History FanFic / TheTruthDecays

** Might Gai got rid of his TV and radio [[NoIndoorVoice after getting noise complaints.]] "Strangely," the neighbors still complain. Must be that they have mistaken him with another, less responsible, tenant in their apartment complex.

* WeakButSkilled: While Ed's agility and strength are impressive for someone of his stature, his inability use chakra makes him hard-pressed to keep up with his chakra-enhanced shinobi opponents. On the other hand, his alchemy is more versatile and environmentally adaptable than jutsu which, combined with Ed's resourcefulness, allows him to create improvised weapons and equipment from seemingly harmless everyday items (see [[PlayingWithFire]] above) and control his environment to gain the upper hand (such as creating a vacuum to stop sonic-based weapons or transmutating the air into nitric oxide to anaesthetize building occupants).

* WorldOfSnark: The whole story is chock-full of smart and snappy dialogue, most of which is delivered by Ed.

** Edward Elric is not only rude, but seemingly is also entirely unaware of he comes off to other people. As far as he is concerned it's everyone ''else'' who has the problem. Take Ed's time as a fugitive for example: He brings a nin bird to the vet, seemingly oblivious that he can't just drop it on the counter and wonder off. When the receptionist calls him out on it Ed responds by calling her unintellegent--which in his mind, was the ''"polite and inconspicuous"'' way to react in this scenario.

** [[HotBlooded Might Gai]] takes a personal interest in Edward, without any sort of selfish motive. However, (due in part both to circumstances, clashing personalities, and lack of trust on the part of Edward), they seem to struggle in figuring out how to interact with one another in a productive manner. [[spoiler: They also butt heads over Ed's attempts to remove the caged bird seal--Because even though Gai also wants the seal gone, he percieves Edward's (repeatedly failed) attempts to remove it as dangerous and self-harming behavior. ]]

** Edward Elric is not only rude, but seemingly is also entirely unaware of he comes off to other people. As far as he is concerned it's everyone ''else'' who has the problem. Take Ed's time as a fugitive for example: He brings a nin bird to the vet, seemingly oblivious that he can't just shove it on the counter and wonder off. When the receptionist calls him on it he calls her stupid, which in his mind was a "polite and inconspicuous" response.

* Edward Elric seemingly unaware (and/or) unbothered by how he comes off to other people. As far as he is concerned, it's everyone ''else'' who has the problem.

* NoSocialSkills: ''Gaara.'' He's still trying working out how to interact with others post HeelFaceTurn. Now that he's no longer just sand-coffin-ing everyone he dislikes, he's having to learn the ins and outs of social niceties all over again.

* YouCanTalk: Ed's first encounter with talking Nin-Animals ends with a dramatic freakout, which involves him tripping over a dog and passing out on the floor of a vet clinic. Even afterward Edward doesn't seem entirely sure what to make of the talking animals in the {{Naruto}} Universe; Especially when the closest point of reference Edward has for talking animals up to this point are human-based chimera, like Nina. Ed does sorta manage to square the talking animals into his worldview, much the same way he does with ninjutsu and everything else he doesn't understand about the shinobi world at this point--which is to say, [[GivingUpOnLogic he mostly avoids thinking about it too hard. ]]

** From what we've seen, [[PokeInTheThirdEye attempting to access someone's memories of the Gate renders the would-be mindreader comatose. ]]

* NeverMyFault: Played for maximum horror. [[spoiler:It's not ''ROOT's'' fault that multiple innocent citizens are being kidnapped, dragged to the group's secret base and executed en masse in front of Ed in a matter nor unlike a medieval version of ''Film/SchindlersList'', it's '''Ed's''' fault, for being so damn stubborn to tell Danzo how alchemy works... sure, they are citizens of Konoha, what's it to Ed? It still his fault this is happening, why is he letting it ''happen''?]]

* NoSocialSkills: ''Gaara.'' He's still trying working out how to interact with others post HeelFaceTurn. Now that he's no longer just sand-coffin-ing everyone he dislikes, he's having to learn the ins and outs of social niceties all over again. And it's ''hilarious''.

* CultureClash: A theme throughout the story, [[SignatureStyle (and present in the author's other crossover works as well for that matter).]] It generates drama and humor, and a lot of thought is given to exploring how two high-fantasy magic systems would function within the same universe, or how the practitioners of said magic systems might react to each other.

* AndroclesLion: Edward helps an injured bird that was being [[KidsAreCruel tormented by some children.]] The Bird in question is soon revealed to be a [[TalkingAnimal (talking)]] messenger bird from Suna who was attacked while delivering an important message. [[IOweYouMyLife In return for saving his life]] and his mission, the bird tips-off Edward on the location of his stolen automail.

* CultureClash:

** [[HotBlooded Might Gai]] takes a personal interest in Edward, without any sort of selfish motive. However, (due in part both to circumstances, clashing personalities, and lack of trust on the part of Edward), they seem to struggle in figuring out how to interact with each other in a productive manner.
Gai puts his foot down on what he perceives as dangerous self-harming behavior.

