Notice: This contains inlets of FMA Manga, FMA Anime, and BBI. (BBI: Bluebird's Illusion so it may get a little confusing. -.-')
WARNING: Does contain spoilers for Manga, Anime, and possibly BBI
Announcement: This is an AU (Alternate Universe for both series)
Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Himuro Arakawa does. T.T I do not own Naurto. Masashi Kishimoto does and I'm quite fine with that actually.
Endless Moments
By: Scifijesus
(Formerly LittleDemonWolf)
Chapter 1: Only the Beginning
Diplomatic relations were running high between the country of Amestris and Konohagakure. There were three main countries that Amestris could have major diplomatic interaction within "the land beyond the waves". The village hidden in the mist seemed a valuable ally, yet the military found their ideas of cooperation and methods of a "military" rather inappropriate. The second deemed was the village hidden in the sand. These sand people did not elevate to the level of inappropriateness that the village hidden in the mist had and yet diplomatic matters between the two countries rose with conflicts between the two. Therefore any sort of diplomatic mission would turn out to be a failure. Yet the third proved hopeful, though Amestris looked on with much doubt. The people of the village hidden in the leaves, or Konohagakure applied themselves to gaining an ally on good terms and making themselves worthy of "such profoundness" as one had put it. Already the relations and contracts between countries were going smoothly and the cooperation of both deemed more than acceptable.
All this seemed well and good but the fact that the village hidden in the Mist and the village hidden in the Sand was denied the right as allies to Amestris left a gapping wound. If salt were poured into it, chaos would ensue. As explanation, the wound was the relation between both countries and the fact that Amestris had chosen Konoha as its favored allies. And revenge could still be high up on the list of things of both countries denied. A war could break out at any time between all four countries.
Needless to say, the two countries were frustrated, but did nothing as the political affairs went through. Whether it was their egos telling them that they were better off alone anyway, or they just didn't care if Amestris joined with Konoha could never be said at this point. Yet Amestris had found in most situations best to follow one unspoken rule, "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." They were on their toes whether either country tried something against them as the relations ran through.
As said before, the political affairs where just being completed; Führer King Bradley and a number of his personal officers as well as some special officers were heading over to heading over to Konohagakure for a ceremony of sorts and a way to meet there new allies in a means that was presented in a much less uniformed fashion. The Führer thought it best that his presence was needed, but only for a short time. For the time being the countries such as Xing, Creta, Aerngo, and Draohma as well as others surrounding Amestris were not imposing upon them and there was no need to hurry; yet they'd had problems in the past, as Amestris had a niche for creating troubles with other countries. Problems at this time were not welcome or expected, but it was better to be safe than sorry. That's how the Führer had put it. He and also a few of his personal officers would return within at least 3 days after their arrival in Konohagakure. Others would remain and make sure that the relations between peoples stayed versatile.
Colonel Roy Mustang and several of his men had been selected to stay. It wasn't new, the idea of not taking all of Mustang's men, but it was odd this time. Yet it didn't seem odd, at least for Mustang's men. Why? Edward Elric, the FullMetal Alchemist would be tagging along and his younger brother, Alphonse too. It was odd because Ed and Al always went out on missions and often went traveling alone, but then it wasn't odd because it only seemed right that "The Hero of the People" back home, or Edward was there for ceremonial reasons. It was a diplomatic mission after all. Of course this was done against their wills and Ed had made sure that the colonel knew that. But still, to Mustang's men, it was all very mind-boggling.
---
Ed ran his hand through his long blonde hair, frazzled from just sitting in a carriage all day. He was frustrated; frustrated with himself for not being able to pay any attention to the piece of paper he had in front of him. Ed was distracted to put it bluntly.
The paper described the entire mission, in and out, what dangers were possible, the people from "the village hidden in the Mist" and "the village hidden in the Sand". And then there was that whole piece about "the village hidden in the Leaves" and the part he'd be playing. And as distracted as Ed was, he was thinking about the names and why would anyone name them those names. They were boring and something a country or "prestigious" place would not be called. Then again, he was a foreigner in a foreign country.
Stuffing the paper back inside a folder and setting it on the seat next to him, Ed sighed and looked outside. Currently he and Al sat in the back of a carriage. The different land obviously didn't have trains to travel long distances. Colonel Roy Mustang and Lt. Riza Hawkeye sat across from them. The bastard Colonel was sleeping and the first Lt. was cleaning her gun and reassembling it. She often did that.
