Chapter 11: Apple Pies

Hinata looked down at the ground as she felt the blond giving her an intense stare. What made it even worse in her situation was that the female blond was sitting next to her. Hinata begged that Shikamaru would open that door, and come out with any sort of information that could be helpful. She couldn't stand being stared at so intensively anymore.

Twirling her fingers, she looked to her left. There stood a vase with flowers, she wished she was in Konoha collecting flowers and pressing them to her flower book. Too bad she was stuck with a very strong and powerful girl next to her. By the looks of it, they were not getting along.

Biting her lower lip and hearing the 'tick-tock's' from the clock, she would swear to make Shikamaru's life miserable. Very out of character for her, but how could he leave her with the Kazekage's older sister?!

"You…"

Hinata jumped a little, being startled by the older girl next to her. Hinata's eyes slowly averted to the Kazekage's sister.

"Y-Yes…Temari-san…?"

Teal eyes gave her an icy glare. Hinata 'eeped' at those cold eyes.

"You seem close to that pineapple kid."

Pineapple kid?

Oh Shikamaru.

"O-Our teachers…a-are very c-close" stuttered Hinata. "So our teams are v-very close with e-each other…"

Temari crossed her arms, and legs. "He never mentioned you."

"It's our f-first mission together…" muttered Hinata, poking her index fingers together.

"You're that mouse girl that follows that blond idiot aren't you?" she asked taking some curiosity with the Hyuuga girl next to her.

Hinata's face turned red. How did she know?

The timid girl scooted away a little bit. Temari's lips formed a smirk.

"Guess you're no match…"

Hinata blinked her milky eyes and stared at the older girl. What did she mean by that?

"Oi. Oi."

The two girls looked up to see Shikamaru, who leaned on the door and had a scowl on his face. His eyes carefully watched Hinata, then landed on Temari. "Tch. Troublesome. Lead us to the Kazekage's library."

Temari frowned. "Did my brother even…"

Shikamaru showed her a paper. Temari frowned deepened, stood up, and walked away. Shikamaru motioned for Hinata to follow her. So they did.

"Shikamaru-san…how did you…?"

Shikamaru yawned. "It was troublesome. I have to take responsibility in the next Chuunin Exams, and accompany that troublesome woman whenever she's in Konoha."

At that point Hinata pitied Shikamaru.

"Ed you are a total idiot," hissed Winry as she was trembling with fury. If she were to hit Edward again, it would be expected.

Sakura just stared at the window, sitting next to Alphonse Elric. She had decided that she would leave Winry with the yelling, and scolding. She was just too tired to do anything, sleeping in the hard cold ground wasn't so comfortable, she preferred the dirt ground that belonged to mother earth. Also a few minutes ago, both Winry and Sakura, had literally punch the lights out of the blond haired antenna boy. This was also another cause of her exhaustion. She really needed a good rest.

Right now all Ed was doing was just staring at the window like Sakura, letting Winry's threats go on and on. He didn't have time for this really… so what if he called the pink haired kid big forehead girl? Did it really matter?

Speaking of pink…

His golden eyes took a good look at the girl in front of him. She looked like the girl from that one time in…

Where was it again?

He knew he had seen her before, but where?

Scowling, he glanced back outside the window. If he were to memorize ten books within a week, he could do so. If he were to memorize thirty faces with in a day, he couldn't do it. He could only recognize the people who were after him or perhaps gave a great impact in his life. This girl however, gave no impact for him to remember. Well, not really. He knew he had seen that pink hair before, but where?

"Are you listening to me?!"

Edward turned back to look at his blond childhood friend. Her blue eyes were icy and threatening. "Yeah, forehead. Don't mention it again. Got it."

Winry's lip twitched. "You…!"

"Brother! Please apologize…" said his brother in his most innocent voice.

Scratching the back of his head, he glanced at the girl who paid no attention to him whatsoever. This kind of pissed him off, and he didn't even know why. "Hey."

Her figure jumped a bit, being startled because of him. Her head slowly turned to face him. Green eyes blinked, waiting for something to be said.

"Sorry."

