A/N: OMIGOSH 400 REVIEWS?! Alright ladies and gentlmen, good news and bad news. Good news first. My surgeries are over. Bad news: Now I have to WORK to pay for everything. Still, I'm feeling a bit better now. Really. Kinda. Sorta. I'm hanging tough though, having just come out of the woods...only to work my ass off as a bloody dishwasher! Not fun! Not fun at alll! UUUUUGH! I'm woking almost daily and I feel like crap, as to that effect. But nevertheless, despite this pesky little hiccup-I wanted to get word out any way I could, and since for some strange reason the site is being buggy, I wasnt able to work on this anywhere near as much as I would've liked. Still...THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!

I love you guys so much! *Cries*

Now, this chapter might be a bit confusing consider I haven't updated in awhile, so I recommend going back and reading previous chapters. Why haven't I updated, you ask? With good reason! My job has been beating the living hell out of my as of late! This was REALLY had to write with being tired from work; exhausting, actually. But I'm proud of it, and I hope you enjoy it as I finally get some rest.

On another note, someone comissioned me to write this, but even then, I never thought I'd enjoy it this much...

Well...here ya go! =D

...I'm only Human! Sorry for the wait and sorry if its short! Nevertheless, this story is REVIVED! AND IT IS NOW RATED M! LOTS OF GORE AND OTHER...'THINGS' IN THIS CHAPTER! YE HAVE BEEN WARNED!

"You'll be dead before you've reloaded."

~?

Reconcile

Sorrow.

It seemed to pervade his every waking, living moment after that horrid afternoon, rendering Uzumaki Naruto little more than a shambling corpse. He ate nothing. Did nothing. Spoke to almost no one, beyond those of his inner circle. He barely slept and when he did, his dreams were fitful and filled with torment. Nearly a week passed with him in his sorry state. But what Petra found odd was that-despite his violent disassociation from nearly every other human being in the walls-he would always, without fail, venture outside of them each morning. Sometimes Levi accompanied him.

Sometimes he didn't.

Regardless of the odd fact, Petra began to notice a pattern amidst the seemingly random acts of departure. Each evening, regardless of whether Levi had accompanied him earlier or not, Naruto would return, covered in -Titan?- blood and in the blackest of moods. He'd always shut himself away in his quarters afterward...yet emerged without fail the next day.

According to the report, a lone member of the Military Police who'd actually dared question him on these seemingly illicit times and departures ended up torn into so many different pieces the proper authorities never properly identified him. When the Crown tried to take action against him for this seemingly unprovoked act, he killled those enforcers, too. Poor sods. Petra shook her head at that thought, shuddering at the memory of his apocalyptic temper.

Still, he should've known better.

She shifted through report after report given her by Hange. Skimming at first, then reading, eventually frowning as Naruto began taking these excursions more and more often, alone. This strange ritual of his began the day after Marco's corpse was returned to the earth, and to this day, even with Eren's Trial fast approaching in morn, it still hadn't stopped. If anything, it was growing worse. Something...something had to be done. But by whom? Mikasa and his other students seemed strangely reluctant to interfere.

Indeed, they seemed to be too absorbed by their own mourning, closing ranks whenever she tried to approach. Petra respected their silence but unfortunately, it did little to help her. Soon, they'd choose which military branch to enter, and, by the Walls, they needed those kids in the Scouting Corps! Naruto's students were skilled to the least; even meek little Christa had a terrifying affinity for earth capable of creating violent quakes that'd knock you on your ass, or open deep sinkholes capable of sucking a Titan down to its doom.

It was only natural that the Garrison and Police would want them. Even the Crown itself seemed interested. But that was a matter-painstaking as it was-for another time. Today, Petra decided, what truly mattered was tracking Naruto down and snapping him out of this funk. He'd be needed at the trial; testimony like his would either make or break their plans to retake the walls.

So, today, the day before Eren was to be released from his cell and judged, she tailed Uzumaki Naruto. Followed him out past the walls. Into the woods.

And everything changed.

Naruto managed to keep himself under control until he reached the walls.

