Once Illya and the red headed chick announced their presence, things began to move very fast for Shirou. Sakura instantly righted herself, and then all of them were dodging shadows as they engulfed the courtyard. The girls were able to dodge them relatively easily, but he took a swipe to the side that took the breath out of him for a moment and made him see spots momentarily.

When he came back to his senses, Sakura was once more walking toward the center of the courtyard, a snarl of anger gracing her features.

"A user of True Magic, just what we needed. You should have stayed out of this, Blue."

The red head (holy shit that was the Blue) merely smirked condescendingly at Sakura.

"Sorry kid, but this kind of thing is exactly my type of jam."

She punctuated that by slamming her fist into her palm, the strike echoing throughout the courtyard. Sakura merely narrowed her eyes and a lightning fast shadow extended, which the Blue casually knocked away.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that if you want to hit me."

All of the other Masters looked incredulously at the woman, even Sakura seemed slightly taken aback at the bold declaration.

"Well, if you insist."

Then there was no time to think. Shirou was dodging by a hair's breadth each time. He knew he might be the weakest combatant there, but he needed to be able to reach his friend no matter what. He needed to prove to himself that his ideals weren't just words.

Right after he figured out how to actually deflect these shadows better than merely reinforcing himself and hoping for the best.

He noticed Tohsaka weaving through the attacks effortlessly, while Illya countered with her own shimmering familiars. The Blue on the other hand was using Shirou's own methods, sheer brute force. It seemed to be working for her, and judging by the smile slowly spreading across her face she was doing just fine.

"C'mon kid, this isn't even a challenge! Are you supposed to be an Eater of Servants or what?"

Apparently that was one taunt too far for the Tohsaka heir.

"Would you stop trying to antagonize her! It's already hard enough to dodge!"

The Blue actually blinked at that, but before she could say anything, Illya piped up from her own defensive position.

"Much as I am loath to agree with an enemy, I feel as though she has a point."

The Blue frowned indignantly at being ganged up on, but Shirou wasn't going to say anything. He valued his life a bit too much to be mouthing off to a user of a True Magic, but he agreed with the sentiment of the others.

"Everybody's a critic. Fine, it was feeling a bit too easy anyway."

Her statement was then punctuated by a massive movement of mana flowing throughout the courtyard. It felt as though Shirou had been punched in the gut. He looked at the others and saw that they were in a similar state. Tohasaka was breathing hard, while the shimmering familiars of Illya had collapsed into themselves. Sakura was also affected, although she was merely panting and a look of consternation was crossing her face.

"What did you just do?"

The Blue smiled in the face of Sakura's threatening tone. She seemed quite proud of herself.

"Neat, that worked better than I thought. Disrupting the time of the mana made all of our od go out of whack."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at that, but she had no time to really digest what was just revealed as the Blue was suddenly in front of her with a fist pulled back for a haymaker.

Right before her fist connected, Shirou noticed that a sliver of shadow formed in between the punch and Sakura, but then his junior was flying through the courtyard. It was still all for naught though, as shadows converged onto the girl and cushioned her fall.

However, the Blue gave her no quarter as she blurred over to Sakura and tried to deliver a devastating looking axe kick, which Sakura diverted with a shadow that then spiked out at the Blue in a counter attack.

The red head dodged easily and jumped back as more shadows erupted from the ground, clicking her tongue as she landed.

"Damn, it didn't affect her as long as I wanted it to…"

Illya was glaring daggers at the woman as she responded in between huffing for breath.

"Are all your battles this stupid?"

The woman merely grinned savagely in response to her question.

"You should see how I am when I meet my sister."

Shirou felt a chill rage up his spine at that answer and saw that the others looked as though they had the same response.

"I'd rather not."

Apparently Illya was getting pretty good at deadpanning ridiculous statements. Shirou almost admired her unflappable nature in the face of a True Magic user. Shame that she decided to show it off as they were all fighting for their lives against his junior.

"In any case, do you have any idea how to actually stop her? Preferably without taking us out of the battle this time."

The Blue shrugged at that question, but Shirou had the sinking feeling that she was beginning to get a bit impatient. Which would probably be a bad thing for everyone's health. Shirou desperately needed to think of some way to turn the tides of this battle, but for some reason all he could think of was Archer and the twin blades that that Servant wielded with ease.

Well that was completely unhelpful at the moment, even if there was a curious itch within his brain as he thought of them.

"Enough."

