Chapter 21

The Hunt

The soft click of boots hitting the floor echoed through the corridor. At first it was just a whisper which faintly continued to grow with every passing second of time, as a young boy swiftly walked towards his destination.

His stony face trying its level best to hide his fear, desperation and anxiety.

His Military Police Insignia, alongwith the Captain stripes made every person passing his way offer a salute. But unlike his usual routine of returning the respectful gesture, this time he simply passed by every person without even offering an acknowledging nod.

Within a few long minutes he reached his destination and yanked open the door with such force that made the hinges screech considerably in protest.

But he didn't care.

For, Hatake Kakashi was terrified.

He quickly banged the door to his room shut, and slumped his back against the wooden frame. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he exhaled multiple panted breaths. His throat was parched, his hands trembling, his legs shaking.

This was bad, very bad!

A tirade of thoughts was continuously going through his panicked mind, and he simply didn't have the strength to channel them into a proper order.

To think, the truth would be this ugly.

Naruto

Just the sheer thought of his young friend made him stop. No matter what happened from here on out, his friend had to live. For that boy was the only hope humanity had not only against the war with Titans but also against an enemy that has nearly brought their race to the brink of extinction.

The truth he had learned, Naruto needed to know.

It would rip apart the small world his friend had formed with so many difficulties and sacrifices, but not knowing the truth would have far grave consequences.

But with the truth, Kakash's friends would also learn about the things he had done. The sins he had committed, he had no doubt in his mind that he would lose both of his best friends forever.

That thought made him feel hollow, his life empty without those two.

But he clenched his fists...

"I made mistakes once, but I won't do it again..." thought Kakashi fiercely,

Whatever fate awaited him, it would not stop him from making sure that both of his friends learnt the truth about everything and stayed alive. No matter what!

He took a deep breath to calm his frantic nerves. When that was done, he quickly bit his thumb followed by a few set of hand seals. In the end, he slammed his right hand on the wooden floor of his room covering it in a deep, white smoke.

As soon as it cleared, a small dark brown colored dog was staring back at him with an almost bored expression. Kakashi's eyebrows twitched...

"Yo!" said the dog, raising one of his paws lazily. Yep, this was definitely his summon.

What in Kami's name was Kenny thinking for giving him such a lazy ass animal for a partner!

It didn't matter now, despite this creature being a gift from Kenny Ackerman for Kakashi finishing so many missions in recent months; that man failed to understand the fact that summoned creatures were bound to their partners and loyal to them. Pakkun and his gang may not be loyal to Kakashi before the contract, but now that it was done they were his trusted comrades.

He was thankful for Kenny having some different summons, or else it would be quite hard to get the dogs to be loyal to Kakashi alone.

"Pakkun, go to Castle Midas in Wall Rose. Get in contact with Erwin Smith..." said Kakashi hurriedly,

"Biscuits..."

Kakashi face palmed. Of course, the little mutt always demanded payment before service. Sighing, he opened his cabinet again and Pakkun's small eyes slightly widened on seeing the entire packet being stuffed in front of him.

The human couldn't help but admire the dog when he finished the entire pack of biscuits within a minute itself.

And if the satisfied grin on Pakkun's face was anything to go by, the dog was more than ready for his mission.

"Good, now did you listen to what I said?" asked Kakashi seriously,

"Yeah, contact Erwin Smith at Castle Midas in Wall Rose. Should I use the usual route or the other secret one?" asked Pakkun professionally, making Kakashi smile. Because for all his shortcomings, Pakkun was quite serious when it came to completing tasks that was as long as he was properly rewarded before.

"The other one. And tell him to gather whatever Legion forces he can and go to Naruto's aid..." informed Kakashi gravely,

"It's bad, isn't it?" asked Pakkun hesitantly,

"Code Omega has been issued. I'll stall them for as long as I can, but..." said Kakashi silently, earning a grim nod from his partner.

"Understood"

Before either of them could say anything else, there were a series of knocks on Kakashi's door. The boy gave a nod and the dog disappeared into a small corner of the room and sneaked out using a secret passage its summoner had created for such moments.

Schooling his features, Kakashi opened the door to find one of the soldiers of Ultra offering him a crisp salute.

"The men are ready, sir..." informed the young man,

"Very well. Just give me a moment..." replied Kakashi strictly, the soldier nodded in return.

Kakashi walked back inside his room and grabbed his Military Police Jacket, and strapped his pistols to his hip. Alongwith placing his rifle on his back, adjusting his facemask for a final time he was just about to exit the room when his eyes landed on the small dog tag with the name "Apollo" inscribed on it.

