Chapter 15

The Magus Named Tohsaka Rin

"Emiya-kun… if I didn't love you so much and weren't recovering from being on the brink of death. I would smash your stupid head in… you idiot."

A delicate hand reached out to caress his face as he slumbered on to the path towards recovery.

"Honestly," she sighs to herself, "I don't know what ticks me off more. The fact that you and Archer both managed to avoid my wrath or that you somehow got yourself in a situation far worse than I could ever imagine."

Her thumb softly rubs over the part of his cheeks where his whisker-like birthmarks should have been. She couldn't help but note the severity of the rebound effects from the over usage of projection magecraft. A fourth of his body was now completely tanned darkly like Archer's with parts of his hair fully white. It was a stark contrast to where he still retained his fair complexion and blonde hair.

Naruto's head automatically responded to Rin's ministration. In his unconscious state he was enjoying the feel of her hand. It caused her to smile softly at his reaction.

"You like that don't you? My silly stupid hero…"

She was enjoying the skin on skin contact with her hand and his cheek. The memories of being with him and Saber in the apartment building in London making their own little pact all came rushing back at that moment. It was barely into their first year of thaumaturgical education in the Clock Tower that Naruto had decided to part ways with the organization in order to travel the world after finding his answer.

It was from there that both she and Saber would follow along as well in his journeys to see the world and all its splendor it had to offer to them.

"Regardless, having fun, suffering, seeing the sights, and eventually having our own happily ever after. That's the future in store for us."

All three of them gathered around together, holding each other tenderly. Herself, Saber, and Naruto. They were like pieces of a puzzle that was finally completed. Naruto represented the heart of the group, Saber as the soul and spirit, and finally herself as the brains. All of them were missing something that the other filled in.

A small tear ebbs its way out of her eye to run down the right side of Rin's face.

She wipes it off with her left hand and glances up at the clock in the room. "Morning already?" Looking down at Naruto, a soft sigh is emitted. "Geez, look at me letting my mind wander like that. I might as well go make breakfast before I have a little rest myself."

Leaning down, she planted a tender kiss on top of his brow. For a moment Rin lingered on top of him before pulling off.

"I miss you Emiya-kun… please… get well soon neh?" Her hand stroked his cheek once more before getting up to head to the living room.

"Just a small breakfast to settle my stomach before I crash," mumbled out Rin.

She was exhausted to the bone after toiling countless hours away in the bedroom healing Emiya Naruto's broken body. The ruby pendant infused with prana over the years had helped immensely, but it wasn't an end all – be all solution. Avalon had the sole rights to that. The only thing was that Saber wasn't there to keep it active so it was forced into a hibernation/passive healing mode.

A hand was brought up to the front of her mouth to stifle a yawn.

"Tired Rin?" A voice calls out from the living room.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that it was Merem in his true form with his left arm attached. He was sitting at one end of the table casually snacking on some fruits while leaning back.

"Of course," she rolled her eyes. "Why don't you try spending almost an entire day trying to bring someone back from the brink of death huh?"

"Heh – well I would've if someone wasn't so adamant in doing it all themselves. If I recall correctly, you actually had the gall to give me the boot." There was a menacing grin on his face that promised retribution. "You're lucky that I like you and Emiya-kun enough to not-"

"What? Enthrall our bodies? Make us your mindless slaves? Disintegrate us?" Her voice was equally bored and tired as she sat down with a plate of toast, jam, and hot tea. "Come on now, surely you can do better than you're usual threats Merem-kun."

"Ehck-!" He choked on a piece of fruit at how casually dismissive she was to him. He, the twentieth ancestor, certifiably ranked as one of the most dangerous beings on the planet was being chided like a child by a human who was barely out of her teens.

"You know? You might be the first ancestor to die from choking on a piece of fruit. Won't that be a story to tell if that happens?"

Merem's fist slammed into his chest and hacked out a tangerine.

"Gross. Don't you have table manners?" She moved her plate out of the way as it landed near her side of the table.

"God!" Crown scratched his head frustratingly like a child. "You sound like Rita whenever she chides me about stupid and inane things about my habits! And I hate Rita!"

An unladylike snort comes out from Rin. "No – let's be real. You hate because she amassed a larger collection of treasures than you and owns a castle."

"W-Well, I got a temple!" he sputtered. "The Temple of Solomon!"

"Which isn't even yours to begin with," she slides in easily. "It wasn't even dedicated to you. You just happened to have come across it and took it for yourself because you thought it looked nice so you enthralled Nebuchadnezzar the Second to sack it."

"…it still counts," he pouts.

Rin gave him a flat and exhausted stare.

A part of her was still in disbelief that an ancestor acted like such a child. Another part of her suspected it was merely an act to disarm and lower people's guards down. Or maybe it really was his personality? Either way, it was polarizing as he could go from deathly serious to deathly comedic.

"Ahem," he coughed into his hand. "Besides all that… while you were healing Emiya-kun, I've been compiling all the information my left arm has been able to gather the past six months and let me tell you. There are some juicy, juicy bits of information I've got stored up in my head… although you look like you're about to pass out Rin. We can always wait until-"

The jeweled magus stubbornly waved his concerns away. She wanted information now. "I've waited for almost half a year Merem. I don't," a yawn interrupts her mid-sentence, "I don't have any more patience left to wait. Just lay it on me."

His tongue audibly clicks. "Alright then… I'll start from the beginning. Whatever you do, don't interrupt me. I want to get through this as quickly as possible."

Rin nodded her head in compliance.

And so a vampire ancestor recounted everything to a jeweled magus.

His liberation of an oppressed coastal trading village.

His befriending of Team Seven and his relationship with Kakashi.

His return to his birthplace followed by his former teacher's request to assist in preparing his team for a promotional trials.

