Sorry for the wait. Remember how I was complaining about my crap-tastic luck? Well, the shit has hit the fan again. I feel like I'm flying a kite one handed during a hurricane. So. Because of life issues, I may not be able to update for a while, though I shall strive to work on the next chapter.

Now, I'm going to go find a rock to sulk under for the next week or so. Life, you have kicked my ass. I demand a do-over for the last two months. Or at the very least, monetary compensation to help with the sudden plethora of new bills.

Please enjoy this chapter. I admit it's not my best, though I am reasonably happy with where it is. No notes at the end this time. Stuff is going to slowly start to come to light, though you can expect plenty of misunderstandings. Thanks again to everyone who's added this to their faves, alerts, c2s, and reviewed. "Thanks, And Thanks again!"

*&*&*_POV NARUTO_*&*&*

Naruto stared at the golden eyes that were way too close for comfort. There seemed to be no malice in them, just honest curiosity. It was a bit unnerving, really.

From beyond the blond, Mustang growled, "Edward, don't you think we have more important questions to ask?"

"Go stuff it, Brigadier General, I'll get to them eventually," he replied, suddenly crouching down so his eyes were at naval level. He rubbed his chin with his hand. "Why didn't the mark appear this time, I wonder." He looked up at a now very nervous Naruto, "Hey, you, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to answer me? ARAHG, Never mind..." He shot up and started circling the now sweating blond.This is about as creepy as the time Sai followed me into the bathroom."Hey, Alphonse! Come here a second, I want you to take a look at this!"

"Sure, Brother!" The dirty-blond with gray eyes said, trotting up.

Edward jabbed a finger in Naruto's face, pressing against his whisker marks, "What do you make of this, Al?"Correction, WAY creepier...he tried to pull back. "Will you stop squirming? Geesh, it's not like I'm hurting you, you know." A pensive look crossed Al's face as he too reached out and felt the whiskers, "See, they're not like regular scar tissue, the texture's too soft..."

Finally Naruto couldn't take it any more, and he leapt away. "What is with you guys? Personal space!" He glared at them suspiciously for a moment, "Do the names Sai and Kakashi mean anything to you?" He got blank stares. "Never mind," he sighed.

"Ah, so you do speak." The gray eyed teen smiled at him, "Hello, Naruto, was it? I'm Al, Alphonse Elric. This is my older brother, Edward. Sorry, Ed tends to get carried away sometimes." Naruto glared at him, "Ok, so we both do a bit." His eyes lit up, "Can you tell me how you were able to do that?"

"Do what? Jump back?"

"No, not that. The thing you did with Alkahestry earlier."

"Wha...?" Naruto squinted at him, cocking his head to the side. What the heck is Alkahestry... Wait a second... "Are you talking about my Sage Mode?"

"Sage mode?"

"Yeah, you know," Naruto pointed to his eyes, "when my eyes were orange and a little froggy?"

The two brothers exchanged a look before the elder nodded and turned back to Naruto. "Is that what you call it, then? 'Sage Mode?' Ok then, I've got just one question for you," Edward grinned, "How did you do it, why did your eyes change, can you hold it long, is that how your eyes turn red, can all homunculi do that, what exactly does it do?"

"...That's way more than one question," Al muttered.

Naruto for his part puffed out his chest with an air of self importance, seeming to completely ignore those in the room who didn't see his greatness. "The great Uzumaki-sama will answer your questions." He grinned, "After you give me back my necklace and hitai-ate." He looked down, "And my pants."

"Wow, is that all you'll be requiring, your highness?" Mustang snarkily asked.

"My shirt and jacket would be nice too, now that you mention it, Ash-face." Grinned the blue eyed blond.

*&*&*_TIME SKIP_*&*&*

"Hey, what happened to the books I had with me?" Naruto asked as he finished zipping up his jacket. Though, in reality, there really wasn't much of a jacket left.At least they cleaned it before giving it back...