With a faint smile on his lips, he grabbed the dog tag and wrapped it around his neck. His hand gripped the metallic thing for a few moments, it was reminder of his redemption. A bond that he had formed with his two best friends, "Starbuck" and "Red Devil".

And he would protect them.

With those determined thoughts, Hatake Kakashi walked out of the building to find Kenny Ackerman waiting for him on his horse.

Alongside fifty heavily armed Ultra soldiers.

Kallen Stadfield had a bright smile on her face as she released the strap unleashing forth a series of four feet long arrows. The projectiles effortlessly sailed through the air without any difficulty, and spilled blood alongwith the cries of the two small Titans in its path.

She again reset her Magnus Launcher, arming it again with another four long arrows. With a silent hiss, the weapon fired and this time it hit the Titans right in their weak spots ending their miserable existence.

Steams erupted from the decaying carcasses as the sound of clapping was heard in the vast fort.

Kallen placed a small strand of her shoulder length red hair behind her ear, as the excited face of Hange Zoe appeared in front of her. The mad woman chuckled on seeing the accuracy of the deadly weapon both of them had developed throughout the past year. It was a great innovation of its kind, one which would surely aid the legion in its missions outside the walls.

"What do you think?" asked Kallen,

"I think Magnus has passed all our tests. I'll convince Erwin to place the order for atleast a dozen launchers of this series..." said Hange gleefully, a mad grin arriving on her lips.

"It'll be quite expensive, Hange..." said Kallen worriedly,

"Oh, let Erwin handle it. We grunts should just be concerned with making this weapon work in field missions..." replied Hange nonchalantly, and then went off to do examine the corpses of the dead Titans.

Kallen sighed and wiped out the bead of sweat present on her forehead.

Being able to live outside the walls was something she had never imagined in her wildest dreams. Yet the Legion's discovery of Fort Petersberg was a miracle humanity had always hoped for. Who would have thought that humanity's first base outside the walls would be discovered by an accident?

Kallen could clearly remember her squad in full retreat from enemy territory with a bunch of "Aberrant" class right on their heels. Their mission to capture an 8 meter class had been a success by using the tricks Naruto had used during his first victory. In a way, despite being not present physically his teachings had helped her accomplish her mission without dying or being left behind in the process.

Yet the Deviant class Titans had pursued her squad for miles, and if not for Levi's quick thinking alongwith the sacrifice of some of her comrades did their squad escape their pursuers. By the time night had fallen, and they discovered another surprising fact.

Titans weren't as effective at night as they were at day, with most of them simply going into some form of hibernation mode.

It gave her squad the required luck and time to stumble upon Fort Petersberg. They found the fort's name written on the walls, and the entire structure was located deep inside the woods giving them ample protection from most Titan hordes.

That was six months ago, and now she was proud to say that Fort Petersberg was officially humanity's first territory outside the walls. It was a place from where the Legion launched many expeditions deep inside Titan territory, and there was always a small force of Legion soldiers permanently stationed in this place to keep control over it.

It was also a place where they conducted several experiments on Titans, developed weapons and strategies, alongwith giving new rookies a first hand experience of what being in the war was like.

Her gaze settled on the Captain Insignia on her chest making her smile a little. Now, she could stand beside her friends side by side on equal ground.

She now understood why Erwin separated the three of them and felt a little ashamed for her blasting out at the Commander back then when the decision was made. It made her blush a little, while she still retained her fiery temper she now also knew things were always not as simple as they appeared.

Although she felt tremendously guilty for not replying to either of her best friends. Especially Naruto...

Kakashi was busy in his deep cover mission inside Wall Sina with the Military Police, and often didn't write much for obvious reasons. But Naruto did write to her, despite his lazy nature...

He wrote her so many letters, most of which she received several months later due to her posting outside the walls and being busy with her other research on Shisui Uchiha.

It pained her to great end for not being able to reply back to him, and could only imagine how hurt and disappointed he must be.

The only solace she had was the fact that she had found some information that could be really useful to Naruto. Something that could change his life, and maybe bring him some peace. But that would have to wait as Levi was personally verifying her claim at this time and wanted to be absolutely sure before revealing it to her best friend.

Their time apart also gave her the opportunity to think about her feelings for Naruto. And to her misfortune, she couldn't arrive at any conclusion apart from the fact that she liked him. Very much...

But the real question was...

Did he like her? After all this time? After her complete absence in his life and after her unintended lack of contact?

If it was the old Kallen, then she would have nearly had a panic attack by now. But she had matured over these months, and decided to leave it upto Naruto to make that choice. God, she had been so pushy back then with him despite knowing how emotionally scarred he was...

