I Don't Own Naruto or Attack on Titan!

Royal Redemption - Chapter 6

'Mikasa-chan…' Naruto thought with a small smile on his face as he stared at the girl just a few meters away from him. The military looked very good on Mikasa, and her beautiful black hair complimented her exotic beauty even more. She was still a girl considering her age, but she was already much prettier than many women the prince had seen before, and that included many of the beautiful women his father summoned to join his harem.

A slight glow of emerald from Mikasa caught Naruto's attention, and as he focused more on it, he figured that it was coming from his mother's necklace. It was very odd for the blond to see the necklace glowing; Mikasa's back was facing the sun so it couldn't have been a reflection, and from the looks of it, it was quite bright as it reached all the way to his eyes in broad daylight.

'There is something coming from that light…' thought Naruto silently to himself as he tightened his fist together.

Ever since Naruto had woken up in the hospital after his fight in Wall Maria, he had been occasional bursts of peculiar energy from deep within his body, and the necklace was giving him a similar sensation. It did not hurt or feel uncomfortable, instead it felt very good. During those bursts, his entire body would warm up to a certain degree and his muscles would feel several times stronger than normal. Naruto had yet to test his theories about his new-found dilemma, but was planning to incorporate it into his new training regimen.

After another half hour of Shadis "breaking the ice" with the trainees, a highly anticipated dismiss was announced by the main instructor of the group…

"Each of you has already been assigned a number, and it will follow you for the next three years of your lives!" cried Shadis as he walked up to the very edge of the platform. "It dictates where you all will sleep and determine orders of certain training exercises, so always remember your number!" The instructor gestured to the several guards along the sides of the open area. "Follow the closest superior to your side to your quarters…dismissed!"

The hundreds of new trainees immediately started to file out of the area with their closest superior, but there were three of them who remained motionless. Shadis had an idea that they knew his assistant prior to today based on how they were all staring at him when he walked out, so he decided to ignore it…

"Don't take too long, Naruto…I still need to discuss tomorrow's lesson plan with you", said the bald man with a low tone.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "I know…I'll meet you back at the instructor's lounge later, Shadis-senpai."

The second Shadis turned his back Naruto jumped off of the platform and ran over to the three kids he experienced a lot with. Mikasa was the first one to react and immediately ran towards her savior as fast as she could, and she jumped into his arms as soon as she was close enough.

"Naruto!" exclaimed the girl with tears in her eyes as she buried her face into Naruto's chest.

The prince wrapped his arms tightly around the girl and kissed the top of her head; absentmindedly taking notice of her sweet delicate scent. Naruto knew that the kids were in no trouble and would not be in any serious danger, but he was still worried about them in their few months apart, and he really missed having Mikasa with him. Seeing the girl slowing come out of her shell was very enjoyable for Naruto during the week together; he just hoped that she hadn't reverted back to being stoic in front of others.

"I missed you, Mikasa-chan…" whispered Naruto against the girl's hair.

Mikasa was still lightly sobbing into Naruto's shirt, but was mainly basking in the much needed relief that was coursing through her body. Everything had finally been confirmed; Naruto hadn't been killed in Wall Maria and was alive and well in front of them. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist to make sure that he was real and wasn't going to disappear…

"Naruto-san!" exclaimed an ecstatic Eren as he ran up to the older teenager. "You're still alive!"

Armin was right next to his best friend and was smiling just as brightly. "We all thought you died…"

Naruto gave a sad smile and patted them on their shoulder. "I'm so sorry for leaving without telling any of your where I was going…I really didn't want any of you to be caught up in that mess."

"So you really went to fight with the refugees?" asked Eren with a serious tone.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah…it was not a pretty sight, and I was lucky to get out of there alive…"

"W-We all thought you were dead…" lightly whispered Mikasa with her voice muffled as she was still pressing her face against Naruto's chest. "Why didn't you come back to us?"

The prince frowned and kissed Mikasa on the head again. "I tried to come find you guys the day I was out of the hospital, but when I went back to the food storage the guards said that all the refugees had been organized to live in certain areas in Wall Rose…I spent that last few months looking for you guys, but I couldn't find any of you."

Armin smiled. "We all live in Trost now…Eren's mother is out of the hospital and can now rest at our new home."

Naruto gave a small smile and nodded. "That's great…"

Eren grinned confidently and held his fist in front of him. "It's awesome that you are one of our instructors now, I didn't know they allowed people so young to teach here!"