The authoritative ice in Sakura's voice almost made Shirou freeze in uncertainty. He had never heard her speak like that before and it was more unnerving than he had thought it would be. Sakura then raised her hand and a Command Spell glowed with ethereal light.

"Rider! To me!"

A flash of crimson and the purple haired Servant was kneeling in front of Sakura, her weapons raised defensively in front of her. Shirou's sinking feeling now became a swooping one as if he had just dove off a cliff. The Blue summed up everyone's feelings nicely he thought.

"Well, shit."

Saber was staring in dumbfounded astonishment at where her blade had just passed through empty air. A second before there had been a Servant bringing up a defense before disappearing in a flash of light. Cursing internally she spun around and brought her blade to bear, but there was nothing there either. She must have been called back to her Master.

Who last she had known was in a courtyard fighting the other Masters of the War. This time Saber cursed externally. She was supposed to have a decent Luck stat, but apparently that was worthless. She then proceeded to tear out of the clearing that she had been fighting in. Luckily she was able to sense her connection to Shirou so she would be able to eventually make it to the battle.

She just had to believe that they could hold out until she made it there.

Archer was cursing every deity he could think of, and throwing in others he probably couldn't for good measure.

He wasn't sure what possessed him to try and challenge the King of Heroes when he wasn't being handicapped by Sakura's malevolence, but he was regretting it with all his being now. They had barely been hanging on when there had been multiple Servants versus just this one. Well, he supposed it was time to stop holding back if he wanted any chance of actually returning to his Master.

"I am the bone of my sword."

His aria echoed throughout their battlefield and the King of Heroes cocked his head in condescending inquisition.

"Oho, the mongrel thinks he can actually fight me on par with the likes of the Toad Sage or others. How quaint, faker."

Archer merely ignored him as Noble Phantasms began flying and exploding between the two of them. He just needed to concentrate on being able to stall his opponent as long as possible. He might even be able to win, if he was lucky.

Gilgamesh scowled as he disintegrated a Noble Phantasm that seemed to get too close to him.

"You had best impress me, faker. Otherwise there is no point to this endeavor."

Archer smirked slyly at the King of Heroes at that declaration.

"Oh, I aim to impress, mighty King of Heroes."

Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes at the mocking tone of Archer's voice, but Archer made sure to exude only confidence as he continued his aria.

"A mocking jester of a faker then. I suppose I should just take you out like the rabble that you are, but I have been feeling rather pent up with frustration as of late. Come then!"

Gilgamesh uncrossed his arms and dozens of golden portals erupted into existence behind him.

"If you would truly challenge me, show me something worthy of a challenge! But know that if I do not agree with what I see, you will fall to my hand."

Archer gave a mocking bow in return to Gilgamesh's command.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Only the best."

He then concentrated and finished his spell.

"So as I pray, Unlimited Bladeworks."

His aria finished, Archer let his being overlap the world with a circle of fire, dragging in the King of Heroes as he did so.

Gilgamesh took a moment to look around Archer's completed Reality Marble, but Archer knew that he needed to act fast if he wanted to actually be able to counter the Gates of Babylon.

As various weapons emerged from the Gates, Archer was able to counter them instantly with his own abilities. He then rushed forward and got in close to Gilgamesh, whose eyes widened as Archer appeared in front of him.

"Mongrel!"

Archer ignored the angered tone and slashed at the King of Heroes with a nameless blade, but he was able to smack it away with a gauntleted forearm. He followed with a kick, but the golden Servant merely raised a knee and Archer winced. It felt as though he had kicked a steel wall as hard as he could.

Damn it, it looked as if the King of Heroes was actually going to lean in to some of his physical prowess. The Servant almost never did that, but it was always a bitch to deal with when he did. Then the two Servants began exchanging a flurry of blows as Noble Phantasms exploded all around them.

"Not bad for a faker."

Archer merely grunted as he was blasted back by a well placed palm strike from the King of Heroes. Archer knew that the man was more than his Gate of Babylon, but the martial prowess he was showing at the moment was ridiculous. He had never before shown such interest in fighting during his various repeats of this War, even when the whimsy for hand to hand did strike him, it was never this intense.

Archer really didn't want to have to try and use Excalibur again, but he might have no choice. Even if he had to give it his all he would need to stop the King of Heroes. If the man truly became serious he could wipe Fuyuki off the map and that was something no one wanted.

"I'm waiting to be entertained, faker. My battle with that monstrous beast was much more entertaining than your little faking tricks. Show me something to actually challenge me!"

