Naruto Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Of Alchemists and Shinobi: The Broken Law ❯ Intimidation and Provocation ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six: Intimidation and Provocation

 

Atsuko drilled Ed cruelly on every single piece of information he had read the previous night; from which hand-sign is the rat, to what color vest do most Konohagakure's jounins wear, and to the amount of academy students graduate to become genins. This kind of drilling lasted several hours before Atsuko decided that she was satisfied with Ed's progress and began to train him in a new way.

 

“Today, Edward, I will begin teaching you about the handling and use of weapons. First off, there is a kunai,” she explained, taking out a kunai out of her holster while doing so. “Most have a small handle to grip with one hand, a ring on the dull end so you won't accidentally let it go, for attachment to strings or wires, twirling on your finger, and other fun stuff like that, and of course there's the blade. It is usually around three to seven inches long and can be used for both melee and ranged fighting. Others are specialized kunai made primarily for ranged fighting or melee. Take this and try throwing it at that bulls-eye on that board there,” she commanded. She pointed at the blank white wall.

 

“Uh…there's…no…dartboard…there,R 21; Ed tentatively pointed out.

 

“Oh, right, hold on,” she groaned. Rat, boar, dragon, dog, serpent, boar, dog, ox, tiger. In a poof of smoke, a dartboard appeared hanging on the wall. “Jitsugen no jutsu (technique of materialization),” she explained. “It's a chuunin to jounin level jutsu, but my sensei is a little, what's the word, obsessive, over being the best team, therefore my team is ruthlessly drilled on jutsu even some chuunin don't know. Just be thankful that you don't have him for a sensei.”

 

`Yeah, and so you're much better,' sardonically thought Ed.

 

“Now throw,” sharply dictated the girl. Ed pulled back his hand to his ear and then threw it towards the board. It left his hand and hit its mark, or, where the mark would have been if it was three feet lower on the wall. “Did you see what you did wrong?” questioned Atsuko.

 

“How am I supposed to know what I did wrong? You didn't tell me how to do it right!” fumed Ed.

 

“What do you learn by me telling you how to throw a kunai? Nothing. Now if you want to learn, you'll shut your trap and within the next half an hour or you'll never be a ninja!” she seethed.

 

“I don't even want to be a stupid ninja,” muttered Ed.

 

“What did you just say?” shouted a livid Atsuko.

 

“Nothing,” grumbled Ed.

 

“Then figure out how to throw a kunai!” She then passed him a pack of the knives.

 

`Only to get back to Resembool,' thought Ed. He then tried throwing it the same way as before, except releasing it from his hand earlier. And he successfully got the kunai lodged into the ceiling. He started cursing under his breath and then took another one of the sharp knives and then tried throwing it by bringing his left hand back, then immediately swinging it forward, releasing the kunai during the swing and following throw with the flow until his left hand reached the space near his right ear. The kunai, hit on the very edge of the dartboard, his best effort yet. Ed mentally celebrated as he got out another kunai and tried throwing it the same way, only this time releasing a millisecond earlier, causing the kunai to hit the wall a decimeter to the left of the board. He then tried again, releasing it a millisecond later, causing the kunai to veer towards Atsuko's head, however, she caught the blunt side of the blade with her hand.

 

“Don't throw that way, it's too inaccurate,” she dictated.

 

“Now you tell me,” Ed grumbled. He then took out a new kunai, the last one, and inhaled deeply. He could feel the newly inhaled air clearing out his anxiousness. He then brought his left hand to the right side of his waist, and in one fluid motion he swept his hand over to his right shoulder, extending it and releasing the kunai while doing so.

 

He exhaled.

 

#@%$^&*\

 

The kunai hit the dartboard an inch from the bullsye, hitting the middle of the second innermost ring. Ed smirked at his success. Atsuko seemed unfazed and threw him another pouch of kunai.

 

“Hit the bullseye ten times with these kunai and read the next chapters in the book by the time I get back tonight,” she commanded. After saying this, she left the room without a sound, leaving a fuming Ed to continue his kunai practice.

 

Atsuko was sitting on a bench under the shade of a sakura tree, watching the beautiful pink tree bloom and the bees and the butterflies fly by.

 

`Everything is wrong. Just plain wrong! Why am I the only one on my team that didn't get past the preliminary matches of the Chuunin Exam? I work the hardest, I train the hardest, hell, I was one of the top academy students! And he's supposed to look up to me. Otouto…' Silent tears started to flow down her porcelain cheeks, clouding her brilliant emerald eyes.

 

`True ninjas never cry, Atsuko-chan.'

 

His words played back, causing her to cry even more. He was the one that made her who she was today, for better or for worse. He was the only one who would look after her, nurture her, treat her like the person she was. Until he decided that a child's life was more important than his own, anyway. He threw away his life, just to save that boy's life. He had someone to live for, the boy didn't; the boy was, and still is, scorned and ignored by the populace of Konohagakure.

 

`Innocence is a precious thing, Atsuko-chan, make sure you hold onto it until you are ready to bloom, not before, and not after.'

 

“Why, Akira-nii-chan? Why did you have to die? Answer me damn you!” she sobbed.

 

`All things come to pass, Atsuko-chan. Don't dwell on your past grievances, instead look to the future and think of what you can do for others.'

 

“You're right, aniiki,” smiled the crying girl sadly, wiping her tears with the lavender sleeve of her undershirt. She then stood up and straightened out her rose red blouse. `I should go fetch otouto from academy.” And with that she walked out from under the shadow of the sakura tree and into the unforgiving sun.

