Yay new chapter! Next one is started, but may take a while... still a lot of things going on in my life that I need to get taken care of. Someone pointed out some spelling mistakes, and I've done my best to fix them...but my beta's computer died, so he's no help, and I'm dysgraphic and can't spell my way out of a paper sack on a good day. BUT, I misspelled these words consistently the same way, that's got to count for something, right? Please, if you guys notice any, feel free to let me know (Nicely, please. I really do try to spell; you should see this BEFORE I spell-check it). When I get a chance, I'll be going back and correcting them in the old chapters.

So, anyway...Thanks again for all those who faved, alerted, and/or reviewed! One note to follow at the end of this chap.


_*&*&*_POV MUSTANG_*&*&*_

"Oh, he moved; are you going to shoot him now?" Mustang sighed as he leaned against the wall momentarily. Ling always had been the master of the obvious.

Hawkeye chose to ignore him as she nudged the still blond with her foot. "He's out cold, sir." She holstered her gun. "How did he get out?"

Ed was in his face in a flash, "That's a good question. Here's another: WHAT the hell is going on?" He rounded on his brother, "And what are you doing involved with this guy, Al? You know better!"

"Brother, that's mean..."

"I don't care! Now go call Winry right now and apologize for worrying her!"

"But..."

"NOW, Al!" He shouted at his brother, without taking his eyes off his former boss. May followed Alphonse wordlessly as he skulked back towards Roy's office. "Care to tell me what shit I just stepped into, Mustang?"

"Now, Edward," Mustang began, not liking the look on the teen's face.

"I would think that's obvious," Ling cut in as he poked the monster's still form. "A homunculus showed up, started trouble, and instead of asking for help, Mr. Military here decided to handle it on his own."

"And that explains why Marcoh, Scar, and you two are here how?"

"Actually, Fullmetal, I think it explains things perfectly," Scar chuckled, "Just like old times. Right?"

"Old times, my ass," The blond grumbled, though his look became less intense.

Mustang just shook his head and pushed past Ed to the body. Kneeling, he stripped his gloves off the homunculus. "I'll just take these back now, you little bastard."

"How did he escape, sir?"

"He tricked me. He disguised himself as an injured Hawkeye, and somehow disguised the bed as you, Major. When I went to aid 'you', he trapped me, and walked out."Please don't ask how I fell for it...

"But sir, we left a tray outside the room to let you know we had been there."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Mustang, the door was locked and sealed. How could you have..."

"I panicked, alright?" Mustang growled out, "It didn't occur to me till after he had me pinned that the room was locked, and there was no way he could have escaped."

"Brilliant." Alex muttered. Catching the death-glare from Roy, he quickly waved his hands, "No, I mean his plan. Brilliant. He was reasonably well behaved when the Lieutenant and I checked on him this morning. While he didn't stay where we told him to until she shot at him, he did stay back. He must have begun shortly after we left."

"But how did he know Mustang would be the one to open the door?" Marcoh knelt beside Roy and started to check over the blond. "It looks like he has some broken ribs, but they're healing fast. It's really amazing..."

"He's a real freak, that's for sure."

Armstrong was silent for a moment. "I don't think he knew who would be coming in next, he just was betting on it not being us, as we had already been in the room once. We've become too complacent, I'm afraid."

Mustang smirked darkly, "Well, we'll just have to 'thank' him for the lesson, won't we?"

"Which one is he? A new Envy?"

Scar shook his head, "No, his attributes may be similar at times, but he's most likely 'Wrath.'" The Ishballan frowned, "We haven't gotten any straight answers out of him. We know he's one of many, possibly eight or nine, and they were created after you defeated Father."

Ling took it from here, "He used to be human, you can tell that much. He's a good fighter, fast, and strong, too. From what he has said, there's chimera involved too."

"And there you have it, Fullmetal. You know everything we do." Mustang sighed, "Well, we should get him back into the cell and tied down, for all the good it's done us." He was stopped however, when Edward started to behave oddly.

With a look of intense concentration, Ed started to strip the homunculus. He started with the headband, which he pocketed. Then he quickly removed its lone shoe, and pulled at the pants. Noticing that they were being stopped by some bandages, he tore those off and yanked them down.I did not need to see this...Mustang mused as he was blessed with the sight of frog boxers that had obviously seen better days. The golden eyed teen ignored it though, and went after the jacket and shirt next.

"What on earth are you doing, Ed?"

He gave them a typical Fullmetal stare. "Looking for the Ouroboros."

"But we already know he's a homunculus," Roy pointed out. "Besides, we don't even know if these new ones evenhavethat mark."

"Meaning it never occurred to you idiots to look." The blond grunted, "Maybe he has one and maybe he doesn't." He looked at them, "Either way, it'll tell us something about these new ones, won't it?" With a yank he pulled the black shirt off the homunculus, causing the whiskered head to bang against the floor. "Oops." He muttered.

"Please tell me you're going to leave the boxers on...And stop staring at him like that, Elric. It's creepy." Roy shuddered, "I expect that look from Armstrong when he sees someone strong, not you after you just stripped someone."

"Shut up, will ya? I'm looking at something."

"What?"

"This." He pointed at the belly button.

"Wow, Ed. Something you want to tell us?"

