Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, Naruto, the thumbnails used, or anything else for that matter. FMA belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and the thumbnails belong to their respective artists.

A/N: This story was written for Curpicanka because she's awesome.

Additional Warning: Strong Language

Summary: Our souls, our freedom, for what? What was it that we're really giving up everything for? Our family? Fulfillment, a satisfaction that we finally did something worth while with our pathetic lives? To escape a life of torment? To finally have some control over our own lives? The real question was, was any of it worth staining our hands and souls with the blood of others? Four young men would have to ask themselves those very questions as they went down that hard, trying, and rocky path. Together they would learn more about themselves, each other, and what exactly was worth fighting and possibly dying for . . .

Chapter One

Basic Training

If it wasn't already unnerving that they were signing their lives over to the military, the yelling, shouting, and intimidation of the base and the commander twisted their stomachs uncomfortably enough to make them nervous. They were forced off the bus in the freezing weather with the bags they'd brought with them from the stay in the hotel the night before, already twenty hours ago. They'd been told they would be up for thirty-six hours and hadn't been aloud to sleep on the ten hour bus ride to the country side of the foreign country, to more than half of them, where the base was located.

To have two different officers, whose ranks eluded them in their hazed state of mind, shouting and giving out orders upon stepping into the small, cramped, and poorly insulated building made them all even more nervous. They were told to line up against the wall and put their bags down at their feet. The talking had ceased after another commander came down the hallway shouting at each and everyone of them to "Shut the fuck up!"

When he reached the front of the group he turned and glared at all of them, the other two commanders walked down the line to make sure everyone was silent and giving them orders to face forward and remain still. A few of them jumped at the loud voice of the commander at the front of the line.

"Alright you sacks of worthless shit, listen up! You will all be issued clothes from the military to wear and change out of your pathetic civilian clothes. You will turn in all possessions and only keep on your person a means to identify yourselves. You will all go through medical exams and if you fail any of the medical exams we will send your pathetic ass back home to your mothers! You will not talk unless spoken to and you will do as you are told. Is that understood."

"Yes sir," came the tired reply, a few being late. The commander's glare intensified. "When I, or anyone else asks you a question you will reply with a loud and clear yes sir or no sir. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir," that came out louder and clearer, but it still wasn't good enough for the commander. He sighed angrily, "What in the hell was that? You lot are supposed to be the Special Ops? I must have a bunch of sissy ass girls. Now, try it again ladies!"

"YES SIR!"

"That's better, now pick up your shit and move it!" The commander walked down the hallway. Everyone in the line up quickly grabbed their bags and made to follow him with the other two shouting and yelling at them to hurry up. Among the new recruits were two blonds in front of two brunettes. One of the blonds had a braid down his back that reached the middle of his back, the other had untamed hair that spiked up naturally. The brunette directly behind the one with the braid had slicked back black hair with bangs that came down along the outline of his face. The shorter brunette behind him had spiky black hair that stood up in the back.

The four of them happened to be at the front of the line. They came to the end of the hallway and followed along the wall as they made a right turn and walked quickly to the end of that hallway then made another right to stop behind a long line of more recruits. There was at least a few hundred in front of them and from the sounds of it there were even more arriving behind their group.

The blond at the front with the spiky hair sighed and jumped when the commander glared and shouted at him, "What are you sighing about, are you tired, are you dying you shit?"

"No sir!"

"Then keep your damn sounds behind closed lips maggot!"

"Yes sir!"

The blond behind him smirked and the smirk died when the commander turned to him. "What are you smirking at fagot? Do you think something is funny?"

"Yes sir!"

The commander raised an eyebrow and side stepped so that he could look directly at him. The blond with the braid remained still and looking forward, his face expressionless. "Oh, is that so, well why don't you share with everyone here what you think is so damn funny?"

"Sir, your choice of vocabulary sir."

The commander nodded, "Ah, so you think my choice of vocabulary is funny maggot? Well how about I give you a lesson in my fucking vocabulary? I could think of a few choice words for you or maybe for your cunt of a mother. Do you still think my vocabulary is funny fagot? Did your whore of a mother let you grow your hair out to look like a girl of did you fucking decide that on your own you sissy punk fagot?"

The blond tensed and his hands fisted at his side but he refused to say anything, his jaw was clenched as he tried to refrain from saying anything. He had to remind himself that if he responded he was most likely going to be sent home with a dishonorable discharge. He couldn't care less about what the bastard said about him, but when he'd insulted his mother he'd seen red flash before his eyes in rage.

"What's the matter, do you think my vocabulary isn't funny now, or are you too much of a pussy to say anything?"

