Title: The Everlasting Sins
Rating: Rated T.
Pairings: Canon pairings for Naruto, along with slight NaruHina near the very end of the story.
Genre: Adventure.
Summary: A sin lasts forever, even if other things do not. Naruto's debilitating disease doesn't, nor does his hatred. His past, however, forever continues to follow him. Smart, powerful Naruto. Rewritten in collaboration with The Sin of Justice, the original author.
Regarding Q&A: Any questions regarding the story can be asked via PM or review to either me or The Sin of Justice.
Beta: N/A—Help wanted.
Warnings: Language, violence, and moderate blood/gore.
Category: Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist crossover.
Uploaded: April 28th, 2013
Key:
"Normal dialogue."
Thoughts—for everyone, including Bijū.
/Mental conversations./
Please note that Bijū cannot "speak" unless their host is inside of the seal, and please enjoy the story!
(Section Break)
Two years and two months later:
"That hurt," Natsuki whined, sitting up. "Sakura, that's mean!"
"It's your fault for falling asleep in class," Sakura sighed, looking sideways at Natsuki. "You know your grades kept slipping for that, didn't you?"
"I know," Natsuki murmured, "it's just that I'm so tiiiiiired!"
"Maybe you should stop staying up at night and reading manga, then?" Sakura teased, grinning. "Ahh, the teacher's here."
Natsuki looked towards the door and spotted a man walking in. "Who do you think'll be on our teams?" she asked giddily.
"I don't know," the pink-haired girl admitted, "but if I had to guess, I'd say that there'd be balanced teams."
"Balanced, huh?" Natsuki repeated. "So then, like, Kiba and Shino and Hinata'd be on a team because they're good for tracking. And Ino and Lazy and Chōji'd be on a team 'cause their parents worked well together."
Sakura blinked, then nodded. "Exactly like that."
"I can't wait, then," the blonde smiled playfully. "I hope we're together, Sakura."
Sakura nodded, smiling back.
(Section Break)
"How odd was that," Natsuki muttered, looking at her team. "It went exactly how I thought it would."
"You predicted we'd be on the same team?" Sakura inquired. "Good job, I guess."
"Thanks?" Natsuki laughed. "Our teacher's late."
There was a small pause in which several scraping sounds were made.
"Natsuki," Sakura said slowly, "what are you doing?"
"Nothing," she replied with a giggle. "Just a little redecorating."
(Section Break)
Kakashi looked at his new team—a pink-haired civilian-born, Natsuki, and the famed "last" Uchiha. He belatedly wondered why Natsuki was on his team—why would she be, she wasn't the dead-last of the Academy, though she was near the bottom due to a lack of caring—before saying quietly, "Introductions, then, shall we?"
His team stared at him a little blankly before the civilian-born spoke up. "Maybe you should go first?" she suggested. He looked at her then crinkled his eye in resemblance of a smile, the face-mask he wore covering his mouth.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi," he began. "Ask Natsuki for details."
Natsuki snapped to attention. "But I don't know any of your personal details!" she shouted indignantly. "That's not fair."
"You've been around me enough to find out at least something, haven't you?" he asked, voice slightly mocking. "Go ahead."
She huffed and crossed her arms, then looked thoughtful. She opened her mouth a few times to begin speaking, but continually stopped right before she started. Finally, she said something. "He's a pervert."
Kakashi sighed.
(Section Break)
Naruto stretched his arms out, keeping the muscles loose. "You're a real slave-driver, you know that?"
Edward gave him a grin. "I'm well-aware, yes. Does Kurama need any rest?"
/Fine,/ the fox stated. /The chakra I have is already regenerating nicely. If Naruto's sister gets a real mission soon, I can navigate the leftovers back here. Unfortunately, it seems she's only been burning chakra doing the Academy exercises, especially since the Toad Sage recently left. I'm just glad he had her try to control my chakra. The large amounts that floated away were very helpful./
Naruto sighed. "Around, what, four more months, then?"
"About four, yeah," Ed agreed. "You ready?"
Naruto nodded before crouching down and pressing his gloves against the ground.
(Section Break)
Four months later.
"I want a real mission!" Natsuki pouted, looking at her father with pleading eyes. "What's the point of becoming a ninja without being allowed to do anything but household chores that you could easily hire a civilian for?"
