(ZeNfindr: Heh, no, he doesn't. He studies it, but in the school, he's never done a transmutation…

kristanite: Um, Crossroads is actually in Tokyo… I don't give a crap if I should use their Japanese names or not. Who cares, as long as you know who they are! Just wanted you to know that. By the way, Cynthia goes with Envy… Remember, Roy is going with Lalaurana, and Riza would have looked stupid… So RIZA asked Havoc. Lol. Story-ness time.

WAIT! I really screwed up… Sooooo… Fuhrer Bradley is still Fuhrer, and Roy is still Colonel. Oops. Oh well, I'm not going back to edit now!)

Winry sat under a cherry blossom tree, looking at the sky. Today was the day he died, a couple years ago. Edward Elric died today, and everyone in Resembool was mourning him in one way or another. Winry chose to sit under the cheery blossom tree, where they had played so many times as children. Alphonse even came back to Resembool to mourn the day, with Winry. He sat on the other side of the tree, toying with his ponytail. Silent tears dripped from Winry's cheeks, remembering all the times she had spent with Edward Elric, the boy who was like a brother to her, and more.

Suddenly it became windy, and loud. Winry looked up, at the helicopter landing some thirty meters away in a path of open land. She could see the military insignia on the side. Alphonse stood up and looked around, walking to stand next to Winry, putting an arm around her, just in case, in a brotherly way.

Winry saw a small figure get out. It looked around, spotted them, and started walking towards them. Alphonse and Winry back up to the tree, and Alphonse tried to recognize the figure. The sun was in his eyes…

And finally, he could see it.

Edward continued walking, his head held high, and tears streaming from his eyes. He stopped two meters from Winry and Alphonse, staring into their eyes, his long bangs rustled by the breeze.

"Win… Al…"

Is it a trick? Alphonse thought. Only one way to find out.

He clapped and slammed his hands into the ground, making waves of rocks lift towards Edward. Edward clapped himself and stopped the rocks in their tracks with a stone wall. He clapped and the wall receded back into the ground.

Alphonse began to cry. "E… E… BROTHER!" He ran over and threw himself into his brother arms, crying. "You're alive! You're here! BROTHER! EDWARD!"

Edward hugged his brother. "Yeah, Al, I'm back for good. I'm not dying on you again." He looked beyond Alphonse at Winry. She was crying, like everyone else.

"Winry…" Edward smirked. "I see you haven't killed yourself yet."

"You jerk!" She screamed. "I bet you broke your arm really bad!"

Edward pulled up his sleeve. "I think not!"

Winry flounced over and looked at his arm. "Wow, this is great maintenance… Who did it?"

"Who did my maintenance?" Edward asked, looking at Cynthia.

"Um… Somebody?" She replied nervously. She can't tell him there were TWO Winrys…

"Right. And who are you?"

"…" Cynthia looked at her feet.

"I'm…" Winry looked at Edward's face. She fell into a hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

Cynthia set down Edward's luggage. "Here's your stuff…" She pulled out her halberd, which actually fit in the helicopter. "And here's mine. But if you don't…"

She noticed him staring at her wide-eyed. "What? Oh, this… If you remembered me you would know that you were a student at Lalaurana's indiscriminate grappling, and that I have inhuman strength."

That jogged his memory somewhat. "Oh, right, right… You're the strong girl. But… Lalaurana's? What's that? And exactly WHO are you?"

Cynthia just glared at him coldly. She didn't want to go to this with Winry there, but she said…

"Edward, dammit, I'm your best friend…" She started to cry. "We shared a dorm room… We went to class together… We… Kissed…"

"…Cynthia?" He furrowed his brow. "RIGHT! I went to Lalaurana's, and there were two…" He looked at Winry. "…never mind. The important thing is I'm back in Amestris and I can get back to my job. Cynthia, stay here, please!"

"I can't. I have to train to become the new master of LSIG." She looked away.

"At least stay for a little bit! Travel with Alphonse and I!"

"I…"

"Join the military."

Cynthia stared at him. "What?"

"Join the military! Get certified as a combat specialist!"

"I don't know if I should, or COULD, for that matter."

"Oh, come on! All you have to do is pass a short test."

"… I'm NOT doing it."

"I can't believe you made me do this."

