Hi, all. I've been watching Fullmetal DVD's all weekend long to celebrate Memorial Day (don't ask what kind of twisted logic I used to rationalize that) and therefore pushed all my homework to today, which is why this chappie is just a BIT late. Oh well.

CP: Anyone who has not visited my story is a FOOL.! BOW DOWN TO KIRBY AND HIS PUFFY PINK CUTENESS!

Uh… ANYWAYZ… Just so you guys know, this will be the first chappie in my Grand Finale. (No worries, there's gonna be a lot of them) And lastly, but not leastly, I'd like to answer a couple reviews!

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I Don't Bite (etc)—Thanks for the feedback! CP says I'm not funny but HA! This is PROOF that I am!

SHiNiGAMiLENNE— There's no such thing as a late review ;-)

Scorpion-Demon—Thanks for the suggestion, I'm definitely going to use it . Yeah, Being grounded SUX. Hope you're not by the time you read this!

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In the Forests Surrounding Konoha…

"…Soums…" Adnamia growled at her brother, "What do you mean we didn't warp through time?" The three were sitting on a log, soaking wet due to the constant downpour. It had been raining ever since that morning and None of them were very tolerant.

The genius gave her a saddened smile and replied, "Well, between the large amount of energy it took to get everything back to normal and all the failed attempts in New Zealand, it appears we only had enough power to manipulate the laws of space and movement." Adnamia and Leonid looked at him blankly. Soums coughed and said, "In other words, the battery ran out."

Meanwhile, off in some mountain somewhere…

Iruka was chatting happily with his fellow (not to mention female) chunin about his award-winning muffin recipe when a messenger ran up to them and panted, "The other squads have neutralized the threat...heh huh…and-- heh huh—they are departing immediately for the village." Iruka jumped up from where he was sitting and said in a rather annoyed manner, "I wish they could have given us a bit more notice before ordering us to pack up." He began to gather his belongings in to his pack while mumbling, "Oh well. At least I'll be seeing my sister pretty soon…" His teammates followed suit and started to clean up. It had been a rather hard few days of hiding out in a cave, trying to stay invisible to enemies. Iruka hadn't had a good meal in a few days and he was pretty out of it.

Unnoticed, the messenger walked out of the cave dwelling and into started fleeing through the trees. Through a small transmitter a dry, cruel voice said, "Did you accomplish you mission?" The messenger simply smirked and replied, "All is well, master. Phase two of your brilliant plan has been set in motion." If one had listened to what the man's "master" said after that, they probably would have sworn it was the voice of a snake hissing, "Exxxxxxxccccellent…"

With a certain crazy teenager and a certain short teenager…

"Well, if you have NOWHERE else to stay…" Nari said sweetly to Alphonse (She refused to speak to Ed after he stepped on her soap carving of a highlighter), "I suppose you could stay at Iruka apartment with me…"

"No, that's okay," Al said, trying to refuse in the most polite way possible, "We wouldn't want to trouble you."

Nari snorted with laughter, "HA! It wouldn't be any trouble. Besides, I think you're CUTE."

Ed apparently decided to stop pouting and take part in the conversation. "Didn't you hear Al?" he said, "Al said… wait… what did you say about him?" The teeny teen asked with a very puzzled look on his face.

"Didn'tcha HEAR ME?" Nari shouted, "ARE YOU ALL GOING DEAF! I SAID THAT AL IS CUTE!" People walking by the strange trio stopped in their tracks and stared at them with big round eyes that said, "WTF?"

WITH ITACHI…

Itachi: GAH! MY HEART! (clutches chest and collapses)

Kisame: …Dude… That was WEIRD…

NOT WITH ITACHI…

Al shivered for a few moments, and then erupted with joy, "THAT'S THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE'S EVER CALLED ME CUTE SINCE I BECAME A SUIT OF ARMOR!" (A/N Lolz, I got that from the part where Ed and Al meet Major Armstrong and Al's all like, OMG that's the first time anyone's ever gave me a pat on the head since I became a suit of armor!)

A few people in the newly formed crowd twitched, while others ran to the phone to dial for an insane asylum to come pick up a few new inmates. Still other fainted on the spot by the sheer weirdness of the scene. However, Nari, Ed, and Al were long gone by the time any of this happened: Al had scooped the other two up and ran off saying, "She said I'm CUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" while trying to fly.

(A/N Yet another reference, this time to that Rudolf the Red-nosed reindeer movie-thing they play every year on ABC.)

In an unknown underground cavern…

"Masters," the messenger said, entering the hideout, "May I shed this ridiculous disguise?" Two large business swivel chairs faced away from the entrance concealing the identities of those seated in them. "Proceed…" A female voice said in an exasperated fashion, "It's not as if it really matters anymore."

The messenger was hidden in cloud of smoke for a moment; and once it cleared, it revealed him as none other than Tosame, bodyguard and caretaker of Nari. "What do you mean 'doesn't matter anymore?' " The young man asked with surprise.

"Simple," the unknown woman said with a mocking cruelty in her tone, "You, darling, are no longer of any use to us…"

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I kinda went back and forth from serious to silly in this chappie. It's probably going to be like that all throughout the Finale. That is, unless someone really really has a problem with it.

Sara: (raises finger and inhales as if about to lecture me)

EXCEPT SARA.

Sara: (looks down with dissapointment) Dang…