Sasuke grunted in pain as he struggled to free himself from the debris he had been buried under. He pushed aside the rock that had been weighing him down and dropped onto his butt to stare at the sky. Today had been a particularly exciting day compared to the past few years of sheer mediocrity he had been forced to deal with. A titan invasion, while not particularly exciting aside from the colossal titan he had encountered, had set forth other events he had found interesting.

The ice user on his team had been fun to mess around with. He didn't even try that hard. He could tell she threw everything she had at him but as was her nature, she was mediocre. Sasuke wouldn't have ever noticed her had she not gone against him. She had momentarily caught him off guard however, that he would admit. His concentration had lapsed while he had been toying with her emotions. Well, he had also been enjoying Eren about to get eaten. But because of this she had found the will to fight back had almost skewered him. She had frozen him in place, rendering him unable to do any of his other techniques at all. If he hadn't used Amenotejikara it definitely would have been fatal.

The ability granted him by his Mangekyou sharingan enabled him to instantly shift between spaces, and anything occupying that place would swap places with him. He could also use it on things other than himself. Aside from an all out susanoo there had been no other way out.

He sighed, silently thanking Menma for this gift. His best friend had been an idiot, and Sasuke had to wonder how the fool had even passed the academy in the first place. Despite being a dead last however, through the only year they had spent together as part of a team Menma had managed to gain Sasuke's respect and friendship. They were the only ones who understood each other. They were both orphans who would never be treated normally. Sasuke was treated the way he was because of the Uchiha Massacre and he wished they would stop raising him on a pedestal, while Menma strived for acknowledgement from the masses that ignored him. They would have traded positions in a heartbeat.

Sasuke's goal had been to become an avenger, he wanted to kill his brother and step out of Itachi's shadow. The two boys had sworn to help each other achieve their dreams after saving each other's lives multiple times. Sasuke however, had made the mistake of trusting Menma too much and had confided in his best friend that the only way to achieve the mangekyou sharingan had been to kill the one closest to you and that the trauma would awaken similar power to what his brother wielded. But Sasuke had wanted to gain power a different way, he didn't want to become strong the way Itachi did.

In hindsight he should have seen it coming. One day Menma had abandoned the village for whatever reason and when Sasuke had reported it to the fourth hokage, the man had given him a confused look before he gave Sasuke permission to leave and bring back the boy alone. Sasuke grit his teeth at the reminder that even the hokage was seemingly unaware or just outright didn't care for the village pariah. If it had been any other genin a full squad would have been sent out at the very least.

Sasuke had found Menma at the Valley of the End, gazing into the sunset as he felt Sasuke approach him. Menma had then thanked the Uchiha for being the only one who finally gave him the acknowledgement he desired, but that he knew nobody else would ever give him the time of day. He said his skills wouldn't have ever gotten him past genin anyways, either that or nobody would think to promote him.

Menma then told Sasuke he intended to keep his promise to Sasuke and help him take down Itachi, that even without skills he was still good for something. Sasuke had been foolish and thought that Menma had meant as a training partner when Menma punched him. That fight had escalated badly. Sasuke did not understand why anyone thought his best friend was weak. Menma had almost killed him while they both went all out. It had been the most fun Sasuke had ever had. In their final moves to end the fight they both had pulled out their most lethal technique, Sasuke's chidori and Menma's wind drill. The techniques cancelled each other out, they always had.

This was why Sasuke had been completely blindsided when they had leapt towards each other and Menma had cancelled his wind drill at the last second, allowing Sasuke's chidori to pierce straight his heart. Menma's final request had been for a horrified Sasuke to achieve his dream. Sasuke on the other hand had promised his best and only friend that he would not only kill his brother, when he rebuilt the clan, Uchiha Menma would be remembered as a clan hero. Menma had given up his life to gift Sasuke the Mangekyou, which was why Sasuke absolutely had to kill Itachi. Itachi had taken away his clan, his family, his childhood, and now his best friend. Nothing mattered more than killing that man, even if he had to become a monster to do so. Menma understood that. Weaklings like Haku did not. Forgiving Itachi would make Menma's sacrifice meaningless, and there would be no justice for his clan. 'To test the limits of his power,' was a downright pitiful excuse to commit genocide.

