Hey my Peeps! How's it going? This is Salem52, signing in. Last chapter got an excellent reception, so thank you for your support! It really helps.

Sorry for the late update, I've been in Canada for the last while, but fear not, I have been writing and I spent a great deal of time brainstorming new ideas with a good friend of mine.

To any of you that are wondering, I was up in a lovely place called white-rock, BC.

Now without further ado, I present you with the third Chapter.

For Those Who Remember

Ed, Al, and Naruto were walking down the hallway towards Roy Mustang's Office in Eastern Command; an air of gloom was around them. The events of the previous day were still heavy on their consciousness, and they were going to Roy to see what would happen to Nina and Tucker.

The trio came up to Mustang's door and Ed was about to knock when the door opened to reveal Riza. Riza stopped and looked at the group, surprised, before straightening up and resuming her stoic demeanor.

"You guys are up early. What's the matter?" inquired Riza, turning around and locking Mustang's office door.

"We need to know," began Ed, solemnly, "what is going to happen to Tucker and Nina? They're not going to ship her off to some lab, are they?"

Riza looked as though she were surprised, before her eyes became sad, and she sighed.

"Mr. Tucker was going to be stripped of his rank and stand trial for what he did to Nina, but," she paused for a moment, "they've both been murdered,"

Al and Ed gasped, Ed's face became a picture of horror, as he learned that the little girl he couldn't save from a life as a chimera now had no life at all. Naruto, who had kept his head tilted down, not wanting to talk to anybody, was now looking fiercely at Riza.

"Who killed them?" inquired Naruto, his voice holding an extreme undertone of anger.

Riza shook her head, pushing her way through the trio as she did, and making her way down the hall.

"We don't know who killed them," replied Riza, slinging her blue military coat on over her shoulder. "I was just heading over to the scene now,"

"I shall accompany you," stated Naruto.

Riza stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Sir, I don't thin-" she stopped when she felt an oppressive aura emanating from Naruto, crushing her will to resist.

"Do not test me on this subject, I WILL accompany you." The aura then dispersed until only a small vibe of anger could be felt from Naruto. Riza stood still for a moment, before turning stiffly and resuming her walk down the hallway.

"W-we're coming to," came out Al's voice, although it sounded slightly frightened.

"No," replied both Naruto and Riza.

"Why not?!" inquired Ed, angrily. Naruto stopped, before turning around and leveling a hard gaze at Ed.

"Ed," began Naruto, "There are some things that you don't need to see; things that you will wish you had never seen and will haunt you for the rest of your life. Trust me, you don't want to see this."

Ed looked as if he were about to retort, but instead, he turned away and fell to his knees, tears coming down his face. Al knelt down next to his brother, putting his hand on Ed's back and rubbing, comforting his brother.

Naruto looked at the two for a moment, then turned and followed Riza, who was already at the stairwell going down to main floor. He caught up to her as she was leaving Eastern Command.

They continued to walk in relative silence all the way to Riza's car. It took Riza only a few seconds to get her car running and another few to get it onto the main road, heading towards the wealthy section, East City's residential district.

"That was a good thing you did," stated Riza, breaking the silence that had been between them since Naruto's outburst at Ed. Naruto shrugged.

"I am sure you would have done the same," replied Naruto, turning and looking out at the dark, rainy streets of East City.

Riza didn't reply, instead focusing on the road. After a while, the silence between the two went from being strained, to comfortable, as they both realized that the other preferred ths silence.

XxX

Naruto was standing near the doorway to Tucker's attic, where Tucker and Nina were supposedly killed. Apparently, he and Riza were the last ones to get to the scene, as the group already there were well into discussing the killer.

"He's is always one step ahead of us," said one of the men around the two corpses, frustrated. This man was about an inch under Naruto, although he was kneeling at the moment. He had brown hair and eyes, which were covered by a pair of small rectangular glasses that gave him a look of intelligence.

"We must find him quickly," replied another man, this one standing behind the first. The man, who replied, was by far, the most noticeable of all the people in the room. He stood at a freakishly tall seven and a half feet. He was also exceedingly muscular, having the build of only the most elite of body builders. His head was bald, except for a small blonde hair that stuck out in front, which curled on his forehead. "With the way things are going, we'll have a lot more dead bodies before this is over,"

"It sounds as though you were expecting this," stated a third man. The third man was none other than Roy Mustang himself. The kneeling man nodded, before standing up and heading towards the doorway, the tall, muscular man following behind him.

"We beli-"

It was at this moment that the trio of men actually noticed Naruto and Riza's presence in the room, having been engrossed in the conversation at hand.

"Sir," began the one with glasses, "I do not believe you have permission to be on these premises, I must ask you to le-"

"Don't worry colonel," interjected Riza, "He's with me."

The man looked over at Riza for a moment, then went back to examining Naruto. After a moment, he simply shrugged. Mustang coughed, gaining the man's attention.

"You were saying," stated Mustang.

"Well, we believe that the murder is by a serial killer known as Scar," stated the man.

