"Preparing summoning platform. Initiating mana flow. Calibrating output levels."

She stares. Breathes in. Breathes out. This is about all she can do now. The rest is up to the Summoning System, unironically dubbed FATE. Oh and luck too. Luck has become such an important factor in her life nowadays, might as well group it next to things like possibilities and probabilities.

"First stage successful. Attempted breach ongoing. Prepping for second stage."

This is her life now. No more living life as a farm girl in the Japanese countryside. Not like there is a 'Japan' in the first place... they have lost so much and they are banking their all into this; into her and her servants. She will make everything work. She must.

Her lips pursed. The heel of her shoes are seemingly bouncing on their own as they create a tempo that measures her impatience for the startup process. Letting her gaze fall from the summoning platform, she meets gaze with a familiar lavender haired junior. Seeing her smile, it prompts the exact same reaction from her, only less confident and assuring.

Mashu is always there, standing, waiting near the summoning platform in her servant form. She plays an important role in this whole thing.

She just have to prove her that she is worthy of her trust and faith... but her luck has proved otherwise in the past.

It is a mystery how the FATE Summoning System works. Much like its completely unironic counterpart, it can be a – in her own crass words – a bitch to operate. Ask one of their technicians, they should know. It – together with Mashu's shield which is supposed to act as a catalyst – is supposed to summon Servants; Heroic Spirits of all past, present and the future combined.

So far, it has provided satisfactory result. Gifting them with the likes of Arturia, Scathach, Cu Chulain, EMIYA... she should not be complaining, really. But sometimes, sometimes... the machine lives up to its name. Rather than summoning Heroic Spirits that will help them undo the destruction of mankind, nothing but forty one flavors of fuck no were summoned.

...forgive her words, but this whole thing is making her tense.

"Type pattern received, blue. Breach initiated."

That information immediately lifts up all the bad mood and nervousness away from everyone present in the summoning room. A type pattern blue basically guarantees the summoning of a servant. Why blue? Because magi are very particular about colors; that's why.

The mirage clears, a torrent of spiralling blue cascades down into a rain of sparkly azure dust that clouds the summoning platform with an equally bright blue mist.

Scathach and Arturia, who are present in the summoning room, stands ready as per S.O.P.

They may have a confirmed servant summoning, but there is no telling whether it is a neutral or hostile. Consider them to be sentries on standby just in case a Berserker is summoned. The Saber and Lancer duo are standing near the observation floor, which is just an elevated platform at the very back of the summoning room where the master of Chaldea himself and some scientists or technicians are at. Both servants are in their combat attire, each of them just a grip away from their respective weapon.

"Summoning successful. Servant has been successfully summoned."

Ritsuka gulps the lump of air that has been growing in her throat. Ever since the Fuyuki Incident, which is not that long ago mind you, she starts to see surprises in a much dimmer light than usual.

Everyone, servants and humans alike, have their eyes glued at the summoning platform, where the newly summoned servant is standing.

Once the blue mist clears, the first thing they see is orange. Then black. Then red. Then yellow. Finally, blue again. But not necessarily in that order.

Standing on both feet on top of the summoning platform is the figure of a man of a tall height. He is wearing a black colored uniform jacket with the front zipped shut and the right sleeve cuff rolled a quarter way upwards. The orange pants he is wearing has a pouch compartment strapped on the thigh area, with a roll of white bandage wrapped underneath said strap. The sandals he is wearing is unique in a way that it is not meant to look like something one would wear casually. It covers his shin, but not his toes.

He also dons a long, really long, red scarf. Knitted, it seems like. It wraps around his neck almost affectionately. His hair, though short, is spiky. He also has an elastic black headband with a metal plate with a foreign insignia etched into it worn around his forehead. As for his own physical features, there are two additional things that makes him stand out even more.

The whiskers and his eyes.

Not real feline whiskers, probably, but those look pretty real from afar. And as for his eyes, they are self explanatory. They are as blue as the mana that fuels the device that has summoned him. Oh and his right hand, it is wrapped in bandages... not an entirely new thing for Ritsuka to notice, as servants summoned tend to have unique features, but this one draws his attention for some reason.

They see him lift his right hand upwards, only for him to bring it down again, dispelling every mana residue that has been expelled out from the summoning process. His lips stretch, parting to reveal the bright pearly whites he possesses.

"Huh, reminds me of the conference room we used to have... only much bigger."

The servant muses out loud, his unrestrained curiosity for everything around him is displayed for everyone to see as he lets out 'oohs' and 'aahs' while marveling. Then, perhaps remembering and realizing the current situation, he stops whatever he's doing.

"Oh, yeah. I'm Servant Berserker, but you can just call me Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone watches as the summoned Berserker laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his head like an embarrassed, making him look like a very attractive ditz.

"And, eh, which one of you is my master?"

"Hey kid, never thought I'd see you."

When he comes to, he finds himself standing on a field of literal nothingness.

And... the only one with him there is his deceased master, Jiraiya.

It's all blurry to him. His memories come surging in, like an uncontainable flood of water into an empty reserve. There are no dams to slow down the flow, much less stop them from rushing in. He falls to his knees, the pain forcing him to clutch his head in pain and agony.

His fingers curled, nails dig deep into skin, teeth grinding and eyes shut tight to the point of pain...

