AN: I do not own Attack on Titan. I am also an anime-only, so don't expect anything from the manga.

Chapter 1: The Orphan From Shiganshina

A young ten-year-old boy had just awoken, rising with the morning sun. It was still early in the morning, but people were still out and moving around. The boy rubbed his eyes, clearing the dreariness from sleep out of his eyes. He pulled a large piece of cloth off of him, exposing his body to the cold morning weather. The boy would be considered a cute kid if he cleaned himself up, he had yellow-gold spiky hair, with most of it falling on his forehead. His eyes were a very light blue, they really stood out against his hair. His hair was cut short on the sides and on top, to prevent lice from becoming a problem. If he bathed more often and let his hair grow out, he would be considered the pride of any parent. Unfortunately, his lack of baths was not his fault and his parents were not around to be proud of him. If anyone asked him his name his only answer would be Naruto and then he would curse the fact his parents couldn't give him the last name.

If someone looked away from his face to his body, they would be able to tell why he looked so dirty. He was a street urchin, he had a frail body, which stemmed from a lack of food and nutrition. His diet consisted of stolen pieces of food and some water, if he was lucky he could scrounge together dinner after only a few hours. If not, then he would go hungry. His clothes weren't in much better shape than he was, it would be better to call them rags, rather than clothing. He had a brown shirt, the bottom was in tatters, strips of cloth just barely hanging on. He had blank pants that had large holes where his knees are. Both shirt and pants were too big for him, but he made due anyway. On his feet were sandals, a present for his birthday, from the few people that cared about him.

Naruto stood up, he couldn't wait to spend the whole day with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, they were his light in this bleak world. He would go to hell and back for them, they were the first people to care about him. Naruto looked over to some boxes that were next to him, finding nothing. Sighing, Naruto wondered where his breakfast went; he would put good money that it was a rat, but he couldn't count out a stray dog or cat. All in all, it didn't matter to him which had it, he just wished he could've had something to eat before he goes out.

Naruto walked out of the alleyway and looked around, he needed to find some food before he did anything with his day. He saw a fruit stand that was being set up and that became his target. He crept over, trying to be discreet as possible and waiting for the right time. He saw the owner of the fruit stand turn his back and he made his moment to strike, his hand flashed out and grabbed one apple. Whenever he stole, he made sure there weren't that many people around, meaning he could only really steal in the early mornings or late evenings. He always liked stealing at night more than in the morning and he seemed to be a lot better at it too.

Naruto was already walking away when the store owner turned back around, seeing as only one fruit was gone the owner would never find out about the stolen apple. Naruto waited to turn the corner before he took the apple out and chomped down on it. It filled his mouth with the sweet juices and quelled his hunger, at least for now. With his job of finding breakfast done, Naruto made his way over to the Yeager residence. When he reached the house, he hopped onto a tree nearby and watched people go by.

As the hours passed, Naruto didn't move from the branch he was sitting on. If one was to ask him what he was doing, he would try to shrug off the question. One would have to force an answer out of him and then all they would get would be a simple answer. To protect what's important to me.

Naruto was trying to guard over the Yeager house, to protect them. Well, as best as a ten-year-old can. His secondary objective was to wait for Mikasa and Eren to come out, he would accompany them on whatever they had to do.

A young Eren Yeager had just awoken from a nightmare, opening his eyes, he looked up into the face of arguably one of his closest friends, Mikasa Ackerman. Sitting next to him, there was another boy around his age. Eren was still a little groggy from his nap, but he could still recognize his best friend. Eren and Naruto were closest of friends, even if sometimes they didn't act like it. They would fight and tussle over little things, but they would get over it each time and go back to being best friends. If one got in a fight, the other would be right there to back the other up. Naruto knew that Eren tended to pick a fight with anyone, no matter their size or age. Naruto and Mikasa always had to stay nearby, just in case he needed support in a fight. The one noticeable difference was a drive to do something with their life. Eren wanted to leave the walls and explore everything there was to see outside of Wall Maria. Naruto didn't care about any of that, he just wanted to protect his friends.