"We fulfilled our end of the bargain," Mustang spat as he sat at the newly formed table, "You never asked for those books."

"Well, I'm asking for them now."

"Too bad."

Naruto fidgeted, "Just, don't damage them, ok? They're very important." With a sigh, he slumped in the chair, giving Mustang the stink eye before turning his baleful glare at Ed. The two of them were the only ones in the room, for some reason. Really, he could have done without the raven haired ass, but the blond really didn't seem too bad. For a short runt that had kicked him across a hall, that is. With his eyes still locked on Ed's he sighed again, "So, you've got some questions for me?"

The other blond smirked, "I might have a few. Feel up to answering them?"

"Maybe. Depends what they are."

"Let's start off with an easy one, then, Fishcake." Naruto growled a bit under his breath. "Where are you from?"

"A galaxy far, far away."

Mustang snarled, "Try that again."

What the hell does he want me to say? I'll be damned if I tell him about my village. He rolled his eyes, "Pass."

He watched in amusement as Ed put a hand on the other's shoulder, holding him back. "Ok, then. How old are you?"

"I don't see what that's got to do with any of this. Sixteen."

"How did you get here?" Mustang asked. Naruto ignored him completely, until Ed repeated the question.

"Pass."

"Where did you learn your 'shinobi' skills?" Again, Naruto ignored Mustang. "Hey, you! Why are you ignoring my questions, you brat?"

Ed sighed, rubbing his head as Naruto crossed his arms and glared at the two of them. "Same question the Brigadier General just asked."

"Because I don't like you. I told you I wasn't telling YOU anything." He nodded towards Edward, "You, I don't hate. Yet. So I'll talk to you a bit." Naruto grinned, "As for the other question, I learned to be a shinobi at the academy, of course!"

"How many chimera are involved?"

"What the heck is a chimera?"

"Your friend," Now Edward looked at the notes in front of him, "Shima, she's one, correct?"

"Shima's a toad." He cocked his head to the side, "You know, toad? Not quite as slimy as a frog, but colorful? I know I told you this before."

"So she's a toad chimera?"

"No." Naruto rolled his eyes, "She's a toad."

"How long ago did you become a homunculus?"

"That's a stupid question. I'm not one. I told you that before."

"Then what are you? A chimera?"

"Again, I have no clue what that is...Pass."

"Oh come ON! We know you're not normal! You were talking about something being inside you earlier, weren't you? Explain yourself!"

Yes, go ahead and tell them about me."You, shut up," Naruto growled before slamming his hands on the table, making the two in the room with him jump just a bit. "I can't tell you that, ok? We don't talk about it."

"Why not?"

Here he had to shrug, "It's safer, I guess."

"Well, can you tell me who made you like this then?"

"Pass."

Roy grinned, "We know that already, Ed. Don't tease the idiot. It was obviously Father, right?" The whiskered youth flinched. "See? I know I'm right about this."

"Yeah? So what? My father was a hero, you know."

Mustang slammed his fist into the table and stood glowering at the startled blue eyed blond. "A hero? Really? Your 'hero' was trying to destroy this country, kill everyone, for his own power. He wanted to be god. What kind of hero is that?" He spat, "But I forgot, you never met Father, did you?"

What is he talking about, my father never did anything like that...I mean, yeah, he was Hokage, and I'm sure he got into a lot of battles with other villages, but I know he wasn't the kind of man to do something like that! That's something Pein, or maybe Orochimaru would do. That freaky grinning guy really did send me somewhere, didn't he?

Silence reigned for a moment as the general struggled to calm himself. Naruto continued to be silent until the man sat, sending a withering glare his way. "Can you..." began Edward.

"I met him once, recently." Naruto interrupted, "Though he's gone, he's still with me." He ignored both of them, "My father, he gave his life for his people, he's a real hero, you know? He did make me what I am," He placed a hand over his stomach, "but, I understand why. Even though it's been hard, I get it." He held up a hand to silence the protests, "He gave his life for me, and his village. He's really a hero."