From there on Rin learned of Naruto's rather interesting development with Sasuke. Something about the aforementioned girl left a bad taste in her mouth. The way she looked at Naruto and her felt incredibly unsettling. Eyes filled with both envy and jealousy. Not even Luviagelita Edelfelt looked at her like that. The pure unadulterated enmity gave Rin some cause for concern.

She made a note to watch her back around the Uchiha girl.

By the time Rin refocused back onto the conversation. Merem was giving a rundown of the recent events that developed hours before their arrival at the wall. Rider, Avenger, and Michael Roa Valdamjong launching their attack on the village and leaving a burning village filled with corpses in their wake.

On their ride here the two of them caught the tail end of the events that transpired into a massive golden explosion. A tale tell sign of him activating Excalibur to blast something away into oblivion.

"And that's where you finally come into the picture Rin."

Her fingers came up to massage her temples slowly as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"What? Regretting that maybe you should've taken the offer to rest before having all this information unloaded on you?" He crossed his arms. "Don't go shooting the messenger now."

"In-fact I am regretting to not rest first… This is certainly a lot to take in all at once," she says softly. "It seems like no matter what, the nightmares of the Holy Grail War cease to be put down for good. Here I thought it would be easy to dismantle the system at first… ha – how foolish of me."

There was a despondent look on her face as she stared off into space.

Remembering.

Reminiscing.

Rin softly shook her head to dispel the dower thoughts that were beginning to form in her head. It wouldn't be prudent for her to spiral into such a depressive state. Emiya Naruto already did the majority of it for the both of them. She didn't need to add into it herself.

Merem didn't respond for a few moments. Allowing an uneasy silence to befall the living room.

"You know we'll have to report this to both the Mage's Association and the Holy Church."

"…I know."

A hefty weight settled on Rin's shoulders. This wasn't panning out to how she expected things to go.

It was simple. Go to the other side of the world. Pick Emiya Naruto up whether he went willingly or by her dragging him by his collar and then going back home. That was it. Now with the development of the grail, discovery of Michael, and heroic spirits; it was only a matter of time before the world of magi collided with the world of shinobi.

And at the center of it all was her and Naruto.

The thought alone made her weary for the future. Her shoulders sagged slightly as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"On second thought Merem. I'll be taking my rest. We'll talk some more after I'm not mentally dead on my feet."

"Very well. I presume I have the house then?"

"Mhm," she hummed. "If they aren't already keyed into the bounded field then kick them out. If they're stubborn… well I'm sure you can handle it."

Rin felt like her feet were turned into stone as she laid her dishes into the sink and yawned on her way out to go back to Naruto's room.

"Oh don't you worry about me Rin-chan! I can take care of myself very well," he waved as Rin left his sight.

Coming up to Naruto's room. The door leading into his room was left ajar. Rin narrowed her eyes at it as she distinctly remembered shutting it completely.

"And who do we have in here hmm?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she quietly snuck into the room to catch the perpetrator.

Peering into the dark and quiet room, Rin came across a rather peculiar scene of someone sitting awfully too close for her comfort over a sleeping Naruto. Her tired expression was replaced with irritation and displeasure.

The sight of Uchiha Sasuke hovering over Emiya Naruto rankled her. It pushed several buttons that not even Luviagelita Edelfelt could manage to do.

There was something indiscernible being muttered from the girl as she looked over him.

Sasuke's hand reached out to cup his face, but just before she could Rin announced her presence in the room. "And what do you think you're doing?" Her voice thick with disapproval and aggravation. An ugly scowl was set on her face as Sasuke jerked her hand back.

A mixture of shock and surprise could be seen on the girl's face as their eyes met.

Rin looked down from her nose while tapping her foot onto the tatami mat. Impatiently waiting for Sasuke's answer.

"Well?"

The Uchiha girl schooled her features and returned a glare. "I was just checking up on him."

"Mhm – sure you were," Rin rolled her eyes. "The fact that you were hovering over him like some sort of creep and were about to touch his face for some unknown reason kind of gives it away. Let me make this clear okay?" She leaned forward. "I don't want you around him. Got it?"

"What?!" Sasuke shot up and got into Rin's face. "That's… that's completely unreasonable! I'm his friend!"

Teal eyes narrowed at coal black eyes.

"And I'm his girlfriend," Rin's smirk caused the other girl to clench her first and grind her teeth. "I don't care if that sounds unreasonable to you. Just be glad that I'm allowing you to even stay in the house let alone sleep under the same roof as him in the guest house."

"H-How… how dare you!" seethed Sasuke.

Rin tossed her back nonchalantly.

"I dare because he's mine." Rin shot a parting smile just before she slid the doors shut.

A soft snap, click and the door was locked.

The black haired magus huffed a tired breath before softly glaring at Naruto. "Geez – you sure do know how to find the most peculiar of people Emiya-kun. First Edelfelt, then Caren, and now this Uchiha girl." She softly scratched her head as she laid down next to him on another futon.

"Ah well… you know me… I'm a hedonist through and through. And I would be lying to you if I didn't get a certain amount of pleasure from crushing other girl's hopes and dreams of dating you."

Her hand tenderly cups his face before planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

Naruto visibly reacted and moved his head in her direction unconsciously.

"You missed me too didn't you Emiya-kun?" grinned Rin. "I missed you too so you'll be getting plenty of those when you wake up… but first you'll be getting my fists before any kisses." She audibly yawned into the quiet room. "Time for me to get some sleep… just a short… little… nap…"

A pleasant and satisfied expression present on her face when she finally drifted off to sleep.

Uchiha Sasuke glared hatefully at the door with her Sharingan eyes blazing.

No.

It wasn't the door she was glaring at. It was the person who was behind the door that she was glaring at.

'Tohsaka Rin,' she spat out the name disgustingly in her mind.