All of his life's memories come rushing into him in one go, and with it, all of the emotions he has once felt.

Tears escape his eyes, even if they are shut tight. His teeth grit with so much strength from all the anger and fury he has once felt, and his heart soars, reliving all of the joy and happiness he has ever felt in a lifetime. He is a literal mess of feelings, with so many and different type of emotions rushing into him all at once. It comes to a point where he has curled his body into a ball, folding in on himself just to bear with the raging torrent of sadness, joy and pain flooding his being.

"Hey now, it's okay kid."

He feels a large masculine hand being placed on his right shoulder. The owner of the hand helps him up to his knees, slowly. With his face a literal mess of tears, he uses his hand to wipe it as clean as he can.

"E-Ero-sennin... don't tell me I'm..." the boy chokes out, eyes red from having lose too much liquid.

He feels his mentor sigh, but there is no indication or trace of disappointment at all. "Yup kid, you finally stepped into the light." The Legendary Toad Sage smiles, taking in the sight of his apprentice. "Look at you, all grown up and all... life did you good kid, life did you good."

"Y-Yeah, I-I guess so..." He is still trying to contain his tears, keeping his sobbing to a minimum.

Jiraiya smiles fondly. His eyes reflects nothing but pride. This is what it feels like. To see your student grow into such an amazing man, he is reminded by that feeling. There was Nagato, Minato and now, the brat himself, Naruto. The older sage grins, an act reminiscent of him during his lifetime.

"It's good to finally meet you again like this, kid... but I must say, it pains me to see you here in a way."

At the way the statement comes out restrained and remorseful, Naruto raises his head, sniffing out his tears one last time, inquiring, "Huh, what do you mean by that?"

Jiraiya sighs, sitting down on the surface of whatever metaphysical plane they are in currently. "As you can see, we're literally in the middle of nowhere... no, not even nowhere, this is straight up nothing."

Naruto gets the man. Although he is not sure himself, he cannot sense anything. And speaking of sensing...

"Ah, I can't use chakra..." the blonde mutters.

"Well of course you can't, brat. You're dead." The white haired toad sage shakes his head, reminding Naruto of his earlier days when training with him. "I tried to, by the way, the first time I find myself here, but as you've found out, we can't use chakra here. I can't even sense anything by pure instinct alone."

Naruto holds his hand up in front of his master's face. "Wait, you say here... but, where exactly is 'here'?"

The toad sage shrugs his shoulders, drops down, taking a sitting position with his legs crossed. "To be honest, I don't know kid. This is sure as hell not, pun not intended, hell or heaven... heck, I get the gut feeling we're not in Limbo either."

"L-Limbo..." Naruto repeats the word, having remember hearing it several times during his life from Kakashi and Sasuke. "So, we're just stuck here, then?"

Again, his mentor shrugs. The man is wearing the same clothing he is known for, just minus the large scroll and Kabuki makeup. "I guess so. I've done everything. I walked what I counted to be a week worth of trip, I tried shouting and calling for anyone, heck, I even tried hurting myself just to see if I can somehow resurrect myself from pain."

The Seventh Hokage purses his lips, his right fist clenched. Then, he noticed. "Hey..." he raises his right hand. "My hand... it's normal!" he suddenly shouts, prompting a curious response from his mentor.

"Hm? What, you got your hand blasted off or something at some point in your life?"

"Well, yeah, but only my right hand."

Jiraiya blinks, not expecting to be correct. "Oh."

"I... this is my hand." The blonde mutters as he flexes his fingers and arm altogether. "Weird... so dying restores everything?"

"Hey, don't ask me, kid." Jiraiya snorts, while digging into his ear canal using his pinky finger. "Do I look like I own this place or something?"

"Oh don't be like that, Ero-sennin... speaking of which, how long have you been here?"

Jiraiya blinks again. "You know, that's a good question." He scratches his chin, adopting a thinking expression too. "I swear I've counted just to see how much time has passed in seconds, but... it's all hazy and foggy. This place must have a very strong time dilation going on... almost like it's hyperbolic."

"That's... interesting."

Jiraiya is surprised to see his old pupil get what he has said. Well, the boy has grown, he supposes.

"So, anyway, brat." Jiraiya's carefree voice derails the blonde from whatever train of thoughts he had. "You've grown. And judging from your looks you're around... thirty?" The student nods. "Hm, so... finally got to ring that Sakura girl?"

Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

His pupil gives him a delayed reaction. And the reaction is not the one he is expecting to receive either. Naruto laughs, to the point where he has to hold his stomach. Jiraiya can only watch as the same idiot blonde he used to train as a kid laugh much like his younger self, only this time, he's an adult.

His laughter finally ceases, but there is still no hiding the humor and amusement on the Seventh Hokage's face.

"Haaah... I didn't."

Jiraiya raises an eyebrow.

"Instead, I married the love of my life." The blonde's entire demeanor softens, as if he is entering a state of being transformed into a marshmallow. "We had two kids... one boy and one girl. Bolt and Himawari."

The old toad sage watches in silence as Naruto speaks.

"They're a handful, but they're the best things that have ever happened in my life. You would've loved them. Mom and dad too, hehehe..."

