Hi, guys! Thanks for giving my story a chance. I've decided to try my hand at a crossover between the Naruto characters and the characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As I've mentioned in my previous stories, please no flaming. I'm open to all ideas and if anyone would like to be involved with the story, please feel free to tell me so in a PM or in their review. Constructive criticism is desired.

THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI! (But only SasuNaru, so don't worry die hard LOTR fans – the pairings in the trilogy are the same). So if you hate yaoi, or have a problem with it, please don't read this story and keep your comments to yourself. Thank you for your understanding.

Now that we're done with the unpleasant stuff, I hope that everyone will enjoy this story.


PROLOGUE: Sasuke Retrieval Mission 2.0
"Not all those who wander are lost."
J.R.R. Tolkien,the Fellowship of the Ring

News reached Konoha that Sasuke Uchiha had successfully found his older brother, Itachi and were currently fighting to the death to avenge the memory of their massacred family. This saddened both Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno; Sasuke's former teammates. Perhaps, Sasuke would be more willing to cooperate with them, now that one of his tasks had been accomplished at last. Who knew? But there was only one way to find out, which was why they were currently waiting at the gates of Konoha to set off.

"Good luck on your mission you two, and be careful." Tsunade, Konoha's fifth Kokage had urged them, and then eyed off Naruto sternly. The blonde haired ninja gulped uneasily and braced himself for some serious tongue lashing from the woman he regarded as his surrogate grandmother. "Don't take any stupid risks. If you cannot convince Uchiha to come back willingly … well, you know what you need to do." Tsunade said soberly. Sakura and Naruto paled. Neither wanted to be the one to end their teammate's life prematurely, but that was what the life of a ninja was: doing tasks that they would rather not do. Nodding one final time, Naruto and Sakura turned and sprinted away from the village – their minds focused on their lost teammate.

Sakura had wanted to be the one on Sasuke's mind. Four years ago, it was the greatest and dearest desire of nearly every girl in Konoha. Nowadays, because Sasuke had been away from Konoha for nearly four years and there had been rumours of Sasuke's criminal activities – usually involving the murder of important figures or those who had influences – the fantasies the lovesick female population in Konoha had, dwindled to practically nothing. Instead they were replaced with fears that Sasuke would suddenly show up in Konoha and slaughter everyone they held dear.

It was nearly every villager's personal opinion that the once respected youngest member of a corrupted clan, had finally and tragically gone insane. Although these theories were never confirmed. This was what Sakura feared, and she also feared that her once strong hopes were fading. Her biggest concern however was Naruto, whom had taken Sasuke's desertion from the village hard, and had since vowed and declared to do whatever it took to bring back Sasuke. Even if he had to knock some sense into him first, THEN drag him back to Konoha. But it was always the same scenario: they'd get word about Sasuke, they'd be assigned a retrieval mission to go out to find him and attempt to persuade him to come back. But nine times out of ten, they'd come back empty handed – except for the odd injury or two which they would have sustained from violent brawls with Sasuke.

Sakura winced. It also didn't help that she had made Naruto promise to bring Sasuke back to her, and Naruto being the loyal friend that he was, agreed.

Naruto also held a secret deep within his own heart that involved the volatile Uchiha. To Naruto, Sasuke was not just his best friend; he was also the love of his very young life – but for survival reasons (namely to escape the wrath of Sakura and half the village) he kept these feelings between him and Sasuke himself.

Oh yes, Sasuke knew of Naruto's feelings for him.

In fact he reciprocated them.

But, the moment he decided to leave Konoha in pursuit of more power; he buried his romantic feelings for the blonde deep down in his subconscious. Presumably because he feared that his feelings would be a distraction to his ultimate goal, or that Orochimaru would somehow find out and use these feelings as a weapon to keep him loyal. But that was the past and Orochimaru was very much dead by the hands of Sasuke himself. His faithful assistant, Kabuto was missing in action, but it was rumoured that he was in hiding in Sound country. At very present a climactic battle was underway – and both shinobi hoped and prayed that Sasuke was indeed the victor.


