Hello my Peeps this is Salem52 signing in. Well, this will be my second story on this illustrious website. I haven't decided on pairings yet, although there probably will be some at a later time. I would also like to thank my editor, because without her, this would be an illiterate mess. Now, without further ado, I present For Those Who Remember.

Prologue

"…nine darics, there are none better," cried out a man on a raised platform. The late day sun bore down on him, prompting him to adjust his long-sleeved tunic and headcloth to cover more of his exposed skin . Next to him were young two men, bound and shackled to posts that rose out of the platform, who had no such protection, and were taking the full effect of its heat. This man was one of many in the great capital city of Xerxes, who made their living off the slave trade.

The oasis city of Xerxes was the capital city of the small country of Xerxes, which was located in the middle of the Great Desert. The city was built around a large oasis which watered the entire country. As people would travel between the Rivers of the East and the Mountains of the West, they would stop in Xerxes to rest and revitalize their camels. Thus, being a natural crossroads between two civilizations, Xerxes grew off the trade and soon became the biggest trade city in the three lands.

The market of Xerxes was a hub of trade for those traveling between the mountain civilizations of the West, and the river folk of the East. The eastern folk would bring great camel trains of rice, silk, and porcelain to trade for the ironworks, furs and wood of the mountain folk. Xerxes was also the capital of the prominent slave trade, due the supply being available to both races of people.

Outside of the throng of the market, there could be found numerous inns and taverns. On the outskirts of the city were vast expanses of packed earth, where large caravans would set up massive tents and prepare their wares for the market. In the center of the city, west of the market, was the palace temple of the king. The current king of Xerxes had had a long successful reign over the country, bringing many great things to it. The man's most overwhelming achievement was the creation of numerous irrigation ducts throughout the country. His years were catching up to him though, and there were suspicions that the crown was soon going to pass onto his son.

In one of the numerous taverns throughout the city, was a man. This man was an oddity. He shared many of the characteristics of those native to Xerxes, such as the long blonde hair that was prominent amongst the Xerxes, or the fair skin, unusual considering the desert environment. He had the high cheekbones possessed by the Xerxian royalty. But he was a head higher than any Xerxian, standing at a good six feet. But the most jarring difference was his eyes, while those who hailed from Xerxes were known and identified by their golden eyes; his eyes were a deep, glacial, blue. This man's name was Naruto.

He was traveling to the river countries of the East to see if he could find the origins of the porcelain which had just come to the trade markets in the last two decades or so. He was passing through Xerxes, as it was a natural resting point for travelers such as him. He had been there for four days, resting his camel so that it could make the long journey to the East. He had also come for one last visit to the old king.

Naruto was currently laying on the bed provided by the inn, taking refuge from the sun and just listening to the bustle of the market in the streets below. He had been thinking about the old king, Humayun.

Naruto had heard about the old king's derangement from one of the trade caravans that had come back from Xerxes to restock and resell what they had attained. The king had become obsessed with the pursuit of immortality and was offering large sums of money to anyone who could help him on his endeavors. While Naruto was going to leave before the week was out, he was going to try and talk to the king at least. If nothing else, he could say his last goodbye to him, because he would not be returning to Xerxes for a long time. He felt the king would be dead before he would be back to that city again.

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts by a knock at the door to his room. He took his time, getting up and stretching slowly before answering. He opened the door, letting in a stout man with black hair and a full beard. He turned toward the man and looked at him for a moment, then lay back on the bed. He then shrugged and flicked his hand towards the man in a dismissive manner.

The man nodded, before disappearing into a cloud of smoke to reveal…another Naruto.

"Dismiss," spoke Naruto. His voice was that of a young man somewhere in his mid-twenties.

The second Naruto nodded again, disappearing in a cloud of smoke, completely this time. The Naruto on the bed stiffened for a fraction of a second, before sitting up and running his hand through his hair.

"Well…he's gone a little batshit crazy now hasn't he?" rang out a voice in Naruto's head.

"Yea, he's a lot different than the man I left here fifteen years ago," replied Naruto.

"That's an understatement, he's not only gone off the deep end since then, he's drowned in it and they're just finding his body," stated the voice again.

"I might have to stay longer. If what I saw was correct, Humayun would do anything for immortality, even jeopardize his peoples safety. A man who cares nothing for others is dangerous," concluded Naruto to the now-identified Kurama. He sighed before shrugging his shoulders and got out of bed, "I guess I will have to talk some sense into him,"

"And if you can't talk some sense into him?" inquired Kurama.

