It was the end of the day and nothing significant happened for any of the groups. Scar didn't speak a word; Mei Chan became too much for Sakura to handle, so Ino was assigned as back-up; and the two Elric brothers did some shopping until they all ultimately wound up at the hotel. They all got their own rooms; all of them, that is, except for Ed and Al who wound up sharing a room.
"So, Alphonse," Edward said, getting his brother's attention, "how do you feel? I mean, being in a 'flesh-and-blood' body again?"
Al stopped folding clothes and looked at his brother and smiled. "I feel… free; I feel happy... I just... feel." He yawned as he put the last shirt in the drawer and closed it.
"I'm glad." His brother stated. "And now, you get to experience sleep. And in a nice hotel no less!"
The boys then got ready for bed; Alphonse getting in the shower first and the housekeeper came in and made their beds. Both boys got to bed shortly after.
Out in the lobby of said hotel, all the guides, including Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, Sakura and Ino, were sitting down and discussed their charges and tried to figure out what to do.
"Well," Shikamaru started, "The Elric brothers are nice; well one is. Ed is kind of eccentric."
"I agree." Neji stated. "Alphonse is polite and mature; it's hard to believe he's the younger of the two."
Shikamaru laughed and agreed with his comrade.
"Well, you two are lucky." Sakura continued. "You two have calm boys whereas Ino and I are stuck with the chibi girl from hell."
"Yeah!" Ino agreed. "That girl is a nightmare! Oh, and her little 'panda'? I mean, what the hell?! That thing has a worse temper and attitude than Mei."
"Well, don't forget; it may be tiny, but it's still a panda." Shikamaru pointed out. "Pandas really aren't cute and cuddly as the cartoons lead on. They could still rip your face off with one swipe of the paw; they can be vicious, no matter how tame."
The girls nodded in acknowledgement and turned to the silent Kakashi who was reading his Icha-Icha Paradise book.
"So," Sakura said, getting his attention, "How was your day with that guy?"
Kakashi closed his book as he began. "He's really quiet and won't tell anyone anything. When I took him to get something to eat, he didn't eat until I did a lot of convincing that it wasn't poisoned."
"Did he end up eating?" The blonde Kionichi asked.
"He finally did, but once he did, he ate like it was his last meal." He finished, continuing his reading as everyone else shared minor tidbits about what was going on.
Meanwhile, in the woods, just outside of Konoha...
"Are you ready?" Asked Itachi Uchiha to the spy Pein hired after finding him in the middle of their lair.
"Of course, sir." He replied, then ran off and entered Konoha without a hitch.
When they finished their meeting, the Konoha ninja guarding the visitors left the lobby and went to stand guard in front of their charges' rooms. Shikamaru sat on the left of the Elric brothers' door whilst Neji sat on the right.
"So," Shikamaru said, breaking the silence, "what's going on with you and Tenten?"
Neji glanced over to him with a raised eyebrow.
"I saw her talking to you earlier today…"
"She's my teammate and close friend. That's all." Neji lied.
"Hn."
An awkward silence ensued for about a minute when Neji spoke up. "What about you and Temari?"
"What do you mean?"
"I saw you two on the beach around the time of the last full moon."
"Well… we're… um…"
"Never mind." Neji interrupted. "I don't really care."
Ino and Sakura were sitting across from each other, painting each other's toenails. Sakura wanted hers pink and Ino wanted purple.
"Who knew a little girl like that could be so much trouble?" Ino commented. "She makes Naruto seem well-behaved."
"Hey now." Sakura replied. "He's gotten better."
"Yeah, well… you know what I mean. So, have you guys gotten any leads on where Sasuke is?"
Sakura pinched her friend's toe.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry." She continued painting. "No we haven't. Even if we did, it's really none of your business."
"Whatever. Anyway, I just hope he's okay."
"…me too." Sakura agreed.
"So, to change the subject, what should we do with Mei tomorrow?" Ino asked.
"Hang her by her toe-nails and watch her scream for mercy?" Sakura suggested.
"No, I mean, what should we do, like for entertainment?"
"Hang her by her toe-nails and-"
"Ugh, no!" Ino interrupted. "I mean… should we take her to the hot springs or take a tour of the Academy, or, I don't know, something like that?"
"Well, the hot springs sound nice, and maybe a tour could kill some time." Sakura thought out loud. "Why not both?"
"Okay." Ino agreed, not breaking her concentration on her friend's toes.
Walking around town and looking for the Elric brothers, the Akatsuki's spy disguised himself as a cat. He could smell the boys, even though it was very faint. He followed the scent to a hotel where he couldn't get into because the person working the front desk kicked him out, yelling 'Cats aren't allowed!'
He took a mental note of where this place was, and he continued wandering the streets, looking for someone to disguise himself as. Just then, he saw two ninja walking out of the hotel. One was a girl with four ponytails in her hair and carrying a fan, and the other one had purple face paint.
"A summons at this hour?" The boy complained.
"Kankuro, stop complaining, unless you want me to beat you senseless."
"Temari, why are you so mean to me?" Kankuro asked.
"Because I'm the oldest and you're the middle child; it's my duty."
The spy followed them, taking mental measurements, then ran off and transformed himself into Kankuro. He walked into the hotel and approached the front desk.
"Can I help you?" The man asked.
"Yes," the imposter began. "I forgot something in my room; my key to be exact. Could you possibly make me a replacement?"
"Certainly. What was your room number?"
"Oh, I forgot… could you look it up? My names Kankuro."
"Just a moment." He looked up the name, but nothing came up. He tried looking up the group 'Sand Ninja', but that wielded no results. "Were you staying with someone else? Maybe it's under their name?"
He thought for a moment, then remembered the name of that other girl. "Temari?"
The man looked that up and it came up. "One moment; I'll make you your key."
After receiving the key, 'Kankuro' had one more question. "Do you know where the Elric brothers are staying?"
"I'm sorry, that's confidential.
"Oh, but I'm supposed to relieve one of the guards tonight and I lost the slip of paper I wrote the room number on."
The man was skeptical, but fell for it. He gave the room number and went off doing his job.
The imposter went upstairs to the second floor where he was told they would be, and started walking down the hall where he saw some people sitting. There were two giggling girls at the end of one hall and two very quiet boys at the other.
When he came closer to the men, he realized they were the guards. He was surprised when the boy with the high ponytail spoke to him.
"You guys are still here?"
"Hm?"
"You and Temari, I thought you two were leaving for Suna tonight."
"Oh, yeah, we are. I just forgot something in my room."
"But, your rooms are one floor up, right?" The boy with the pale eyes said.
"Yeah… I just miscounted the floors. My bad."
He started walking back to the stairs when the pony-tailed one got his attention again.
"Hey Kankuro, could you give this to Temari for me?" He handed him a small envelope with her name on it.
"Sure." The Spy replied with a smile on his face, then walked away to the stairs.
When he was out of view, Shikamaru sat back down next to Neji. "Something's up; that wasn't Kankuro."
"I know." Neji replied, glancing over to the doorway from once the intruder came.