I own nothing and no money was made.

Thinking was hard...

How hard it was to focus when your senses were nothing but a blur. Time seemed to hold no meaning to him as he simply flouted listening to a steady beat that he was pretty sure was a heart, though other less comprehensible noises were mixed in.

He had started to piece things together. It was a slow process since his brain was still developing, making it more difficult to think, but he eventually figured out where exactly he was. Then he immediately wished he could forget. After all, most people would not like to find that they had suddenly gone from a full grown adult to an unborn child still in its mother's womb. Disturbing was one way to describe it.

In order to distract himself from thinking about what that meant and the possibilities he was going to have to face in the rapidly nearing future, he spent what little focus he had on his memories, trying to figure out how exactly he had gotten into this mess.

Emiya Shirou. That had been his name before. He had been a magus... or at least he had been an apprentice magus. And he couldn't help but think how the more traditional magi would probably find everything he was going through fascinating, as it showed the differences between the identity of the soul and one's own cognitive limits. His memories of his last life were all in check, but he still found forming a train of logic difficult with his still developing brain. New connections had to be made. He had to reassess all his old memories. Something that he found extremely difficult to do when one had the attention span of a zero year old.

He was already getting away from himself. Shirou was supposed to be thinking of how he got here, not the nature of ideas.

He took a step back to his previous thoughts, his status as a magus.

His magus training had been a shaky one, being that he had pretty much been left alone in it up until the Holy Grail War. It was only then that he gained his first real teacher, Tohsaka Rin. The two of them had gone through a pretty literal interpretation of hell together, and had emerged from it as what Shirou would consider to be pretty close friends. Though they had been the same age, Rin was infinitely better at almost all branches of magecraft and had seen fit to instruct him some from time to time, when she wasn't too busy with her own studies.

Rin studied under Zelretch, one of the few True Magicians, known his control of the Kaleidoscope, or the power to interact with parallel worlds. Yes, that was where things went wrong. Off course. He should have known.

Rin had gotten into her head that she could discover more about the true nature of the Root, the core of all existence, or the Prime Mover as some would call it, by projecting across several hundreds of worlds at the same time, taking in everything that was the same about them while rejecting everything that made them different. After all, all worlds were trying to be like the Root, and only their imperfections should differ from it.

She had roped Shirou into helping her out with the experiment. He was supposed to be her anchor to make sure that she didn't lose herself in the attempt. Seems like rather than anchoring her to their own reality, he had simply been dragged through whatever gateway she had opened with her. Still didn't explain why he was now an unborn baby, but he must have lost his body along the way.

Shirou vaguely wondered why he wasn't more upset about this revelation. Perhaps it is because the chemicals that cause stress were not yet in production in his unborn body. Or maybe he was even more overly optimistic than even Archer thought. More likely it was because he had made peace with himself a long time ago in order so that he could put his life on the line for the greater good.

Frankly, he was just glad he appeared to be getting reincarnated as a human and not a bug. Though his own body was still in that stage of development where it hardly looked like a human baby, he still had access to 'Structural Analysis' the ability to transfer the prana from his own body into something in order to gain insight into its nature. It told him that his mother was human, though that was not the most surprising thing that it told him.

He still had his 27 magic circuits from his past life, and they seemed relatively unchanged by the transfer. The only main difference with them was that they were no longer connected to his eyes and ears, so he would need to work with them a bit in order to regain his ability to reinforce those organs. But right beside those magic circuits were something else. Something that Shirou didn't have a word for.

They were sort of like his circuits, only wider and much more numerous. When he first scanned them, he nearly went into shock, believing that he had somehow grown over three hundred additional high quality circuits. But before he could celebrate, he noticed that the energy inside of them was different.

He still didn't know what exactly it was, but it was different than the Od from his magic circuits. If he compared them, he would say that prana was an element, something that was pure, while this new energy seemed to be a compound of some kind, made up of two different energies. In his mind he was relating prana to iron sand while this new energy was something more akin to salt.

With the wider channels, the energy seemed harder to control, but there was so much of it and it went to virtually every part of his body, even parts where it was completely useless. He experimented with using this new energy to reinforce his body instead of his old Od and found that he could easily do so. This opened up all kinds of possibilities in the future, as he could focus all of his Od into his weapons without having to waste any reinforcing his body, maximizing the effectiveness of his reality marble.

His mother also seemed to have these different circuits.

Shirou wondered if they were a common thing of this world or if they were restricted to a minority of bloodlines, like with the magic of his old world. More than likely, Rin would also have them and be having a field day experimenting with their limits. He'd probably have to find her before she got herself into too much mischief.

