Sakura looked at the blond foreigner in shock. "Kidnapped?" She had thought that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but she hadn't thought that the truth would be so drastically different. The most she had thought of was a slight falsification, not … this.

"What happened?" Tsunade's curt demand cut through Sakura's disbelief. Alphonse looked down at his shoes with an expression Sakura couldn't identify. "Go on, and don't try lying again. We just want the facts." Tsunade attempted what Sakura assumed was supposed to be a winning smile. To Sakura, it just looked slightly demented. "You can trust us." Tsunade reassured.

Alphonse looked up, his eyes alight with determination. "It all began a few months ago. I wasn't lying when I said my village was small, but it is also far away from the government. They don't really care about us or what goes on in our area. I guess that's why the bandits chose it." Al paused and took a shaky breath. "They came and took everyone they could find that looked healthy – including me and my brother. We tried to fight, we really did, it was just too sudden. The next thing we knew, we were prisoners. We were prisoners for the next month or so, forced to walk behind our captors and their caravan to who-know-where. I think they were planning on selling us as slaves. We didn't know what to do."

"Lady Tsunade! We should alert Lord Gaara as soon as possible. What Al is describing is highly illegal, not to mention unethical. We need to do –"

"Sakura! Let the boy finish first." Tsunade said with an air of disapproval. "I don't like hearing about this going on nearby, but we have to be patient. They've been on the loose this long; a few more minutes won't matter. Now, Al, please continue. How did you escape? I assume they had guards."

"Yes Ma'am, they did. I didn't as much escape as I was let go. I would never have left without Ed otherwise." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "They didn't feed us much, you see, and I think my immune system took a hit while we were traveling. Whatever the cause was, I got sick. It was one of the worst illnesses I've ever had. Soon, I couldn't eat if I wanted to and could barely walk. I don't remember much from that time except that eventually they put me in the back of one of the wagons. It was a relief not to have to walk. Unfortunately, I didn't just get better as I think they were hoping for. It got so bad, the proclaimed me a lost cause and left me for dead. I remember them arguing about killing me or just letting the illness finish me off, but they must have decided that I would die anyway."

"The next day, the fever broke and the illness started to subside. I was able to find some water and a little bit of food. I survived. When you found me, I was trying to follow the caravan to find Ed and try to rescue everyone. Although, since I was sick, I didn't really know which way it went. I was lost." Sakura almost laughed at the sheepish look on Al's face as he confessed to not knowing where he was going. That he could tell about such things happening to him and still feel ashamed at being lost amazed her.

"Hmm…" Tsunade rested her chin on her hand as she thought for a second. Then she nodded – a signal Sakura knew meant she had reached a decision. "I believe you."

So did Sakura. Everything he had said made sense. His emaciated state could easily have been caused by an illness and malnutrition. It also explained his lack of proper footwear or clothing. They wouldn't leave someone they thought was going to die with anything of value. Shoes could be expensive.

Al smiled at Tsunade, then everyone else in the room. "Thank you for believing me. I had thought what happened was too far-fetched. Most wouldn't think it was possible."

"Well, we do. And now it is your responsibility to help us catch these people. We can help you get your brother back, but we'll need information." Tsunade pulled out paper and a pen. "First question: what did they look like?"

Alphonse blanched.

Three hours later, Sakura walked a very woebegone Al back to his room in the hospital. Tsunade's questions had been relentless – always seeking greater detail and more depth from a well that seemed to have hit rock bottom long ago.

Sakura felt bad for the kid (he really did look sick now) but he'd brought it upon himself. If he would have answered properly the first time, Tsunade wouldn't have had to drag it out of him sentence by excruciating sentence. As it was, Tsunade only let him go out of pity and because she had gathered enough information to send a preliminary letter to the Kazekage. 'He's in for more tomorrow.' Sakura thought.