Jiraiya's own eyes soften. If only things could have gone differently... if only things were a bit more forgiving... if only he had been strong enough to stop Nagato, he could've seen his other student grow up. Jiraiya made sure to not pass away with regret, although that's a lie in itself.

He regrets a lot of things. The Ame orphans, Minato and Kushina, Orochimaru, Hiruzen... and not being able to be there for his student. He can only imagine the adversity that Naruto has to go through in life, but looking at him now, he cannot say he truly regretted not being there for him.

Kid manages to get a wife and two kids after all, that's almost as good as his dream of becoming-

"Naruto, don't tell me..."

Naruto opens his eyes, seeing the look of expectation and suspense in his mentor's eyes. It takes him a while, but he catches on. Slowly, he grins, turning his face into a fox-like state.

"I don't have them with me, but the hat and haori fits me really well, Ero-sennin!"

And Jiraiya can see that. A blonde, orange wearing Hokage standing on the roof of the Hokage Manor, waving his hand to his people as the crowd cheers his name. All the happiness. All the joy...

...he mentioned something of not trying to regret things earlier, but damn, he'll be lying if he says he doesn't regret not being able to see that scene and be there for him.

Jiraiya closes his eyes, opening them again shortly, gazing at his apprentice with a sense of fulfillment.

"You've come so far, Naruto."

The blonde blinks.

"I'm proud of you."

Elation. Happiness. Joy. Fulfillment.

He remembers reacting poorly upon hearing Jiraiya's death, even as far as to blame Tsunade for letting the old pervert go in the first place. If it isn't for his friends at that time and Iruka, he probably would have changed for the worst.

He feels hot tears threatening to escape once again, but he endures. Instead, a large smirk forms on his face, looking familiarly and fondly bashful.

Jiraiya is happy too . He was right. No. He is right.

He is right to trust on his pupil. He is right to pass on his dream to his pupil. While, surely, it couldn't have all been smooth sailing and easy, in the end, he is right to put faith in him.

"Hey, you hear that?"

At his pupil's sudden question, Jiraiya focuses everything he can to his ears. "No, I'm not hearing anything. Do you?" he asks back, looking at Naruto with uncertainty.

The blonde is now standing, eyes roaming the place with keenness that Jiraiya never knows he has. "Yeah... it's... it's not exactly a sound... more like a... a voice."

"A voice?" Blinking, the older toad sage too stands up, trying to survey their surrounding like his pupil does. "I've been here first and I haven't seen nor hear anything until you arrive. What is it you're hearing, kid?"

"It's a voice." The boy answers his master, almost abruptly. "And it's... calling for help. Can't you hear it?"

Naruto may sound confused, but to Jiraiya, he just sounds paranoid and weird. Sure, their current existential status may be up for debate, but the ears don't lie.

"A voice you say..." Naruto nods. "And it's calling for help?" Again, the Seventh Hokage nods, this time firmer. "Then, kid, you know what to do."

"Huh?"

Jiraiya sits back down, legs crossed while he rests his chin on his palm.

"Answer them."

"What?"

"C'mon, answer them." Jiraiya chuckles, still amused by his pupil's antics even in death. "Someone is asking for help, right? You just gonna ignore them?" He winks.

Naruto, finally getting what his master is implying, slowly returns the smile he has momentarily discarded back on its rightful place; his face. Punching an open palm with his fist, he stares with a newfound determination, almost as if he has never died in the first place.

"Ou!" The blonde grins. "You know I can't."

Jiraiya chuckles, shaking his head at what he is currently seeing.

"Oi, if you're hearing me, I'm here!"

The guy actually starts answering! The older toad sage watches with interest as his pupil starts to cup his palms around his mouth, attempting to amplify his voice so that he can reach out to whoever it is that has been calling him.

"What is it, 'ttebayo!? Are you hurt!? Are you in pain?! Is the world ending?!"

Right there, Jiraiya straight up laughs.

"Oi, Ero-sennin! Don't just laugh your perverted ass off, someone could be in danger right now!"

"Bwahahaha! You never change do you kid! Bwahaha!"

As the master is busy laughing himself to, literal, death, he fails to notice that something, someone, actually replies back!

[Uzumaki Naruto!]

"Oh, someone answered!"

Jiraiya immediately stops laughing, now no longer seated down. Instead,he's on both feet with a heightened alertness muchlike he used to be during his early war days.

[Heed my call Savior of His World! Child of the Prophecy!]

Jiraiya sweats. Whoever this voice is, or whatever it is, knows about Naruto. A lot. Those two titles alone are enough proof that whoever is calling out to Naruto, it, he or she is something or someone above the norms of common men.

[I call upon you! Appear to those who have sought your aid! Help them in their adversity!]

The voice lacks a distinct identifying feature. It is neither a male's, nor a female's, but it manages to convey a clear message that Naruto can feel.

[Answer your summon! The World calls you forth!]

Naruto balls his fists hard. Whoever or whatever is sending him this message, or currently speaking to him, must be desperate from the sound of it.

Turning back, he looks at his master. "Ero-sennin, I-"

"Go."

The Gallant Toad Sage looks at his most prized pupil in the eyes, conveying a message of reassurance through eye contact alone.

