A/N: WARNING!

*sighs heavily*

This chapter has...certain themes. You've been warned.

Holy crap I was crap when I first started writing this story years ago.

On another note, this bloody blasted site keeps crashing for the lot of us! Couldn't write anything all bloody day. Really ticks me off right and proper. To top it off, the Attack on Titan manga recently tore my heart out and stomped it to pieces.

That's part of the reason why I was gone for so long. I didn't like the direction the manga was going, and it put me off of AOT for a good long while. I'm pleased to see that they brought back Annie, but that's about it. I've watched quietly from the sidelines for a good bit now, and I can see how the series is going to end.

*takes a deep breath*

So. Time to keep my promise and finish this story. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

I'm still dealing with crippling pain these days, but I'm going to finish what I started.

Let's pick up where we left off. Only two more chapters to go.

As ever, I own no quotes, themes, or memes.

...onward~!

"Why couldn't you just do the right thing, instead of the thing you were told?!"

~?

Have Your War (Prelude to the End)

Pieck couldn't move.

She could think, either.

Couldn't even bring herself to breathe.

Her heart hammered in her chest like a frantic foal's, desperately searching for an escape where none was to be had. She was well and truly trapped. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, up a creek without a paddle, so on, and so forth. Any number of fanciful phrases failed describe how completely and utterly screwed she was in this moment.

Because she'd miscalculated.

At the end of the day, she'd overestimated herself. She thought she could succeed where everyone else could fail. Now she'd been caught out..

Now the cold blue eyes of a furious jinchuuriki bored into her very soul, sharp and angry.

"Well?" Naruto cocked his head to one side. "Start talking. We're on a bit of a time crunch here." a knife came up under her chin. "I'd rather not resort to torture."

He would, too. She could see it in his eyes. This was the man who had converted Annie to his side, tossed Berholdt and Reiner to the wolves, and left Zeke maimed. Whatever he was, whoever he had been at the start of all this, that man was long gone by now. He had been burned away by the harsh reality of war, gained a power that shouldn't exist and used it to shape the world to his whims. She couldn't beat that. Couldn't beat him.

"When," she gasped the word out, "When did you know?"

"That you were going to betray me? From the moment we we met. I can sense negative emotions." his words drowned her hope in despair. "Granted, its a skill I don't like to use much because it tends to make me more than a bit paranoid, but I've been a bit more proactive about it lately. You were doomed from the start."

Pieck swallowed, eyes flicking to the blade at her throat.

"You can try, if you like." Naruto inclined his head in a nod. "Go ahead."

Even if she managed to transform -assuming he allowed her to do so- it would be over in a matter of minutes. He was faster than her. Stronger than her. Bringing the armory down on his head wouldn't kill him. It would only make him all the angrier. There was no one to save her now that things had gone south. No midnight rescue, no daring raid. Zeke was still recovering. Strictly speaking it was in her best interest to cooperate. To stall for time and wait for the right moment to strike. Logically speaking, that would be the best course of action.

Pieck wasn't feeling very logical at the moment.

Instead, she flung a fistful of gunpowder in his face, forcing a flinch. Naruto's head jerked away from hers with an growl and he stumbled half a step; leaving himself open. Rather than attack, Pieck used this brief moment of inattention for what it was; used it to duck under his arm and make a break for the door. Her hand closed around the iron handle as she flung it open and threw herself into the street. Yes! Victory! She'd blinded him, and he couldn't get her if he wasn't able to see...her...

"No, no, no." a familiar voice called out in the darkness. "You don't get to run. Not from this."

A golden arm burst from the shop, closed around her ankle, and reeled her in like a fish on a line. Her world blazed red as another ripped her upright. A third ethereal limb slammed her body against a wall with crushing force. Something popped ominously in her collarbone and she choked down a scream.

Red-rimmed eyes narrowed on her. "If its any consolation, that hurt like hell."

"You're a monster." She lifted her chin in defiance, grimacing when the blade followed her. "I won't give you anything."

"Yeah." oddly enough, Naruto seemed almost saddened to admit that ugly truth. "I am. Its not something I'm proud of. However," and here he frowned, "I didn't start this. That was your doing. If you and yours boys had just stayed away, I would've landed in a peaceful era. But you didn't, and I arrived in a warzone instead. All those innocent lives lost," he shook his head. "And for what? A prize that was never yours to begin with.

Pieck reared back and spat in his face. "Don't you dare say you're innocent!"

"I'm not." the admission came freely, striking her like a slap in the face. "My hands are stained with blood. Those stains will never wash out. But yours?" Naruto leaned in and pressed his forehead against hers. "Yours are dripping with it. Think on that before you throw your accusations at me. In the beginning, I held onto the hope that we could talk about this. Now? I know better. Now I think its time for this to end."