Ed just glared at Ling, before standing and stomping his foot onto the other blond's hand. It was as if he flipped a switch, making a symbol appear around the navel. "There. You see it?" He knelt again, "It's in some strange language, I don't know what it says...Look, it's fading again, and his hand's healed." He sat back, "It's tied to his abilities somehow..."

I suppose losing your alchemy doesn't make you any less of a genius, does it? "It looks like we've got some new questions for our little friend..."

*&*&*_POV NARUTO_*&*&*_

The first thing he noticed was that he was hanging from his arms. The second thing he noticed was, "Hey...Where are my clothes?" He kicked his legs in protest, sending himself spinning. "Hello! You bastards! At least give me my pants back!" Naruto shouted to the empty room; even the cot was gone now. "Fuck this, I'm getting down."

With ease that would do his teachers proud, the blond shinobi swung his legs up and over his head, taking all the weight off his wrists. With a grunt, he twisted his legs up in the chain as he spun around, knowing very well that if he didn't he'd be kissing the ground. Naruto grinned, concentrating his energy to snap the chain.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Dammit. Why is my luck so crappy?"Inverted crunches. I was bored," He puffed, trying to get the chain to spin him around so he could see the door again.

"Really? Because it looked to me like you were about to escape. Again." Naruto finally found himself facing the door, and a smug blond with a red jacket. "Mustang really must be losing his touch if he has trouble holding on to an idiot like you." Reaching into the jacket, he pulled out Naruto's necklace and hitai-ate.

"GAH! Give those back!"

"Why should I? You held me hostage." The blond held up his prizes and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto glared at him, sending himself spinning once more as he dropped his legs, "Let me guess, if I tell you what you want to know, you'll give them back?"

"Ahh good, you know how this works." The other shrugged as he waited for Naruto to stop spinning. "Maybe. It really depends on what your answers are."

"Where's Charcoal-breath?"

"Right outside. Don't worry; he's got some questions for you, too."

"Oh, goodie." Gold eyes stared at him, demanding an answer. "I don't know anything. Now give it back."

"Too bad, I don't believe you." Idly he ran his fingers along the leaf symbol, "This is supposed to be what, a leaf? Maybe a snail?" He toyed with the dent in it, "The metal's pretty strong to stop one of Hawkeye's bullets at that distance. You were lucky, Wrath."

"Why do you people keep calling me that?" Naruto huffed, "Would you stop messing around and give me my hitai-ate back?"

"Hitai-ate? Is that what this is?"

"Of course it is!"

"And what exactly is a hitai-ate?" He twirled it in the air, "It's got to mean something to you if you're so worked up about it."

This guy is a bigger idiot than I am!Naruto thought, giving the golden youth his best 'duh' stare. "Don't be stupid. Everyone knows what it is."

"Humor me."

"It tells you that I'm a trained shinobi."

The other blinked, "A shinobi?"

Now he was getting annoyed. "Yeah, you know, hidden warrior, sneaking about doing cool stuff...? Come on, even civilians know that a hitai-ate is the proud mark of a shinobi." He glared at the other teen, "Now give it back. I worked hard for it, and it's from Ir... someone important to me."

The other ignored him, instead holding up the necklace, "This stone is very unusual. I've never seen anything like it. Mind telling me what it's made out of?" The other blond went to put it back in his pocket. "Not very manly, though, if you ask me."

Naruto had to bite back his growl, "It was a gift."

"Really? You know, I didn't think homuculi had friends, let alone people who would give them gifts."

"I keep telling you guys, I'm not a homu-whatever."

"Ling says otherwise."

"Squinty can shove it up his ass." The door once more opened and the Fire-cracker and Scar-face walked in. "Or better yet, up his."

"I see you're just as sweet as ever, Stupid." Mustang smirked evilly. "Just so you know, thanks to that little stunt you pulled, we're going to be doing things a bit differently. You blew it, kid."

Naruto winced. Something had woken up the Kyuubi, who had been silent since he himself had come to. Dark, powerful chakra pulsed through his lean frame as the fox protested their continued captivity (and Naruto's part in it) in very colorful language. The blond did his best not to pay attention, instead watching his captors with eyes that had changed to red.

"I don't think he likes that, Mustang." Scar stated, looking at the much more feral looking teen.

The other nodded, "I think he's showing his true colors."

"Fuck that. Let me go." Naruto growled out, "I'm not going to play your sick little mind games anymore, you asshole." Forcefully he pushed back against the chakra, causing it to flare momentarily. He groaned in pain as he fought back; it was like blocking a stream of boiling water with his body, and it hurt. Finally it subsided, his eyes returning to their original cerulean blue. "He's not going to let me..." he whispered to himself.


I know this one was a bit shorter then the last few, but it was necessary. With Ed here now, things are going to start going a little faster if you couldn't tell. (He is a genius, you know). Poor Naruto...This is a warning. The next chapter is going to be darker. It's one of those things that I've been looking forward to writing, but I'm dreading it, too. Oh, If you're looking for a good FMA/Naruto cross, go look up "Like a single grain of sand" by llothcat. It's in my faves (number 7 right now) if you want to be lazy about it. Amazing story, Ed in Naruto's world.

On a side note, ever notice how I update these late at night? Why is that? (I'm eastern USA, it's like...12:30am here)