Kabe no Shinobi
Chapter 9: The Struggle for Trost, Part 3.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Attack on Titan, or any of the characters.
"Commander Pixis?!" Weilman squeaked in surprise.
Pixis stood straight, watching the curious group of four, each of them looking relieved.
"I've only just arrived," Pixis said, smile never wavering "but I'm quite aware of our situation. I think we could at least do these youngsters the favor of hearing them out."
"B-but Commander!" Weilman tried to object.
"Captain Weilman." Pixis cut him off. "You go organize our reinforcements. I'll handle it from here."
Naruto walked slowly beside the others, following the man who'd introduced himself as Dot Pixis, the commanding officer responsible for the southern territory. The man in charge of the defense of Trost district and given full authority over preserving humanity's most vital remaining territory.
'He seems alright. Calm and willing to listen, but still commands the respect of all his subordinates. A big step-up from captain scaredy-cat.'
The man had asked them to join him for a walk, and now here they were atop the wall.
"Nope. Not any of you." Pixis said suddenly, peering down from the edge of the wall.
'Huh? What's he-?'
"Being eaten by a titan wouldn't be so bad, if it was a sexy lady one."
Naruto sweat dropped. 'Nevermind, he's a weirdo after all.'
Nonplussed, the commander began asking questions about Eren and his ability for starters.
Eren told him what he knew. Explaining how he'd been eaten and subsequently, somehow transformed. He also spoke of a memory of his father and the key around his neck. Something he'd remembered while being questioned.
After he was done talking, the commander hummed thoughtfully, one hand stroking his grey mustache. "So, visiting this basement should clear everything up, correct?"
"Yes, sir." Eren replied. "At least I think so."
"For the moment, there is no way to validate all of the claims you've made. For now, I'll just catalogue them in here." Pixis replied, tapping the side of his head. "With that said, I can usually tell the difference between the unctuous and the sincere, which is why I personally guarantee your safety."
Eren exchanged a smile with Mikasa and Armin.
"And now onto you, young man. Uzumaki, is that right?"
Naruto perked up at the mention of his name. "Oh, yeah, that's right."
Pixis watched him, eyes almost glimmering with unmasked interest and curiosity.
"That was a most spectacular display down there. Tell me, was it truly you who created that stone wall?"
The others were also watching him now with open interest. Naruto nodded.
"Now, I have a few questions. Firstly, can you turn into a titan as well?"
Naruto shook his head. "No."
Pixis and he shared a long look, then the commander moved on.
"Secondly, are you from outside the walls?"
Eren, Mikasa, and Armin's eyes all widened slightly. Most likely not having thought of that possibility. They watched him in anticipation.
Naruto bit his lip. "Yes, -"
They all gasped, except the commander who eyed him coolly.
"Y-You're from outside the walls?" Armin asked, stunned.
"There are people alive outside the walls!" Eren was gaping. Mikasa was shocked as well.
Pixis held up a hand, stemming their questions. Seeing this, Naruto continued. "It's true that I come from another place, with other people... But I don't know if any of them are here, in the outside world."
Pixis raised an eyebrow. The trio looked confused. "But if you lived with others outside these walls. Surely, they have to be out there, unless..." Armin began.
"Unless they've been wiped out by the titans." Mikasa finished sombrely.
Naruto shook his head. "No, no. That's not it. I- well," he began, unsure of how to explain the circumstances of his being here. "This is gonna sound crazy, but just hear me out." Naruto said, watching their puzzled expressions. "I... I think I'm from another world."
.
.
.
"Pardon?" Pixis asked, befuddled.
"Did he just say, 'another world'?" Eren asked his friends.
"Yeah, that's right. Another world." Naruto said.
"And how did you come to this conclusion?" Pixis questioned, not hiding the doubt in his voice. The others were also watching him as if he were insane, faces disbelieving.
"For one," Naruto began "there were no titans where I come from. Never even heard of 'em. And humanity wasn't anywhere near the brink of extinction."
They were surprised at this.
"But that's not all. I come from a place called the elemental nations, which is basically one big landmass filled with loads of countries and surrounded by ocean on all sides." The trio perked up at the mention of the ocean. "Whether there were any other continents outside, was a mystery. But the main reason why I think I'm in a new world is because of Chakra."
They blinked. "Chakra. What's that?" Eren asked.
"It's a sort of energy that the people in my world possess." To demonstrate, he stretched out an arm, palm up. Slowly the wind picked up, pulling inn towards his palm, and coalescing into a small, swirling, spherical shape.
They gasped, eyes wide. Hesitantly they inched forwards, eyeing the light bluish form of his miniature rasengan. Eren's finger inched towards it
"Don't." Naruto halted him. "You'll get hurt."
Eren let his hand fall.
"This is 'chakra'?" Pixis queried.
"People in my world- All living beings, actually, have this energy within them. You can't live without it."
Armin caught on. "We don't have it."
Naruto nodded.
"But how would you know that we don't?" Armin asked.
"I can't sense anything from you." At their questioning looks, he explained. "Knowing how to wield it, comes with the benefit of being able to sense the presence of Chakra in others. Though I'm not a good sensor."
Pixis ran a hand through his mustache.
Armin spoke up. "Then, how did you get here?"
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I don't really know myself. My memories are just blank before I woke up here."
"Woke up where, exactly?" Pixis asked.
"To the east, in the forest of giant trees outside wall Rose. About a year ago."
The others seemed disturbed by this. "You lived outside? Alone with titans?"
"No, of course not. I only roamed outside for a couple of days, then I found this place. I've been trying to find a way back home but had to learn your language first."
"So you do speak another language!" Armin exclaimed, remembering his talk with Jean earlier. "Can you-"
Pixis lifted a hand and Armin fell silent. "As fascinating as this all is. We are in the middle of a crisis that could turn out disastrous if we don't act with all haste."
The previously forgotten tension from the day's happenings came back full force. They were still under attack by titans. Trost remained unsealed, and wall Rose could be breached at any moment.