Her hands were clenching and unclenching constantly as a myriad of emotions were in turmoil. There was so much flooding in that she didn't know how she wanted to exactly feel or do. Tohsaka Rin had offended her on so many levels that it left her reeling.

Tohsaka Rin dismissed her like she was some nobody. She was an Uchiha. The last heiress of the vaunted clan that could recount their history for hundreds and hundreds of years.

It was unacceptable.

Her hands gripped the handle of her sword to cut down the door. However Rin's threat gave her pause.

She had control over the house's boundary field meaning she had complete control on who stayed, who entered and who left.

Sasuke wanted to scream in anguish and frustration.

It was unfair. Life was ridiculously unfair.

Just when she thought she was heading towards something better that could improve her life. The world decided that that was wrong and sent someone to derail it all.

Hot tears seeped out of her eyes. The palms of her hands came up to rub them away.

She turned her back towards the door and left the room to head towards the living room. She didn't feel like being there anymore.

Sliding open the doors to the living room. Merem greets her with a wave of his hand while holding a cup of tea.

"Hello~! Sasuke…san?" His tone was cheery at first before it descended into bits of concern. His violet eyes peered at her before he nodded his head understandingly. "Ah – I see… you've encountered the spitfire known as Tohsaka Rin eh? My condolences, here come take a seat instead of standing there and moping."

He motioned with his hand for Sasuke to take a seat in front of him.

"I feel like I should apologize first and foremost about Rin. She's uh…" he looked off to the side trying to find the correct words to describe the magus. "She has a very strong and abrasive personality to say the very least."

"No," disagreed Sasuke. "She's a bitch."

"Ghhrk-!" Merem spat his tea back into his cup before looking up at Sasuke and guffawed a bit.

Sasuke blinked owlishly. "What?"

"Haa… look Sasuke," he pointed at her with his free hand, "thank you for that laugh, but I would refrain from actually saying that to her face."

"How come?" She was genuinely confused. To her, Tohsaka Rin didn't look like much in terms of strength and physicality. The girl was, much to her chagrin, too beautiful and gorgeous to have looked like she did any hard work in her life. Her skin looked flawless. Her hair too immaculate. Her hands and nails pristine. Every bit of her was just too damn perfect.

Everything about her aggravated Uchiha Sasuke down to the bone.

"Well… she may not look like it, but Rin is quite the capable individual when it comes down to it. The girl isn't afraid of getting down and dirty if the need arises." He takes a sip from his tea. "Rin embodies the idiom, "If you want something done right, do it yourself" down to a T. Strongly independent, incredibly sharp tongue and wit, super stingy and bossy, and overly protective of what's hers. You… ehh… being in such a rather close association with Emiya-kun pushed all the wrong buttons and that's why Rin came so strongly into you."

One of Sasuke's eyebrows rose up as she gave him a flat stare. How was that supposed to excuse Rin's awful attitude and disposition towards her?

Merem picked up on Sasuke's expression. "Rin's been through a lot these past couple of months. So the sight of another girl, a pretty one nonetheless, being so close to him made you the target of her ire and frustrations. She's usually more receptive and pleasant when it concerns new people."

"She threatened to kick me out," bit out Sasuke.

"What? Did you try kissing him or something?" he scrutinized.

"W-Wha-?! No! No!" her hands waved in denial. "I just… sort reached out to him to see how he was doing is all…"

"Eh – I mean that's basically the same thing."

Sasuke's head simply dropped to the table. The thought of kissing Naruto was extremely pleasant in her mind. In fact the idea of being in a relationship with him was also extremely receptive to her. It was one of the main reasons why she tried confessing to him on top of the wall that day to get her feelings out to him.

But with Rin here it completely derailed everything.

A feeling of anger and sadness welled within her again. A glower look appearing on her face.

"Oh don't look so dower Sasuke-chan." Merem misinterpreted glower with dower. "Once Emiya-kun wakes up from his comatose state he'll reign in Rin… hopefully. He's usually the one that tries to put out the fires that Rin makes in her wake with other women."

That statement improved her mood a little bit.

"Anyways, we should prepare to greet our guest soon. A little frog is hopping on its merry way into our humble abode. He should be here any moment now."

Sasuke turned around the moment the door slid open to reveal Jiraiya. Merem had impeccable senses and timing as she hadn't registered that there was another person within the premises.

"F-Frog?! Why I'll have you know that the correct term is toad!" sputtered the white haired sage. "And who are you calling little you brat! Actually who the hell are you kid!"

Merem's eye twitched at being called a kid and brat. "I'll have you know I've lived for over two millennium you old perverted tadpole!" he replied with indignation clear in his tone. "Call me a kid or a brat one more time I dare you!"

Sasuke's head swiveled back and forth as the two barbed insults and threats to each other.

Jiraiya guffawed as he sat down next to her. "I'm not just any old perverted tadpole though! I'm a super pervert! Get that right kid!"

The dead apostle ancestor palmed his face. "That's not supposed to be a compliment. Emiya-kun was right... you're absolutely unbelievable."

"Unbelievably perverted and great! I'll be sure to stop by my godson to thank him!"

Merem gagged, "Ugh I think you're shaping up to be the first human that'll make me sick."

"Ah… Jiraiya-sama?" Sasuke spoke up nervously. "I… I'm not sure if you know who you're talking to…" Her eyes darting back and forth in worry. She wasn't sure if Jiraiya knew who Merem was or what he was capable of. Naruto had warned her about dead apostle ancestors with their temperament and powers.

"Bah – I know who he is," he waved her off and flashed her a disarming smile. "I read through Kiritsugu's little guidebook, so don't you worry your pretty little face about me." Jiraiya coughed into his hand before speaking again. "Merem Solomon. The twentieth Dead Apostle Ancestor of the Twenty-seven, member of the Holy Church, the collector of treasures and seeker of fortunes. Master of information gathering, espionage, and spying. Did I get it right?

