When you're outnumbered and quite possibly outclassed, there are only a few options.
One: you can split your enemies into groups and take them down individually. On the positive side, you don't have to face them all at once. However, you had better hope you're secretive about it or if/when your enemies catch on, you're doomed.
Two: gather all enemies into one place and throw a bomb. Works like a charm unless you're on a routine patrol and didn't bring any explosives.
Three: take a hostage. The one downside is that you need a suitable candidate. Not just anyone will do. Preferably, an ideal hostage will be weak, defenseless, important, influential on the others in the group, and last but not least, weak. Luckily, a suitable candidate seemed to be available.
Honorable ninja are taught to protect the principal, their client, at any cost. A principal can easily be distinguished from his or her ninja guards by the simple lack of forehead apparel. This specific specimen looked particularly young, weak, and important if the number of ninja was any indication.
Perfect.
Al watched as the group began to disperse leaving only Naruto by his side. Temari and Shikamaru headed one direction while Hinata and Sakura went the other. A quick survey of the surrounding area and analysis of the bandits and they would regroup to begin the assault. Naruto had the radio for their group. He was supposed to alert the others if anything changed or if there were trouble, but the radio had been shoved in a pocket to be forgotten among old Ichiraku Ramen coupons and receipts. That radio, now covered in lint and paper scraps, fascinated Alphonse. Although this world was devoid of many of the things Al was used to, they had radios more, or at least as, advanced as anything from Amestris. It was funny how a little thing like that could spark the homesickness. The more he grasped onto the similar things, the more foreign this world seemed and the more he was reminded truly how far away from home he was. A world apart.
Al forced his mind back to the subject at hand. He could muse later. Right now, he needed to think of a reason why none of the bandits would admit to kidnapping or recognizing him. It would be foolish to rely on luck. It always lets you down when you need it the most.
Beside Al, Naruto had fallen silent and his mood had turned from lighthearted to serious. This was not the time for care-free laughter or jokes. Al supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Naruto was a trained ninja after all. He would never have become one without–
A twig snapped.
If Al were a cat, his ears would have pricked up and swiveled. Spending years as a suit of armor had caused his remaining senses to amplify. His hearing and vision had dramatically improved while constant fights had honed what some would call a sixth sense. In reality, it was nothing more than the ability to register minute details that most would miss.
In a heartbeat, Al reached out and yanked Naruto to the ground with him. He was just in time. A moment later, a bright metallic blur zipped through the empty space where Naruto had been standing.
Al glanced at Naruto. The blond, confused by Al's antics, had missed the tell-tale streak of motion from the kunai that was now vibrating in the tree behind him. Darn it all! Al looked to the weapon's source and clapped his hands. Yes, it would waste all of his efforts at secrecy, but he couldn't count on instinct to block another attack. I won't let anyone else die on my watch.
Anger flashed as bright as the transmutation. The ground rippled and soared skyward to form a wall. Hopefully, it would give them a few seconds. Al turned around to find a wide-eyed Naruto already on his feet with a kunai in hand. Shocked blue eyes stared at Al for a moment and then re-focused over his shoulder. The orange and black blur shot past knocking Al to the ground and out of harm's way. A clang of colliding metal split the air.
Al hit the ground hard tasting dirt. Indignation rose swallowing any pain from his fall. He could fight. He wasn't some object to be protected. Al reached inside his vest to find the object he had so long ago sewn into it. Stitches snapped as Al pulled out a kunai of his own. A flash of blue light, and the blade elongated to form a proper knife. He would not remain weaponless.
He pushed himself off the ground and swiveled toward the battle, knife up in a defensive position. Choosing defense turned out to be a good idea. In front of his eyes, the black clad ninja somersaulted over Naruto's head grabbing the tail ends of his headband on the way down. Needless to say, when the ninja's feet hit the ground, Naruto's did exactly the opposite and he landed squarely on his back.
Before the Genin had completed his tumble, the ninja was directly in front of Al with kunai out. He barely had time to adjust his knife before the shock of impact reverberated down his arms threatening to buckle his legs.
The blows descended in rapid succession. Each time, Al barely managed to block. His opponent was faster than most in Amestris and he was out of practice as well. At this rate, he didn't even have time for a transmutation. The kunai swung in a one-handed slice. No time to move his blade. Al sucked his stomach in and curled his back dodging by a hairsbreadth. Unfortunately, the maneuver left him looking at the ground. Crud.
From his blind spot, a fist collided with the back of his head. Shooting pain caused his vision to spark and stars to dance. The knife flew from numb fingers. Once again, he tasted dirt. Hands gripped his hair pulling his head upward and cool metal pressed at his throat. It felt as though it was merely the edge of a piece of paper, but the side-effects of moving would be infinitely worse than receiving a paper cut.
"Don't even think about using that radio. One wrong move and I cut his throat." The gears in Al's head protested before beginning to turn. The ninja was talking to Naruto. As his vision came back, he could even see the Genin standing in front of him, hands spread to the side in the universal gesture of I-mean-you-no-harm.
"Hey, hey…don't worry. I'm not doing anything. See? My hands are out at my sides away from my weapons. No jutsus." Naruto was attempting to sound calm and in control. He was probably trying to comfort a supposedly terrified Alphonse. There was no need. Al had been in situations much worse than this. Besides, the ninja hadn't bothered to bind his hands. Without a weapon, what could a non-ninja possibly do?
A lot.
