A new assignment
"Well Fullmetal, I have some news for you. There's a village near some forest that has some very peculiar things going on," said Mustang.
"What sort of peculiar things?" asked Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"How about chimeras that talks and fights?"
"What? I thought Tucker was the only one who could…!"
"It's only a rumor, but I want you and Armstrong to look into it…"
"NOOOOO!!!!! Anyone but him!" said Ed in horror.
"Well we can't send you alone! The territory is too dangerous."
"You know I never go alone! Alphonse always travels with me!"
"By alone I mean without military escort. Alphonse might be good under normal circumstances, but this time is different. You WILL have an escort."
Besides, I needed an excuse to get Armstrong off my back about his blasted Family heritage! Roy Mustang thought as he looked Ed in the eye.
"You're just saying that to push the idiot on me aren't you!" growled Ed annoyed as hell.
What the hell! Is that runt becoming psychic or something?!
"That's… that's not the point! The point is that you're not going to investigate this without an escort!" stammered Mustang.
"So that was the reason for the escort! You can't pull one past me Mustang!" roared Ed.
"Well you aren't going without escorts! That's an order Fullmetal!"
"Well you can take that order and…!" (Ed never got to finish the line!)
"Did someone say escort duty for little Elric?" said an obnoxious voice that Ed hated.
"Oh hell no! Don't let it be…!"
"The Armstrong family…" started the oh-so-annoyed Major Armstrong.
An hour later at the train station…
I can't believe we got stuck with HIM again…
"Well Elric, seems we've got quite the journey ahead of us!" said Major Armstrong cheerfully.
"Yeah, yeah… Can we just get going? I want to make sure Winry and the old lady to do maintenance before we set off for this weird village."
"Edward Elric, you should show more respect for the elderly!" scolded Armstrong.
"I don't envy you Ed…" chuckled Hughes.
"Blame that (bleeping) Colonel for sticking him with us!" grumbled Ed.
"Well, good luck. You're gonna need it…" said Hughes as the train began to move.
"Tell me about it…"
"Now don't look so dour Edward!" said Armstrong after an hour.
"Where's Al?"
"In the luggage compartment of course! It's cheaper for us to travel with armor as luggage instead of passenger."
"YOU WHAT! DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME AL TRAVELED AS LUGGAGE?!" roared Ed, hysterical.
Ed ran to the luggage compartment, worried about Al. (The last time Armstrong paid for Al's ticket pretending he was luggage he was taken off at the wrong stop. They had a hell of a time getting him back!)
"Brother! Why'd Major Armstrong put me in the luggage car again?!" whined Al.
"Don't worry Al! I'll make sure no one mistakes you for someone else's luggage again! At least this time there aren't any sheep around…" said Ed, relieved.
"Yeah…so where are we going anyway brother?"
"Some village in the middle of nowhere. But we're stopping by Auntie Pinaka's for a maintenance check before we go."
"It'll be good to see Winry again, won't it brother?" said Al.
"Depends on your definition of good…" said Ed.
"Well look what the cat dragged in. What brings you two back?" said Pinaka.
"I wanted to have some maintenance done before we leave for some village in a forest. I don't want these stupid things to get jammed or something when I need them!"
WHAM! Ed fell backward as Winry's wrench made contact with his head. She didn't look very happy about the condition of his auto-mail parts. By the time they left, Ed was feeling the pain from the reattachment of his metal arm and leg.
While walking back to the train station, they were confronted by none other than the Homunculi Lust and Greed! After the battle with the homunculi, Ed had to trudge back to the house to get another pair of limbs from the Rockbells. Winry's reaction?
"HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO DESTROY A BRAND NEW PAIR OF AUTOMAIL PARTS IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS?!" shrieked Winry.
"It's not my fault those damn homunculus showed up!" retorted Ed, irritable.
"I have to admit small fry, this is a new record for you. Usually it takes a month or two for you to demolish your automail…"
It took them three days to create a new set of limbs, and then they tried to leave again. This time, they were able to leave without any difficulty. As they traveled to the mysterious village, Ed was becoming more and more irritable by the day. The village was so far out that they couldn't travel by train or car. Even Armstrong was becoming less friendly.
"Are we there yet? We've been traveling for days and we still haven't reached this damn village!" whined Ed for the twelfth time that day.
"Elric, we'll get there when we get there!" answered Armstrong for the tenth time.
"Brother, you are too…" started Al.
"Al, we're been walking for days and we still haven't gotten there!" snapped Ed.
"Brother, isn't that a set of gates ahead?" said Al, changing the subject.
"I think you're right Al! We might have actually made it to this village!"
When they reached the towering gates, they were confronted by men in strange attire.
"HALT! What business do you have here?" the first barked.
"We're just passing through!" lied Ed.
"Where are your papers?"
"I have them right here," said the Major. He produced some official looking papers, which after the men checked it, allowed them to pass unhindered. They went into the village, which they quickly learned was called Konohagakure. (Translated it means: Village Hidden in the Leaves.)
"What is with this place? It's like they've never heard of alchemy before!" said Ed aloud.