It was also why Sasuke despised Eren from the day they met. The boy's carefree attitude, stubbornness and hotheadedness reminded him too much of Menma. It was like pouring salt into an open wound that would not heal everyday he set his eyes on that bastard.

To make things worse was Naruto. While Eren acted like Menma from the onset, Naruto was practically the spitting mirror image of his best friend. The only difference was the set of whisker marks that adorned Naruto's face. That was the only difference. Every time Sasuke laid eyes on Naruto, the wound he felt over Menma's loss was cut deeper. It hurt even more that this particular reincarnation of Menma hated him, solely because of Eren.

Furthermore this Naruto was a killer. Menma would not kill, even if the situation called for it, another reason everyone had called him naïve. For Sasuke, Naruto was an insult to Menma's existence and an antithesis to his character. Where Menma had been alone, Naruto had a family. It was just so unfair.

It was why when he had caught sight of the golden haired shinobi engaged with the armoured titan, he couldn't help his slight interference. His genjutsu had distracted the man just enough for the titan land a punch that would kill almost anyone, even him. When he had gone to check on the body, he had ended up watching Annie of all people turn into a titan and address the armoured titan as Reiner. It wasn't hard to deduce from their conversation that Bertholdt was the colossal titan.

The knowledge of humans shifting into titans was valuable. It meant that the titan threat could be averted if they found and eliminated the titans in human form. If there was one thing shinobi were renown for the world over it was assassinating humans. He had considered informing Shikamaru about the development but he was still wary, he wasn't sure how the shadow user would treat him now that he had attacked Haku. Well, he could probably still claim she had betrayed them to Naruto considering Naruto was undeniably a shinobi of different affiliation. Sasuke had left the thought in the back of his mind when Naruto had suddenly emerged from the crystal, emitting enough killing intent to choke even him.

Sasuke was not often scared but whatever that thing was, it tossed around two titans like mere dolls and it was only growing stronger. Sasuke had looked at it through his sharingan and had almost been blinded by the sheer amount of chakra that was still being restrained. It dwarfed his, and it was a boiling red orange chakra that didn't feel right.

It also led back to the reason that he had been buried underneath the rubble in the first place. Having a titan thrown at you while you were blinded by a walking megalith of chakra tended to have that effect.

Sasuke was of little doubt now that Naruto was the power they had been searching for all this time. Either he was the power source or had access to it. He had to talk to Shikamaru now. He couldn't honour Menma's memory if the titans won the upcoming war after all. Sasuke had a feeling he would need some help if they intended to capture Naruto alive. It was one thing to kill your target, and another thing entirely to capture them alive, especially when that person hated you. Probably even more once he found out that Sasuke had almost killed his brothers.

Sasuke would admit, he was also curious if he could somehow gain access to whatever this mysterious power was so as to further augment himself. If he was ever going to get a chance to talk with Naruto however, it would need to be through Shikamaru.

Sasuke wasn't stupid. He had tried to kill Naruto's siblings and while Armin would be reasonable he doubted the other three siblings could be talked to without trying to gut him. While he doubted Eren was much of a threat to him, Naruto and Mikasa were a different matter entirely.

Mikasa was apparently also an Uchiha. He had seen her eyes, and it was undeniable. While Naruto dwarfed even him in terms of power, enough to make any person wary, he was also unsure if Mikasa had developed a mangekyou as well. If she did have one it also meant she could nullify a lot of his aces, and that was disregarding that every mangekyou had its own unique power in the right and left eyes. From his right eye Sasuke could summon the flames of Amaterasu and control them, and with his left eye he could use Amenotejikara. Itachi had a similar control over Amaterasu in his left eye and with his right eye he possessed the Tsukiyomi.

There was no way to explain it but somehow he and Itachi weren't the only Uchiha left. And how had she ended up within the walls of all places? Sasuke needed her. At the very least he wouldn't have any half breeds as he rebuilt his clan. She was strong too in both mind and body. She fit all his requirements in a worthy partner.

The only issue was again her relationship with Naruto.

Damn that golden haired, whiskered, fake Menma. Sasuke was at a crossroads whether the man would be more use to him alive or dead. Both had merits, but at the end of the day it was Itachi who took priority. Sasuke would use any and all means to achieve that goal. As perfect as Mikasa was, he would not risk himself against a power he did not understand that could possibly affect his chances of winning against his brother.