Cynthia looked up at the big central HQ building nervously. "I, erm…" She was still in her school karate uniform, and her halberd was still laid across her shoulders. Edward had changed into his Fullmetal Alchemist attire, and Winry had come for the occasion. "I'm nervous."

"Don't worry!" Edward slung an arm around her shoulders. "You'll do FINE! Just carrying your halberd you already qualify! I'll walk you in and introduce you, okay?"

Edward walked into the main office. Cheers greeted him, but as soon as Cynthia followed him inside, the cheers stopped. Cynthia fixed her eyes on the floor, trying to ignore that stares she was getting and the whispers around her. She shifted her halberd uncomfortably and blushed with embarrassment.

"Come on, Cynth!" Edward encouraged with his trademark grin. "What is there to blush about? Hold your halberd high and yell at anyone who looks at you funny!"

"Hah. Very funny…" She looked at him. "So who do I see about entering as a combat specialist?"

"Roy, or the Fuhrer… Let's go see Roy!"

Roy looked up from his desk. "I didn't ask to see you, Full… Cynthia!" His face brightened. "How are you? What are you doing in central city with the Fullmetal Pipsqueak?"

"GAH WHO YOU CALLING PIPSQUEAK?"

"Edward said that until I have to return to Lalaurana's I should become a combat specialist." Cynthia replied, ignoring Edward's angry shouts. "He told me to see either you, or Fuhrer… Um…"

"Bradley, Fuhrer Bradley." Roy corrected. "Of course. But be warned, being yourself, you'll have a much harder test." He shuffled through some papers in his desk drawers that were (amazingly) alphabetized. Hawkeye probably did it for him.

"It seems that experienced trainees have to actually leave the country for something or whatever. But Fuhrer Bradley has been thinking that we should start to train ninjas, and spies and junk. So…" He dropped the papers carelessly on his desk. "I propose you leave Amestris and go to a place called the 'Hidden Leaf village.'"

"Oh, really. So, how do you know about this HIDDEN leaf village?" Edward asked.

"Research. Now, Cynthia, you and the Fullmetal must visit this village and talk to the first ninja you see. He will take you to the local school where you must talk to the head ninja. You will stay there for a month to see how their school works, then report back to us. Once you get back, Cynthia, you'll be a combat specialist."

Cynthia nodded briskly. "Right."

(A/N: Naruto ad his friends are 16 in this, but they look pretty much the same, K? K!)
Naruto lounged on the wall, looking down at the forest that surrounded the Hidden Leaf Village. Sakura and Sasuke lounged next to him, not because they wanted to, but because Sasuke was interested in the forest around and Sakura was intent on being with Sasuke.

Plip.

Naruto twitched and opened his eyes, staring at the sky. He heard the noise again, this time in succession to one another: Plip plip plip plip plip plip…

"What's that?" He asked, sitting up. "A helicopter?"

"I'll be back to pick you up in a month." The pilot said, handing out their bags. Cynthia smiled and paid her halberd across her shoulders. "Right. Thank you."

The pilot grunted. Rude bastard, Ed thought.

Cynthia turned. "I can see the village walls. Come on, Ed!"

"Right." He grabbed his backpack and went off after Cynthia.
Sasuke stood up as Cynthia and Edward emerged from the trees. "Looks like a girl and a boy. Better see what they want."

He and Sakura went down to open the doors. Naruto stayed on the wall. The people were too far to see clearly, anyway.

Cynthia skipped up to the wall and looked up at Naruto. "Hey! Down here!"

Naruto looked lazily down at her. "Yeah?"

"Are you a ninja?"

He blinked. "Yeah…"

The girl said something to the boy beside her. The boy nodded and clapped his hands.

Wow, what are you gonna do, little man? Naruto thought.

Edward placed his hands on the ground and made stairs up to the wall. The girl's shoes tapped on the stone as she jogged up the stairs.

"Yo!" She smiled cheerfully and look down at him. Edward soon followed. Cynthia shifted her halberd on her shoulders. "We're from the Amestris military, K? We have to talk to the head ninja that runs the school."

Naruto stared. Alrighty… The boy is magic, the girl walks around with a halberd, and he must look stupid on the wall. He jumped up and laughed. "Sure, sure. I'm Naruto."

Sasuke and Sakura dashed back up to the wall. "There's no one…" Sakura began. Then her eyes fell on Edward and Cynthia. "Huh?"