"Says the madman." she snarled.

Naruto twitched.

"Look around you!" he flung a hand at the shop, at the implements of war scattered across the table. "The whole world's gone mad because you breached the walls! You should've left well enough alone! But no. No!" the ninja rounded on her when she tried to wriggle free. "Your superiors say jump, and you ask them how high? It disgusts me. Why couldn't you just do the right thing, instead of what you were told?! Why couldn't you...?!" for a fleeting moment she thought he might say more on that thread, but he didn't.

"Talk."

Odd how a single word can inspire such fear. It shot through Pieck like an arrow, chilling her to the bone.

"Never." the words emerged in a dull, flat monotone. "You'll have to kill me first, demon."

"No." pity lanced across Naruto's face. "I won't. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Wait, what are you-aargh?!"

Naruto's hand closed on her shoulder and twisted. Pieck's shoulder buckled like rotten driftwood this time, she couldn't fight back a scream. She thought she saw a flash of guilt burn through her captor's blue eyes, but he didn't relent. Neither did she...until his hand clamped down on her joint and agonized it further still. Hot, angry tears seared at the corner of her eyes.

"Damn you...!"

"Talk," he repeated, "And the pain stops."

She snapped her teeth at him. "I'm used to pain!"

"Kurama's chakra might say otherwise." A faint red miasma burned within his hands. "For what its worth, I'm sorry. I really don't enjoy torture."

Pieck tensed her body in preparation of what she thought was to come; that proved a mistake, for rather than rupture her muscles, the poisonous chakra simply sank into them. Her blood burned in her veins. The hell that followed could not be called agony; for agony was a word. It lasted all of an instant, scarcely more than five seconds, and yet it felt like an eternity. did nothing to describe her suffering. It broke her. Took her iron will and ruined it a thousand times over.

This.

This was why Zeke had told her to stay away.

She'd thought herself prepared for anything the enemy might throw at her. How wrong she'd been.

"Stop!" she wailed like a little girl, thrashing his his grasp. "Stop, stop, stop! I'll talk!" her voice cracked. "I'll talk...just stop...

Naruto drew his arm back, pulling the chakra away with his palm.

Pieck sang like a canary.

Because, at the end of the day, she didn't want to die.

Here, in this moment, she valued her life more than she did Marley. So she talked. She told him of their plans, their technology, everything she could. Words flowed from her lips like water, and her captor listened to them all, not speaking a word. It felt like hours. In truth only a handful of minutes passed. Just like that, she'd betrayed her country in a matter of minutes. She sold them out, completely and utterly. When the tears came this time, they were tears of bitter anger, not pain.

And when it was done, when she was left wasted and gasping for air, the death blow never came.

When Naruto actually released her, it came as something of a surprised. She'd expected him to kill her outright.

Instead he placed a glass of water to her cracked lips. She drank from it greedily, traitor that she was. Drank every drop dry.

"Here's what we're going to do." her captor declared, crossing both arms before his tattered cloak. "I'm going to give you a choice. The one you never gave the poor people of this island. "Walk away. Right here. Right now." Her eyes widened, but still he bulled on, barreling through her protests. "You do that, and we'll stop. We won't chase you." now he paused, gave her a moment to let the words sink in. "Leave this island tonight and never return. Go." he stepped back, pulled her free from the wall, and gave her a shove. "Run to your superiors. Tell them you're not to return. Because if you do...you're gonna have a bad time."

She'd have a worse time if she returned to Marley with news of failure.

Her superiors might be able to overlook the loss of one Titan, but three? Never. They'd string her up on the spot and have her executed, feed her to someone who might prove more malleable. That someone would simply be sent back in her place. No. Going back was not an option. It never had been.

"I...can't." she looked away.

"Yes, you can." Naruto stepped in, snatching her hand. "You're just too afraid of the consequences."

"And you aren't?" A bitter laugh tore out of her. "The whole world will come for you, you must know that. You and your students."

"Let them come." His response sounded a little too smug for her liking. "Eldia, Marley...it doesn't matter. They can have their war. They'll lose."

With a scoff he released her and turned his back, leaving her to rub her wrist.

"What are you going to do?"

"Something that should've been done a lone time ago." A lone blue eye peered over his shoulder. As she looked on, it burned seven shades of scarlet. "I'm going to break the circle, Pieck. We've already begun that process with the monarchy here tonight. By tomorrow, the world will be changed forever. And we won't stop there." a foreign emotion flashed through his eyes, gone before she could hope to quantify it. "Here's another choice for you."

He paused, eyes keen on hers.