Minato sighed. "I know, but—"
"Lord Hokage, if I may," Kakashi interrupted as politely as possible, "but I believe my team is ready for a C-rank mission."
Natsuki spun around and looked at Kakashi with some of the most grateful eyes to ever exist. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The Hokage bit his lip. "Alright, fine," he gave in. Looking through his list of missions, he spotted an escort one. "Ah, here. You'll be escorting a bridge builder to the Land of the Waves, Nami no Kuni, and staying there for around a week to make sure that nothing happens to the building process." He then raised his voice. "Tazuna, if you could come in, please?"
The door swung open and in came a larger-than-average man who appeared to be stumbling. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and he was holding a bottle of cheap alcohol in his hand. "What're these?" he asked, drawling. "I asked for ninja, and all I got were some kids?"
"Kakashi will also be accompanying them," Minato replied smoothly. "If anything were to occur, Kakashi is more than capable of taking care of it."
The drunk man—Tazuna, was it?—looked slightly output but nodded, accepting the Hokage's words. "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow at eight in the morning," Minato answered, looking at all of them. "You're free to go for the rest of the day."
The team nodded and left, ushering the drunk outside with them.
(Section Break)
Edward rolled the spear around in his hand, feeling for deformities. "There's a small jagged bit at the end, but great job for you making so many in a row," the immortal said, motioning to the hundreds of spears around them. "Your energy is quite outstanding."
Naruto grinned as he panted. "You said today was the last day, right?"
"Of this type of training, yeah," Ed affirmed, nodding. "I want to go to actually using it now, but I think a couple days of reading'll do you good. No point in wasting your knowledge, is there?"
Naruto hummed. "After that, where'll we go?"
"That's also part of why you get a couple of days," Ed admitted, shrugging. "I have no idea."
"You never have any idea, do you?" Naruto muttered under his breath.
"That would be correct," the blonde answered.
(Section Break)
Natsuki whined, pouting. "This is so boring!"
"It's an escort mission," Sakura replied. "Did you expect to fight other ninja or something?"
Natsuki pouted even more. Sakura sighed.
"Now, now," Kakashi interrupted. "No fighting during a mission."
"We weren't fighting," Natsuki scoffed, amusement heavy in her voice. "Were we, Sasuke?"
The Uchiha ignored her.
"See, this is why I never talk to him," Natsuki explained, looking at Sakura. "He doesn't reply to me."
Sakura nodded. "Say, Tazuna, how much farther is the Land of the Waves?"
"About two days, I guess," he responded, shrugging. "It's been a while."
"Ahh, thank you," Sakura replied.
"No problem."
(Section Break)
"Found anything yet?" Naruto asked one morning.
"Yes, actually," Edward said. "Apparently some ninja are escorting Tazuna, the bridge builder, back to his home here. When I traced their signatures, they were familiar."
"Konoha?" Naruto inquired quickly.
"More than that," Edward replied cheerfully. "Your sister, the silver-haired guy who came searching for you, a girl with a small amount of chakra, and a boy who doesn't seem to care about anything."
"Natsuki?" Naruto murmured. "No helping it, I guess. So what's your master plan for this?"
Ed grinned—he did that a lot, Naruto noted—before opening his mouth. "I can feel that a battle's going to occur here."
"And?" Naruto continued for him, raising an eyebrow.
"If you could, oh, I don't know, defeat the enemy of Konoha alonside them in this fight you may as well see what'll happen."
"What'll happen?" the Jinchūriki repeated. "What d'ya mean?"
"You'll have to find that out," Ed replied bemusedly.
Naruto sighed. "Honestly..."
Edward laughed. "I'll let you know."
(Section Break)
Natsuki panted heavily. "Take this, Zabuza!" she cried, hurling a Rasengan straight into his chest. He jumped back quickly, then laughed.
"Is that all?" he queried, tone vicious. Natsuki, however, smiled even more visciously and gestured towards her newly-freed teacher.
"Natsuki, fall back and protect the bridge builder," Kakashi commanded, shaking himself off after he fell from the water prison. "I'll get it now."
She nodded. I'm so scared but I'm so excited!
(Section Break)
"They're fighting someone," Edward mumbled. "Naruto, can you tell?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I can't tell who's who, though."
"Acceptable," Ed said. "Good for a beginner."
Naruto didn't respond. "In any case," the alchemist continued, "it's time."
"Time?" Naruto inquired.
