Chapter 1: On the way to the Hidden Leaf and back again

"Al, check the map, are we going the right way?"

Alphonse turned the map upside down, sideways, then back to normal. "I have no clue. This map makes about as much sense as this mission. Why would Scar come here?"

"Maybe there's some super-smart alchemist we've never heard of?"

"That's highly unlikely, brother."

Edward plopped himself down at the base of a tree, sighing. "We're hopelessly lost. I could raise a platform, but that would totally betray our position to anyone who wants to…"

"Kill you?"

"Yeah, right, exactly. Kill…" He looked up. "Huh."

Gaara stared down at him, Temari to his left tapping her fan on her shoulder and Kankuro with his marionette to his right.

Edward (Not easily intimidated, but freaked out by Gaara's eyes) twitched. "Huh." He repeated.

"It's easy to kill someone where no one can hear you scream…" Gaara pointed out.

"Gaara, don't scare him. Sheesh." Temari crouched down and held out a hand. "I'm Temari, and these are my brothers, Kankuro and Gaara. I heard you say you were lost?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Edward shook her hand. "We're totally lost. We're supposed to be going to… What's it called, the Hidden Leaf village? A fugitive from my country fled that way."

Temari looked to Gaara, who said, "It's not me, I don't even know where this guy's from."

"Amestris. Central City, Amestris."

"Well, we were going home. But the Hidden Leaf village is right on our way, so I guess we could stop in and drop you off there. I'd love to see Sasuke and my friends, too!"

Gaara mumbled something and turned.

Temari glared at her brother and pulled Edward up. "I didn't catch your name…"

"Edward! And this is my brother, Alphonse."

Alphonse waved timidly. "Hi." If suits of armor could blush, he would, because Alphonse thought Temari was cute.

"Why'd you pick us, Shikamaru? It's just a surveillance mission!" Naruto commented. "And when's Neji coming back?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I needed people to do the running around for me. I'm tired, and I just wanna stare at the clouds."

"Don't we all…" Kiba muttered. Akamaru barked in his jacket. The boy sniffed the air. "You smell that? Sand."

"Well I don't know, Kiba, not all of us have freaky noses like you." Chouji replied, digging into a bag of chips.

"It's probably just Gaara. We'd better go find him before he kills someone." Sasuke muttered.

"Wow, so this guy has this weirdo arm and blows up people with it?" Temari summarized in awe.

"Yeah. He uses alchemy to blow people up. We don't know why he's here." Edward replied. Alphonse was walking on the other side of him, his eyes small and white and his mouth just a squiggly line. He still liked Temari and wouldn't even turn his head towards her.

Gaara and Kankuro tried not to listen. It was annoying, having two very chatty people to listen to. Finally, they were saved from the endless chatting.

"Hey, Gaara, gonna kill something or what?" Naruto smirked, he and his band crossing the path. "I see you've got some new friends."

Edward gave him the finger. "Mind your own business. I kinda have to be somewhere and I don't need to be held up by some weird whiskered freak."

Temari grabbed his braid and whispered in his ear, "Those are Chuunin from the Hidden Leaf village."

Edward blinked. "Oh."

Naruto glared at him. "We're on a mission, and can't be stopped up by shrimps like you."

Alphonse turned around. "I'm not going to watch."

"SHRIMP! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP? A BEAN? A LITTLE PERSON?" Edward clapped and made a blade on his arm. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"WOW!" Naruto was automatically distracted. "Cool jutsu! Where did you learn it? Did you make it yourself?"

"Jutsu? What the Hell is that?"

"Oh my God!"

Edward glared into the forest. A woman's voice laughed. "How can one be so stupid as to not know what a jutsu is? Haha!"

Edward glared at Naruto, who shrugged.

"You idiot…" Shikamaru muttered. "Virgo? Scorpio, Pisces?"

And Naruto laid eyes on them, automatically dumbfounded.

Virgo was by far the most interesting of them all. She wore a black tank top and a red trench coat with fading blue jeans and a Hidden Leaf headband down across her right eye, in a style much like Kakashi's. Her lips were painted a bright red, and her nails the same color. Her hair was blonder than ever. She laughed. "Shikamaru, you haven't changed a bit in the last three years! You're still a lazy-ass Chuunin!"

