There it was again. He felt it once more, this time more noticeable compared to the last. It felt like someone- or something was pulling on his body.

But how was that possible?

He was dead, right?

Yet, he could form coherent thoughts. Or any thoughts at all.

Perhaps he wasn't as dead as he thought. A long sleep maybe?

How much time had past since he was last awake then? He could not tell nor feel anything currently even as he tried to spread his awareness around him.

Maybe… Maybe if he opened his eyes he could see her again. It's all he truly wanted really, to see her one more time and apologize for his mistakes.

More and more memories began to fill his mind, along with that came an abundance of separate information about.. He wasn't quite sure as terms that were being used were ones he hadn't heard of before and couldn't make sense of them.

As more information began to enter his brain, slowly a body began to form in the infinitely expanding white space he was currently in. The tugging surrounding him only increased as he began to regain a measure of senses.

He felt some sort of soft cloth surrounding him as his eyes scrunched up of his newly formed body before his eyelids opened. Deep azure eyes met nothing but white as far as his eyes could see.

He was floating, or at least that is how it felt as didn't meet any sort of resistance beneath his bare feet. Slowly he raised an arm till his right hand was in front of his face. An expression of childlike wonder adored his face as he inspected himself.

This is me? He questioned himself as he stared at the- his lightly tanned skin. Turning his hand around his eyes caught sight of the weird white circle in the middle of his palm. He wiggled his fingers before slowly and with some effort managed to clench his right hand into a fist.

Trailing his eyes down his arm a single golden colored eyebrow rose as met the white colored sleeve of the cloth that covered him. He followed it to see it covered most of his body and stopping somewhere around his knees. He stared down at his bare feet and just like that sandals covered them.

Weird.

''Hello..?'' He opened his mouth and called out.

He wasn't met with a reply. It was to be expected as he found no one aside from himself in this endless white plane.

The tugging sensation on his body persisted and he felt like he was being pulled in half. He tried to fight it but it quickly proved to be futile for he had nothing to hold on to. He was not even sure if he was stationary or moving as there was literally nothing that indicated either.

So, he surrendered. Stop fighting an unwinnable battle.

Allowing himself to be taken by whatever force it was that had been attempting to take him. When he did gave in, he felt something surprisingly soothing surround him. Like the embrace of a mother to one's child as he felt his eyes slowly close again.

Ritsuka breathed calmly as she watched the summon circle in front of her with anticipation. Her hands were clenched into fist and raised in front of her chest as light began to flicker, filling her with hope.

On. Off.

On. Off.

Red. Green. Blue.

That's how the lights continued to act as they flickered on and off.

She couldn't quite contain her eagerness at the prospect of gaining another servant, evident by how she was bouncing on the heels of her shoes. Her last attempts were met with failure and she wasn't going to lie but it had somewhat dampen her mood.

It got even worse when Gudao, her fellow master here in Chaldea with his own servants gotten lucky and summoned Lancelot, one of the knights of the round table of all people.

She was jealous and everyone could see it just by looking at her.

''U-uhm.. sempai?''

''Eeeeek!'' She shrieked and twirled on the balls of her feet. Ah, that's right.. In her excitement she forgot she wasn't alone. Coming face to face with her was Mashu, a young, kind-hearted girl who liked to refer to her as sempai.

Not that she minded as it was nice to have a glasses wearing kouhai like her.

And it wasn't just her kouhai who was in the summoning room with her. Her very first summoned servant was present as well. Her servant was here both to see if she would be successful this time and to act in case the summoned servant proved to be hostile. Say she ends up summoning a Berserker who could potentially end up destroying the room which countless of hours of research have been put in. Something like that would be a disaster and could spell the end of humanity.

Her servant's ruby eyes were staring ahead of her, focused on the very same summoning circle that had brought her here.

She was a woman of unnatural beauty that caught the eye of many, both fellow servant or staff members of Chaldea. Long purple hair, a flawless face with two ruby eyes and her outfit which was a full body suit that made her curvaceous figure stand out even more. What wasn't to like?

Despite this she was still a battle hardened warrior and considered one of the more powerful servants that had been summoned either by Ritsuka or her fellow master.

Her servant currently had her arms crossed beneath her bosom while staring ahead of her. An inexperienced person might find her posture as a sign that she wasn't really worried or on guard but if they were to look closer they would the slight twitch her fingers made, ready to act in a moment's notice.

The flickering lights suddenly stopped. Just like that.

There was nothing. No servants, no anything except for an empty summoning circle greeted them.

The purple haired servant laxed her previously tense muscles at the result of the failure before turning towards her master who had dropped her head as any excitement she had was sucked away.