It hadn't been a good day; he hadn't found so much as a single Titan to vent himself on. The creatures seemed to be avoiding him now so long as he remained in human form, their primitive minds knowing enough that they were no match for him. That, or he'd simply killed too many. Each day he had to range further and further than before to find new victims. Culling the Titans was good for the world and equally culling his temper-if only just. He found solace in slaughter, the mindless monotony of butchering the creatures responsible for taking his student from him.

When he tore into those creatures, for the briefest moments, he felt like he was avenging Marco's death. It was a silly thing, but it made him feel better.

But today, there had been nothing for him to exhaust himself on. The anger was still there-frothing-seething in the cauldron of his heart, the tiniest provocation promising to send it bubbling over. With every fiber of his being he fought to reign it in as he stormed back to the walls, save it for the beasts he'd failed to encounter today, for the-

Titans!

Odds against odds, he actually encountered a group at the wall.

Naruto hastened his pace when he saw them at the wall; his body breaking into a brisk trot the moment he sighted upon one-two-three of the great goliaths pawing at the boulder barring the gate. One was only seven meters tall and the other eight, but it was the fifteen-meter class to which he homed in on. With their backs turned and jaws scratching at the wall, they never saw him approaching. And by then, it was already too late. Had he bothered to use his maneuver gear, he could've taken them all in a a single sweep.

He did not use the gear.

Ting!

His blades flew from their sheathes with a murderous rasp, coated in wind chakra. He bellowed a challenge as he stalked forward finally alerting the beasts to his prescence-

-and they died.

Naruto leapt on them with a snarl. Tore into them mercilessly, whirling, twirling, spinning always hacking always slashing, uncaring for what he hit, dismembered. He never stopped moving-even for a moment-inflicting grievous injuries that would've ended most beasts, but not Titans. He was free to bully the creatures to his heart's content; kick their legs out from underneath them and gouge out their eyes. Lop off their hands one by one and slice at their fingers.

Going for theirs neck would've been the wisest and safest option but without anyone to guard, he was free to butcher to his heart's content. So butcher he did.

The seven meter titan grabbed at him, succeeding in snaring his scouting hood with fumbling fingers. He shrugged out of the garmet and slashed both cloak and creature in half, accidentally killing the beast spot on in a single, vertical slash. Gore spurted across him as the beast's bifurcated body tumbled to the ground but he barely noticed; because he was already moving. Next came the eight. It was slightly larger than in its dead cousing but no more intelligent-a single Rasenshuriken ripped it from its feat and blasted the beast into the ground.

When it tried to rise, he simply summoned another one and obliterated it entirely, cratering the earth beneath his feet with its passing. He leapt nimbly away before the last of its corpse had even cooled, spinning back to face his final foe.

At last he was left with the fifteen meter. It looked at him strangely this one, not charging in as its bretheren had done. It did not attack, rather, it waited.

Naruto frowned, readying himself. An abnormal? What in the world was it waiting for-

The world slid sideways. Naruto was on his back, crashing along the stony ground with no control over his own body. He jolted to a stop, disoriented, his ears ringing. His head felt as although it had been stuffed with cotton, fuzzy and faint. Somone-Kurama?-was shouting something, and he could not make out the words enough to respond. But he knw the intent. They were coming...

Everything was very slow. The air was thick and pressed him to the ground. Gritting his teeth, he squinted up at the creature looming over him. It was large, and it was not human. And it had come from the ground at his feet he realized, bristling as the titan pulled the rest of itself from the damp, rain-soaked earth. Its maw was coming down-

Sage Mode.

Naruto drew in the vibrant energies of life and nature in the same instant, remaining unmoving as the beast bit down on his head and shoulder. It had thought it'd found itself any easy meal. Imagine the brurtal beast's surprise therefore, when its incissors and molars shattered like so much. glass. Crying out the stupified creature lurched backwards, clawing at its now toothless maw. Naruto gave it a pitying glance. Then that pity was nothing more than anger, boiling in his veins.

"Oi, oi, oi," he ground out, raising his viridian gaze to look the stupefied ambusher in the eye, "I'm no rookie like Marco. You'll need more than teeth to hurt me...now its my turn." His pride was wounded more than anything else; the ambush had served as a reminder that, for all his power, he could still be surprised. Time to finish it, then..