The bastard Colonel had told Ed it was random selection that got him into this "idea" in the first place. Ed just had to be picked, random selection his foot. Ed knew the colonel wanted him to come along. As for what reason, Ed figured it was so he could keep a tab on the Elric brothers. Truthfully Ed had wished that he and Al were back in Amestris searching for the philosopher's stone or any other lead that would allow Ed to get his brother's body back to him. And Al to get his older brothers limbs back. Yet being a dog of the military, he had to follow orders. Ed frowned at that thought.
Ed looked out the window even more nonchalantly than before. They'd been riding the carriage for what seemed like ages. Yet ages didn't even compare, 'forever' was more like it.
Al too was looking outside and a second later with a sound of glee he said, "Look! Brother! The village, Konohagakure."
"Finally," Ed was relieved. After everything was settled or before the ceremony maybe he and Al could tour the town and possibly find something for Winry. She'd begged for a souvenir.
Slowly the carriage came to a halt. There were several others in front and behind them. One pulled up on either side of theirs. An officer stepped out of the carriage in the front along with the Führer to verify that they were the foreigners from Amestris.
"Who goes there?" asked a young voice. They, which was a young kid with short spiky blonde hair and in orange stood on top of the gates. He looked no older than the age of twelve.
Another voice spoke agitatedly, "Naruto, get down from there," the voice paused, obviously an aged man and the gates opened. He was an old man dressed oddly in Amestris eyes and behind him was a group of at least twenty soldiers but they looked more like…ninja. The odd thing was, they were.
Führer King Bradley smiled at the old man. He approached him and shook his hand, "It is good to see you again, Sandaime."
The aged man made a small grin, "And it good to see that you and your people made it safely here. Come, your people must be tired."
The Führer nodded and climbed back into the carriage, followed by officer.
---
Most people hadn't heard of a country from beyond the Village-Hidden-In-The-Waves and yet the opportunity arose to meet and become allies.
Naruto was suspicious. He squinted his eyes at the newcomers. Of course he'd known about the diplomatic relations going on with a foreign country. But then he'd never really paid attention to the news.
The blonde had moved off to the side as the gates opened and glanced around as each of the people he could see. There was that leader guy, Hokage of his village. The people in the carriages were dressed really oddly. They wore clothes that looked like that should have belonged to some group of old people. How boring. Naruto glanced around some more. A kid caught his attention. Blonde hair, nothing odd, wore black, and gloves. He seemed impatient. Naruto passed him off as the adults kid in the carriage with him. He peered deeper into the carriage. A suit of armor? Why would they bring that? Was it a present to Konoha or something? If it were, then it would be really weird. These people were really weird.
Sasuke was not far off. He had seen Naruto acting like a fool again. Sasuke had decided to observe from a distance. He knew that the Hokage knew Sasuke was there, but he didn't care. He was also curious about the newcomers. They were definitely not from the same continent: their wear, their poise, their…style. He had an odd feeling about these people. He would not just bypass it as nothing. Sasuke caught Naruto's direction in which he gazed: a boy…and a suit of armor. The armor…it moved and acted as if human. Sasuke wondered why anyone in his or her right mind would wear such a heavy weight thing. Not only that, but the armored one seemed to have a child-like aura yet he could feel no chakra in them. Everyone had chakra. The armor they were wearing could possibly intercept that, yet something was out of place. Sasuke shifted his gaze to the one next to the armored one. The boy was probably as old as they and his chakra flow was enormous. He'd have to keep an eye out for both of them.
Sasuke watched as the foreigners that had climbed out climb back into the carriage and pull off into Konoha. They'd be stopping on the other end of the city, next to an open field lined with trees and the outer wall of the village. There they'd proceed to the Main Hall only a block away and be briefed on rules and the like as well as living quarters. He'd heard the leader of Amestris, their country would only stay for a short time and then he and a select few would leave. The others would be staying for six months to a year. He'd have enough time to find out about the two if they were not some of the few selected to leave with their leader.
After their briefing, then they'd be free to drop their stuff off at the lodge they'd be staying at then allowing them to be free to roam Konoha. But then, if they did come from "beyond the waves" the Amestrians would be quite tired. Going to "the-village-hidden-in-the-Waves" was long enough as it was.
