A Shinobi of Paradis Chapter 21 (Who is the Traitor?) (Patreon)

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were trying to complete the ODM Gear training for today. As usual, Eren was trying to be the first, resulting in almost no gas left by the time he reached the end.

Once he arrived there, much to his disappointment, Mikasa was already there, and so was Bertholdt, but much to his confusion, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't as surprised not to see Armin since, between the four of them, he wasn't the best with ODM gear, but his little brother had talent, not as much as Mikasa, but he was certain that he would have completed the training before him.

Perhaps he's just tired from last night, Eren thought with a shrug, knowing his little brother didn't have the best sleep last night, something about nightmares. He and Mikasa waited on the finishing line for an hour. Many other cadets arrived, including Jean, Marco, Reiner, and Mina. Eventually, Armin arrived, soon followed by Annie, but there was no sign of Naruto anywhere. At this point, Eren was getting concerned as he walked up to Armin.

"Armin, have you seen Naruto?" he quickly asked his friend, who slapped his knees. He seemed exhausted, his face full of sweat as he breathed heavily, but the question seemed to have caught him off guard. He lifted his head up and looked around, searching for him, until he looked back at Eren.

"I don't know. I was expecting that he had already completed the training by now." His words made Eren frown, and he became even more concerned. Reiner seemed to have heard their discussion since he started approaching them.

"Naruto. I believe I saw him at the beginning of the training, but I think he's just trying to enjoy the ODM Gear." Reiner tried to reassure them with his friendly smile, but Eren didn't feel any better. Slowly, one more hour passed, and almost everyone was at the finish line, including Ymir and the small 'too kind' girl named Krista. The only ones missing were Connie, Sasha, and Naruto.

Eren swallowed hard, looking at the trees, waiting for him to show up at any moment. He was half convinced to go out there right now, to search for him, when he heard the sounds of gas bursting out. But coming out of the forest wasn't Naruto, but instead one of Instructor Shadis's helpers. He was sure his name was Rayold. He landed in front of them. He looked at all of them with a calculating look.

Eren felt a burst of concern inside him, like a growing fire.

"The rest of the training today is canceled. There has been an accident during the training. Right now, you all are to come with me for questioning." His words caused confusion amongst everyone. Some quickly demanded why they needed to be questioned, while Eren stepped forward right away, hearing that there had been an accident and Naruto had yet to come back.

"Where's cadet Naruto? Where is my brother?" He quickly shouted, hoping to receive an answer immediately; the man looked at him oddly before answering.

"Cadet Naruto had an 'accident' during the training, but rest assured he's in the Medical Room right now. As I said I want you-" "What!! Take me to him right now." Eren demanded with growing anger as he stepped forward; he didn't know what happened; how could Naruto make a mistake with his ODM Gear? Did he overestimate himself? Mikasa looked just as concerned, but she hoped that Naruto was all right, while Armin, unlike the other two, looked puzzled.

Accident, no. Naruto is not one to lose his focus, especially with his ODM Gear, and it is not like this is the first time he's using it, Armin thought. Unlike the others, he quickly looked at everyone else's faces as if trying to read their minds and see if any of them knew anything.

Those who didn't really know Naruto had looks of indifference; some even made fun of him for being clumsy and having an accident. Those who knew him looked concerned, but Armin noticed four in particular that caught him off guard. One showed indifference, the other showed guilt, but he quickly got rid of such thoughts. It was most likely an accident.

"What happened to him?! Tell me right now." Eren demanded with an even louder voice, but unlike before, Mikasa didn't try to tell him not to shout at the man; she wanted to know just as much as him.

"I have strict orders from Instructor Shadis. You all will be questioned, and then you are free to go." "What? I want to see him Right Now!!" Eren shouted at this point with anger while marching towards the man, who didn't seem to like the tone the cadet was using.

"Cadet Yeager, your brother is in safe hands. Once the questioning is over, you can see—" "I want to see him right now, and questioning for what exactly—" "Eren!" Armin stopped him as he seemed ready to try and beat the man, which could have resulted in him being kicked out of the army. Armin quickly looked at the man with an apologetic look.

"Naruto is his brother, we are all just concerned that's all," Armin added nervously, with beads of sweat on his face; the man didn't acknowledge him and looked at everyone else.

"All of you, follow me." He shouted; everyone formed three straight lines and followed the man towards the camp through the forest they had just passed using their Gear. Armin walked in silence, unlike Eren, who stumped the ground in anger; from the way his hands twitched, he seemed like he wanted to use the ODM Gear and go wherever Naruto was located; everyone knew where the Medical House was and it was only a three-story building, he could quickly check all the rooms without being caught, perhaps.