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru muttered, turning a bright red when he saw Scorpio. "S-Scorpio!"

"Shikamaru!"

Scorpio wore the same trench coat Virgo wore, except in the color yellow. Beneath she wore a simple white t-shirt and simple jeans, with her headband around her wrist. She darted over and hugged Shikamaru, who turned even redder than before. "Who are your friends?"

"Scorpio…" Shikamaru shoved her off. "You're embarrassing me!"

"I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?"

"Honestly, you two, just go out on a date already! Scorpio talks about you nonstop, and she only shuts up when she's sleeping."

Pisces slipped from the undergrowth, wincing at the thought of Scorpio. "She talks very loud and very fast, it hurts your ears after a while."

Pisces's dog, Sundance, barked on her shoulder, smelling Akamaru on the air. Pisces wore the same trench coat as her sisters in blue, an average looking top and average looking pants, with not-so-average black combat boots trimmed with metal. Her headband was around her neck in a fashion much like Temari's.

Shikamaru's cheeks burned even redder. "PISCES! I AM NOT GOING OUT WITH SCORPIO!"

Scorpio's eyes grew very wide and very watery. "Really?"

Shikamaru looked at her and froze. "Uh, erm…" He looked over his shoulder. "Kiba, would…"

"What kind of breed is your dog?"

Kiba was already over with Pisces, chatting about dogs, while Akamaru and Sundance sniffed each other and began to play around.

Sasuke and Naruto stood next to Gaara, his kin, Edward and Alphonse, sighing.

"You know, we could just go on without them." Sasuke said.

"But Shikamaru would get pissed." Naruto added.

"Shouldn't we be going soon?" Gaara asked.

"We've been standing here for almost ten minutes." Kankuro put in.

"My feet are beginning to hurt." Temari complained.

"We REALLY need to be moving on, you know." Edward told them all.

"Temari, you could ride on my shoulders!" Alphonse suggested.

"Thank you, Alphonse. It's kind of embarrassing, though…"

"You're used to abnormal stuff, right?"

"Yup."

Alphonse took off his head and bent over. "See?"

Temari stared. "Are you… Mechanical?"

"No, I'm a real person. My soul is stuck in this armor."

"Why?"

"It's a long story. Want a ride?"

"Eh, sure, why not."

"Kiba, everybody, we're moving on." Sasuke called over.

"I'll take you back to the Hidden Leaf village Edward, Alphonse.." Virgo volunteered.

"We'll stay with you for your mission," Pisces and Scorpio said in unison. Pisces was struck by love in the oddest way, and Scorpio began to set her eye on Sasuke and forget about Shikamaru.

"We'll go home, then." Temari muttered sadly, slipping off Alphonse's shoulders and landing skillfully on the ground.

"Good bye," Alphonse said sadly.

"Good bye, everyone." Temari smiled and waved.

"Come on, hurry up! I want to hurry up and get home and watch TV!" Gaara said, irritated.

"Fine!"

Once Gaara and Kankuro and Temari were gone, Virgo grabbed Edward and Alphonse and pulled them away towards the Hidden Leaf village.

Pisces grabbed Kiba's wrist. "Come on, Kiba, Sundance and I want to show you something!"

Holy crap a girl was practically holding his hand. "O… Okay! Coming!"

Kiba and Pisces ran off. Scorpio and the remaining people (Shikamaru, Chouji, Naruto and Sasuke) stared after them and laughed.

"Kiba's first girlfriend!"

"Puppy love."

Scorpio smiled. "Don't worry, Kiba will be too freaked out to like Pisces. Once she shows him how she can control water he'll run back scared."

"You don't know Kiba. What element do you control, Scorpio?"

"Lightning."

As she sat it, a lightning bolt struck nearby, setting a tree on fire. A ton of water suddenly fell from the sky, accompanied by a shout. "DON'T DO IT AGAIN!"

Scorpio smiled. "Sorry, Pisces."

There was a moment of silence. And then, the easily amazed Naruto said: "THAT WAS SO COOL! What else can you do?"

Scorpio closed her eyes. When she opened them, she looked at everyone, catching them with her gaze. But it was Sasuke who was most surprised.

Sharingan.