Naruto and Riza followed the trio of men out of the room, leaving the forensics team in the attic to do their job.

"Scar?" inquired Roy, confused by the name.

"We don't have an actual name yet, and we have only been able to identify him as a man with tan skin and a large, cross-shaped scar across his face,"

"Why is he the main suspect?" inquired Naruto, stopping the three men in front of him. The man with the spectacles turned to Roy, who nodded, before turning to Naruto.

"Scar has been responsible for the confirmed murders of over six state alchemists, and the suspected murder of an additional three," said the man with the spectacles.

"Has he only been targeting state alchemists?" inquired Naruto, an urgency entering his voice.

"So far," replied the man.

Naruto's eyes widened, and before anyone knew what was happening, Naruto dashed down the stairs and out of the house, moving at inhuman speed.

Mustang, Riza, and the two men were gawking at the speed at which Naruto exited, not believing that a human could move so fast. The man with the spectacles was the first to break out of the stupor that Naruto's speed had left them in.

"What…just…happened?" inquired the bespectacled man.

"It seems…that man had realized something," replied Riza.

"What did he realize?" inquired the tall muscled man.

"We were talking about Scar," stated the bespectacled man, "then about his targets,"

"Which are state alch-" continued Riza, although she was cut off by Roy.

"Ed!" exclaimed Roy, rushing down the stairs as fast as he could, the tall man, Riza, and the bespectacled man following close behind.

XxX

(Ten minutes earlier)

Ed and Al were sitting on top of one of Eastern Command's numerous office buildings. The buildings, although not actually part of the Eastern Commands main building, usually held the majority of East City's military statistics workforce. The brothers were sitting on this particular building because it had a radio tower on it, which had a concrete base that was much more comfortable to sit on than the roof.

Ed was leaning against his brother, looking up at the rainy skies, not caring if any drops fell on him since he was already thoroughly soaked.

"Hey Al," said Ed, leaning off his brother and swinging his legs down so that he was sitting normally.

"Yes brother?" replied Al.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time," Ed started to swing his legs, his auto-mail one making a clanking sound every time it hit the concrete.

"What is it brother?" inquired Al, turning to look down at his brother.

"We've placed all of our faith and trust in alchemy, but really, what is it?" stated Ed, depressed. "We've been taught that alchemy is the science of understanding the flow of matter and its laws. The process of comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction; and the world flows too as it must also follow laws. Everything, no matter what, always circulates. Even death, is just a part of this circle. I thought I understood that, I truly did, but I didn't. Mom proves that." Ed then chuckled morbidly, "and now here we are, once again, trying to do figure out how to do the impossible."

Ed sighed, before looking up once again at the rain.

"I'm such a hopeless idiot, all this time, all this effort, all this research and I haven't grown up one bit. I thought that, perhaps, this rain could wash away some of the gloom that is following us, but every drop that hits me just makes me even more depressed,"

Al turned away from Ed, before mimicking his brother and looking up at the sky, the rain making metallic pings as it hit his armor.

"I don't even get that much," replied Al. "Without a body, I don't even get to feel the rain hit my face." Al then looked down at his brother, "That is something I miss. All the time I want to get my body back brother. I want it so badly it hurts,"

"You, boy," rang out a deep voice across the roof, "you are the Fullmetal alchemist, Edward Elric, correct?"

Ed looked up numbly to see a dark-skinned man in a yellow high collared jacket, with a scar crisscrossing his face. Ed didn't quite react when he saw the man reach his hand back and flex it, instead just watching as the man surreally launched his hand forward, intent on grabbing Ed's head.

Ed was shaken from his unresponsive state when his brother grasped his collar and yanked him to the side. A moment later, the scarred man's hand grasped the metal girder that had been directly behind Ed's head. Blue light erupted from the scarred man's hand and the metal girder started warping and twisting, before blowing apart in a shower of metallic shrapnel.

Ed and Al leapt back from the shower of metal, Ed pressing his hands together and placing them on the roof, raising a column of stone around the man and the exploding shrapnel.

"What the hell was that about," inquired Ed, breathing in deeply as the adrenaline started to kick in. Neither Ed nor Al had time to hear a response, as the column of stone exploded outwards, revealing the scarred man holding his arm out as though he had just pressed it against the stone.

The man brought his arm down before walking towards the brothers, kicking debris out of his way as he went. Ed didn't waste a second, turning and heading for the ladder that went down to street below.

"Come on Al, let's go!" yelled Ed, grasping the metal ladder and sliding his way down.

The scarred man walked to the edge of the roof, and looked down at the rapidly descending brothers. He placed his right hand on the metal of the ladder. Blue light erupted from the point of contact and raced down the ladder until it reached the place the Elrics, where the ladder then proceeded to explode outwards and launch the two brothers into the street below.

