Riza sighed. There was nothing like a warm bath after a long, tiring day. By the Hokage's orders, she could have the women's bath all to herself for the rest of the night. Riza enjoyed the silence and savoured the comfort. For the first time that day, she was alone with her thoughts.

Or so she thought.

Black Hayate explored the bath. He checked out every corner. He investigated every shrub. He sniffed every rock. And it was a good thing he did.

Black Hayate reached a certain shrub that was more special than it appeared. He started barking frantically. Riza opened an eye.

"What is it, Black Hayate?"

Black Hayate kept on snapping and growling at the shrub. Riza reached for her gun. Black Hayate kept on barking.

"Who's there?" she demanded, cocking her gun.

Nothing, except for Black Hayate's barking. He pounced on the shrub, and bit it.

"Ow!" a male voiced shouted. "Stop that!"

To Riza's horror, the shrub started transforming. The leafy green mass altered into an old man with long, fluffy white hair. Black Hayate's teeth were sunk into his arm. He stood up, shaking the dog off. The old man offered Riza what he hoped was a friendly smile, but it was interpreted as a perverted leer.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Riza screamed, grabbing her towel and quickly covering herself. She pointed her gun at the old man, and employed the proverb 'shoot first, ask later'. Black Hayate whimpered and sped out of the bath.

"Hey! Wait! I can explain!" the old man jumped around the room, dodging the bullets, while Riza followed him with her gun. Soon, she had used up all bullets, and the bath was in shambles.

"Riza! I heard screaming! Is everything okay?" Hermione, Luna and Anko rushed into the women's bath.

"Him!" Riza pointed at the white-haired man.

"Oh!" Anko gasped. "It's Jiraiya!"


"So, what brings you back, Jiraiya?" asked the Hokage.

"I'm doing research for my next book." Jiraiya explained. Riza made a disgusted noise.

"Well, Konoha's been having some trouble lately." Hokage recounted that afternoon's events.

"I see." Jiraiya nodded. "Is that why these lovely ladies are here?" He smiled at Riza. Riza glared back, reaching for her (still fully loaded) gun.

The ANBU with the tiger mask suddenly ran into the room. "Hokage sir! We found two suspicious men in the Forest of Death! One of them matches Hawkeye-sama's description of Roy Mustang!"

Riza gasped, jumping up. Hokage, Hermione, Luna, Anko and Jiraiya got up as well.

"What are you waiting for?" Riza commanded. "Bring them in!"

Tiger mask exited. A moment later, he and his comrade with the bird mask ushered in two men. One was a good-looking man with black hair that was cut away in some places. The other was a bald and extremely muscular man with half of his blonde moustache missing. Both were wearing standard blue military pants and black robes that were too small for the buff guy. Both looked like they'd been beaten up good.

"Roy! Armstrong!" Riza gasped. "What happened?"

"We were in my office. Armstrong was delivering some papers. All the sudden, a greasy man with a big nose and a teenage boy with blonde hair entered the room." Roy furrowed his brow. "And that's all I can remember, until about an hour ago, when I found myself dangling upside-down from a tree."

"They cut away my moustache." Major Alex Louis Armstrong told Riza tearfully.

"Oh, I can fix that." Hermione cast the hair-growing spell on Armstrong and Roy. Soon, their hair and moustache was back to normal. Armstrong beamed. He took off his black robe and flexed while pink sparklies danced around him. Everyone in the room sweatdropped.

"I'm glad to see you, Roy. You too, Armstrong." Riza told her coworkers.

"And I'm glad to meet you." Anko smiled at Roy. "Anko Mitarashi."

"Colonel Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist." Roy smiled back. "Are all the women here as lovely as you?"

"Oh, how sweet! To answer your question, no." Anko giggled.

Riza's face turned red. "Anyways Roy. Don't you want to know where you are?"

"I could give you a tour. Right now." Anko linked arms with Roy. "And we could have dinner after."

"Okay." Roy shrugged. "Would you like to come along, Riza?"

Anko muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "Three's a crowd." Riza's face turned even redder. In that moment, she made a decision. Gone were the days when she worked overtime while Roy left early with a hot date. Gone were the days when she would glare jealously at the hot date. She was going to become a new woman! An independent woman that took her fate into her own hands! She was going to change! She was going to improve! She was going to…

"No thank you, Roy," replied Riza. "I've already got a date."

"Really?" Roy and Anko both got very interested looks on their faces. "Who?"

She was going to have to find a date. Riza looked around frantically at the available candidates. The Hokage- too old. Tiger Mask and Bird Face- she didn't know their names and wasn't 100 percent sure they were male. Riza sighed. That left only one choice. Well, he owed her for their earlier meeting.

"As a matter of fact, Jiraiya promised to show me around." Riza's face was so red it looked like it was going to explode.

Those present in the room that knew Jiraiya stared in silent shock. Jiraiya looked like Christmas had come early.

"Yes." Riza put her arm around Jiraiya. "I believe you promised me dinner. Goodnight, Roy. Let's go, Jiraiya." They exited the room together, Jiraiya with a perverted grin on his face. Hokage, the ANBU and Anko staring blankly after them, sweatdropping as Riza bashed Jiraiya's roaming hand with her gun.


"Riza! Wake up!" A spray of cold water hit her face. Riza groggily opened an eye. Hermione and Luna were standing over her. Luna was holding a small water gun.

"What is it?" she asked, sitting up in her bed. It was the morning of their third day in Konoha, and she'd slept well. It was nine o'clock. They were in a guesthouse the Hokage had let them use. Riza glanced across the room, and saw that Hermione and Luna's beds had already been made. She had shared a room with them, and Roy and Armstrong had shared another one. Riza saw that Hermione and Luna were dressed in ninja-wear. Hermione was holding a ninja suit that seemed to be her size.