Naruto sees this and slowly nods. He closes both eyes, letting one tear drop. He raises his head once again, staring at the empty, white ceiling. As there is no sky, he is unsure of how he is going to ever get out from this place. He is dead in the first place. Is it even possible to answer whoever is calling?

But then, he is given his answer when his body starts to glow. It is not the familiar brilliant orange and gold flaming particles that he is used to conjure whenever he will tap into Kurama's chakra. He can actually feel his body disappearing bit by bit, slowly dispersing into nothingness.

As he is disassembled from his physical state, he looks at his master one last time, seeing him smiling back at him with his thumb pointing towards the heavens.

Jiraiya watches as Naruto disappears right before his eyes. He closes them, exhaling loudly. He may be alone once again, but at least now, it confirms the possibility of some form of interference from an outside power or entity.

"Good luck Naruto. Show them what being a Shinobi is all about."

A master has never been so proud of his student.

"I... I can't seem to understand what you are trying to say, Berserker..."

Currently, seven people are occupying Doctor Romani Archaman's office. Said office is actually just one of the bigger patient room in the facility's medical ward furnished and rearranged to the doctor's liking. It's safe to say that the room is at maximum capacity, with the number of people that are currently in it right now.

"A... A summoned servant that is comes from the outside world?" Ritsuka tries hard to understand what the blonde has meant by that. She is not the only one who is trying to do so. "What does that mean?"

With his back resting on the infirmary's office nearest wall, the newly summoned berserker has already made himself comfortable with the company he has now. Of course, he is not dense enough to not notice the tense atmosphere that has occupied the room. The two women standing near the office's door are making a not-so-subtle effort of covering the exit, despite how relaxed and composed they are looking right now.

His master, the girl with the orange hair and amber eyes, have the remaining pair of females standing close to her too; for protection undoubtedly.

"It'll be hard to explain since I was only supplied the gist of things by whoever called me." Naruto chuckles, looking apologetic for some reason. Right now, he looks completely harmless. Almost making the other servant's effort of being cautious as unnecessary.

"Basically, I used to exist outside whatever law or universe that governs this plane of existence. In fact, it's exactly like that. Being summoned here is like a whole new existence from me. This body, while no different from a normal servant's body that is meant to be able to manifest into the physical world, retains unique properties that can raise several concerns. But we'll get to that later."

"So... basically you come from outside the Root?"

A woman, who Naruto assumes to also be a servant due to the high presence of magical energy within her very being, questions. Several indication of surprise can be observed from the others, although in their own respective ways. The woman asking the question is a black haired beauty, dressed in a manner that makes Naruto think of a particular Era in this world which he has been conveniently supplied the knowledge of.

Her blouse is a very elegant mix of fancy colors like red, purple and showcase hints of gold. He is not very good in describing clothing, much less care about them aside from their universal use of common decency, so he will just have to use his eyes to admire them. Her hair is parted equally, showing him her forehead, which reminds him of a certain pink haired berserker of their own back home. Her eyes can be mistaken as sparkling emeralds with how bright they have to seemingly glow from the thought of getting her question answered.

The tall man wearing a modified form of what seems to be a lab coat goes wide eyed when he hears the suggestion coming out from the woman's mouth. "Da Vinci, that's impossible!"

This man, in all of his currently incredulous glory, strikes Naruto as one of the most important people in this facility. Ignoring the fact that he is some kind of doctor of some sort, Naruto can tell because he saw him earlier in the summoning room as the only one who was standing amidst the other seated technicians and engineers who were at their respective stations at that time.

He is a tall person, Naruto has to admit, and his hair is very reminiscent of a certain someone back at his world, though it is not as pink as hers. Currently, the doctor is showing an exaggerated expression of disbelief and incredulity after hearing the conclusion that the black haired woman has made earlier.

Naruto raises his hand, sensing an argument brewing about.

"In a way, yes. As of being summoned, I have been supplied knowledge regarding this world and several of its properties. But who or whatever supplied me that knowledge only gave me the barest minimum." His shoulder sags visibly as he sighs. "So, I'm sorry if I start to not make any sense while explaining."

He then continues. "But, yes, you can say that I came from outside the Root. We had our own set of governing principles... our 'origins' you can say. And accompanied by those principles is the cycle which kept our world functioning properly." He explains, scratching his chin. "The Cycle of Samsara."

"Samsara..." the orange haired master repeats. "That's Hinduism!" she exclaims, having recognized the term.

The staffs of Chaldea come from multiple and different backgrounds. Ritsuka gets to interact with them in the daily, so she has learned a lot about other cultures. Knowing that the outside world is pretty much devoid of human life form, people will find the need to share information as a way of relief or respite.

Naruto chuckles. "Yes. I'm also as surprised as you are, finding out that you're now summoned into a plane of existence which kind of resembles your old one may be comforting, but it's also a mindblowing experience at the same time. But, for the sake of convenience, let's just assume that our world – this one and mine – are two different things entirely, alright?"

He tilts his head sideways, grinning, reminding Ritsuka of a puppy. Or at least one that has whiskers, blue eyes and well sculpted jaws.

Snapping herself off from the minor delusion, the red faced master straightens herself up.