''Not again..'' Ritsuka muttered with disappointment audible in her voice. There went the precious Saint Quartz she had saved up for hopes of gaining another addition. ''Mashu, Scathach, let's head back.. i guess…'' With her face still looking down, Ritsuka turned around and began walking towards the exit, her servant and kouhai following after her.

She was only able to complete two steps before she sensed a large build-up of mana coming from behind her. And she wasn't the only one as her servant, Scathach got on guard after having summoned her spear from the shadows themselves.

She was completely unaware of the alarm that was going off in the room adjacent to theirs. The one which scientist and technicians were at and overlooking the summoning process and making sure enough energy was distributed throughout the organization.

Lights started flashing again. The same sequence as before but faster until a colorful explosion of mana happened next. It was bright enough Ritsuka had to cover her eyes less she be blinded.

The only one not covering her eyes was Scathach, though even she was affected by its brightness as she tightened the grip on her spear as she couldn't afford to be caught off guard.

When the bright lights died down and Ritsuka lowered her hand a gasp escaped her parted lips as a new person was with her in the room, right on top of the summoning circle.

The summoned person was clearly a male, that much was obvious. His hair was spiky and a shade of blond she hadn't quite seen before. His eyes were shut so she was unable to see the color of his eyes. Ritsuka recognized the garment the person wore to be a kimono of sorts so she assumed the spirit she had summoned came from Japan or at least had close ties with the country.

''Uhm.. h-hello?'' She called out a bit meek, surprising even herself and her servant who raised a single eyebrow before focusing back towards the newcomer.

He hadn't moved a single muscle since he had been summoned. It made him look almost regal as she inspected him.

Meanwhile, Scathach, her servant, was just glad her master didn't end up summoning a Berserker. Yet, despite this newcomer not even moving a single inch, not even having his eyes open her danger senses were on full alert just by being near him.

''Hey! Are you listening!?'' Ritsuka shouted and began marching over towards the servant she had summoned. ''Eep!'' A shrill sound left her mouth as she froze mid step. The reason being the red spear that stopped her from making another step.

''Stay back master. We don't know if he's friendly or not.''

''O-okay.'' Her head moved up and down as she somewhat uncomfortable with those ruby orbs that stared at her for some seconds before she lowered her weapon.

''Mmngh...''

Three pairs of eyes snapped towards the sound and watched as the fingers of Ritsuka's new servant twitched. Slowly his eyes started to open, revealing two deep azure blue eyes as he blinked a couple times to adjust to the brightness of the room he was standing in.

Having adjusted sufficient enough his blue orbs began drifting around before landing on a trio of women that were in the same room as he was.

While her master and Mashu were looking at the summoned servant, or in her master's case waving her hand at him, Scathach was inspecting him more intensely. His pupils had gotten her attention the moment he had looked in their direction, for they weren't round like normal people.

No, his pupils were cross shaped. A thin vertical slit that reminded her very much of an animal with a thicker horizontal bar going right through it. She idly wondered if it affected his vision.. Honestly, if his eyes had been red like hers she would've thought he'd be a certain arrogant archer's twin.

Her thoughts were brought to a halt when she caught the emotions flash across his eyes in the span of a second.

Grief, regret, sadness and confusion. It happened in that order and the emotions didn't disappear as she saw his bright eyes turn dull.

''Where… am i?'' His voice was soft yet soothing and Scathach had no doubt that if she had been anyone else she might've even blushed. A quick glance over at her master and Mashu was proof of that as both sported rosy cheeks.

Ritsuka snapped out of her dazed state and with a sudden boost of speed that came out of nowhere jumped in front of the blond servant who took a step back in response.

''Hiya!'' She chirped, not seeing the black orb that came out of his back and floated behind him. ''Welcome to Chaldea! What's your.. name?'' Scathach and Mashu on the other hand did and took note of how it started to change shape despite him not moving a muscle. Sensing the potential danger towards Ritsuka, Scathach acted first and in a blink of an eye was in front of her master who she pushed back and faced the newcomer as she placed the tip of her spear against his throat.

''Don't move.'' Her ruby eyes stared at his blue ones as his eyes flickered from her face to her spear and back before raising a single eyebrow.

''..Chal..dea?'' The blond repeated slowly as he furrowed his brows together. He didn't even look worried with Scathach who had placed her weapon to his throat. It irked her a bit to be honest, it felt like he wasn't seeing her as a threat when she could pierce his oesophagus and end him with a single thrust of her wrist.

''Yep! That's right!'' Ritsuka nodded from over her servant's shoulder. ''So blondie, might telling me your name and class?''

The blond in question looked at the orange haired girl, unsure how to answer as he didn't understand what she meant by class before new information began to fill his mind, causing him to close his eyes and his face to scrunch up. Once sufficient enough information had entered his mind he reopened his eyes as his sapphire orbs shifted over towards the girl who looked impatiently towards him.