He got to his feet and jumped onto a roof to watch as Naruto began to blindly attack his siblings. That just meant as strong as this power was, it couldn't be controlled. They were in danger, and Sasuke supposed he could get into their good graces by assisting them. But there was again that risk, and in the end there was no guarantee they would listen to him anyways. If they died oh well, it did not affect his plan for vengeance too badly. He had to find Shikamaru first however, so that even if Naruto did kill his siblings they still could try to contain him. Sasuke's meeting with the leader of their group would determine whether he went around with his own agenda or whether he was going to have a team.


"Mikasa!" Armin yelled in horror.

Eren couldn't blame him much. Seriously when it came to her family the girl lost all sense of self preservation. She had just seen Naruto blindly attack them as a group earlier and there she went trying to approach him without a plan. Luckily she was as skilled enough as she was and she managed to avoid his next sequence of attacks, which were in fact more akin to wild swipes. If Naruto could see himself now he would berate himself for the drop in form, although to be fair one hit with that strength and speed would probably kill any one of them at the moment.

Eren was about to dive in as well, since he could heal pretty fast anyways, when he felt a presence enter his mind and he stopped as he waited for orders.

"Everyone keep your distance but surround him!"

Eren nodded at the order and glanced to his left and right so that he could judge the distance properly as he took up his position on a rooftop it seemed Armin had linked them all telepathically to one another and even though he could feel Christa and Ymir' s confusion, they obeyed. Mikasa however was still dodging Naruto's frenzied attacks and while she was managing to stay relatively unharmed, she didn't have much of an opportunity to disengage either.

"Mikasa, you have jutsu! Use them!" Armin commanded through the mental link. Eren supposed that Armin had momentarily panicked which was why the command had been sent to all of them and not just Mikasa. He couldn't fault him for it either as his own legs were still jittery from the atmosphere Naruto was giving off.

"I don't want to hurt him!"

"I don't think you can hurt him even if you tried," Eren pointed out through their link. It was pretty convenient since they didn't have to shout to one another and their voices wouldn't be lost amidst the sounds of battle. "I mean did you see what he did to the armoured titan?"

"Eren is right. Mikasa, you being there isn't helping anyone." Armin said.

They could all feel Mikasa's reluctance to attack Naruto but she could see the sense in it. Even her substitutions weren't gaining her much ground as he was just that fast.

"He's getting faster," Mikasa frowned as she finally admitted that she had no other choice. Even with her proficiency with the mobility gear he was getting difficult to avoid.

"I'm sorry Naru," she apologized as she gathered chakra into her mouth. When she timed it just as he turned to face her again and reorient himself.

"Suiton: Teppodama!" (Water Release: Bullet)

Despite the name, the glob of compressed water was more akin to a cannonball rather than a bullet. It all depended on the amount of chakra placed into it anyways. The jutsu slammed into the berserker's face head on as he leapt towards her. Unfortunately it dealt absolutely no damage. The water evaporated instantly upon contact with the red cloak however, shrouding the immediate area with some steam which gave Mikasa ample time to retreat and take her position as they surrounded him.

The enraged Naruto paused after the steam cleared and bared his animalistic teeth at them one by one as he realized he had been cornered.

"Why isn't he moving?" Eren asked. From the violence Naruto had been exhibiting earlier it was strange to see him standing still. It unsettled them all however as his beastly eyes slowly passed over each one of them one by one.

"It appears my theory was correct," Armin said simply as everyone held their ground, careful not to make sudden movements. "He is behaving like an animal. From that I assumed that whatever happened to him, he is now being driven by instinct. While one on one most creatures can choose to fight or flee, Naruto chose to fight. With his power as we can see it's usually the right choice for a strong animal. Now however he is surrounded by opponents with unknown abilities and he is wary to attack any single target because it will leave him exposed to the others."

"Get out of my head," Temari snarled. "I don't have any reason to be here."

"By all means feel free," Armin said dismissively even as Eren and Mikasa immediately protested. "But do keep in mind what I said about instinct. This little standoff is because both sides are wary of one another. But if you leave and turn your back on him, then his predatory side will take over and he may be unable to resist the chase. It is both because he views you as the weak link and easiest prey to kill, therefore a weak spot in this formation. I don't mind if you leave. It will take him away from the rest of us after all."