"In all honesty, when I heard about the breach, I was unsure of how to avert the worst outcome." Pixis began, then turned to eye Naruto and Eren with a twinkle in his eyes. "But now... It seems fortune is on our side. There is an opportunity. We have the means to retake Trost. To claim our first victory against the titans."
Naruto and the others exchanged stunned looks. "Retake Trost?" Eren whispered, eyes wide. "How, sir?"
"Naruto," Pixis said "can you make a stone wall big and strong enough to seal the breach?"
Their heads snapped to him, evidently not having thought of that themselves. Naruto winced slightly at their hopeful faces. "I could," he began "but it wouldn't last."
Pixis raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I'm not really good with earth-style ninjutsu."
"Nin-what?" Eren mumbled.
"Techniques." Naruto amended. "The energy we use, Chakra, can be manifested as elements. People usually have an affinity for one, or two if they're lucky. My main one is wind, but I'm alright with water as well."
Though he was immensely curious about Chakra and these 'elements', and what they entailed, Pixis kept on the topic, leaving the details for later. "So, how come you can use earth?"
"Anyone can use any element. It's just harder if you don't have an affinity for it. It takes years to master an element." Naruto explained. "The point is that my wall would be stronger while I'm channelling Chakra into the jutsu. But once I release it, it'd lose strength. And I can't make it thick enough that those titans wouldn't be able to break through without the Chakra coursing through it. Especially when it's not connected to the Wall for leverage."
Pixis hummed thoughtfully.
"Then, I might have another solution." Armin spoke up breaking the thoughtful silence that had descended.
Seeing as he had Pixis's attention, he continued. "I... Actually, I've been thinking about it since we found out Eren could turn into a titan." He pointed down into the city. They followed the path of his finger, and their eyes landed on an enormous boulder situated far in-town. "Using his strength as a Titan, Eren could lift that giant Boulder. We could use it to block off the wrecked gate."
Eren startled at that. "Carry... that." He eyed the massive stone, shaped like a sphere. Could he do it? Carry that a thing. It seemed impossible. And he didn't even know how he'd turned into a titan in the first place!
"Brilliant." Pixis praised.
Naruto mentally agreed. 'He's pretty smart. Quick-thinking. Kind of like Shika.' "While he does that, I can make a wall to prevent more titans from coming inside."
Pixis sat on his haunches in front of an already kneeling Eren. "What do you say, Cadet Yeager?"
"Say, sir?"
"That hole. Do you think that you can plug it up, son?"
Eren voiced his doubts. "Well, I- I don't know. It's possible. But at the moment, I don't understand my power any more than you do. I'm not sure how I turned into a titan the first time... It's just, I sort of feel irresponsible giving you an answer, 'cause I don't really know."
"Ah, yes. Of course, my apologies. I asked you the wrong question." Pixis chuckled, as if he'd said something silly. Then, he turned serious, all traces of mirth disappearing. "Will you do it or not? Which is it?"
Naruto listened intently. That was a heavy burden Pixis was placing on the guy's shoulder, 'but considering the situation...'.
Eren seemed to be fighting an internal battle, before his eyes hardened, steeling himself.
"I'll do it. I will. I'm not sure if I can, but I'll do it!"
Pixis nodded firmly. "Well said." He stood and walked over to the edge. "Officers, assemble!" he shouted at the soldiers below. "We have a plan to flesh out!"
Armin looked around at the others, surprised. "Wait, we-? We can't actually be moving forward with this as our linchpin strategy. It was just something I tossed out there."
"I was thinking the same thing." Eren said. "But he seems like a guy who knows what he's doing. Has it all under control. Like we can't see the forest for the trees, but he's got a bird's eye view."
"And I don't think there's any other way to close that hole." Naruto added.
"The Armored Titan could appear at any time." Mikasa supplied.
"Either way, though, we've got a whole other problem to address before we can get your plan off the ground. And my gut tells me that the Commander's keenly aware of it." Eren continued.
"Which would be?"
"Titans aren't our only enemies."
"Time is of the essence, young soldiers." A voice spoke up behind them, and they turned to see Pixis, now flanked by his officers. "The fate of mankind, now rests on your shoulders."
[Among the crow of soldiers. Marco POV.]
Marco stood still in the midst of a mass gathering of soldiers. They'd been ordered to assemble and told that they'd soon be informed on the operation to retake Trost.
There was a cacophony of mutterings and whispers amongst the soldiers around him. All with fear or just simple resignation etched into their faces.
"Retake Trost, are they kidding?"
"Someone up tops lost their marbles; how do they expect us to shore up the hole?"
"Is the brass that out of touch? It's a damn suicide mission! Lost cause, no doubt."
"Defending Wall Rose is the only real option here."
"Jackasses. Some bureaucrat's pushing this through for the glory."
The day's events had taken a toll on everyone, and it showed.
Next to him, Daz whispered something. "I can't- I can't go back." Then he snapped, hands coming up to tear at his hair. "We'll die! We're all gonna die! I just want to see my family!"
"What the hell, Daz? Calm down!" Marco whisper shouted. "Stop it, you're being too loud!"
A haggard looking garrison official turned at the commotion. "You there! I heard that!" He rounded on them, furious. "Are you planning on abandoning your duty!?"
"Yeah, that's right! There's nothing to be gained by this mass suicide mission!" Daz screamed.
Marco watched fearful for his friend.
"How dare you!" the officer snarled, hand reaching menacingly for the blades at his side. "I'll have you know I have the authority to execute you on the spot!"
"Fine by me." Daz reached for his own blade. "I'll take it over being fed to titans any day."
Marco grabbed Daz's arm and forced it back with one hand while shaking him vehemently with the other. "Get a hold of yourself, Daz!"
"No! Get off! Let go of me!" Daz shrieked hysterically.