Yawning, Naruto looked over from his side of the tree. "Oh, Eren you're finally awake. Also, Mikasa if you ever need help, just let me know. I can pick up the slack that Eren doesn't do. It's the least I can do for the two of you."

Mikasa just stood there with the wood strapped to her back, after a few seconds she opened her mouth to respond but then Eren cut in. "Huh? Mikasa? Naruto,"

Instantly Mikasa responded. "Let's head back."

Eren sat there for a few moments, staring out across the open planes before he responded. "What am I doing here?"

Naruto jumped up and laughed. "You're here to collect wood, you forget that already? I could stick my finger through one ear and it would go out the other." A shit-eating grin then stretched across his face and he flicked one of Eren's ears.

"That hurt! You bastard," Eren jumped up and started to chase Naruto around the tree. Eventually, Mikasa had enough and grabbed them both.

Mikasa sighed, then turned to Eren. "Are you sure you're okay? You seemed really out of it." Eren just stood there, and then she realized something, "Eren, you're crying."

He dabbed away the tears before Naruto would notice. "Don't tell anyone I was crying, I don't even know why I was."

"I won't," was all Mikasa said in reply. She turned and called out to Naruto to come down from the tree, he was attempting to climb it and had made it a good 10 feet up. He jumped down and landed on his feet.

As they all started walking back, Naruto heard his stomach grumble, "Come on guys let's hurry, I want to find some food when we get back." Mikasa and Eren both sighed inside, despite their best efforts, Naruto did not go back to their house with them for meals and a bed at night. Even Eren's parents talked to him, trying to convince them that they wanted him off the streets. Always, he declined, always saying he doesn't want to intrude or something along those lines.

Mikasa started, "Look, Naruto we have-"

Naruto cut her off. "No, I can't take anymore from you, you guys and Eren's parents do enough for me. Between the checkups from Eren's dad and everything you guys do for me, I cannot accept anything more." Naruto truly believed that his circumstances were his own fault and that relying on others could only let you down. Mikasa on the other hand was always trying to help out her favorite blond. She would always try to take care of Naruto, much to his chagrin. The circumstances of their meeting were painful for both of them, they had yet to revisit that terrible night. However that night brought them close together, they were almost siblings.

Together, Mikasa and Eren were the single most important people in his life. For them, he would gladly lay down his life to save either one of them.

He tried to comfort them. "Don't worry Mikasa, I promise I'll always be here for you. I won't run off and disappear for years or go get myself killed. I will always be by your side, it's not like I can let Eren get into too much trouble. And wherever Eren is, you'll be nearby. Also, I got to help Armin see the ocean with you guys, it sounds beautiful." After hearing this, Eren started to sputter, vehemently believing that it was never his fault for the fights he got into.

As they approached the town, they saw some garrison soldiers hanging out drinking and playing cards. Naruto ran over to them and jumped onto the back of another blondie, a man named Hannes. "OY! Hannes, I'll get you this time," laughing, Hannes grabbed him and threw him off.

Hannes walked over and looked down at him. "Nice try, kid. You won't be able to take me down for another hundred years." His face was red from alcohol intake and he was in a good mood. Eren was going to complain that Hannes wasn't doing his job but seeing how happy Naruto is with him. He decided to keep his mouth shut.

Naruto then shouted from where he was with Hannes over to Eren and Mikasa, "Eren! Mikasa! I can hear the bells! The scouts came back." Eren's face instantly lit up when he heard about the scouts, seeing as it was his goal to go outside the walls. He grabbed Mikasa's arm and started running over to where the gate was. When he finally got there, his expression darkened.

The scouts that had managed to return had their heads down, others were wrapped in bandages. A certain blond was simply looking down. An older woman came up to them, asking for her son. Eren couldn't hear who specifically she was asking for, but no one responded to her. Eventually, she understood she would never see her son again. The woman fell to the ground and started to sob, "my son, my son! I hate you, dammed scouts! You guys always take away many lives, for what? You guys have done nothing!" Eren was going to go over and stop the woman from disrespecting the scouts, but someone grabbed his shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Mikasa standing there, "Eren, don't. It's not going to get any better if you step in." Grunting, Eren relaxed and turned to look for Naruto. The boy in question was catching up to him and Mikasa. When Naruto finally reached them he said, "Ay, still daydreaming about joining the scouts Eren," there was a hint of resentment in his voice.

