Hi! I told you I'll update today! I promised! And I never will break my promise! Unless, there is a reasonable excuse . . . But, still, you can depend on me for updating!
Okay, problem. This chapter is HORRIBLE! (Well, in my opinion. Some people might like it. I'm not them, so I don't know.) The worst part is, I need it like this! So, skip it and move on to the next chapter that hopefully is successfully posted around . . . now. You don't need to read this to understand the story. So, skip right to the third chapter that I posted! If it's published about now. But, for those that just want to know what happens during the chapter, here's a summary:
Introducing. Basically, This is so-and-so, etc. Then the Hyugas find out about Ed's auto-mail. Figures. That part is CHEESY! (sobs) Hiashi tells Edward there is auto-mail in Konoha. (hey, Konoha sort of has the same situations as Amestris, so why not? I don't like the other artificial limbs. They . . . look . . . scary) Next, Neji explains to Edward about why they have blank, white eyes becuase Edward was curious and decided to ask. Then, the Hyugas find out about Ed's hatred of milk at dinner. (Sorry, he didn't go on a rampage.)Tenten and Kiba comes over. Now goes the explaining about Neji's curse mark, and Ed telling them about his past. In my opinion, that part stunk. Really badly. Done!
See? BOORING AND HOORRRIIIBLE! EVEN WITH THE SUMMARY! If you still want to read the whole entire chapter, feel free. We have free will, so use it. It wasn't added for decorations. But, read it at your risk. Remember to review if you do (or don't.)! Just don't give up on me. Hopefully (Talking about your opinions), it gets better. And please vote if you like the "deadline" thing! Use the poll on my profile or use the review option! Choose whichever you perfer!
Remember, Neji is a filler character with no distinct personality. So, he would seem . . . off. But that's becuase of his "real" personality is like that and he just hides it and uses a blank, dull one. (Laugh) I also felt bad for him because many people think he is a female (long hair) and he's blind (white eyes), and he doesn't know that. Did that for my friend, even though we are currently debating who is cooler; Ed or Neji. I would love to say who is winning, but if I did, I would be lying.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A Metal Heart
"The Ever So Boring Introducing"
WAIT! (For those of you that don't read the author's notes) Don't read just yet! Read the author's note on top first! But you may continue reading without reading the note. But do that to your own risk.
"Of course, how rude of us, I am the head of the Hyuga clan, Hiashi," the man said, "And this is my daughter, Hinata," he gestured towards the fidgeting, little girl, "And this is my nephew, Neji," he then motioned towards the boy with the dull, blank expressions.
"Hi. My name's Edward. Edward Elric." Ed said with his left hand out in front of him.
Hiashi, realizing what the gesture was, took Edward's hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you Edward."
"Call me Ed; they only call me Edward when they're angry with me," Ed said with a tinge of embarrassment at the edge of his voice. Then he turned around coughing into his right hand. His baggy shirt sleeve slipped down, revealing metal instead of a normal flesh arm.
"What's that?" Neji asked bluntly, pointing at the metal.
"Auto-mail," Ed stated tugging up the sleeve to cover it back up. To Ed's dissatisfaction, he never grew since the day that he got his auto-mail from Winry when he traveled back to Amestris during World War II; when the Nazis traveled into the alchemic world.
"Is it that artificial limb that acts just like a normal limb, but heavier?" Hiashi asked.
"Yeah, how did you know? Do they have it here?"
"Yes. And that would also explain why you were pretty heavy. How did you get it?"
"Don't wanna talk about it."
"Oh."
"Okay, I have just one question," Ed said bluntly.
"Yes, what is it?" Hiashi said kindly.
"Why are your eyes . . . white and pupilless? Are you blind or something?"
Yeah, sure, we're so blind that we can't even see the sun even if we stand on it! Neji thought angrily; He suppressed the sudden urge to say those words out loud, and talked quite calmly, "No. It's because our Kekkei Genkai is the Byakugan; which means 'White Eye,' or the 'All Seeing White Eye.' As you can see, the name also applies to the characteristics."
"Ah, okay," Ed said nodding slightly, his finger on his chin.
Then Neji got up. "I'm leaving," he announced.
"Hmm? Okay," Ed replied. He looked up and his gold eyes met with Neji's expressionless, white ones.
Neji left. It was suffocating in that room. He was afraid of Ed. It wasn't the auto-mail; it was Ed's gold eyes. The eyes shone like fire; and not just any type of flame, like somebody that he knows; Lee. The flame was like a Phoenix's; rising from tragedy.
Those eyes were so different from his. Neji's eyes were blank and expressionless, cold and menacing . . . dull. He always went with the flow; saying that everything was fate, that people has no choices, people can't control ANYTHING.
But what does HE know? Neji thought, He probably didn't go through things that's even close to how bad I've experienced.