"Well, we better find a place to stay for the night…" said the Major.
They found a hotel and went in for the night. By the morning, Ed was in a mood to explore. He vaguely acknowledged Al's usual need to follow his older brother. After the looks Al got from the villagers, he decided to stay in one place out of sight. It wasn't until he heard a commotion nearby that he looked up.
------
"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!"
"You're gonna be in for it this time Naruto!"
"You're never gonna catch me ya old coots!" laughed a blond boy with fox-like whisker marks on his face.
Who's that kid? And what did he do to make the adults so mad at him? Alphonse thought to himself as the boy drew nearer. The boy vanished and Al knew he must have hidden behind him because he could hear the child snickering.
"They'll never think to look for me behind this huge trash can!"
"Um, excuse me but why are you hiding from them to begin with?"
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" growled Naruto.
"Um, hi…" said Al, turning his head towards the young boy.
"WHAT THE HELL!!!!! SINCE WHEN DO TRASH CANS TALK BACK?!" yelped Naruto.
"I'm not a trash can…" said Al, looking a little down at the comment.
"Gomen…it's just you really scared me for a minute there!" said Naruto quickly. (He knew what it felt like to be mocked without the other realizing it.)
"It's okay… You'd think I'd be used to this by now…" mumbled Al.
-------
"HEY AL! Where are ya?!" yelled Ed.
"I'm over here brother!" replied Al in a not-too-loud voice.
"There you are Al! Why'd you disappear like that? You know I get worried whenever we're in a new place and you wander off."
"Sorry brother…"
"Who's he?"
"I could ask you the same thing, kid…" retorted Ed.
"I ain't a kid! I'm Naruto Uzamaki, the next Hokage!" said the boy loudly.
"Be quiet! I'm Edward Elric and this is my younger brother Alphonse."
"Why's he in a giant trash can?"
"It's a long story…"
"Why're you here?" said Naruto, changing the subject.
"We were sent on a mission…well, technically I was sent on a mission and Al tagged along, but we got reports of some weird stuff and were sent to investigate…" explained Ed.
"Did you two come all alone?"
"I wish…we've handed plenty of missions alone, and yet that idiot Mustang just HAD to send an escort along…" grumbled Ed.
"Who came with you two…?"
"There you are Master Elric! I see your brother is with you as well!" said Armstrong.
"Who is this nut-job?"
"Our escort…" grumbled Ed.
"How irritating is he?"
"He always goes on and on about his family's heritage and stuff. Hence the reason Mustang even SENT him with us…"
"So he's really annoying… How fast are you two?" said Naruto.
"I can go pretty fast…but my brother will cause too much damage if he runs. Plus he'll be able to follow us."
"Sorry brother…"
"Look on the bright side Al! You'll be able to stall him for us and you'll be able to get back to the hotel."
"Be careful brother…" said Al, worried.
"Follow my lead blondie!" grinned Naruto as he jumped from the ground to the top of the roof.
"Nice kid!" laughed Ed as he did the same. Naruto's eyes went up a bit as he heard an audible clunk.
They raced from roof-to-roof, Ed barely keeping up with the more agile Naruto. When they finally stopped, they were in front of an apartment.
"Um, kid, where are we?"
"My name isn't kid, it's Naruto. And this is my house," replied Naruto.
"So, Naruto right? How'd you learn to jump so well?"
"I'm a ninja-in-training! We have to know how to jump like that!" laughed Naruto.
"I thought ninjas were a myth…"
"You're in a Hidden Village… This is where ninjas are trained to fight and stuff…" said Naruto, surprised.
"Ever hear of alchemy?"
"I think so… Isn't that another word for messing around with metal?"
"NO! Alchemy is more than 'messing around with metal'! It's a science and it happens to be what I'm good at."
"Never heard of it…"
"Let's make a deal then."
"Okay…but what kind of deal?"
"I'll show you alchemy if you show me your ninja skills."
"Oh, that kind! Sure, let's go to the forest then!"
In the forest outside the village…
"So what's this alchemy stuff anyway?"
"Watch my right arm…" said Ed as he clapped his hands and slid his left across his right. A blue light emitted from his hand and out of nowhere a large blade came from his right arm.
"Woah! What's with your arm?"
"It's the same story with Al… He lost his body and I lost an arm and a leg."
"Ha-ha…Really, what happened to your arm and your brother?"
"We…we tried to bring our mother back to life using alchemy. It cost Al his body and it cost me my left leg."
"Why'd it cost him his whole body?"
"Human alchemy is forbidden for a reason. We knew it wasn't allowed, and yet we still tried to use alchemy to bring her back."
"I still don't get it…"
"Anyway, I showed you alchemy, now it's your turn Naruto…" Ed said, changing the subject.
"Transform!" said Naruto, putting his hands in a certain sign. A poof of smoke appeared, and when it dissipated, a girl stood in Naruto's place!
"WHAT THE…?!"
"This is my own invention, the Sexy Jutsu! You should see the reaction I get out of my sensei!" laughed Naruto, turning back with another poof!
"Looks like we have a lot to talk about Naruto…" said Ed carefully.