"But how is it that a resident of another plane of existence was able to be summoned?" The doctor in the room brings up the question that immediately takes place in everyone's mind. "It's... as much as the FATE Summoning System is complicated and mysterious in its own ways, I-I don't think that it's calibrated to call spirits from beyond the Root... but it's capable of doing so anyway, that should be an accomplishment of some sort!"

Naruto chuckles seeing how enthusiastic yet simultaneously concerned the coral color haired doctor has become.

"Perhaps, doctor... perhaps." He nods his head, letting it bob up and down slowly, allowing his neck to rub against the comfortable fabric of his scarf. "But, the bottom line is this: I've been summoned as a Servant to help you guys face whatever sort of crisis you are experiencing currently. And I intend to do what I've signed up for."

The blonde raises his right arm to an eye's level. The arm is wrapped with multiple rolls of white bandages. The blonde berserker begins to roll up his sleeves, revealing that the bandage wraps end just until his elbow joint. Everyone present in the room watches with curious gazes in regards of what he is going to do. Alarm and wariness are still deeply rooted in their senses, but they are not as wary as before, after hearing what the Berserker has said.

He brings out his other hand – the left – and positions it in front of his face, curling down three fingers – the thumb, ring finger and pinkie – while keeping the pointer and middle finger raised. Da Vinci observes the berserker with keen eyes, having recognized what he is doing as something similar to what some monks would do while meditating. However, the only difference is, he is standing.

"Kai."

Ritsuka, being a Japanese, recognizes the language that the berserker has spoken.

The bandages wrapped around the bersker's hands somehow, through the works of some form of force, loosens themselves. The wraps slink off his arm, revealing the state it is in. The coloration of his arm differs from the rest of his skin. It is pale. Almost as if it is not his to begin with. Ritsuka, watching, has to fight back the urge to shiver. His hand is wrinkled and pale, it is not something that someone can really comfortably look at for a long period of time.

"They... did wonders to restore my hand, I'll tell you, but really, with how 'new' I'm feeling after being summoned as a servant, I don't think I'll need this old thing anymore."

Before anyone can question what he is about to do, he grabs a hold of his right arm with his other hand, before nonchalantly rips it off right at the joint, making a skin crawling and spine chilling ripping noise as the flesh is torn apart into a separate appendage.

"W-What are you...?!" Ritsuka recoils, backpedalling in instinct of what she has just witnessed. "Berserker, are you mad?!"

Rather than being in any form of mortal pain or hurt, the scarf wearing man raises his head, blinking his bright blue eyes like a confused owl, "Hm? Oh, the pain receptors for my right arm has been nullified completely master. It didn't hurt at all."

Arturia who is watching can only stare at the fellow blonde with shock etched on her face. "Are you insane, man! To throw away your own arm like that!?" the Once and Future King of Britain yells out in disbelief. She has seen a lot of things in her life, but this is not one of them.

The berserker's look of confusion transforms into that of mild irritation. He walks over to the sick bed placed at one corner of the room, placing it on top of the sheets while he gives the surprised audience a disapproving look.

"Geez, don't you guys trust me at all?" He asks, feeling a little disappointed over the fact that they think he will do something like ripping his arm off without a reason. "I may be a Berserker but even I wouldn't do something like this just for getting a reaction out of you guys."

"Then pray tell what are you doing, berserker." Scathach inquires. While seeing him ripping his own arm off like it is some twig from a tree surprises her, the surprise does not last long after noticing that he has no reaction to the action itself. "Are you going to aid us with only half a hand?"

"Oh, that's a good joke there, miss."

Scathach's left eye lid twitches at being called such a title.

"That hand," he points to the piece of appendage placed on the bed, ",was created from the cells of a distant relative. Back then, I was still recovering from... prana exhaustion, you could say. I was depleted from most of my reserves due to a great war that blew up in my world. Well, I wasn't the only one who was 'magically' depleted, but I was depleted enough to a point where I was barred from doing anything cha-prana related."

"It took you a long time to recover?" Arturia questions, sending him a sketchy glance.

Sensing the aura of doubt that seems to have materialized after the indication of his inability to recover his energy back, Naruto speaks up.

"To be fair, I did went all out back then." The Berserker takes a seat on the bed, with his now detached pale hand just lying on the spot next to him. "I put so much into those moves that they made the entire dang crater a recreational site." He clicks his tongue, looking upset for some reason. "And that was after the whole war settled, I used up a whole lot more in the war itself."

"Wait, so your world was at war?" Mashu, who has been quiet up to this point, finally asks a question that intrigues her. It seems the others are even more intrigued at why the concept of war would intrigue someone like Mashu in the first place.

"Yes."

"What was it like, if you don't mind me asking?" Again, everyone who isn't Naruto is looking at Mashu. It is strange to see the girl so... fixated on someone. A new guy too, moreover.

The blonde berserker hums, answering the spectacled girl after a while, "A mad man wanted to enslave the entire human race under a very powerful illusion. In doing so, not only did he and his conspirators managed to decimate almost a quarter of our military population, they also somehow revived the Progenitor of our world. A goddess. The first person in our world to be able to use... prana as a source to all the ju-magecraft we can perform, essentially."

"A-And you beat her, right?" Ritsuka asks, gulping from the suspense.

Naruto sighs, nods his head as his scarf rubs against his chin from the movement. "We lost a lot of good people. I would say that we won, but all those body counts... they're not just statistics to me." Hollow is his voice. He draws himself back from that door. He cannot afford to let past griefs get into him now.

