(Present time)
Wearily, Alphonse followed Shikamaru toward the rooms they had been assigned. Since it was only to be for a day or two, the boys – Shikamaru, Naruto, and Al – would share one room while the girls – Sakura and Hinata – would share the other. In simple terms, what this meant was that Al still did not have the privacy he so desperately desired. At least there would be less people.
Shikamaru opened the door to their room and casually flopped onto one of the beds. Across the hall, Hinata entered her room and began organizing it for when Sakura arrived. Naruto followed Shikamaru's lead and dumped his packs before collapsing onto the other bed. Al carefully set his things down before taking a closer look at the room. There were only two beds.
"Um…" Al was unsure of how to start. He didn't feel like simply stating the obvious, but if the ninjas hadn't already noticed, perhaps there was no other choice. "There's only two beds."
Shikamaru sat up, or rather semi-lifted his head, in order to assess the validity of Al's statement. A quick scan proved it true and he flopped back down. "Hey, Naruto. Go find another room."
"WHAAAAT!" Naruto fully sat up the suddenness of his movement reminiscent of a person who just sat on a pin. "Why do I have to move? You're just being lazy. No way, I'm staying here. You move."
"Fine." Shikamaru didn't twitch much less move from his recumbent position. "Sleep on the floor."
"Ehh?" Naruto was almost standing now; an argument on the verge of erupting. "Sleep on the floor? What type of response is that? You're the team leader so you should stop daydreaming and go find a different room." He folded his arms across his chest.
Al decided to step in before it got out of control. "If it's really that much of a problem, I can just find another place to sleep. There seemed to be plenty of open rooms. It would be no trouble at all. Really." Al reached for his bags and was stopped by two very different responses: a loud 'no' and a lighthearted 'okay.'
Shikamaru was glaring at Naruto after finally finding the energy reserves to wrest his body to a full sitting position. "No." He repeated to Al and then turned back to Naruto. "He shouldn't have to move. He's the one we're escorting and you're still a Genin – the lowest ranked ninja on this mission. Move or sleep on the floor."
Naruto drew in a breath as if to start protesting, held it for a second, and then exhaled sharply. "Fine." He rolled off of the bed and landed with loud 'thump' on the ground. It would be a few minutes before he recovered enough good humor to talk again.
Feeling like sighing as well, Al grabbed his things and placed them on the bed. So much for that opportunity. I guess Shikamaru doesn't trust Naruto to watch me close enough. Great. Al sat down to twiddle his thumbs while he waited for something interesting to happen. Even as tired as he was, there was no way he could sleep right now.
Finally, he grew bored of the quiet. "Hey, Naruto?"
"Whamph ya wan?" Naruto's response was muffled by the floor and the arms which his head was buried in.
"You said you'd show me around Suna. Can you still do that?"
Naruto's head popped off the ground as quick as Ed refusing milk. "Of course! You want to go now? I know I've already said this, but you're going to love it!" A happy grin replaced his previously dour features and, just like that, his good mood returned.
Al nodded emphatically and Naruto jumped to his feet. "Alright! Then what are we waiting for? Come on!" Naruto turned and left the room and Al followed right behind purposefully ignoring the glare from the supposedly sleeping Shikamaru. Apparently wandering around the town wasn't on the genius's agenda for the day. Too bad.
The morning passed pleasantly with Naruto introducing Al to every interesting aspect of the city. The two blonds had free reign and made good use of it. In one instance, Naruto even helped Al scale a building in order to get a complete, unhindered view of the city. The people below looked so tiny that Al knew, without a doubt, this was why Ed liked traveling by roof-top and high places in general. Despite the dangers of falling off, you felt like you were on top of the world. This far above, all of the worries that seemed so pressing down below were simply swept away in the breeze.
With a new sense of perspective and a cleared mind, ideas flowed more easily. On their way back down, Al decided that a break for lunch was in order.
"Naruto, while we were up there, did you see that restaurant?"
The blond ninja thought for a moment. "Where?"
"Off to the right, about 40 degrees down, in front of that building that looked like a person wearing a backpack except without limbs."
"Oh…. Yeah. I think I know which one you mean."
"Anyway, they were selling those circles-of-food-on-a-skewer things-"
"Dangos."
"Yeah, those. I was wondering if we could have those for lunch."
Naruto thought for a moment and then shrugged. "I don't see why not." He grinned. "Let's go get some. My treat."
Climbing the building had actually been hard work and Al was planning on using that to his advantage. "If you don't mind, I'd rather wait here. I'm still a little bit tired from all of that climbing and my body could probably use the rest."
"You're still tired?" Naruto looked slightly curious. Because of his accelerated regenerative abilities that accompanied his Jinchuriki status, empathizing with normal healing rates was difficult. He waited for Al's confirming nod before continuing. "Alrighty then. If you're sure. Do you want them sweet, salty…?"
Al had no idea what they were much less what flavor he wanted. He had other things on his mind. "I'll just take whatever you're getting."
"Okay. I'll be back soon. It won't take more than a second." With a wave, Naruto headed off at a pace slightly faster than a normal walk, but still less than a full bolt.
I hope he was exaggerating. I'm going to need more than a second. Alphonse waited until the distinctive orange jumpsuit disappeared from view and then disappeared himself into the narrow alleyway on his right. It was small, dark, and devoid of any windows or watching eyes. In other words, it was perfect.
A quick survey of his surroundings confirmed the lack of life. With a touch of foreboding, Al clapped his hands together keeping the noise to a minimum. If someone saw the light from the transmutation, he would be in trouble. On the other hand, if he didn't confirm that alchemy worked he would go insane. Potential danger or potential insanity wasn't much of a choice.