Eren turned to him and replied with some venom in his voice, "you can't blame them forever, it's not your fault she went and got herself killed."

Naruto clenched his fists and turned to look away from Eren and Mikasa and towards the scouts that were still going by. He started to speak slowly and said, "Don't go there. Yeager," Eren flinched and pulled a fist back.

However before the fist could move forward, Mikasa intervened, "Guys, please don't fight. Please," Mikasa hated when the two got into arguments, she wouldn't however, let them start to fight. Ever since that night a couple of years ago, she was inseparable from Eren and to a lesser extent, Naruto. Mikasa did not like revisiting those memories, so she tried to keep them in the back of her mind.

Naruto just hung his head, "I'm sorry, Eren. I didn't mean to go at you like that," Naruto felt bad for getting mad at Eren, they were like brothers. Even though they haven't known each other as long as Eren knew Armin, the spiker blonde and the black-haired boy had gone through a traumatic experience together.

Eren just held out his and apologized too, Naruto shook his hand and slapped him on the back, "Come on, let's get you guys home. I also need to thank Mrs. Yeager for washing my clothes the other day."

The three of them started walking towards the Yeager's home, Eren and Naruto chatting while Mikasa was stoic as normal. When they got back, Naruto waved goodbye and walked off to find or rather, steal food.

Mikasa and Eren both entered the house and Eren called out their return, "We're back!" Both Eren and Mikasa set the wood down in a box for later.

Carla Yeager, their mom welcomed them back. "Welcome home." Carla was an attractive, fair-skinned woman of medium height with a slender build. She had large light eyes, long dark hair tied loosely, hanging on her right shoulder with bangs on each side and only a few short hairs kept loose on her forehead. When she greeted Eren, Carla wore a cream-colored sweater with frilled sleeves and a long red skirt with a white apron and small tan boots.

She walked to where Eren was putting wood away and said, "Oh Eren? You actually worked hard for a change."

Eren gave a short response. "Yeah," he looked away from his Mom while saying this.

Carla then reached down and grabbed Eren's ear and yanked. This caused him to groan in pain, wondering why she did this. "What was that for?"

Carla just gave a knowing reply. "Your ears turned red. That means you're lying. Who helped you this time? Naruto or Mikasa," he just looked out the window in shame.

Fifteen minutes later, Eren, Mikasa, and his dad, Grisha Yeager, were eating food on the table. Eren saw his dad packing his bag and questioned him. "Huh? Are you going somewhere, Dad?" Grisha was a fairly tall, slender man with straight black hair neatly parted down the middle, a thin beard and mustache, and gray eyes. He wore a gray suit with a black vest and a white shirt, a plain bolo tie, and round glasses.

He simply replied, "Yes, I'm going inland to see some patients. I'll probably be going for three to four days."

Mikasa used the comfortable silence to speak up, "Eren said he wants to join the Survey Corps." Carla instantly turned around from doing the dishes to look at Eren in disbelief.

Eren turned to her and just gave her a look of betrayal. "M-Mkasa, why would you tell them that? I told you not to tell them."

Carla just ran over to where Eren was sitting in his chair by the table and grabbed him by the shoulders. "What are you thinking? Do you know how many people died outside those walls?"

Eren just looked back with some anger in his eyes. "Of course I do!"

Carla started. "In that case-" they were practically yelling at this point, but Grisha cut his wife off.

In a calm tone that suited him well, Grisha questioned Eren. "Eren, why do you want to go outside?"

"I want to know what it's like out there. I don't want to spend my life inside the walls, not knowing anything. Also, if no one like me or Naruto carries on their work, all the casualties till now will have been in vain!"

"I see," he stood up and grabbed his bag, "The ship is waiting. I'll be going now."

Carla tried to convince Grisha to stay and lecture Eren, to convince him to stay away from the scouts. He simply smiled and said, "Human curiosity is not something you can restrain with a lecture."