But she didn't regret any of it because her feelings were real for him.

And maybe...

"Captain Kallen!"

Her red hair swirled wildly in the air as she looked up at one of the towers to find Eldo looking in her direction. Her keen eyesight picked up the alarmed expression on the man's face nor did she miss the panic in his voice.

Without any delay, she channeled her chakra to her feet and climbed the twenty feet wall in a matter of seconds much to Eldo's discomfort.

"What is it?" asked Kallen patiently, and smirked on seeing how tall she was in comparison to the man beside her.

Eldo quickly pointed her attention towards the north side of the fort. Kallen tiredly shifted her gaze, if this was some stupid small Titan than she would give the man cleaning duty. Just how many times was she to remind them that she had made sure the walls were strong enough to keep the Titans at bay?

Just when will her comrades believe that she was slowly mastering the sealing arts that Kakashi had taught her the basics about?

Regardless, she followed her gaze in that direction only for her breath to hitch in her throat. Her powers granted her better hearing, vision and movement in comparison to normal humans that was why she clearly didn't miss what was in front of her.

Flashbacks of that dreadful night were reawakened in her heart, as she took a trembling step back.

For there standing in front of her was none other than Death Reincarnated.

Eldo was more than alarmed when he saw all color drain from Kallen's face, and was the young girl looking terrified?

The sound of tinkling bells echoed through the area, and as the morning mist dispersed a little did Eldo realize he was staring at two men dressed in long black robes standing at a distance. One of them was insanely tall with bandages wrapped around his face, and nobody could miss the gigantic sword on the man's back or the wicked gleam in his demonic eyes.

But Eldo felt more than terrified when he felt a power which he had only experienced from Naruto once during their mission to capture Titans, only this time it was twice than what the young boy had possessed.

He saw Kallen's eyes fixed on the shorter dark haired man, who was also neutrally staring back at her with his pitch dark eyes.

"Uchiha Shisui..." whispered Kallen in horror,

The man gave a faint smile indicating he had just read his name being whispered from the girl's trembling lips. Eldo's own eyes widened on hearing that name, because there was not a single soldier in the Legion who was not ordered to flee on sight on seeing this man. No one except for Levi, or Erwin were authorized to go up against this man...

Shisui calmly started to raise his hand, making his partner unleash his own monstrous blade. Their bodies started to glower light blue, possibly the same power that resided inside Kallen's body.

The said girl swallowed the lump in her throat, long enough to give her only order...

"Run..."

Naruto violently awoke.

His entire body drenched in sweat, his heart beating profoundly against his chest, his breathing frantic. The look in his horrified eyes was enough to show that the boy had lived through a nightmare.

Again.

Just why did he dream about his father and that night when he and his partner murdered Mikasa's parents? The night where Shisui almost killed him. The moment where his own father accepted the crime of killing little Kasumi, but it was the last part of the dream that terrified him.

He had imagined the dark red eyes of his father watching Kasumi impassively as he sliced the little child in half with his sword. Naruto's fists clenched tightly as he tried to shut off the scream of his little sister he had heard in that dream.

His hands trembled as he tried to block out that awful sound, to seal it away deep inside of him or else risk losing himself in anger and pain.

No matter how much time passed, no matter how many people he met or formed bonds with the emptiness in his heart left by his family haunted him everyday. If only he could change things, if only he could have stopped his father from becoming the monster he was now.

He had promised himself only to dedicate himself to killing his father. But a small part of his heart always ached for the man who was once his hero, the man he always looked upto. The father whose opinion mattered to him the most in this world.

It was hard to stay angry or feel hatred every single second of his life, because there were always inevitable moments like these that made him long for the happy family he had once been a part of. As the wet sensation hit the palm of his hand did he realize that he had been crying, his mind urged him to stop the tears but he didn't have the strength to do so.

So engrossed was he in his grief, that he didn't even realize a soft pair of arms encircle around him. And only when the warmth of the person reached him, did he realize he was not all alone.

Slowly, he started to become more aware of his surroundings. The unknown bed, the womanish room, and the female currently holding him in her arms.

He nearly panicked until he saw it was the last member of his blood family.

Even so, he slowly got out of Mikoto's motherly hug, but did give her a thankful nod while wiping away the few tears from his face. The older woman gently helped him in the task by wiping a few tears from his cheeks.

"Better?" she asked gently,

"Yeah..." he replied,

"Another nightmare?"

He nodded.

"I'm sorry..." said Mikoto earnestly, making him frown.