'Damn, he's lost it!' Marco thought, struggling. He looked around pleadingly, hoping someone would come help bring Daz to his senses. But all he saw was despair, and a sickly kind of desperation. Maybe they hoped others would join Daz in his rebellious behavior, and as a result, be able to sneak off during the chaos.
"Move!" Marco looked up and saw Jean pushing though the throng. He felt a surge of relief.
"Oi, Daz! Quit your damn whining and stop shrieking like some sniveling coward!" Jean grabbed Daz roughly, tone harsh.
Daz seized his struggles after a while.
"Thanks, Jean." Marco said, breathing heavy.
"Tch, what's the commander thinking." Jean said absently, looking up at the wall where Pixis was standing.
Marco voiced his doubts. "Don't know. I can't think of any way we could hope to retake Trost. To do that, we'd need to seal the hole. But how would we even go about doing that?"
Jean exhaled tiredly. "No clue."
[Atop the wall. Naruto and the others trying to devise a strategy.]
Naruto stood next to Mikasa, as Armin explained his idea to Anka and Gustav, two of Pixis's most trusted officers.
"There's no need to fight the titans, you say?" Gustav questioned.
"S-sorry, I know it's not my place as a recruit to give orders. I meant no disrespect." Armin apologized.
Gustav shook his head. "It's alright. Just go on with what you were saying."
"R-right." Armin gulped nervously. "See, whatever else is going on around them, Titans are generally drawn to large groups of people. If enough of us are collected in the corners, far away from the breach," he pointed at the map. "we could lure the Titans out of Eren's path. That way, he won't have to slow his pace while we fight off the other titans. And since the titans will all be in one area, we can pick them off with cannon-fire without incurring causalities of our own."
He swallowed, mouth feeling dry. "Now I'm not suggesting we leave Eren defenseless. That'd be too risky. We'll need a small squad of elite soldiers to act as his bodyguards."
Naruto watched impressed. 'He could probably give Shikamaru a run for his money in Shogi.' he thought amusedly. The plan was good, and well thought through. Better than anything he himself could've come up with in such a short time.
Armin turned to Naruto, slightly worried.
"Naruto will be sealing the hole momentarily, until Eren arrives with the boulder. I know we'll be baiting the titans away from the gate, but we should still have him guarded."
"Actually," Naruto said "I have something that might help."
They all turned to him curiously.
"Something that might help?" Anka asked with a furrowed eyebrow.
Rather than telling, he decided to just show them. With a single hand seal, he intoned.
["Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."]
A puff of smoke.
"What the hell?!"
"What happened!?"
"..."
.
.
Their startled exclamations died down as the smoke vanished, leaving them wide-eyed and mouths agape.
"How..."
"What the fuck?"
"That's... impossible."
Next to Naruto... stood another Naruto.
"Yo!" The clone lifted a hand in greeting. The same way Kakashi always did back in the days when he was late to their Genin meetings.
While they were shocked silent, Naruto decided to explain. "I can create clones of myself. They can be pretty taxing to make and dispel after a solid hit." Naruto punched the clone, and it burst into smoke. "The thing is, the energy I use in making the clones are divided up equally amongst them. Since they'll be keeping the titans at a distance with long-range techniques, they're gonna need more energy than usual. So I'll only make like ten of 'em. Some can guard me, while the rest go out into the city."
Gustav snapped out of it. "You can make more?" he regarded Naruto with a measure of awe. So did the others.
"Yeah, I can, but the more I make, the less useful they are. Like I said, the energy I use is distributed evenly among them. More clones mean less techniques and more vulnerable. If I were to make a hundred, they'd probably dispel from tripping over their feet or being hit by a stray pebble."
They nodded slowly. Armin was still pondering the implications of such an ability. "Alright, then... let's have two of you- erm, I mean, them, stay with Eren, and the rest go after titans." Armin said, fumbling a little with how to properly address the 'clones'.
Naruto nodded. Gustav, Anka, and Armin perked up at something behind him, and Naruto turned to find Pixis approaching with Eren trailing slightly behind him.
The commander turned to Anka. "I trust the plan's complete by now." Anka nodded, and Pixis beckoned for Eren to follow.
They approached the edge of the wall, Eren to Pixis' right, overlooking the mass of soldiers gathered below. The crowd was restless. Fear wafted off them in waves.
Pixis cleared his throat.
"ATTENTION!" the commander bellowed, and the clearing went still. Naruto could feel his ears ringing.
"I will now elaborate on the plan to retake Trost district! Our primary objective is to seal the hole in the destroyed gate!"
"Yes, you heard that right!" Pixis went on. Down below there were whispers of incredulity.
"As for how it will be done; Allow me to introduce Cadet Eren Yeager."
[With Jean, Marco, Ymir, and the others.]
"E-Eren?!" Connie gaped.
"Seal? Is that even possible?" Marco wondered out loud, shocked.
"He's the successful product of top-secret scientific research." Pixis continued. "Fantastic as this may sound, Cadet Yeager possesses the ability to create and control a Titan body, at will!"
Even more shocked gasps.
"Hmm?!" Connie turned to Ymir who was staring up grimly. "H-hey, am I just stupid, or is the commander making absolutely no sense right now?"
"Shut up for a bit, stupid." Ymir responded without taking her eyes off Eren.
"Recall the massive boulder roughly a league from the gate! Having assumed his titan form, Cadet Yeager will pick it up, carry it over, and seal the hole. Your role will be to protect him from Titans while he moves the boulder!"
"Has humanity finally learned to control Titans?" a soldier mumbled.
"They're lying!" Daz screamed, tears in his eyes. "I'm not gonna be drawn into sacrificing myself for this crap! What do you think we are?! We... We aren't pawns for you to sacrifice!"
His outburst started a chain reaction.
"A human weapon?"
"What a load of horseshit!"
"He's obviously lying!"
"He thinks we're fools!"
"He's basically telling us to go die. I'm leaving!" Bertholdt watched as the man turned heel and stalked away, followed soon by others.
"Me, too"
"And me!"
"I'm out of here!"
