我不是什么英雄
I'm Not a Hero
By Yumeniai
A Fullmetal Alchemist/Naruto Crossover Story.
A/N: Please note that this story is very loosely connected to Naruto. No real pairings, just slight hints to Neji/Tenten and Edward/Alphonse. No spoilers. Set in Fullmetal world. You don't really need to know anything about Naruto to be able to understand this story.
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"Hurry!"
The voice was harsh, laced with concern. The speaker was but a child, short with coal black hair and eyes like pools of water, translucent and overflowing with compassion. But those opal orbs were partly hidden by the glasses she wore. Her face was hidden by a veil that hung under by those glasses. She clutched in her hands a rifle much too big for her.
Her companion was a man, around thirty or so of age. His face was wrinkled, full of guilt. His hair was also the deepest black, his skin shallow and his eyes wild. He also held a rifle in his shaking hands.
"Father, we must go! Come on, please!" the girl cried, her eyes spilling with tears as she pleaded with her father.
"It's my fault…it's my fault they're looking for us, it's my fault Tenten died…it's all my fault…" the man mumbled, his voice quaking.
"Father, please!" the girl kept trying to budge the man, trying to drag him towards the door.
"No…you go…it's my fault they're after us…maybe if I stay behind they won't look for you…"
"You're all I have left! Please, father! Please come with me!" the girl tried one more time. In the distance, the sound of numerous feet marching, marching along the cobblestones of the old, ruined city. Marching closer and closer.
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Major Edward Elric ran to keep up with the long, quick strides of Colonel Roy Mustang.
"What is it this time, Colonel Bastard?" he shouted over the sound of marching soldiers. He had received the call at night when he was sleeping. There was a village on the outskirts of Central where a group of men were rebelling against the military. The attack had come at night, surprising the soldiers on watch. Most of the military in that village were dead, the rest were severely injured. As soon as word reached Central, the Furhur had immediately commanded Roy and his men to subdue the village and bring in the ringleaders of the rebels.
The town had turned into a complete battlefield. There were no more trees, the sound of rifles and snipers firing were everywhere, laced with screams of the people who were too stupid to get out of the way fast enough.
Buildings were burning down, everything was chaos. The village was to be made an example, by order of the Furhur. Subdue and destroy.
Roy looked at his young subordinate. He never broke stride in front of Hawkeye's platoon, speaking as he walked. "Rebels. We are to subdue them." Short and to the point.
Edward looked grim as he kept pace with the army. He didn't want to be here without his younger brother Alphonse but this was his duty. He'd do anything to get the Philosopher's stone.
Most of the rebels had been captured or killed. There was only one left. The person who had started the rebellion, a man by the name of Neji. A brave and strong man who cared for his village and rose up against the General in charge of his home when the General had started bringing in innocent people to the Station. None ever came back.
Corrupt as the General was, Neji still should not have organized a rebellion. If he had reported it to the Central then the General would have been replaced but Neji did not know this, he always thought all the Military were as corrupt as his General.
Edward understood the situation. He knew why the village had to be destroyed. He steeled his heart when he left Central. He would do what he was ordered to, as long as he was allowed to stay in the military. He had to get the Philosopher's stone…he would do whatever was necessary for it. And to get the Stone he had to stay in the military to have access to the Library. It was his only hope, his only reason for living now…to restore his younger brother.
Lightning flashed. They had found Neji with a young girl.
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The young girl, Hinata watched in horror as the ally they were in was surrounded by the military. They were trapped.
"Father…"
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Neji stood up. He pointed his rifle at the military, standing in front of the girl. He would fight to the end for his dead wife, Tenten. He would protect his daughter Hinata until death took him.
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The fugitives were surrounded. Both man and girl had at least five rifles and snipers trained on them.
"Give up now. You cannot escape," Mustang said. He was in front of the two, with Edward only slightly behind him. He was the perfect target. "Your girl will at least be then shown mercy.