He broke free and rolled toward the side, hacking at the creature's wrists. It stumbled, but made no sound, as if pain were a thing unknown to it. Naruto flared saffron when it tried to grab him with its maimed arms, instinctively activating his chakra cloak and striking upright with a jarring kick in the sam instanit. Then he swung at it with all the might possessed by his human body, grunting with effort. The thing turned to him in mid-strike, eyes abulging as the kick ripped it out of the earth and launched it backwards. Another ground its face-and neck-to a fine paste and sent what remained tumbling to join the others.

"Graaaaaaaah!"

That was when Naruto noticed the first abnormal bearing down on him with startling speed. Evidently the creature must've recognize the failure of its comrade; because now it spared no expense in attacking him. Too little, too late.

This time, he had enough sense to activate his gear. The line shot out, effortlessly anchoring itself into the nearby wall. Thus moored he leapt forwards; a spurt of gas from the cylinder hurling him into the waiting grasp of his enemy, into its reach. And reach for him it did. Giant fingers blotted out the fading light of the afternoon sun, eeking out the last rays of its brilliance and casting himslef into shadow.

Naruto might've found it oddly poetic, if it weren't trying to crush him.

Then he spun, scissoring his swords outward and cutting himself free. Bloody fingers flew in either direction. Its hand joined it moments later. "Great Breakthrough!" He snarled summoning up a gust of wind chakra. It all but flattened the towering titan, slamming it down to the wall. Somehow, it managed to right itself, raising its head to leer blankly at him, mouth agape. Naruto plunged into its gaping maw moments later...and cut his way through in a flash of steel and wind. Exploding out the back of its throat, still steaming with gore he whirled and cut down into what remained of the creature's neck, striking at that vital point.

Hard.

There was a clang, a spurt of blood, and it toppled to the ground, dead in the earth.

Slumping to the ground, he landed, the sound of his descent overshadowed by the earth-shaking crash of the titan's corpse. Then, and only then did he finally allow himself to breathe. Swenet, blessed air flooded himself and his lungs, relief cooling him as he sucked in an untainted breath, one devoid of the tainted Titan blood that had so espoused the walls. But his heart aeemed to disagree with his brief moment of peace, still hammering away despite all efforts to the contrary. Kurama noticed.

"Kit, you need to calm down."

'Shut. Up.' he snapped back at the the thunderclap of the kitsune's voice. He imagined he must look quite the sight; his eyes bright red and stained with gold, possessed by so much anger his sclera were likely orange, rather than their traditional colo. With brisk and efficient breaths he tried to do as his partner had bid, grappling with the seething emotions-

-and failing. Failing. Just like him.

Just like Marco.

Just like that, the frustration and anger spilled over and he roared. Yowled. The bestial howl that sprang forth from his lips set every animal's hackles on end for miles around, caused children to cry in their cribs, and all but started three heart attacks back in the town proper. It wasn't the sound of a man. It was the cry of an old god, powerful and ancient in his fury. Where one to listen-they would've realized that the cry was actually a word, a single series of syllables dragging out in a vehement expletitive of:

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

He beat his fists against the wall, over and over again, soaking his knuckles in crimson, cracking his bones as well as the stone. Every punch was a testament to a centuries-long rage, a soul-deep pain that had never gone away, and a festering wound he knew would never heal. He was what he was.

He was what he'd made himself.

He'd tried to be more. He'd tried to be better. Each time he'd failed miserably. Darkness constantly flooded him, banging against an already unstable dam made of tainted memories and unstable emotions hidden behind a thin veneer of humor and civility. His hands smashed into the wall until he could no longer recognize them; even then he kept going. The punching continued until he was panting and dripping in sweat. I hate this, he raged furiously against the unyielding edifice, relentlessly breaking himself against it. I hate it. I hate it hate it hate it HATE! IT! ALL! Until skin and muscles were shredded, and broken bones exposed. Even still he could have taken another thousand swings, but he didn't.

Naruto forced himself to exhale with measured precision and imagine all his agony, all his grief, all his guilt, leaving him.

The dam refortified.