"He lost his life trying to contain God!" Mustang growled out, "He did it for himself. We were there, two years ago when he put his plans in motion in Central. Fullmetal here dealt him the final blow." He turned his head away in disgust, "He was a monster. Just like you."

Naruto grinned, "You're wrong."

"Oh? How so?" Now it was Ed's turn to be annoyed, golden eyes staring intently at the smirking blond, "Are you saying I didn't finish him?"

Naruto gave a half hearted shrug, still grinning. "I don't know, honestly. All I know is my father died the night I became like this." The grin faded, "And trust me, that was a lot longer than two years ago."

"How much longer?" Came the tense response.

"Sixteen years."

*&*&*_POV MUSTANG_*&*&*

"S-sixteen years? You've got to be joking!" Sputtered his former subordinate.

"How is that even possible? You've got to be mistaken."

The annoying creature in front of him just cocked his head to the side, "Maybe we're talking about different people?"

"Forget that, Roy! Do you have any idea what this means?" Fullmetal tugged on his arm, hissing in his ear.

"Yeah, there's apparently another 'Father' out there, or this guy's pulling our leg." Like I'm dumb enough to fall for that. "Don't let him get you so worked up, kid."

Ed just grabbed his arm and started to drag him to the normally locked door. It had been a sign of good will, or some such bull. In truth the rest of the group was ready to burst into the room at the first sign of danger. "We'll be right back, just... stay there ok?" He sounded upset, "You got that, Naruto? Don't. Move."

Roy cast a look back to see surprised blue eyes following them. "Bring back food?" he asked, obviously confused, though possibly not as confused as Roy.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just stay there for a minute, ok?" Ed didn't even wait for a response before he practically tossed Roy through the door before he himself rushed out of the room. Immediately they were surrounded by concerned friends.

"What's wrong?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Is he talking?"

"Did you find out how he...?"

"Is there anything...?"

Roy just shook his head at them all, looking at Ed, "Care to explain what that was all about, runt?" He was surprised when the bond ignored the jab.

"Ling, are yousure, and I mean totally, one hundred and twenty percentsurehe's human-based?"

Ling just blinked, "Well, yeah." He looked at the Xing princess next to him, "May?"

The girl nodded, "I feel it as well, he's definitely human, but at the same time, he's not. He's not a chimera, though. Much like the others, Wrath and Greed."

"Dammit!"

"Ed, calm down, will you?"

"How could he say that he was a hero? How could anyone say that?"

"He was just messing with you. We know he's full of it, Father was a monster. You killed Father, he didn't die sixt..."

"Shut up, Roy!" Ed turned his golden glare at Mustang, "You've got no clue, do you? Were you even listening to a word he said?"

"Brother...?"

Mustang stood tall, once more pissed off at the teen he'd long since come to admire, "Excuse me?" His eyes had a dangerous glint, "Care to explain what part of that creature's shit I apparently missed?"

The other snapped back, "Fine, if I have to spell it out for you. Who made him into this...thing?"

"He never outright said it."

"Who?"

Roy rolled his eyes, "His father. Why are we going over what we already know?"

"How long ago did he say his father died?"

"Sixteen years ago. But we both know that's total..."

The look in Ed's eyes silenced him, "Last question, Brigadier General, how old is he?"

"Come on, that's the only thing he's told us today that I'd even remotely believe. He's Six...teen." He blinked as the information hit him, "Crap."

"You're kidding, right? Brother?"

"No, Al, that's what he said. I don't think he was lying, about either part of that. I really don't think Father created him at all; it makes no sense, no matter how you look at it. Father wouldn't have had the patience for a homunculus that was a baby."

"How could anyone...?"

"That's what he meant." Ling interrupted, turning to Lan Fan, "Remember, when I offered to help him turn back? He said he was always like this." He shook his head, "I can hardly believe it, though."