Mass desertion. One of the officers acted quickly, grabbing Daz and yanking him back roughly. "Wait! You'll get the death penalty for this!"
"Fuck off! I don't care! I'm spending humanity's last hours with my family!" Daz shouted back.
"Shit, this is bad." Ian cursed.
"Yeah, if we don't do something, there'll be chaos." Rico agreed, face grim.
Next to them, Weilman rounded on the deserters, face purpling with rage. "Ready yourselves to die, traitors!" he bellowed, drawing out his blade. "I'll execute you where you stand!"
Next to Pixis, Naruto observed the mass dissention with a hint of a scowl. This was... not what he'd expected. Here they were, threatened by cannibalistic giants with extinction, their families and friends endangered, and this was their response.
They were soldiers for Kami' sake! They needed to act like it. He could understand being afraid, could even empathize with them. But were they really willing to let those beasts go after their friends and family, without even trying to stop them?
This was what they'd all signed up for. The entire purpose of their military was to defend humans from titans, but when confronted with the situation, they ran away without hesitation.
In Konoha, every single shinobi, from Genin to the Hokage himself, were all prepared to die defending their home. Even the civilians would do their part in defending the village.
He felt the need to say some choice words but kept it to himself. It wasn't his place.
"This is my decision!" Pixis yelled, bringing everyone's attention back to himself. "Anyone wishing to leave will by my personal order, not be charged with treason!"
Weilman gasped.
"Once you've succumbed to the fear of Titans, you can never fight them again. Those who have seen a Titan first-hand will not be expected to revisit such horror... And anyone wishing their parents, siblings, and loved ones to experience that same horror, should also leave!"
It was as if time had stopped, all the soldiers who'd been running off, suddenly froze in their tracks. One moment was all it took for the implications of the commanders' words to sink in. Then all those fleeing turned back.
"Now, think back to four years ago. Namely, the operation to retake Wall Maria. Officially, we labelled it reconnaissance. But in fact, as most of you probably know, it was little more than a purge. A thinly disguised exercise in population control. We knew this in our hearts, of course we did. Yet we turned a blind eye."
Naruto knew about the operation of course, and the results. And though no one spoke about it, he'd guessed the true motives behind it. There was simply no way that the government was delusional enough to believe any number of untrained, unarmed, civilians on foot, could ever hope to win against titans.
"The reason no one speaks of it, is because sending them to their deaths allowed us to survive. All of humanity, including myself, bears the weight of that sin! Because so few escaped Wall Maria, there was never any open rebellion. But what about now?! If Wall Rose falls, the sacrifices will be more than just twenty percent. The territory within Wall Sina won't be enough to support even half the remaining population!" Pixis' voice was grave, but hard, leaving no doubts as to what he meant.
"If humanity falls, it won't be because we were devoured by the Titans. It will be because we killed each other! We must not die within even narrower walls." He spread his arms pleadingly. "I beg of you to die where you stand!"
Naruto felt a grin making its way onto his face. Pixis sure knew how to motivate 'em.
Naruto watched from the sidelines as Pixis addressed three of his soldiers. Two of them he recognized as Rico and Mitabi.
"Good, you're all here." Pixis began. "You have one mission. Protect Eren Yeager and eliminate any risks that present themselves along the way. It's the most dangerous, as well as most difficult, part of this operation. Our success or failure will depend on you. The fate of mankind rests on your shoulders."
Rico stepped forward. "Commander, may I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"Are we certain about this? Pinning our hopes on Jaeger, I mean." She asked.
"Rico. Don't." Ian tried to interject.
Mitabi decided to express his own worries. "Sir, please. With all due respect, the kid's abilities are unknown to us; we don't have the first idea what he can or can't do. If he can't lift the rock, or worse, he goes rogue, a lot of lives will be lost for nothing."
"You make a good point." Pixis allowed. "Perhaps we ought to just give ourselves up to the Titans willingly."
The captains startled.
"Personally," Pixis continued "the idea makes me sick. I'm a sore loser. You'd think I'd be used to it. I've been stuck on the losing side my entire life. Just once I'd like to know what victory feels like."
"S-so do we, sir!"
Pixis gave them a firm look, tone sharp. "Then betting on him is our only option. You're right, we know nothing about him. But he's the only chance we have at defeating the Titans."
Gustav approached. "Commander, it's time."
Pixis straightened, facing his three chosen. "Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska, Mitabi Jarnach. You are the Garrison's most elite soldiers. I'm entrusting humanity's fate to you."
"Sir!" the three saluted.
"Ian," Pixis continued "you take command. You have full authority out there."
"Me? But, sir, that's-"
"I have no objections." Rico said.
"Nor do I." Mitabi added.
Ian still wasn't sure. "Sir, there are more capable-"
"Don't worry," Pixis assured. "You're a man who knows his drinks."
Ian raised an eyebrow, perplexed.
"You can distinguish the high-quality from the cheap. I leave it to you."
Naruto felt like laughing. 'That's how he chooses?'.
After a final salute, they dispersed to start the decoy operation. Naruto watched as Ian approached Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Eren was scowling, Mikasa looked a little sad, and Armin seemed to be trying to calm Eren down.
Was Eren mad at Mikasa about something? Whatever it was, was forgotten when Ian announced Mikasa would be joining Eren's guard. She brightened at that.
As they separated, Eren and Mikasa following Ian, and Armin going his own way, Naruto decided to take his own position above the destroyed gate and hurried after Ian and the others.
[Naruto POV, short while later.]
From his place above the breach Naruto could see the Titans slowly being led towards the far corners of Trost, the places farthest away from the boulder.
It took a while herding them, but soon enough there was a tidal wave of Titans in each corner, crashing against the walls in a desperate attempt to reach the tiny humans that dangled just a little out of reach.
Then a green pillar of smoke shot up into the sky.
One of the garrison members next to him watched the proceedings with a spyglass. "The elite force have begun the mission." The man informed.
