Chapter 1
Three Rings for the Spirits-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Realm-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Hashirama stared down the three Elder spirits.
The first Hokage's delegation cowered behind him. The erethreal beings, chakra escaping in glowing wisps, towered above them. They were the aspacts of Tiger, Dragon and Snake, the oldest and most powerful.
"Hand over the Ring, mortal." their voices intoned in unison.
The Hokage turned to the Uchiha standing by his side. Madara handed over the box and stepped back. It opened with a click in Hashirma's hands, revealing a simple golden band resting on a black cushion. He placed it on his palm.
It glowed red-hot, but did not burn his palm. The black markings of the Ring's recently defeated owner were visible to all.
"Quickly, mortal. It cannot be destroyed by any power you possess." The spirits ignored the man's sigh. "It is an agen of coruption and you will surely fall-"
"Enough." he said calmly.
Hashirama's men gasped in shock. Their leader was a great hero, but the Spirit kings were far beyond him! Why dare interrupt them?! Their eyes widened when his hand closed around the Ring.
"My people have fought and bled for this Ring. You say that it can corrupt any soul..." his voice turned to steel. "What says that you are free from its influence?"
The spirits were taken aback by the accusation. Dragon reared its head and Snake's tongue flicked the air. The ground rumbled.
"We are your final hope! The Ring can only be destroyed in the Spirit realm!"
Madara frowned as he gazed upon Hashirama's back. He trusted him to make the right decision.
"I have not to come today to submit the fate of my land to you."
Madara shuffled uneasily, wondering what was the reason behind all of this.
The first Hokage continued as if unaware of the spirits' indignation. "I refuse to give up such power and you cannot convince me that you do not want it for yourselves! This is a mortal affair, and we will deal with it in our own way."
Tiger growled, Dragon spat fire but Snake slithered next to the man.
"You are free to refuse our offer..." it hissed. "but if you bring about the return of Sauron the Deciever, then it will be our affair as well. We will be forced to intervene."
Hashirama smiled but did not answer. He opened up his palm and picked up the Ring.
"Madara."
The Uchiha stepped forward with a stern face. His gaze lingered on the Ring before returning to Hashirama.
"I relinquish my ownership over the Ring. Take it."
Snake pulled back, startled. The mortal would give it up willingly?
Madara reached for the Ring, unsure of what to do. He would follow the Hokage gladly for the good of the village, even if he disagreed sometimes, but now he could not see how refusing the Spirit kings' offer to dispose of the Ring would help them.
The God of Shinobi faced him and dropped the ring in his open palm.
"Do agree to burden youself with the Dark Ring and swear to work toward its ultimate destruction?"
Madara narrowed his eyes. What was he up to? Snake hovered above them, watching their every move.
"I accept."
"Then it has been decided." Hashirama turned to face the three Spirit kings. "The fate of the Ring shall be decided by mortals."
60 years later...
Tenten brought her foot down. A pillar of stone shot upwards at the other end of the training ground. Sakura, her hands wrapped in tendrils of clear water, sidestepped the attack and lashed out.
The clear liquid splashed against a last-second earth wall. Sakura smirked and pulled back the tendrils. They circled in the air before she brought them crashing down again. Their razor-sharp edges carved through the stone, revealing... emptiness.
Sakura dropped her smirk.
Her eyes darted left and right, and she instinctively pulled the water closer.
The ground split open and Tenten re-emerged behind her. Sakura spun around instants before a slab of rock was sent flying at her. It impacted against a shield of hastily formed ice.
The brunette clenched her jaw and pulled more stone out of the ground. Her feet slid forward, and she kicked the levitating block through the ice.
Sakura shifted to the side just as her defenses crumbled away. Frowning with concentration, she brought her hands together in a sweeping movement that ended pointing at Tenten's feet. The crushed ice melted and rushed low towards her opponent.
Tenten spotted the movement and crouched. As she leapt, earth followed her and took her away from the approaching water. The kunoichi closed her eyes the moment she was on solid ground again.
She had trained for weeks to do this. She could do it!
Tenten felt the vibrations emanating from where Sakura stood. She tapped the ground with her left foot and felt her chakra take hold of a mass of rock. When she brought her leg up for a right kick, the rock broke through the surface and formed a jagged spike aimed at Sakura.
The waterbender dodged the attack and sliced off the sharp tip. Tenten tapped the ground again and repeated the attack. Mechanically, she lauched spike after spike, rythmically tapping her left foot and whipping the air with her right.
