AN: I don't own AOT or Naruto, if I did, would I really be on this website writing this?
The 104th Cadet Corps
The sun shined down on the group of military hopefuls, some of which would become the newest recruits. Among them, stood children, each with their unique backstory. Some had come from the comfort of the cities inside Wall Sina, where there was always enough to eat and no one went to sleep worrying how they would make it through the next day. Some from small villages that were scattered throughout both Walls. There were hunters, fighters, and people spanning from all ways of life.
The cadets all stood at attention in the open area, the dirt already getting on their boots. They all had differing clothes on, some nicer than others. Some of them had freshly ironed shirts, who no doubt were trying to make a good impression, others had shirts One could tell if one was coming from inside Sina, or from the refugee camps inside Wall Rose.
However, a certain blonde was missing from the mix. A twelve-year-old Eren Yeager was frantically looking around, scanning all the heads that he could see. Even though they were all lined up in rows, he still couldn't find Naruto. He saw a few blonde girls and even a tall blond guy, but no sign of Naruto. Eren's hope of ever seeing Naruto again was fading, and just like his mom, he blamed the Titans for him not meeting Naruto again.
However, just as he finished that thought, he heard a shout.
At the same time, Keith Shadis, the future instructor of the 104th Cadet Corps, had just finished berating another recruit and turned towards the noise.
A figure could be seen running towards the new group of recruits, with one of their hands up in the air, making a waving motion.
As the person got closer, Shadis could make out a couple more details. He was around a hundred and fifty centimeters tall, with blonde hair that seemed to glow in the afternoon sun. The newcomer was sprinting down the dirt path into the open area, his messy hair bouncing all over the place.
When they finally arrived, the recruit gave a shaky salute to Shadis, before hunching over and trying to catch his breath. Shadis just stood there, his mouth agape. The blond took no notice of Shadis' reaction and stood up and formed the salute again, albeit a bit better this time. "Naruto, reporting for duty!"
Right as Shadis started to speak, Naruto took a look around and spotted a friend he hadn't seen in a while. He waved his hand and shouted across the field. "Eren! How have you bee-"
Shadis finally reached his limit with all the insubordination and yelled at the blond. "Recruit! You're late! You better have a damn good reason, or you're going to be running all day and night!"
Naruto immediately turned back around to face Shadis and smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry. I couldn't get a ride earlier than the one I took."
Shadis turned and leaned down so he could face Naruto, face to face. "Ok, and why couldn't you get a ride earlier? Recruit." Naruto could feel the anger in the words when Shadis spat the last part at him.
"The one before the one I took would've got me here a week early."
Shadis decided to give the cadet one final question. "Pray tell, where do you come from where the only way you can get here is on a boat?"
"From Mitras."
At this point, Shadis started to laugh in Naruto's face. "You, someone who probably hasn't had to work, probably not even do chores, wants to join the military." He slugged Naruto in the stomach and began to walk away. As Naruto crumpled to the ground, he saw Shadis look over from behind his shoulder. "If you want dinner tonight, you better do a hundred laps around this field!"
Before anyone could move to help the blonde up, Shadis looked around and spoke again. "If I catch anyone even speaking to him, you're running those hundred laps with him!" With that, he turned and motioned to the cadets to follow him. "If you want a place to sleep tonight, follow me!"
Eren gave Naruto an apologetic look but turned and followed Shadis to the barracks.
It was already dark by the time Naruto had almost finished his seventieth lap and he felt like he could barely stand. When he finished the lap, he collapsed on the dirt ground. He looked around and could barely see the other cadet out there with him.
She was on the other side of the field and still going strong. Naruto knew the girl in question was named Sasha, but at the moment, he couldn't find it himself to care. He pushed himself onto his knees and began to get up, but then he heard his name being shouted.
Turning around he saw three cadets running towards him and when they got close enough, he started to recognize them. "Eren, Mikasa, Armin! I can't believe it! After all this time, it's worth it just to see you all." Naruto choked up at the last part and if it wasn't so dark, the three newcomers could see tears forming in his eyes.