There was total silence for a few minutes until one of Winry's automail tool gave a great impact on Edward's head. This caused the alchemist to yell in pain.

"You called that an apology!?" screeched Winry.

"I said sorry! That literally is an apology!" defended Edward.

"That's not a proper apology for her!"

"How do you even know!?"

"I just do!"

"That's an illogical statement!"

"What did you say!?"

Both Sakura and Alphonse just stared at the two blonds arguing among themselves.

"Are they…always like this…?" asked a monotone Sakura, she was staring at the two blonds fighting with their might.

"Yes…" came the answer of Al, who was also staring at the two blonds snapping at each other.

Oh how she wished she was back in Konoha. This was like watching Ino beat the crap out of Shikamaru, who literally had done nothing wrong. It also felt similar to her friendly arguments with Naruto before he had left the village. The scene was making her homesick. She sighed, all she had to do was get a book that was owned by Lily's husband, get clues about going back to Konoha, and then she'll already be back at home training with her teacher, and living with her parents back again. She just had to wait, just for a little bit then she'll be home free.

"I'm really sorry about my brother's behavior…" whispered Alphonse, watching the fight between childhood friends in front of him.

Sakura looked up to the metallic armor. She was hesitant to smile at the armor since she knew there couldn't possibly a body inside from the previous encounter she had with 'it'. Instead she just nodded even though she didn't know if he was looking or not.

"Brother, Winry, you should really stop," piped Alphonse as he looked over at the people surrounding them. It was so embarrassing to get stares from strangers. Especially unpleasant ones.

Winry gave one final glare at Edward and piped down. "…So Sakura, why are you here anyway?"

Sakura replied. "Yesterday's train was delayed and I had to exchange that ticket with another one. This train was the only way to get to Rush Valley."

"What could have caused it to be--" Alphonse was rudely interrupted by his older brother.

"Why couldn't you go with her if you wanted to visit Rush Valley!?" cried out Edward accusingly.

Winry crossed her arms. "Who would pay for my ticket?!"

"Is that supposed to be funny!?"

Once again the yelling started. The two young passengers just sighed and watched the round two of the fighting. This was going to be a very long train ride for them.

"Did it work!?" whispered Ino to Shino and Chouji.

The three young ninjas were on top of a tree watching 'Sakura' behind the window, talk to Shizune, who was already catching some mistakes in Sakura's behavior this morning. This of course caught the attention of a blond, a bug user, and a chubby ninja. So what did they have to do? Watch over 'Sakura Haruno' for the mean time.

"…"

Shino stood silent, and just stared at the 'Sakura' figure from the top of the tree he was standing at. This mission was - how would Shikamaru put it? - troublesome for him.

"I'm sure you told him what Sakura would have done in that medical situation, so he did okay," said Chouji placing a potato chip inside his mouth.

"Yes, but Kiba isn't skilled at medical jutsu's now is he?" snapped Ino to her teammate. Chouji just gulped his chip and nodded.

"He knows some stuff," said Shino, arms crossed, and leaning on the tree.

Ino and Chouji stared at the bug user.

"He has to take care of Akamaru when he's injured."

"Doesn't Hinata do that though?" questioned Ino.

"She used to, until his sister, Hana I believe, had forced him to learn some medical jutsu's since the mission on brining back Sasuke."

"Oh yeah, Akamaru was seriously injured," Chouji said, another potato chip was placed inside his mouth.

"Yes, ever since then Kiba had asked Hinata for the basics."

Ino frowned and placed her index finger on her chin. "I can't really picture Kiba being a medical user."

"Well he's playing a really good job as Sakura," pointed Chouji, looking back at Shino. "Why is his transformation longer than others?"

"He was put in difficult training," was the short reply of Shino.

Ino shuddered at the dark aura surrounding Shino, she then whispered something to Chouji. "D-Do you really think … Kurenai-sensei's training is that hard?"

Chouji whispered back. "Probably, Asuma-sensei sometimes mutters 'her genjutsu is just to strong' or something like that."

"Somehow I really pity--"

A scream interrupted Ino and Chouji, their head snapped back to the window where 'Sakura' had been. The only words that the two teammates heard from the bug user was:

"Ah, he's been found out."