He still refused to open his mouth, but his fingers dug into his hands threatening to draw blood at the amount of self restraint it took for him to keep his mouth shut. The tall brunette behind him had tensed from trying to restrain himself from speaking out or telling the commander to back off. The blond in front of him looked like he was ready to rip the mans' throat out and the brunette behind the taller one had a murderous glint in his black eyes.

"It would seem that you don't find my choice of vocabulary very funny anymore, nothing but a gutless bitch, just like your mother."

The blond with the braided hair turned his head just slightly, his unique golden eyes a very molten gold and glazed over with anger. He was gritting his teeth to keep his mouth shut. The commander smirked at the look in his eyes, "Oh, well it seems I struck a nerve. You better keep that anger boy, it will help you survive."

He stepped back and went back to looking ahead. It took them an entire two hours to finally reach the front of the line and by that time the fuming blond had luckily calmed down along with the three around him. But it wasn't likely they were going to forget anything. Once they made it into the cramped room they turned over their belongings with the exception of an i.d. and were given a thick, green bag, a box, and assigned clothes once someone took their measurements and guessed their sizes.

Then they were led out of the room and back out into the hallway where they had to tear the tags off everything and put it in the green bag. Then they had to change into their assigned clothes, a white t-shirt, white underwear, a pair of black shorts, and grey sweats to go over that with white socks and ugly, plain tennis shoes. They had to hand in their civilian clothes and then they were led out of the building and into the cold outdoors. They were marched to another building that looked a lot like a warehouse. Once inside they found that it was a warehouse with matted floors and very poor insulation.

They were told to put their bags against the wall and then had to line up in front of the bags until their names were called by one of the doctors or nurses. That was how they finally heard one anothers' names, they were called in order of their names and were told that they would line up in the same place once they finished with their exams. Elric happened to be the one with the braid, Uzumaki was the one in front of him, Mustang the one behind him, and then Uchiha was the one behind Mustang. It took eight hours to completely finish the entire exam, get their shots, have dental work done, and check their eyesight.

By the time they finished and all of them had returned they were marching back to the other building to be fed. Their meal lasted in the same silence due to the fact that the entire galley was completely silent. There was only thirty of them in the group and they sat at one table together. They'd only finished eating when they were told to stand and get rid of their trays. Then they were led out of the building and to another building across from the one where the medical exams were. Each building was at least half a mile apart from each other and the freezing weather and walking through the snow only drained their strength.

They were all exhausted by the time they made it to the next building and the good insulation and warmth made all of them feel even more tired. They were led down the main hallway that led down the center of the large building and then up two flights of stairs and down another hallway. They reached the end of the hallway and then turned right and were filed into a spacious classroom already filled with at least one hundred and seventy other recruits seated at rickety, old, wooden desks.

Their group of thirty filled up the last row at the back of the room and once they took their seats the three commanders joined the other nine at the front of the room. Four of the nine left the room through a side door to the right. The majority of those in the room jumped when one of the commanders shouted.

"Alright you maggots, listen up and wake up!"

Everyone in the room sat up straight the adrenaline of being startled given them enough tense energy to do so for the moment. "All of you in this room are recommended to become the best the military has to offer. You are all members of the Special Ops and you worked like hell to be put into this battalion. Take a good look around because you may not be seeing any of these faces very long. The maximum number of graduates from this battalion is sixty. There are two hundred of you in this room. So all of you had better keep in mind that if you are not giving it your all and working your asses off you will most likely not make the cut."

"You will all be trained twice as hard, expected to learn and accomplish twice as much, and be required to push yourselves three times harder than you think is possible. It is our job to make sure that when you graduate you have the skills, intelligence, and the know how to be members of the Special Ops. If you want your time here to go by as quickly as possible then I suggest you keep you fucking mouths shut, follow orders, pay attention, and do what is expected of you with the same vigor you would have if you were fighting to survive. Is that clear?"

The room exploded in a loud and clear, "YES SIR!"

"Good. Now, let's get down to what you should expect while you are here. All the rights and freedom you thought you had as civilians no longer exist. You are now the property of the military. I don't give a rats ass if someone insults your mother, your brother, sister, father, girlfriend, or you, you will not talk back and you will keep your mother fucking mouths shut unless you have something intelligent to say that pertains to answering a question concerning your orders. You are not here to make friends and we are not your friends. We don't give a damn about your personal life, your fucking problems, or how horrible your god damn childhoods were. If you break down and cry like a fucking sissy then we will send your pansy ass back home to your damn mother."

"Should any of you feel like you are dying or should anyone sustain a mortal wound then you can complain, otherwise I really don't give a fuck. None of you in here have any fucking health problems and since you qualified to become a part of this battalion you are all fit enough to handle whatever we throw at you. If you prove us otherwise we will send you to another battalion or you will pack your shit and go back to your fucking momma's. This is not a camp, this is not a fucking school trip, this is the military, not a fucking vacation."