Naruto tried to pick out Eren and his guards moving towards the boulder. Yeah, he could see a small stream of people, like a swarm of bees, inching nearer the massive rock.
Closer, and closer.
*CRACK! BOOM! *
A bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens, bathing everything in a yellowish hue, followed by the sound of crackling thunder.
The soldiers next to him gasped.
Then a Titan stepped out of the dust cloud.
"ROOOOOAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Its roar reverberated across the entire district, making the world tremble.
'Holy shit!' Naruto gawked. That had to be one of the coolest things he'd ever seen!
"Uzumaki!" a soldier yelled, and Naruto took that as his cue.
A second later ten clones appeared. Even more gasps behind him.
The clones didn't need to be told anything. They already knew what to do. He stepped over the edge, going into a free-fall down towards the ground, the clones following suit.
Once they touched down, eight of his clones blasted off into the city, and Naruto turned to the breach, focused.
Through the hole, he could see Titans coming towards him, the closest only twenty-or-so meters away.
He closed his eyes, felt for his Chakra. Felt it build up inside him.
His hands went through the seals.
Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog!
He slammed them down, eyes shooting open. The titan was just a couple of meters away now.
["Doton: Doryūheki!"]
The earth rose, a wall erupting from the ground up to the top of the destroyed gate.
*Crash!*
The titan collided with the wall.
It didn't seal the entire hole perfectly. His jutsu was square, which left small open spaces on the sides and a little on the top. He just didn't have the fine control over the earth element needed to form the wall to fit that well. Still, no Titans would be getting through that, meaning no Titans to potentially get in Eren's way.
He looked back; his clones arrayed protectively near him.
"Amazing!"
"He really did it!"
"Holy Maria, Rose, and Sina! He really sealed it..."
Naruto looked up above to where the voices had come from and saw his garrison companions hanging by their gear next to the now sealed hole, eyeing it and him with amazement.
One of his clones turned to them and gave a cheery thumbs-up.
[Clone #1 POV]
He jumped from roof to roof along with another clone, watching for any Titans that might pop up. They were hard to spot sometimes, the smaller ones at least, since they were at a lower height than the buildings.
They were headed for Eren. As planned two clones would help guard him while he carried his burden. It might've been better to send them with Eren from the beginning, but Anka had suggested they clear any Titans they might encounter on their way from the gate to the rock, just to make the road safer for Eren to travel.
The majority of titans had been lured away, but it hadn't been without loss. He spotted several mangled, bloodied corpses, even as they traversed the short distance.
They arrived.
Mikasa was stood on a building. Eren in his transformed state watching her. It was silent.
Why was he just standing there?
"Hey, guys, what're you doing? Why isn't he lifting the boulder?" he called out. The hulking form of Eren's titan turned to him.
The thing lifted its arm.
'What's he...? OH SHI-!'
The titans massive fist collided with the building he'd been standing on just a second ago.
[Clone #2 POV]
He watched as a stray tile from the house flew into the clones back, dispelling it.
'Shit.' he cursed internally. It'd would've been better with two of them at hand, but at least this way the boss would know what'd happened.
"Naruto?!", "Uzumaki!", the others yelled.
"Just a clone." he called back.
Mikasa understood, but the others were surprised.
"A clone?" Ian questioned.
"I'll explain later. What's wrong with Eren?" Naruto asked.
"He's gone rogue, that's what!" Mitabi hissed through gritted teeth. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted this 'human weapon'."
Mikasa, unwilling to give up, maneuvered herself to be face to face with Eren, holding on to some of the Titan's messy black hair.
"Eren, don't you recognize me?! I'm Mikasa, your family!"
"Ackerman, get away from there!" Ian yelled.
She ignored him. "You have to seal that hole with the boulder!"
Naruto watched intently, hoping the guy would come back to his senses. Then Eren's fist clenched imperceptibly, but he caught it, nonetheless. "Mikasa! Dodge!"
She leapt out of the way, and Eren's fist smashed into his own face.
The Titan lost its balance, and fell back on its rump, slumped against the boulder, head and hand steaming.
Rico fired a red signal flare.
"Captain Ian, we've got two Titans bearing down on us! One ten and the other six!" a soldier yelled.
"One at our rear, too! Twelve meters tall!" another called out.
Mitabi turned to him. "Ian, let's retreat. The plan's a bust."
Rico nodded, "I agree."
Ian remained silent, thoughtful.
"Ian! Snap out of it!" Mitabi yelled, getting impatient. "What are you waiting for? Give the order!" he spread his arms beseechingly. "Look, this plan was doomed from the start! It was worth a shot, and we did the best with what we had, but it wasn't enough. The only thing we can do now is to get to safety. If we linger, we'll just be wasting more lives for nothing!"
Naruto noted Mikasa's furious expression at the thought of them abandoning Eren.
Ian seemed to have noticed it too and held his hand up to halt any protest on her part.
His face contorted as if in an inner discussion. Then with a sigh, he spoke. "We'll modify the plan. Until we can recover Yeager, we protect him from the Titans. He holds a valuable potential for humanity. Unlike us, he can't be replaced. Team Rico, take out the 12-meter approaching from behind. Team Mitabi and I will handle the two front-runners."
"What!?" Rico rounded on him. "Are you mad!"
"I'm the one in charge! Now do as you're ordered, soldier! We're not leaving Yaeger defenseless, period!" Ian shouted back.
"You can't be serious! You're saying that we should just keep on sending soldiers to their deaths for that failure of a 'human weapon'!"
Naruto decided to intervene before it got too out of hand. He agreed with Ian's decision. The lives lost during this operation would be small compared to the lives lost if they failed to seal the hole, and the Armored Titan appeared.
"What's your plan after you leave Eren?" he asked her.
Rico glared at him. "What do you mean."
"Let's say you abandon Eren here. What happens afterwards? Do you have any way of closing the hole and stopping the Armored Titan from breaching wall Rose?"
"If you're asking me how we'll defeat the Titans, then obviously I have no idea." She retorted angrily.