Aches and pains gradually made themselves known to him - tiny jolts of agony shooting up and down his broken arms as his body worked to repair the damage he'd done to himself-but that was okay. The banging had stopped. For now, that was all the mattered. He could breathe again. He could think. He could...

Realize he wasn't alone.

So lost had he been in the storm of his own inner turmoil, that he'd failed to realized that he'd been tailed; so intent was he on inflicting retribution on himself, his senses betrayed him. When he turned he found himself face to face with none other than Petra herself. There was no fear in those warm, hazel eyes. Only pity. She stepped forward out of cover, emerging from the relative shade offered by the trees.

"Naruto," she began-

"Don't." he muttered, raising a hand to ward her off. "Just...don't. I'll go to the trial," he said. "Just, please...

"No." she set her jaw, refusing to comply. "You need to hear this."

He cringed aside. "I don't need to hear anything."

"Yes, you do."

"I'm going to tell you one more time," snapped Naruto, his voice furious. "Leave now—refuse and you'll regret it!"

"I'm not going away, Naruto!" Foolishly, she continued. When she tried to bring her hand to his cheek, he swatted it away.

"You can't claim to be responsible for what happened-

"And who should take responsibility, if not me?!" He shot her a scalding, withering glare, and she wilted. "I trained him! Taught him everything he knew!" Naruto felt a twinge of guilt pluck at his chest at the sight of her pained expression but he pushed past it-too angry to consider her feelings. Sorrow and fury were all he felt, all he knew and all he could think. He'd failed him. Marco was gone because he'd failed to impart unto him the one truth of a shinobi; always be aware of your surrroundings.

That situational unawareness had cost him his life, ripping away the soul of a good soldier from this world.

Everyone insisted that it was his own failure that caused his untimely demise during the defense of Trost. Naruto disagreed. The fault lay not with the student, but with the teacher. With him. It didn't matter what they said; what Gunther, Eld, Oluo, Levi, Erwin, or even Petra told him. What Mikasa and the others claimed. He should've done something. Trained him better. Anything. Everyone else had their own skillsets to fall back on, but he'd only ever taught Marco senjutsu, if only because he didn't seem to have a talent for anything else.

"Its my fault!"

SLAP!

His head snapped aside as a red handprint tattooed itself to his whiskered cheek. Petra lowered her arm, harsh tears glistening in her eyes. Numbed, he laid a hand on his whiskered cheek, flinching slightly at the pain pinprick that greeted the motion. Fury flooded him. Fury, but, he couldn't bring himself to lash out despite that fact. Slowly, Petra lowered her arm. A moment of pained silence stretched between the two of them, man and woman, neither moving. Neither daring to speak. Finally, someone broke it.

"You think you're the only one who lost someone?" When Petra spoke, the words were like a knife to his heart, jagged and sharp, digging deep. "Everyone lost someone when the Titans broke through last week. You're not the only one whose hurting! Can't you see that?

"Can't you see what you're doing to yourself? Humanity needs you! We need you," she said, turning aside, voice breaking, hitching slightly. "I need-

She caught a flash of confusion-then recognition-in those bright blue eyes.

"Petra...?"

Ruthlessly, she cut herself off. When she found her voice again it sounded almost sad. "It...it doesn't matter, what I want." she said, looking him square in the eye. "But what you need," her finger jabbed him firmly in the chest, "Is to stop blaming yourself. Yes," graduallly, her voice bean to rise, warbling slightlly, "Marco is dead. Gone. Departed. No, there isn't anything you can do about it, unless you learned how to raise the dead when I wasn't looking. NO, it wasn't your fault. He didn't die under your watch. And Maker help me, if you keep bawling and don't do something about it...I. Will. Slap. You. Silly!"

Naruto had stood silently by as she berated him for his foolishness, head hanging low, utterly unspeaking. Now slowly-almost reluctantly, he raised his gaze.

"That really hurt, ya know." he groused. The ghost of a smile adjourned the corners of his mouth. There it was. A hint of his old self.

Petra colored prettily.

"Hey, I was just doing my part," she protested. Pulling her arm free, she struck a relaxed, non-confrontational pose. "You don't mind that, do you?"

"That depends." he replied wyrly. "Did you have to slap me?"

