Fury. One word, the only word to describe what Kakashi was feeling at the moment. His three foolish students trailed behind him, their nervousness and fear radiating off them in the same way he was sure his own anger was. They were silent, for once in their lives, but that was probably because they were unsure about why Kakashi had not said a word, besides the gruff order of ' Follow me', since they found the boy.

The boy.

Kakashi turned his head to look at the intruder he was carrying over his shoulder, now tied up with thick rope and chakra suppressors he had swiftly... borrowed before chasing after them. He was young, not too young, probably around eighteen or nineteen, although his height suggested otherwise. Golden threads of hair, a shade darker than Naruto's or Minato's, were tied together in a messy braid and stained by dark spots of blood. Twin bangs framed a pale face, pinched together in pain, even in his sleep. The rest of his body was completely covered, a long red cloak with a strange symbol on the back that Kakashi mentally filed away, a second black jacket underneath that, and finally a similarly colored tank top. Dark leather pants, unlike any Kakashi had ever seen before, were tucked into high boots Kakashi had also never seen outside the Land of Iron. White, unblemished gloves, made out of an unfamiliar material, covered both his hands and still made Kakashi uneasy, even though he had briefly skimmed them for anything hidden.

He was surprisingly heavy, given his size, but Kakashi had not found any weapons on him, though he had been in a bit of a rush to get his students out of there that he hadn't exactly checked properly. But what intrigued Kakashi the most was his chakra. He had followed Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's chakra signature to track them, though they weren't exactly making an effort to hide themselves, and he had felt no unfamiliar chakra, even when he had arrived on the scene. Now that they were in close quarters, Kakashi could definitely detect weak wisps surrounding the boy, but there was something unusual about it, almost... foreign. Yes, Kakashi was not going to let this catch go so soon.

Kakashi was drawn out of his thoughts by a soft poke, and he turned around to see Sakura shyly staring at the ground.

" Kakashi-sensei, " she began, still studying her feet, " a-are you... upset with us? "

Kakashi, with great Herculean effort, was able to suppress a long-suffering sigh, and gave her his typical grin.

" Of course not, you three did react to the attack with rather impressive speed," he began, noting the way she brightened up.

" But, I guess that just means I'm not pushing you guys hard enough," he drawled, " I think, starting tomorrow, we're going to begin training three hours earlier, what do you think? "

It was rather funny, actually, to see the way Sakura visibly deflated, then straightened up, a weak imitation of Kakashi's own rage flaring in her eyes. Turning, swiftly, she faced her two teammates behind her, one watching her with nervous caution and the other looking like he couldn't care less, staring out into the trees.

" Naruto, " she growled, raising a fist in the air, " this is all your fault! "

The squeak the boy gave then was quite impressive, and he turned to run away, his female companion hot on his heels. Normally, Kakashi would find this amusing, or just simply irritating, but their petty anger, the carefree way they acted, just fueled the dark pit in his stomach that was threatening to consume him whole. Striding forward with quick, calculated steps, as to make sure the boy on his shoulder didn't fall off, he managed to reach the running genin and pull them apart.

" Enough, " he said, allowing some of his impatience to seep into his voice, " we have to get this intruder to the Hokage, preferably before he wakes up. "

" But Kakashi-sensei," the blonde boy whined, squirming in his grip, " Sasuke-teme was the one who left to chase the dude in the first place! How is it my fault that Sasuke apparently ha- "

" Naruto," Kakashi tightened his hold on the child, " we have wasted enough time. I don't want anymore fighting from either of you, is that clear? "

They both nodded unhappily, and Kakashi released them, causing them to drop ungracefully to the ground. Sakura stood up with a huff, dusted herself off, then stalked ahead of them. Naruto glared at Sasuke as he stood up, muttering suspiciously under his breath. Kakashi bit back a sigh for what seemed to be the hundreth time that day, then turned to observe Sasuke.

Sasuke, to his credit, looked completely unbothered to the fighting, and, annoyingly, Kakashi's loss of patience. He was staring directly at the intruder, focused intently on the older boy's face. Kakashi thought he saw something flash in the Uchiha's eyes for a split-second, but when he looked again, momentarily distracted by Naruto pulling on his jacket, it was gone and Sasuke was back to looking at the trees. Frowning, Kakashi watched the Uchiha for a few more seconds, then started walking up the road again, easily matching up with Sakura's pace.

Kakashi gave the boy he was carrying a once over, lingering on his face. Trying to figure out if he could recognize him, Kakashi was once again shocked out of his stupor by a light bump. Mouth tightening, he turned around to berate whichever one of his student had decided to bother him, when he saw the boy's right foot twitch, and kick him in the back.

' This is bad, ' Kakashi thought, speeding up his pace, ignoring the outraged cries it brought out from his students, ' the senbon is wearing off a lot faster than it should.'

Practically sprinting, Kakashi sped down the path, wondering, not for the first time and probably not the last, who exactly this boy was.

...

Edward's eyelashes fluttered as he awakened, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the actually quite dim lighting. After a few moments he let out a breath, and found his mouth parted, ready to call for Al, when all his memories up to that point seemed to flood back into him. Blinking surprisingly dry eyes, he turned his head steadily, testing to see if he had been tied up with that bladed wire again. When he felt no sharp prick imprinting itself in his, already fairly scarred, flesh, he let himself turn fully and take in his surroundings.

He was in a dark room, the only light emitting from a couple of candles, strategically barred off on the other side so Ed couldn't take advantage of it. Through their faint glow, he was, however, able to make out the outline of a door across from him, solid steel with, obviously, no handle. There was a large, bulky camera hanging in the corner, the lens fixed solely on him. Ed frowned slightly at the old-fashioned design, but pushed it aside, he could figure that out later, right now he had much greater problems.