"Yup," Ed replied. "If you hurry to town, you can buy some material for clothing. I'm not sure I've mentioned it, but your current clothing isn't exactly suited for fighting."
Naruto made a small "tch" sound. "I know it's not."
"Which is why you should go to the town and pick up some cloth," Edward repeated. "You know what to do with it after that, don't you?"
"Of course," Naruto answered. "Do you have any money?"
He regretted asking it when the answer was the ever-faithful "Nope!".
(Section Break)
Kakashi followed Zabuza's hand signs, muttering the same animal names under his breath. He watched with a small amount of sadistic glee as Zabuza grew more and more frantic, spluttering insane things out. Kakashi looked on in triumph as the two twin water dragons rose up from the water and attacked each other, splattering water everywhere. Kakashi glanced towards Zabuza and attempted to navigate the giant mass of water above him.
Zabuza's water dragon collapsed.
Kakashi's eyes widened and he jumped up to the nearest tree before controlling his dragon once more in the flood. He directed it towards Zabuza and pushed with his chakra, allowing the huge spiral of water to hit Zabuza dead on. It rammed into him and threw him back, crushing trees and bushes behind him. Finally, it stopped.
Kakashi leaped over towards Zabuza, who was attempting to get up. The Sharingan-wielding ninja quickly took out several kunai and threw them, piercing Zabuza's arms and legs against the final tree he'd fallen on. Zabuza's body jolted as each kunai hit him, blood seeping out of his wounds. Kakashi looked on carelessly before hopping down and gripping a kunai, readying for the final strike as Zabuza glared up at him hatefully. Just then, two needles pierced the man's neck and he slumped down, presumably dead.
Kakashi spun around and spotted a ninja wearing a mask—Kirigakure's mask, he noted. "I apologise for doing that," the ninja said softly. "I do thank you for taking care of my target, however. I have been searching for him for quite some time. Kirigakure will be noted of Konohagakure's support in the capture of the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza."
Kakashi nodded. "May I check if he is truly dead?" he asked. The other ninja nodded. Kakashi went up to the defeated Zabuza and checked for a pulse. Finding none, he nodded and stepped back. "Go ahead, hunter-nin."
"Thank you," the ninja said, picking up Zabuza's body and using a Shunshin to go away. After a few moments, Kakashi began to sway.
(Section Break)
Sakura put a hand over her mouth in horror as her teacher collapsed on the ground. She shouted his name and ran up to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked quickly, kneeling down to where he was.
"Just a bit tired," the silver-haired man chuckled. "How much farther is the house, Tazuna?"
"N-not far," he stuttered. "Not if you run all ninja-like."
"Unfortunately, we cannot do that," Natsuki huffed, trying to sit up from where she fell down due to the giant wave. "We'd be leaving you behind."
"Wouldn't that be better, though?" the bridge builder asked, confused. "You've protected me long enough."
"There is a chance that other ninja will come," Kakashi stated, breathing a bit harder in an effort to stay awake. "We will stay the entire length of our mission."
The bridge builder didn't look satisfied, but nodded his head in acceptance.
(Section Break)
Naruto looked around the shops, not finding a whole lot. It's worse than I thought it'd be when we first came here, he thought a bit sadly. After a few more minutes, he finally spotted a small clothing store and walked inside. There wasn't really any selection, he noted, but the shopkeeper seemed so excited that someone came in he felt saddened and couldn't bring himself just to leave once again. He decided to check around.
A few more minutes had passed. Naruto fingered the edge of the bottom of his black t-shirt, debating what to do. Finally, he decided to take a pair of shoes—shoes he'd definitely remake—and walked up to the counter.
"H-hello, sir," the shopkeeper greeted. "How are you doing?"
"Alright, thanks," Naruto replied. "This'll be all."
"Thank you very much for your business," the person responded happily, taking the money he held out for him. "Come back again!"
Naruto nodded absently and walked outside, a small bag in his hand and the very small pile of ryō he had made got a bit smaller. The alchemist-in-training sighed and looked around a bit more, finally (for the second time) finding a general store. Heading inside, he quickly dodged a rack of items as he saw bright blonde hair. Looking a bit closer, it was her.
His sister.
(Section Break)
"Want to go shopping?" Sakura inquired when they got inside of the home. "Miss Tsunami says she'd love it if we could pick up some of the food on a list."