Before the two who flanked Eren could speak, he shouted first. "What the hell, Naruto! You had three damn years to find us, but you tell Shadis that you were in the damn capital. While we lived off scraps, you probably had a full belly whenever you wanted!"
Before Naruto could stand up to protest, Armin got in between the two. "Eren, give it a break. We haven't seen him in three years, and you want to start something already, control yourself." Eren was taken aback by Armin's commanding tone, this was the first time he had ever heard Armin sound so confident in himself.
Mikasa finally decided to try and play as a mediator. "Guys, don't fight." It wouldn't be very becoming of them to fight after just meeting again.
Eren just huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine. Naruto, I am glad to see you again." Eren then proceeded to reach down and help him up, Naruto gratefully took his hand and made his way back onto his feet.
Without warning, Naruto pulled Eren into a big hug. Eren froze up for a second before he returned Naruto's hug. When Naruto finally released Eren after a few seconds, Eren could've sworn he felt something wet on his sleeve.
Naruto stepped past Eren and gave both Armin and Mikasa their hugs. Armin quickly returned the hug, but he hid the look of guilt that was on his face, although it was quickly replaced by relief. Mikasa stiffened at the sudden contact but she wrapped her arms around Naruto too.
As he pulled back from Mikasa Naruto began to speak. "Listen, I know you probably all have your questions on what's happened the past couple of years and I have my questions for you too, but I'm dead tired and haven't eaten since breakfast. So, can we please go get food?" As he said that, his stomach seemed to rumble in agreement.
Armin nodded in agreement. "Actually, you can, Shadis sent us to tell you to go get cleaned up, and afterward you can get food in the cafeteria. He also told us to get the brown-haired girl that was running with you." Armin turned and pointed to the girl who was slowly dragging herself across the ground to try and finish her lap
"Well, I'll give her props for not giving up."
"Shut up, Eren." Naruto jogged over to where the girl had collapsed on the ground and extended a hand down to her. "Come on Sasha, I'll help you up." Sasha just stayed on the ground and groaned.
"The faster you get up, the faster you'll get to eat." Sasha grabbed Naruto's hand and was up in an instant.
"Yea, I thought that would work."
Sasha just grumbled a reply. "Shut up. Where's the food?"
"Oh, yea about that, you have to take shower first. Shadis doesn't want you in there smelling like garbage."
"Of course Shadis would pull that." Despite what she said, Sasha still headed towards the girl's dormitories, she knew that disobeying Shadis would be much worse than wasting fifteen minutes in a shower.
Naruto headed back to his three friends, who had been waiting for him telling Sasha what to do. When he got back to them, he could feel his stomach pains growing. "So, who wants to show me where the boy dormitories are?"
Naruto stepped out of the shower feeling more refreshed than he had in days, as he began to put on some pants and shirt, he made a mental note to thank Eren for letting him borrow his spare clothes.
As Naruto made his way out of the bathrooms and through the camp, he thought about how he was going to explain to his friends that he didn't live in Mitras, but beneath it. He did promise himself to tell them everything, but not now, he'd just have to find the right time.
Naruto turned and opened the door into the cafeteria and walked in, gaining a few glances here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. He filled up a plate of food for himself, Naruto wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't care, food was food.
Naruto sat down with Eren, Armin, and Mikasa, giving them a greeting, and then began to dig in. As Naruto tried to enjoy the tasteless food, he looked around the other cadets who were also eating dinner. Naruto spotted Sasha, who seemed to be eating, although taking in food like there was no tomorrow seemed to be a more accurate description.
Turning back to his group, Naruto listened in on the conversation they were having. It had something to do with what the test would be, the one they would have to take before they could truly become part of the military.
Eren thought it would be some sort of strength test or something physical and Armin chimed in, hoping that it would be a puzzle.
"It's an ODM Gear test on how well you can use the gear."
Eren and Armin both turned their heads towards Naruto and Eren spoke up first. "Like the gear the military use to get around in the air?"
Naruto just nods his head in response. As he zoned out his friends, who were comparing ideas on how to pass the test, Naruto let his gaze roam around the room. Taking in all the faces, he studied them all, boy or girl, tan or pale. If anyone ever questioned him on why he did it, they would get a short response. It grounded him.