Fortunately, the brothers were only about twelve feet off the ground, and, with Ed having a superhuman arm and leg and Al being completely made of metal, there were no debilitating injuries. The two brothers then looked back up at the scarred man, only to gasp out in horror when they saw him slam his hand down on the office building. The entire office building was then engulfed in the crackling blue light of the scarred man's alchemy. The building started to shake and, not a moment later, the bottom floors of the building gave out, causing it to tilt forward and start crumbling down. The roof, however, stayed intact and the scarred man was clinging onto it and riding out the crumbling building. Right as the roof was about to impact the ground, the man jumped off of it, landing in the street roughly ten feet from the brothers.

The brothers then turned and sprinted as hard as they could, away from the scarred man who was quick in pursuit.

"What the hell is this guy's problem?!" cried out Ed, slamming his hands together and quickly stopping to touch the ground. A wall of stone rose up, but Ed didn't wait around, instead resuming his sprint. A moment later, an explosion could be heard and the brothers looked back to see the wall in pieces and the scarred man quickly catching up to them.

"What have I done to get this guy to want to kill me?!" cried out Ed in fear and frustration.

"Well, you haven't exactly been avoiding making enemies, brother," replied Al, who was a little ahead of Ed. Ed frowned in response, as both he and Al turned down a small alley that they both knew led to the main road. Before they could make it out however, blue light raced ahead of them and collapsed part of the building on the side of the alley, which blocked their escape. Ed and Al stopped, lest they be crushed by the falling rubble.

They turned around and looked at the scarred man, who was standing at the entrance to the alley.

"Why are you after us?!" cried out Ed, looking frightened.

"As long as there are creators like you in this world, there must also be destroyers like me," said the scarred man.

Ed placed his hands together, before grabbing a metal pipe sticking out of a piece of rubble with his right hand.

"Then it looks like we'll have to fight!" replied Ed, blue light erupting from his hand as he transmuted the pipe into a long machete type knife. He and Al then got up and simultaneously rushed the scarred man.

"You've got spirit kid," replied the scarred man, smiling, "But," the scarred man the twisted until his body was sideways, avoiding the two brother's attacks almost effortlessly, "you're too slow!" The scarred man then grasped Al's armor, right where his kidneys would have been. Blue light engulfed Al's suit, and a moment later, over half of it exploded into small metallic bits, much like the metal girder of the radio tower. Scar's eyes widened in surprise, however, when he saw the lack of body inside of the armor.

"Empty," stated the scarred man.

"YOU BASTARD!" cried out Ed, charging the scarred man and thrusting his knife at the man's face.

The scarred man moved his head to the left, grasping Ed's right arm with his hand.

"You're still too slow," he said as blue light engulfed Ed's arm. But instead of exploding, it simply made a metallic ding as Scar's alchemy rebounded. Scar looked genuinely surprised, before slamming Ed's arm with his left hand, knocking the knife out of it. Ed lashed out with one of his legs, but he was thrust back by the scarred man before his foot could connect. The scarred launched his foot forward, knocking Ed back into the street

Ed grunted in frustration as he rolled back and stood up, taking off his red coat. The scarred man's eye's narrowed in comprehension.

"So, you possess an auto-mail arm. That explains why my attack did not do as much damage as I expected." He then watched as Ed tossed his jacket to the side and pressed his hands together. Ed placed his left hand over the back of his right one, and blue light engulfed his auto-mail hand as he transmuted the metal backhand into a long blade.

"BROTHER!" cried out Al, as he pulled himself forward with his one arm, pieces falling off of him as he went, "DON'T FIGHT, RUN!"

Ed looked at his brother, before shaking his head.

"YOU IDIOT!" replied Ed, "I'M NOT JUST GONNA LEAVE YOU BEHIND!"

"So," stated the scarred man, gaining the brothers attention, "you place your hands together and make an alchemic ring, using your body as the circle, then you perform transmutation. Now I see,"

He then dodged to the side as Ed thrust his bladed hand at his face. The scarred man grabbed Ed's arm with his left hand. The scarred man then locked Ed's legs in his own, before pressing his right hand up to Ed's auto-mail shoulder.

"I must begin by destroying this infernal right arm of yours," blue light flashed from the scarred man's hand, and before Ed could even blink, his arm exploded, pieces of it flying and cutting both Ed's and the scarred man's faces.

"BROTHER!" cried out Al, as he furiously tried to move to help his brother. But, due to his state of disrepair, he was helpless.

"Now, Edward Elric, you will not be able to use your heretical alchemy," stated the scarred man, slowly walking towards Ed.

Ed gasped in fear, before scrambling backwards and, without his arm to balance him, falling on his face. Ed then turned and faced up towards the scarred man. The man stopped above Ed.

"I will give you a moment to pray to gods," stated the man.

"BROTHER! RUN AWAY!" cried out Al, desperation apparent in his voice.

"Unfortunately," stated Ed, sitting up, and looking defiantly at the scarred man "there isn't any god I'd like to pray to."

"Pity," stated the scarred man, leaning down.

"Am I the only one you're after today?" inquired Ed, "or are you also going to kill my brother too?"