"WHAT?!"

"Man it's taking so long just to get to Rush Valley!" complained Ed, hands behind his head. "Stupid train…"

"Stop whining, Edward."

Ed glared at Winry, but he said nothing back. His eyes once again landed on the pinkette in front of him. Somehow he had been staring her a lot, why?

Who could not keep eyes off of that pink hair? It was so …

Distracting.

Curse all pink haired girls!

He needed to think of the philosopher's stone! The incident of laboratory five! Anything but not that stupid pink head girl!

"What is it Edward-san?" questioned a curious young girl, who was sitting in front of him.

Golden eyes glared. "Nothing"

WHACK.

He was hit by Winry once again.

"Stop being rude to her already!"

"I wasn't being rude!" cried out Edward rubbing his head. "Sheesh…"

Winry frowned and crossed her arms. "Anyway… Sakura?"

The pink haired kunochi averted her eyes from Edward to Winry. She blinked. "Yes?"

"Why are you going to Rush Valley again?" questioned the blond, leaning in a bit to get a closer look at the younger girl.

"Lily-san, Sheska-san's mother, had asked me to visit some family friends and get something from them."

"Are you guys related?" she questioned once again.

"Umm, yes. Cousins, something like that."

It was a total lie, but being a kunochi who was stuck in another world, she had to lie. Looking down at her lap, she wondered what was happening back at home. Was everyone safe? Were they even worried about her? She trusted Shikamaru's plan, whatever it was, but she couldn't help being a little bit doubtful.

"How is your homeland anyway?" asked a curious Alphonse.

Sakura looked up at the metallic armor. Her lips formed a smile. "Very pretty… everyone at the village is helpful. It's very lively too! Well … not as lively as it was before, but everyone is trying their best to make it lively as before."

"Xing must be an astounding country then!" exclaimed young Alphonse.

Sakura nodded. It wasn't Xing that she was talking about, she didn't even know the country at all! But perhaps he bought everything that she said, well at least she hope he had bought everything she said. If not then she would be in trouble now wouldn't she?

Now it was Winry's turn to ask. "You said it was more livelier before. What happened?"

Unconsciously Sakura grasp her red kimono dress. Hand shaking, memories of Sasuke and Naruto began to corrupt her mind. Because of the two of them missing, Konoha wasn't the same as before. She missed their friendly fights as teammates, she missed those times of accusing Kakashi-sensei for being late, and missed the times where they would go to Ichiraku Ramen stand for lunch. Even the Fifth Hokage missed the annoying blond obnoxious boy that always tended to cause her trouble wherever he was.

Edward raised an eyebrow as he saw the girl in front of him change expressions. He sat silently though, he was also curious about the Xing country too. Sounded interesting.

Sakura was hesitant to reply, but did so non the less. "Umm, well a villager…left. He was always the lively one from our village, obnoxious too. He always tended to annoy people, but it always lifted up our spirits up. Anyway, he left for some training."

Winry's lips curved into a smile, it almost resembled a cat's smile. "Oooh~! You talk as if you're in love with this guy~!"

Sakura's lips twitched. Her blood was boiling, but she was restraining herself from screaming at the blond teen. "N-Nothing like that."

Her hands forming into a fist, she hit the side of the bench she was sitting in. Small pieces of wood were now broken. "I don't think of that guy as a person to love that way. Nothing like that…"

Everyone's face paled as a small -or rather medium size- hole was imprinted there. Of course everyone was scared of the pink haired kunochi, but the one more scared of this situation was Alphonse as he was sitting next to the pinkette.

'B-Brother…I'm scared…' thought the young metallic armor, eyes filled with fear.

Winry gaped at the scene, face still pale, she tried to change the subject quickly. "S-So! Le-Let's move one shall we? Ahaha… anyway, you two, what made you guys want to see your old teacher anyway? Ahahah…"

It took a while for Edward to register his brain back to the question that Winry was asking, he was still astounded by the small punch that the girl had made, but … she had made a hole in it! That was not normal. At least not for a thirteen year old girl…

Golden eyes meeting green. The pinkette tilted her head.