"Do you think that we might be able to bring him back this time, Naruto?" asked Sakura quietly from her side of the fire.

They had stopped reluctantly for the night, and even though both wanted to continue on it would be foolish to do so, due to their surroundings. Naruto looked across the warm crackling campfire at his pretty pink haired friend as he contemplated what his answer would be. It was a tough answer to give, but he wasn't in the mood to lie to her face. So he went with the truth.

"I doubt it."

He poked a stick into the fire which sent a wave of glowing orange yellow embers into the night air. "If he really wanted to come back, he would've done it ages ago." Sakura frowned with disappointment. Not because she disagreed with Naruto's answer, but because she knew that he was right, and she didn't want him to be right. She wanted to remain in denial, because it gave her comfort – but she also knew that eventually they would have to make a difficult choice, and denial had no place in that decision whatsoever.

"We can live in hope that this time he might change his mind." Sakura suggested. Naruto almost smiled.

"Yeah, I can live with that." He chucked the stick into the fire and got to his feet. "You better get some sleep, Sakura-chan. I'll take the first watch." He volunteered and strapped his weapons pack to his thigh. Immediately, Sakura's head snapped up and she got to her feet intercepting him.

"Forget that, Naruto! I'm taking the first watch. You've been barely sleeping as is these days." She scolded him. Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his blonde head as he regarded Sakura's disapproving face.

"Nah, it's cool. I can't sleep."

He took a step towards the surrounding trees only to be jerked back violently by Sakura who had grabbed him by the back of his jacket. "Jesus, Sakura!" He growled, massaging his sore throat. He was constantly reminded that the girl had inhuman strength when she did that. Not to mention the other times when she'd clobber him over the head when he said something less than tactful or courteous to her.

"I'm serious, Naruto. Get in there and get some rest before I make you!"

Sakura made her threat clear by raising her fist in front of his face. Naruto gulped and decided that he'd rather toss and turn in his sleeping bag then risk gaining a concussion by a well-aimed punch. It was times like these that he cursed the fact that she was an expert medical ninja. Naruto shuffled off towards their tent and climbed in, zipping the door in place.

Time to get a bad night's sleep…

He rolled over and shut his eyes hoping that if he did dream, he'd dream about Sasuke and the happy memories associated with him, rather than the nightmares that he usually had. But alas, Naruto managed to drift off into an uneasy slumber – but it held no traces of his love.

In the dream, Naruto found himself walking through a forest glade in what appeared to be mid-Autumn. All around him, were tall white trunked trees with evergreen leaves, brown ferny bushes and other trees with red, yellow and orange coloured leaves. Moss covered boulders and rocks were dotted everywhere and the grass beneath his feet was an emerald green except for the small dirt path he was walking on, which was strewn with crisp fallen leaves that crackled under foot. Brilliant sunlight filtered in from above, diluted only by the canopy of leaves above him.

Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment. Why the hell did he suddenly imagine such a beautiful, peaceful place? His mind was anything but beautiful and peaceful, as it usually consisted of a sewerage corridor and the only occupant apart from himself was the fox demon and spirit, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Welcome, Naruto."

He gave a start and looked around for the melodic female voice that whispered to him in a soft echoing voice. But there was no one there. Calmly, he groped around for his weapons pack for something to throw or defend himself with. To his alarm, he realised he wasn't wearing it and he looked down at his thigh in horror. This was not good.

"You know, a person who doesn't reveal themselves when they talk, usually has something to hide." Naruto pointed out as he scanned his corners, preparing himself for a possible fight. A light tinkling laugh rang out.

"You needn't be afraid, child. I won't harm you." The voice soothed. Naruto frowned – he was completely exposed and this woman's voice was telling him to NOT be afraid?

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded, "What do you want from me?"