Mikasa's nails dug into her palms; Armin couldn't remember her looking like that as if she was prepared to kill someone. While Armin was concerned for his friend, he knew this wasn't a simple accident; why question them if it was? Armin didn't want to believe it, but he was certain that someone must have done something to cause this accident.

"Hey, where are Sasha and Connie?" Marco suddenly blurted, and many almost stopped marching, only now realizing they hadn't seen the two, and Rayold hadn't mentioned them, not once.

Eventually, they all reached the camp, and all three lines of soldiers walked over to the door that led inside the Military Building near the camp where the kitchen, supplies, food, the staff, and Shadis were. Rayold moved in front of all of them; he was two meters tall, so everyone could see him as he cleared his throat for everyone to hear him.

"Listen up. Now, one at a time, one of you will walk to Instructor Shadis's office and be questioned. This won't take long once you are done. You are to return to your dormitory and wait there until you are given new orders." He shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. Armin could see the looks of confusion amongst the cadets. It seemed they all were asking the same thing: Why were they being interrogated?

The next three hours felt like a fever dream for Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. The blonde told them in a quiet voice that he suspected someone might have sabotaged Naruto's Gear.

"I will cut them down," Mikasa murmured darkly, her eyes covered in shadows, while Eren looked even more furious.

"It's happening again." Eren murmured under his breath, catching Armin and Mikasa's attention.

"Huh?"

"When we first used the Gear, our ODM Gear was broken. Do you think someone purposely sabotaged Naruto's Gear?" Eren questioned, looking at his friend with expectations, who always had an answer for everything.

"I don't think so, Reiner said that he saw Naruto using the gear just fine at the beginning of the training, if someone had purposely sabotaged his gear, then it would have been noticed the moment he would try to use it, and not during the training." Armin explained with an uneasy smile. His friends seemed to agree with him, but Armin wasn't sure if he could tell them that he suspected someone had done something to Naruto during the training, but he wasn't sure yet.

It's just my stupid imagination; it was probably just an accident, Armin thought with a nervous smile, trying to calm himself. Eventually, the three were near the door. Armin heard Krista asking Ymir about Naruto's health.

"You shouldn't care so much, my Krista. He probably just has a bad headache," Ymir commented. Armin ignored them when he saw Bertholdt stepping outside with a downcast look.

"Bertholdt, how did it go?" Armin asked immediately before the tall cadet could walk past him.

Despite being quite tall and a very good cadet, he looked quite nervous, rubbing his shoulder. "...Well...I think... they asked where I was during the whole training. I was mostly at the edge of the forest." He answered in haste, not looking straight at Armin, before walking past him, almost in a hurry.

Eventually, their turn came, but unlike all the others who were questioned one at a time, the three of them were called right away. Once they walked inside, they saw it was Instructor Shadis sitting in front of a desk.

"Instructor. How is Naruto? Is he-" "Sit down, Cadets, and keep quiet." Shadis interrupted Eren, who scooted a chair before sitting; same for Mikasa and Armin. The Instructor flipped a page from his cardboard before looking at them over the rim of the cardboard.

"Now. Tell me everything, where you were during the whole training." Shadis demanded. The three looked at one another before telling everything. Once they were done, Shadis wrote something down before placing the cardboard on the table.

"Listen, since cadet Naruto is your brother. I'm obligated to tell you. The accident, well, it wasn't really one. I checked his ODM Gear myself. I have no doubts that someone cut Naruto's cable during the training which caused him to hit the tree and get injured, but don't tell anyone right now."

Eren's eyes widened, as did Mikasa's eyes. Armin had already suspected as much, but Eren quickly stood up, the chair falling behind him as he did, his green eyes almost glittering with anger. "Who Did It? I Want To Know-" "Cadet Yeager, I'm commanding you to calm down. This anger won't help anyone." Shadis interrupted with a sharp look of disapproval; Eren seemed like he didn't want to obey the order when Armin grabbed the bottom of the sleeve before gesturing for him to sit down.

Mikasa had yet to say anything, but she did as soon as Eren placed the chair back in its place.

"Did you find who is responsible for this?" Mikasa spoke with an emotionless voice, but Armin knew she was furious.

"I'm afraid not. There are many suspects, and I questioned Cadet Naruto myself. He says he heard someone approaching him, but he didn't think he would get attacked, and by the time he realized something was wrong, whoever attacked him was already too far away or hidden nearby." Shadis answered. The mention of Naruto quickly grabbed Eren's attention.

"Can we see him, Instructor?"