Temari grit her teeth. As little as she cared about this group, she didn't like her chances of facing Naruto alone.

"Okay can someone tell me what the fuck is going on before I kick all your asses?" Ymir demanded suddenly.

"Ymir!"

"Shut up Christa! Armin's in our heads, Mikasa's eyes are glowing and she makes water out of nothing and I feel like everyone here is hiding something here from us." She accused with narrowed eyes.

"But Ymir, we're hiding something too!" Christa protested. "It's okay if they have our secrets too!"

"You are both titan shifters," Armin stated as the siblings and shinobi turned to face the pair in suspicion. From an outsiders perspective everything was silent as Naruto watched each one of them warily. But the chaos in their minds was in overdrive. Armin could not let this opportunity pass as he openly glared at the two girls. If they could turn into titans then it was possible they had infiltrated the walls as part of the invasion and were therefore an enemy. Maybe they were a part of this entire assault anyways.

He ignored the stunned thoughts coming in from the others. The concept of humans shifting into titans had been something no one had ever expected, and the ramifications it held for the war effort. They adjusted quickly enough however. They were shinobi and arguably they shouldn't exist either

Armin did not take any chances and dived into their minds, uprooting their motivations and desires to ensure they weren't a threat. If they were part of the war effort, then they would leave the pair here to be slaughtered by Naruto as they made their escape. There was a possibility that Naruto would calm down after he had tasted blood, or ran out of energy and reverted back to who he was. The only reason they didn't leave at the moment was because none of them were willing to be sacrifices. If Christa and Ymir were not his comrades and if had endangered his siblings then to hell with them.

Images flashed in his head of Christa's abused childhood, of when she had first shifted at the murder of her mother. He discovered her royal lineage, which was apparently a tribe related to Grisha and therefore Eren. This tribe had found itself within the walls, allying themselves with the true monster that ruled the walls. It was madman who claimed to have achieved immortality and called himself a scientist. Christa had never seen the man herself, but the description her father had used was 'slimy snake bastard that they unfortunately needed'. That had unsettled Armin more than a bit. He also discovered that it had been Ymir's titan to stop Christa's rampage or, as her father had called her, Historia's rampage. The girl's desire afterwards had always been to have as many friends as she could, since her father had promised to leave her alone if she lay low.

Satisfied that Historia's intentions were pure he shifted to Ymir's mind and he stumbled under the overload of information that struck his senses. He caught glimpses of a lush valley hidden in the mountains, with its own distinct culture. Apparently Ymir had been the child of a sect of shifters that had been trying to overthrow the current hierarchy in the hidden valley. Her parents had lost and had been executed, while Grisha had then exiled her. This was why Ymir had resonated with Historia's plight, having been born under authority.

But Grisha, Eren's father, was a key component in both these their memories. And if he was the leader of the valley, then that meant Eren was a shifter as well! That explained so much! But how could he shift? This wealth of information was a gold mine he would have to sit on later.

"Get out of my head!" Ymir yelled forcefully, hurt by the many painful memories she had been forced to see.

Armin reeled as he was forced out of her head, not expecting that amount of sheer resistance. Unfortunately her yell had been out loud and had startled everyone, including the wary Naruto. Spooked, Naruto threw caution to the wind and flashed towards the vulnerable Ymir who wasn't able to react fast enough as he backhanded her with enough force to blast her entirely out of the battlefield.

"Ymir!" Christa screamed in horror, only to freeze when Naruto turned his attention to her.

The girl was fortunate that Mikasa had reacted fast enough with her mobility gear to grab the terrified girl before Naruto repeated what he had done with Ymir. Mikasa then placed her on a nearby roof with a glare.

"Mikasa, they aren't threats." Armin informed her quickly as he recovered from the backlash of being ejected from Ymir's head.

"Good," she said simply as she rejoined the fight. Christa breathed out a sigh of relief as turned in the direction Ymir had been thrown. She had to find out if she was okay.

"My ice isn't much use!" Haku warned as Naruto broke free from a dome of ice and made a beeline straight for the ice user, ramming through the succeeding walls of ice as if they hadn't been there.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The blast of wind was strong enough to halt Naruto's momentum as he was momentarily suspended in mid air, but unfortunately not enough to send him back.