"The Hokage's going to be here in about half an hour." Hermione explained. "I can imagine he wants to discuss the futures of our worlds. Also, Luna and I went shopping. We didn't bring any other clothes, and we thought we might as well dress like Konohans."

"We'll see you in the kitchen." Luna told her, and they exited.

A few minutes later, Riza entered the kitchen, and was greeted by a picturesque scene. Roy and Armstrong were drinking coffee and reading newspapers. Hermione and Luna were gossiping away. There was the smell of bacon and eggs, and a place was set for her across from Roy.

"Good morning, Riza." Luna smiled.

"Good morning, everyone." Riza sat down in a business-like manner. "I hope you all slept well?"

"Yes, we did," answered Roy.

"So, what brings you here, Riza?" Armstrong asked. "From what the Hokage told us, it sounded like we were kidnapped. How did you know where to find us?"

Riza, Hermione and Luna explained everything that had happened. Roy and Armstrong listened in awe.

"Are you sure you don't remember anything at all?" asked Hermione.

"No." Roy and Armstrong shook their heads. "It sounds like we were knocked out pretty good. Anyways, Riza, how was your date?"

"It was wonderful." Riza lied. In actuality, Jiraiya had taken her to the ramen stand, where he spent half their date groping her and the other half checking out other women. Their date ended with her emptying the ramen bowl on Jiraiya's head and stomping away, while he called after her saying he'd call her. "And your date with Anko?"

"Wonderful, as well. I really think she's the one. " Roy stroked his chin. Riza turned purple. "I might settle down here, in Konoha. Of course, that's after I get my ignition cloth gloves back and burn that greasy impostor to ashes."

The doorbell rang.

"Oh! That must be the Hokage!" Hermione ran to answer it. A moment later, she returned, but not with the old man. Instead, she had Gaara, Temari, Kankurou and their instructor, a man named Baki with a sheet covering half of his face.

"The Hokage told us to come here," explained Temari. Just then, the doorbell rang again. Hermione went to answer it again, and this time, she returned with the Hokage and Anko, who carried a paper bag. Anko saw Roy, and winked. Out of habit, Riza reached for her gun. Hermione shepherded everyone into the living room.

"What I have to say will be brief." Hokage told them. "You are all aware of the circumstances surrounding yesterday. We have noted all of our best ninjas, but we'd like things to go on in Konoha as they usually do. We do not want the surrounding areas to sense our weakness. That means the exam we planned must go on."

Anko opened her bag, and held it in front of her. "The remaining contestants, please line up in front of me and take a piece of paper from the bag." They did as they were told. "Now, read the number that you received."

"One," said Gaara.

"Four," said Temari.

"Five," said Kankurou.

"Two," said Luna.

"Three," said Hermione.

Anko then pulled out a nifty little chart. "These will be the battles for the final exam. Although the Kazekage has cancelled his trip to Konoha, some of our Jounins will be judging you on your performance. You have one month to get ready. I suggest you train. That is all."

"Please keep us informed of our Genin's process," the Hokage got up, and he and Anko exited.

"See you in a month." Temari smirked at Hermione, and her team left as well.


Gaara of the Desert was alone. It was the dead of night. He sat high up on the roof of a building, unable to sleep like everyone else. There was a sudden crack! Someone appeared beside him. Gaarastole a glance and confirmedit was his first opponent for the final exam.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Since I am going to be your rival," Luna rested a hand on the red-haired boy's shoulder. "I thought I should learn more about you."

"I will only warn you once." Gaara said softly. "Go away."

"This won't hurt at all." Luna pulled out her wand from behind her ear. "Legilimens."

At first, she was only met with Gaara's annoyance. He proved to be a worthy Occlumens But an untrained muggle could only hold so long against Legilimency. A flood of memory rushed forth. Luna saw all the torment he suffered in his childhood, and felt his pain. She saw the hateful faces of the Kazekage, Yashamaru, and other villagers. She saw the demon he unwillingly hosted, and the hurt it had caused him. Luna saw the way the other children looked at him. She was reminded of her own classmates, except Gaara's situation was worse.

When the movie ended, Luna found herself clutching Gaara like a teddy bear. She was crying, and to Gaara's surprise, he found himself shedding tears as well. All the pain flooded back and engulfed him. But he also realized they were tears of relief. He realized that he did not repulse Luna. He realized that Luna saw him as Gaara the human being, instead of Gaara the boy housing a demon. Luna did not side with Sunagakure, but listened to his side of the story. Luna understood.

"My mother died, too, you know." Luna let go of Gaara and wiped her eyes. "An experiment gone terribly wrong. But I've had the support of the rest of my family, and you didn't even have that. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Gaara muttered, "Thank you for listening."

Luna offered him a Kleenex, which he graciously took. They sat there alone for the rest of the night. Luna talked about her world, while Gaara listened silently. He found that what she had to say actually interested him. Luna was just starting to tell him about the battle they had fought last year when two figures standing a few roofs over caught her eye. It was Baki and Hayate. They were rapidly fighting, and Luna could see that Baki had the upper hand. Gaara looked over and saw them too. He knew how powerful his instructor was, and understood something new. The value of a human life.

"Go save him." Gaara told Luna.

Luna nodded, and Disapparated with a crack!


Maybe there's a bit of OOCness in this chapter, but I hope you liked it just the same. If anyone has any suggestions for pairings, I'd like to hear them (now's your chance to save Riza:3).

In the Next Chapter: Ino falls in love, and Harry meets old and new enemies.