"Pity and here I was hoping to make a flashy introduction," Merem murmured flatly. "And that was mostly it really."

"Ho-ho! Flashy introduction you say? I just so happened to be a master of introductions! Wanna see eh kid?"

"And have both Emiya-kun and Rin tear into me about letting some old toad blow up their living room? Fat chance," scoffed Crown.

"I promise it'll be good!" Jiraiya wiggled his eyebrows. "It'll be the best one you'll have ever seen in your life!"

Merem rolled his eyes. "I assure you… I've see and experienced it all so if you would be so kind as to not show? Anyways," he cuts off with the pleasantries, "what are you doing here? With how recent events have unfolded, I'm certain you're not visiting for pleasure so speak your business."

The smile was quickly wiped off Jiraiya's face and was replaced by a grim and somber look.

"Well… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Sandaime Hokage was killed in action against Oro- I mean Michael." The white haired man corrected himself, evidently too used to calling his former teammate anything else. "Not only that, but the other four Kage were also heavily injured in the fight when they tried assisting Sarutobi-sensei."

He sighed deeply to himself. It was clear that he was greatly saddened by his teacher's death.

"The only caveat to the situation is that old man Sarutobi was able to seal his arms away permanently. So Michael," he spat, "won't be doing much now that he's a cripple."

"Wait, wait! How was it that one person managed to go against five Kage-level opponents? T-That's… that's just crazy!" said Sasuke in absolute disbelief.

A contemplative look settled on Merem's face. "Michael is a rather… strange anomaly even amongst us Apostle Ancestors. A good amount of individuals that comprise our rankings achieved their immortality typically through research and thaumaturgy. A very small, and I stress this as much as possible, group of us achieved our immortality through either a True Ancestor or through Brunestud himself. From what I remember, he achieved his by tricking the last True Ancestor by having her drink his blood and stealing a significant portion of her power as the result."

There was a hint of disgust in his voice.

"I won't bore you with the intricacies and details as it spans almost a thousand years, but in his time before his first reincarnation. Michael's strength was unparalleled compared to everyone else. He trampled his way up through the rankings challenging fools to one-on-one before crushing them and taking their power base as his. It wasn't until the last True Ancestor and the Holy Church that he lost a majority of his powers. So I can't imagine it being too far-fetched that he was able to stave off your leaders and kill at least one of them."

Jiraiya reached out to teapot in the middle of the table to pour himself a cup of tea. "A thousand years," he mulls over the cup before drinking, "I can't even begin to imagine living beyond a hundred. The report from the ANBU that were situated outside of his… barrier?" His eyes deferred to Merem for correction.

"Bounded field most likely. He most likely deployed his reality marble to make sure there were no extra intruders in his fight. He tends to dislike those who butt into his private matters."

"His bounded field blocked any and every attempt to enter the area. When it finally came down, they witnessed what appeared to be the resurrected forms of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage fending off assaults from the Raikage, Tsuchikage, Mizukage, and Kazekage. He used them both to distract everyone else as he made his retreat after losing his arms."

A small pause settled in the dining room for a moment before it was broken by Merem.

"I offer my condolences Jiraiya-san… and my apologies. The problems of our world leaked over to yours and has resulted in tens of thousands of lives being lost simply due to negligence on our part."

Jiraiya held his hand up and shook his head. "No… it's also my fault as well. I had the opportunity to kill Orochimaru at one point in my life, but I had believed he was redeemable and for the longest of times I pursued that in my life. Hopelessly chasing. Hopelessly believing that one day I could save my best friend… ha… I was such a foolhardy idiot back then."

"Mhm… and such is life… is there anything else?"

The toad sage rubbed his chin in thought.

"After the other four Kage recover, they'll be holding a meeting of all five nations soon in the north."

Merem quirked an eyebrow up. "That's rather unheard of… a meeting with all the major powers on this continent? All for what? Just one man?"

"No, there'll be more to discuss once Konoha acquires its next Hokage." He glances over at Sasuke. "It's all I can say for now, but I'm sure you'll know where to look with your little system in place."

"Ah… so you know," a smug grin was directed to Jiraiya. "Color me impressed that you found out."

"Trust me, it takes one to know one," winks Jiraiya.

Throughout the conversation Sasuke was absorbing everything and only chimed in out of disbelief of information more than curiosity.

"So… where's Naruto at? I heard he got banged up pretty bad out on the wall."

"In his bedroom recovering."

"Oh? You don't mind if I check up on him do you?" asked Jiraiya while getting ready to get up.

"Ah, I don't think Rin would like that very much. I'm fairly certain there's a distinct 'Do Not Disturb' sign up in front of the door. You can ask Sasuke-chan here how well that went for her."

"Oooh! A girlfriend?! He never told me about having a girlfriend! And what is this?" His head whipped around towards Sasuke causing her to lean back. "A love triangle?! This is… juicy! Tell me more Merem-san!" In a flash there was a notebook and pen in his hands ready to jot down notes.

Sasuke snatched the notebook out of Jiraiya's hand lightning fast and burnt it into a crisp.

"No to worry!" he fishes out another notebook from inside his clothing. "An author and researcher such as myself is always prepared for inevitable events such as this one. Now we were talking about a love triangle! I need details come on!"

Sasuke's teeth grinded against each other. "It's none of your business." The look she gave to Jiraiya and Merem was one that promised death.

For Merem he merely chuckled at the absurdity of it.

On the other hand, Jiraiya with his rocky experience with woman and their righteous fury made him slowly back off and pockets the notebook and pen away. "Alright, alright no need to give us that look sheesh. In all seriousness though, I actually didn't know he had a girlfriend."

"I didn't either," grumbled Sasuke.