"The mass grave we had to build was so huge that we had to rename it into a region of its own."

"O-Oh..."

"Maa, but, that doesn't matter anymore." A smile forms on his face, almost forming into a smirk. "What's done is done, even I'm not stubborn enough to try and change that. I'll only be spitting on their dead bodies if I did that."

For some reason, Arturia looks away.

"Ah, and about the arm, don't worry, it won't hinder my performance or anything." He can sense some skeptical glances on him, but decides to not say anything. "I'll do something about it later."

"But... still." The doctor breathes out, wiping a bead of sweat that has form on his forehead. "To think that we summoned someone from outside the Root... this opens up new possibilities!" Romani looks enthusiastic.

"You are right, doctor!" Da Vinci is more or less on the same wavelength as her friend. "This brings out new theories, Romani, we will need to conduct a meeting to discuss this. With berserker too, of course."

Naruto smiled. "Please, call me Naruto, 'ttebayo."

"Ttebayo...?" Mashu tilts her head, placing the tip of her pointer on her lower lip.

While Ritsuka resists the urge to 'SQUEEE' really loud and embrace the girl right there in the room, Naruto chuckles, "Ahaha... it's a verbal tick, kind'a habit of mine." His cheeks are flushed slightly.

"Oh." Mashu giggles. "That is adorable."

"Oh, no, no. You're adorable." The blonde berserker grins toothily, glowing with the radiance of a billion suns. To Mashu, the poor girl becomes the next reddest thing next to a fire truck. Ritsuka swears she sees steam coming out of the girl's ears.

"Hey, hey, no flirting with Mashu, berserker." Da Vinci steps in, spreading her arms in a defensive manner in front of the currently recovering purple haired girl. "You have to, at least, pass the one week mark."

"Huh? But I'm not flirting, though." It comes out in the most honest and sincerest way a person can convey. He is not trying to flirt with her. "I'm just honest."

Ritsuka sighs. "So you're one of those types, huh, Berserker?" She has read enough rom-com manga to know where this is going.

"Hm?" Naruto tilts his head sideways. Ritsuka has to admit. He looks adorable, even though he's probably five or six years older than her. Then, she sees him pout. Oh, perhaps he understands, after all?

"It's not like I'm trying to flirt, master." If he has two arms right now, he will be crossing them in front of his chest. "I just say what's on my mind."

Scathach, having feel left out for not entering the conversation for a while, finally steps in, saying, "Speaking of minds, berserker. How is it that you are not under the influence of Mad Enhancement?"

Everyone looks at him again, curious too.

Naruto blinks. "Eh? Is it that strange for a berserker to be summoned as sane? Aren't there cases like this in the past or something?"

Da Vinci hums, tapping on her knuckles. "You're not wrong. And some of the Berserker servants we have here managed to retain their sanity, to a point, at least." she pauses. "But, it will be reassuring to find out seeing as you're some sort of anomaly to us currently."

"Aw, shucks, that makes me feel special and everything." The blonde chuckles, scratching his left chin with his now one arm.

Everyone can taste his sarcasm, but it is all done in good humor.

They have come to learn that Berserker is somewhat of a mischievous soul. Hopefully it's not as worse as a certain Warlord…

"But to answer your question miss…"

"Scathach."

"...Scathach," He smiles crookedly, looking slightly awry. It's obvious that the revelation is making him uncomfortable, "the Mad Enhancement characteristic doesn't really have any affect on me."

Now that is an interesting piece of information.

"How?" Romani inquires immediately, his words seemingly faster than the movement of his mouth.

Rather than a straight answer and giving a full smile, Naruto chuckles in his trademarked uneasy manner before answering. "Well, let me correct myself. The Mad Enhancement doesn't affect me, it affects… someone else."

"Is it…" Ritsuka's eyes narrow into thoughtful slits. "...is it like Jekyll's case?!" She exclaims. "Can we bring him here?"

"Ah, master, Jekyll is in today's list of servants who are out investigating minor singularities." The female blonde in the room speaks out, reminding the orange haired master. "Should we be concerned of this, berserker?" asks the Saber class.

"Oh, no, no. Not at all." Naruto waves off the worry with his one hand, feeling a little bit silly himself for doing it with only one hand. "Kurama is not a concern. In fact, he's our greatest ally."

"How so?" inquires the young female master while thinking 'who's Kurama?' in her mind.

"It's going to be hard letting him out in here…" He glances around the room, looking sheepish underneath his scarf. "He's a big fella, you see."

"Perfect then." The doctor interjects, looking uncharacteristically excited. "Our next course of event is to have you demonstrate some of your abilities to us, just enough so we can estimate your power levels."

Ritsuka sighs. "Just make sure you don't go all Vegeta on us and shout 'It's over nine thousand!' while breaking a toy visor again, doctor."

"A-Ahahaha… what can I say, Rit-chan? It's very irresistible…"

Naruto chuckles fondly while watching the scene. The people here seems like people he can get along with. Regardless of whether he can get along with them or not, he will still try and help them anyway, it just feels better to see that he's going to be working with people who can smile and still find a good time while facing an adversary that can potentially end their very existence. It reminds him of those brief moments of respite that they would rarely have during the war.

