the advantage in reach and used it effectively to hold his adversary at bay; but despite his disadvantage in range, the blond was able to nearly land decisive hits on several occasions, as he relied just as much on his well-made armor to deflect blows away from his body as his own impressive skills with the blade to parry the attacks thrown at him. Much like the first combat, it was a breathtaking exchange between two equal, yet differently skilled, warriors. But there was a third fight to examine, and so with great reluctance, Naruto turned his eyes to gaze upon the last fight.

This one was a giant mismatch. On one side stood an archer clad in a gambeson over chainmail and wearing a kettle style helmet, over the gambeson he wore a white cloth with a red cross stitched over his heart. He carried an English style longbow, and a short sword was sheathed at his side. His opponent, who dodged lazily out of the way of another arrow, was clad in stereotypical ninja gear according to pop culture; a black full body suit, and a facemask that covered the lower part of his face, leaving only startling blue eyes visible. He carried a long wakazashi, twenty four inches long, across the small of his back, and he threw out a handful of shuriken to intercept another volley of arrows. While at a surface glance it would seem like the ninja was at a disadvantage, but in truth as the fight went on it became obvious that the shinobi was playing with the archer, and could have seriously injured, if not killed, his foe at any time.

The fights were all breathtaking, and indeed it stole his attention, all the more so as he knew what this was. Despite how impossible the notes his old man, and from what Segata had told him of the event, this was the start of a Grail War; and these were all servants, figures of legend, or at the very least crystallizations of legends called forth to fulfil a wish the original held close to their heart. Naruto was so enraptured that as he moved to get a better view, he accidentally hit a bucket with his foot.

The clang of his foot meeting the steel bucket and sending it tumbling seemed deafening, it certainly stopped the fights. As one, all six combatants turned their gaze towards him. A brief moment of uncertainty passed over the battlefield, the servants seemingly stunned at his presence, and the blond caught between unleashing his abilities and keeping them hidden for later. But before Naruto could make a decision the longbowman nocked an arrow and fired at him, forcing him to go with concealing his abilities as much as possible (in hopes that if he escaped he would slip under the radar). As he ducked behind one of the pillars he heard the sound of a kunai impacting against the arrow, diverting it from him.

Taking advantage of this fact, he took off at a run, planning to get to a more advantageous position. As he sprinted, he ducked under a spear thrust from the green shirted man, and heard the clashing of steel behind him; risking a brief glace back, he caught sight of the blond swordsman once again fighting off the spearman.

However that look back cost him, as the next thing he knew he felt a MASSIVE pain in his chest. Looking down he saw the blood red spear the blue hair man wielded sticking out of his chest.

As he fell to his knees in shock he heard a voice speak in a tired tone: "Sorry kid, for what it's worth this is something I find no joy in. People of your day and age shouldn't have to worry about people like me; hell if your luck was better we may not have even crossed paths. But alas, fate deemed otherwise, and the rules demand the elimination of all witnesses to this war."

After saying this he slowly withdrew his spear from Naruto's chest: "If it's any consolation kid, when you get to wherever you're going, let em know that Cu Chulainn sent you. I'm sure it'll get you some respect."

POV Change: Toshaka Rin

Rin ran through the halls of the high school, her three servants behind her; praying that she wouldn't be too late. She had recognized her best friend the instant she caught sight of him, and was mentally kicking herself for not making sure the area was completely clear before instigating that battle.

But despite her self-recriminations she couldn't help but think back to last night, when she carried out the summoning ritual. She had expected to get one servant, a Saber class at that; and while she did get what she wanted, she also got TWO additional servants somehow. When she questioned them as to how all three of them had responded to her summons, they had not been able to give her a truly satisfactory answer, though the working theory was that the Grail system had received an abundance of prana from something.

Despite not fully knowing how she got her extra servants she was quite happy with the team she had gotten; a Saber, it had surprised her (and made her quite smug) when she learned that her Saber was Sir Galahad of Arthurian renown; an Archer, who for some reason had amnesia even though her summoning was perfect; and an Assassin, who declined to share his identity with her for some reason (a thought had crossed her mind that the ninja was someone who had not yet become a hero chronologically, but was in the throne of heroes somehow).

Her thoughts about the past nineteen hours were cutoff when she came upon the sickening site of her friend lying dead in a pool of his own blood. Rin dropped to her knees in shock, intellectually she had known as soon as Naruto was spotted the other team would kill him, but she held out hope that her servants would have been able to save him from that fate.

A gauntleted hand met her shoulder, jolting her from her thoughts; looking up she saw Galahad, with a reassuring look on his face: "Master, you said you specialize in gem spellcraft, in that case it should be possible to channel the stored prana in one to accelerate the healing magic I can vaguely feel trying to save his life."

Rin started, but after concentrating her senses realized that the legendary knight was correct; there WAS something trying to heal Emiya, but it needed a boost to save his life in any reasonable amount of time. Letting out a breath she pulled out one of her older, and thus more filled with prana, gems she started channeling her prana while thinking: "Oh, he owes me an explanation after this…And some new gems equal in value to the amount of prana I channeled into this one."

After the gem was activated, she had her red clad archer turn him over so she could apply it. The silver haired man complied, grumbling as he did so, she thought she saw the servant stiffen slightly when he got a good look at Naruto's face, but that was probably her imagination. After placing the gem near the wound, she was relieved to see the magic that was healing her friend accelerate, nodding her head she decided her next course of action would be to find where those three servants were based out of…and "politely" dissuade their master from targeting the blond ever again.

Five minutes later: After Rin and her team leave to try and track Lancer and his allies

A blue eye cracked open, followed by the other opening. A low growl of annoyance escaped the throat of the blue eyed figure as they became fully conscious: "That's it, no more Mr. Niceguy. Next time I see that Lancer I'm going to break that spear of his over his head; pseudo-deific figure of legend or not!"

With that declaration, our hero sat up, causing Rin's gem to fall off his chest. Blinking as he caught site of it, a smile crept over his face when he realized what that meant: "looks like I'm going to have to give this back to Rin, granted that she'll probably demand some sort of payment to conceal her better nature."

A wry chuckle escaped his lips as the young man stuffed the gemstone pendant into his pocket and headed home.

CHAPTER COMPLETE!

NEXT TIME: The Grail Wars Begins Pt 2: Gae-whatnow

Anyways, review please.

Poll: Choice for final slot: You only get 1 vote. Make it count!

Lancer Artoria [essentially the more mature (physically and emotionally) version of Saber (she would kinda fill an elder sister role to her three others and Mordred)]

Attila/Altera/Etzel (sympathetic character, especially once Naruto finds out about the Fox)

Scathach (because wouldn't it be funny to see Cu's reaction to his teacher being summoned…plus Naruto might be able to make her see that her life DOES hold meaning and death)