It would have been better to say she had a suspicion of it after there were clues dropped here and there but ignored it. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Well Emiya-kun has always been a very private person," said Merem. "He never did like people prying into his personal life too much until you bugged him about it or became a part of it."

"What can you tell me about this girl?" asks Jiraiya.

"Well what do you know?"

"A part from the fact that some girl came swooping down to save Naruto and announced herself that she was his girlfriend that's all I know." Jiraiya nudged his elbow to Sasuke playfully. "And I can't expect Sasuke-chan here to be a useful source of reliable information. Conflict of interest and all that you know?"

She was not amused at all. "Wipe that grin off or I wipe it off for you."

"See?" he gave a pointed look.

"Why don't we just wait until she wakes up and everyone else gets here first? Rin can do all the talking herself. Speaking of which, where is Kakashi, Anko, and Sakura? Busy I'm guessing?"

Jiraiya snorted out loud. "Ain't that an understatement? Kakashi is off helping Shikaku with establishing order within the village. Anko is well… entertaining the guests over at the Ministry of Intelligence. And as for that pink haired girl Sakura? I think I saw her putting in overtime at the general hospital."

"When do you think they'll be off?"

"With how everything went to hell in a handbasket? Eh – they should be off by the afternoon at the very least. Everyone's operating on twelve or sixteen hour shifts. Kakashi and Anko have been doing over time, and Sakura probably started hers not too long ago."

"Hmm – good enough I suppose." Merem glances over at the clock. "Rin should be up by then and we'll all have a nice and lovely chat. I can only imagine how that's going to go."

Jiraiya nodded his head in agreement.

Sasuke scowled at the prospect instead. An odd feeling bubbled in her stomach that she was not going to like the afternoon conversation.

"Naruto-kun… wake up soon… please…" murmured Sasuke softly to herself.

Rin's eyes slowly fluttered open as someone disturbed her peaceful slumber.

It was the sound of someone groaning in pain softly in the quiet room. There was something wet her hands felt.

"Shit!" cursed Rin. "I overslept! I can't believe I overslept!"

She shot up and threw the covers off of her to rush to the medical aid box to replace the bandages on Naruto's arm.

"I'm so sorry Emiya-kun!" she apologized profusely while patching up his right arm. "Damn it all!"

When she finally finished, Rin let loose a sigh of relief and leaned back on her elbows. "Geez, nice job on oversleeping you idiot," she berated herself. "What time is it? Six o'clock!? Ahhhhgggg! So much for a short little nap! Now my sleep schedule is all messed up! Well… I guess I better clean up and find out what Merem's been up to."

With a short jaunt to the adjacent bathroom. Rin cleaned up in record time and returned to the bedroom to check on Naruto one more time before heading to the dining room.

Standing in front of the dining room door. Her ears picked up a decent amount of voices from the other side.

"How many people did you let in Merem?"

Breathing in deeply, she straightened out her back and held her head high. "Here goes nothing!"

All talk within the room was immediately silenced as she slid the door open.

Everyone that was around the table turned towards her with a questioning gaze except for Merem. He had a smile that irritated her for some odd reason.

"Ah Rin, the sleeping beauty. So glad for you to finally join us! We've all been waiting for you!"

Her head nodded slowly. "Uh-huh..." she made her way to the head of the table and sat down primly.

Several of the faces present at the table were immediately recognizable for her. Everyone except for the white haired man with a giant scroll at his side were on the wall when she informally introduced herself before hurrying off to follow Merem to Naruto's current residence.

Rin directed a poignant glance at Merem. "I'm guessing you're the one that organized this little soiree?"

"Not entirely of course," Crown replied plainly.

"I suppose it was only inevitable," sighed Rin. "I was hoping to do this at another time, but… oh well. A moment if you will while I make room for myself please?"

She took her time to clear some space in front of her by setting aside the various books, documents, and folders strewn about. "Amazing… you actually organized your notes like how I showed you Emiya-kun," murmured Rin.

Her face visibly approved at how he stacked and organized pertinent information from useless filler junk. Her fingers rifled through some of the objects, glancing enough to get an idea before placing them away. There were varying subjects such as taxes, historical documents, personal dissertations, reports, personal notes on thaumaturgy, and scribbles here and there about when to return home to Fuyuki City.

The more she read, the more she was able to discern what went on inside his head. It filled her with relief that even being halfway across the world she was still in his heart and mind.

"There we go," she said as she moved the last book out of the way. Glancing up she saw that Sasuke didn't even try to hide her glare. The pink haired girl next to her had her lips set in a thin line. "You know if you try and glare any harder you might pop a vein in your head?"

A low growl emits from her throat. A retort was on the cusp of her lips, but the masked man to her left was quicker on the uptake.

"So – you're the mystery girlfriend that Merem mentioned a while back." His eye glanced at Sasuke to force her down.

"Ah so you've already heard of me? Then yes, I am that person Merem referred to," answered Rin.

"It's nice to finally meet you. My name is Hatake Kakashi," he introduces himself before looking to the woman to his right to continue. "This is Mitarashi Anko," a purple haired woman, "We used to be Naruto's guardians and teachers before he went off to travel around the world. Next is Haruno Sakura."

A mixture of pain and grief struck her heart, but refrained from visibly showing it. The death of her sister was still a sore subject. The fact that they shared the first names and almost had the same demeanor made her hands tighten.

"Next to her is Uchiha Sasuke… I was informed that the two of you already met earlier today. Is this true?"

Rin smiled, "Correct. We had a pleasant and enlightening conversation this morning."

It was a devious smile that was mired by her sweet and innocent voice.

"Ah," Kakashi coughed into his hand. "And finally we have…"

"Jiraiya," the man's voice cuts in. "Just Jiraiya, no surname." His hand was rubbing his chin as he gave her a scrutinizing look. "Mhmm…"

She blinked. Her eyebrows scrunched together in mild confusion. Was he leering at her?