Equations and runes flashed through Al's mind as he touched the knife at his throat. A metal rod was much less threatening than a blade. Hands clapped and touched the ground making good use of the kidnapper's momentary confusion. The ground buckled and punched into the side of the ninja. The surprised aggressor went flying and the "helpless" hostage was free and unharmed. Well, other than a nasty lump from the metal pole. On second thought, it would have been better to just disintegrate it altogether.
Before Al even had a chance to stand up, Naruto had engaged the enemy ninja with a jutsu of his own. Now, there were at least ten Narutos attacking at once. Without the element of surprise, his enemy was falling back.
Al ducked out from beneath the alchemified earth and moved to help the Genin. Hands pressed together, he waited for an opening. In a combination move, the horde of Narutos kicked and punched sending their opponent flying backwards. The enemy ninja rolled to absorb the fall and quickly resumed a fighting stance. The ninja paused to analyze Naruto's movements and find the best angle to attack.
Pausing was the worst thing the ninja could've done.
Al saw his opening. Hands slamming into the ground, blue lightning surrounded its target leaving a very sturdy cage in its aftermath. The trapped ninja shouted an obscenity and aimed a kick at the bars.
If it had been a normal earth cage, the kick might have worked and not inflicted self-hurt instead. As it was, Al had seen Sakura's strength too many times to underestimate a ninja. The cage was made of granite created from a mixture of sandstone and shale from the ground. He would have preferred steel, or at least iron, but he couldn't create something that wasn't there. Either way, it was sturdy.
Upon making this discovery, more obscenities ensued. Out of nowhere, a chucked stone ended them leaving the ninja unconscious on the ground. Al's eyes darted to the source of he stone. A pink haired kunoichi stood behind the cage holding a second rock in her left hand. Naruto had enough sense to duck.
"IDIOT!" Her hands were empty as she stormed closer to a cowering Naruto. "You were supposed to tell us if you ran into trouble! What happened here?"
"Sorry! Sorry, Sakura!" Naruto raised a hand to deflect a blow that didn't come. He continued cowering for a moment then lowered his hand and straightened up. "Everything was under control. There was just one attacker. I could handle it myself."
"No. I meant, what happened here?" Sakura gestured to the newly altered landscape.
"Oh. I think Al did that. I don't know how. It didn't look like any jutsu I'd ever seen." Naruto switched addressee. "Hey, Al! Was that you who made the cage and all the rest of the– Al?" The alchemist was gone.
Alphonse ran as soon as Sakura showed up. No excuse he made would explain his alchemy. I have to get out of here as fast as I can. If I'm not a prisoner perhaps I'll be able to find a way home. I can take care of myself. For now I just need to avoid detection and keep moving. Of course, that was the moment when his body decided to stop moving. Then for some odd reason, his hand decided to scratch his head. Al was more than slightly freaked out.
"Well, well…. What's going on here?" A familiar voice spoke from behind Al. Shikamaru. Al just sighed. It figured.
Temari walked in front of Al's line of vision. "Hey there." She smirked in a way that would put one of Ed's maniacal grins to shame. "What are you running from?"
Al remained silent. Anything he said would be used as further incriminating evidence.
The radio on Temari's belt crackled to life. "Temari. Can you read me? This is Sakura. Over."
Temari raised an eyebrow at Al and unhooked the radio. "Temari here. What do you want? Over."
"Al just gave us the slip. We need you and Shikamaru to spread out and search. Hinata's taking care of our area. Over."
Temari chuckled. "No need. We've already got him. Where do you want to meet? Over."
A spew of coordinates followed and Al found himself sauntering toward the one destination he did not want to go. Losing control of his own limbs did more than just irk him, it made him positively and absolutely aggravated.
Soon, the very clearing he had just left came into view. It was unremarkable from all of the rest except for the new ground features. Those bare bones of the earth stood in testament to the reason for his return. Al would have hung his head if he were in control of his own body.
Waiting for their arrival, a pink haired kunoichi paced divots into the ground. As Alphonse and his two guards entered the clearing, she looked up and stopped her pacing; the path etched into the land the only remaining trace. Her tense expression eased into one of mild relief.
She glanced over Al's shoulder. "Thank you, Shikamaru, for finding him. If you can, don't release your jutsu just yet."
Shikamaru shrugged (and Alphonse copied). "Alright…"
Sakura walked directly in front of the blond foreigner. "What exactly happened here? Naruto said that somehow, you did all of this. Is there something you haven't told us?"
Al didn't respond. His brain was in overdrive trying to come up with a solution. Nothing came to mind.
Sakura waited perhaps twenty seconds for an answer not forthcoming and then snorted: a very un-ladylike thing to do. "Fine. Don't talk. I still expect an answer when I get back. Any minute now those bandits are going to notice that their guard" she jerked a finger at the form 'sleeping' in the cage, "is missing. When they do, we will lose the element of surprise. Our mission is still to take out and capture those bandits." She looked around at everyone else in the group. "Naruto, Temari, and I will do so. Hinata, I'd like you to stay here and guard against anymore attacks. Shikamaru…just keep him restrained." She cast a pointed look at the destruction of their surroundings. "And whatever you do, don't touch your hands together. Naruto said that's how he did…this."
"Point taken." Shikamaru flopped over onto his back giving Al a nice view of the sky and lightly rustling tree branches. Under his breath, he muttered. "I thought that I was supposed to be the team leader." He had enough sense, however, to say it low enough, and quiet enough, that Sakura didn't hear his complaint.
Light footsteps and the absence of voices were all of the clues he received about the departure of the rest of the team. A small crunch of leaves signaled Hinata sitting down on his left. All the while, he was forced to simply lay there awaiting the return of the ninjas while staring into the infinite sky dreaming of home.