A woman stepped out from the shadows, and Naruto couldn't help but stare at the woman's beauty. She was tall and fair skinned with very long golden hair – brighter than his own – which was tied back, exposing pointed ears. She had soft blue eyes, and wore a very intricate golden coronet and was gowned in a dress that was completely white with long large sleeves and bound about the waist with a cream fabric belt. A white gossamer fine hooded travelling cloak was about her delicate shoulders, and his sharp vulpine eyes caught a sparkle of something on the woman's slender ring finger: a complicated looking but very elegant flower shaped ring.

She smiled politely at Naruto and walked slowly towards him. Naruto remained rooted in place, as he could sense no immediate threat from the woman.

"My name is Galadriel. I am an elf, and I summoned you here to help guide you on your journey." She explained.

"Guide me? I don't understand." Naruto said, "What journey are you going on about?"

"A journey that you and your friends will be embarking on very soon. I expect that it will change each of your lives in different ways. As well as helping another fulfil a destiny that will come to pass." Naruto was confused.

"But why us? I mean all we want to do is bring back our friend." Naruto protested. Galadriel nodded insistently. "How can you possibly know that we're meant to help this person?" Galadriel placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked him right in the eyes.

"I am one of a few who has the gift of foresight. When we meet again, I will explain more to you and your friends." She explained. Naruto nodded uncertainly, "and please, do not trouble yourself over your friend." Galadriel reassured him. "Your friend will return with you, when the time is right. But not before."

"Naruto! Naruto!" Sakura's voice interrupted their conversation. Galadriel smiled once again before she started fading way.

"This is where I leave you. Until our next meeting, Naruto Uzumaki." She promised and waved goodbye.


"Naruto! Wake up, it's your turn to stand guard." Sakura yelled as she poked Naruto hard in the shoulder. He stirred feeling disoriented and confused by the dream he just had about a strange beautiful elf? He yawned and sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Alright already, I'm up! I'm up!" Sakura was pleased to discover that he had been sleeping, but was not happy at the face Naruto had been wearing when she woke him.

Why does it look so troubled? She thought.

Plus it looks like he's been crying again… She sighed sympathetically but she dared not to mention this to Naruto. The last time she did, Naruto strongly denied it and would refuse to speak to her. She would never understand why most men believed crying was a sign of weakness. If anything, it showed that they had a soft, vulnerable side that most women found attractive.

"So far, I haven't seen anything suspicious. But you never know, maybe our luck will change." She joked as she slid into her sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep leaving Naruto alone to the rest of the watch and his troubled thoughts. He paused momentarily to breathe in the crisp night air. It felt great to be able to escape the stuffy confines of that two person tent. Then Naruto leapt into the nearest tree and did a quick circuit around the campsite before eventually coming to rest on a tree branch that had an unobstructed view of the campsite.

Guard duty was a fairly mundane, straightforward exercise, and often Naruto was known to daydream during it. He was still mulling over exactly what Galadriel had meant by: "Your friend will return with you, when the time is right. But not before." Was this time different, was Sasuke going to come back? Now recently, Naruto's thoughts used to be only his own. But because of his mild insomnia, Naruto's troubled thoughts literally came to life:

"You just don't know how to quit while you're ahead, do you dobe?" Arms wound themselves around Naruto's shoulders, causing the blonde to tense up. He wished that the person who belonged to those arms was really here, but at the same time he felt like it was a very bad sign. Like it was a prelude to something final.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" Naruto reached up and grasped one the arms in his hand, holding it tight and not wanting to let it go. 'Sasuke' chuckled affectionately and planted a kiss on Naruto's temple.

"You tell me. You're the one who brought me here." Naruto sighed before untangling himself from the embrace and jumping to another branch. However because it was his daydream, 'Sasuke' would only follow him. "Careful. I think I can see smoke coming from your ears." He teased, but Naruto wasn't in the mood.

"It wasn't my intention to think of you, considering what we might have to do to you if you refuse to come back this time." Naruto's projection of Sasuke merely scoffed and lent up against the trunk of the tree he and Naruto were perched in. This almost caused the blonde to smile … almost.