Looking over at Eren, he made a promise, "When I get back, I'll show you what's in the basement. I'll show you everything I've kept secret in the basement."

With those words, he walked out and shut the door. He walked down about 20 steps before he called out, "I know you're there, come out now, Naruto."

Naruto, even though he was a small boy, had managed to make it onto one of the branches of the trees that littered the pathways of the district. He jumped down and made his way over, "Hello, Mr. Yeager."

Grisha simply reached down and ruffled the boy's dirty, unkempt hair, "Hello, Uzumaki. May I ask what you are doing outside my family's home?

Naruto simply blushed and turned away, "Nothing, sir."

Grisha simply smiled, and asked, "You wouldn't by chance, be trying to protect us?"

Naruto hung his head, "M-Maybe, sir."

Grisha simply shook his head and looked at Naruto, "We do not need protection, and that is no disrespect to your abilities. It is just that we are not in danger, you do not need to waste your time on us."

Naruto tried to counter Grisha's claim. "It's the least I can do for you and Mrs. Yeager, without you guys I'd be off a lot worse than before." Grisha then reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of bread, and gave it to him, knowing that Naruto would not accept it anymore. His refusal of more than a small piece of bread was not due to having an abundance of pride, it was more since he would rather the bread go to Mikasa or Eren.

As he started to walk away, he thought about some memories. That boy has started to grow into a fine young man. His parents would be proud of him.

Naruto finished eating his bread and was just laying back against the tree until he saw Eren run out. Eren was yelling something at his mom, who was following close behind, at least until Eren made it past a few steps outside. Naruto then saw Carla grab Mikasa and tell her something, which she nodded in response to. Mikasa then turned to run after Eren, who was no doubt sprinting about in a fit of rage.

Naruto took this chance to sneak over behind Carla, who was watching Mikasa leave, and reach up and tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and looked down at him, "Oh, Naruto it's good to see you."

He replied, "It's good to see you too. I saw that Eren probably got into another fight, what happened this time."

She sighed and sat down on the steps that lead down to the street, "I just learned about Eren's ambition to join the scouts, and I probably overreacted a bit."

Naruto looked out to where his two best friends have gone and said, "You know, I'll always have Eren's and Mikasa's back. if it's the two of them against the world, I would be right along with them."

She looked over to him with a softened expression, "There is no reason too, what happened wasn't your fault. What they chose to do was entirely their own choice."

"It's not just that, we've grown to become as close as siblings. I see Eren as my brother and Mikasa as my sister. I'll always be there for them, and you and too," he gave Carla a small smile.

"Thank you, Naruto. You should probably go find Eren before he gets in another fight," Naruto giggled at that, then he took off and started to look around for the two people he is closest to in his life.

It was getting late in the afternoon and four kids were sitting on some stairs. The stairs lead down to the riverbank. The river that they were next to ran right through town and was always a good place for the four of them to hang out. A black-haired boy was questioning a raven-haired girl. "Come to think of it, why did you tell my parents?"

Another blonde kid just laughed. "Come on Eren, you have to ask that? She doesn't want you to get hurt, and what's the one place you're most likely to get killed? The damn scouts." He then turned to Mikasa and said, "You know, if you want him to be happy. Let him follow his dreams, just help him along the way."

The last of the group just questioned Eren. "H-How did it go?"

Eren responded. "Well, they weren't that happy. It's ok though Armin, I don't need their permission to join the military."

Naruto looked over at Armin, even after knowing him for a couple of years he still wasn't sure what to make of him. He wanted to know about the outside world, but he was still bullied. Naruto didn't dislike the fact that he had such big goals, he applauded him for it. Naruto however did dislike that Armin needed help to stand up for himself, it was like Armin did not truly believe in his dreams and that they would just stay dreams. However, Naruto and Armin were still close friends, while not to the extent of Eren or Mikasa, Naruto would help Armin in any possible way.

Armin turned to stare at the river and hugged his knees close to him. "I wonder about those who think that staying inside these walls will protect us forever. Just because the walls haven't been breached-"

A growling Naruto stood up. "Stop acting like those damn titans are the only threat to humanity, humans can be some damn monsters too," he started to pace in front of the group when a loud boom was heard.