Sakura eventually launched a counterattack, reaching with her tendrils. Tenten switched feet, blocked with a mound of earth and resumed her onslaught.
"Hey! Can I join in?!"
Both girls froze and watched the loud blond weave through the forest of spikes and pillars on a ball of air.
"No!" they shouted together.
Naruto jumped off and slumped his shoulders. Sulking, he turned around and started walking back slowly.
Sakura opened her gourd and filled it back up with water, fuming. She stomped off to catch up with Naruto. Guessing that the sparring session was over, Tenten bent down to massage her right knee. She grimanced when a burst of pain answered her touch. She had to train that stance more often, but not today.
Tenten looked at the fiery horizon. The sun had nearly set and there still was no sign of him.
"Hey, wait up!" Sakura shrieked.
Naruto turned away from his pink-haired teammate. He only stopped when she grabbed his sleeve and jerked on it.
"What's wrong with you?! And why are you so late?"
"You said we were going to train together!" He gestured towards the upturned training ground. "You promised you'd wait for me..."
Sakura blinked. "You're... How do you even think like that?"
"Huh?"
Sakura's fist knocked him to the ground. "You're three hours late! And YOU'RE the one who's angry?!"
Naruto rubbed his head while she muttered something about him being a 'clueless idiot'. He looked up at her and licked his lips.
"But you promised... I was looking forward to showing you my new moves."
Sakura looked away as he got up, crossing her arms. "I know. We did wait."
Naruto smiled slighly.
"He's coming for sure, if that's what you want to know."
Sakura blushed and hid her face in the lengthening shadows. "I know he will. At least he keeps his promises."
Naruto nodded and followed her back to the center of the clearing. They found Tenten sitting on a tree stump, scraping off the mud between her toes.
"That's disgusting," Sakura remarked.
Tenten ignored her and turned to Naruto. "You finally got here. What took you so long?"
"Ah, well..." Naruto scratched his hair, trying to think of way to conserve his dignity. "Jiraiya, he...uh, told to me to do some stealth exercises because, like, they're important for becoming a true nin-"
Sakura ended his quote with a light shove. Tenten rolled her eyes, smiling.
"He made you watch out for him at the bath house again, didn't he?"
Naruto stared at his feet, not bothering to deny the fact.
"So..." His eyes moved back to Tenten. "When's he coming?"
The blond's expression became serious. "His clan is letting him go after all these years, and he said something about an important announcement to make." Naruto frowned. "At least, I think he did."
His pink-haired teammate bopped him on the head again. "You forgot what he said?!"
Tenten rolled her eyes as the two bickered. Sometimes, she really missed her old teammates. She remembered Lee and her chest hurt again. The earthbender spotted two red dots in the shadows between the trees. They expanded into a pair of spinning pupils.
Sakura stiffened. Naruto waved happily.
"Pretty boy is here for you." sneered Tenten.
"Sh-shut up, tomboy." Sakura stammered in response.
Sasuke stepped out of the shadows. He wore his traditional dark blue Uchiha outfit, in addition to a pair of black gloves.
"Good evening," he said, voice low and cold.
Naruto took him into a hug and patted his back. Sasuke cracked a smile at him. Sakura hesitated and simply took his arm. He gave her a nod while she blushed.
"So, what's the big idea?"
Sakura glared at Tenten for being so direct. The brunette shrugged and looked back at Sasuke, hands still working on her toes. He cleared his throat as Naruto and Sakura stepped away to let him speak.
"I'm very sorry for making you three wait. The clan proceedings took more time than expected, despite my insistence that they be shortened."
Tenten failed to imagine the polite Sasuke insisting for anything.
The Uchiha continued. "With the support of my sensei, I demonstrated the necessary skills and ..." He looked over at Naruto. The latter gripped his shoulder. "I took the oath."
There was a moment of silence as they digested the news. Tenten winced. To give up his life's purpose like that...
"The four of us are an official team now. Naruto, has Jiraiya completed your training?"
The blond ninja nodded with a grin. "Weeks ago. We were just waiting for you."
The Uchiha sighed and flexed his gloves. He had used its power earlier, and his right hand still felt cold and numb.
"Well then..." Sasuke declared. "Our quest to destroy the Ring starts now."
A crossover!
This is Kishimoto's universe, with Tolkien's mythology sprinkled on top and fused with the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe.
The story is completely my own, so you will not be seeing the Fellowship or Aang's gang. There are no original characters either, and if anyone has read my previous work, there's nothing to worry about when it comes to writing the canon ones.