"You see? It's either we find a way to make this plan work, or humanity dies." Naruto stated.
"He's right." Ian concurred. "This is it. This is all we've got. At least with the kid, we have hope. And as long as that's the case, we're gonna fight to the bitter end."
"It's like the commander said. " He continued, clenching his fists. "Look at us. Always running away. Always on the losing side. Pathetic, isn't it. But it's the only thing us humans can do." He met Rico and Mitabi's eyes. "Don't you want it to be over? Don't you want to make a stand?" His voice grew sharp, firm, and unyielding. "Well, this is how it's done! This is the only struggle we're capable of!"
Rico gritted her teeth. "I can't accept that." She started walking away.
"Hey!" Ian called after her, but she turned her head and spoke, cutting off his protests. "But I think you're right. So I'll struggle until my last breath, and show those bastards how fearsome we humans can be. I refuse to let our comrades' deaths be in vain... Leave the 12-meter in the rear to my squad."
Ian watched at a loss for words.
Mitabi headed the other way. "Let's go," he said, "we're taking the two in the front."
"Right." Ian answered, dashing after him.
Mikasa and Naruto watched them leave, then she turned to him. "Thank you, for speaking up for Eren."
Naruto smiled. "No problem." He chuckled. "Not gonna lie, I thought you might attack 'em when they suggested we leave Eren behind." He turned to Eren. "Defending him is good, but unless he wakes up and lifts the boulder, we'll just keep losing lives. Besides, Boss' Chakra reserves might be massive, but he can't keep that wall up forever."
"Boss?" she asked.
"The original. It's how we clones refer to him." he clarified. A titan came out from behind a building, 6- or 7-meters at most.
"I've got it." he told her, halting her mid-step.
His hands blurred.
["Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku!"]
The almost invisible vacuum sphere shot right through the titans' lower jaw and throat, cleaving through flesh, and destroying the nape. The Titans head, from nose up, fell and was enveloped by steam.
On the street next to them, another one appeared. Mikasa acted quickly, running along the building until she had the angle she wanted. Then shot her hooks into its upper back, propelled herself forward with gas whilst reeling her cables in to get closer. Next moment she slashed her blades and the titan fell lifelessly.
"More and more are gonna keep coming, and Eren's still down." Naruto muttered.
"I don't understand, why are they coming here all of a sudden. The others should've been more than enough to distract them. Unless... Unless they're coming for Eren!" She exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"It was the same at HQ, after a while, the Titans started swarming him. They might be attracted to him, somehow."
Naruto nodded grimly. "That's not good."
At that exact moment, Armin appeared, zipping in to land on a building behind Eren. He stared at Eren's slumped form with wide eyes. Then he saw Mikasa and Naruto.
"Mikasa! What happened to the plan! Why on earth is he just slumped here like this?!"
"Armin, get away from there. It's dangerous!" she shouted worriedly. "Something went wrong. He lost control and wound up like that! I tried to snap him out of it, but I couldn't get him to respond. He's been out like this for the past few minutes." She explained.
"But what about the plan?"
"We had to adjust it. Right now, all we can do is protect him. He's defenseless. But I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!"
Armin went silent, his mind racing. Then he turned slowly to Eren's titan, jumped down onto its neck. "From the back of the head to the nape of the neck, one meter long and ten centimeters across!" he drew out a blade and fired a hook into each of the Titans shoulders.
"Huh? Armin, what're you-?"
"Mikasa, Naruto! You just hold off the other Titans as long as you can!"
"But-!" she protested.
"When Eren first emerged from this form, it was from the weak spot. I'm not sure, but something tells me that it wasn't a coincidence."
"You're going to cut him out? Isn't that dangerous? You might kill him." Naruto said.
"It'll be alright." Armin called back, raising his blade. "As long as I avoid the center, he won't die. It'll only hurt..." he brought it down, cutting straight into the titans nape. "a bit!"
Mikasa gasped.
Eren's Titan suddenly jerked. Then it roared in agony, writhing and flailing, bucking and screaming.
Armin held on for dear life. "Armin! Stop it! You'll get yourself killed!" Mikasa yelled frantically, fearing for her friend.
"Mikasa, go do what you can! If you go, there are lives that could be saved, right?! Leave Eren to me and go!"
She hesitated.
"He's right, let's go." Naruto said. Reluctantly, she turned and ran off. Naruto followed.
[Clone #4 POV, somewhere in the city.]
He spotted someone on the ground, running from a titan. He squinted his eyes to better make out the person.
'That's definitely a soldier. They've got gear and everything.' There could only be one reason why they didn't escape to one of the roofs. Their gear had to be broken.
He dashed after them. The Titan had to be ten meters at least, and pretty fast too. It didn't walk slowly like most of its kind but was rather power walking. 'An abnormal'.
He was almost directly behind, if he used some jutsu and killed it, it might topple forwards and land on the person.
He decided to draw its attention instead. He sped ahead to a building the person was about to pass.
'Wait, that's Jean, isn't it?' he recalled now that he had an unobstructed view of his face.
"Oi, stupid! Come get me!" he called, and as expected, Jean passed, and the Titan shifted its focus to him.
Then, when he was sure Jean was out of harm's way, he disposed of it with a quick rasengan to the nape.
He turned back, and saw Jean exchanging his gear for one on a corpse. Whoever it was, had had their upper half stepped on and complete crushed.
He felt bile rise in his throat at the sight and smell.
"Thanks." Jean breathed, winded and frazzled.
"Your gear broken?"
"Yeah, hooks wouldn't fire."
[At the breach, with original Naruto.]
The first clone dispelling had been a surprise. He hadn't though one would be popped so soon. Its accumulated memories had reverted back to him, and it wasn't looking good.
Something had gone wrong. Eren had been attacking humans. He'd been growling and angry, feral like some rabid beast.
Again, he saw the similarities. The way Eren was acting. It'd been the same way Sora had behaved under the Kyuubi's influence. The same way he himself had behaved.