"Hmm… Mhm."

And suddenly out of nowhere he pulled out two signs bearing the number ten in bright red.

"DAMN NARUTO! YOU SURE KNOW WHERE TO FIND THEM! YOU MY LADY HAVE EARNED A PERFECT SCORE! MY GODSON IS AMAZING! TRULY A GOD AMONGST MERE MORTALS!"

He was checking her out.

Jiraiya was nothing but an enormous pervert.

Rin's eye twitched in annoyance.

"MAN HE HIT THE JACKPOT ALRIGHT! AND I THOUGHT MINATO STRUCK GOLD WITH KUSHINA! HIS SON TRULY WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND! HOT DAMN!" His hand slammed against the table repeatedly to show how proud he was.

As if it couldn't get any worse. He fished out a notepad and pen to which he started scribbling furiously.

"PERFECT LONG DARK HAIR! BEAUTIFUL FACE! A STUNNING FIGURE! OH MAN! MY GODSON HAS BEEN HIDING OUT ON ME! AND THOSE LEGS HOOOO- GHHRRKKK!"

At that point Rin officially had enough. Her form shot up from her seat and smashed her foot into Jiraiya's head repeatedly.

"GAAAHHHH! QUIT STEPPING ON ME WOMAN!"

"Heh – I never realized Emiya-kun had such a lecherous godfather," she said through gritted teeth. With one final stomp, she returned back to her seat with a healthy amount of satisfaction. "With that out of the way… I am Tohsaka Rin. I am a magus just like Naruto who represents the Mage's Association of the Clock Tower branch."

"An association huh? And since you said 'branch' I'm guessing that there are others correct?" pondered Kakashi.

"Correct. The Mage's Association consists of three main branches: the Clock Tower, the Sea of Astray, and Atlas. With of course the Clock Tower being the official main headquarters and administrative body."

Both Kakashi and Anko looked relieved. They were finally starting to get the answers to their questions at long last.

"What's a mage such as yourself doing all the way out here over yonder? You must have traveled what? Half way across the world by now," states Jiraiya. "I've travelled the world little missy and that jump over the pond ain't an easy thing."

One of Rin's delicate eyebrow arched up. "The answer is obvious Jiraiya-san. I came looking for my wayward moronic numbskull that's currently incapacitated in his bedroom. Fortunately I came in just the nick of time to save him from almost dying… again," she says the last part in exasperation. Out of the corner of her eye, Sasuke's eyes narrows ever so slightly at her. Did she push a button again?

"This… isn't the first time he almost died?" speaks up Sakura.

"Hmm… let me think… First there was Lancer, next was with Archer, but I don't think that really counts since well…" Rin trailed off before shaking her head. "The other one for sure was against Louvre right Merem?"

"Yup."

"And one of the most recent would be our most recent fiasco, so all in all it would be around three times now. Yeah – that sounds just about right. He loves to play hooky with death. This one for sure would have been his fourth if I hadn't reached him in time."

She listed it off so casually that the shinobi in the room were aghast.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke was the first to recover, "but I'm very confident that Sakura could've healed him up just as well as you could at the hospital this time around. She's an up and coming healer around these parts so I think you're overinflating yourself here Rin."

She flashed Sasuke a neutral smile and disagreed. "While I have no doubt in Haruno-san's capabilities to physically heal him back up to working order. It's the spiritual aspect that would've left him largely crippled at his core. Thaumaturgical wounds require thaumaturgical healing. It's as simple as that."

"Then we should thank you for your hard work in saving his life once more Tohsaka-san," quickly said Anko. Her eyes glanced at Sasuke and it looked like she was about to send a nasty retort. It would do nothing to drive the conversation further for more information. "Kakashi and I feel like we should be apologizing for how much trouble he gets himself into. We're glad to know that at least someone has been watching his back and acting as his guardian angel."

Rin waved it off. "You don't need to, honestly. Like I said this isn't the first time I've had to pull moron out of a tight spot and I certainly don't expect it to be the last." Her eyes took a quick peek again at Sasuke and received the same reaction as before. It seemed like she was getting upset at how she was referring to him.

"It sounds like you and Naruto have a lot of stories together," said Kakashi.

An unladylike snort comes out of her nose. "You don't even know. I think I've had more than a lifetime's worth of adventure being with him. Come to think of it, it's mostly me warning Emiya-kun to not do something that'll get him hurt. I look away for just one moment and he comes back neck deep in trouble. That man I swear…"

Everyone shares a small laugh, even Sasuke though she quickly tried to hide it. "Yep!" agreed Anko. "That definitely sounds like our Naru-chan!"

A fond expression settles on Rin's face.

The memories of their first meeting in Homurahara Academy to the sunny days of studying in the Clock Tower came fluttering back in her mind. Practicing and learning together. Walking around, seeing the sights and simply enjoying what life had to offer. It was all so serene.

"If you don't mind me asking. How long have you known Naru-chan?" Anko asked.

"Will be about five years now. I first met him when we were just started our first year in Homurahara Academy."

"Homurahara Academy?" parrots Anko.

"Is that a magus school?" Kakashi follows up.

"Nope. Just a plain old mundane academic school. Math, language, science, history, athletics," she lists off. "Every normal thing you can think of in a school pretty much."

A bewildered look is shared among the shinobi at the table.

"Are you serious?" Anko said in disbelief. "I mean… we're talking about normal civilian school right? General education and all that right?"

"Indeed…? Why? What's with all the looks you're giving me?" Rin caught onto the strange looks she was getting. Naruto had informed her at some point that they too had regular schools back in his home, so why the weird stares?

"N-No, it's just the thought of Naruto going to a regular old school for civilians is just… hard to imagine," explained Kakashi. "To go from sitting in a class to learn how to efficiently kill someone six different ways with a kunai to sitting in a classroom learning y equals m x plus b is rather jarring so…" his voice trailed off.