"Dobe, you can't help but to think of me. Otherwise, why would you and Sakura be wasting your time coming after me?" Then there was that infuriating superior smirk on the bastard's face.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours?" Naruto laughed humourlessly. "But then, why would you listen to me or Sakura? You haven't so far!" The smirk disappeared. "Even as we speak, you're out there somewhere killing or being killed by your goddamned brother, and Sakura and I can't even interfere to stop you from making the biggest mistake in your life!"

Naruto turned away from the object of his torment and clenched his hands in his hair with anguished, angry tears leaking from his eyes as he continued his rant. "And you wanna know the sad part about all this?"

No response.

"You're not even here. I'm venting my frustrations out on you, and you're not here to defend yourself or mock me because you're not even fucking real!" 'Sasuke' came over and once again wrapped his arms around Naruto, crushing him against his chest and cupping the back of his blonde head with his hand.

"You're right, dobe. I'm not gonna sugar-coat it the next time I see you. In fact, I'm likely to kill you." He suddenly drew in a sharp breath, "If I'm still alive that is …" Naruto raised his head from 'Sasuke's' shoulder when he realised that 'Sasuke' was breathing shallowly.

Naruto's eyes widened with fear.

"What's going on, Sasuke?" 'Sasuke' gave a pained smile.

"You better hurry, dobe. I think the battle's just about over with Itachi…" 'Sasuke' hinted and cupped Naruto's cheek. "It's time to wake up."

Naruto jolted awake and realised that he'd unintentionally nodded off and it was currently early morning. Panicking, he immediately raced over to the tent and unzipped it frantically.

"SAKURA!" He yelled. She bolted upright and looked around for the danger. Seeing nothing, she glared at Naruto.

"Naruto, unless there is a whole horde of enemy ninjas surrounding us, you better start running for your life." She threatened, her voice dripping danger. Naruto barely acknowledged the threat, instead choosing to stuff his sleeping bag back into his knapsack. Sakura frowned at this unnatural behaviour. She was expecting Naruto to recoil in horror and actually start running for his life. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I think something's gone terribly wrong with Sasuke." Naruto admitted distractedly.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"How could you possibly know that?" Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew that Sakura would think he was crazy if he revealed the truth to her: which was that he had daydreamed a conversation with Sasuke that hadn't really happened, and that Sasuke had told her that he was in trouble.

"I just do okay. I've got a bad feeling." Sakura looked sceptical, but also started packing away their belongings and minutes later they were off again. Naruto just hoped that his hunch was incorrect, and that Sasuke was still alive. Speeding through the trees, Sakura was just barely keeping up with Naruto as they entered Earth Country, where the mission statement had said Sasuke was last seen heading towards for his final showdown with Itachi.

She aimed a worried look at the back of Naruto's head.

Geez, what the hell happened while I was sleeping back there? What's got him so riled up? But before she could question him, she suddenly sensed the presence of two charka sources: one just barely functioning and one extremely thready.

Oh no…

"Naruto—" Sakura whispered in anguish. Those charka sources were indeed very familiar. Naruto swore and ran faster towards the location. Suddenly, one of the chakras vanished completely and Sakura's heart stopped.

"NO!" roared Naruto as they came to a clearing, and both of them took in the sight.

It wasn't very promising: there was debris of broken rocks, scorched trees (some of which were still burning away like kindling) and traces of blood all over the battlefield. Frantic blue and green eyes scanned everywhere, hoping to catch a glimpse of their friend and praying that it wasn't him whose charka had disappeared. Suddenly, Sakura saw two huddled bodies leaning against a broken wall. One of the figures was a tall, once handsome young man of at least twenty-five with long raven black hair which had been messed up from the fight, and was dressed head to toe in black, now ripped and torn clothing. His once-flawless face was now bloodied and bruised, and pale … deathly pale, with onyx eyes now just staring without seeing.