She always said that he was always looking for trouble, which was true, but Rin was the one who actively caused trouble, usually for her own amusement or to take advantage of it. He doubted she would stop just because she was a newborn child. If anything that might make it worse. She had always been a little jealous of Illya's super childish appearance allowing the girl to get away with whatever she pleased without even having try that hard.

Though he could hardly search for her at the moment. He would need time. Time to be born and time to get his bearings. Hopefully people were wrong about the horrors of birth.

Sparks flew as a small child held a kunai against a grindstone, sharpening it to a razor's edge.

Most people would cry out in shock to see the four year old boy sitting alone in the large forge house working with dangerous equipment in order to produce weapons, but for Shirou, it was his new way of life.

He still thought of himself as Emiya Shirou. Even after four years the name Ena Kuroshi just didn't feel right. He didn't resent the people who gave him this new life, but they didn't hold the same kind of place in his heart that Kiritsugu did. Though that was hardly fair, since he knew Kiritsugu for much longer.

The Ena family had been a family of blacksmiths that lived in Konoha for a few generations, making their living selling weapons to the ninjas who ran the extremely large city village. They had seemed like nice enough people, and Shirou probably would have gotten along with them very well. Sadly fate was not a kind mistress.

Around a year after his birth, disaster struck. A giant demon that bore a resemblance to a fox with nine tails appeared in the village, killing hundreds.

The Ena family had all been gathered in one place, all the parents, cousins, siblings, uncles and aunts, grandparents, every last one of them was crushed underneath the beast. Shirou himself only survived because of his reinforced body protecting him. On that day, three years ago, he yet again became an orphan.

With no extended family stepping forward to claim him, he had been shipped off to the orphanage after that, but he didn't stay there for long. As soon as he was able to move around independently, he would slip out of the orphanage to return to his family estate, a fair sized complex with eight bedrooms and a disconnected warehouse which acted as a forge. It was less because of any connection to his new blood than it was to the memory of his old life. He supposed he wanted to fill the home with his friends like he did back during the Holy Grail War.

The orphanage was so overcrowded because of the fox demon, that no one noticed the quiet boy's disappearances. He would go to the forge and work with the metal, using the insight proved to him by his Unlimited Blade Works, shaping weapons that he would then sell for a bit of money.

At first, the shopkeeper was horrified that he was doing these things, but shortly after he just accepted it. It was better than what some orphans did in tough times, and the village was always in need of more blacksmiths. Shirou moved out of the orphanage at the age of three, and simply took care of himself.

After sharpening the kunai, he checked the wrap on the grip, and did a quick Structural Analysis in order to make sure there was no problems before placing the finished produce with dozens of others. "Well, there's that order finished." He mumbled to himself as he stood up, stretching a bit. "Should probably start on lunch."

Packing away his tools, Shirou left the forge in order to go back to the man house, washing himself off before reaching for pan and cutting board.

The Village was an interesting place from an architectural standpoint. Several of the larger buildings in the village were built using the Wood type jutsu of the Senju ninja as their base giving them a look that he hadn't seen anywhere in his old life, where as other less important buildings were made with either Earth type jutsu or by normal modern building techniques. So while electricity existed, the world had a much older feel to it.

As Shirou added the cut bits of potato and carrots into his pan to cook alongside the fish, a voice rang out through the house, "Something smells good! Hey kiddo, how much longer till lunch!?" A scarred man said from the door to the room. Even though he was off duty, he still wore his ninja headband and his vest.

"Only a few more minutes, Kibato-san." Shirou called back to him.

This man was not Shirou's house mate of any sort. He was more like a short term renter. Most of the higher ranked ninja that went off on A rank missions could be out for weeks at a time, and would probably be only around and out of the hospital for a day or two a month. As such, keeping their own place of residence was just a pain in the ass.

The Hokage was the one who suggested that Shirou allow these off duty ninja to stay at the Ena house. It was a way of making some more money, gave Shirou some company, and allowed for there to be adults pretty much always checking in on him.

Shirou actually enjoyed having them about, for the most part. Usually the ones who came to him were pleasant enough characters. It was amazing how many of them had cool hobbies and they were always willing to share a few of their stories. There was even an entire branch of ninjas dedicated to the art of field cooking and Shirou was a more than willing student. Though at the moment there was only Kibato Hibaki who was kind of like the perverted uncle that everyone has.