Sighing, the blonde lets the nostalgia out of his system. He raises his left arm, bringing his thumb to his mouth, pressing it to one of his canine teeth with enough force to draw blood.

"What are you doing now, N-Naruto-san?" Mashu asks, garnering the attention of those not observing.

"Oh, this?" He twitches his thumb while some nods. "Just going to store my old arm into a storage seal."

With careful movement, he taints the rest of his finger tips with the blood he has drawn. Using his mouth and teeth, he grips at the fabric of his scarf, taking it off of his neck with a strong jerk of his head. He then begins to skillfully draw out unfamiliar patterns on the side of his neck, an amazing feat as he has no direct view at what he is doing.

"Is that a… rune?" It's no stranger that she is familiar with runes or the runic arts in general. It is a part of her legend, after all. Just like Arturia is known more for wielding her Holy Sword Excalibur, Scathach's proficiency with runes is something that normal people will usually glaze over.

The man who is currently attending to himself confirms Scathach's question.

"In a way, it is. It has similar functions, but in my time, I never really went out of my way to explore this particular art." He blinks, almost showing a sign of epiphany. "Which is ironic, since all of my previous teachers are kind'a familiar with them."

That old pervert never really taught him any legitimate sealing techniques other than the ones that can temporarily suppress Kurama's powers. Kakashi was too much of an all around-er to be able to dumb down the basic fundamental of the sealing arts to him. And Killer B was just… man, as much as he loves his Jinchuriki brother, some of his bars were just lame.

"Okay, that should be enough for a simple array." He mutters to himself.

"What are you doing, if you don't mind me asking?" Da Vinci and Roman have both taken several steps closer just so that they can observe the blonde more properly.

"I'm making a storage seal, like I said earlier. It allows me to store... stuffs."

"Eeeh… so you're going to store your arm… in your neck?" Ritsuka asks, her face twisting to a very unique expression to express her discomfort.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, master." Naruto chuckles, while holding his old arm which is made out of Hashirama's cells. "It's a useful thing. People back in my world would have scrolls or even books with a better sealing design on them just so that they can store mission gear and provisions. It's a very helpful discovery."

"Well when you put it that way…"

"Ah, doctor."

Romani perks up. "Hm?"

"Can you give me a hand?" Naruto grins, holding out his detached arm to the doctor.

"Ahahaha, that's a good one, Naruto-san." The doctor laughs quietly while Da Vinci groans at the bad joke. "Should I hold it around your neck area or something?" The tall man asks, feeling a little bit creeped out at the fact that he is holding another person's detached arm.

"Yeah, that'll do."

While Roman goes and do just that, Naruto brings out his other hand and does the same hand sign he does earlier. The arm being held by Roman disappears in a plume of smoke, much to his surprise and Da Vinci's wonder.

"Whoa, I felt a prana spike there." Ritsuka mumbles. "Was it you, berserker?"

"Yup." the blonde stands up, refitting his scarf around his neck with his one arm. "Need prana to do that, don't worry, it doesn't take a lot since it's only something like one arm." He then joked, "It's not like I'm sealing both of my arms."

"That is interesting…" Da Vinci mumbles after making her observations. "I know of several spells or runes that allows mages to create a small pocket sized closed space that they can use to store their equipment… this is similar yet it's done differently, interesting!"

"Well," Ritsuka clasps both of her palms together, bringing everyone's attention on her, "all the more reason to have Naruto over here show us his skills then!" She fist pumps the air in an energetic impulse. "Off to the Evaluation Room we go!"

And as if it isn't enough, she just has to say it once more,

"I'm really serious about that Vegeta thing, doctor. It was funny the first time, not so much on the fifth or seventh time!"

"Aww c'mon, Rit-chan!"

"So, Arturia, what are your thoughts on the newcomer?"

Chaldea is a large facility. Originally, the founder of Chaldea intends for it to house a large number of staffs and master candidates. It has a lot of sectors and areas which can accommodate human activity as well as provide them with the necessary comfort levels. However, with Lev Lainur's betrayal, everything seems tad too big due to the decreased number of staffs and master candidates.

There were more of them to begin with, but now, there were only a few hundreds of them. Now that may look like a huge figure, but with how busy it can get in the facility, people can really appreciate the extra help. But that is no longer possible since all humans present in Chaldea are pretty much the only remaining surviving humans on planet earth.

Everything seems bigger. The corridors, the halls, the rooms… everything. Arturia and Scathach can openly conduct their conversation even as they walk through the would-be busy corridor, that's how quiet it is.

The Saber class servant allows herself a few seconds worth of thinking. She rather be honest and truthful about things.

"I honestly cannot say anything other than the fact that he is some sort of a mystery." Arturia answers in her normal composed and regal manner. Such is expected of the King of Knights. "He commits to come from outside the Root. That is a sort of feat that even experienced magi would find impossible."

"What if he isn't a magi?"

Arturia blinks. "I never thought about it that way. Perhaps his kind consider themselves differently? But he mentioned prana, surely, there has got to be a connection."

Scathach shrugs her shoulder, the skin tight spandex combat attire she is wearing does justice to her form. "I cannot say, it seems that we will have to hear it from the man himself. But, as long as he is here to help us, I can only care less."