Looking up, he saw smoke rising from outside the walls, he motioned to the others to follow him to where people were pointing. Running over, they looked up to see a big cloud of smoke rising above the walls, then a hand grabbed the wall. It looked like a muscle, an oversized hand without any skin or blood. Then a shadow fell onto the people in the plaza looking up. Staring at them, was the face of a titan, steam seemed to come out of his jaw as he looked down at them.

An explosion seemed to rock the earth and debris was flying everywhere, rocks bigger than the size of a normal human were flying everywhere. When the smoke cleared, there was a gaping hole that titans could fit through at the bottom of the wall.

Mikasa, Naruto, and Armin just looked at it in shock, but Eren started to move. He was running back towards his house and just screamed one thing. "Mom!"

Eren immediately started to sprint towards his house, the only thought on his mind was the concern for his mom. That's when Naruto heard it, the rumbling, it sounded like giant footsteps. That's when Naruto realized it, The titans. They're coming. Mikasa and Armin then started to follow after Eren, who was steadily getting farther away from them. Mikasa had already followed Eren, her concern for him outweighing her concern for the other two. Armin however, started to shake, beads of sweat were lining his forehead. Grasping his shaking hand, he forced it down and started to think.

Armin turned to Naruto and was taken aback. The always cheerful Naruto, the one who never let anything faze him, was the Naruto they were used to. That Naruto was not the one standing in front of him, the one who was frozen up in fear. Their Naruto was never scared of anything, the one who would jump headfirst into anything.

Armin hesitantly reached out and gently grabbed his arm. "Naruto, are you ok?" Naruto did not give an answer, he just stood there with a blank look on his face.

Armin tried once again to get his attention once again, shaking Naruto's arm and tears started to appear in Armin's eyes. "Naruto, please come back. Eren and Mikasa need you," recognition flashed in Naruto's light blue eyes. After a couple of seconds, he started to shake. Armin tried to calm him but to no avail.

Eventually, Armin realized it wasn't out of fear, but of anger. Naruto to speak, "Those damn titans, who the hell do they think they are? Attacking my home, ruining my damn life. I finally get to be happy and they ruin it all."

Armin started to grab Naruto and shake him by the shoulders. "Naruto, snap out of it! We need to go after Mikasa and Eren. They could die!"

This struck a chord in Naruto. How stupid could I be, complaining about the titans and doing nothing? Who cares about those damn titans as long as I have my friends with me.

Naruto turned to Armin, who was glancing between Naruto and where Eren and Mikasa went. Naruto grabbed Armin's arm and started to run towards Eren's house. Adrenaline rushed through him as he picked up speed, turning into a full-out sprint. After turning a few corners, with Armin still latched onto him, Naruto came across a horrifying sight.

Eren and Mikasa were frantically trying to free Eren's mom. The house had been hit by some debris from the breach of the wall, completely crushing the house on itself. This had in turn trapped Carla under it, only the upper part of her body still showed. The two kids were both trying to lift the house off her, an impossible task for anyone, no matter their strength.

Naruto had become a realist through his tough upbringing, but even this broke his heart. Running over, he looked up and he could see titans roaming around the city. He knew that they had no chance of getting Carla out, no matter how badly he wanted to save her. Naruto called out to his two closest friends as he neared them. "Eren! Mikasa! We have to go, the titans are coming. It's better for some of us to make it than none of us!"

Eren turned to look at Naruto and snapped. "Hell no! I'm sorry that some of us have family that we care about. You wouldn't understand, considering you never had a family to begin with!" Naruto visibly recoiled at this and Eren instantly felt guilty.

Carla took the following time to say her goodbyes, Carla had already accepted her fate but she didn't want the kids to follow. "Eren and Mikasa, Naruto too. I love all three of you, but you must go. Even if you guys can get me out, do you really think you can carry me to safety, I can't even walk right now!" Just then, a titan turned onto their street. Naruto, Armin, Mikasa, and Eren all stared at it with horror etched onto their faces. A titan stared at them, on second thought, however, Naruto realized it was smiling at them. The titan stood fourteen to fifteen meters tall, it really was a grotesque creature.