Archer rolled his eyes internally even as he put forward a smirk of confidence. This man was all about grandstanding even when he was taking things more seriously. He supposed he would have to become more serious in response.

"Very well then. Let's see if you have enough weapons, King of Heroes!"

With that declaration Archer summoned a tsunami of steel, all of which were tearing toward the enemy Servant. He enjoyed the widening eyes even as the sky became covered in golden portals. Explosions rocked through the inside of his Reality Marble, and Archer used that time to call Excalibur to his hand.

He took a moment to breathe in and out. If he used this once more, he might not make it through the fight. However, that was a chance he had to take if he wanted to defeat the King of Heroes. Even if he was sarcastic and dismissive of the man, there was no denying the sheer amount of power he could bring to bear. Better to end the threat here than to have it erupt in their faces at the worst possible moment.

As the explosions ended and the dust began to dissipate, Archer felt a sinking sensation in his stomach as the golden clad Servant strode out of the smoke, utterly unharmed. He also had in his hand something that Archer was hoping never to see.

Ea's inhuman essence seemed to fill his Reality Marble, even as he began to call on the power of Excalibur. Golden motes of light danced around the area, beginning to coalesce into the blade that he held in his hand. Unfortunately, the red of Ea began to fill the space as well, and Archer knew that this battle might be lost.

Sighing as he felt the pure essence of the King of Heroes' personal Noble Phantasm countering Excalibur's grandeur, he couldn't help but give a small chuckle.

"Well, it seems that he was a greater foe than I had thought. I suppose I'll have to make sure to be even warier the next time we meet."

Archer then frowned in determination. If he was going to be taken out of the War here by the King of Heroes, then he was going to make it hurt. There would be no second chances here, only his own determination facing off against one of the greatest Heroes in all of history.

The battlefield fell silent as the two opponents locked eyes for one more time.

"Ex-"

"Enuma-"

Both energies built up into the blades, a golden hue and a red energy compacted to the two Phantasms, waiting for the final push.

"calibur!"

"Elish!"

Both energies raced toward one another as both combatants swung their respective blades. Red and gold clashed in the middle of the two as light erupted from the blast, drowning out all sight in the area.

Assassin, against all odds, was barely keeping ahead of the Servant he was facing. The man's dexterity and speed were fairly unbelievable to the former Hokage. The only other time he had truly felt this pressured might have been when he was facing the soon to be Raikage. Every attack was counterattacked by a hair, even when he was able to land hits, they were always barely off so that they weren't as effective. He supposed that this was truly what Heroes throughout history were capable of when put to the test.

Indeed Lancer had been almost able to get a few hits of his own on Assassin as they were trading blows, which had been a novel experience. He couldn't remember the last time that someone had been able to get that close to getting a clean hit on him.

He was also feeling a little distracted by the sense that not everything was going according to plan with the courtyard where he had left the Masters.

Is there a problem there, Master?

His communication went out as he once more dodged the lance by a hair's breadth and he retaliated by tossing a kunai to try to catch the blue clad Servant off guard. The man merely deflected the projectile hamrlessly away, but there was never anything harmless about what Assassin threw. With a thought he was behind the Servant of the Lance and thrusting forward a Rasengan, only for the man to slide to the right slightly and bring the shaft of his spear on Assassin's outstretched arm.

With a cry, Assassin retreated once more. Damn, the thing might actually have been broken by that attack, and it was the first clean hit that either of them had really got on each other.

Also I might need a quick heal, please.

Assassin grimaced as his Master responded.

God damn it, I'm a bit busy here!

However, for all that she complained, he felt his arm set back into place automatically as if the injury had never happened. Just in time for him to bring it up and deflect a kick aimed his way. Utilizing Lancer's momentum, he turned the deflection into a grab and threw the man to give him some space. He merely planted his spear into the ground as he was airborne, making the ground erupt as Assassin began to pursue him.

Cursing internally, Assassin flashed to a discarded kunai to put some space between him and Lancer. However, this looked like it might be a mistake as Lancer took a very familiar stance and cursed energy started to build up throughout his frame.

"Gae…"

Right before Lancer could finish calling his Noble Phantasm, Assassin flashed to the front of the man, slamming a Rasnegan into him and sending him flying. He felt a grim sort of satisfaction at finally landing a direct hit on the damn elusive Servant of the Lance. The fact that he didn't get stabbed by a spear that disrupted causality was just a bonus.