 

&(*(^(*&%^

 

“Damn it! How does she expect me to get this exercise right if I can't get out of bed to get the stupid kunai!” shouted Ed. He had already tried to physically get out of the bed, but it seemed as if his legs just wouldn't cooperate, which was odd considering the fact that it was his arms that were damaged, not his legs. Just then, the door to his room creaked open, and three unfamiliar cloaked figures entered into his room.

 

“This is him?” asked the shortest one, his long black hood revealing none of his facial features.

 

“Yes, this is him, the demon's slave,” replied the tallest one, a dog mask covering his face.

 

“Kid, you shouldn't befriend scum like the demon brat. `Cause if you do, people are gonna get hurt, you in particular,” snickered the last one. He had a turban wrapped around his head, revealing only his eyes, his blood red eyes.

 

“Do you mean Uzumaki?” Ed asked, only slightly put off by the eyes of the third man. In a flash Ed had acquired a deep gash oozing crimson blood stretching from his ear to this nose on his left cheek.

 

“He has one and only name, and that is Kyuubi. Now either you do what we say, or you'll regret it,” threatened the man. To emphasize the effect, the short and tall man both took out two double sided kunai.

 

`Crap. I'm outnumbered and outmatched. Still, Naruto has been the only one besides the Hokage, that Iruka guy, and Atsuko who gave a crap about me. I will not give in.' “No, I won't ever listen to scumbags like you!” retorted Ed, sticking out his tongue to prove his point. At this point, the turbaned man snarled and yanked Ed off of his bed by the scruff of his neck, then threw him to the ground. He shakily stood up and crouched into a defensive stance, however his legs were still troubling him. `If I can't win, then at least I'll fight till the end.' The two men then advanced on him, bearing their double-bladed kunai. It seemed as if all of the odds were against him, and as long as Ed could at least kill one of these assailants, he'd die somewhat happy with the fact that he stood up for what seemed to be his only friend here.

 

“Kenoto!” barked a male voice. The kunai-wielding men then fell to the ground, grasping their ears and rolling around in pain. “How pitiful, Ichigo, that you needed your cronies to attack a defenseless shrimp,” sneered the boy, his eyes flickering from gray to red.

 

“You're that bitch Atsuko's younger brother, aren't you? This'll be fun, like killing two birds with one stone, or should I say, two kunai?” snapped Ichigo. She then took a kunai in each hand and flung them at the two boys. Atsuko's brother preformed a kawarimi no jutsu, the kunai hitting a pillow instead. However, if Ed used chakra, he would be rehospitalized and would even further worsen his condition, and his feet were glued to the ground, refusing to move.

 

`Damn it! What the hell can I do?'

 

kadfla;dlfj

 

“Natsume-sensei!” called Atsuko, running up to the teacher. “Natsumne-sensei do you know where my otouto is? He's usually out by now,” asked the frightened girl. She had been waiting for her otouto for the last five minutes near the academy's entrance, where she always waits, but he never came out.

 

“Gomen, I don't. He was one of the first to leave class though. You know what, you should go ask that Uzumaki kid, Naruto. Ryuichi has been rather, attracted to him lately, even though he doesn't show it,” suggested Natsume.

 

`Ryuichi, with, with, Naruto-teme! Gah, what could be worse?'

 

“Domo arigato,” quickly thanked Atsuko, making a sprint for where she last saw Naruto; Ichiraku Ramen. She arrived at the ramen stand in record time and asked the girl who worked there, Ayame, if she knew where Naruto was.

 

“Oh, Naruto-san? He was bragging to some kid a couple years older than him about having a new roommate a few minutes ago. Oh I'm so happy for him! He's finally getting some kind of recognition. It's so good that someone has the heart to…”

 

“I don't really care. Where is Naruto, tell me!” shouted the irate girl.

 

“Geez, calm down. He was yelling something about going to the hospital and dragged the older kid along with…” But that was all Ayame could get out before Atsuko sprinted off to her next destination.

 

`Ryuichi, when I find you, you're as good as dead,' growled the girl in her mind.

 

She then rushed into the hospital in time to find her first victim, Naruto, wheeling her student in a wheelchair. She ran at full speed at him, tackling him to the ground and pinning his shoulders while she kneeled over him.

 

“Where, is, my, otouto?” snarled Atsuko, her cerulean bangs falling completely over her eyes. He just averted his eyes to the ground. She took a hand back and slapped him. “Damn it where is my otouto, Uzumaki-teme!?” He still didn't answer, but she could see that there was great sadness in his eyes.

 

“He's getting operated on,” bluntly stated Ed, staring intently at the ceiling. At the news, Atsuko just got off of Naruto, stood up, and slumped into a waiting room chair.

 

“What, happened, to him?” slowly enunciating every word as if she couldn't speak any other way.

 

“I was…attacked,” explained Ed. And so Ed explained to Atsuko what happened up to the revelation of her brother. “Then, the two kunai wielders fell to the ground clutching their ears. The third person, a girl named Ichigo, apparently, and your brother talked for about a minute and then she threw kunai at us both. Your brother executed a kawarimi while I couldn't move for some reason nor could I perform any jutsu. Before I knew it, he was there, in front me. He had taken the kunai in his hand. It impaled it completely, it was horrible to watch. Then the nurse who treats me came in and incapacitated the three with just looking at them..”

 

“Kanashibari no jutsu,” stated Atsuko. “It's a jutsu all ANBU members are required to know.” She sighed. “How long has he been in there?”

 

“Five minutes,” replied Naruto, slightly frowning.

 

“Then I guess all we can do is wait,” Atsuko reluctantly admitted. `Oh Akira-nii-chan how could I let this happen?'