** [[HotBlooded Might Gai]] takes a personal interest in Edward, without any sort of selfish motive. However, the two of

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Jiraiya and Tsunade seem willing to exploit Edward for political gain, but they don't really want to hurt Ed, and know to keep him out of the hands of more paranoid and hawkish villagers. Might Gai is almost entirely benevolent and acts out of altruism and a sense of duty. Though he puts his foot down on what he perceives as dangerous self-harming behavior.

** Edward's ''third'' attempt at pulling this is similarly unsuccessful. Ed pretends to take a shower and while the water is running he tries to escape out the window. He is caught almost immediately, but pretends to be offended that they would watch him in the shower. Neji points out that he ''wasn't'' in the shower, but continuing in such escape attempts is a great way to end up supervised in the bathroom. [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking Also, he should stop wasting water.]]
* BigEater: Ed and Naruto. In Ed's case, this actually poses a problem for the medical team [[spoiler:after he is critically injured by Itachi]]; Ed's unusual metabolism [[spoiler:plus his connection to Al's body]] means that he processes blood pills and other medications too quickly for them to take effect and requires twice the amount of nutrients and sugars to stabilize his blood sugar.

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Noticeably averted in [[spoiler:the sound four's]] battle in Konoha. Powerful they might be, but you can only be swarmed by so many ninja before things start spinning out of control...

* DisabledSnarker: Ed is the obvious example. In their discussion of Lee's own injury and potential disability Ed notes that Lee isn't sassy enough for this position.

* PrisonEscapeArtist: Ninja prison cells are designed to detain ninja, not alchemists. The chakra suppression seals that prevent prisoners from preforming ninjusu have no effect on alchemy because it doesn't require chakra.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Jiraiya and Tsunade seem willing to exploit Edward for political gain, but they don't really want to hurt him.
Gai acts out of altruism and a sense of duty. [[LargeHam in his own way.]]

* YouCanTalk: Ed's first encounter with talking Nin-Animals ends with a dramatic freakout, which involves him tripping over a dog and passing out on the floor of a vet clinic. Even afterwards Edward doesn't seem entirely sure what to make of the talking animals in the {{Naruto}} Universe; Especially when the closest point of reference Edward has for talking animals up to this point are human-based chimera, like Nina. Ed does sorta manage to square the talking animals into his worldview, much the same way he does with ninjutsu and everything else he doesn't understand about the shinobi world at this point--which is to say, [[GivingUpOnLogic he mostly avoids thinking about it too hard. ]]

** He also gets Naruto to start thinking more carefully when he teaches him not to wave his cash filled wallet around. As a result, Naruto’s money isn’t taken off him and spent by Jiraiya at the festival, the way it was in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' canon. Instead, Naruto spends his money at a ringtoss game, where he tries to win something ''"cool"'' for Ed. [[spoiler: [[ChekhovsGun The prize Naruto ends up winning at the ringtoss is far more pertinent to the plot than the narration initially lets on.]] ]]

* TheInspectorIsComing: The Daimyo's envoy had been invited to the village to assure the Daimyo that Konaha is secure and can still fulfill Fire nation's military duties after Orochimaru's invasion. During the envoy's stay Edward breaks out of the interrogation department and sinks the building. Instead of admitting that they have an prisoner with unknown destructive potential on the lose, they say that [[IMeantToDoThat the T&I department was intentionally moved underground for "security reasons"]] and quietly issue a notice for "a short, one-armed shoplifter who [is] wanted for questioning." The envoy doesn't entirely buy it.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Jiraiya and Tsunade. Gai too, [[LargeHam in his own way.]]

* SymbolicMutilation: True to form, Truth still inflicts its ironic punishments on those who stumble into its domain. [[spoiler: Between her family situation and her generally shy and self-conscious disposition, Hinata is often too wracked by social anxiety to make herself heard in the way that she would like. When forced through the gate Hinata loses her ability to vocalize what she has to say entirely by the removal of her tongue. This implies that what Hinata wanted most in the world was to speak up and to finally be heard by those around her.]]

* SymbolicMutilation: True to form, Truth still inflicts its ironic punishments on those who stumble into its domain. [[spoiler: Between her family situation and her generally shy and self-conscious disposition, Hinata is often too wracked by social anxiety to make herself heard in the way that she would like. When forced through the gate Hinata loses her ability to vocalize what she has to say entirely by the removal of her tongue. Implying that what Hinata wanted most in the world was to speak up and to finally be heard by those around her.]]

* HandicappedBadass: In addition his [[HeavySleeper abnormal]] [[BigEater metabolism]], Ed spends a good portion of the story one-armed due to the research department confiscating his automail. He not only manages to escape his holding cell and sink multiple buildings in his path (including the interrogation center and the Hokage's tower), but also breaks into said research department and holds his own against a chuunin-class shinobi.

* OrganTheft: A female sound ninja tells her comrades not to damage Hinata's eyes, they're worth quite a lot of money. Later on a ROOT operative hesitates to kill Hinata when presented with an opportunity to take her byakugan.

