a/n: I forgot to put a disclaimer on the earlier chapters, so here it is now. I don't own Naruto or Fullmetal Alchemist no matter how many key chains of Alphonse I collect. Enjoy :D

25, 26, 27 . . . Alphonse extended his arms the complete the push-up. As he continued his exercise, he kept one ear pricked for any sound of footsteps in the hall. Yesterday, he hadn't been paying attention and the next thing he knew he'd been staring up at Sakura's horrified face. After being shoved back into bed and shrilled at for what felt like forever, Al was pretty sure he got the gist of the lecture – Sakura wouldn't tolerate him doing something potentially harmful. Sakura reminded him of Izumi in a way, the potential was there to be warm and caring but, like a mother bear, she was a force to be reckoned with when riled. Besides, she could be just plain scary. Al had been on the receiving end of Izumi's wrath more then once and had no desire to feel Sakura's.

Distant footsteps echoed down the hall, and Al flung himself onto his bed, buried his head in his pillow, and feigned sleep in a rush. The footfalls came to a halt right outside – the door slid open. Al began to smile as he heard the steps change to the sound of tip-toeing. Sakura would never tip-toe. Sakura would never be fooled by the fake sleep. There was only one person it could be.

Al held himself still and attempted even breathing as he listened to the approach. Just a little bit closer . . . almost there . . . almost . . . NOW!

The pillow he had been resting on now found itself coming into contact with a different, and not so prepared, face. It also connected with just a tad more force then it usually would.

Its hapless recipient toppled over backwards with a resounding crash.

Alphonse was almost laughing too hard to sit up and survey his handiwork. Al grinned down at his friend. He'd pulled pranks before, but this was by far the greatest reaction he had received. His bout only intensified when the devious pillow fell away, leaving its victim's disgruntled face open to the world.

That expression soon faded to be replaced with one of mirth that near rivaled Al's own. They were both in stitches when a nearby nurse poked her head around the door to check the situation. She shook her head in apparent disbelief and resignation, "Naruto," she muttered as she walked away.

Al had first met Naruto the day after he had been brought to this hospital and now, almost a week later; he dropped by regularly to visit. Even though they couldn't understand each other, Alphonse figured that Naruto was just glad to find someone who would listen to him. Most of his visits had consisted solely of Naruto chatting away to a bed-ridden Al.

It hadn't been so bad, actually. It had been quite nice to listen to someone so happy and full of energy. It broke the monotony of the hospital.

Al was jerked back to the present by Naruto's tug on his arm. He was practically jumping up and down in excitement and kept pointing towards the door while babbling incoherently. Judging by the tone of his voice, his words would have been indecipherable even if Al knew the language. Al's eyes lit up as the significance of Naruto's pointing finger dawned on him. Outside. Naruto wanted Al to go somewhere.

Al was standing by the door an instant later. Any repercussions of leaving were trivial compared to his desire to get outside. He could hardly wait he feel the wind on his face again. Finally he'd be able to experience all of the things he had missed while he was locked up in that old suit of armor.

Naruto led him through the hospital in a rush, and before Al had time to think, they were outside. It appeared as though they were in the center of a big city. There were people everywhere talking, buying, selling, or just walking on the streets. If not for the clothes of the people and the architecture of the buildings, he could well have been in any Amestrisian city. The architecture was a bit weird, there were fewer sharp lines and angles than Central, these buildings were mostly made out of wood, and looked almost as if they had grown here, not built.

His awe was interrupted by Naruto pulling Al beneath an overhang and into a shop. Al immediately perked up, it was a food shop, and it smelled delicious. Naruto plopped down on a stool, spoke some gibberish to the man behind the counter and then motioned for Al to sit next to him. He started talking and waving his arms around emphatically. It was easy to tell how much he loved the place. Al beamed back. How nice it was to share in something like this with a friend, and everyone in the world seemed happy: the man behind the counter, the people in the street, even the nurses at the hospital had been in a good mood. There seemed to be no danger here. His mood only got better when the bowl of noodle-soup-egg-stuff proved to be as good as he'd hoped.

They had just finished and Naruto was searching for money in his funny little frog purse when a shadow blocked out the light. This wasn't one of those "the-sun-happened-to-go-behind-a-cloud" shadows either. Al had the bad feeling that there was something bad standing behind him, and it was only confirmed when Naruto looked up and blanched. He gave a small smile, but Al could see the true look in his eyes – the look of one who is deathly afraid.

"Konnichiwa, Sakura"