"They don't…" Naruto said with a chuckle. "I'm sort of a special case right now…I wanted to join the main force, but I need to at least do this for a few years before they would give me permission."

Armin nodded in understanding. "Well you are still really young, so I guess that makes sense."

The prince nodded at the boys, but then saw a guard standing a fair distance away from them. "Hey…I think that guard has to take you to your lodgings, so how about you guys go with him now and I'll meet up with you later."

Eren smiled and nodded. "Sure, come on Mikasa!"

The girl did not move an inch from her position; instead, she tightened her grip around Naruto's body. After reuniting with Naruto after so many months of worrying about him, Mikasa was not about to let him out of her sight or touch; military school be damned. Naruto smiled and gently rubbed Mikasa's shoulders as he looked back up at the boys.

"I'll take Mikasa to her lodgings myself, so you two go ahead and follow that guard…"

"Okay then, see you both later!" replied a slightly worried Eren as he pulled Armin along toward the same direction. As her younger brother, Eren knew that Naruto was very important to Mikasa, but her severe attachment to him worried him sometimes…Eren knew he could trust Naruto with anything, but nonetheless he was worried for his sister.

As the two boys left the area, Naruto's hands were still gently rubbing Mikasa's upper back as he nuzzled his face against her soft hair. To be honest, Naruto didn't want to part with Mikasa so soon himself, even if it was only for about an hour. There was something about Mikasa that made him want to be close to her, to protect her; he had no idea what it was, but he was kind of happy about it.

"I was scared…" said the sudden voice of Mikasa as Naruto was knocked out of his stupor. "I was scared that I would never see you again…"

"I'm so sorry…" whispered the prince softly as he tightened his grasp around the girl. "I wanted to tell you that I was going to fight, but I knew you would try everything to stop me, or even come with me, so I had to sneak away…"

"You're very important to me…" whispered Mikasa as she gently adjusted her cheek against Naruto's chest. "…and I don't want to be left in the dark again." Mikasa pulled away a little and looked up at the young man. "Bring me with you next time…because I will be strong too."

Naruto nodded as she stared into the girl's obsidian black orbs. "Okay…"

Mikasa leaned back in and rested her head into the crook of Naruto's neck. "Thank you…"

The blond ran his hands through Mikasa's black hair until he reached the back of her neck; his fingers traced her smooth skin as his warm palm caressed her tenderly. The prince kissed Mikasa repeatedly on the top of her head and relaxed himself while listening to her steady breathing.

"The necklace looks great on you…" whispered Naruto with a smile on his face. Mikasa didn't reply, but responded by tightening her hold around Naruto's waist. The prince knew that he should bring Mikasa to the female barracks soon, but he didn't want to move away from such a comfortable and warm position. After another few seconds on contemplating, Naruto decided to just let himself enjoy the moment…settling down in the barracks can wait.

Though neither of them realized that the green crystal on the necklace had been pulsating brightly within their hug…

"Is this it?" asked Eren as he looked around the area.

Armin nodded as he looked up at the sigh on the building. "Yeah…this should be it."

After settling down in their lodgings, the new trainees were told to gather in the several main dining buildings in the camp for some food, and the two young teenagers were happy to oblige. The condition of their rooms were not was clean for as cozy as their home back in Trost, but it was better than what they had imagined, and much better than what Eren's mother assumed.

Each room comfortably fitted four males into two bunk beds, and had plenty of room for their belongings. Eren and Armin decided to share a room by default and they were paired with two other young men. One of them was Connie Springer, a young man from a village in Wall Rose, and Marco Bodt, a young man from Trost. They were both pretty polite, so Eren and Armin didn't mind having them under the same roof every night.

"Eren, Armin…" spoke a familiar voice from behind them, and the two boys looked back to see Mikasa walking towards them. The girl was dressed in her casual clothing now, as were everyone else. She had on a white dress shirt and a simple pair of light brown pants. Eren and Armin could already tell that Mikasa appeared much more relaxed and carefree than just this morning, and they could safely assume that it was because of Naruto.

The girl had also finished up with unloading her belongs in her room, and was planning to meet up with Eren and Armin. She was a bit late to her room because she and Naruto spent another half hour just hugging, but nothing bad came out of it.

"Hey Mikasa, let's go inside and get some food", said Eren with a smile as he led the way inside.

The small building was already quite packed with new trainees, and there was a line in front of the cafeteria. Coincidentally, Eren saw Connie and Marco lined up at the back of the line, so he walked up to greet them.

"Hey guys…" spoke Eren as the other two turned back to see him.