Both Sakura and Naruto recognised him at once.

Itachi… Which meant that the second figure, breathing shallowly and staring unblinkingly at something just beyond them was Sasuke. Immediately, Sakura rushed forward with Naruto following at a more sedate pace.

"Sasuke? Can you hear me? It's me, Sakura." The pink haired kunoichi examined him with her eyes. Sasuke didn't even twitch. She glanced worriedly over her shoulder at a grave looking Naruto. "I, I think he's in shock." Sakura sighed with grief and sympathy, and foolishly moved to close Itachi's eyes in a sign of respect. Without warning, Sasuke's hand shot out and snatched Sakura's wrist in a painful grip. She just barely stifled a startled cry, and stared nervously at Sasuke who was now glaring hatefully at her.

"Don't touch him."

Sasuke used his other hand to gently close his brother's eyes himself. He barely acknowledged Naruto's presence as he stood up gingerly from the ground, not even bothering to release Sakura's wrist from his grasp. "I thought I told the both of you to stay away from me?" Sakura wrenched her wrist away from him and took several steps back from an obviously unstable Sasuke. Naruto braced himself for a fight he knew was brewing.

"Sorry. 'Fraid we can't do that." Naruto's reply earned him an unamused smirk from Sasuke.

"You still don't get it, do you?" taunted Sasuke who walked over to retrieve his discarded katana, wiping it clean from Itachi's blood.

"Oh no, we heard you loud and clear. We're just ignoring you." Naruto reached into his weapon's pouch for a kunai. "This time we're not playing games, Sasuke. It's over. Time to come home."

Sasuke chuckled darkly and turned his head to sneer at them.

"Home? With you two? I don't think so. I'd rather die, than go back to a village that lies and corrupts to get their own way." Naruto drew in a deep breath and held it. Now was the time to make the final decision. Persuasion or death? "Besides," Naruto paused, waiting to hear what Sasuke had to say next. "What's really waiting for me back home, anyway?"

Naruto was outraged.

"What's waiting for you? Tell me you're joking?!" Naruto urged, fighting back tears. Sakura's tears were already dripping down her cheeks. They were losing him again.

"You've got us, Sasuke! You've got me!" she insisted. Sasuke's sneer deepened.

"Wrong answer."

Then he charged at them, backhanding Sakura and running full steam ahead at Naruto, his katana raised high and ready to bury itself in Naruto's head. The blonde blocked just in time and found himself staring face-to-face with the young man who had plagued his dreams of late.

"What's the matter, dobe? Don't I get a kiss hello?" Naruto roared with anger and attacked at the same Sasuke kicked Naruto in the chest, and he flew backwards from the blow and landed in a heap on the ground. The avenger wiped away some blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Not bad, dobe. I see you've improved." Then he disappeared, sparking panic within Naruto and Sakura. Then Naruto found himself in a headlock.

Shit! He felt warm breath tickling his ears.

"But you've still got much to learn."

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke looked up to see Sakura readying her fist to smash open the Earth, causing the ground beneath their feet to split open from the force. Sasuke leapt aside, dragging Naruto with him to avoid the crack in the Earth, but was caught off guard by Sakura who had regrouped and charged at him, aiming to bury a kunai into Sasuke's head. He blocked the attack with his katana, and the moment both metals connected the friction caused a chain reaction that ripped open a tear in dimensions, shooting blinding white light that saturated the battleground.

All three shinobi winced in pain, shielding their eyes from the light.

"Ahh! What's going on?" demanded Naruto. But before any of them could answer, Galadriel's voice echoed in his head:

"Until our next meeting, Naruto Uzumaki…" and his eyes widened in realisation, as something grabbed them and pulled them towards the light. There was a brief struggle and then it felt as though they were falling…


A/N: So here's my attempt at a LOTR crossover with a vastly different form of entertaiment: Japanese Anime. Hope this prologue has done its job and attracted some interested readers. Review respectfully please.