Naruto didn't respond, instead heading toward his bag of possessions by the door. He started the arduous task of unlacing it.

"If I can't," replied Naruto, "then I will at least leave this city with the knowledge that I tried." Naruto began pulling out some clothes from his bag.

The clothing consisted of a black high-collared coat that draped down to his ankles, a burgundy red undershirt, black pants with red stripes, and a straw hat commonly worn by the river folk of the east. The black cloak was very well worn, and looked as if it a motif of some kind in it, but had worn out after years of constant use. After dressing, he pulled on a set of red geta sandals, which just added to his height, making him stand out from the Xerxian population and their rather short stature.

He tied his bag back up and pulled out a gold daric, the currency of Xerxes, and placed it on his bed for the person who would inevitably come to clean his room. He then went up to the window, hopped onto the ledge, and looked across the entirety of Xerxes.

This was the reason he chose this inn for his stay. It was located on the only hill in Xerxes and provided a prime view point of all of Xerxes.

Naruto took a deep breath, taking in the city below him. He looked into the sky to see the sun nearing the horizon, bathing the city in a red hue that made the walls of stucco look like they were bleeding. The city was just as beautiful as it was ominous.

"It's getting late," Naruto said to himself, before looking at the road from his inn to the temple palace of the king. The only downside to this inn was that it was located on the outskirts of the city, nowhere close to the palace.

"Well, I guess the king will be getting a surprise visitor," said Naruto to himself, before leaping out of his window and slowly making his way to the palace.

XxX

In the temple palace, Van Hohenheim was doing the final preparations for the most important task ever given to him in his life; transcend the bonds of death and make King Humayun immortal.

Van Hohenheim was a young man of twenty-three. He stood at around five-foot eight, tall for man of Xerxian descent. He had long blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail, although a few strands hung in front of his face, refusing to stay bound. He wore a loose black shirt and a beige coat that was more reminiscent of monk's robes than an actual coat. Blue pants hung loose about his waist, cut off at the calves, showing muscled legs of one who had worked most of his life.

Van, as he preferred to be called, was kneeling next a large array of circles, triangles, and symbols that was the hallmark of the scientific art that was alchemy. The array had a diameter of about five men, if they stood at arm's length from each other. While the array was covered in multitudes of symbols and writing, the core design was hexagram inscribed upon a circle with triangle inside of the hexagram.

A large piece of black chalk was Van's tool of choice as he made intricate patterns of lines and circles that would allow the king a chance at immortality. Next to him, on a large pedestal, was a peculiar thing. This thing seemed to be a small floating mass of formless shadow with one large eye and a mouth. It was contained within a glass flask that was usually used to hold highly acidic liquids.

"That looks to be correct Van, good job" said the little mass of shadow, sprouting arms and clapping a few times, before having them recede back into its body. Van looked up at the mass of shadows, before smiling a little and standing. He then turned towards the little thing and bowed.

"Thank you, Dwarf in the Flask. Without you I could not have achieved anything in my life. I would have stayed as number twenty-three and would have known nothing other than my blind ignorance. For this, I am eternally in your debt," stated Van, leaning back up to see the Dwarf in the Flask smiling greatly.

"You did well Van. However, I have told you numerous times that your blood gave me life, so I am only repaying a debt," replied the black mass, before its hands reappeared and opened themselves up in a 'come pick me up' motion, like a child wishing for a parent to lift them up. Van only smiled, before walking up to the pedestal and lifting the glass flask up and putting it under his arm.

"Now, Van, summon your king. We need everyone to be present for the start of the ritual," said the Dwarf in the Flask.

XxX

The sun had just dipped under the horizon, when Naruto began the final stretch of road up to King's Palace, known as the Final Road. The sky was filled with dark purples and deep blues as twilight quickly came upon the city of Xerxes. Lights could be seen across the city and great bonfires appeared on the outskirts of the city, created by the various caravans that did not stay in any of the inns.

The Final Road was lined with the houses of the local nobility, those which could afford to stay close to the king. Despite being the time when everyone would return from the bustle of day to prepare for the frivolities of night, the Final Road was surprisingly empty. Not a single house on the road up to the King's Palace was lit up, leading Naruto to believe that the king was having an event of some kind. If that was the case, then Naruto's information-gathering ability had greatly diminished or the event was kept under wraps.