The woman cast a mournful expression and ran one hand back through her hair, twirling it between her fingers in a sustained effort not to look him in the eye. "Well, I wasn't planning on it. Seemed to work, though. If it made you smile, then I guess it was worth it." she laughed nervously.

He didn't reply to that at first, and she fretted further beneath his penetrating stare. Gods, now I feel like an idiot! As if he would possibly feel...

...what're you suggesting, exactly?"

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when he took her hand.

Doooown, girl! Petra breathed in and out slowly, steadying herself beneath that smoldering stare. She brought one fingertip up to her pursed lips, then let it glide down over her chin and throat until it rested against her chest beneath the vest. Her voice became husky. "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about. What could I possible be suggesting...?" her words trailed off, luring him.

"Shouldn't you be saving those words for Levi?" came the pointed question.

"I could," she smiled sweetly, a note of sorrow dampening her desire, "If he felt the same." Ah, and there was the truth of it, the reason she'd discarded her silly infatuation. Levi's only love was his duty, and butchering Titans. He might have room in his heart for friends like Erwin, Naruto, and Hange, but anything more? Not bloody likely, as she'd learnt the hard way. Levi was broken inside, much in the way that Naruto was broken-as Erwin, Hange, and the rest of the Scouting Corps were broken. You had to be insane to want to confront Titans outside the walls. And in a way, they were. All of them. They each had their own faults and flaws.

Naruto groaned softly to himself as she stepped closer, pushing him back against the great wall. He spun, and suddenly it was she who found herself pressed up against the last bastion of mankind, the cold stone stark and chilly against her back in the evening light. "You're impossible...

"I try."

Petra's seemed to be falling for men she could never have. Men like Levi. Or Naruto, who, until now, had always deflected her more subtle advances and admiration with snark and good humour. But not day, it seemed; something had changed. Perhaps Marco's death had broken something inside of him. Perhaps not. Either way, he wasn't turning her aside anymore. Not now.

"Would you be angry if I kissed you?" she asked suddenly.

Naruto stared at her, unmoving. In another life, maybe, such an overt flirt might have been enough to startle him. But right now, the curves of her body did nothing but arouse him. It was almost funny, reallly; Petra had just given him the verbal beatdown of a lifetime. And yet he couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked in the light of the setting sun, the way the fading light caught her eyes and caused them dance. The fate of the entire human race could very well be resting on his shoulders right now, and, he was still allowing another pretty face to distract him.

A very pretty face, it seemed.

"Not at all." the words surprised even him.

"You certainly have a way with words," she said quietly as he inched forward.

"I try." he mimicked.

Then he bent down to and kissed her, softly-sweetly-his body pressing into hers. Her lips parted for him with a soft moan, their tongues tangling, dancing as her arms circled his neck. Petra angled herself to better find his mouth with hers, one leg rising to curl around his waist. Bliss. Yes, that was what it was. Nothing else could possibly hope to describe this heady sensation coursing through her veins. She felt alive for the first time in months, every cell in her body singing as her hands dance over him and his, her.

Breath parted between the two of them with want and lust, warm plumes of steam fogging the air as they parted to breathe. Then to her surprise, and without so much as a glimmer of hesitation, Naruto reached down and plucked her off the ground as though she weighed no more than a child.

Petra yelped in surprise and held tight for dear life before she realized she was safe, before allowing her other leg to lock around his hips. She was now solely supported by him, fully aware of the bulge grinding against-between!-her legs, and she cursed the clothes that separated them. Every second of it was a terrible torture, one she would tolerated no longer. She felt his hands settle on her rear, even as hers ghosted beneath that tattered shirt he fore, dancing across the muscles beneath. She used this leverage to tug herself closer, until her lips were nibbling at her ear.

"Room," she growled, "Now."

Naruto laughed and with a simple flash of Hiraishin, there they were. Clothes flew with reckless abandon,

She didn't resist...

...not in the slightest.

As fate would have it, his arrival to the trial the next morning was...delayed.

Naruto left Petra at home in bed the, sparing one last glance for the slender curve of her waist. Mine. The thought stabbed into his mind unexpectedly, surprisingly welcome. His fingers trailed across the supple expanse of skin, drawing a pleasured shiver from her even in sleep. This drew a smile from the sage, and he paused to deliver her a soft peck on the cheek. Her lips lifted in a sleepy smile, still trapped in the throes of bliss filled slumber. For the time being, Naruto was content to leave her there.