"Then I think you'll be happy to know he was fairly studious in his academics. He consistently received high marks in his grades that he came close to usurping my spot at the top of our year on many occasions."

It was one of the many things that caught her attention about him in the first place.

He was a relatively quiet and unknown student who had transferred in the beginning of the year. He passed his entrance exams into Homurahara Academy with flying marks and quickly asserted himself as the little helper among the teachers and students. By their second year he was widely known in the school as their 'student janitor'.

A smirk wormed its way to Rin's mouth. It never failed to amuse her when she teased Naruto about the nickname.

"That would have made him around… fourteen years old when you first met Naruto right?" Kakashi asked Rin to which she nodded in confirmation. "Meaning realistically he was hopping around the neighboring countries for about a year or so before he left… that crafty, manipulative, shady bastard…"

Rin watched as realization finally dawned upon Kakashi's face.

"He got you too huh Kakashi?" said a bemused Jiraiya. "Don't worry, because he even fooled me and sent me on a wild goose chase all around the continent chasing his ghost. I've always kept tabs on him while I was out in the field. So when old man Sarutobi sent me a little message that my esteemed godson was taking a little jaunt I tried tailing him for… insurance purposes. Make sure he doesn't get himself into too much trouble and bail him out if it gets too hot. You know?"

Jiraiya heaved a mighty chuckle. "I was always apparently one town too late or one whole country behind. He was always ahead of me and the stories the locals shared of some kid playing hero kept getting bigger and bigger the longer I searched. I didn't realize that I was being strung along until I came full circle." He leans onto the table with a grin. "All those people that were talking about him and were singing his name to the high heavens? They were all in on it."

"No way?!" said an incredulous Kakashi.

"Yep!" Jiraiya smacked his hand down on the table causing all the objects to rattle. "You should know how fast information can fly when someone starts rocking the boat. Merchants, traders, and travelers have pretty big mouths when it comes to stuff like that. Naruto here somehow gamed the system and got them to delay how fast the information got circulated around the continent."

"S-So you're saying… that all those years of people talking were just simply rehashing old news?" Kakashi was still in disbelief at the whole thing.

"Pretty much," Jiraiya nodded. "If you still don't believe me then let me ask you this. Remember that whole fiasco up in the Land of Snow with Princess Koyuki that was resolved a 'year ago'?" he brought up his fingers in air quotation marks. "Yeah – try about four years ago. That was his last known location before he disappeared for good and I'll bet my entire lifesavings that a certain grateful princess helped him too."

Rin shared a knowing smirk with Merem from across the table as the two shinobi came to a revelations of some sort.

The Land of Snow was fairly autonomous and routinely stayed out of the affairs of the Great Five. The government was incredibly progressive and maintained contact with the other side of the world for the bulk of their trade. And because of that trade, they were able to acquire technology well beyond some of the means compared to other nations.

Kakashi leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. "Well I'll be damned…"

"Yeah, it wasn't fool proof as there was only a certain amount of time before the well of information ran dry. That's why you experienced that sudden drop off of news pertaining to Naruto. At some point it was bound to stop. I'm honestly impressed that it lasted that long to fool everyone back home."

Anko whistled in amazement. "So Rin-san, would you know why he travelled such great lengths to go across the world to… uh... that place? Or wherever it is?"

"Fuyuki City," Rin filled in for Anko. "As for why? Mmm…"

She internally debated to telling them.

It was one of his closely guarded secrets that took ages for her to pry out of him. The information given to her was built on a foundation of trust and faith to each other. To give it out so willingly would betray that. She didn't have that right to tell them, if anyone it should be Naruto coming forth with it if he so choose to.

So she deflected. "Could be a multitude of things. Honestly sometimes I don't know what goes through that idiot's hard head. You'd have to ask him for a clear answer."

Anko agreed wholeheartedly. "That's very true. Naru-chan can be incredibly thickheaded and silly at times when he wants to be."

"That's putting it lightly," mused Rin. "Sometimes I can't tell whether I'm talking to a brick wall or Naruto."

They all shared a laugh at her joke except for Sasuke and Sakura. The former scowled even more while the latter held a neutral smile.

"So! Rin-chan!" Jiraiya's voice boomed in the house. "I've been meaning to ask you something that I hope you don't mind being answered."

"Sure, it's what I've been doing all evening so far."

From there he adopted a perverted grin and giggled like a madman. "Hehe… so… you and Naruto have known each other for quite some time huh?"

Her eyes narrowed. She didn't like where this was heading, but responded nonetheless. "Yes," she started off slowly, "we've been dating for the past couple of years… why?"

"Hehe," Jiraiya was scribbling furiously into his notepad. "S-So… have… hehe – have you two… done… it?"

"Jiraiya-san," Rin's voice was sickly sweet with a fake smile. "You're a despicably shameless pervert. What Naruto and I do behind closed doors are private." She was five seconds away from punting him through the ceiling.

"Hehe – come on!" he begged for something. "Gimme something to work with on my next book! What's he like? Is he good? Is he a passionate lover? Wait! No! I know your type! That look you're giving me! I know what you are!"

One of Rin's eyes began to twitch uncontrollably.

She knew what he was going to call her.

"You're a!"

Don't you do it!

"A tsun-! HRRRGHKKKAHHHHH!"

Jiraiya sadly never finished as Rin leapt across the table and swiftly kicked him up into the ceiling. His scream cut through the air as he was sent flying off into the upper atmosphere.

Kakashi whistled. "Wow," he said in his usual flat voice. "I think you actually broke Tsunade-sama's record Rin-san."

"That stupid pervert… how dare he call me that…" grumbled Rin. Her stomach soon rumbled audibly in hunger. "Well… would anyone like dinner?"