''Naruto Uzumaki, servant of the.. saver class?'' Despite his voice holding little to no emotion, they were able to pick up on the traces of confusion that they held as he spoke of his class.

''Saver?'' Ritsuka repeated, sounding equally as confused with the class as she hadn't heard of it before and neither she or Gudao had summoned someone of that class. ''I have never heard of a class called that. And your name doesn't ring any bells either… What about you Shishou?''

Scathach released a soft sigh at the nickname her master used for her but otherwise kept her gaze on the servant in front of her. ''No, i have not. Neither his class or his name..'' She even tried to form contact with the greater grail so she may know more about him but was met with no answer.

His name sounded of Asian origin but he didn't look like it. If anything she would have assumed he had European origins just from his appearance alone.

''Aww~ So he's a mystery then?'' A certain glint appeared in Ritsuka's eyes.

''Aye.'' A nod.

Like that, the glint in her eye disappeared with a huff as she deflated. ''Boooo! Guess i'll have to ask doctor Romani who should be overlooking the summoning process anyway.'' Ritsuka nodded at her own words.

''Uhm.. Can't you just ask Naruto hims-'' Mashu tried to offer her sempai some advice but was interrupted as the doctor in question entered the room with his eyes on the newcomer.

''Oh my, such an interesting person you have summoned there, Ritsuka. To think a saver of all servants is here… Can't wait to tell Da Vinci about this.'' Romani actually sounded giddy as he circled the blond who merely stood there allowing the man to inspect him.

The small black orb hovering around him was also of interest to Romani who attempted to reach out but as his fingers were about to come in contact with it the orb moved away from him, back to the blond where it sank in his body.

''Don't.'' He warned him. ''You will lose your finger if you touch it.''

''I see, i see. Is it your Noble Phantasm then since you seem to have no issues.''

''...Yes.'' Naruto answered softly as information about what a Noble Phantasm is entered his mind. ''You could say so.''

''Interesting. Still, let's see what your parameters and skills are which might give us more insight on who you are Uzumaki-san.'' Romani had a certain device in his hand Naruto wasn't familiar with as he seemed to touch it a couple times. ''Oh my.'' He muttered which made Ritsuka, Scathach and Mashu curious. ''There's surprisingly little information about you. Either your legend is unknown or something else is at play. My money is on the latter however as you must have done something to be classified as Saver, not to mention that those parameters are most certainly impressive.''

''Well? Don't make me wait!'' Ritsuka being ever so impatient inquired from Romani. She was very curious about her newest servant. The past couple months had been hard on them. First with the betrayal of Lev and the subsequent death of Olga who had been the previous leader of Chaldea.

''Alright, easy Ritsuka. Well.. here they are,'' Naruto listened in as well as he too was curious what ranks he would have. ''Strength: A, Endurance: A+, Agility: A++, Mana: EX, Luck: B. N.P is classified as A to EX though for some reason the name of his Noble Phantasm is hidden..''

As Romani finished, wide eyed looks were sent to Naruto for his parameters were nothing but incredible. Everything was at least A-Rank or higher with the exception of his luck that was B-Rank. Scathach too had her eyes briefly widen when Romani was done as she looked at him in new light.

This man, must've been an absolute monster back when he was alive and more than likely dominated his era. Though it also made her even more curious about which era he had lived in for she herself had lived a long time but never heard of this man. Even Gilgamesh, as annoying she found him but couldn't ignore him for who he was, wasn't comparable to this man.

Ritsuka on the other hand looked like she had hit the jackpot as stars filled her eyes as she looked at her new servant. He more than made up for the past summonings that had resulted in failure and she couldn't wait to show him off to Gudao and the rest of the servants in Chaldea.

''Hey, hey Romani, can we go now or is there something else.'' Ritsuka bounced on her feet as she wanted to show her new servant around.

Romani chuckled at the girl before nodding his head and waving his hand. ''Go ahead, i might send someone for him later to get him properly inducted in the system though.''

''Alright, let's go!'' Skipping over, she grabbed Naruto by his hand, missing the brief flinch at her contact as she dragged him with her out of the room.

Scathach shook her head as she watched her master leave before quickly following after them with Mashu by her side.

Scathach couldn't help but let the corner op her lips curve upwards as she watched her master drag the new servant. She walked a couple of feet behind them and while he had shown no signs so far she was ready to defend her master the moment he would try to attack.

Whether she would end up as victor she didn't know as each of his parameters were above hers. She'd have to rely on getting lucky with her Noble Phantasm and hoping his own wouldn't counter hers as Romani did say his held the rank of A to EX.

Then again, she did look for a being capable of ending her existence. Though that was before she had arrived here.

She had been a lonely soul wandering her castle and ruling over the Land of Shadows all by herself. Having people, other heroic beings surrounding her was a welcome change to her boredom.

