Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed this story, it means a lot to me. Now, on with the story. =]

Alphonse was elated. He didn't know what they had done, the hand movements and smoke were like no type of Alchemy he'd ever seen, but he was glad to finally be able to understand his rescuers. Alphonse looked at the woman he now knew to be named Tsunade and told her his name, asking where he was at the same time.

Tsunade looked at him strangely. "Why, I already told you. You are in the village of Konoha. The Village hidden in the leaves in the Land of Fire. Don't you know that?"

Alphonse looked around at the three women in the room. All of them were looking at his suspiciously. Al put on his best smile, "Oh! That makes sense. I apologize. I must not have been listening before. I'm not familiar with that … technique… you used and I'll admit I was a little bewildered."

Hopefully they would buy it. Al knew the absolutely worst thing he could do in a situation like this was seem too suspicious. Not knowing where he was would definitely qualify for that one. The second worst was to be caught lying. Oh well, Al thought, It will only be until I figure out how to get back home. Then everything will go back to normal. Hopefully.

Laughter startled Al out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Tsunade smiling. "Of course it is bewildering if you're not familiar with the ninja techniques. I'm so glad that worked!" She leaned forward suddenly serious "Now, where are you from and what happened." Alphonse was shocked. Just a second ago she was laughing and now she looks like Izumi. What happened here?Then her question sunk in. There was no way he was going to tell them what had happened. In order to explain it all, he'd need to mention human transmutation, the philosopher's stone, and so many other things. Sure, they'd saved his life, but that didn't mean he could trust them with such information. The Amestrisian government looked fine to outsiders but was in fact overrun by homunculi. There could always be a similar situation here.

"Um… um… I'm not sure if the name of my country will…um… translate… maybe…could I see a map?" Al was stalling for time. Hopefully with the room as messy as it was it would be at least a few minutes until a map could be located. That was not the case. Tsunade walked over to one of the random piles and pulled a scroll out from the middle of the pile. "Here you are."

What! Oh come on, don't tell me she was actually organized. Now I don't have any time left. Relax Al, you can do this. Just keep smiling."Thank you Tsunade." Alphonse reached out to take the scroll.

"LadyTsunade." Corrected Shizune

"Just Tsunade is fine, Al. You are not from our village so you don't have to follow our customs." Tsunade winked and then handed him the scroll and continued joking with Shizune. Sakura walked over to Al as he unrolled the scroll.

Al simply stared at the map. It felt like his world was tilting and everything seemed to be becoming sharper and less identifiable at the same time. There was no way this was right. He had thought he was in Xing because of the types of buildings and the clothes people wore, but that obviously wasn't the case. The map labeled "the world" looked nothing like the world he knew. Where had the gate dropped him? What was going on? His breath caught in his throat.

"ALPHONSE!"

Al jumped and spun around to face Sakura. Everyone in the room was looking at him. I can do this, just act natural."Yes, Sakura?"

A sigh of relief. "Sorry I yelled, you just weren't responding and I'd already said your name three times. Are you feeling ok?" Sakura put her hand on his head to check for a fever and frowned when she found none. "Alright, what's going on? Why were you spacing out?"

Because I just found out that this doesn't even seem to be my world that's why. Oh yeah, and I'm stranded in a foreign city with strange people everywhere, no way of getting home, and my brother probably thinks I'm DEAD. Is that a good enough reason?But instead he told Sakura, "Sorry about that. That food Naruto gave to me doesn't seem to agree with me much. Running around the city probably didn't help either. I think I need to lie down." It was a guilt trip and he knew it, but at this point he just wanted to leave.

"…" Sakura looked down for a moment.

"Nonsense!" said Tsunade. "The exercise was good for you. Why don't you just sit down in my chair right there and tell us what you found on the map?" She shooed him behind the desk and made him sit down. "Feeling better? Good. Story time." Tsunade moved to the front of the desk and looked at him in a way that clearly said "no more excuses."

Al took a deep breath. Well, let's just hope my brain doesn't give out on me."I was lost." Tsunade motioned for him to continue and elaborate. "I… was never much of an outdoors person, so I couldn't really… fend for myself very well. So, I was wandering around in the woods for awhile until you found me, Sakura."

"That's all very well, but where are you from." Tsunade motioned at the map. "Surely you have found the translation. And what brought you to our woods in the first place?"

"Well…" Al searched the map desperately. He needed a place far enough away so that they most likely wouldn't know the actual language, but close enough to make his story, whatever it was going to be, plausible. "I'm from…the land of the wind." They all looked at each other and Al began to think that he'd made a mistake.

"The Kazekage is a friend of ours so we should be able to transport you there with relative ease. The only thing is, as far as I know, they speak the same language as we do…" Tsunade looked at Al expectantly.

"…That would be because I don't live in any of the main cities. I'm just a country hick you could say. My village is known for…sheep herding." That has got to be universal and I might as well stick with the truth as much as I can. I'll be less likely to slip up. "We don't have much contact with the rest of the country, so most people speak other languages."

"If your village is so rural, how did you get all the way over here?" Sakura butted in. "Your parents shouldn't have allowed you to leave if you know so little about surviving on your own."

"I'm an orphan." Might as well make them feel sorry for me. They'll be more likely to want to help. It also explains a lot. "My only family is an older brother, Edward, who I was attempting to look for. That didn't work out so well, as you saw."

"Poor dear. If you give me a description after this, along with your village name, I'll send some information to the Kazekage so he can start a search party looking for him. Everything will be taken care of. He'll even waive the fee if I ask." With this Tsunade gave Al a sympathetic pat on the head. "Doesn't that make you feel better?" There was an edge to her voice but Al didn't notice.

They actually believed me! They're going to set up a search. It most likely won't find anything, but it never hurts to try. "Thank you so much Lady Tsunade. How can I ever repay you?"

"You can start by dropping the act." Tsunade was looking straight at Al. "Just listen to yourself. Even Naruto would be able to find the holes in your story. First, if you just "got lost" you wouldn't be this far from home. Also, you would have been sure to come across at least one village on your way here. So, what's really going on? No more lies. I'm starting to get annoyed."

Great. Just wonderful. Now what? If I can't convince them, I'm dead. I've seen all the weapons around town. I'll never get home again like this; never see Winry or Ed again. Wait…Ed. Ed always said that the bigger the lie the less likely you are to get caught. There's nothing I can do but go for it. If worst comes to worst I'll fight.

"The truth?" Al sighed. "The truth is that I was kidnapped."