Being with Petra had been...soothing. It had been slow and tender and sweet-not the relentless savagery and raw passion that had taken him with Annine only a few days prior. They'd taken their time, exploring every inch of one another long into the night. There had been no need to rush. He had...enjoyed it. All the guilt pressing down around him had vanished, banished for the moment by the warm afterglow of the night he'd had spent with his old scouting partner. So yes, he'd enjoyed it-and her-very, very, very much.

"Just like you enjoyed Annie, eh?" Kurama harrumphed. "You're toeing a dangerous line here, boy. Best be careful."

That made him wonder.

Annie was cold and icey, all jagged edges, even with him at times. By contrast, Petra was warm and soft and sweet, caring and loving. He wasn't entirely certain what to him, only that she was, something. He cared for each of them in equal measure, but they probably wouldn't understand that now, would they?

He lingered for the merest of moments longer, contemplating this, before finally grabbing his clothes and departing. He fixed the harness to his right and left arm, adjusting those tiny wrist-crossbows until he was quite satisfied with his handiwork. The proper flick of his wrist would create a world of hurt for any party unfortunate enough to accost him. Next came the rest of his leathers, his coat and jacket, emblazoned with the Wings of Freedom, falling over the other, more complex devices he wore. Today was the day of Eren's trial. It was best to prepared in case the Military or-kami forbid-the Crown tried something.

Thus armed and armored, he departed his home and strode out into the causeway.

He didn't get very far.

In the streets people paused to look at him, murmurring softly. That didn't surprise him. Thanks to this whole Cult of the Nine business-a strange group who seemed to believe he was their chosen messiah-and his acts to preserve the integrity of the walls, he was already something of a celebrity. Of course, that'd been before Marco's death, before he'd gone and murdered a squad of the king's enforcers in a blind fury. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a wise move, but looking back, he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. Corrupt bastards deserved what they got.

Apparently in their minds, so did he.

No sooner had he arrived in the square, than he found himself accosted. Violently.

The clicking of triggers was the first real sound of warning, even then, he didn't pay much attention. It was only when the cloaked shadows emerged from the alleyways, dropped down from the rooftops, that he finally deigned to accept the fact that he'd been hemmed in. That he found himself surrounded.

Roughly a dozen in all, they leveld their muskets at him, circling him. Imagine his surprise when he found none other than Nile Dawk standing at the head of them all. The thin, reedy man looked slightly ill at ease when faced with his placcid expression; as though he feared the shinobi would rear back and bite his head off. Perhaps he might.

"Well, damn." Naruto whisted softly, eyeing the rifles pointed at his chest, fingers cocked and ready on the triggers. "If I'd known you fuckers were going to try something like this I would've brought snacks." His words sent a ripple of fear shooting through the assembled brigade. "So?" he asked them. "To what do I owe this welcome, Nile? Is this about butchering your men earlier? Because if it is, I'm not sorry."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Nile swallowed. "I'm sorry about this, but by order of his majesty, you need to come with us to the palace. Immediately."

"Why? Because I killed those guards?"

"Its deeper than that." the man replied stoically. "Please, don't make this anymore difficult than it has to be." Naruto weighed his answer for all of an instant before making his decision. There was no way he'd abide by the decisions of a corrupt monarch, an a puppet one at that.

"Ohhhhh, I'm so sorry, but I'm feeling rather difficult today." he answered snarkly.

"This is a courtesy, anyway. We've already taken your students into custody-

"Do you think me a fool?" The blond cocked his head aside, scowling. "I know for a fact that none of my kids would be captured by you. I trained them better than that. Come now man, if you're going to bluff you ought to at least make it a good one."

"That doesn't change the fact that you'll be coming with us-

"No." came the reply, his cross-shaped irises regarding them coldly. "I don't think I'll be going anywhere with you."

A deep, yawning sensation opened under Nile. "I'm afraid I must insist," he declared, suddenly not nearly as sure of that as he had been moments ago. Naruto shook his head slowly-sadly-the motion sending his bangs swaying from side to side.