The scarred man leaned back up, before looking back at the desperately moving Al. He then turned back toward Ed.

"If your brother interferes, then I will eliminate him." replied the scarred man, "However it is only you, Fullmetal Alchemist, that will be receiving divine judgement today,"

"Then promise me," demanded Ed, "that after you kill me, you will not hurt my brother."

The scarred man nodded.

"I swear, I will keep that promise." Scar then leaned down, and reached his right hand back.

"NO BROTHER, DON'T DO THIS! RUN AWAY!" cried out Al, however Ed didn't respond instead closing his eyes and waiting. Scar then launched his hand forward, blue light already engulfing it in preparation for Ed's head.

"BROTHER NO!" cried out Al, and then blue light blinded both Al and Ed.

Ed felt something warm drip onto his face. He opened his eyes and looked up, only to see a black cloak above him and the stump of what used to be an arm in front of his face

"You know…Ed," came out a voice that both Ed and Al recognized, although it was breathing very haggardly, "You…still need…to get better…at hiding,"

"MR. NARUTO!" yelled out Al's voice, elation apparent.

Naruto didn't reply, instead launching his foot forward and kicking the scarred man back into the wall of the alley. Naruto then stood up from his crouched position and walked forward, before grabbing Ed.

"Sorry," mumbled out Naruto, his muscles flexing as he threw Ed into the Alley, right by Al.

Naruto took a deep inhale, attempting to regain some of his lost breath. After a moment, he felt the warm liquid of his blood rolling down his side, so grabbed the clasp that held his coat up, and tore it off, his cloak falling to his feet. Naruto looked down at the stump of his left shoulder, before facing the scarred man.

"Now…I am…sure I know who…you are…but just for…formality's sake," Naruto moved into a combative stance, "I assume you are…the one they call…Scar,"

"That is correct," replied Scar, setting his foot back, preparing to move. "Who are you?"

Naruto chuckled morbidly, before rushing forward at nearly inhuman speed, raising his right hand to strike Scar.

Scar dodged to the left, just barely avoiding Naruto's fist, which cratered into the wall of the alley. Scar then attempted to grab Naruto's arm, but was unable to do so, as Naruto's pulled his hand out of the wall of the Alley and spun, kicking Scar in the side and launching him into the other wall of the Alley. As the Scar's head impacted into the wall, it whipped forward, throwing the man's tinted glasses onto the ground in front of him.

"You know...that chimera you…killed? That was…a little girl," stated Naruto, turning towards the scarred man.

Scar hacked up a large globule of blood as he pushed himself out of the crater in the alley wall. Scar fell into his knees, grabbing his side as he did.

"That thing was an abomination unto god," stated Scar, looking up at Naruto with his uncovered eyes, "Whatever it was before doesn't matter. What it became was a perverted distortion of the One True God's creation,"

Naruto was stopped in place, surprised by Scar's eyes. Instead of a normal color, such as the common greens or browns found in Amestris, Scar's eyes were red. Naruto laughed morbidly, hacking up a small bit of blood.

"Of course you would be after state alchemists," Naruto wiped the blood dribbling down his chin, his eyes hardening as his body flexed to move.

"Ishvalan."

Scar leapt to the side, barely avoiding Naruto's leg as it impacted into the wall of the alley. Scar stumbled out of the alley, falling forward, inadvertently avoiding a kick from Naruto. Scar spun around, aiming to knock one of Naruto's legs out from under him. Naruto instead, lifted his leg and stomped down on Scar's leg. A distinctive snap could be heard, as the bone in Scar's leg broke. Scar grunted out in pain as he twisted out from under Naruto's foot, pulling himself forward and hopping up, limping away from Naruto, who started to sway dangerously.

"It seems…Ishvalan…that your alchemy…reached part of…my…lung," stated Naruto, coughing up a large amount of blood and falling down onto his knee. He looked up at Scar, who was grasping his leg in pain.

"Unfortunately…I will be…unable to continue…our fight," Naruto coughed up another globule of blood, before tilting his head down and smiling slightly, "perfect timing,"

Scar looked at Naruto warily, before slowly approaching his unmoving form. Scar stopped in front of Naruto, looking down at him. Wordlessly, Scar reached forward with his right hand and was about to grasp Naruto's head, when a click made him leap back. A moment later, three gunshots rang throughout the street, holes appearing right where scar had been standing a moment prior.

Scar landed on his broken leg, causing him to collapse onto the ground and let out a grunt of pain. Scar looked down the street, before snarling in controlled frustration. On one end of the street was Mustang and Riza, along with the muscled man and the bespectacled man. The gun that had just gone off was in Riza's hand, and she was looking down its sights with expert focus. On the other was a rapidly growing blockade of military soldiers.

"That is enough!" called out Mustang, gaining Scar,s attention, "You will not be killing anyone else today, Scar. We are taking you into custody where you will answer for the murders of at least ten state alchemists and over thirty Amestrian soldiers and personnel."