"Going out somewhere, Pinku-chan?" Kibato asked Shirou as he packed together the finished kunai into a wheeled crate. Shirou practically cringed at the nickname. It was one thing that he tried to keep out of his mind at all times, though the ninjas seemed to has spotted it as his weak point.

Ena Kuroshi had been born with bright pink hair. Everyday Shirou cursed his E rank luck. He didn't consider himself to be one of those guys who prides himself on his appearance. He was pretty sure he was fairly unattractive and rough looking in his previous life, but to end up with bright pink hair? It stung something furious as he imaged Archer laughing at him. Besides that his appearance was mostly unchanged, he even had the same golden eyes as before.

"I'm just making the delivery to the Tendou shop." Shirou said, trying to control his reaction to the nickname.

"Really? Make sure you say hey to that Tenten girl while you're over there. That little girl's got it bad for you. Trust me I can tell. And given how she looks just like her mother there is pretty good chance that by the time you're my age..." Shirou didn't listen to the rest, he was already out the door and closed it behind him before he had to hear what exactly Kibato thought he should do to a girl that was young enough to be his daughter. Shirou had a hard time thinking of himself as being four years old. Most people had a hard time believing it.

Besides, he was pretty sure that Tenten viewed him more as extended family. The girl was really nice and cheerful, and very interested in the weaponry Shirou worked with, but that was all. She was too young to have any romantic interests.

The Tendou Shop was not really a shop, not to any civilians anyways, it only ever served ninjas and trainees and was almost entirely subsidized by the central governing body of the Village. It held everything from tents and sleeping bags all the way down to dish ware and throwing knives. Though at heart it was a place for ninjas to get their weapons repaired and replaced after missions.

It was a large building, not really decorated since it didn't need to attract attention, everyone who needed it knew exactly where it was and what it was. Three stores of various storage scrolls that contained nearly everything a ninja could need out on a mission.

Shirou knew how to make the storage scrolls, and had even used a few in secret, but in order to use them, you need chakra control. He was trying to keep the number of people who knew that he could do that to a minimum. Past habits told him that you should not let anyone know the cards in your hand if you can help it. Sure most of the ninjas were alright people, but not all of them. The ANBU were definitely not people to be trusted lightly. Besides, it would be hard to explain where an orphan boy from an entirely civilian family of blacksmiths learned all these things. Give it a few years and he could say he learned it from the ninja who frequented his house, or he could join the academy and say he learned it there. Till then best to keep secrets. People were already questioning where he had learned to shape metal, best not give them any ideas of what he could really do with a sword.

The moment he stepped into the Tendou Shop, pulling along his load, Tenten turned to him. The girl had been practicing throwing blunt kunai at a target set up ten meters away.

"Kuroshi-kun!" She shouted as she dropped the kunai she had been about the throw in order to greet him. Taichi Tenten was your average four year old girl, that is to say absolutely adorable. He brown hair was tied up into two tight buns on either side of her head and her large blue eyes were always full of energy.

"Good afternoon Tenten-chan. I see you're practicing hard." Shirou said, glancing over at the target. So far it seemed like most of her throws were missing, but time and practice would serve her well. It would be another two years before she even entered the academy and six years after that before she would be able to become a gennin, the lowest rank of ninja.

"Ah Kuroshi-kun, you've brought the latest shipment?" Taichi Tendou asked as he looked up from his place out the counter where he was working with a man. The elder Taichi had the same brown hair worn in a spiked ponytail though he didn't have his daughter's high energy.

"Yes Taichi-san." Shirou said, bringing the crate up to rest next to the counter.

"That's great, I'll be right with you once I'm finished with Kakashi here." Tendou said, turning back to the other man and adopting a rather guilty look.

Kakashi was a tall, lean ninja with gray hair that stuck up at an odd angle and a mask over his mouth. His headband was dragged down over his left eyes which really wasn't that uncommon of a sight. Ninjas losing an eye wasn't unheard of, but Shirou got an odd feeling that there was more to it than that.

Shirou could smell the mystical energies including both prana and chakra, and this man's energies had a strange mixture. It was something between an electric charge and a low burning ember, but the scents weren't mixing properly. It was almost as if there were two people there instead of one.

"I'm sorry Kakashi, I know I've tried in the past, but it just can't be done. I can put the pieces back together but it won't truly be whole. If you continue to try to use this, it's going to get you killed." Tendou said forcing his voice to be cold, though it was clear that he was deeply sorry.

"Yeah... I suppose you're right." Kakashi said as he reached out his hand and held up the hilt of a broken blade. His voice was actually a slight surprise. He was younger than he looked, probably only around nineteen. "I don't even know why I still have it... should have thrown the thing away along time ago."