"Yes, but only you three, no one else. Doctor Grun says a tree branch punctured his stomach, near his waist, and it's a miracle he's still alive. Anyone else wouldn't have survived something like that." Shadis informed them, and the information made Eren gasp, realizing that if Naruto weren't special, then he would have most likely died; Mikasa gasped, realizing just how close they were to losing him.

On the other hand, Armin couldn't help but feel as if Shadis suspected that Naruto was not 'Normal. '

"You can leave now. You have my permission to visit him, but don't bother him too much." The three stood up before saluting to the Instructor.

Naruto

Someone attacked you, the words repeated in his head since the Instructor left the room. His hands near the bandages that covered his entire abdomen, he dared not to heal more than he already had. He knew the nurse was perhaps already suspicious that he was still alive. If he healed the wound, she would know something was off when she checked his condition the next day and saw no wound.

Anyone would know there was something off about him, so Naruto decided to heal just enough not to be suspicious and for the rest to let his body heal on his own.

"Someone attacked me." He uttered the words again; closing his eyes, he tried to remember if he could remember even a small glimpse of the attacker, but it was pointless; he couldn't remember seeing anyone nearby, just the sound of the gas bursting; someone had been near him, had cut the cable and had run away.

Why would someone do this? Naruto asked himself. As far as he knew, he had no enemies within the Training Corps, and even those who didn't talk with him wouldn't have a good enough reason to go so far. This left only one option: something Naruto didn't want to admit.

It wasn't an enemy who did this, he concluded, as he tried to think of which one would want to hurt him. He didn't know everyone very well and couldn't think of a single one who would want to hurt him for no reason unless there was a reason beyond just hurting him.

Who can I even trust? Naruto wondered, knowing whoever did this could attack his siblings, and Armin.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching. He wondered why the nurse was returning when the door opened. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin burst inside, almost knocking the door down, causing the back of the door to slam against the wall.

"Naruto!" Eren shouted. He seemed ready to run at him and hug him when the nurse stopped him and gave him a sharp look.

"His wound is still fresh. Do that again, and I won't let you visit him again." Eren almost snarled before nodding while Mikasa sat on the edge of the bed, her hands reaching up, touching his forehead; she looked on the verge of tears.

"I'm fine. This is nothing, so don't worry, Mikasa. You know I don't like to see my favourite sister cry." Naruto teased with a cheeky smile. Before using a napkin to clean the tears from her face, the nurse gave Eren one more warning look before closing the door, giving them some space.

"How are you feeling, Naruto?" Eren quickly asked the moment the door was closed.

"It's nothing, but I need to keep this wound for at least a month not to draw suspicion," Naruto answered quietly; the three understood what he meant.

"What happened?" Armin questioned right away, looking nervously at the wound. Naruto explained what he remembered, including Sasha and Connie freaking out because of his wound. Armin asked where the two were; the blonde explained that Shadis interrogated them the longest, thinking they were perhaps the ones behind the attack; it had taken an hour for him to be convinced the two weren't the guilty ones.

"Armin, do you have any idea who did this?" Eren asked; his friend always knew everything, but the younger boy looked away, suddenly nervous.

"...I'm not sure, Eren. There's no way for me to know where everyone was in the forest the whole time." Armin's answer wasn't what Eren wanted to hear.

"Can you tell me if you remember the order they came out of the forest?" Naruto asked. Eren looked puzzled before looking at Mikasa since she was the first to finish the race. She told him of everyone she could remember. Upon hearing her answer, Naruto looked deep in thought. He suspected a few, but...No, they would never do this. He tried to tell himself.

Reiner, despite his size, never showed hostility towards anyone. Annie, she is cold but kind, and she has no reason to want to hurt me.

Ymir, well, no, Mikasa said they arrived at the same time. Krista would have never let Ymir hurt me for no reason.

"Do you suspect someone, Naruto?" He escaped his thoughts when he heard Armin's question and his curious gaze.

"...No," Naruto answered as he decided to change the topic.

"How are Sasha and Connie? I heard The Instructor shouting at them, thinking they were the ones who attacked me." Naruto asked.

"We haven't met them yet, but I think they are fine," Eren said before walking up to Naruto. He dug deep into his pockets, pulling out a pair of eyeglasses.

"I know you always want them near," Eren said softly. Naruto grasped the eyeglasses from his hand before looking at them up close.

"Thank You, big brother."

Common Room

"How is Naruto?" Sasha asked the moment the three entered the door. Everyone's attention was on them, but they couldn't say how he got injured since the Instructor had told them to keep quiet for now.

"He's fine. The doctor says he should return to training within a month," Eren answered as they all made their way towards the table. But they quickly felt it, Naruto not being there; it didn't feel the same. Krista quickly asked about him, wanting to know when she could visit him, but Armin told them the doctor said that Naruto needed rest and that visits were forbidden until he got better.