"Edward!" hissed Winry.

"W-What?"

He looked back at Winry. "Oh teacher? Right… Uh…We've got two reasons."

"And that is?"

Resting his chin on his hand he said. "We've been on a loosing streak already, so we want to get stronger."

He was rudely interrupted by Winry. "Are you guys just thinking of fighting?!"

"It's not like that idiot! I don't just want to get stronger at fighting, but get stronger on the inside, right Al?"

"Right!"

Interested Sakura leaned in a bit. "Is your teacher really strong?"

The two Elric brothers stood silent. Soon a gloomy atmosphere appeared, causing the two girls sitting next to them to hesitate.

"Brother! The memories are coming back!" cried a teary metallic armor.

"Just hold it Al!" said a teary Edward.

'W-Why does… this remind me… of something similar…?' questioned a nervous Sakura to herself. She was now feeling bad for even asking a simple question. Just what kind of teacher did they get?

Winry hesitantly tried to change the mood. "W-Well what's the other reason for going…?"

"Asking teacher about Human Transmutation…" a serious Edward said.

"Human Transmutation…?" whispered Sakura, not understanding what that term meant. She looked up to see Alphonse. He looked pretty serious too, just like his 'older' brother. 'What is that? Some kind of justsu?'

'Perhaps it has to deal something with humans, but transmutation…it sounds kind of…is this a medical justsu…?'

She was too preoccupied with that term that she didn't take any notice of the conversation. She also was oblivious to the gloomy state that the two brothers had put, but what caused her to come back from her thoughts was a distinct smell… it smelled like…

"Ta-da! Apple pie!" cheered Winry.

"Wow! It looks good!" cried Alphonse like a child.

Sakura stared at the apple pie. "This looks like…"

"Yup! You're right on the dot Sakura! This is made by Mrs. Hughes!" chirped Winry. "There's a lot, so grab a piece!"

Sakura grabbed the napkin that Winry had given her, and she scooped part of the pie. She sniffed at the scent. She really loved Gracia's cooking, it just had a mothers touch, and she loved it. Taking a small piece of it, she tasted the sweet juice of the apples. It was so good!

Taking a note that Alphonse wasn't getting anything, she questioned him. "Why aren't you getting anything Alphonse-san?"

This shocked the poor guy next to her. She blinked her eyes, as he stared down at the ground.

"Uh…well I…"

"He's in training!" said a laughing Edward nervously. "He's training himself to be an alchemist so… that's why! Hey Al! I'll eat your share okay?"

"Y-Yes brother!"

Sakura glared at the metallic armor next to her. "That's not healthy. Training without proper food isn't what you would call training. Eating apples is good for you, you know? Ever heard of this saying: an apple a day will keep the doctor away?"

"Y-Yes, but…" the hesitant Alphonse was ignored.

Sakura still continued her health speech. "Apples are source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber such as pectin actually helps to prevent cholesterol buildup in the lining of blood vessel walls, thus reducing the incident of arteriosclerosis and heart disease. The insoluble fiber provides bulk in the intestinal tract, holding water to cleanse and move food quickly through the digestive system. Of course it's better to eat an apple with its skin since almost half of the vitamin C is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Also cinnamon is good for you, it contains vitamin C and K. Vitamin K's potential role is to increase bone mass."

"Wow…" said a speechless Winry. "For your age… you sure know a lot…"

"Y-Yeah…" said a hesitant Alphonse.

Sakura smiled, oblivious of her surroundings. "I learned from the best! Hokage-sama trains me hard, but if I want to become a good medica-nin I have to…"

She bit her bottom lip immediately.

Oops?

Darn her and her oversize brain that contained so much health facts!

Edward leaned in, causing her to back away a bit. "So…Whose Hokage? What's a medical-nin?"

The only thing that Sakura could do at the moment was take a bite of her apple. And thus she did.

Kyaa, the next chapter should be done by the end of April. I'm keeping my promise, I'm putting two chapters up this month! Man, so tired! I want an apple pie right now too…