"I really wish I had my fan," Temari muttered in frustration. "Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba!" (Wind Release: Blades of Wind)

Being in midair gave Naruto no time to dodge as he was finally blown backwards by blades of wind that tore deep gashes into both the ground and surrounding buildings.

"Thanks," Haku acknowledged quietly.

"You're still teammate and friend, even if I don't agree with all of your choices." Temari said softly as the two shared a smile.

Their moment was interrupted as Mikasa appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Temari and slammed her through the roof and into the room below. The force alone would have been enough to kill her if she hadn't hardened her body with chakra, but even then she was left struggling to breathe and was helpless as Mikasa moved to finish her off.

"Mikasa please wait!" Haku begged as she grabbed the other girl's hand.

"You think I didn't see how much power was behind that attack!?" Mikasa snarled at Haku, her sharingan spinning dangerously. "Were you trying to kill him?"

"No! I was trying to survive!" Temari coughed out in pain. "You think weak attacks or restraining tactics are gonna work on him? You said you saw how much chakra I poured into that attack, you're right I did. But if you stop and think then you also saw that it didn't even reach his skin!"

"Mikasa please," Haku said as she poured some of her chakra into Mikasa to help her calm down. The raven haired girls shoulders relaxed, but her eyes didn't as she watched Haku move to heal Temari.

"Are you three done? We could use some help out here," an exasperated voice asked in their heads. Mikasa and Haku's eyes widened in surprise as they realized that only Armin and Eren had been left to face Naruto on their own and they leapt back up out through the hole.

"I hate Uchihas. Itachi had the right idea," Temari groaned as she sat up. "Troublesome." She ignored how much like Shikamaru she sounded in that moment as she followed the other two girls. She could beat up the pineapple haired bastard later.

Once they emerged they witnessed Eren doing his best to distract Naruto as he flitted around with the mobility gear. Naruto was always a tiny bit behind him, one small mistake and would be in for a world of pain.

Frustrated, Naruto suddenly disengaged his elusive target and instead leapt towards Armin, who had been stationery on the rooftop. It was an easy target. Mikasa raised a hand and stopped Haku from jumping in front of Naruto as they watched Armin kawarimi with bricks on the other side of the battlefield. He didn't have a lot of chakra, but he had more than enough for the basics. But sometimes the basics were all that was needed.

Unfortunately the trick seemed to frustrate Naruto even further as he set his sights on Armin and flashed towards the small boy just at fast. Just like with Eren it was another incredibly risky game of cat and mouse. Armin could make many substitutions one after another, but it was obvious that Naruto was getting closer and closer with each successive attack.

"None of our techniques will work without harming Armin," Temari observed with a frown as she reached behind her for a war fan that wasn't there. "And we can't predict where Armin's headed next because he's panicking."

"That doesn't matter," Mikasa declared as leapt off the roof towards the pair. She didn't really need the mobility gear any more, but she could not deny it helped her become unpredictable and move even faster than if she had been moving on her own with chakra.

"She's crazy," Temari muttered under her breath, unable to understand why someone would put themselves in such danger.

"Not everyone is like Gaara and Kankurou," Haku pointed out. "I just wish you get to experience what it is like."

"And end up like her?" Temari said with a grimace. "That just looks like it invites a lot of pain."

Haku sighed as she readied herself to follow after Mikasa. "That just makes the good parts so much better," She said as she jumped off the roof and tried once again to freeze Naruto in place. She didn't see the thoughtful look on the other girl's face as she left.

The ice user made a face when Naruto continued to break her ice like glass. It was a hit to her pride somewhat. She shook away those thoughts as she tried to think of a way to help Armin. She wasn't sure if Naruto was even aware that he had effectively crippled their teamwork by going after their telepath. Armin couldn't think much while he tried to stay alive, much less communicate and organize them. Haku blinked as an idea struck her and she pumped some chakra into her legs as she leapt up high above the battlefield.

"Kirigakure no jutsu," she breathed out, blanketing the battlefield in a thick mist.

Within the mist she felt Naruto freeze and gauge his new surroundings, unwilling to move until he could understand why he couldn't hear, see, and smell.

Since only the Haku knew where he was in her mist, Haku added some extra precautionary measures so that the others would get some warning whenever he decided to break out. She summoned up an ice dome around Naruto, but she didn't bother wasting too much chakra on it as she was aware it wouldn't contain him. It was mainly there so everyone would know when he broke free.