"No." he repeated.

"Y-You've got nothing." one of his men, a male, laughed at what he thought to be folly. "Nothing but your bloody knives and your fancy karate gimmicks. We have guns-

Whatever offense diatribe the man had been preparing to spout aborted prematurely when the businsess end of a kunai slammed into his forehead with a dull thunk, burying itself to the hilt in a fountain of scarlet. Eyes rolling back, words trailing off into a unintelligible gurgle, the guardsman collapsed, dead at their feet.

The casual attack struck Nile as sharply as if the knife had cut into him instead. The yawning sensation deepened into an abyss.

There was an awful silence after that.

Mercifully, this sudden and unexpected savagery ended the man's life relatively painlessly; by the time his brain would register the fatal wound he was already dead. He didn't live to see the hot spray of bloody viscera that spattered across his comrades; never noticed the awful pool of red spreading from his corpse. And still, the moment of awful silence persisted. Naruto, having barely moved after throwing that knife, simply cocked his head and surveyed his handiwork intently.

Naruto chortled; it was a deep, throaty chuckle as everyone drew back from him.

"No," he goaded quietly for the third time," what you have are bullets and the hope that when your guns are empty, I'll no longer be standing, because if I am...

Another knife flicked into his hand.

...you'll all be dead before you've reloaded."

In the tension that followed, someone was foolish enough to fire. The woman's rifle barked, a ball of iron lead leaping from the barrel to slam into the man's unprotected shoulder. Naruto grunted, staggering in surprise and shock, his features twisting in a grimace of pained agony. That gave someone enough courage to fire their own weapon. Then another. And another. And another still. Shots erupted in the sqaure, sending civilians shrieking and scurrying for cover. The precious few that stayed to watch averted their eyes as the Military Police-exempting the horrified Nile-riddled their saviour with holes.

"Stop, you idiots!" he roared, raising his arm! "Stop shooting!"

They did not stop. And amidst the gunpowder and flint, he saw the blond smiling, grinning for every shot that struck home.

He knew at once that the man had gotten his way. And more. Exactly as he'd planned. For the Military to open fire on the Saviour of Trost without witnesses was one thing; but when innocent bystanders were there to see the deed firsthand, to watch an unarmed, unaggressive man shot to pieces...it had all the beginnings of a revolt in the making. Vaguely, he recalled Erwin's words earlier in the evening. He'd flat out admitted to his old friend what his orders were, what the crown's intentions were for the man who seemed to intent on usurping it. And Erwin had tried to talk him down. He hadn't listened:

"You don't want to make him angry, Nile."

"Why?" He'd scoffed. "Even with all his gifts, he's still just a man. Men can be arrested. Killed."

Erwin had just looked at him in pity, as though he were admonishing a petulant child. He'd shaken his head. "No...he may act like it, but Uzumaki Naruto, without a doubt...

...is not human."

Now, he realized too late his foolishness in following the crown. No...he had to stop this! Now!

"Cease fire!" He cried for fifteenth time! "Godamnit, CEASE FIRE!"

Finally, blessedly, the soldiers obeyed. Some fumbled to reload, grasping at their belts for more ammunition. Too slowly, Nile realized, as the corpse shifted. Far too slow.

Naruto straightened slowly, woodenly, like a puppet severed from its strings. Half of his right arm was falling off, and his stomach bore a gaping hole. But even as they looked on, the shinobi stood in blatant defiance of his injuries, cracked his knuckles, and smiled.

"My turn."

Thn he blurred.

There could be no other word for it; one moment the shinobi was standing still and stoic, the next, he was gone and a knife was at his throat. Around him, five men lay dead. Two lay on the cobblestones bleeding from severed necks; their heads tethered to their bodies by the merest strips of flesh and bone. Another sported a kunai lodge right over his heart, the fourth seemed to be suffering from a heart attack, and the fifth...damn but he couldn't even recognize the poor sod in all that gore.

The others were no more than bloodstains on the walls and streets. A hand here, a foot there, someone's severed head...