When he looked at a female duo eating in the corner, he instantly noticed the height difference between the two. When his eyes met with the shorter blonde-haired girl, she lowered her head down to stare at her food. This caused the taller, and the significantly more tan girl to whirl around and glare at him.
Naruto began to look away but then he heard the girl shout from across the room.
"Hey! Aren't you the privileged kid from Mintras? Just because you used to live in a place that catered to your every need, that doesn't mean you can stare at whoever you want here."
The entire cafeteria fell silent and everyone turned to stare at the tall girl.
Eren instantly jumped out of his seat to defend Naruto. "Who the hell do you think you are? You can't just insult someone like that." The girl opened her mouth to respond, but Shadis barged through the door with a furious look on his face.
"Would someone like to explain what is going in here?"
For a few moments, no one moved. Then Naruto rose out of his chair and turned to face Shadis. "I'm sorry, Sir, I dropped my plate and caused a mess. I'll make sure to clean it up as soon as possible." Shadis looked around Naruto's table and saw the distinct lack of a fallen plate, after a few moments, Shadis looked back at Naruto.
"Don't make me clean up your own damn mess, am I clear?"
Naruto just stared back at Shadis. "Crystal, Sir." Shadis just nodded and walked out the door, returning to whatever he was doing.
Everyone started to resume their conversations, but Naruto motioned with a jerk of his head to follow him to the table where the tall girl was sitting. When they started to approach the table, the girl stood up and faced them, with her hands crossed over her body. Naruto simply put his hands up in surrender and stopped a couple of feet away from her.
"I'm Naruto, it's nice to meet you."
"I don't care."
"These are my friends, Armin, Eren and Mikasa." Each raised their hand in greeting, although Eren was a bit put off with the girl's treatment of Naruto.
"That's nice, now go away." At this point, Eren started to clench his fists, but Armin whispered to him to calm down.
"I apologize for staring at you, it wasn't anything personal." The girl just sighed in response and motioned for him to pull up a chair.
Naruto just smiled and waved his friends off and motioned that they could return to their seats. After, he grabbed an empty chair and sat down at the table. For a few seconds, everyone was silent until Naruto spoke up. "Well, what are you're names?" The blonde girl, who was sitting to Naruto's right, looked up for half of a second, but then returned to staring at her food.
"I'm Ymir." Naruto turned and studied the girl on the left, she had hazel eyes, which were darker than her skin, but not by a lot. She also had freckles, which dotted right below her eyes. At second glance, Naruto noticed that the eyes matched the color of her hair. Her hair was styled into a ponytail with long bangs at the sides, which framed her face. Most noticeably though, the part Naruto always came back to, was her eyes. They were intimidating and seemed to hold a sort of immortal anger in them.
Naruto was brought out of his thoughts though, by the girl in question. "Listen, I accept your apology and everything. You can leave us alone now."
Naruto just smiled and stood up. "Sure, just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings." Ymir just grunted in response and went back to her food. As Naruto began to walk back to his table, he just grinned to himself and there seemed to be a little more energy in his step.
After dinner, everyone returned to the dormitories, which were essentially two groups of cabins. One group was for males, and the other for females. As Naruto had already washed up before dinner, he had first choice on which cabin he wanted to stay in. Eventually, everyone had washed up and had chosen a cabin. With Naruto, there were four other people, the cabin only being about half full. The size of the recruiting classes had dropped significantly, obviously due to the invasion of the outer wall.
The four others included Eren, Armin, and two people they hadn't met before. Reiner and Bertolt, two people who had also experienced the invasion. Reiner's hair almost matched Armin's, both having blond hair, however, Reiner's was significantly shorter. Reiner also had hazel eyes and a defined facial structure. He was quite tall with broad shoulders and you could also see the start of some facial hair.
Bertolt, Naruto's other new roommate, was also tall. Reiner was noticeably taller than Eren, Naruto, and Armin, but Bertolt still overtook Reiner in height. Bertolt had short, dark hair, which complemented his brown eyes, and a longer face that matched his tall body.