Ed sat at the table. Everything was cleared, except for a bottle of milk. Everyone else was just staring at him, as if he had a serious problem. Ed's hands were clenched tightly as he glared at the bottle.
"W-what's wrong?" Hinata asked; feeling a lot more comfortable around Ed after they had an idle chat.
Ed didn't answer her question. Instead, he continued to glare at the bottle and his hands clenched tighter.
"Just drink the milk," Neji said calmly.
Ed got out of the chair and began to walk away muttering, "I am NOT going to drink an opaque liquid that has been secreted by a COW."
"So, you hate cows?" Neji asked curiously.
"Shut up. My favorite author's self-portrait is a cow. It's the milk that I hate," Ed said forcibly, saying the word "milk" with a lot of effort.
"Drink it, it's good for you," Hiashi said.
Ed's head slowly turned, his face dark and hateful. "I lost my appetite." He began to walk back to his temporary room.
"He acts just like a child; but he IS a child," Hiashi stated after Ed left, making sure he wouldn't be able to hear him.
"He's probably short for his age group, too," Neji added. "Oh, tomorrow Tenten and Kiba wants to come over."
"Okay, I'll be in Konoha on the next two days anyway, so they can stay over."
On the next day, Ed's fever went higher. He laid in a futon with another wet towel on his forehead; his breathing was uneven and heavy, and he had constant coughing fits. In the morning, he really wanted to do something for the Hyugas to repay them, and he won't eat his medicine. Ed was so persistent that Hiashi had to knock his guest out several times to make him rest up and eat his medicines.
"OK. I'm going out, Neji. Make sure to protect Hinata with your life," Hiashi called out with his hand on the doorknob.
"Understood, Hiashi-sama," Neji replied.
Hiashi nodded and opened the door; outside were a girl, a boy and a puppy standing patiently. The puppy yapped at Hiashi and started to jump up and down. "Ah! Tenten, Kiba and Akamaru! Glad that you can come! I'm sorry for the trouble, but we have a guest here and he can be quite a handful," Hiashi said formally.
"Don't you worry, we're actually happy to stay here either way!" the girl responded joyfully.
"Okay, thank you!" Hiashi said, and then he left.
"A guest?" the boy wondered out loud, "I wonder what he would be like."
Neji came over and greeted the three. He calmly led them to the room where Ed was in.
"Aw! He's so cute! He's so tiny and small!" Tenten cooed peering at the little boy in the futon.
Ed's eyelids popped open and his fist made contact with the girl's face. Ed sat up and was automatically held back by Neji.
"What else are you going to call me? Pipsqueak?! Little person?! Huh?! Huh?!" Ed screamed, fighting against Neji's grip. "I'm not as small as you think, YOU!"
"Is this what Hiashi meant by 'a handful'?" Tenten asked rubbing her cheek.
"No, that's not all. He wouldn't eat his medicine, stay in one place, and drink his milk. He constantly wants to do something, like working and helping out at the house," Neji replied and loosened his grip on Ed. "And the worst part is, that he's persistent. He won't give it up by persuasion, so we had to knock him out many times."
Ed looked up at the newcomers; his temper shimmered down. "Hey, Neji, who are these people?" Ed asked pointing at the girl, the boy and the puppy each in turn.
"The puppy is Akamaru, the boy is Kiba, and, finally, the girl you just slugged would be Tenten," Neji replied.
Ed glanced over and saw the big bruise on Tenten's left cheek. "I'm sorry!" Ed whimpered, remembering two women he wouldn't NEVER hit because he would be beaten up into a big pile of bloody pulp if he did.
Tenten smiled. "Don't worry 'bout it."
Ed, seeing he was forgiven and probably not going to be beaten up, sat cross-legged and smiled, his teeth gleamed.
Then Akamaru began whimpering and nudging Kiba's hand, giving him pleading glances.
"Akamaru's hungry; want lunch now?" Kiba asked.
"Sure. I'll go make something," Tenten said, getting up.
Everyone, except for Ed, gave her death looks, practically looking like death themselves!
"M-my cooking c-can't be THAT bad!" Tenten said defensively, "Really, you guys!"
"Sorry Tenten, but to tell you the truth, I prefer Hinata's cooking," Kiba said in a soft voice, "and you already know how . . . bad her cooking is."
Tenten looked offended. "Alright, I'll order in." she said, defeated.
"How about I cook? I can cook. I have some experience." Ed asked getting up. He wobbled and began coughing.
"N-no Ed. You're still sick and you're s-still pr-pretty . . . young t-t-too," Hinata stuttered; careful not to say anything under the category of "little."
Ed gave Hinata an angry look. "Why do I have to be sick?" Ed grunted angrily; knowing quite well that he might get other people ill if he cooked.