"Oh, yeah, these are my friends, Sakura and Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you!" Cynthia smiled. "This is Edward, the Fullmetal…"

Sasuke bent by the stairs Edward had made and ran a hand over the top. "This is choice craftsmanship. How did you make these in such a time?"

"…I was getting to that." Cynthia answered for him. "He's the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"I see. Alchemy." Sasuke stood up and glared Edward in the eye. "The manipulation of natural materials to make someone other than what they are."

Sakura frowned. "Alchemy doesn't seem very nice…"

Inner Sakura: "That sounds awesome! I want to learn!"

"You know what, you're probably the hundredth person I've met that hates alchemy." Edward retorted. "Listen, I don't give a crap about why or how it's bad, okay? So just don't get into it, ninja."

In a blink Edward found a knife at his neck. "You underestimate the Hidden Tree village ninjas. I could kill you with a single flick of this knife. So maybe YOU shouldn't get into it."

He was roughly kicked aside. He staggered over, until he tripped over the edge of the wall, catching himself with both hands before he fell. Cynthia's halberd blade slammed down in between Sasuke's hands, nearly chopping off his fingers.

"Listen, buddy, we're not here to make trouble." She said coldly. "We're here on behalf of Fuhrer Bradley from the country of Amestris. Right? And one more thing. If you threaten Edward again, I'll personally break your face." Her expression switched to cheerful. "Now!" She took one of his hands and pulled him up with one hand. "We need to speak with your sensei!"

"Come with me!" Naruto replied, happy to see his rival beaten by a girl. He walked off, Cynthia skipping behind him.

"Eek! Sasuke-kun! Are you okay?" Sakura squealed.

"I'm fine." He replied. He glanced at Ed questioningly.

"She's what you might call 'different.'" He said, his eyes dark. "I'm even stranger than she is. Be careful what you say to her, your words might end up coming from a hole in your neck. Cynthia carries a great burden on her shoulders, now that she has all the pressure of joining the military and becoming the new martial artist to inherit Lalaurana's school of indiscriminate grappling."

"Ninjitsu is stronger than martial arts." Sasuke replied. "She should be careful."

Edward clapped and made a bicycle from the ground. "Whatever, ninja boy. I got to catch up before Cynthia gets out of sight."

As Edward raced away, Sakura thought, Why doesn't Sasuke ever go after me!

Edward looked around the door. What the…

"And you put your hands like this and concentrate…"

"Right, right, and to pick up my halberd you have to focus all your strength into your hands and just…" Cynthia picked up her halberd and twirled it expertly. "… pick it up."

"That's harder than it looks."

"You'll get it…" She smiled. "Just find your own weapon and stop using mine."

"Right."

"Hey… I heard ninjas could walk up trees and junk, right? How do you do that?"

"Oh, man, it took me DAYS to master that!" Naruto sat down, sighing. "You have to focus all your Chakra into your feet. Not too much, not too little. You have to have the perfect amount."

Cynthia stared at him blankly as she too sat down. "What's…"

"Sheesh, does martial arts teach ANYTHING? Chakra is…" And so on. Edward smiled and left. Cynthia would have something… And someone… To keep her busy while he went to talk to the head ninja.

Cynthia put her hands in the traditional ninja position and focused. She felt something tingle from her chest to her feet; that must be Chakra.

She took a running start and ran at a tree… This was…

Thunk.

Hard.

She ran up five feet, marked her place then fell again. "Ow…"

"Heh. I didn't get it on my first try either." Naruto laughed, sitting high up in the tree already. "Sakura did, though. She has really good charka control."

"This will take me days." Cynthia growled. She grabbed her halberd. "Let me show you how martial artists get into trees…" She took a running jumped and used her halberd to catapult herself into the air, where she kicked off another tree and another until she stood on the branch Naruto was on.

Naruto banged his fists on the branch. "No! Getting into the tree is not the object of this. It's being able to walk up things, and Chakra control!"

"Naruto, I'm a martial artist. I don't do ninjitsu. You use jutsu, I use physical fighting."

"Yeah. And that's SO much stronger." He said sarcastically.

There was a sickening CRACK. Naruto looked down to see that tha branch was plummeting to the Earth.

Klonk.

He looked up, rubbing his head. Where the branch had been, there was a single, foot-wide knob. And on that knob stood Cynthia. "If you want to see who's better…" She smirked. "then fight me."