"Why are you sorry?" asked Naruto curiously,

"Because my brother is the reason your life turned out this way..." apologized Mikoto, and he didn't miss the pain as well as loneliness in her eyes.

"You miss him, don't you?" asked Naruto straight forwardly, she flinched.

He saw in her eyes the desperation to come up with some suitable lie or anything, but in the end she sighed and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Shisui's my elder brother, Naruto. No matter what has happened, or what he has became today...a part of me will always love him until the end" explained Mikoto soothingly,

"I understand..."

His words shocked her. He simply smiled and the woman saw how the past year and half had changed the boy from a complete revenge seeking brat to a much mature person.

"Because a part of me will always love my father always..." answered Naruto, and for the first time some hope emerged in her eyes.

"Then..."

"But I will still kill him...I have to" he added silently, but his determination was clearly audible in his tone making her lower her eyes.

"Just don't do something reckless. Now that Shisui's gone, you are all I have left of my family...nephew" she teased lightly, as he smiled.

"Sure thing, Aunt" he teased back, earning a light bop on the head from the woman.

They both laughed, forgetting the burdens and pains of their lives in this moment. As he watched her laugh, Naruto couldn't help but reminisce the happiness that had arrived in his life ever since his decision to become a trainer at the academy.

He was able to rekindle his friendship with Petra, become a mentor to Eren and Armin, a guide to Nugget Company, and met Annie Leonhart.

And most of all, he was able to meet and bond over with his last blood relative: Mikoto Uchiha.

He didn't know whether Erwin deliberately pushed him here knowing that some of these events might occur or not, but whatever happened from here on now a small part of his heart would forever thank Erwin Smith and Darius Zackley.

At first, he had been quite wary and hostile when he met Mikoto. Being alone as an orphan for years had made him distrustful of strangers, but she was patient with him. Just like his father once was, perhaps it was one of the things that the Uchiha brother and sister shared amongst themselves.

When their bonding was going nowhere, she offered to help him learn the sharingan and a few other abilities she knew. It was awkward at first, but as time passed he couldn't help but become attached to her for he had always craved for a stable mother figure in his life ever since Kushina disappeared. Levi was good, but he couldn't bring stability to Naruto's life.

It was a credit to Mikoto looking after him, that his drinking habits reduced considerably, whoring completely stopped alongwith gambling. She even agreed to accompany him to his regular visits to the church, despite not being religious herself. To see her bond over with Maya, the priestess brought great relief to him.

And now he felt comfortable enough to spend some days living with her, a big leap for a boy who once couldn't even bear to have another person in his room for a night.

"Let me guess, I overslept at your desk while making plans for the mission?" asked Naruto calmly,

"Yes. Naruto, you really shouldn't overwork yourself like that..." admonished Mikoto, earning a grim smile from him.

"I have to. I can't help but be worried about my cadets, it's one thing to lead trained Legion soldiers on a mission and another to lead rookie cadets against armed robbers, rapists and murderers. The Cadets didn't ask for this mission, but I did so I can't help but feel that I have to go over every last detail in order to make sure there are no unwanted casualties..." explained Naruto worriedly,

She couldn't help but smile on hearing him call the Nuggets as his own, it went to show how far he had come as a person in just a year and half.

"Everything will be fine, Naruto. Commander Cain has assigned another instructor to serve as your aid in this mission, Keith and I will also be by the cadets side. We won't let anything happen to them..." promised Mikoto sincerely, and saw him exhale a heavy breath.

"I'm thankful for that, just don't do something reckless..." requested Naruto, and she easily saw the fear in his eyes on the thought of losing her.

She initially thought of giving him a little sarcastic remark, but shook that thought away by giving him a reassuring smile.

"I won't..."

He smiled.

"Are you going back to the Legion after your stint at the Academy?" she asked carefully,

"Yes"

"I've talked with Erwin and he has agreed to my transfer request to the Legion as well..." she informed, making his eyes go wide.

Before he could start his protest she fixed him with a hard gaze that made him back down.

"Like you, I also seek answers from my brother. It was one thing to stay here safely when I thought you and Kasumi were dead, since I had nothing to live or nowhere to go. I know you're strong and more than capable of looking after yourself, but for whatever it's worth I don't want to leave you alone. Please consider my request, Naruto..." pleaded Mikoto, making him sigh.

"You're not going to back out no matter what I say, isn't it?" asked Naruto tiredly, receiving a brief apologetic look from her.

"I don't want to, but at the same time your opinion matters to me that's why I'm asking you to let be by your side for both our sake, and to give me some closure..." she explained,

Naruto slowly got out of the bed and headed for the door.