Al concentrated on the runes and let the energy flow. He would rather fight than go insane any day. The energy built inside him its circular flow and warmth feeling so much more comforting and just plain 'right' than his failed attempt at learning that jutsu. The energy flowed properly from the ground, through his connected hands and back into the earth. How anyone could ever be expected to contain all of the energy in their stomach of all places was beyond him. That much energy was impossible for a normal person to contain or produce.
When the runes had run their course, Al leaned down and touched his hands against the sandstone ground. Blue light flashed as the energy rushed to complete its given objective. Al's shoulders slumped in relief as the sandstone shifted and reshaped itself.
The blue light faded leaving a very relieved blond staring at a statue of a miniature panda. He bent down and picked it up. The coloring was wrong, but that was only because of a lack of proper pigment in the available resources and through no fault of the transmutation. Other than the coloring, every hair, every detail, was in place making it a perfect replica of a certain panda that he had met in Amestris. With a last, lingering look, he tucked the statuette into his pack to remove all traces of the transmutation, and headed back to wait for Naruto's inevitable return with the food.
Al listlessly sat on the curb once he had emerged back into the desert sun. He didn't mind the odd looks he received from some of the passers-by. In fact, he didn't even notice.
The transmutation had worked.
Al smiled when he saw the familiar orange jumpsuit picking its way through the crowd laden down with food. Al didn't even care what the food was. Regardless of how it tasted, with his mind at ease for the first time in a long time it would be one of the best meals he'd eaten.
Sakura's mood had not improved in the past few days since leaving Suna. The words spoken by Gaara and the instructions and warnings given by Lady Tsunade persisted in repeating themselves over and over. Like a bad memory, they were impossible to ignore and even more impossible to forget.
As much as she would never admit it, Al's contented expression after his return from his little jaunt with Naruto had disturbed her. Once you started suspecting someone, every little difference became a cause for alarm and a potential threat. The mind blew every movement out of proportion until a simple wave could be seen as a signal to begin an invasion. Suspicion was exhausting.
But that wasn't the only thing that was getting on her nerves. Temari had decided to join their group once again and was currently leading the way. Her pace posed no problem to the ninjas, but she seemed to have a knack for knowing exactly how fast Al could go before he gave out. She was good enough at it that technically there wasn't even anything wrong leaving Sakura unable to even use her status as a medic to vent her frustrations.
The only thing that helped was that thanks to the pace, they had long ago left the desert behind. Once more back among plants and cover, Sakura felt much more comfortable. She'd grown up in a heavily forested area – it wasn't called the Village Hidden in the Leaves for nothing – and there was something about that environment that felt … comfortable. Even in the deepest recesses of her mind, Sakura refused to admit home-sickness. It was degrading.
Sakura could tell that she wasn't the only one feeling more at ease. With their return to familiar terrain, Hinata visibly relaxed. Away from the open expanses of the desert, her Byakugan once more became an invaluable asset to the team. With her increased confidence, she even found the strength to walk next to Naruto for most of the trip. Despite the myriad of colors her face turned, Hinata's expression was as happy as Sakura had ever seen it. Sakura could never fathom how it was that while everyone else on the team knew of Hinata's affections; Naruto remained oblivious. The boy was truly an idiot.
And so it was that Temari's information had finally led them to their targets.
The five ninjas plus one tag-a-long were perched on a hilltop peering down on the bandit group they were supposed to apprehend. In truth, to take down this ragged bunch five able ninjas was overkill. Two, or perhaps one proper ninja and two normal genin without Jinchuriki status, would suffice.
"Alphonse." Sakura was staring at the blond with a gaze so cold it turned his blood to ice and the subsequent blockage almost caused a heart attack. "Are these the right bandits?" This was the question they'd all been waiting for. The answer would decide the course of the mission.
"I…I…I don't know." The last part was spit out rapidly and almost rushed. "Th-they're too far away for me to see clearly. I'm not sure."
Sakura recognized evasive wording when she heard it. Al didn't want to flat out admit that these were the bandits because in all likelihood they weren't and he knew it. At the same time, if he denied their validity, he might not get a chance like this again. He couldn't keep denying forever or someone would get suspicious. Then again, why would he deny it? They were close to his description and he had no way of knowing the information that Sakura possessed.
"Are they or are they not?" Sakura's gaze now burned holes into it's recently formed ice. "They held you captive for months. There's no way you couldn't recognize them. Their faces aren't even covered."
Al's gaze flicked back and forward searching for an escape rout; searching for that crucial piece of information that would save him from answering. It wasn't found.
"Yes." The word came out in almost a sigh. "Those are them. They're the ones who kidnapped me." His face tilted downward effectively hiding his expression. To any casual observer, it would appear that he was struggling with bad memories, but to Sakura he merely seemed ashamed of his lie and depressed at being forced into giving an answer.
Sakura felt like sighing too. Why? Why would you lie? Now, as soon as this is over, you're an enemy and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sorry, Al. She truly was sorry. Her stomach had persisted in tying itself in knots and her heart felt as though her ribs had suddenly shrunk. Enemies didn't last long.
A nod from Shikamaru brought Sakura crashing back to reality. "With that decided, all we have to do is plan a course of attack. We need to spread out to canvass the area. We can then choose the best spot to attack from. They have no ninjas and haven't even noticed us yet. We have plenty of time."
Despite being a genius, this time Shikamaru was wrong. In the shadows behind the group, a dark form waited. Its only distinction was the metallic glint from its hand. As the group began to spread out, the shadow edged forward while hiding in the very shadows that had seemed so comforting. Shikamaru had been wrong on both counts: they were in danger, and they didn't have as much time as they needed. They had seconds.