He was seated in a hard, metal seat, left arm and right leg handcuffed to the broad, also metal table in front of him, causing him to hunch forward just a bit. While that was something he really, really should be worried about, seeing how the set-up reminded him of the military's interrogation rooms, if less well-kept or advanced, he found mind halted by one detail.

His automail was gone.

Immediately, he found himself unable to contain the pure, white-hot fury that flooded through him with that realization ( that automail was his damn it, his and Winry's, those bastards had no right to touch it ), he was able to curb it just in time when a creak and rush of brightness signified the door opening.

After the door closed Ed had to blink a few times, the unexpected light momentarily blinding him, before turning to examine his new captor. He was about six feet tall, wearing a black overcoat over an uniform that, strangely, reminded Ed of the military's own. A dark bandanna covered his scalp, and he wore a forehead protector over it, with the same symbol as those kids from earlier, which Ed did not fail to notice. His age was hard to tell, considering the two, thin scars that were slashed across his face and the wrinkles covering him as well, making him look older. His eyes carried a weight in them that reminded Ed of Mustang, though it was hidden by a cold, expressionless glaze.

The man just stood there for a few minutes, staring at Edward with a calculating gaze, as if he believed Ed would spill all his secrets just by a look. Ed fought to keep down a scoff, this man was nothing compared to... well, sadly, a lot of people he knew. So he just gazed back at him, keeping his face a blank mask, betraying nothing.

Growing bored of that game, the man seated himself in the chair on the other side of the table, and locked his dark eyes once again with Ed's own gold. The man blinked, obviously unnerved by Ed's strange eye color, probably unable to see it clearly from far away because of the poor lighting. Regaining his composure, the man briefly looked down at a file Ed mentally cursed himself for not noticing, and gruffly spit out,

" I'm going to give you one chance to make this easy on yourself, tell me your name, your village, and reason for invading Konoha. It would probably be in your best interest to explain your... machines as well. I want to know what country has that kind of technology. "

Edward's brain worked wildly as he processed this new information. Konoha was definitely not a place in Ametris, Xing, or any other place he was familiar with, although he already gathered that since he had passed through the Gate. This place wasn't like the other country... Germany his father had called it. It had a certain air about it, something crackled all around him yet he couldn't discern it, completely different from the other place, which had seemed completely void of any kind of power. He couldn't remember a place called Konoha there either, his knowledge formed of basic wisps that leaked through from his alter self's mind. He felt a small pang when he thought about the life he had destroyed, his life he had destroyed, but he shoved the guilt aside. He needed to focus on the situation presented right now.

He scanned his mind, searching for probably non-existent clues, when it hit him. The Truth had said one of the other sides. As he fought down the expected anger as well as a bout of hysterical laughter (because fucking Truth, fucking Truth ), he also felt an immense amount of shame course through him. He should've known, he should've paid better attention, he should've known better, he should've never trusted the Truth, he should've-

A slam jolted Ed out of his mantra of self-hate. Just able to keep himself from flinching or reacting, Ed looked up where the man glared at him, his fist creating a dent in the steel table. Mind working at a highly impressive speed, even for a genius, Ed made a split-second decision to tell the man his name. If he was in an alternate universe, then his name would mean nothing to them, and buy him time and opportunity to extract information. With that in mind, he shifted his gaze back up to the man's, feeling a little satisfaction in the way his interrogator's eyes involuntarily widened a fraction once again at Ed's unearthly eye color, and calmly stated,

" Edward Elric. "

No more than a second after he said that the man's eyes flew to the camera, nodding at it slightly, the turned back to Ed.

" Village," he growled, though his tone sounded slightly less hostile at Ed's supposed cooperation. Edward said nothing else though, staring blankly back at the man. Growing impatient, the man grabbed Ed by his coat and pulled him across the surface of the table, causing his chains to clank against the table legs.

" Tell. Me. Your. Village. " he snarled, enunciating each word. Ed suddenly felt something break in his mind, and the bone-deep exhaustion he'd been fighting against for so long embrace him. What was the point, what was the point of anything? Alphonse, god Alphonse, had his body back, he had done it and now, Ed could just slip away like the sin he was. He was sin. He had done so many sinful things, to Alphonse, in the military, to his mother, in the military, to so many kind, hopeful souls, in the military...

He fought down, once again, hysterical laughter that bubbled in his throat ( he had finally, finally, gone insane, thank god ), but was unable to suppress a bitter smile. The man's eyes narrowed, focused suddenly on his lips, when Ed felt the familiar burning sensation of being punched in the face. This time, he was unable to stop the giggles from escaping ( because it was just so fucking hilarious ), and was, expectantly, backhanded again. The man's smoldering eyes bore into Ed's and, for a moment, a flash of something flew through his eyes, before the man let go of his coat like he had been burned. Ed fell back, limp, and let the man watch him for a moment, almost... disgusted, before he turned to the camera again.

Immediately, the door opened, and Ed squinted his eyes against the light. He was able to make out one, slender and distinctly familiar figure against the light, before he was once again stabbed in the neck. He let his eyes slip shut, and for a moment, all he could hear was the sound of his mother humming in the background, though that was probably a product of his slowly deteriorating mind. He was distinctly aware of the two men murmuring to each other above him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He heard the faint sound of his chains being unlocked and felt himself being picked up, but before he could do anything he was already slipping into the morbidly familiar embrace of unconsciousness.