The rifle was pointed at Mustang. Edward saw Neji's hand tighten as he pressed the trigger.
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BANG!
"NO!"
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Neji lay dead. Mustang had somehow left his guard down just a little, letting himself be shot in the shoulder, just above his heart.
The girl looked shocked at what just happened, then outraged. Her hands dropped the rifle she desperately held in front of her, curling into fists around empty air. She clenched her teeth. Somehow, in front of those twenty armaments trained on her vitals, she was not afraid.
She whispered a word under her breath and an iron spike shot out of her midsection, aiming for the Colonel. The guns previously aimed for her instead went for the spike, trying to deflect it before it hit Mustang. But all to no avail.
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Edward acted out of pure instinct. He rushed in front of Mustang, deflecting the spike with his automail arm. He clapped his hands together, forming the knife that produced out of his wrist. In the matter of seconds, the girl had the knife at her throat.
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But the girl also had a surprise. At Edward's heart, rested a kunai.
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Edward knew this drill. Kill or die. He knew he couldn't die; he had still to restore his brother's body. But he could do nothing when he looked into the girl's eyes, those transparent gems that seemed to open into her heart. She was determined and afraid but she would live up to her family's pride and not give up until her death.
He could not do it. Even though all he had to do was push his arm just that little bit forward, he could not do it.
He mentally berated himself. He had killed dozens before; it was part of Military life. But somehow this girl spoke to his heart, stopping him from the final blow.
He would die. He cursed silently. He would die and he could do nothing about it.
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Hinata looked at the boy towering above her. In years long past, her family had lived in Japan and had been Ninja. From a young age that was what her father and mother was trained to do – kill. But then the whites came and with them guns. Ninja were cast aside for the new weapons and most killed. Her family escaped to Germany and taught her how to fight for her life.
She planned to uphold her family's honour and take down one more man before her death and the death of the prestigious Hyuuga clan.
But she couldn't do it. There it was in the boy's eyes – that little bit of humanity still left. Suffering and pain, it was all there. Those were normal for anyone in the military.
But this boy…in his eyes he held regret. That was rare. Nobody in the military ever regrets what they must do. They accept pain, suffering, blood and killing as part of their lives and forgot about it.
She could see, however, that this boy had made a mental list of all those he had killed and had been the cause of death. All those he had seen die was on that list and he blamed himself for each death, that burden weighing down his body.
But she could also see that there was somebody waiting for this boy, somebody that cared deeply for this boy. Somebody the boy was planning to die for.
She smiled. He would be the savior of the military.
She slowly put down her traditional weapon, her kunai and prepared herself.
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The soldiers looked in surprise as the girl smiled. They looked in amazement as the girl lowered her weapon, a peaceful look coming onto her face.
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Edward's eyes widened in hope as he thought the girl was about to surrender. He started lowering his arm when she threw herself onto his blade, beheading herself.
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Blood. Edward's world was made up of nothing but blood as the girl's head rolled onto the ground. Somehow the face still looked peaceful.
Edward broke down into tears as he collapsed. His red coat was stained with even more blood as he let out his lament and horror at causing another death.
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Colonel Mustang could do nothing but watch as the girl killed herself. Knowing Edward, he would blame himself. He shook his head in regret. Such was his life. Such was life and death in Artemis, the country where the Military ruled.
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Edward controlled himself. He still had his reason for living. He would go back to Central and act as if nothing happened while carrying the girl's life upon his shoulders, in addition to the lives of Huuges, his mother and all those others he had killed.
He tried to disillusion himself.
No regrets. No, that was wrong. No time for regrets. He had a new mission tomorrow; he had to research the Philosopher's stone. He had no time to dwell on past sorrows.
But in his heart, he knew he had one more nightmare to haunt him.
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Phoenixes are reborn from the ashes but some people just cannot be reborn. Such is life, such is death. That's just how things are.