She then moved to the other two confused signatures also trapped in her mist. In hindsight she should have probably said something as she approached. The water bullet Mikasa had spat instinctively when Haku suddenly appeared beside the duo didn't miss by much.

Unfortunately before they could relax, Naruto had gotten annoyed enough by the sensory deprivation and roared loudly, unleashing enough power and killing intent to shatter the ice dome and disperse the mist that had settled over him. The newfound pressure on their senses brought the three cadets to their knees due to their proximity to him, and it wasn't because of the ground shaking from his roar either. If felt like there was an actual hand pressing in and compressing all their internal organs.

Seeing them vulnerable, Naruto immediately attacked.

"Fuuton: Fuujinheki!" (Wind Release: Wind Wall)

Temari yelled out her technique as she leapt down in the middle of the trio and threw her hands out to the side to encase all four of them in a revolving dome of wind. With her left hand she commanded one layer to spin clockwise with her right hand another layer of wind running in the opposite direction. Naruto slammed into the defense and was blown back by the force of the winds.

He wasn't injured however, and instead tilted his head in curiosity before he walked up slowly towards the encampment. Temari felt nervousness and doubt slowly eat away at her. She was just as affected by his malicious presence as the others but she was faring better due in part to her having lived with a psychotic, murderous, sociopath of a brother for her entire childhood. In other words she was used to a similar presence, even if it had never gotten as bad as this. Her worry intensified when whatever creature Naruto had become began to slowly but surely push his way through the wall of wind. Temari increased the chakra she was feeding her to her technique out of desperation and was relieved when the hand was pushed back out of the dome.

The wind user gulped however when he began to press harder and committed himself against the wind. The wind should have been grating off his flesh if he had been a normal human, but whatever that horrid red chakra was it was shielding his hands from damage. With another roar he destabilized her winds further and Temari knelt down onto one knee, sweating profusely at the effort she was putting in just to keep him away. This was no longer about protecting the three people behind her, if she ended her technique or he broke it then the force he was putting on it would send him straight at them as he followed through with no time at all for them to dodge. She took a deep breath and let it out in the form of another technique to slow him down further.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Brealthrough)

"Temari, what do you need?" Armin asked inside her head.

She had never thought she would have been thankful to have another person inside her head. She doubted anyone would have heard anything above the roar of her winds, if she had even been able to say something in the first place. It was taking her utmost focus just to keep up the barrier of wind.

"Don't do anything that will disrupt my wind," She warned in all their heads, realizing that Armin had connected them all again.

Haku raised her hands and fired off a few chunks of ice into the wall of wind. They weren't big enough to disrupt the wind but were just the right size to be swept along with the wind and only served to irritate Naruto just that little bit more. It did nothing to impede his progress however.

"Do you know how to share chakra?" Temari asked desperately, "I can't hold him off for much longer!"

"I don't have much and Haku's reserves are dwindling but if Mikasa can, she has rather large reserves." Armin said as he looked between the two.

"As she should, as a freaking Uchiha." Temari bit out with a strained voice.

"I'm not an Uchiha!" Mikasa declared with a glare as she laid a hand on Temari's shoulder. The wind user gasped in relief as the strain was lessened considerably. Mikasa's chakra was warm. It said a lot about her character which Temari had yet to see in person, but at the moment it was enough.

"Naruto and I have a few collaboration jutsu," Mikasa noted with a thoughtful look. "Do you know how to do them?"

Despite their reluctant partnership Temari nodded with a sigh. "I do. But they require trust and belief in one another's abilities, as well as knowledge of our limits. If we do this we're going in blind and if we make a mistake your brother is going to kill us."

Mikasa's lips slowly tugged upwards into a smirk. "You finally acknowledge that?"

"Slip of the tongue," Temari grunted.

"Either way, do you trust me?" Mikasa asked as she studied the wall of wind.

"No," Temari said bluntly.

"Neither do I. I guess we'll just have to wing it," Mikasa said with a careless shrug.

"So much could go wrong with that," Temari pointed out. "We have to blend our chakra and time our execution perfectly."