The garrison with him had told him about the red flare signalling the mission had failed, but the retreat hadn't been called. So, he kept the wall up, blocking entrance into the city to the Titans.
Another set of memories came to him. Fighting alongside team Mitabi, one of the squad members had been halfway inside a Titans mouth, so the clone had rushed to his aid and ripped them out an instant before the thing's teeth clamped down, dispelling the clone.
He shuddered a little.
A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead and trailed down his cheek, stopping at his chin, then fell.
He had a lot of Chakra. A lot. But his reserves weren't infinite, and this jutsu wasn't supposed to be used this way. It wasn't exactly a small wall either.
He exhaled slowly and refocused on keeping the flow of Chakra steady.
[With Ian and the others. Clone #7 POV.]
Small vibrations shook everything around them.
*Thud! Thud! Thud! *
They looked up at the sound of falling footsteps and saw a massive rock, steam rising from beneath it.
Naruto's eyes widened at the sight. 'He did it!
"Mikasa!" came a shout, and Armin landed on the rooftop next to her a moment later.
"Armin!"
"Eren's in control! He came out of it somehow! He's determined to see the mission through to the end! As long as we protect him while he heads for the wall, victory will be ours!"
"Defend him!" Ian bellowed the order. "To the last man if
that's what it takes! Eren must reach the gate! I don't want a single Titan anywhere near him!" Everyone moved to obey.
Then Ian turned to them. "You three! I want you close to him, if any titans get through, they're yours to deal with!"
"Understood!" they moved towards Eren.
[With Reiner and Bertholdt.]
"Plugging the hole like that...?" Bertholdt asked, watching from afar as Eren carried the boulder. "They're being too reckless. At this rate, Eren might end up getting eaten. And if that happens, nothing will change."
"Yeah," Reiner agreed grimly "if it comes down to it, I'll just have to do something with my Titan."
"But if the plan succeeds, they'll manage to close the hole we worked so hard to make." Bertholdt replied.
"Fine with me... We've finally found what we've been looking for these past five years." Reiner noticed someone approaching from in front. "Someone's coming." he warned.
A lone figure was approaching, and whoever it was, was moving quickly. "That's that Naruto guy." Bertholdt said, noticing the lack of gear.
Behind them, another person landed.
"Hey, guys." They tensed. That was unmistakably Marco. "You fine here?" Marco asked.
"Yeah, we're good. Just stopped a moment when we saw Eren." Bertholdt said quickly, a drop of sweat beading on his forehead.
Naruto landed on the roof next to them. "You guys good?" he asked loudly.
"Yeah, fine." Reiner called back.
Naruto nodded. "Not long now. Soon the hole will be sealed, and we'll be done. Stay safe." he said and dashed off.
"You too." Marco replied, then turned to Bertholdt and Reiner. "I'm off then. Don't die."
They nodded. "Same to you."
Marco left, zipping away with his gear.
Bertholdt sighed. "That was close. I didn't even hear him approach."
Reiner grunted, crossing his arms. "We need to be more careful."
[Original Naruto POV.]
"There they are!"
Naruto looked up at the soldier.
"They're almost here!" The man continued.
'Fucking finally!' Naruto though with relief. "Took 'em long enough!" he said mirthfully. His legs were starting to go numb, and his Chakra reserves hadn't been this strained in all his time here.
"How long till they're here?" he asked.
A woman with short brown hair answered him. "At that pace, maybe a minute or two!"
"Good." He called back. He'd have to keep going until Eren was just about close enough to put the boulder down.
There were a shit ton of titans on the other side, all pushing and clawing against his wall.
[Near Eren. Ian POV.]
The fighting had descended into chaos. Titans were everywhere. The Titans that had been lured away to the far side of the city, had begun wandering off again. They'd begun arriving in waves, groups of three and four hitting from all directions.
Ian watched as the Naruto's took down another titan.
He'd almost gawked when he saw two of the exact same people standing right there in front of him, but the battle required all of his attention. A lack of awareness could result in his death, and so any questions he had at the absurdity, were put off until after the mission was accomplished.
His comrades were dying left and right. Mitabi had been crushed under a titan's foot, Carl swallowed whole, Richter bit in half. With each death, the weight on his shoulders increased.
The only thing that kept him from breaking down was the resolve to make sure their deaths weren't in vain. If he had to throw himself down a Titans gullet to make sure Eren reached that gate, he'd do it. Anything to make sure they succeeded.
[With Eren, now at the hole. Armin POV.]
Armin watched as Eren approached the gate. His thundering footsteps like a countdown.
10, 9, 8-
"Naruto!" he yelled, and Naruto jerked his head around, saw Eren almost upon him, and jumped out of the way.
As soon as he did, cracks appeared on the wall he'd made. He gulped. There had to be a lot of titans on the other side.
7, 6, 5, 4-
The wall broke and a horde of titans toppled through. Too many to count. Some were crushed under the weight of all the other Titans.
3, 2, 1-
Eren halted right in front the breach, Titans struggling desperately to reach him.
"Go, Eren!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
At the same time, the Rogue Titan roared, slamming the boulder in place. Blood exploded from beneath it, where titan arms were brutally broken off. The collision shook the city with its tremendous force.
He felt tears welling up in his eyes at the sight.
A single yellow flare shot up into the sky.
[With Pixis.]
"Yellow smoke spotted, Sir." Anka informed, watching through her spyglass. "The mission was a success!"
The people around them reacted differently. Some cheered, some were stunned, others broke down into tears.
"Deploy the reinforcements." Pixis commanded. "Bring the Elite Squads home!"
[Original Naruto POV.]
Eren's Titan sat slumped against the boulder, unmoving. Naruto stood guard, ready to deal with any Titans while the others recovered Eren.
"The remaining Titans are coming. Ackerman, pull back!" Rico called.
"I will once we've recovered Eren." Mikasa retorted, then she looked up at Armin. "Armin! how is he?"