"You can stand there and be bogged down by your past-by your history-or you can follow us and make a difference." for the first time since she'd met him, his words held passion; no his eyes burned into hers with a true, earnest plea. "A real difference. Think on that for a moment." His cloak flared as he turned his back on her. "Its time your made your own decisions. Ask yourself the real questions. Who are you? And what do you want?"

Pieck watched him saunter open the door and saunter into the night.

The door crashed shut behind him, causing her to jump. No attack came. No ambush. Nothing.

She sucked in a breath, waiting for Naruto to try...something. Anything at all. Anything to validate her hatred for him.

Nothing came. Her fists slapped against the floor and a keening whine escaped her teeth. Just like that, he let her go. She'd live to see another day. And yet...

Her mind reeled for answers that refused to come. He was giving her a choice. She'd not expected the like. Damn. Damnit. Damn him. Why was he like this?! Only a few moments ago, he'd tortured her for information on the enemy! Torture, for crying out loud! She shouldn't even be considering this. Yet his words struck a chord in her all the same, a faint, familiar note that she'd almost forgotten. He'd spoken of bringing an end to this, of finishing things between everyone once and for all. Was it wrong that she wanted to see that? Just a little? No. She'd made her choice.

...Zeke would kill her for this.

But could he? He would be alone now. Outnumbered.

With a supreme effort of will, Pieck reluctantly picked herself up off the floor. On trembling legs she forced herself forward and out the door. She looked left. She looked right, searching for any sign of him. Nothing. Not a single sign of life here in the night. He'd come and gone like the ghost he was-

A finger tapped her shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Don't do that!"

Sure enough, she found Naruto leaning against the side of her shop, waiting for her.

"Made your decision, have you?" he asked.

Pieck fought down the urge to claw his eyes out. Must not kill. Must. Not. Kill.

"I'll...work with you." she had to choke the words out. "But if I don't like this plan of yours...then I'm gone."

Naruto inhaled sharply, and for a single sliver of a second those bright blue eyes seemed sharper to Pieck somehow. More alive than she'd remembered. Had she made a mistake? No? Didn't much feel like one. He didn't cackle at her, didn't admonish her, didn't do anything of the sort. His hand descended and she sucked in a sharp breath as he slapped her on the back. A sudden wave of vitality rushed through her, and it took her three seconds to realize her shoulder had stopped aching. It didn't hurt at all, anymore.

What in the world...?

"Wonderful!" Naruto beamed at her as if she'd given him the greatest gift in the world. "Let's go, then. We've got a war to win."

With a cheery grin he turned and bolted down the street, leaving her to chase after his rapidly receding form.

Slowly, tentatively, Pieck limped after Naruto's footsteps. Her lips pursed in the faintest of frowns.

Would it kill him to slow down a little?! "Wait up, you bastard!"

A/N: Aaaaaand Pieck is converted!

Feels good to get back into the swing of things.

Naruto raises a valid point; if everyone had just left the Island be, none of this would've happened. Think on that for a moment. Sure, it wouldn't be a perfect world, but the fact remains that Reiner and Bertholdt basically started that shitshow. Nevermind Keith and the rest.

Still the die's been cast, and there's no taking it back now.

Truth is, this was never going to go the way of the manga. Its just not feasible; the manga's deviated too much from what I've had written thus far. To follow it, I'd have to scrap the TEN THOUSAND WORDS I've already written for the final chapters, and I ain't doing that.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly?

We're nearing the end here, folks!

NO MORE PREVIEWS AFTER THIS ONE. At least not for this story.

Have to keep things interesting here, eh? Now then, only two chapters left! Epilogue doesn't count.

(Preview)

"Ohhhh, Naruto~!"

"Hanji, no! Bad Hanji! DOWN HANJI!"

"So you're Rod Reiss. Someone I expected you to be...taller."

"You filthy heathen!" spittle frothed at the man's mouth. You don't belong here! Everything would've been fine without you!"

"And yet here I stand, your majesty." Naruto stepped forward from the group, spread his arms out and sketched a decidedly shallow bow. "You've tormented Eren and Historia long enough with your half truths."

"Naruto...!"

He climbed the steps.

"Hang on, kiddo. I'll be right there."

Rod yanked Historia backward. "S-Stay away! Come any closer and I'll...!

"You'll what?" A blond brow arched. "Shoot her? No. You won't. You're not that stupid. Now, if you're thinkin' to shoot me, well, that's a different kettle of fish." Naruto smiled and suddenly the royal found himself gazing at slitted red eyes. "How many bullets do you have left? One? Two? Three?" still the ninja crept closer. "Now maybe you hit me, maybe you don't. But do you think a single shot would put me down? You'd have to time it just right, hit me dead in the brain. You'll only have time for one shot. One opportunity. So tell me, Are you feeling lucky, Rodd?"

His body blazed gold.

"ARE YOU?"

R&R~!