Scar stood up, looking back and forth between Mustang and the rapidly-increasing wall of soldiers. He turned toward Mustang,

"Alchemists alter things from their natural form, perverting them into something else, something grotesque. They profane god, the true creator of all things," Scar declared. Scar then raised his right arm, revealing it to all who could see, "As an agent of god, I must hand down his judgment upon those who would corrupt his creations!"

Blue light engulfed Scars hand as he slammed it down onto the cobblestone of the street. Crackling blue light covered the street, and almost immediately after the street collapsed into the sewers below.

"What the hell!?" rang out Mustang's voice, as dust engulfed the area, obscuring everyone's view. When the dust had settled the majority of the street had fallen into the sewers leaving a gaping hole, and Scar was nowhere to be seen.

"The bastard got into the sewers," stated the bespectacled man from before, staring into the hole. Roy growled in frustration.

"EVERYONE!" called out Roy, "START SETTING UP BLOCKADES AT ALL KNOWN EXITS FROM THE SEWERS, WE CANNOT LET SCAR ESCAPE,"

Roy then sighed, before remembering the whole reason he was here.

"FULLMETAL!" called out Roy, not being able to see the young alchemist anywhere.

"Here!" called out Ed from his place in the Alley.

Mustang walked around the large hole that Scar had made in the street until he was directly opposite the Elric brothers. After seeing their state of being, Mustang was quick to react.

"MAJOR ARMSTRONG!" called out Mustang. The tall man from the Tucker residence popped up from among the rubble, having already begun to move some of the larger pieces of stone.

"Yes?" replied the, now named, Armstrong.

"Get the Elrics out onto the main road, so that they can receive treatment fo-"

"NO!" called out Ed, gaining the two older men's attention, "First find Naruto, he is gravely wounded."

Armstrong looked at Ed, confused, before looking back towards Mustang for enlightenment.

"Naruto was the man who was with us in Tucker's house," informed Roy, scanning the rubble for Naruto, or if not Naruto, then at least his corpse. The soldiers that had barricaded the end of the street started filtering down into the rubble, searching for civilians or injured personnel.

"HEY, I GOT SOMEONE OVER HERE!" called out one of the soldiers. Mustang rushed over to the soldier, preparing himself. What he saw, however, was not what he had been expecting. Instead of a man writhing in the agony of a lost limb, Mustang found Naruto calmly instructing the soldier in the rudimentary procedure of first aid. Naruto seemed to sense Mustang and looked up when Mustang came within viewing distance.

"Oh, hello Mr. Musta-" Naruto coughed up another large amount of blood, before looking up at Mustang. "You took your sweet time getting here,"

Mustang frowned, before finally noticing Naruto's arm. "True, but I am also not the one missing an arm here, now am I," replied Mustang, climbing down the rim of the hole and walking over to Naruto.

Naruto looked up at Mustang, before looking down at his own missing left arm.

"Yeah, I guess that is true," Naruto sighed, before leaning back against the piece of rubble he had sat by.

"So, I guess you spoke with her?" inquired Naruto, turning his head toward Mustang. Mustang nodded, placing his left hand into his coat pocket.

"Good, then I guess I can ask you to do this with a relative ease of mind,"

"What?" inquired Mustang.

Naruto leaned forward and took a deep breath, his face starting to become visibly pale from the blood loss.

"Cauterize it," stated Naruto, looking up at Mustang's widening eyes. Mustang frowned, pulling his hand out his pocket and reaching into his coat. He pulled out, not a set of gloves, but a lighter.

Naruto looked at the lighter inquisitively.

"The rain messes with my gloves," stated Roy, flipping the lighter open. He placed his thumb on the flint wheel.

"You sure about this," inquired Mustang. Naruto looked up at mustang and laughed grimly.

"Do you really think I would ask something like this on a whim?" inquired Naruto patronizingly, "I know what is coming,"

Mustang nodded, and sparked the lighter.

A column of white flame rushed down the lighter, impacting with Naruto's left shoulder. The flesh immediately began to sizzle and blacken. The smell of burning flesh and cloth filled the air, causing the soldier that had been standing near them to back away in disgust.

Naruto's body seized up, but he did not cry out or moan, instead simply staring at the broken cobble in front of him. After about ten seconds of continuous heat, Mustang cut off the flame to reveal the burnt stump of Naruto's arm. Burnt, but completely sealed.

"Thanks," stated Naruto, leaning back against the rubble once again and taking a deep breath, "I…think I should get some rest,"

Mustang just watched as Naruto fell into a light sleep, turning to leave only when the stretcher had come to take Naruto away.

Mustang climbed out of the collapsed street, and walked over to the Elric brothers, who were leaned up against one the buildings near the end of the street, where the ground hadn't collapsed.

"You know that you're a really big pain in my neck, right Ed?" stated Roy, leaning up against the wall next to the Elder Elric.

Ed looked up at Roy, before laughing hollowly.

"Yeah,"

"We're gonna need to keep this pretty quiet you realize," stated the bespectacled man, walking up to Ed, Roy, and Al.