They were broken out of their fear when they heard a man shouting their names, it was Hannes, clad in his ODM gear. He stared directly into the eyes of the titan and froze in fear. This was the effect of living in safety for around a century, even the military wasn't truly prepared for the threat.

For a split second, Hannes considered taking on the titan but he quickly erased that idea from his mind. Grabbing Eren and Mikasa he tucked them both on his shoulders and turned to Naruto. "You and Armin are going to have to run, I can't carry all four of you." With that, he took off running, not even glancing back to look at the two kids. Hannes didn't even know that the words he said didn't even register with Naruto or Armin.

Naruto stood frozen, watching as the titan reached down and grabbed Carla. Armin was also faced towards the same scene, but he didn't even register what was happening. Armin was starting to hyperventilate, he couldn't take in all the changes in a short time. A few seconds later, his body hit the ground. This shook Naruto out of his stupor and he turned to Armin, who was unconscious on the ground.

While this was happening, Eren was screaming his head off. He couldn't form any complete sentences at the moment. All he could think about was the fact that he was about to lose two of his closest friends, with his mother on top of that.

Mikasa was silent while being carried, but her face betrayed her true emotions. Tears flew off her face as her mouth was slightly shaking, Naruto had been her best friend for years and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him too. In her panic, she had forgotten all about Armin, only the spiky-haired blond was on her mind. Mikasa had already realized that there was nothing she could do.

Back with Naruto and Armin, Naruto had already started to move, albeit slowly, with Armin on the ground being dragged behind him. Naruto was moving directly away from the titan, eventually, he hid in between two houses, trying to catch his breath. Naruto didn't dare to move or make a sound, eventually, he caught his breath and looked out of his hiding spot.

There, he watched the titan catch a man and a woman and began to eat them too. The bloody teeth of the titan glowed in the sunlight, showing off his razor-sharp smile.

Naruto turned back to Armin, who was now on his hands and knees. "Armin! Can you get up and run, we need to get out of here! If you die here there's no way you'll ever get to see the ocean!"

Armin looked up to Naruto and responded, his voice shaky and his whole body trembling. "Y-Your right, N-Naruto. Let's g-get out of here."

A stony-faced Naruto answered. "Your wish is my command."

Grabbing Armin's hand they both started to sprint in the direction of Hannes, their little legs moving as fast as they could. Turn after turn, they ran through the winding streets of Shiganshina. Eventually, they reached the gate to the inside of Wall Maria.

Naruto looked over to the river flowing right beside them and at the boats that were about to take off, he could see that Eren and Mikasa were already on the one that was about to leave. Running over, he tried to get close to the boat. However, he was pushed back and onto the ground by a member of the Garrison Regiment. "Sorry kid, the boat's full. You'll have to find another way inside Wall Maria, it's not like you're in immediate danger anyway. The gate will come down soon and lock-off Shiganshina from the inside of the wall."

Right as the soldier said that, the wall exploded and Naruto experienced true fear for what was the third time in his lifetime. Looking down at him there stood a titan that eclipsed all others, the horrified screams faded away and became nothing in front of this monstrosity.

It seemed to possess armor, its skin was covered with these plates that seemed like it could protect it from anything. However, more importantly, it had a face. This face became the one that Naruto would see in his nightmares, the one he would see looking down on him whenever he thought he couldn't take it anymore. This face became the object of hatred for Naruto, the one he thought about whenever titans were mentioned

The anger in his body spurred his body to move, grabbing Armin, (who had started to hold his knees to his chest and cry) and dragged him to the bank parallel to the boat. Naruto had already pushed past the soldier and the other surrounding people, who had all ran away or gone into shock. Seeing the boat had already started to pull away from the dock, he prepared to jump on. Looking back, Naruto would wonder if he had jumped, how much would have changed.

