This story is actually the first challenge that I've been given so far. You can all thank my buddy BladeOfThePoet for it, because I had given him a challenge (a crossover between Bleach and Zelda: Skyward Sword) and he accepted. Therefore, the Law of Equivalent Exchange demanded satisfaction. Here you go!
-o-
The rain cascaded outside his lair as it always had. The dark clouds groaned with thunder whenever flashes of lightning appeared. It may have been a dreary place, and it definitely wasn't the most secure of the ninja villages, but it was still his home. And he loved his home.
"Pain," said a woman's voice. The orange-haired man turned from his view of the Village Hidden in the Rain and faced a blue-haired woman who had a paper rose in her hair.
"What is it, Konan?" Pain asked.
"There is a stranger at the front door asking to speak with you," Konan stated emotionlessly. "He refuses to identify himself until you see him in person."
Pain quietly thought it over. It was doubtful that anyone could challenge him. Maybe an old enemy had returned to try and somehow make peace. Maybe a current, unknown enemy wanted to make a deal. He couldn't be sure of anything right now. At least not until he spoke with the stranger. He nodded.
"Bring him up here," he ordered. Konan bowed and disappeared in a flurry of living paper. Pain waited for a few moments before his partner returned with the visitor.
The man had snow-white hair and different colored eyes: one was sky blue and the other was sea green. His skin was deathly pale, on par with Orochimaru. The stranger wore black kimono, the kind that one would often wear to a funeral. His face held no emotion.
"Speak your peace stranger," Pain said in a commanding tone. "Who are you and what do you want?"
The silver-haired man bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Pain. I have heard many a tale regarding your prowess." The man's voice was smooth as silk and cold as ice. "My name is Serenitas. I am here to try and strike a deal with you. You see, I know of your hunt for the Tailed Beasts. I know of a way to make your search for the most powerful of them much easier."
This made Pain raise an eyebrow. "And what method would that be?"
The look in Serenitas's eyes very nearly displayed satisfaction, but it quickly disappeared. "Tell me, Pain: have you ever heard of alchemy?"
"The science of turning one material into another," Pain stated simply. "I've heard of it. It's a dead field. It was proven physically impossible decades ago."
That actually made Serenitas chuckle. "Your knowledge of the subject is limited then. Alchemy is not really intended for things such as what you described. True, it can change an object's appearance, but it cannot change its mass or atomic structure in any way. The most complex alchemy can even be used for interdimensional travel. If you are successful, you will be able to send any of your followers to any place in the world instantly."
Pain then thought it over seriously. "And then we would only have to track down a jinchuriki, then send someone over to capture them."
"Precisely," Serenitas confirmed.
"And what would you want in return for the aid of the Akatsuki?"
"A path towards true peace." Serenitas said it with no emotion in his voice. "I seek to bring eternal peace for all things."
Pain studied the strange man. This Serenitas character seemed odd. Then again, the orange-haired man was surrounded by a lot of strange individuals these days. He at least seemed honest enough. He soon came to a decision.
"Very well," Pain agreed. "We shall work towards a greater future together."
-o-
Edward Elric stretched tiredly as he woke up from his nap on the train. He scratched his head and looked to his right. Winry was still fast asleep. He let a small smile form on his face. She looked kind of sweet when she wasn't beating him half to death with her favorite wrench.
"Brother," said the voice of child. Ed face a huge suit of armor whose eyeholes were glowing blood red. "You're awake."
"Yeah," Ed replied to his younger brother. He looked out the window and watched as the nighttime scenery rushed by. "We should be at Rush Valley soon. Then we'll be one train ride away from Dublith and…" He shuddered.
"I know," Alphonse said with a shudder of his own, making a few clanking noises. "Then we'll have to face our teacher again."
"On the bright side," Ed said with a small grin. "We might get info about the Philosopher's Stone. I'm sure it'll be well… worth… it." As the words escaped his mouth, he slowly began to realize that their teacher would more than likely have killed them in some horrific, nightmarish way by the time they could ask about anything. "We're going to die."
"Yeah," Al replied simply.
After several quiet moments, Ed said, "You know, Al, I've a weird feeling."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know," he said somewhat regretfully. As an alchemist, he hated knowing that there was something that he didn't know. "I just have this feeling in my gut that something bad is coming our way."
"Something bad is always coming our way," Al pointed out. "In fact, we're usually the ones that are coming trouble's way."
Ed laughed at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still…" He went quiet again. "My gut's never led me astray before." The rest of the night was silent, save for the constant rocking of the train as it sped down the tracks.