"Well, I guess I might be crashing a party as well," said Naruto to himself.

"You don't know, it could be fun, haven't been to any big events in a while, now have we?" rang out the voice in Naruto's head, once again.

"Kurama, what have I said before? You shouldn't talk when we are in public places; if people see me randomly spacing out, they will think I have an illness or something," replied Naruto annoyed.

"Well, it is quite dull in here; after all, one can only get so much entertainment from looking at a wall before they start getting bored," retorted Kurama, "Besides, what would you care if they thought you were crazy, you'll outlive them anyway,"

"Sorry, I thought the illusion I put in there would still be up," replied Naruto, disregarding Kurama's last statement, "when we get ba-" Naruto was cut off by a loud explosion of sound. The earth started to roll and shake, knocking him down in surprise.

"Earthquake!?" thought Naruto in surprise, looking at the shaking buildings around him and at the crumbling castle.

"No…it's not an earthquake," stated Kurama wearily, before he grunted in shock, "KIT, ITS CHAKRA! Can't you feel it?" yelled out Kurama inside of Naruto's head.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, before he closed them and looked as if he was focusing quite hard. A split second later he leapt up and started to rush towards the castle at inhuman speeds.

"How the HELL is there senjutsu chakra, in this day and age, and this much, this is comparable to the fucking Bijuu," thought Naruto. He ran all the way up to the gates of the palace and was about to vault over them, when a great purple shockwave of light exploded from the castle, causing Naruto to go flying into the wall of one of the noble's buildings on the Final Road.

"Damn, I haven't had a hit like that in years,"he groaned, before standing up and rubbing his back. He looked toward the palace. A light rose up then streaked across the night sky, illuminating Xerxes as though it were day.

Naruto just stood there looking at the light streaking across the sky, then began looking around himself. Black Fissures began appearing in the earth with thousands upon thousands of grasping hands rising out of them.

"Alright, those don't look friendly," thought Naruto, as he began dodging the small hands. As he kept on dodging, he looked up to see a massive eye slowly open up over the castle, "Well…that doesn't look good,"

"No shit, let's try to find out what is in the castle that is causing this," recommended Kurama.

Naruto nodded in agreement. He began to make his way towards the palace, all the while dodging the numerous black hands that were trying to grab him. Before he could make any sizable progress to the palace though, the eye above the castle opened completely. Before he could even think about doing anything other than turn slightly to run, a massive beam of blinding white light came down and struck the castle. The last thing Naruto heard, before blacking out, was the scream of pain of 1,072,659 people simultaneously having their souls forcibly ripped from their body.

XxX

"WHAT IS THIS?!" cried out Humayun, as he looked at his frail old hands, shrinking even more, as the life energy was being forcefully removed from his body, "THIS CAN'T POSSIBLY BE IMMORTALITY, YOU TRICKED ME!"

The king looked over toward the Dwarf in the Flask as a horrible pain assaulted his body and he crumbled onto the ground. The Dwarf in the Flask started cackling loudly, as its small body started to glow a sickly purple.

"HUMAYUN, YOU OLD FOOL, DID YOU THINK YOU WERE THE CENTER OF THE ARRAY?! DID YOU THINK I DID ALL THAT WORK, JUST FOR CHARITY!?" the Dwarf in the Flask screamed at the dying king.

"Dwarf in the Flask, w-what is happening," asked Van fearfully, "This wasn't what you said would happen; you said the King would be in the center, you said he would become immortal,"

The Dwarf in the Flask stopped cackling, before turning its one eye towards Van and smiling evilly.

"WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN, VAN HOHENHEIM?" queried the Dwarf in the Flask, extending its arms out of its body and holding them in above itself, as though it were trying to grab the heavens, "The price of immortality would obviously not come without a an equivalent cost. Something cannot be attained without giving up something of equal value. This the first rule of alchemy. Whoever stands at the center of the array would transcend humanity and become immortal, but everyone else would pay the price, and right now, Van Hohenheim we…ARE THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING!" cried out the Dwarf in the Flask, madly, as a white light enveloped them both.

Van Screamed as he felt the souls of over half a million people being forced into his being, merging with his very existence. The last thing he heard, before blacking out from the pain, was the earth-shattering roar of some great beast and the light tinkling of breaking glass.

XxX

Well, how was that? I really liked this as a beginning; let me know what you guys think. I look forward to hearing back from you guys, it really helps.

This is Salem52, signing off.