Ed looked up at the newcomer, before smiling slightly.

"Hey Mr. Hughes, I didn't know you were in East City,"

"Yeah, my crew and I were in pursuit of Scar after he had been spotted in Central," Hughes turned toward the sewer, frowning, "I guess we lost him again."

"No. We have him cornered, and from what I saw, Naruto broke his leg, so he can't be moving too fast. We just need to stay vigilant and keep anything from coming out of that sewer without being inspected," replied Roy, "If we do that, we'll catch him, eventually,"

"I guess, but that is a big 'if'," replied Hughes; he placed his hand on Roy's shoulder, gripping it reassuringly, "Best of luck."

Hughes then looked down at the Elrics, before turning and heading towards one of the two cars that brought Armstrong and him to the seen.

"Where are you off to?" inquired Roy, turning towards the retreating Hughes. Hughes stopped and turned around.

"I was on a pursuit mission, and since it is now under your jurisdiction, I have to report to central command and update them on the situation," replied Hughes. "Don't worry, I won't mention the Elrics' situation to the Higher Ups,"

Roy looked at Hughes, quite confused. Hughes was, in essence, giving Roy the go ahead to take credit for the capture of Scar, should that ever happen. Hughes just chuckled, before waving and turning, resuming his walk towards the cars.

"Hey," Roy turned towards Ed, who had spoken, "How is…Naruto?"

"He's on his way to the hospital," replied Roy.

Ed seemed to sulk at that, his head and shoulders falling forward slightly.

"What exactly happened, Ed?" inquired Roy, kneeling down so that he was near eyelevel with the two brothers.

"He saved my idiot brother's life," replied Al, slight anger in his voice. Roy and Ed looked over at Al, who was leaned up against the building with his metal arm and leg leaned up next to him.

"Al, wh-" Ed was stopped when Al's remaining fist impacted with his brother's face.

"What the hell Al!" exclaimed Ed, holding his face, which was already turning red from the impending bruise.

"Why didn't you run away when I told you to!?" cried out Al, chips of metal falling from his body as he spoke.

"Are you insane!?" replied Ed, "He could have killed yo-"

Ed was once again interrupted by his brother's fist.

"Damnit Al, stop hitting me,"

"NO! I need to beat the idiot out of you!" Al swung his fist, although Ed anticipated it this time and leaned backwards in order to dodge it.

"I'm not an idiot Al! He could've killed you!" stated Ed, leaning forward.

"Yes you are!" replied Al, "Only an idiot makes the decision to die!"

"How is it idiotic to sacrifice oneself for the one they love?!" yelled Ed in response. Ed was then yanked forward, his brother having grabbed his shirt.

"You don't get it," stated Al, "WE need to stay alive, so that we can get our bodies back and help people like Nina! We can't do that if we are DEAD!"

Al thrust his brother back onto the ground, but in doing so, caused his remaining arm to fail and separate from his body, leaving him armless and legless.

"DAMN IT!" exclaimed his brother in frustration, "Now my arm has fallen off because my brother is a big, stupid, idiot!"

Ed looked up at his raging brother, utterly surprised by his uncharacteristic outburst. Ed leaned forward, feeling suddenly spent. He looked at his own scrapped arm, before looking up at his brother and smiling.

"We're really falling apart here, aren't we?" stated Ed, moving up to his brother and leaning against him, "We look like we belong in a junk heap,"

"We're still alive though," replied Al, looking up at the receding rainclouds.

"Yep," Ed held his human hand up and looked at it, "We're still alive."

XxX

Naruto opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the white of the hospital ceiling. After a minute or two of just staring at the ceiling, Naruto grew bored and yawned, before sitting up.

"You know, the medical staff flipped their shit when you didn't get an infection,"

Naruto looked left, to see Roy, Ed, and Al sitting on the room's guest chairs, although Al was actually situated on top of a moving trolley, as he could not sit without any legs. Roy was the one who had spoken. Naruto smiled, before chuckling lightly.

"I have a very strong immune system," replied Naruto, rolling his head on his shoulders and cracking any kinks out of his neck.

No one spoke for a while, and soon the room was filled with a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"So, how long have I been out?" inquired Naruto.

"Two days," replied Roy.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, before lying back down on his bed.

"Damn," thought Naruto, "I was out a lot longer than usual."

Naruto turned his head toward Roy.

"So, have you caught him yet?"

Mustang shook his head.

"Scar is still in the sewers," replied Roy, sighing, "We have yet to organize a taskforce to go into the sewers to find him. We think he is probably unable to move very well, due to his injury,"

"He's Ishvalan," stated Naruto, causing Mustang's eyes to widen in surprise.

"That is…quite enlightening." Mustang stood up, before bowing slightly towards Naruto and the brothers, "I must go, I wish you three well. Ed, alert me when you guys reach Central. I will have one of my men pick you up there. Until then," Mustang then left, leaving just Naruto and the Elrics.

"What did he mean by 'enlightening'?" inquired Ed, leaning forward to listen.