"An ally is always good to have." The saber smiles. "So, will you be there for this evening's training bracket?"

The lancer smiles in return, although a bit more predatory than her blonde companion's smile. "Hmph, I try not to miss the chance of getting some action. You know this, Arturia." Then, she grins. "Speaking of which, Emiya will be there too. Looks like I know why you got excited."

It draws out a rather amusing reaction from the blonde saber. The cowlick which is drooping lifelessly on the crown of her head seems to have been bestowed a life of its own as it stands erect upright like a needle. The King of Knight's eternal youthful face becomes a lovely shade of pink at the mention of a certain red clad archer.

"I-I don't know what you're saying, lancer."

Adorable. Simply adorable.

They continue to exchange words and remarks among each other, failing to notice that they have reached their shared destination.

Chaldea being big is a huge understatement. It is a large establishment, as it has been said previously. The mountain Chaldea is built in stands several thousand meters above sea level tall. The facility is deeply rooted into the mountain, making use of it as the structure of its foundation. Construction was a literal pain in the ass to do with how much work they had to put into making everything work. But that is easily overcome with the combined efforts of modern engineering and magecraft.

This results in Chaldea being the most futuristic and technologically advanced society in the world, even before the world went extinct. With technology that can somehow make magecraft and modern science work together, it has bridged the gap between scientists and magi. However, it doesn't mean that internal issues never happened.

The result of their work, however, has produced a number of useful facilities that keeps everything running. The Summoning Room, the Mission Room, the Med Bay… so on and so forth. Funding has never been an issue, which is why everything is built using a GRAND scale.

Every sectors, sans a few restricted ones, are open to those with clearance. Even the summoned servants are allowed free roam in the facility. They kind of deserve that much free reign, at least. Several notable servants, whose name shall not be named due to their own insistence, thought it is a good idea to re-work the entire mess hall into some sort of tavern-like area.

The place is called, despite its original design, Izumo.

Izumo tavern; the place where spirits descends.

Ritsuka coined the term, and everyone sort of accepts it.

"Oh, Arturia, Scathach. Back from today's summoning session?"

A cheerful voice bounds over to the tavern's entrance.

Both the lancer and saber class servants turn their eyes to see the approaching form of Caster, or in this case, Casko. Tamamo no Mae is her real name, the Kitsune woman from mythology, as well as an Avatar of the Eight Billion Gods, Amaterasu. Right now, she's sporting a large smile as she practically hops her way towards the two. Famous for being one of the few cheerful servants, Tamamo's voice naturally draws out several stares from present males, and females too.

And that's not counting her looks.

The Caster is normally dressed in her own variant of a yukata, colored blue-ish purple with the sleeves detached, showcasing her properly waxed axilla. But today, since she has nothing important to do, she is dressed more casually. A pink and white striped hoodie with the zipper open, showing a lacy red bra is basically the entirety of her upperwear; it also hides the frilly black hot pants she is wearing. But of course, she also wears a pair of thigh high socks, making for an absolute territory in between the socks and pants. The shoes she is wearing adds her height by at least few centimeters, as the soles are quite thick. Her hair is tied to a pair of low twintails with purple scrunchies, resting on her shoulders. Her foxy appendages are on full display; a pair of irresistible fox ears and a bushy fox tail that also reacts depending on her mood.

"Ah, caster." Arturia smiles, greeting the fox woman. "Yes, we've returned from the summoning session."

"So, so, how's the newcomer?" The kitsune servant asks, a bit too enthusiastically. She's just interested in the idea of having more people help out around the tavern. "Is he or she friendly?"

It has been Chaldea's misfortune to have had aggressive summonings in the past. Everything was thankfully manageable at the end of the day, but it still takes time for those servants to warm up with their new company.

"Friendly, definitely." Scathach replies as the three women walks to a nearby table to get seated. "But it has been established by all of us present during the summoning that he is a mystery."

"Hm?" The Caster class servant tilts her head, humming. "What do you mean by that?"

Arturia shakes her head, dematerializing her combat attire for her casual one. A white blouse with a blue ribbon tied around the collar and a matching blue skirt with a pair of thigh highs and boots.

"You'll see him later anyway, Tamamo." The fox woman pouts at being left hanging, causing both the lancer and saber to chuckle at her reaction. "Anyway, we could use several drinks here. God knows Scathach needs it for later's training session."

"Why don't you bring out an entire cake or two for Arturia too while you're at it, Caster?"

Now it's Tamamo's turn to chuckle upon seeing the interaction between the two senior members of Chaldea's servant division. "Alright, alright, just keep it friendly now you two! Ah, Arturia, Emiya says that he wants to talk to you after you're done with accompanying the master, why not go to him now? He's at the bar."

The long haired lancer smiles, knowing that she has managed to get the last laugh. And she does laugh. It's hard not to when you see the King of Knight turn as red as ground cherry at the mentioning of her beloved Archer, after all.

I don't know much about F/GO's setting, or just Nasu's lore in general. And I know I kind of ended it unexpectedly but, shit man, this was the aborted baby resulted from both stress and procrastination.

Also,

THIS IS ONLY A ONE-SHOT!

THE CHANCES OF ME WRITING ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR THIS WILL BE ONE IN A MILLIONTH!