"Wake the FUCK up!"

A few of the recruits that had dozed off jumped awake, the commander walked over to the one that had nodded off and was seated at the front. "Get on your mother fucking feet, all of you!"

Everyone jumped to their feet and waited in silence. The commander's voice could be heard even over some of the taller guys in the room. "Now since all of you seem to find what I have to say so fucking boring you can all stay on your feet for the remainder of your time in my damn classroom!"

"I will not tolerate weakness, imperfection, or laziness. If you want to survive this battalion and graduate then I suggest you be ready to bust your fucking asses in doing so. Is there anyone is this room that is not a Private First Class?"

Half the group raised their hands, none of which came from the last group of thirty that were seated in the back row. "Well that narrows down the potential candidates that will be leaving."

"Those of you that are, remain on your feet, the rest of you lazy sons' of bitches sit the fuck down."

Already two weeks in and they were completely worn out everytime they finally made it back to their compartment. Before they were allowed to sleep they had to fold clothes, check their uniforms for the following day, iron, and then hygiene. Once they finished with that they had to make sure everything was perfect in the compartment and then the four hour watches began.

While on watch two recruits had to make sure everyone and everything was kept in order. One remained in the compartment while the other was sent to walk to perimeter of the building. By now the group of two hundred had become only one hundred and seventy-five. The physical demands had been too much for the first twenty-five and they were sent to another battalion.

They had to run seven miles a day, marched at least ten miles a day, did at least seventy push ups, fifty sit ups, thirty pull ups, and studied endlessly. They had to memorize ranks, Code of Arms, principles and laws as well as consequences to breaking either, and had to study about the different types of weaponry along with it.

"Where is my Yeoman?" Elric sighed and stopped the task of checking his bunk for neatness and organization and quickly walked to the small office at the front of the compartment which was really just a small sized warehouse that never got warm. The office was just a closed off space with paper walls around it and a desk, stacks of files around the walls and two chairs in front of the desk. The Yeoman was basically the secretary of the battalion who was assigned the job of keeping up with everyone's records, names, numbers, and had to hear grievances and problems they had. He also had to make sure to keep track of everyone and alert the R.D.C.(1) of any problems.

Elric had a thick bag with a strap that laid across his chest to hold the bag at his hip. He always had to make sure his uniform was perfect and the only reason he had accepted the responsibility, other than not having a choice, was because he had been the only one that was good at filing and most of the recruits had come to him with problems to begin with. They asked him how to do this and that and gave him ten different things to do on top of what the R.D.C.'s ordered him to do.

"Where are Coleman's files?"

Elric opened the bag and thumbed through the files then dug out the requested one and handed it to the R.D.C. seated behind the deck. He was bulky man, blond hair, six feet tall, blue eyes, and was strict, tough, and didn't put up with bullshit or give anyone any slack. He expected everyone to do their jobs perfectly with no mistakes and you had hell to pay if you didn't do it.

He opened the file and scanned through it before looking up at Elric who purposely made sure his eyes looked straight forward. "Have Coleman come to my office immediately and send Mustang as well."

"Yes sir," Elric said loud and clear then saluted the R.D.C., dropped the salute, did an about face(2), and walked out of the office. He took a deep breath before walking back through the compartment and called, "Coleman and Arpock(3)! Master Sergeant wants to see you."

Mustang glanced at him from where he was helping another recruit go through their bunk. He stood up from his kneeling position and walked over to Elric, "What's going on now?"

Elric shrugged, "Not sure."

Coleman came up to them, he was a pale, stocky, blond haired and blue eyed kid of about twenty. He was an average recruit and lately he'd been slacking off so Elric and Mustang had a good guess of what the Master Sergeant had in mind for him. Never the less, Mustang led Coleman to the office.

Twenty minutes of so later the two walked out and the Master Sergeant stepped out of his office to shout out; "Master of Arms(4), Yeoman, Arpock, and Arock(5), in my office now!"

Mustang, Elric, Uzumaki, and Uchiha all made their way towards the office and then were told to follow the Master Sergeant out of the compartment and outside into the cold. Once the door closed behind them they all lined up against the wall to their left and waited at attention(6) for the Master Sergeant to say what he had to say, which most likely meant they were going to be bitched out. It was obvious as they were led outside the compartment.

The Master Sergeant paced in front of them for a few minutes before he stopped and looked at them with a grimace. He inhaled and the four of them waited for the yelling to begin. "Do you four maggots have any idea what being the leaders of this battalion means? You have to teach them what you know, the four of you are supposed to teach them how mother fucking easy this shit is! If they are too fucking stupid to learn from any of you then that is their fucking problem! I don't want a bunch of idiots in this fucking battalion!"