"Hey Eren, you guys are hungry too, huh?" asked Connie with a smile as he and Marco turned back to see the group.

Armin nodded. "Yeah, it's been a long day…" Connie and Marco noticed the pretty girl standing behind Eren and Armin, and the latter decided to do a proper introduction. "Oh right…this is Mikasa, Eren's sister."

Mikasa nodded at the two. "Hello…"

Marco blushed a little and nodded. "Hello there Mikasa-san, I'm Marco Bodt."

"And I'm Connie Springer, nice to meet you!"

"Likewise…" replied Mikasa as the all moved forward in the line.

The food they had for the trainees weren't as bad as they thought; it didn't taste very good, but they had very big portions and guaranteed a full stomach. The group of four made their way to an empty table and sat down with their trays in their hands. There was an oil-lamp in the middle of the table to light up the dark area, and it created an odd ambiance considering they were in military school.

More and more people filed into the place and the group saw some familiar faces. There were a few people near the door that stood right next to Eren and Armin in the morning. Eren still remembered that the tall young man was the one who talked about wanting to live in the inner walls, and a couple of guys who were rather silent the whole way through…

"Can we join you guys; there are no other tables around?" asked a blonde girl with a few other girls behind her.

Armin smiled and nodded, "Sure, the more the merrier."

The girl smiled and sat down along with few others. "Thank you, I'm Krista Renz, it's nice to meet you all!"

"I'm Ymir…"

"Hello!" chirped a happy girl as she wolfed down her food. "I'm Sasha Braus!"

Eren smiled and nodded to each of them. "It's nice to meet you all…I'm Eren Jäger, this is Mikasa Ackerman, and this is Armin Arlert."

Connie finished his dinner and leaned back against his seat with his arms behind his head. "So, where are you guys from originally?!"

The table conversed about origins for a few minutes, but everyone was silent when it was Eren's turn to speak…

"We're all from Shiganshina…"

Connie gulped before he leaned forward towards his roommate. "So…you guys where there on that day?" Marco nudged Connie on his side for his insensitive question, but Eren waved them off.

"Yeah, we were all there…it's not something we will ever forget." Mikasa and Armin nodded at his words, they will never forget that particular day.

"So you really saw the Colossal Titan?!" exclaimed Krista in fascination.

Eren nodded. "Yeah…it was really gigantic; it looked right over the 50 meter wall and kicked opened the gate by itself." The boy's tone was flat and stoic, but his eyes suggested anger. Eren was still livid about the Titans that attacked humanity that day, and even though his mother survived, he vowed to avenge everyone who fell to the monsters.

"You guys were really lucky to have survived that…" muttered Marco with a shocked voice.

Armin nodded. "Yeah…"

Eren smiled and looked over at Mikasa. "We would have died that day if it wasn't for Naruto-san…" said the young man as the people at the table looked shocked. "He was the one who saved all of us from the Titans…" Mikasa nodded with a small smile on her face.

Sasha was chewing on her bread as she leaned in. "You mean our assistant instructor?" asked the girl surprised.

Mikasa nodded. "Yes…"

"Come on, that guy didn't look much older than us…" said Connie as he chew off of his bread. "I was really surprised when I saw we have someone so young as a teacher."

Eren smirked. "He's just three years older than we are, but I saw him kill a Titan with my own eyes!" exclaimed the boy as the others looked shocked again. "The military must have seen his strength, or else they wouldn't have hired him to teach us…"

"Wow, he's killed a Titan already?" asked Marco a little shocked. "Most of us don't even know what real Titans look like…"

Eren shuddered a little as he remembered the Titan who almost killed him and his family. "Some of them almost look like humans, but they are all monsters…" The boy would never forget the smile of the Titan's face as it reached down for them…even when it was dying the smile never faded.

"We can definitely trust Naruto-san as our instructor…he may be young but I know he is strong", said Armin as he finished his food.

"No wonder you guys looked shocked this morning…you all already know him" said Ymir with a smirk on her face. "And I noticed you tearing up when you saw him, Mikasa…is he your boyfriend or something?" asked the girl as she looked over at Mikasa.

Mikasa had a small blush on her face but shook her head. "No…"

"Yeah, it would be weird if Naruto-san became your boyfriend…" said Eren as he crossed his arms. "He's our teacher right now, and-". The young man was silenced when Mikasa shoved a whole bun into his mouth.

"Don't talk when you eat…"

Ymir laughed as ate her own dinner. "You got it bad, girl!"

Mikasa blushed again and just went back to her own dinner. 'Boyfriend…would Naruto want to be my boyfriend?'