---
The Hokage stood silently at the front end of the room with the Führer as he watched the Amestris soldiers file in. The lower ranks came first then the higher ups and lastly, an obvious different division of military filed in. There were only two, wait, three: two men and a child most likely no older than the age of twelve. The stood in an "attention stance" or something like that, saluting them at the front of the room. The Amestris soldiers took up half of the Main Hall while the Anbu Team and his highest-ranking ninjas took up the other half. The Führer smiled lightly and waved his hand, "At-ease."
Immediately all the Amestrians relaxed by placing their hands behind their backs. The Hokage glanced at the child. He was frowning, obviously annoyed at something, but was following orders like the rest. The Führer explained this as regular protocol. He didn't have time to examine the intricacies of the group although he'd seen this once before.
While the Amestrians were filing in, the last one to enter was a suit of armor. He looked embarrassed, but how a suit of armor could do that was beyond him. He shrugged the metal shoulders and reached a hand behind his helmet as if to scratch and lightly laughed. Again embarrassment. This one was not part of the military. The armored one only tagged along probably as company for the Führer or one of the soldiers. The last time that the Hokage had seen the Führer, the armor was not with him. More than likely he was one of the soldiers company.
Sandaime turned to the King Bradley, "Shall we proceed?"
---
Ed flopped down on what was supposed to be a bed. It was on the floor, yet it was comfortable enough and he lay motionless. He glanced over at Al whom set his suitcase down next to him. Winry swore that Ed would break another automail limb, so she forced him to bring along a prosthetic leg. A real automail leg and arm would have been heavy to carry and there was no way Ed was bringing two suitcases. The arm was thrown out and the leg kept, only to make the machine junkie happy with him. Winry seemed impossible…and she was violent. She had thrown several wrenches at him, only to miss once until Ed had put at least one prosthetic limb in the case. He sighed and looked at Al, "Thanks."
"You're welcome, Brother," Al replied almost cheerfully, "You should get some rest. We can go see Konoha tomorrow before the ceremony. "
Ed sat up while leaning on his hands, "You're probably right. Wake me up in a few hours, k, Al?"
"Yes, Brother."
Yet again Ed flopped back down on the supposed bed, not bothering to take off his shoes. He'd already taken off the coat and gloves while setting his watch aside. He was beat because of the long, very long and boring journey there and sore from sitting so long. Minutes later Ed was asleep.
"Brother…" Al began to scold Ed but was already too late. He began to pull off his brother's boots and wondered what it was like to not have a high-maintenance older brother. But then Ed wouldn't be Ed.
Silently Al took the sheet from what was supposed to be his bed and covered Ed with it. Ed was surely high-maintenance.
It hadn't been five minutes later when Colonel Roy Mustang and Major Joliot Comanche, the Ice Alchemist came bursting through the door. It was a sliding door, so it didn't make as much noise as a normal door would, but Al immediately shushed them then and there. They stopped upon hearing and seeing the two. Ed was asleep…in a bed. Envious eyes trailed from the sleeping Edward to three other beds in the room. Al had folded up one, setting it off to the side, which left two others. Their tired faces looked more than relieved. As long as it was bed, floor or not, they were happy. It meant sleep and sleep was very, very good thing. Within ten minutes the two state alchemists were asleep as well.
Al sighed. What was he going to do for several hours? He and Ed had agreed to see the town together. A good alchemy book would solve that problem. Ed had stressed that they bring their research with them. The more one knew about what they wanted and means of obtaining it, the better.
Al had gotten Ed up a near four hours later which landed the time right around twenty-one hundred hours military time, or else 9 o'clock. Roy and Joliot had left two hours earlier. Ed was reluctant to get up and once he'd heard he'd missed dinner, Ed shot out of bed.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Ed yelled stuffing his feet into his boots.
"I tried, Brother, but you refused to get up. I tried again, but you'd just go right back to sleep."
Ed grumbled out curses. He had no recollection of that happening. Grabbing his watch and slipping on the gloves, Ed rushed out the door. It was humid over in Konoha so his coat was unneeded. Al hurried after him. Both brothers speed down to the open field next to the lodge they were staying. Konoha had provided them with dinner that night and the next, but after that paying for meals was their job. Food didn't grow by the minute. Amestris agreed.
Ed and AL arrived just in time. 5 minutes later and no food would be served. Already the last of the people were leaving, besides that odd number that stayed after hours. The provided dinner wasn't just for Amestris but of course Konoha residents were invited. It was only natural. Most of the people of Konoha that did come were families, kids, and many ninja, obviously too lazy too cook that night.