"I'm tired," Natsuki muttered, getting up. "Ol' Pervert over there's asleep, right?"
"Oh, him?" Sakura asked. "Yeah, he's still recovering. He'll probably be up tomorrow or something."
"In the meantime, then," Natsuki began, grinning, "we can shop!"
"Only however much you have money for," Sakura responded. "Besides, we can't stay out too long. Having only Sasuke protect the home is a bit risky."
Natsuki nodded. "Let's go!"
However, as the two walked through the town, they soon realised what Tazuna meant what he said. The town truly was saddened and broke. They didn't find much and decided to pick up the food first. Soon after, the duo went into another shop that had a variety of items, trinkets and the like. Natsuki picked up a map of the world and opened it, glancing over the whole thing.
She, of course, did not notice the fellow blonde within the shop who was breathing slightly heavier than normal in a mixture of surprise and anger.
(Section Break)
Calm down, calm down, Naruto chanted to himself, wringing his wrists out. How'd they even get here? They moved way too quickly to be natural.
Naruto glanced around the corner once more before grabbing one of the hats on the wall and putting it on his head. Unless they were to use Shunshin, which I don't see how they could with a person who appeared to be a civilian, they shouldn't have gotten here so quickly. And why wasn't I able to sense them?
Naruto bit his lip, grinding it between his teeth. They'd have to have used Shunshin, then. But the largest chakra that was there seemed to have been knocked unconscious after the other large chakra was swept away by someone else. Did Natsuki know it?
Naruto waited for a few minutes until Natsuki had abandoned that aisle and went to look at another one. He quickly went in and picked out the cloth he wanted (there really wasn't much) before putting the hat back. This is odd. What did she learn while I was away?
Naruto went up to the counter and quickly paid. Then, of course, he went into the small bathroom in the back of the shop and made the clothing he wanted—why not, he thought—and stepped outside in a black t-shirt, a long-sleeved, long white cloak that had both light blue trimming and a hood and also with that ever-so-familiar symbol on the back of his teacher's cloak on it in black, and black pants. He wore the same boots he bought but a little modified, making them have thicker soles and a harder toe. Searching for her, he spotted his little sister leaving the shop with a small plastic bag full of knick knacks. He didn't think it was fitting of a ninja, but who was he to say otherwise? He wasn't a ninja, after all.
Walking out after them, he followed them at a rather casual pace, not arising any attention from the two ninja around a hundred feet in front of him. They were looking around nervously, he noted, uncomfortable with the downcast attitude the entire country had. He walked and walked until, eventually, they reached a small house and went inside. Naruto searched and found that the entire group of ninja from Konoha was there. He shivered. He could definitely feel the absolute chill coming off of the Uchiha's chakra. It's so cold, he thought. Is that a reflection of his heart?
Satisfied with what he discovered, he began to head back towards his temporary home.
(Section Break)
Edward whistled appreciatively (and jokingly, Naruto hoped) from the table in the kitchen as he walked in, closing the rock with a quick transmutation using the circle on his black, fingerless gloves. "Nice choice," the immortal greeted. "I noticed you didn't come straight home. What's up? Find your sister?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied, taking a different chair from the table and sitting down on the hard stone, the makeshift electrical lights flickering very slightly. "She was uncomfortable with the sad attitude the town has."
"Not surprising. Konoha's one of the nicest villages around," Ed responded. "In any case, notice anything else?"
"The closer I got to the Uchiha, and yes, he's an Uchiha, the colder he became. It was like standing in a snowstorm," Naruto murmured, leaning back. "Their location's pretty close to the bridge being built, too."
"Interesting enough," Ed said absently. "I take it you've seen the entire state of the town?"
"Yeah," Naruto answered. "It got worse than I imagined it would."
"Things like that tend to," the immortal said. "So, figured out what I want you to do?"
"The guy they were fighting was taken away by someone." Naruto adjusted himself a bit. "I imagine he's alive or something stupid and cliché like that, yes?"
"Yup," Ed said with a grin. "The person who took him away was pretending to be someone else, probably someone who was after the guy. They're most likely both missing-nin. I'd imagine the second one pretended to be a hunter-nin."
Naruto hummed in response. "In that case, it'd be about two weeks until he's back, right?"