Merem rolled his eyes. Rin really was a tsundere. Although he wouldn't dare be caught saying that publically.

Rin's first dinner in the Fuyuki-like residence in Konoha was a subdued affair with Kakashi and Anko asking more questions about Naruto's life abroad. She did her best to answer without giving too much away. Making sure to cherry pick her words and carefully select which stories to tell to them.

Currently she was taking her time washing the dishes to mull over the close friends of Naruto.

Jiraiya was certainly a quirky individual. A pervert of the highest order. Quite possibly the most lecherous person she had ever encountered. But he seemed to be a rather jovial person with a hint of altruism. Underneath all of it, he must've cared deeply for Naruto being his wayward godson even though he was absent for a large part of his life.

Above all else, Rin respected that greatly. Having someone in your heart even though they had never met you before or were gone for long periods of time took a lot of conviction.

So for the mean time she would let his perversion slide… for now.

Kakashi and Anko were obviously a couple with how they constantly traveled as a pair. There was an older sibling vibe that came off of them when it concerned Naruto. Not too overbearing nor uncaring. They were genuinely concerned about his life and his health.

Honestly it was adorable to see them play off of each other in their conversation. Both of them had the ability to play instigator and follow up on one another easily. It reminded her of the exchanges she would have with Saber and Naruto.

And lastly there was Sasuke and… Sakura.

Rin let loose a small sigh. "How ironic that they both have oddly colored hair."

Haruno Sakura was almost in a way like Matou Sakura.

They were both exceptionally quiet and reserved. They both kept to themselves, only speaking when spoken to. The way she acted was eerily similar to her deceased sister. If it weren't for the fact that she had a vastly different voice she would have easily mistaken her as her sister.

It would be by her own private admission that she did her best to avoid talking to Sakura.

As much as she tried to hide it. The death of her sister was a sore subject that she would rather much keep away from if she could. Her heart still bled and cried for the purple-haired Sakura.

And last, but not least.

Uchiha Sasuke.

It was as clear as day that the girl had a romantic interest in Naruto.

Drying off the last of the dishes on the counter. She took her time to carefully place the white porcelain plates and cups back in their respective cupboards.

One could say that she had come off a little too strong onto Sasuke.

One could also say that it was needed to know where Sasuke stood at the proverbial totem pole.

All in all until Naruto recovered and woke up it. Things were going to be tense between the two of them. It was only natural that there would be friction. She had merely confronted the issue instead of letting it build up to a tipping point. There was no point to skirting around the obvious contention.

"Ten o'clock. I better go and check up on Emiya-kun." Rin wiped her hands dry before heading to the bedroom.

While walking to the bedroom she finally had the chance to fully take in everything. Even though Merem had already told her earlier today. This residence really was an exact copy of the one in Fuyuki City. Same hallway that overlooked the gardens. Same double rooms with tatami mats. Same garden. Same everything.

The chances of something like this happening was so rare it couldn't have been unintentional.

Arriving at the closed door she softly slid it open.

Rin gasped. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth.

There in the middle of the room was Emiya Naruto propped up on his one good arm. Looking around the room blearily with one eye since half of his face was still bandaged up.

A lone ocean blue eye peered into her teal eyes.

"T…Tohsaka…"

He was awake.

He was conscious.

"Naruto…" her voice tender.

Naruto smiled back with his eye and lips. "T-Tohsaka!"

Rin choked back a sob. "You… you stupid idiot! You're going to reopen your wounds like that! Lay back down moron!"

She rushed over to softly push him back down onto his futon. "Ha… haha – sorry, sorry," he mumbled.

"Stupid Naruto! I did all the work to heal you back up to snuff and this is how you repay me? You better be glad that I love you… idiot!"

All he did was apologize even more. "I said sorry- OW! That hurt!"

"Good! That'll teach you for being so reckless!" chastised Rin.

"You know… you're so beautiful when you're fretting over me," he said. "I missed you so much Tohsaka…"

Her cheeks flushed a bright pink. "Idiot," she mumbled, "don't go around saying stuff like that! And I still haven't forgiven you for leaving me back in Fuyuki City! So don't think you're getting out of this scot-free!"

"Ha – of course… I'll accept my punishment as long as I get a kiss at the end," he said cheekily.

"Idiot!"

He softly chuckled in the room as she pouted while glaring.

It was only fair that Emiya Naruto received the tsuntsun before he got the deredere from Tohsaka Rin.

Author's Note: First things first.

Holy shit. I got an overwhelming response of reviews and whatnot for chapter 14. As in it blew everything else out of the water compared to all my other chapters. A whopping 57 reviews for that chapter alone.

I just want to say that honestly made me shit myself as I realized the fucking grave I dug for myself. If I didn't at least try to make something decent then I had a feeling you all would come and butcher the shit out of me.

And so that's my lame ass excuse for taking a literal month to bring out chapter 15.

So for forgiveness… I made a new story! It's been something that's been bothering the literal hell out of me for the past month or so and that also contributed to the delays to this update. Long story short: I made a Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3rei and RWBY crossover. Go check it out. It's a short four and a half thousand prologue. So I hope y'all like it!

Please don't kill me.

Anyways with this chapter Rin finally makes her appearance. Sasuke and Rin obviously won't get along since there's a conflict of interest between the two. Now there's a fire between them and now it's up to Naruto to put it out… but let's be real that ain't gonna happen any time soon. A little bit of an insight and preparation for the next arc of the story! Woot!

Please leave a review of your thoughts and critiques on the chapter! I hope everyone, both readers and critics, enjoy this week's update! As always I'm grateful for the ones who've taken the time to review and leave a comment on my story! And also thank you all very much for your patience and understanding!

Feel free to message me any questions you might have! Or place it in your review! I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible!

Word count before A/N: 9,325.