** To hear Ino tell it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mi0m9meErg{{ her inability to seduce Neji during the Chunin Exams }}]] came of no fault of her own--''Clearly,'' [[MistakenForGay he just isn't interested in women.]]

** To hear Ino tell it, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mi0m9meErg{{her inability to seduce Neji during the Chunin Exams}}]] came of no fault of her own--''Clearly,'' [[MistakenForGay he just isn't interested in women.]]

** [[spoiler: The note on Hinata's medical chart. The detail that the the charts and papers are kept on a clipboard hooked to the end of a patient's hospital bed is noted as far back as chapter 13. In chapter 18 such a clipboard is used by Hinata and Pride to communicate in writing after she has lost her tounge encountering Truth. Rather than confirm Konoha and Pride's assumption that Ed has been taken to the Village Hidden in the Sound, she sends Pride after Danzo. The message that Hinata writes resurfaces again when the Leaf Village investigates Hinata's disappearance; Tipping off Tsunade about Danzo's involvement and giving her the evidence she needs to begin mobilizing against him more actively. ]]

* FireForgedFriends: Naruto and Edward. After their run in with Kisame and Itachi they are [[AFriendInNeed quick to come to the other's defense]], despite not knowing each other very well. [[FriendlessBackground Naruto]] in particular has become very attached.

** He also gets Naruto start thinking more carefully when he teaches him not to wave his cash filled wallet around. As a result, Naruto’s money isn’t taken off him and spent by Jiraiya at the festival, the way it was in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' canon. Instead, Naruto spends his money at a ringtoss game, where he tries to win something ''"cool"'' for Ed. [[spoiler: [[ChekhovsGun The prize Naruto ends up winning at the ringtoss is far more pertinent to the plot than the narration initially lets on.]] ]]

** While not really a original body part, Konoha researchers borrowed [[ArtificialLimbs Ed's automail arm]] without permission, and aren't particularly keen on returning it. Not entirely surprising given the prevalence of, and the attitudes toward this trope regarding actual organs in Naruto canon.

* PowerTattoo: Ed has a variety of arrays tattooed onto his body in the case his automail is destroyed or stolen. It is alluded to that these tatoos were originally a part of the human sacrific ritual on the Promised Day. Edward has since learned to use them in ways unrelated to their original function, though using them like this is implied to carry some inherent risk.
** [[spoiler: Roy Mustang is shown to have the very same tatoos as Edward. Hinata also ends up having tatoos forcibly applied to her by Pride when they are down in the tunnel system together. ]]

** ExplosiveLeash: while not a bomb, it still preforms this function.

* WeakButSkilled: While Ed's agility and strength are impressive for someone of his stature, his inability use chakra makes him hard-pressed to keep up with his chakra-enhanced shinobi opponents. On the other hand, his alchemy is more versatile and environmentally adaptable than jutsu which, combined with Ed's resourcefulness, allows him to create improvised weapons and equipment from seemingly harmless everyday items (see [[PlayingWithFire]] above) and control his environment to gain the upper hand (such as creating a vacuum to stop sonic-based weapons or transmutating the air into nitric oxide to anaesthize building occupants).

* YouCanTalk: Ed's first encounter with talking Nin-Animals ends with a dramatic freakout, which involves him tripping over a dog and passing out on the floor of a vet clinic. Even afterwards Edward doesn't seem entirely sure what to make of the talking animals in the {{Naruto}} Universe; Especailly when the closest point of reference Edward has for talking animals up to this point are human-based chimera, like Nina. Ed does sorta manage to square the talking animals into his worldview, much the same way he does with ninjutsu and everything else he doesn't understand about the shinobi world at this point--which is to say, [[GivingUpOnLogic he mostly avoids thinking about it too hard. ]]

* MundaneUtility: Alchemy isn't just for making things go boom. It's also quite handy in repairing things; Elric puts his talents to good use fixing up stuff that was destroyed during the invasion of Konoha, which quickly endears him to the populace.

* WorldOfSnark: The whole story is chalk full of smart and snappy dialogue.
* WouldHurtAChild: Danzo has absolutely no problem ordering the execution of a boy who befriended Elric in order to get the secrets of alchemy from him. [[spoiler: The threat of this is what finally causes Elric to give in.]]

----
<<|FanFic/FanFics|>>

* NeverMyFault: Played for maximum horror. [[spoiler:It's not ''ROOT's'' fault that multiple innocent citizens are being kidnapped, dragged to the group's secret base and executed en masse in front of Ed in a matter nor unlike ''Film/SchindlersList'', it's '''Ed's''' fault, for being so damn stubborn to tell Danzo how alchemy works...]]

* DisabledSnarker: Ed is the obvious example. In their discussion of Lee's own injury and potential disability Ed notes that Lee doesn't nearly have the necessary sass to qualify for that position.

** [[spoiler: Roy Mustang is shown to have the very same tatoos as Edward. Hinata also ends up having tatoos forcibly applied to her by Pride when they are down in the tunnle system together. ]]

* [[spoiler: Roy Mustang is shown to have the very same tatoos as Edward. Hinata also ends up having tatoos forcibly applied to her by Pride when they are down in the tunnle system together. ]]