Sasha looked the most disappointed upon hearing that.

"What did he say? How did the accident happen?" It was Reiner who asked, many quickly seemed interested to hear about that, even Annie who lifted up her head.

"Oh, the instructor suspected that one of his wires must have snapped, and he hit the tree," Armin answered a little nervously. He was never good at lying. He noticed the small look Reiner had with Bertholdt.

"Does he need food? I can give him some of my food," Sasha suggested with a light blush on her cheeks. Everyone around her gasped in shock, and even Armin was taken aback.

"This is the First sign of the end of the world." Jean commented, earning a round of laughter from those nearby.

"Since when do you give other people food?" Connie demanded from her; the village girl huffed in annoyance as she fixed the shorty with a sharp look.

"Since always. I'm always willing to give food to my friends," she said, getting deadpan looks from everyone. Everyone and their mother knew she was lying; even Annie knew Sasha was lying through her teeth.

"Does that mean you are willing to give me food?" Connie asked with hopeful eyes.

"Never." Sasha quickly shouted before hiding her own plate of food away from him.

"Ahhh, you like Naruto, that's why you are will-Ahhhhh!" He moaned in pain as Sasha got hold of his ear.

"That's not true; he's just a friend." Sasha shouted right at his ear, her face red like a tomato. Armin laughed, and it seemed the little funny antics had improved the mood around the common room, but his eyes caught sight of her. Usually, she was cold to everyone, but he could see guilt in her eyes, and it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

No. She would have— I'm just imagining things; she's just concerned for him, Armin told himself.

Tomorrow - Naruto

"Stupid bitc-shat!" Naruto growled as he tried to stand up, but another shot of pain made him gasp and stop dead in his tracks. It had been only one day, and he was already bored out of his mind; he needed to do something, and just lying on a fucking bed all the time was really annoying him.

All the other times he got injured, he would simply heal up before anyone noticed, but that option was out of the table, so he needed to wait, but he never realized just how boring it could be to stay put in one place for a whole month.

Naruto sighed wearily. The only visits he had were from the nurse and the doctor checking his wound. They had told him he was getting better but needed to stay in bed for a month. This was the first day, and he already felt the need to heal his wound and go out there.

The window was near his bed, and it was low enough for him to see outside without standing up. He could see the cadets doing their training for the day, and he heard them talk and some laugh.

Naruto took a deep breath as he tried once again to leave the bed, only for another shot of pain to stop him. It felt like his stitches were losing up and his wound was opening, but watching them, he really wished he could just heal the wound. So what if everyone learned his secret, that he could heal wounds?

I-if you were here, father, Naruto thought, his eyes falling down on the eyeglasses he had left for him sitting on the small table near his bed. He had left them in the boy's dormitory yesterday before the ODM Training.

Wh-why? Who did this to you? He wondered as he got hold of them. He had asked that question many times. But he knew there was no way to know who was responsible for his death. Naruto felt a flare of anger; if he knew whoever they were, he would make them pay.

Suddenly, the door opened, he expected the doctor, but instead it was Annie! Who walked inside carrying a bag with her left arm.

"Annie, what brought you here?" He asked as she closed the door with her feet before stepping into the room.

"Don't tell me you miss me already. I have to be honest. I'm touched." Naruto added with a smile, but she gave him a deadpan look before dropping the bag on his feet.

"The Instructor told me to bring you the books you wanted." She said with a deadpan look.

"Ohh!" Naruto blushed in embarrassment before forcing his upper body forward to reach the books with his hand, but he quickly winced from the pain; Annie grabbed the bag before bringing it closer for him.

"Thank you, Annie." He said genuinely, as he opened the bag to see seven books inside, not noticing the sudden look of guilt in her eyes.

"You're welcome. Does it hurt?" Naruto didn't know why; his face burned. She sounded genuinely concerned for him.

"A little, but nothing new. I once broke my little finger playing with Eren when we were little, our father wasn't happy." Naruto said dismissively, not wanting to make it seem like it was a big deal but knowing full well he would already be six feet deep if his healing ability didn't save him.

"Oh, never thought you as careless." Annie commented.

"Oh, I'm careless. We went fishing once, and Eren dared me to try swimming. The problem was that I had never swum before, so I almost became fish food." Naruto added playfully; Annie looked at him as if he was insane.

"I take it back, you are careless."

"Life is more fun that way." Naruto quickly added with a teasing smile before looking up at Annie.

"Thank you for bringing the books. Can we continue our training where we left off once I'm healed?" Naruto suggested with hopeful eyes. She looked away, and a shadow of guilt fell on her face.

"Yes, just make sure to get better, and don't do something stupid."