Naruto sighed, before propping himself up on his elbow and sitting completely up.

"Ok," began Naruto, "How much do you guys know about the war?"

"Almost nothing," replied Ed, "We were pretty young when it started, and we were nine or ten when it was concluded. The only thing that I know is that the country dumped most of its resources into the war, and that we had a period of time during the end of the war where famine was so widespread that we lost nearly a third of our total population,"

Naruto nodded.

"That is a good start; I guess I won't have to explain the economic repercussions of the war." Naruto took a deep breath, before beginning his explanation, "The Ishvalans were a race of nomadic desert people who hailed from the region of Ishval. They worshiped a god known as Ishvala, The One True Creator."

"That was who Scar was talking about!" exclaimed Al.

"That is correct," replied Naruto, taking a breath before continuing, "The Ishvalans viewed alchemy as one of the most profane acts against Ishvala, and prohibited its use on their land. This rule was held strong, even after the annexation of Ishval. Due to their highly clashing cultures, relations between Amestris and Ishval were very strained and any diplomatic discussions generally ended with both sides unwilling to relent to the others' demands. After about four years of this, tensions were high and both sides were hostile,"

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath and continuing.

"Hostilities were brought to a tipping point when an Amestrian soldier accidentally shot, and killed, an Ishvalan child. The effect was immediate and, not a day later, the first uprising occurred, in the hometown of the child who was shot. From there, it just spread, Uprising after uprising. A month later, nearly all of eastern Amestris had been covered in Ishvalan forces. Thus began the Ishvalan Civil War, or the Ishvalan War of Extermination." Naruto took a moment to take another breath, "After nearly seven years of continuous conflict, Amestris had finally managed to push the Ishvalan forces all the way back into their original holy lands, but at the cost of nearly all their resources. Unable to rout out the last of the Ishvalan military, and not having the resources for an all-out siege, Fuhrer King Bradly ordered the use of state alchemists in the extermination of the Ishvalan race," Naruto looked to Ed, who was leaning forward and contemplating all that Naruto had said.

"Needless to say," continued Naruto, "The use of state alchemists proved to be quite…effective. Within days, thirty-five state alchemists achieved what twelve thousand Amestrian soldiers never could; the complete and utter extermination of the Ishvalan people. Some would say that Scar is justified in what he is doing,"

"NO WAY!" cried out Ed, standing up and looking at Naruto with angered eyes, "There is no justification for the killing of those who had nothing to do with the war,"

"And do you think that all of Ishval was behind this war?" replied Naruto, stopping Ed's rant, "Most of the war was fought by Ishvalan radicals, people who were already planning a rebellion and just used that child's death as a means to an end,"

"Even so, what Scar is doing is not righting a wrong; he is just killing under the guise of a justice and calling it an act of God,"

"Still, the fact is that he is hunting you down. Even if his reasons are unjust, his drive is very real. We cannot hesitate next time," stated Naruto, swinging his legs out of bed, "and Ed,"

"Yeah?"

"If it ever comes to it, where Scar is in pursuit of you and I am not there, I need you and your brother to run." Ed looked as if he were going to retort, but instead hung his head down.

"Okay," replied Ed, although he desperately wanted to say otherwise.

"Good," stated Naruto, hopping off of the bed, he was about to leave the room when he noticed his medical garb, "Now where is my coat?"

"Brother packed it in his suitcase," stated Al from his place on the trolley.

Naruto looked over towards Ed, who was looking a little embarrassed.

"I was hoping you would still accompany us. I know the best auto-mail mechanic in the country and, well, you know, I could probably get her to make you a new arm." stated Ed, looking down slightly, "But you don't have to if you don't want to!"

It hit Naruto all at once; he realized that these two boys were still just children and he had been viewing them as adults.

"I'll get it ou-" Ed was cut off by a great, bellowing laugh from Naruto.

"I appreciate it Ed, I really do, but how did you expect to get me out of here without any of my clothes on?! Were you going to drag my comatose body out and onto a train?"

Ed didn't respond, instead seeming to shrink in on himself, before reaching under the trolley and retrieving his suitcase. He opened it and dug through his clothes, before taking a flat bundle wrapped in paper.

"Here," stated Ed, handing the bundle over to Naruto.

"Thanks," replied Naruto, tearing open the paper and pulling out his black coat, red shirt and pants. Naruto walked into the washroom his room provided and changed, coming out a moment later with the hospital gown draped over his arm.

"We couldn't find your shoes, or your hat at the street," stated Ed, still a little embarrassed by his blunder.

Naruto shrugged.

"That's fine, they're replaceable. The only thing of import is my coat. So long as I have that, I will be fine,"

Ed and Al looked at Naruto strangely, before ultimately chalking it up to one his irregularities.

"So, Ed, where to next?" inquired Naruto, tying his left arm sleeve into a knot.