Unfortunately, Lancer was able to land on his feet. The man was panting, but the wound that he took from the Rasengan already seemed to be healing rapidly. Well that was a bit of an annoyance, but not one that Assassin was too worried about. Now that he had hit him once he would be able to hit him again.

I'll be there as soon as I'm done dealing with this dogged Servant.

He felt a smattering of amusement through the connection from his Master at that.

Well, he is known as the Hound of Ulster. I suppose there must be a reason for that.

Assassin groaned internally as he ducked under another spear thrust. Lancer had erupted forward during his back and forth.

That was terrible and you should feel bad.

He then tried an upward palm strike, but Lancer leaned back and delivered a kick that rattled him for a moment.

I don't want to hear that from the person whose naming sense is so skewed in the wrong direction it's laughable.

Assassin recovered with a backflip and flashed to a discarded kunai to put some space between him and his opponent. He was beginning to get a bit frustrated at the stalemate that the two of them seemed to be in. Maybe it was time for something a bit more… unconventional.

He flashed through a multitude of hand signs, and drew a bit on the power of his Reality Marble for just an instant. With a thought, dozens of tri-pronged kunai were being flung toward Lancer, who began to deflect them all with a twirl of his spear.

This worked in Assassin's favor though and he began to blitz flash all over the raining kunai. Eventually he flashed to above Lancer in his blind spot and formed a Rasengan. However, the blue clad Servant once again proved his preternatural senses and crashed the shaft of his spear on Assassin's wrist, causing him to cry out in pain as he heard a thundering crack from the hit.

With a thought he was once more at a kunai that had a bit of breathing room.

"I have to say, you are really annoying to fight."

Although Lancer hadn't been articulating anything throughout the entire fight, Assassin still felt as though the Servant was radiating a certain smug superiority in the face of Assassin's kunai. Assassin was also beginning to feel his own prana reserves dwindling in the face of the running fights that he had been participating in.

"Well, I suppose it's time for one more no holds barred trick. Let's see if you can dodge this one, Lancer!"

With his piece said, Assassin then smiled and popped into white smoke, leaving Lancer looking confused for all of a second, before his eyes widened as the various kunai littering the battlefield popped into smoke as well, surrounding him in Assassin's.

Lancer merely widened his stance and thrust his spear toward the ground.

"Gae…!"

However, before he could complete his Noble Phantasm, the Assassins all cried out and rushed him, various of them pulling kunai and activating a Rasengan as they did. Lancer brought the shaft of his spear once more down on an Assassin as it approached him, but Assassin noted that his eyes widened as the spear passed right through the Servant.

Before he could do anything else, Assassin landed a devastating Rasengan to Lancer's exposed side, but he wasn't done with his offensive yet. With a flick of the wrist Assassin produced a tri pronged kunai that had been infused with wind and slashed at the Servant of the Lance.

Assassin experienced grim satisfaction as his kunai bit into the Servant's neck, and with one more flick of the wrist, he severed the man's head.

For a moment there was a pause before a spurt of blood came from the decapitated Servant's neck, some of which flecked onto Assassin's face. Another moment later Assassin watched as the man began to disappear in motes of light, he thought Lancer's might have had a small smile on his face, before both head and body vanished completely leaving Assassin standing alone in the quiet night.

With a small grin of his own, the Fourth Hokage straightened from his final attack.

"Good fight."

Berserker countered another one of Itachi's kicks and tried to plant his own strike into the man's solar plexus, but as soon as the hit struck home, he vanished in a flock of crows. Growling in annoyance, Berserker spun around to block another incoming attack, this time dropping a kunai into his hand to deflect the one Itachi threw in his blind spot.

Fighting Itachi left him feeling like he was blind in one eye and hopping around hoping to actually hit something. With another twist he flipped over the Uchiha's next strike and tried to lash out with an axe kick, but in a surprising move of dexterity, the man merely leaned back, letting Berserker's attack miss by inches.

With a cry Berserker sprung forth from his planted leg to try and get the man in a hold, but as soon as he touched him, he turned into a flock of crows again.

"Son of a bitch! Would you stay still for a minute so I can actually hit you!"

What was even more annoying was the fact that he couldn't stay still to get into Sage Mode, or make a shadow clone to do so. Everytime he tried, Itachi appeared out of nowhere and began punting his ass around. He would have to be much more clever if he wanted to get around the Uchiha. It also didn't help that without Sage Mode or Kurama, he sucked at genjutsu.