Deciding otherwise, Naruto grabbed a sobbing Armin and shouted at him. "Armin! I'm going to get you on the boat, be ready to jump!" On the count of three, he threw Armin onto the boat, who had pushed off the bank with the adrenaline coursing through Armin's body. With a hard thud, Armin landed on top of an older woman, who pushed him off and grumbled.

Naruto prepared to jump but was stopped when the boat began to pick up speed and got too far away for him to reach. Cursing, Naruto looked back and saw that titans had started filtering in, sparing one last glance at Armin he yelled at the top of his voice. "Armin! Tell Eren and Mikasa that if I don't find them inside the walls, I'll join the military when we all are old enough! I promise!" Without even looking back to hear if Armin heard, Naruto ran towards the second wall, Wall Rose.

After about thirty minutes, Naruto began to slow down. After the adrenaline left his veins, he began to understand how screwed he really was. Even a 10-year old could figure that he had almost no chance for survival, no food, and no water. He didn't even worry about the titans, Naruto knew if the titans found him, it would all be over.

Eventually, Naruto couldn't resist and he found a path down the riverbank and started to gulp the water. He laid down and took some deep breaths, wondering what to do next. While staring up at the sky, he could hear a faint sound.

Getting up, Naruto walked back up to the top of the path and onto the main road. Looking towards the direction of the sound, Naruto saw a man in the distance, who seemed to be riding a horse. Naruto waited for a minute or two then he started to shout. "Hello! Man on the horse! Over here!" Naruto prayed the man would stop for him.

When the man got closer, Naruto got a better look at him. He was bald, he had an oval face with blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of black boots with black pants, on the top of his body, he wore a simple long-sleeved grey shirt. He stopped his horse and looked down at Naruto, who was standing in the middle of the path. "Hello, my name is Leon. We don't have much time, but I was wondering if you would like to come with me. I'm trying to get to Wall Rose before I become food for titans, you in?"

Naruto could only nod his head before he was heaved onto the large horse. The man spurred his horse and turned to face Naruto. "Grab onto me, or don't grab on to me. I don't care for which, just make sure you don't fall off. I will not stop to pick you up, I've wasted enough time getting you. Nod if you understand." Naruto responded by vigorously shaking his head up and down.

They rode in silence for a few minutes, buildings flashing by until Naruto spoke quietly. "Thank you, Mr. Leon." Leon chuckled in response.

Leon turned his head around and began to question Naruto. "Sorry about being harsh earlier, I just wanted to get my point across. Anyway, what's your name, young man?"

"Naruto."

"Where's the rest of your family?"

"Don't know, never really had one."

"Ah."

Leon didn't really know how to respond to that, so he decided to just leave it at that.

As they rode, Naruto thought about his three friends, he hoped they got inside Wall Rose without any problems. Even if Naruto didn't make it, he was glad that his three friends were most likely going to make it without any problems.

The sun was almost gone by the time Wall Rose came into view, giving both Leon and Naruto hope that they could make it. Naruto decided to speak up and ask Leon something that had been bugging him. "Uhh, How are we going to get inside the wall?" In truth, Leon was wondering about that as well.

He knew that Naruto was small enough to get carried by a garrison soldier, but being in his late thirties, Leon knew he would be too big for that to happen, so he would have to figure something out.

With Garrison Soldier watching the wall

"Sir! I see something out there, it appears to be a horse with someone riding on its back."

Looking over, the one in charge mentally cursed, damn, why do I have to be the one overlooking Trost, it's turning out to be a real headache, sighing, he responded. "Damn, well at least the titans aren't here yet. We can't risk opening the gate for him though, we don't know if there are any titans nearby." The soldier who had first spotted the horse nodded and went back to watching the horse.

After a few minutes, he spoke up again. "Sir, there appears to be a young child on the back of the horse, can I go pick him up?" The squad leader looked over at the young man, whose face was filled with worry.

"Fine Aaron, when they get close enough you can get the kid." The commander went back to smoking his cigarette and scanning the horizon for titans.

With Naruto and Leon

"Alright Naruto, we're almost at the wall. I'm going to try and get the attention of some of the soldiers on top of the wall." Naruto nodded his head in response and went back to resting his head against Leon's back. He had grown tired and the fast-approaching darkness wasn't helping him stay awake at all.