"Well, Al and I need some serious repair," stated Ed, getting a nod in agreement from Naruto, "I think it is a good time to see my mechanic,"

XxX

Scar stumbled to a stop, leaning against the wall of the sewer. He slid down the wall until he was sitting, holding his leg in pain. He looked down at it, seeing the point where the bone in his leg had broken the skin. After trudging through the sewers for two days, he had no doubt in his mind that it been infected. The area around the wound was hot with red lines radiating down from it and pus was seeping out around the bone. It smelled like spoiled meat.

Scar was disturbed from his moment of rest by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from further down the tunnel, as well as several dozen rats running past him, seemingly fleeing from something. Scar turned his head to look down the tunnel, but leapt up at what he saw.

Rounding the corner of the tunnel was something. The creature was humanoid, but it was definitely not human. It was short; standing at around five-foot four, it had a bald head and large nose. The things forearms were overly large, much larger than its biceps. Its torso was less like a human, and looking more like an eggplant. This was only accentuated by the skin-tight, black bodysuit the creature was wearing.

Scar started to back up slowly, hoping to avoid this creature's attention for as long as possible. The moment Scar moved, the creatures head snapped toward him, showing bright red, demonic-looking eyes.

"I," the creature started taking slow lumbering steps toward Scar, who had since gotten into a pseudo combat stance.

"Can," the creature suddenly started sprinting toward Scar, who was surprised by such speed, given the creatures body.

"Smell," the creature leapt at Scar, who sidestepped it, before stumbling back into the sewer canal, covering himself in sewage. The creature turned toward Scar suddenly, and smiled horrifically.

"YOU!" the creature once again leapt at Scar, this time opening its mouth, preparing to take a bite out of Scar.

Scar, once again, sidestepped the creature. Scar grabbed the creature's arm as it flew past, and a split second later, the arm was no longer attached to the creature, instead falling into the sewer water below.

Instead of blood falling out of the wound however, red lighting arced across the skin and within seconds, the arm that Scar had taken off grew back, exactly as it had been before.

"That hurt!" cried out the creature, its bloodlust temporarily culled by the pain. The creature turned to Scar, who was climbing out of the sewer water and back onto the cobble path, using his broken leg despite the pain.

"Why do you run?" asked the creature, genuinely confused. The insanity in its face moments before was replaced by a look of innocence. "I just want to eat you."

The creature started its lumbering walk again, following Scar at a slow pace, talking to itself as it did.

"Why does it run?" inquired the creature to itself, "Gluttony told it,"

The creature stopped, something seeming to have clicked in its mind. The horrifyingly insane smile that had been on its face a moment ago, returned. It licked its lips as Scar turned a corner, going out of its view.

"Gluttony told it, yes he did, he told it." The creature, identifying itself as Gluttony, started walking again, its eyes turning red as it did.

"I CAN SMELL YOU!"

XxX

"I CAN SMELL YOU!" Scar increased his pace, a rare bout of fear pumping through his body as the beast behind him screamed madly.

Scar suddenly dove forward, as years of combat experience came to his aid and saved his life, barely avoiding Gluttony's jaws as it sailed over his body. Scar grunted in pain as his injured leg impacted with the hard cobble of the sewer.

He looked up as the creature turned around and raced towards him, its mouth frothing and drooling as it did. Scar rolled to the side, once again just barely avoiding the creature as it crashed into the wall of the sewer. The creature pulled its head out of the wall, red lighting arcing around its scull, as the impact had apparently been strong enough to cave it in. It turned toward Scar and started stalking towards him again, this time moving much slower.

Scar got up and started to run away, but was knocked back down when a chunk of the wall clipped his injured leg. He looked back at Gluttony, who was pulling another chunk of the wall out, this one much larger than the last one.

"If it doesn't move, then Gluttony will be able to eat it," stated the creature to itself, as it managed to yank out a piece of rock about half the size of Scar, "Yes! And then Lust will be happy with Gluttony, and Gluttony will be able to eat even more!"

Scar looked at Gluttony in horror, before noticing a spout of water coming out from where Gluttony had torn apart the wall. As Gluttony raved to itself about how tasty the "Little Ishvalan" would be, Scar pressed his ear to the wall of the sewer. Sure enough, he could hear the rushing of water.

"Now, Little Ishvalan, DIE!" cried out Gluttony as he reared his arm back to throw the piece of stone.

Scar, seeing no other option, pressed his right hand up against the wall of the sewer. Blue lighting stretched down the entire length of the corridor. Gluttony turned his head to look down the sewer as a rumbling sound made its way down. Gluttony could do nothing more than scream as the walls of the sewer crumbled and over ten thousand gallons of water poured in, sweeping both Gluttony and Scar away into its unrelenting currents.

XxX

So, how'd you like that? I know, it's a little shorter than usual, the reason being that it was actually part of larger chapter that was just so large that I thought it better to just split it in two. So, be aware, that another chapter is going to be released in a couple days instead of the long-ass time it usually takes me to write ( :

Anyways, as I said, I was in Canada, thus my late update, sorry.

Hope you guys like the chapter, I sure as hell did.

See ya later!

Salem52,

Signing off.