When they were all up in bunks, Reiner decided to spark up some sort of conversation. "So, Naruto, what was life like in Mintras?"
Naruto looked around the room, finishing by staring into the darkness out the window before responding. "The top is nice, beneath the top, however, it's pretty dirty." Armin and Erenbother perked up at hearing something about Naruto's life in Mintras. "I preferred Shinganshina better."
Reiner looked surprised about Naruto's comment about Shinganshina, and Bertolt voiced his question. "You visited the Shinganshina district?"
Eren decided to speak up before Naruto could reply. "He used to live in Shinganshina, as an orphan. Armin, Naruto, and I were all friends as kids. After the invasion, he somehow made his way into Mintras. He hasn't even told us yet. I wonder when he will."
"Eren, you can leave it be."
"Armin, he needs to tell us. We deserve to know."
"Why? We don't deserve to know, we abandoned him in Shinganshina."
Before Eren could respond to Armin, Naruto cut in. "I don't blame you, we were kids at the time. You didn't have any control over what you were doing. I probably would've done the same thing."
"Thanks for helping my case, Naruto."
"Of course, Armin."
The next morning, everyone woke to Shadis banging on their cabin door. "It's morning, cadets! Meet me in the yard in five minutes or you will be running the entire day." Everyone was groaning as they slid, out of the comfort of their bedsheets. Naruto, who was the first to truly 'wake up' and gain some sort of attention to his surroundings, raced out of the door towards the yard.
When the rest of the cabin registered what Shadis had said, they ran right after Naruto.
After all of the recruits made their way to the yard, Shadis began his speech. "In twenty-four hours, all of you will take the test on whether you will become part of the military, or not. Today, you will have time to train for that test. Behind me, are ten training devices, which will be what you will be tested on. To succeed in the test, you must be able to balance yourself in that harness, which is the first step to mastering the ODM gear. The men stationed at each device will help you in and out. Dismissed."
Instantly, everyone rushed to try the machines out first, although Naruto and Armin, who had lost Eren in the rush, began to look for Mikasa. Eventually, they found her at the back of the crowd, just observing the masses fight on who got to be first. Eventually, they all formed a line to try one at a time. Naruto saw Eren in line with Reiner and Bertolt, all eager to try out the machines.
When Armin and Naruto were walking over, Naruto began to thank Armin. "I appreciate last night, that you stuck up for me. Even if I made a joke after, it means a lot." Armin smiled at him in response.
"I still remember what you did for me back in Shinganshina, you saved my life then. I'll always be grateful for that."
"The blondies have to stick together, isn't that right, Armin." Armin just gave a small laugh in response.
As the two began to approach Mikasa, she seemed hyper-focused on Eren, who was two places away from trying the machines. Naruto reached out and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to freeze for about a second before she whirled around to face the two boys.
Instantly, Mikasa's hands went up, causing Naruto and Armin to jerk back in surrender. "Calm down Mikasa, it's just Armin and me." This seemed to put Mikasa at ease, and the tenseness left her body.
"Good morning." After giving a greeting, Mikasa went back to watching Eren.
"Oh come on Mikasa, we've known you for years."
"Hold on Naruto, Eren's about to go." Armin pointed over to where Eren was attempting to enter the harness.
When Eren finally got in, the instructor counted down and pulled the lever. Instantly, Eren lost his balance and fell sideways. In the process, he hit his head on the ground, knocking him unconscious. This caused the instructor to swear loudly and release him from the harness.
The three friends had already started to sprint over to where Eren was lying, with Mikasa leading the small group. When she reached, Mikasa instantly started to cradle Eren's head in her arms. "Eren! Eren, can you hear me? Are you okay? I'll get help." With that, she started to yell at the instructor, who was observing the group of friends, to get help.
Naruto grabbed Mikasa by the shoulder to stop her from trembling. "Mikasa, calm down, panicking won't help anybody. Come on, take deep breaths." After attempting to calm down Mikasa, Naruto turned towards the instructor. "Sir, we can take him to the infirmary and make sure he's ok." The instructor thanked Naruto and then went back to his line, who were all watching the commotion taking place.