Suddenly, Itachi appeared in front of him, with a clone, but before he could do anything, the man grabbed his clone by the shoulder and launched it at Berserker. He felt his eyes widen as the clone flew towards him and could only really think one thing as it got closer.

This sucks.

As soon as he had that thought, the clone exploded in a fiery inferno, engulfing Berserker. However, once the explosion was over he rocketed out of the ensuing smoke and debris to finally deliver a haymaker on the other Itachi. Berserker felt an immense satisfaction as his punch impacted the other man's face, but that was short lived as that Itachi aslo exploded sending him careening through the air as he hadn't been prepared for that attack.

Luckily, Berserker was a tough Servant, so he was able to land on his feet, but most of his jacket had eroded away, leaving him in only his under armor mesh and bleeding from the various burns he sustained from that. His right arm was also hanging limply at his side, blood trickling down it.

Ow.

Alright, he was definitely not expecting to get hit quite that badly. He glanced over and saw that Itachi had emerged from wherever he was hiding, but the man was looking even worse than he had at the start of the fight. He was now breathing much more heavily, and seemed to be standing on virtues of leaning against a tree that hadn't been caught in either of the blasts. Luckily, that meant that Berserker could catch a breather and contact his Master for a heal.

Any chance I could get a heal, Illya-hime?

He winced as her indignation flowed through their bond. Apparently her fight was going about as well as his own at the moment.

What the hell happened, did you explode!?

Berserker paused for a moment at her question before giving a slight nod even if she couldn't see it.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Indignation gave way to incredulity through the bond, but he also felt the soothing prana of his Master letting him heal back to a better state. Unfortunately for him this was also enough time for Itachi to catch his breath and the Uchiha began to race toward him, flying through hand signs as he did.

Berserker's eyes widened in recognition at the final hand sign as Itachi inhaled deeply and his chest expanded greatly. A second later and Berserker was in the way of a gigantic fireball heading his way, obliterating anything in its path. Gritting his teeth in determination, he was able to form two clones, one went to block the fireball with a Rasengan, while the other hightailed it out of the area. However, before he could do anything else, the ground beneath him let out an ominous crack.

He stared down as more cracks formed right beneath him.

"Oh you have got to be shi-"

He was interrupted as Itachi burst from the ground with a devastating haymaker to his chin. Berserker felt himself lift up a few inches, before the Itachi that hit him once more exploded sending him ragdolling through the air crashing through trees. He eventually came to a stop byt slamming into a rock.

Berserker just laid against the rock for a moment in a daze as he took stock of his new injuries. And he had just been healed too.

I'm beginning to think I really hate him and just need to obliterate the forest to make sure he stays dead.

With a groan Berserker stumbled to his feet, slightly surprised that he hadn't been once more ambushed by the wily Caster of the War. However a glance to the clearing where they had been fighting showed him why that was.

The entire area had flames wreathing around it, though they were beginning to die down, and in the center of the devastation was Itachi. The Servant was looking worse for wear, on one knee and once more panting. It looked like that last exchange had essentially set them back to where they were a few minutes ago, but while Berserker felt more healing prana begin to close his wounds, Itachi was merely panting and looking at him with a dull black eye.

With a jolt, Berserker realized that the Itachi before him didn't have his Sharingan activated anymore. He then felt his clone dispel and Sage Mode entered his being. As soon as it did he scowled in the direction of the Master battle. It felt as though the wrongness from the park was up and moving around, infiltrating everything around his Master's courtyard. He also realized that Itachi was on his last legs as a Servant.

Before the man had a chance to recover, Berserker burst forth, Rasengan forming in his hand as he did so. A second later he was in front of the Uchiha, who was beginning to try and lean back, but Berserker was faster. With a cry of frustration and anger, he thrust his attack dead center into the other Servant.

Itachi's chest gave way and Berserker's hand blasted through the Servant's chest and out his back, obliterating his heart in the process. Itachi let out a cry of agony that had blood fly from his mouth, before he grit his teeth in acceptance.

For a moment it looked as though the man had come back to himself and looked Berserker as directly in the eye as he could, before giving his fellow Servant a smile.

"Thank… you… win… the…"

However he was unable to complete that sentence as he slumped on Berserker's arm, blood dribbling at the corners of his mouth. A second later he started to glow in motes of light and fading once more from the Impure World once more.

Berserker stood there with his arm outstretched for a moment more, before letting out a sigh of relief and straightening up. It looked like it was time to head back to his Master. Hopefully she was holding the fort as well as she could and none of the other Masters were getting in her way.