"Well, then," Naruto purred, pressing the kunai closer to his throat, mercilessly drawing him away from the grisly massacre. "It seems this is checkmate, old boy." Nile gulped, glancing at his two remaining soldiers. The poor boys looked like they were about to piss themselves in fear. No...wait, one already had!

"W-W-What are you?" he rasped out. "How are you alive?"

"Beneath this face there is more than flesh, more than muscle and bone." he answered as the last of his wounds sizzled shut. "Beneath this face there is an ideal. And ideals...are bulletproof. I wonder if you're the same when it comes to knives?" the weapon pushed coldly against his adam's apple, drawing a trickle of red from his adam's apple.

Nile's control slipped, and he began trembling. Wave after familiar wave of dread washed over him as he stared into those pitiless saffron eyes, the eyes of a sage, impervious to everything the world threw at him. He'd gladly face down an entire Titan horde than deal with this madman!

"Now," Naruto continued amicably, "Would you kindly tell your men to stand down before I kill them, too?"

Through a trembling jaw, Nile found his mouth forming the words, "Stand...stand down! All units stand down!"

They didn't need to be told twice; the poor sods slumped to the ground almost before the words were out of his mouth.

Naruto lowered his knife and clapped his hands together, as if in delight, though his expression put paid to that assumption. "Yes! That's right! Well done."

"You...I can't believe you killed them...

He looked innocently at the commander. "Is there a problem?"

Nile rapidly shook his head. The blond grinned.

"Good man. That wasn't so bad, was it? I only had to kill...what was it this time, five? Seven? Ten? Yeah," he decided to himself, "sounds like ten. Ten. Looks like you boys're finally starting to learn." Nile wisely chose a safer route and held his tongue; rather than warn the blond that the King would doubtlessly try to wreak vengeance on him for this. But that mockery would render his life forfeit now, wouldn't it. So instead he chose to keep his mouth shut, preserve his own life, and let the man walk away.

Thus whistling, Naruto trotted away-a spring in his step-down the street to the grand cathedral where the trial was no doubt being held.

Time to crash the party.

A/N: Aaaand there we have it, folks. First, to answer some questions. In canon, it took three days for Eren to wake up after passing out at the wall. Here, it takes an additional FOUR DAYS for any one to track down Naruto and reign him in. Furthermore, Naruto can be surprised. He CAN be killed. It just takes a helluva lot, like a headshot or decapitation, to really put him down.

We see that the Monarchy isn't as accepting of Naruto as we first assumed, he's got a small cult revolving around him and his girls-Petra included it seems-and now he's slowly digging himself out of the hole caused by Marco's death.

...what will be the repercussions for Annie attacking Marco? Did she even do it? Did the blade ever connect? Or did someone else have at hand in this dastardly deed?! The plot thickens! This can't possibly end well! What will happen! Who will live, who will die?! Will Naruto survive their righteous female fury?! Find out next time on...

...I'm Only Human!

So...in the immortal words of Atlas...

...Review...Would Ya Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview! DRAMA INCOMING!

(Preview)

Naruto felt his throat run dry when he saw it; the Titan storming towards them. He watched, numbed, as she dispatched two more riders, swatting them from their mounts with almost contemptuous ease. Without any semblance of thought, he spun, skidding to a halt behind Petra and the other horses, sending the ground shaking. Dimly, he was aware of her shout.

"Naruto?!"

"Go!" he thundered.

And then the enemy stormed into view. Bright blonde hair danced before his peripheals as he beheld the Female Titan.

For a moment, just a moment, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sheer incredulity blinded him to what he was witnessing-reality refusing to assert itself. He stood there in his Titan form, his six-arms falling slack as he beheld the juggernaut storming towards him. Dread opened beneath him in an abyss, threatening to send his spirits plummeting all over again. But they didn't. Instead the soared, the flames of anger burning all too brightly in his heart. He stepped forward, saw the light dancing in her eyes, the determination, the grief, the pained resolution. His own hardened.

Annie.

She screamed at him and he echoed the bellow. He was running almost before he knew it, his long stride eating up the ever-shrinking distance between them even as she surged forward to meet him. He had time for a single thought, a lone inquiry deep in the darkest depths of his mind. Why? Why was she doing this? Why was she betraying everyone she'd ever known?

Then they collided.

R&R! =D