"Well it can't go more wrong than this," Mikasa gestured to Naruto who had already broken through the first layer of wind and was snarling at them. "But I guess his impulsiveness is rubbing off on me."

Temari made a face and Mikasa blushed suddenly. "No! Not like that!"

The two shared a laugh together for the first time and looked into each other's eyes for a moment as a sense of understanding overcame them both. They may never have liked each other, but nothing built up camaraderie better than fighting for your lives together. They weren't necessarily enemies anyways.

With a nod at each other the two women closed their eyes and built up the energy within themselves, timing up their moment of release and adjusting the amount of power within it.

"Fuuton: Fuujinheki!" (Wind Release: Wind Wall)

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)

The new jutsu that emerged now had the density and unrelenting momentum of water, surging ever more powerfully as it was reinforced by the wind behind it. The powerful currents forced Naruto back, practically resetting his progress as the girls shared smiles with one another. Naruto was still the love of her life, but knowing that they couldn't hurt him made this moment with Temari special to them both.

"I'm so glad you two are working together!" Haku preened as she readied herself. "I would like to provide assistance as well, especially now that these currents seem more capable."

Haku tossed in a few rather large chunks of ice into the swirling current, which proved effective when they slammed into Naruto's head a moment later and he reeled from the impact.

"As much I adore this moment of girl power we can't keep this up forever," Armin interrupted as he found the energy to finally stand on his own two feet again. "Eren if you can hear me can you do something to get Naruto's attention away from us. We can't really see anything going on outside from here except for the occasional creepy hand trying to break in."

"Yeah I got it," they heard Eren reassure them cheerfully inside their heads.

The four trapped people shared nervous looks with one another. While Eren did have his moments of brilliance he wasn't necessarily the one you trusted in making any sort of plans.

"Eren don't do anything stupid," Armin warned.

"Well as usual my command thingy to order him to stop is all but useless so that option's out. But hey don't worry about it, I heal fast!" Eren reassured.

"Eren," Mikasa warned with a low voice.

"Oh come off it Mikasa, I'm the one busy saving your asses so shut up and let me do this!" Eren's voice remarked.

"Do what, exactly?" Mikasa asked in slight trepidation.

"Is he always like this?" Temari asked with annoyance plastered all over her face.

"Pretty much," Armin shrugged.

"And he's what we're hoping to get us out?" Temari stated slowly.

"Yeah, pretty much." Armin repeated with a sheepish smile.

"We're screwed," Temari muttered.

"I heard that!" Eren's voice echoed in their heads once again. The four were surprised however when the assault on their defense halted, meaning that for whatever reason Eren had actually managed to pull off distracting Naruto.

"Eren what's going on out there?" Armin asked.

"You guys can get out of there now I think it worked," Eren's voice replied victoriously. "And also whatever this red thing on big bro is, can I just say it freaking burns!"

All their eyes widened in realization as Mikasa and Temari ended their technique, only to see that Eren had latched himself onto the berserker's back and was clinging on for dear life. He didn't last much longer as Naruto pried off the arm around his neck and held Eren in front of him with a puzzled look.

"Okay yeah this was probably a bad idea," Eren admitted right before Naruto swiped a hand at his chest and sent Eren careening like a missile out of the battlefield. Naruto then dropped the arm he had torn off Eren and decided to resume his attack on the other targets he had left behind. He glanced upwards as a shadow loomed over him and he was momentarily deafened as a small titan opened its mouth and unleashed a sonic scream that obliterated the ground around him and burst his ear drums. He was given no room to recover as he was then caught unaware by another combination attack.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!" (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

Using the same principle as earlier, Mikasa's torrent of water slammed into Naruto supported by the force of a hurricane and for the first time in the fight they managed to force Naruto away from them. With the immediate danger gone they all looked up at the six metre titan that had the powerful scream.

"It's Ymir," Armin reassured them.

"Christa sent me here," Ymir said with a frown. "Otherwise I couldn't care less about you losers."

"Where is Christa?" Armin asked.

The small titan nodded in the direction of where Eren had been blasted. "She can't control her titan very well so she won't be much use in this fight."

"Haku," Armin intoned. The girl nodded and kissed him on the cheek.

"Stay safe," she whispered before she disappeared in the direction of Eren to heal him. That was if he was even still alive.