Saving humanity was merely a plus though she did wonder when she had been first summoned if she should help or let them perish.

She blamed setanta, her idiotic and battle crazy student for this when she had seen that he was already here for her sudden change. Even if he had failed to complete his task of ending her existence he was still the person she had spent the most time with and was somewhat attached to him. Not in a romantic sense but as a teacher to her student.

''And behind these doors lays the cafeteria. I think around this time there will be a few servants present.'' Ritsuka gestured to the double doors in front of them. She was completely ignoring how the blond was working against her and even trying to escape her grasp.

Despite that however the expression on his face hadn't changed the slightest and Scathach began to wonder what might've happened that caused him to be like this.

Pow!

Ritsuka kicked the door open with one feet before waltzing in like she owned the place and caused the servants present who were either eating or holding small conversations to pause and turn towards them, more specifically the blond they hadn't seen before.

''Hiya everyone!'' Came Ritsuka's exuberant greeting. ''I have returned with success! That's right, the person standing next to me is my new servant.'' She smiled smugly as she tried to look for her fellow master but was unable to find him.

''Hoh? That mongrel over there is your is your servant?'' A certain red eyed archer asked as he looked at both her and the newcomer like they were beneath him.

''Yep! That's right- Wait! What do you mean over there…'' She trailed off as she turned her head to see that her new servant was no longer standing next to her.

No, instead he was dragging his feet over towards the large and wide window that granted a beautiful view of the outside. Yet, it wasn't what he was focused on. No, instead of the beautiful scenery he was presented with his head was tilted upwards as his blue orbs were locked onto the bright sun visible in the clear blue sky.

A wistful smile was present on his face as he reached out with a hand.

One could almost feel the sadness that radiated off of him before Ritsuka walked over towards him. For once she too was surprisingly silent as she could sense the change around him. She stopped once she was next to him. ''Uhm.. are you okay?'' She wasn't quite sure how to act as she remained unsure what was bothering him in the first place.

She let out a small gasp as he turned towards her with a small smile, the first smile of him she had seen as his lips were usually set in a thin line. Along with the smile came a single tear that rolled down his cheek which he didn't even bother to wipe away as it dropped to the ground.

''I don't know.'' He answered with a mirthless chuckle as another tear escaped his eyes. ''I'm going to my room you showed me. Just being here reminds me too much of her.'' With that being said Naruto turned around as he walked out of the cafeteria, passing by Scathach whose eyes briefly reflected worry before it was gone as she caught the tears staining his face.

''Uh…'' Ritsuka uttered as Scathach walked up to her, unsure what just had taken place. Her servant laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

''I doubt it was your fault. While you can be blunt, annoying and more than often unaware when to speak or not it seems he was reminded of something bad. I wonder what it was though…'' She stared up at the radiant sun and felt its warmth course right through her. ''We'll just have to wait until he comes back since i think he went to his room.''

''A-alright.. I really wanted to show him off though..''

Scathach shook her head.

Her master really was something else.

Lying on his bed with his eyes focused on the ceiling Naruto was currently trying his best to clear his mind. Seeing the sun radiant like that after who knows how long.. it brought up painful memories as he could see her face each time he stared at it.

It hurt though..

His heart ached each time he remembered what happened in their last moments together. The confidence she had in him that they would make it out together and how he betrayed that trust.

He missed her.

He missed how goofy and silly she acted even when the situation didn't call for it. She was always so cheerful with him..

He clenched his fist, nails digging in his skin with enough force to draw blood.

He wondered, if they would somehow ever meet again, would she forgive him? Would she still love him like he did her, even now?

Naruto remained unaware of how much time passed as he tried to relive his time with her with eyes closed. Though that didn't stop the tears from escaping as they continued to wet his pillow.

A knock on his door brought him back as he removed the arm he used to cover his face. His eyes were a tad bit red from his crying but aside from that he looked fine.

Stepping out of bed he walked up to the door and unlocked it before opening it and revealing Mashu on the other side. ''Ah.. sempai.'' She was slightly surprised by his appearance but didn't comment further on it.

''Uh… Mashu, correct?'' He got a nod from the pink haired girl. He took note of the small animal she was holding and raised an eyebrow as it somewhat reminded him of an old friend, especially the long ears that seemed out of place but fitting at the same time on its smaller body. ''What brings you here?''

''Uh, well, doctor Romani asked me to bring you to him as he wanted to introduce you to someone. Aside from that he also wanted to speak to you though he didn't tell me about what.''

''I see. Lead the way then.'' Her eyes lit up as he didn't reject the invitation and nodded quickly before turning around. Closing the door behind him he followed after her as she made sure he wasn't lying and actually staying behind.

End Chapter.