"Fine, but I will kill him in the end. And nothing can change that..." he promised, and walked out towards the breakfast table where a steaming plate of eggs awaited him.

Mikoto couldn't help but think about his words...

"I wonder if you can really do that, Naruto..."

Kakashi yanked his horse roughly making the animal shout as it tried to catch more speed. The wild winds continued to hit against his body, and he couldn't help but admire the rising sun in the sky. Behind him he saw a cloud of dust being created by the remaining Ultra (Military Brigade) soldiers following him and their top commander.

Kenny had an eager smile plastered on his face as the cruel man yanked his horse more and more, much to the animal's suffering even as it tried to go as fast as it could.

"Slow down, Kenny. No matter how fast we go it will take us an entire day to reach the destination..." advised Kakashi,

"You don't understand, Kakashi. It's been so long since I fought an Uchiha, hope this brat of yours lives up to his clan's reputation..." said Kenny with a chuckle,

Kakashi grimaced.

"If Kenny isn't enough of a threat, the bastard brought nearly half of Ultra to hunt you Naruto..." thought Kakashi worriedly,

"Just what exactly are we going to do?" asked one of the Ultras, much to Kakashi's relief. Kenny had been quite tight lipped about their mission at the base and had not revealed any details. But perhaps now...

"The King's spies got information that Zackley just authorized a mission against a local group of thugs in Wall Rose. They go by the name of Night Raid, and the foolish Military Commander has assigned Rookie Cadets to take them out as a part of their final test..." mocked Kenny,

Many of the Ultra's chuckled on imagining the pitiful cadets going up against hardened criminals. Even Kakashi who didn't laugh, couldn't help but agree that sending cadets against such people was not a wise move.

"So what does this mean for us?" asked Kakashi seriously,

"Well, of course there is still some sense left in the Military. So they are sending a few instructors to lead this mission and guide the cadets, and it so happens that the leader of this mission is none other than our target: Uzumaki Naruto..." explained Kenny, a wicked smile shining on his lips.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel mortified.

"While the brat is busy leading his cadets against Night Raid. We'll attack from the rear and take him out, kill some cadets to make it appear as an unfortunate friendly fire accident..." said Kenny deviously, making Kakashi's stomach churn.

"But wouldn't the Military Commander question our presence there? Order an inquiry?" asked a female Ultra hesitantly, Maddy was her name.

Kenny snorted.

"You fool, don't forget just who supports us from the shadow..." barked Kenny,

"The King..." cursed Kakashi silently,

"Yes, not only would Zackley lose his job for ordering such a disastrous mission. But the King will sweep this entire incident under the rug, and there is not a single person in the walls who can oppose humanity's ruler's decision. With one stroke, we would not only eliminate the last Uchiha but also take out Darius Zackley from his office. Nobody would see us coming..." explained Kenny briefly,

Kakashi's fists clenched. By the time this group would reach Naruto's location, it would be night. Possibly the raid against the bandits would be in full swing and chaos would reign everywhere. If it happened, then Naruto would be in too deep a mess to even figure out a friendly force attacking him from behind...

And Ultra lead by Kenny Ackerman had enough firepower to take out his friend.

Not to mention the many innocent, young cadets who would needlessly lose their lives in this bloody political war.

He had asked for Erwin to come to Naruto's aid, but his message would take some time to reach to the Legion Commander. Erwin would have to gather his warriors, and then launch a rescue.

There were simply too many variables, too many things had to happen for his friend and all the other innocents to survive this dreadful battle. Even then, many were going to die...

His gaze swept over the fifty heavily armed Ultras galloping on their horses alongside him, all of them were veterans. They knew how to fight, didn't hesitate to kill, and were blindly loyal to Kenny and the King.

His right hand inched towards his thigh, and his eyes connected with Kenny's.

The morning rays of the sun fell brightly on the small company of humans mounted atop their horses. Each of them dressed in Military Uniforms and heavily armed, their expressions ranging from grim, to anxious, to excited, to just plain bored.

Mikoto, Keith and Allen stood ahead of Nugget Company. The cadets and their leaders were all ready, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the tall blonde standing in front of them.

The boy's veteran eyes swept across each of their faces and every person tried to assure him as best as they could.

Finally he spoke in a loud, clear voice and raised his sword in the air.

"Nugget Company, it's time for some hunting!"

Author's Notes: End of chapter.

Hope you guys liked it. And the cliffhangers as well!

Next chapter will be the last of this arc.

Would really appreciate if you guys leave Reviews. And thanks to those who do so regularly.

Until Next Time,

Blackwolf501