Ed sighed and grinned. He walked up to one of the many booths that were set out. It was ramen, something he hadn't had in a long time.
The man behind the bother gave a toothy grin, "Ah, it's the kid that came with the foreigners. One bowl should be enough for you."
"I'm Not A Kid!" Ed yelled.
The man laughed, "Well from your height, it sure looks that way. I mean, you're so short."
"WHO'S SO SHORT YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT ME THROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS?"
Ed was going to attack the man if Al had not stepped in to hold his brother back.. He looked at the man in embarrassment, "Two bowls please…"
"Alright," the man laughed and set to work. Al released his brother. Ed just glared at the two of them. He was still very angry, but under control.
A few minutes later the two were sitting at a table, Ed slurping away. Some people would pass by the two, curious and some would stop and talk for a bit for a minute then leave. Ed wondered why people couldn't leave someone alone while they're eating. He finally ad it when a blonde-haired kid in orange, the one from earlier that day at the gate jumped out of nowhere and stared at Ed and Al very hard. A few seconds later he grinned, "Hey, I'm Naruto."
Ed stuck a mouthful of noodles in his mouth ignoring everyone and everything. Al spoke for the two of them, "Hello, I'm Alphonse Elric and this is my brother, Edward. Call me Al."
The second one mentioned didn't look at Naruto, "Call me Ed."
Naruto squinted his eyes, "So you guys come along as someone's kids right? I saw you with that dark, creepy guy and the blonde woman."
Ed erupted in anger, yet let himself just sit there twitching. Al the kid from becoming mincemeat, "No, no, no! Colonel Mustang is brother's superior officer."
Ed twitched at superior, but it couldn't be helped. The bastard colonel was his boss, so to speak.
Naruto was surprised, "What? Aren't you like twelve or thirteen?"
"I'm sixteen…" Ed couldn't help but make a fist in anger as he growled out the words.
"But you're so short!"
Ed lunged for Naruto without hesitation, "WHO'S SO SHORT THAT – AL!"
Al had grabbed his brother in the frenzy, "Excuse Ed, he's sensitive about his height."
Naruto blinked once then started laughing his head off. Ed switched his gaze from Al to Naruto, "AL! LET ME DOWN! LET ME DOWN! I SWEAR I'LL NEVER LET YOU HELP ANOTHER CAT AGAIN! LET ME DOWN!"
"You're So Inhuman, BROTHER!" Al flung his brother away with such ferocity that Ed flew high in the air and landed in a pile of bushes. Al took off running, streaming tears that could not be seen.
"AL! Come Back!" He sighed finding the call useless. Al would get over it. Ed had only said it to let him down, but even now, it didn't matter. He glanced at Naruto. He was squinting at Ed. Ed stood up, stepped out of the bushes and brushed himself off. He heard a low laugh to his right. Turning, Ed saw the Colonel.
"It seems FullMetal has decided to become a little more lively today."
Ed glared, "What do you mean by that?"
"The whole day you were moping around saying, 'I wanna go home. I miss my home.'" Roy's imitation voice of Ed only earned him a loathing look.
Roy continued, "You were sulking all day as if someone had just called you midget and you didn't have a comeback."
"I'M NOT A MIDGET!"
"Of course you're not, but you do lack the height of a normal person."
Ed twitched for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, "Why did you come over here for anyway?"
"To give you this," Roy handed him a box, "I expect to see you in it all day tomorrow."
The box was open and looking in Ed found the traditional folded blue uniform along with a pair of boots and a black cloak and sash. There was a small pouch on the top of it all. It obviously held the badges he needed to wear to identify his rank. It was only proper Ed was in uniform for the ceremony, but all day? Ed had to ask.
"FullMetal, part of the ceremony is that you are in uniform all day. It's protocol, and Führer's orders."
Ed nodded. There was no fighting the Führer's orders. Touring the village might have to wait…and now he'd have to go find Al. That had always given him a headache.
ANs:
(1) All right, Chappie one all done and typed up! A lot longer than I thought it was going to be. Okies, for all y'alls information, in about a week, my name will no longer be "LittleDemonWolf" but be changing to my more…uh, used name: Scifijesus. Now, to type up chapter 2…-.-'
(2) Slight corrections made
-Scifi Out