"It's because of fate. We can't control anything in life. The only fate that we all have is death." Neji unnecessarily replied to Ed's unreasonable question.
Anger filled Ed's eyes. His right gloved fist hit the ground with a metallic clunk,"So, the reason my dad left me, my brother and my mom was because of FATE? FATE was the reason that me and my brother learned alchemy, not by our choices? Are you saying that my mom died from a sickness that she never told us about, was FATE?" Ed said forcefully, "Was it FATE that my teacher lost her baby and half of her internal organs? Was it FATE that me and my brother committed and carried the burden of the ultimate sin? Was it FATE that my little brother was killed? Was it FATE that the Nazis came to Amestris? Was it FATE the reason why I was separated by my only family I had left?!"
Neji got up, nodded and walked away. Everyone else sat mortified by what came out of Ed's mouth. They were all so confused. Then Kiba, Hinata and Akamaru left the room to escape from the awkward moment, using "ordering something" as an excuse to leave without being rude.
Ed sat shaking; his clenched fist was still on the ground.
"Ed? You'll have to forgive Neji. There's a reason why he's like that," Tenten spoke quietly and reassuringly, breaking the silence, "You see, Neji had a tough time in the past. Other people would be just like him if they were to go through what he went had to experience."
Ed looked up at Tenten's kind, dark brown eyes. "What would that be?" he asked.
"Well, the Hyuga clan has two branches; the Main branch and the Cadet branch. The Cadet branch is the lower branch, so then they have to protect the Main branch with their life." Tenten began, "Neji was born in the Cadet branch and Hinata was born in the Main branch. Because Neji was born in the lower branch, he had a curse called 'The Caged Bird' placed on him. That curse allowed any member of the Main branch to hurt or even kill any Cadet Branch member whenever they choose to. The curse and the policies of the Cadet branch killed Neji's dad. So then Neji placed a strong hatred towards the Main branch; especially towards his uncle, Hiashi, and his younger cousin, Hinata. And he started believing strongly about fate and stuff like that."
Ed nodded, taking in the new information. "Isn't that too extreme? I mean, that's just plain stupid! Even the military that I was in was less cruel than that! Pathetic," Ed murmured as he stared at the patterns on the wood floor.
"To make this fair, could you tell us where you're from? And your past? Because what you just said to us is quite confusing," Tenten asked politely.
"Sure, sure. Equivalent Exchange, right," Ed agreed, "Do I have to tell everyone?"
Tenten nodded and went to get the door for there was a sudden knocking sound.
As the kids ate, they explained to Ed about Justus, chakra and all the basic of basics about Konoha.
"Okay, tell us your story, Ed." Tenten said gently.
Ed sighed and reluctantly began. He started with when his dad left himself, his brother and his mother. He told them about his mother's death. He told them about his teacher and what happened when he was under the apprenticeship under her. He told them the time when he and his brother committed the ultimate sin. He talked about Winry, Granny Pinako, and Rush Valley. He told them about homunculus, and the Philosopher's Stone. He told them about the military and the Colonel Bastard. He told them about Germany, Nazis and World War II. He told them about the Gate. He told them about alchemy, the Devil Art.
Ed finally finished, ending with another coughing fit. Everyone else was still trying to digest what Ed told them.
Neji's thoughts raced. Ed and his little brother, Al, had an unbreakable bond that he and his father never would have, even if his dad was still alive. And then being separated like that would be absolutely unbearable. Mush less, twice. Neji couldn't possibly survive with Ed's sort of life. Especially since Ed experienced all that at such a young age.
Hinata and Tenten were near tears when Ed finished. They quivered apprehensively because of the story.
Kiba and Akamaru were shocked. Homunculus had an incredible regeneration ability, and nearly immortal. How could any mortal kill people like those? And the little kid killed two?!
Ed stopped coughing and glanced up at the mortified people. "Hello?" Ed said worriedly as he tried to get their attention.
Ugh, that was horrible. I can't BELEIVE I posted this. So many OOCs, so cheesy, so . . . boring . . . and it's TERRIBLE! Don't you guys agree? And still I posted it. UGH! Well, please review! Don't forget to vote if you would like the idea of me making myself "deadlines." The next chapter should have already been posted. Please read on! Maybe, the next chapter would be more of your liking. I'm trying my best! And I'm continuing even if it becomes a total failure. (stubborn) I r-really hope I g-get better . . . Especially since Kit-chan and I already thought up a sequel (which is actually going to be a lot better. [hopefully] I thought up the plot myself!) and right now, I'm changing the things to make the "originals" into my own version. . .
I have a confession to make. I chose the filler characters as main characters because they are my favorite characters in Naruto. I also think that they deserve to be main characters. But, my friend said I chose them because they can bend more easily. They don't have any distinct personalities in "Naruto," because they are only minor filler characters. She's more accurate than me. :P