Naruto walked out of the training camp with his hands in his pockets. The sun was almost completely down, and the large forest surrounding the camp was bathing in a beautiful shade of orange. The prince had just finished with a meeting with their higher-ups of the school, and was assigned to teach certain courses to the trainees; all of which were his specialties.

The Colonel in charge of the school tasked Naruto to teach hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, and help in teaching the 3DMG. The blond was looking forward to seeing what the trainees could do, especially Eren, Armin and Mikasa. The girl did promise him that she would become stronger, and he had great faith in her considering how she took down one of her kidnappers two years ago.

'The air is so fresh out here…' thought Naruto to himself as he passed through countless trees in the dark.

Naruto had been in the camp for the last three months, and he enjoyed his nightly walk into the forest. There was one particular spot at the very top of the hill, where he would be able to gaze down at a small lake right next to the school. The prince had stumbled onto it a few months during the day when he was training himself with the 3DMG, and he found that it was much prettier at night.

"Anata no inai tsukue wo natete"

"Kage wo otosu kyou wo mou hitori"

A soft melodic tune reached Naruto's ears through the soft rustling of the windy night. He had never heard anything like it before, and in his opinion it sounded very good. The prince continued his walk towards his usual spot, and found that the tune was actually getting closer and closer. His blue eyes looked around the trees, trying to find the person singing to beautifully, but he still wasn't close enough.

"Hoshizora miage inori wo kakete"

"Anata wa onaji ima sora no shita"

The voice was beautiful…it was smooth, sweet, and at peace. Naruto found himself enchanted by the melody and the lyrics, and his legs were moving faster to see who was singing. From where the prince was, he could tell that the voice was coming from the top of the hill; the very place he had spent the past few months.

"Namida kodayafurueru toki no"

"Yami ni kujikesou na toki demo"

"Wasurenaide"

"Kaeru bashou ga"

"Kaeru bashou ga aru kara"

At long last, Naruto finally caught sight of the girl sitting on top of the hill. She was beautiful. Her light blonde hair was tied into a short ponytail as she sat elegantly on a solid rock on top of the hill. She was apparently a trainee as she was wearing one of their uniforms, but it was the first time Naruto had ever seen her.

The girl was resting her head on her hand as she stared out into the night. Her eyes were unfocused and distant as she looked on into the vastness of the world, and her rosy lips were moving ever so slightly as her beautiful voice sounded out gallantly through the night. All of her beauty was further enhanced as the white glow of the moon glazed over her…

"Matteiru hito ga iru kara"

The song ended. The whole area was silent as Naruto stood by a tree and looked up at the beautiful girl. The prince was completely enchanted by the girl's voice. She had so much pain, sorrow, and longing in her words; it truly brought out the beauty of the song. Naruto's eyes were locked onto her flowing blonde blowing in the wind as she sat silently at the top…

A gust of cold wind blew at the girl, and she turned a little to avoid the sheer cold, but she also caught sight of Naruto just a few feet away from her. She looked right into Naruto's eyes as she stood up. The girl was surprised; she had widened eyes and just the slightest tint of red on her cheeks, but that could be because of the cold.

"Who are you?" asked the girl firmly with a completely different register than in her song.

Naruto felt a little ashamed for spying on the girl and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry to sneak up like this…but I heard you singing and I couldn't help it."

The girl placed her hands in her pockets and walked down from the top of the hill. "You're our assistant instructor right?" asked the girl after getting a better look on Naruto. "I'm sorry about leaving the camp; I'll head back right now."

Just as the girl walked passed him Naruto turned around. "Wait!"

The girl stopped and looked back at Naruto through the corner of her eyes. "Yes?"

"What is your name?" asked the prince softly as a soft breeze brushed through them.

"Annie Leonhart…" With that, the girl walked away and disappeared into the darkness.

Naruto remained motionless in the middle of the slanted hill as his eyes stared into the distance where the girl vanished. There was something very special about the girl; Naruto could feel it in his heart. The feeling he got from her was not like what he got from Mikasa…it was different, but just as peculiar.

'Annie Leonhart…'

The End!

That was the sixth chapter of Royal Redemption, and I hope you all liked it. It really was just a filler chapter that I used to introduce Annie to Naruto.

The song Annie sang is called "Song of the Road". It is an ost from Fairy Tail, Mirajane sang it to the guild when Natsu and his team came back from the Tower of Heaven.

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! (I REALLY WANT MORE REVIEWS, PLEASE!)