Shirou froze the moment he saw the glint of steel. The Unlimited Blade Works reached out to the broken blade, taking in every aspect of it. He could practically feel the joy coming from his reality marble as well as the sadness.

It was a tantou blade, a fashion of short sword crossed with dagger that was popular in old japan, being used as the equivalent of a tactical dagger from later years. The process for forging the steel was different from any other chakra blade that Shirou had ever seen. And its history... it was on the brink of becoming a Noble Phantasm.

"Hakkō Chakura Tō..." Shirou said, unable to help himself. His reaction earned Kakashi's eye.

"You know of it?" He asked, sounding a little bit surprised.

"The weapon of Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of the Leaf, its name comes from the white streak it leaves behind. Though the name actual misleading as it is a Chakra Blade that leaves a white streak and not a blade that leaves a streak of white chakra. The process of preparing the sand used in making chakra blades was changed in order to mimic the sages' senjutsu techniques of capturing natural energy. It's this energy that produces the white light, and since natural energy works in tangent to normal chakra, it is able to piece other objects that are reinforced by chakra." Shirou said, his mind wrapping itself around the blade. Somewhere deep down the boy knew he shouldn't be talking so much, but he couldn't help it. Even broken, it was a original sword that would have been a legend, not a copy made by the Holy Grail from the Throne of Heroes but an actual legendary weapon. Seeing such things was rare, even for someone like him, and he hadn't seen anything of this quality since his rebirth.

Kakashi's mask slide a bit as his jaw dropped and his visible eye widened considerably. "Oh wow... you know a lot about it. Any particular reason for that?"

"Huh?.. Oh... I..." Shirou stuttered, searching for an excuse. "Well... I admired Hatake Sakumo." He said weakly as he recalled the man's history through the blade. "People say that he was a coward but, he did what he did in order to protect the people. I think he was a hero." Kakashi seemed to stiffen a little at Shirou's words.

Kakashi's eye went back to the broken blade in his hand. "A hero huh..." He mumbled. His voice was so flat that Shirou had a hard time knowing what the man was thinking. But he realized that Kakashi was the son of Hatake Sakumo. He had been given Hakkō Chakura Tō after his father went into a depression and took his own life.

"Can... can I see it?" Shirou asked. He already knew everything there was to know about the broken sword, but he still had a desire to hold it. Kakashi looked back at him before slowly holding out the handle for Shirou to take. He could still feel the power and majesty of the dagger, the strength of the man who had once been considered the equal of the Fourth Hokage. His heart wept at seeing it broken. "Taichi-san is right. This blade is broken at its core. It can't be repaired." He said sadly. He looked up and saw the mixed feelings in Kakashi's eye, the feelings for his father. "But... I could reforge it."

"Kuroshi-kun, that isn't as easy as you might think." Tendou said looking down at the four year old boy. "This isn't your average blade, even master smiths have difficulty with making chakra weapons, and this tantou was a masterwork blade. This isn't like making iron kunai."

"No! Kuroshi-kun can do it!" Tenten shouted, making her presence known. "He's the best in the whole village! The whole world even! If anyone can it's Kuroshi-kun!"

"Sorry buttercup, but that's just it, no one can. Even the original maker could never manage to reproduce another blade like that one, and they were the kind of genius that only comes once every hundred years and dedicated their entire lives to the art." Tendou said, shaking his head as his daughter pouted angrily at him.

Shirou didn't listen to the side commentary. He was only looking at Kakashi, waiting for a reply. The gray haired young man started back at him for a few moments before shrugging. "I don't see the harm in letting you try. I was... just going to throw the thing away anyways." The man lied. He didn't seem to be that good at lying. He picked up the box containing the rest of the pieces and handed them to Shirou whose face lit up as he took them.

"I'll do everything I can to remake it as good as new." Shirou said, not able to contain his excitement. "Your father's blade will be made whole again."

Story isn't all that original, but hopefully I can do it well anyways and bring a new perspective to the table.

Shirou and Rin are going to be a year older than Naruto and his group. So they would be in school with Tenten, Rock Lee and Neji.

Since it is simply the way that Fate works, Rin is going to be the heiress of one of the clans, just like Shirou is always going to end up an orphan. So she is going to be the older sibling of either Hinata, Sasuke, Ino, or perhaps Shikamaru. Right now I'm leaning towards Hinata for reasons that would be spoilers if I said it.

I haven't been writing much recently because I have been using the winter break to try out some new medication in a consequence free environment, and it isn't going very well. I'm probably going to have to start getting off of it.