"Alright, Mikasa and Armin, each one of you should take one of his legs, I'll take his head." Both nodded in response and got to their positions. Naruto counted down from three and they all picked up Eren and started to carry him.
"Let's try not to drop him."
"Shut up, Naruto."
In the infirmary, the three young teenagers were crowded around their friend. He had woken up and the nurse had given him pain killers for his head, but she told them there was no permanent damage. Mikasa had crushed Eren in a hug when he awoke and hadn't let go until Naruto saw how uncomfortable Eren was getting.
"Guys, I'm fine, I swear."
"Good, cause you got some work to do if you want to pass the test tomorrow."
"I'd like to see you do better."
"Oh, I can and I will once you get out of your bed."
"Naruto, I swear I'm going to…" Eren was about to finish the threat, but he clutched his head and fell back down on the bed.
"Painkillers haven't had time to kick in yet."
Everyone looked over at the nurse, who went back to taking inventory of her stock.
Armin started to speak up. "Guys, there's no need to fight, Eren you need rest for now. We can help you when your headache goes away. Naruto, stop insulting Eren." Mikasa looked relieved that the two had stopped arguing, or else she felt like she might get a headache herself.
Eren looked to the side, obviously not happy to be confined to a bed, even if it was for just an hour. "The nurse said it would be about an hour before I could leave, you guys can try and practice the machines."
Naruto just shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, Armin and I will go and try out the machines. Mikasa can stay here and keep you company. Is that okay with you?"
"You can take Mikasa with you too."
"Mikasa, would like to come with us, or watch over Eren?"
"I'll watch over Eren, I'll see you guys in an hour for lunch at the cafeteria."
Eren sighed. "Fine. Mikasa, would you like to play a game? It's the one we've played before, it's called…"
Naruto couldn't hear the rest as he had just walked out the door, Armin following just behind him. As they started to make the way towards the yard, Naruto wondered how he would do on the machines.
The dirt road Naruto was walking on was incredibly boring, so boring that he started to zone out his surroundings. He didn't think anyone could've designed a more boring road, with just a few random wood buildings lining up next to the road.
He was so in thought that he didn't see the person in front of him until it was too late. Unfortunately, the other person was moving quite fast and both of them hit each other and fell to the ground.
Grunting, Naruto muttered under his breath. " Eren's going to be pissed that I ruined his clothes."
"Oh, Naruto, it's you!"
Looking over, Naruto instantly recognized the other person, he ran himself ragged with her after all. "Sasha! It's nice to see you again, I didn't see you at the cafeteria."
Sasha just laughed and pulled herself up. "I was probably too busy eating, all the running Shadis made us do really took a toll on us" Sasha then reached out and helped Naruto up.
Armin coughed.
"I'm sorry, Sasha, this is my friend Armin. Armin, this is the girl I was running with yesterday, Sasha. I think you were with me when I helped her last night." Sasha gave an energetic wave at Armin, who was standing a few paces behind Naruto and Armin returned the gesture, although with a little less energy.
"Have you tried the machines yet?"
"Nope, I decided to get something to eat first from the cafeteria."
"Alright, would you like to come with me and Armin? Our friend had an accident and we haven't been able to try them either."
"Sure, I was making my way over there anyway."
As the trio started to make their way towards the yard, Naruto and Sasha fell into a comfortable conversation, with Armin trying to contribute where he could. They were so engrossed in their discussion about the dirt road they were walking on, that they failed to see Shadis watching them from his office.
AN: Well, chapter 2, finally. I'm sorry how long this took, not sure if anyone accepted a chapter 2 from me. It's short which is sad, but at least I'm active again. I always appreciate criticism/advice, so make sure to leave some.
If you would like to join a discord to find more FFN stories, or just hang out with some cool dudes, join here: tZsKurZVk7
Chapter 3 will come out in the next few weeks, I guarantee it. Some grammar edits may be made to chapter 1 first though.
Much love to everyone to has been following/favoriting and giving me support in reviews. I will be changing the title of my story though, I feel like it's a bit of a spoiler. If you have any ideas, leave them in the review.
That's all for now, peace.