Shirou yelped as he rolled out of the way of yet another shadow from Sakura. While the Blue was able to lock down the Servant fairly decently, her fight was not going too well if the blood he could see was any indication. That left Illya, Tohsaka, and himself to deal with Sakura, who had been giving them all a workout earlier. The two girls were faring better than he was, but he almost thought that some of his close calls were much luckier than they should be, almost as if Skura's heart wasn't in hurting him.

If that was the case then there had to be a way that he could reach her so that they could go back to the way things were, he refused to be dead weight in this. He would save her, damn it. Right after he figured out how to actually be able to contribute to the battle. He winced as he once more thought of Archer's twin swords, they almost seemed to static in his mind. He paid for that slight distraction by getting thrown across the courtyard.

He heard Rin let out a cry and soon he felt the Tohsaka heir collide with him midair sending them tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Not quite how he wanted a beautiful girl to fall into his lap, but he'd take the positives to ignore the pain.

As they stumbled to their feet, Shirou's eyes widened as he saw the fae like form of Illya fly through the air towards them. He had the wild thought that maybe Sakura was getting a kick outta having everyone collide into each other, right before everyone collided with each other.

Once more they were sprawled out on the ground groaning, but they were all quick to roll out of the way for piercing shadows where they had been just a moment before.

"I must say, it's irksome that all of you are struggling as much as you are. It's not as though any of you really matter in the grand scheme of things."

Shirou winced at his junior's cold statement and he noticed Tohsaka's face fall at it, but Illya merely tossed her hair back before responding.

"It's more irksome that you think you can win, I noticed you went after the dredges in the War, not the true contenders."

Sakura's face contorted in fury at Illya's words and Shirou's eyes widened as a spear of shadow raced toward the girl from behind. With a shout and without thinking, he thrust himself in the way of the attack, as he did the static that he had been feeling the entire fight came to the forefront of his mind and the world slowed down.

"Trace…"

He felt the connection in his mind snap into place, all that mattered were the two swords of Archer. He felt himself going through the steps. Steps that he knew almost as an old friend. Judging the concept of creation, hypothesizing the basic structure, duplicating the composition material, imitating the skill of its making, sympathizing with the experience of its growth, reproducing the accumulated years, and excelling every manufacturing process.

They were the twin married blades Kanshou and Bakuya, representative of the Spring and the Autumn. They would do.

"...On"

His circuits flared to life, causing him untold agony, he also felt as though something might have snapped into place in his brain, but none of that mattered as the two swords fell into his grip in a burst of blue lightning. Although this was the first time he had ever held them they felt almost familiar, as though he was born to use these incomplete replicas of something beautiful.

With a flick of his wrist he deflected the shadows heading for Illya with ease, before spinning around to face Sakura, who he noticed was watching the entire thing with an air of complete surprise. Something that permeated throughout the entire clearing as he took in the others, all staring at his new swords in bafflement.

He grinned as he pointed Bakuya towards the junior whom he had cared for as deeply as he could.

"Stay right there Sakura, I'm coming to save you."

Pour a couple out for the fallen homies this chapter.

Now to be honest this thing was much more annoying to write than I had thought it would be, I had done a giant editing blitz as I was posting this story over on AO3, and it really got the juices flowing again. I wrote like the first 2,000 words of this in like an hour, and then all inspiration dried up, I was just constantly staring at a screen and wondering what the hell I wanted to write, but eventually, bit by bit, it was completed. It didn't help that IRL for me has been a bit chaotic lately.

I wanna thank everyone who's been sticking around this entire time, I'm not gonna make any particular promises about when the next chapter will be, but it's feeling good to write again, I might go and do some other stuff on other stories for a bit, but I really, really wanna complete this story within the next year. We've finally gotten to the point where characters are really dying off, I have a vague outline on the closing notes of the fic, now it's just time to fill in the gaps.

It's been over nine years since I started this story, and I know there have been big gaps in between, but I'm hoping that there are still people that enjoy it, I know not everyone does, they hate some things, like some others, but to those of you who have been here and still like it, or are just now discovering it, thanks for coming along for the ride. Let's see if I can end it the way I want and still entertain.

If you're feeling generous please leave a fav, follow, or review! There is no beta at the moment, but I'll do a touch up before I upload this on AO3 tomorrow and then come back and fix the edits here, so please don't mind the typos or grammar issues. Until the next time (hopefully sooner)!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fate/Stay Night. They belong to Kishimoto Masashi and Type-Moon respectively. Please support the official release!