"Yup," Edward responded. "And, during that time, I want you to help build the bridge for this country. I want to see if you can both control your compulses to use alchemy when it'll be easier and how well you can control yourself while fighting alongside those whom you hate. Fortunately for you, you can have a disguise. I'll be watching, though. Oh, and, if you'd like, I can dye your hair for you."
"That'd be preferrable, thanks."
"No problem. Just make sure to do well."
(Section Break)
Kurama snapped to attention when he sensed a bit of his chakra being called on. It was purified, it seemed, but it was definitely his. He sensed his host sleeping and quickly tried to call back the chakra. It wasn't too far, either, but it seemed higher than normal. Perhaps she was trying to climb trees? She was doing an awful job at it, he noted, when he could feel the large amounts of chakra swirling around in the air.
/Oi, kid,/ Kurama muttered, trying to wake up his host. He heard a small groan and took it as a reply. /Try to get me closer to where my chakra's host is. I can pick up a lot of chakra if you do./
/I might get caught, you know,/ Naruto murmured. /Plus it's late at night. What'll happen if I get lost?/
/These are just silly excuses,/ the Kyūbi laughed. /C'mon, kid. Get up. The more chakra I can get, the more strength I can let you have./
/Power isn't that alluring to me, Kurama,/ Naruto mumbled, yawning and sitting up. He quickly got dressed. /Same place I was earlier today?/
/Yup. Get over there quickly, I want as much chakra as I can get./
/Yeah, yeah,/ Naruto said dismissively, opening the entrance to the home, stepping out, and closing it again. /Just be patient. I'm tired./
/And I want my chakra back,/ Kurama retorted. /I'll tell Ed to let you sleep a bit longer in the morning, okay?/
/Sure,/ the blonde replied, yawning once more. /Now, let's see.../
A while later, Naruto approached the small clearing within the woods. He saw his sister attempting to climb up the tree, but she appeared to be having a hard time with it. Getting a bit closer, he began hearing her voice. He decided to settle in one of the higher branches of a nearby tree.
"Why is this so hard?" he heard her growl. "I already learned this!"
/D'ya think she didn't practice it after she learned it?/
/Very plausible. Chakra tends to be annoying for humans when it does that./
She took a swig of water from a small container and began running up the tree before a large flux of visible chakra spilled out from under her feet and left a mark in the tree. /Just like that,/ the fox murmured. /You can sleep if you want, by the way./
/I might just do that,/ Naruto muttered, yawning another time. /'Night, Kurama./
Kurama made a small noise of agreement and continued to lead his chakra back to Naruto body, having it enter through the seal on his stomach. /I'll wake you up when she collapses./
/Thanks./
(Section Break)
In response to Guest: Yeahhhhh, that'd totally break your computer—the graphics are too good for a ten-year-old computer. I've never gotten that! I'm jealous D;
In response to the other Guest: Well, I'm glad you have faith in my writing abilities, at least. Yeah, no worries—Naruto's not going to ever rejoin the village in this story, nor will he join another village as a ninja-alchemist-thing. Also, I'm a bit confused—what is Edward not understanding? While their circumstances are quite different, of course, the overall concept (at least, this is how I see it) is the same in a sense—Naruto hates his family like Edward hated his father. However, Edward knows it's not a good idea to stay running away from the problem that is labeled "FAMILY" in the back of your mind (he's experienced this first-hand) he tells Naruto to at least confront them in some way, and whether it be for the better or the worse, at least he didn't run away from it like a coward. At least, that's what I think.
In response to Peter Kim: Ahh, thanks for the definition. And sorry for asking, but "soul energies"? What do you mean by that? [I'm really bad at life, sorry.]And we'll see, won't we?
In response to Peter Kimj: Aren't you Peter Kim? Haha. Yes, I remember. No worries!
I have 100 reviews. Please excuse me as I go "fwey urfbwuoe fbhweruofbc wehuprvbwer uof eryupfbw erhuovw erfyvbyufbyuwrby uwevuovuo" in the back of the closet in the back of my house in the middle of the night.
Yeah, yeah, there'll be a fight in the next chapter. Maybe two if I'm feeling inspired, yeah?
Well, thank you for reading! If you review, virtual cookies. If not, that's fine too. As long as you like the story, everything's all good!
Shameless advertising: If you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter crossovers, I have a story called Molten up. It's a bit drabble-y. I also have a Naruto one-shot called A Way to Win, if anyone's interested.