Leon began to call up to the soldiers, shouting as loud as he could. A few seconds later, he saw a man coming down the walls. When the man landed, Leon got off his horse and walked over to greet the man.

"Hello, I'm Leon, could you please take this young boy up the wall? I already know that I cannot come with, but I will not give up on getting in."

The garrison soldier nodded in response. "Of course, I only planned to come from the kid anyway. Do you have experience with our gear?" Holding up his Omni-directional gear as a reference.

Leon shook his head from left to right as a response. "I don't, never felt like joining the military, too many rules for me. Anyways, we don't have time to waste, titans could come after us any minute." The soldier acknowledged what Leon said and made his way over to the young boy with blond hair, who had started to slump down on top of the horse.

The soldier grabbed the boy and told him to hang on tightly, which was followed by Naruto wrapping his arms and legs around the soldier. Naruto picked his head off the shoulder of the man who was carrying him, who was facing the wall and readying to go up. Naruto turned his head to Leon and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for helping me out today Mr. Leon, I hope we meet again."

After that, Naruto put his head down and held on for dear life as air rushed past him. When they got back on top, the soldier let Naruto down and started to question him.

"Do you have a family?"

"No, I never met them."

"Alright then, what's your name?"

"Naruto."

"Last name?"

"I don't know."

"Alright then, I'm going to go leave you with everyone else that came in from outside Wall Rose."

With that, the garrison soldier picked up Naruto again and started to descend the wall. Eventually, he made his way to the ground and started to walk over to a group of people who were taking in all the orphans.

At the same time as they were walking, Naruto had fallen asleep on the back of the garrison soldier. He rode piggy-back style, with his arms over the shoulder of the man carrying him. When Aaron reached the entrance to the orphanage, he decided to wait outside and knocked on the door.

The door opened the crack and there was an older man, he had a receding hairline that did little to hide the sweat on the top of his face. The man sighed and decided to speak up. "Well, what do you want?"

"I've got a young boy with me around the age of ten, can you take him?"

"Yes, we can." Leon didn't seem convinced with how angry the man sounded, but he chalked it up to the invasion of the outer wall.

"Alright then, his name is Naruto." With that, he gently woke the boy up and told him about his new living conditions. Naruto always disliked orphanages, he didn't trust them at all, at least not after that night.

However, Naruto's sleepiness won over, just one night, he promised himself. Looking up at his new caretaker, he gave him a small wave. "Hello, I'm Naruto." The man just looked down and grunted, after that he motioned for him to come inside the almost pitch-black room.

Sighing at the interaction, Aaron hoped for the best between the two and left after waving goodbye to Naruto.

Inside, Naruto looked up at the man and yawned. "Hey mister, I'm really tired, can I just go to bed right now?"

The man gave him a sinister smile and replied. "Oh don't worry I'll make sure you have a nice good rest." Without any warning, the man brought out a wooden stick and attacked the unsuspecting child with it.

Before Naruto could even register what was going on, he had already crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Groggily, Naruto awoke to a headache, trying to forget about that, Naruto opened his eyes and tried to look around. He couldn't see anything, however, he could hear voices outside. Trying to move, Naruto found himself tied with some sort of rope around his arms and legs.

After he tried to scream to no avail, he was gagged as well. The door opened, and Naruto could hear someone walk into the room. He tried to turn towards the noise but was promptly kicked in the stomach.

"Well, we can't have our merchandise causing any trouble, can we? You will be going back to sleep, brat." With that, Naruto was hit on the head again and he began to go to the realm of unconsciousness.

His last thoughts were about something he overheard.

What the hell is the underground city?

However before he could think again, Naruto's breath softened and his body relaxed, he was unconscious once again.

AN: If you're getting an update for this and already have this storied followed don't bother reading, I just decided to combine the chapters and make some edits.

If you're new here, welcome to my story. If you have not seen AOT or Naruto don't worry, the story should go into enough detail that you won't have to have seen both shows. The pairing has already been decided, so don't ask about that, but any criticism/advice is always welcome.