An angry roar in the distance caused all their heads to turn to where Naruto had landed and Armin sighed. "I was going to call a retreat but I don't think he's going to give us the chance. We won't get far. Right now I need you three to distract him because I have a way to try and stop this madness."

"Which is what?" Ymir demanded. "Because unlike you creepy magicians all I can do is hit, bite, and scream like an overgrown dog. I'm not even as big as that armoured titan so if I get hit once I'm out."

Armin held up a piece of paper and a brush with a smirk and the eyes of Mikasa and Temari widened in understanding. Ymir's titan on the other hand snarled angrily at them.

"Oh you're gonna write him a pretty love letter now? We are so fucked!" She groaned as she stressed out the last word.

"It's a chakra suppression tag," Mikasa explained. It seals off chakra, and it might just work!"

"Good thing too. Taijutsu is out of the question, our ninjutsu doesn't affect him that much, and his chakra is too erratic and powerful to even use genjutsu on. This is our only option." Temari agreed.

"Can you speak a language I understand!" Ymir demanded angrily. "What am I risking Christa and my life for?"

"It basically makes all that," Mikasa pointed at Naruto, "Stop happening and we get Naruto back."

"Why didn't you just say so? So Armin does scribbles and we're done here? Go ahead scribble already!" Ymir urged excitedly.

"It doesn't work like that, I still have to plan it. There are many different components to making a seal and this one has to be modified because regular seals were meant for normal shinobi. Whatever that red chakra is, it's not behaving like normal chakra and it might burn the seal before it can take effect. That means I have to at least add some sort of heat resistance and enhance the suppressor to work at a different rate of constant suppression. The power flux is an issue and there might-"

"Okay shut up. You need time. Got it. We'll do it. Now, any advice on how to handle that thing genius?" Ymir interrupted, getting tired of having no idea what the small blond was muttering.

"This is a battle of attrition. You need to buy time. Conserve your energy. Mikasa, Temari you both should rely more on the mobility gear to distract him and use your jutsu sparingly. Ymir, your titan is probably fast and you can scream enough to disorient him. Just try not to get hit and you should be fine for a little while. I'll keep us linked but my focus isn't going to be on the battle."

They all nodded as they went to their assigned tasks.

Armin sighed in frustration as he set his mind to work on the puzzle that lay before him. He could only hope he finished it on time.


"Christa you're a shifter too, why isn't he healing?" Haku asked urgently as both girls landed next to Eren, whose entire torso had been crushed and was missing an arm. His remaining arms and legs were also bent at unnatural angles from his messy landing and he was bleeding heavily. He was still alive however, although Haku would have written him of as good for dead if she wasn't aware of his healing.

"I don't know!" Christa shouted back in a slight panic. "Usually we only can't heal if we run out of energy!"

"Is there any way to trigger the healing process?"

"Maybe if he was awake?" Christa suggested. "It will hurt a lot but at least he can focus on healing."

Haku grimaced and raised her arms as she began to try and reduce the damage to his chest slightly as she forced the cells to regenerate rapidly. The first step was to heal his rib cage and make space for his other organs to regenerate. He would need his heart and lungs to breathe and get oxygen to his brain after all. She bit back a look of disgust at the sound of bone snapping into place but smiled as his own impressive healing factor kicked in and his lungs quickly began to reform, bolstered by Haku's healing chakra.

Eren drew in a breath at last and his emerald eyes snapped open. But before Haku could sigh in relief Christa noticed something she didn't and promptly grabbed Haku by the wrist and used the mobility gear to distance themselves from Eren. Haku didn't even get to yell at the girl for interrupting the operation when a bolt of yellow lightning blinded them both as it struck Eren.

She gazed up a moment later with terrified eyes at the massive beast that stood in Eren's place, walking out of the smoke with a dominant bellow. The titan's ears twitched and turned away from the pair as Naruto's own deafening roar answered. There was a moment of silence when Naruto landed in front of the titan and they stared at each other, sizing each other up.

Then, all hell broke loose as the two predators clashed.


A/N: Don't worry this isn't it. But the original chapter was well over 20k and going, so this was an okay place to break it down I guess. I'm still editing the remaining parts but I should be done in a few days and well, lots of reviews might speed it up haha, shameless I know.

Oh, and to the reviews about the cloak and why he doesn't recognize them, yeah we're getting there soon.