He stopped and Elric tensed when he stepped up to him to yell in his face, "Yeoman! You need to find an escort to take Coleman to a sissy brigade! Get your ass in my office and get all the fucking paperwork together! Now!"

Elric saluted him, "Yes sir!" Then he dropped the salute, did a left face, stepped five paces away, made a right face and walked around the commander to the door. He closed the door behind him and went into the office and began getting the paperwork together. He also had to use the phone to call the other battalions and see if they had room for another recruit.

Meanwhile, back outside the compartment. "You punks need to step it up, make sure everyone knows what the fuck they are doing. If another recruit comes to me asking how to do a mother fucking thing it will be your asses! The Yeoman does not have time to pick up any fucking slack from you three bitches! Do your fucking jobs and if there are still fucking maggots that do not do what they are fucking told to do then I will send them to another fucking battalion! Get your asses in their and get the fucking compartment on spot, now!"

"Yes Sir!" The three saluted and waited for the commander to walk back inside before they dropped the salute and walked inside. Uchiha and Mustang made the rounds to make sure everyone was working on their bunks while Uzumaki pulled anyone that wasn't doing so aside and told them to get the compartment on spot.

When it was finally times for lights out the Arpock, Arock, Master of Arms, and the Yoleman were the only ones still out of their bunks, and the only ones that could be. They stood together by the Arocks' bunk talking quietly.

"This is pure bullshit, one recruit can't hack being in this battalion and all of us get bitched at," Elric said to the other three.

"Yeah, but it is sorta our jobs to make sure they at least know what the fuck they are doing," Uzumaki replied.

"Hn, we didn't volunteer for this however," was what Uchiha said. He hardly ever spoke unless he was pissed off and from the fiery look in his black eyes they could tell he was more than fed up with what was going on.

"We just need to stick it out and try to live through this," was Mustang's reply.

"Well fuck, you three haven't heard what the Master Sergeant wants us to do come four-one week.(7)"

The three looked at Elric questioningly. Elric sighed and explained, "He wants the four of us and some other recruits that haven't been fucking up all the time to take part in a different kind of training. We'll still get credit and still learn the shit we need to know in this battalion, but the program is a week long and we'll be going through this hard ass training regimen."

"What exactly is it," Mustang asked.

"Some elite training shit that will get us promoted when we graduate if we live through it."

"We're already higher ranked than any of the recruits."

"We'll be promoted to Sergeant First Class."

The other three grew silent at that then Uzumaki said, "Really? Hell, why don't we do it."

"This is the military dobe, we don't have a choice."

Uzumaki glared at the Uchiha for the last remark, "Teme, he said the Master Sergeant wanted us to do it, not that we had to."

"Baka, it's the same thing."

Mustang smirked, "He does make a point, it's not like we've had a choice about anything here."

Elric scoffed, "Well, we did sign our souls over to the military."

"Hn, only our freedom, they won't take my soul."

Elric looked at Uchiha with a smirk, but there was a serious look in his eyes as he met those black eyes; "Not yet, but give it time."

Mustang looked sharply at Elric, "Ed, what are you talking about?"

Elric sighed and met Mustangs' eyes, the same black as Uchiha's only there was a tint of midnight blue to his eyes. "You do realize what is going to happen once we finish boot camp, don't you? We'll be shipped off to the battlefield and that's where you really find out how high of a price being in the military means."

Mustang notice the certainty, the knowing look in Elric's eyes and he was left to wonder just how old he was. He'd told them he was eighteen, but at the moment, with that look in his eyes, he look much, much older than that. Elric averted his eyes and yawned, "Well, I'm going to get some sleep."

Uchiha had watched Elric closely since day one, as the other three had. He could tell that the four of them had something in common, something that had drawn them together back when they first met each other on the bus. He knew that sooner or later they would all figure out why they felt so drawn towards one another, even if it took until after they finally made it through boot camp.

Okay, here goes nothing . . .

(1) Recruit Division Commander (2) 180 degree turn where you place the toe of your right foot behind the heel of your left to make the turn (it's harder than you'd think to keep your balance doing that ^^)
(3) The Recruit, as in a recruit, Battalion/Platoon Commander- In the case of this story it's Battalion on purpose-Platoons are generally smaller than Battalions.
(4) They are pretty much the ones in charge beneath the Arock- They are the ones that drill recruits when they mess up and are generally supposed to be 'in your face'
(5) Arock, basically the assistant to the Arpock, they do the same thing. Teach recruits, drill them, make sure they do what they are told.
(6) Toes apart at 45 degree angle, heels together, hands at side in alignment with the seams of your pants in fists, thousand yard stare (Which just means you stare straight forehead and don't narrow your eyes, twitch, look around.) Stand perfectly still and silent. (Discipline, gah.)

Anything else I didn't explain and you don't get, let me know.^^