"Unconscious and scorching to the touch!" Armin answered while struggling to pull Eren free. Rico and Mikasa joined him on the Titans neck. "I can't get him free from the muscle!"
"Then we cut." Rico stated. Mikasa tried to protest, but Rico severed the muscles in one quick slash of her blade. Armin fell backwards with Eren in his arms.
Two titans were approaching, but as Naruto readied himself to dispose of them, someone else did it for him. Hooks shot themselves into the first titans' shoulder, and the lone figure came around its neck, a whirlwind of blades, severing its nape. The second Titan was dealt with as quickly as the first.
They landed softly on one of the steaming corpses, eyeing Eren's Titan and the boulder intently.
Now that they stood still, Naruto noticed the wings of freedom emblazoned boldly on the uniforms front right shirt pocket. A man, Naruto made out. Small, and black haired.
His gaze lingered on the face for a second, and recognition dawned on him. That was the first person he'd seen when he arrived in this world. The infamous Levi! Known as 'humanities strongest soldier'.
Levi's charcoal black eyes came down from Eren's titan to rest on Naruto. They widened in surprise. "It's you!"
AN:
Hey guys, I'm back!
Got done pretty quickly with this chapter, and it's longer than usual as well. The longest, actually, at almost 8.5k words.
I know I said this chapter would include Naruto's reunion with Levi, Erwin, and the scouts, but it'll have to wait for the next chapter. This one was just so long, and if I tried to include his reunion, it'd be a heck of a lot longer.
On another note, we did it people! We broke through the 1k barrier. We officially have over 1k follows. The previous chapter got a lot of positive feedback, and I hope you enjoy this one as well.
Don't forget to review! Always enjoy reading them :)
As will be usual, I'll be answering some of the reviews in the section below.
~Zenix404~
Q&A:
Volcasiron30: Sheesh buddy! Man, your comments are long xd.
I'm happy you've enjoyed the story so far, and that you're so enthusiastic about me writing another fic. I've never written any romance, and I personally just enjoy the adventure/mystery/suspense/action genres more, so I don't know if I'll write any. I might do a romance one-shot at some point, but I doubt I'll be writing any long romance-centric stories any time soon.
Thank you for your reviews :)
Yatelo106: I've been thinking it over, and it might happen. I just have to figure out how it would work out. How would the build up be? Don't want it to be some overly dramatic, cliché, instant romance. I'll probably lay down some groundwork for if I want to do a pairing in the future.
RaikiriWizard: Glad you liked the story!
In regard to Mikasa and Naruto potentially becoming a couple, it's a possibility, but again, I don't really see how they would interact. Cause she has a very uninterested, stoic personality when with anyone that isn't Eren or Armin. But I'll consider it.
Itachi: Yeah, I agree with some of the points you're making concerning the different relationships, but honestly, I've never written any romance, and I have no clue how to really go about it. Like I said earlier, I'll lay down some groundwork for potential relationships that I can use if I decide to pair Naruto with someone. We'll see.
WebSlinger12: Thanks man!
DarkShadowRaven: You make some good suggestions. And Annie is definitely one of my favorite characters in AoT. Annie, Historia, and Sasha are the most realistic pairings. Whatever happens, I aim to write a good story that people can enjoy reading in their free time.
Mr. KR-18: Thanks man! I'm glad you liked this story, and the GoT story, as well. As for his reunion with Erwin and Levi, it'll be next chapter, so stay tuned! (PS: I'm working on an update for the GoT fanfic *winking-face*).
Edoabb: Huh? What do you mean? I'm pretty sure Naruto wasn't caught or even came under suspicion the entire year he was undercover.
Shadowmaster0304: I'll try not to disappoint you, then xd
Oracleshadow: Thanks man! I'm glad that you've enjoyed the story so far. Whether or not any new shinobi appear, you'll just have to wait and see! Good day to you, as well!
Bean: No problem g.
Artemis Lannister: Well, the thing is. Naruto isn't really the kind of person who's prone to violent outbursts. So, I think him attack the any government people is just outright wrong. And then there's the matter of taking them outside the walls. Then what? Where do they go? For all they know, there are only titans out there. And if they'd left the walls, they'd be guaranteed to be branded traitors. The fact that they saved the recruits would be moot. The government would just see them as 'the enemy'. Besides, I doubt Eren, Armin, and Mikasa, actually want to leave behind their world and people. Yes, there might be some assholes, but their friends are there too. Hannes, as well. Do you really think that Eren and them would willingly abandon them?
EvilGenius21: Say no more. Here is another chapter, earlier than usual. Here's to hoping you won't have to re-read the story. (Or perhaps I intentionally wait long enough that you have to re-read, so that I'll get extra views! Who knows? I might be the Evil Genius here).
Papilionem: I'm glad you enjoyed it!
The story might include more characters from the Narutoverse, maybe not. You'll just have to wait and see. As for a pairing, the thought was not to have a pairing, but plans change. It might happen eventually. Never say never, I guess.
You say it's winter in Peru? Huh, I've actually never thought about it, but now that you mention it, the weather is very different depending on where you live. It's strange to think that it's winter somewhere when it's summer here in Norway.
Anyway, thanks for the review!
IxKitsune: Sasha and Historia are the most likely pairing, I think, if there are any at all. Thanks for reviewing again, warms my heart!
Et-reader97: Yeah, the story will diverge. The mere fact of Naruto's existence will have a big impact on the society inside the walls, I think. Naruto will most certainly play a part in any action that takes place, have no worries on that front. Like you said, he could help the people out a lot. His abilities open up a lot of possibilities.
Candrariski155: hahahaha, as fun as it'd be to see Weilman get his due, it just isn't in Naruto's nature.
Brazilwolf: Glad you liked the changes that I've made so far. The changes will just become bigger and bigger from here, the more Naruto gets involved with the people of the walls and their conflict.
Marvelous Pathetic: No problem, glad you enjoyed.