Nope, still don't own any of it. Do we really have to do this?

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Date Uploaded (orginal): January 3, 2011

Updated Version Upload: July 7, 2013

"Kyuubi Speaking"

"Normal Speaking"

'Normal Thinking'

"Ugh…" Naruto groaned as he slowly sat up. He opened his eyes, but only saw colors swirling around in front of him. He quickly snapped them shut again, and proceeded to shake his head in an attempt to rid
himself of his dizziness. Opening his eyes again (at a slightly slower pace this time around), he was able to make out his surroundings. He seemed to be sitting on the side of a hill, with not much in his
immediate vicinity other than more hills. Naruto, after sitting in the grass for a few more moments, stood up and scratched the back of his head.

"Well..." Naruto began, while taking the time to examine himself. "Looks like I am going to need to buy some new clothes..." He was still wearing his orange atrocity, but it was torn to shreds, with
half of the jacket being completely gone. Out of all his clothes, the only thing that was undamaged (as far as he could tell) was the pair of boxers he had on. Luckily he still had his kunai case and shuriken
pouch, although his stocks were also somewhat low at the moment. After the realization that he needed new clothing had passed, he took another quick glance at the hills surrounding him. "So what the hell
do I do now?" Seeing as he had been speaking to himself, and no one was around, he had not been expecting a response. Especially from the demonic fur ball sealed inside of his gut.

"You should probably head to the top of this hill and try to get a grasp of your surroundings" said the aforementioned fur ball, answering the blonde's rhetorical question.

'Kyuubi?' thought Naruto, becoming confused. 'Is that you?'

"No, this is one of the other countless voices that are roaming around your pathetic excuse for a brain unchecked" came the sarcastic reply. This left the ninja silent for a second, before...

'Ok, just wanted to make sure other crazy voice.'

"YOU BAKA! OF COURSE IT IS ME! Why the hell are you asking such a stupid question?" roared the Kyuubi.

This made the boy snicker a little, before he finally decided to answer his 'guest'. 'Because, you actually offered me advice that didn't have anything to do with releasing you from the seal, or turning into some berserk killing machine by using your powers. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were starting to care about me.''

"WH...WHAT? NEVER! I just... uh... thought that I should tell you what to do, that way we could start this stupid mission of yours. Ya, that's it! I knew if I didn't say anything, you would stay here for an hour or something, before finally deciding to do something stupid!"

'Uh-huh... suuuure... that's why you did it.' replied the still chuckling Naruto. 'It's ok fella, now that I know it wasn't completely your fault for what happened, and now that I have control over your chakra, I might be able to forgive you a little bit.'

"Grr... whatever... just get to the top of the damn hill already." growled the now aggravated demon lord.

Deciding it probably wouldn't be wise to continue teasing the kitsune, he decided to follow its advice. It only took him a few minutes to walk to the top of the hill. Looking around once again, he was easily
able to make out woodland off in one direction, while also noticing a mountain range in another. He also was able to see three people on the top of another hill a small distance away. Behind them he was able to make out parts of what appeared to be a road. They were inside a circle of stones, and appeared to be looking for something. From the looks of it there was one adult and two children. They all seemed to
be wearing somewhat dull colors, as well as traveling cloaks. He was momentarily caught off guard by how well he could see them, even at the distance.

"Wow! I guess that small boost to my senses I got from gaining control over Kyuubi's chakra really is useful!" he exclaimed.

"Well no duh, Baka. What the hell did you think? That being able to see farther and clearer, as well as hear better, would be a disadvantage? Of course it would be useful! You should just be grateful MY powers allowed you the upgrade." ranted Kyuubi. Naruto's reaction was to simply give a mental snort.

'Ya ya, whatever. Not like you really helped me gain them anyway, Mr. "I WILL DESTORY YOU".'

"Shut up! You try my patience, you worthless ningen! Leave now! Why don't you go over to those people and see if you can actually find out what you're supposed to be doing in this Kami damned world." ordered the now very angry demon, causing Naruto to raise his brow.

'Did you really just try and tell me to leave... When you are the one in MY head?' asked the blond shinobi.

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Finally being brought to full on laughter, Naruto wiped an imaginary tear from his eye before heading in the direction of the group he could see on the other hill. After a few steps, however, he noticed that the adult had grabbed one of the kids, before throwing himself and the child to the ground. The other kid followed after a split second. He noticed that they were looking around the side of a rock. Looking in the same direction as well, he saw black specks moving on the road. In the dimming light, it was becoming difficult to distinguish anything about them. But Naruto did know one thing as he watches the people leave the circle and run down into what appeared to be a hollow, and he began to sprint towards them...

He had a bad feeling about those black specks.

As he ran, he kept his eyes on the hollow that the people had run into. After a few minutes he saw a fire spring to life inside of it, making it possible to make out the outlines of the group, which seemed to consist of five people. He was also able to make out the shadows of five of the... things… that were giving him a bad vibe. The sun had completely set by now, and the moon could easily be seen floating in
the sky.

After another minute he heard someone yell out. He could finally make out more of the black specks from before. They seemed to be completely covered by black cloaks that were heavily tattered. As he finally got a within a few feet of the hollow, a couple things caught his attention. One was that the adult he had seen before had grabbed a stick that had been partway in the fire, brandishing it as he would the sword at his side. As he did this, two of the four children threw themselves to the ground. Another was that one of the children had seemed to simply vanish into thin air, but noticed he could still somehow see where he was. And the last thing he noticed, before he entered the fray, was that as soon as the child vanished, three of the cloaked creatures (two had stayed at the entrance to the hollow) had stepped forward, before the one in the middle drew a sword and a dagger.

Naruto finally reached the entrance, having still remained unnoticed. He quickly summoned two clones as he approached the creatures guarding the entrance, placing the on both sides of them. The clones quickly grabbed the creatures before spinning around and throwing them away from the action. Naruto and the clones them proceeded to enter the hollow. As he watched, the figure with the sword and dagger seemed to be in the process of drawing back his dagger to strike the invisible(ish) child. Putting on a burst of speed, he bypassed the other two creatures, leaving them for the clones. He pulled out a kunai and switched it to his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip. Then, just as the creature was trying to strike, Naruto jumped in between him and his target, while blocking the dagger with his knife. Looking up, saw the rotting face of a man with a crown, who somehow had a look of surprise on his undead face.

"You know," he began. "That isn't a very nice thing to do. How about you pick on someone your own size." as he said this he put his right hand behind him, before he began to form a swirling mass of energy in the palm of his hand.

The invisible person had closed his eyes as he also threw himself to the ground. He grabbed the ring on his finger, but didn't pull it off. He layer there for a few moments, expecting to feel the pain of being
stabbed. However, instead he heard the sound of metal hitting metal. As he opened his eyes, he saw a man he had never met (or seen) before. He was wearing clothes that were much more colorful then he had ever seen before. He didn't make out what the figure was saying, but he did notice the ball that was forming in the palm of his right hand. As he watched, the energy began to spin very rapidly and every direction, while causing the wind around it to pick up. It also began to give off a low whining sound before is finally stopped growing.

The man who was brandishing the flaming stick took a few steps to try and intercept the cloaked figure, but watched as someone seemed to appear out of nowhere and block the descending dagger. He only saw (out of the corner of his eye) that two more people, dressed exactly as the first, punch the other two wraiths in their faces with enough force to send them flying backwards. Back to the one who had saved his companion, he also watched as the man began to form a mass of spinning energy in his right hand. He continued to watch on, amazed, as the figure began to speak again.

"You know what?" asked the blond. "You are REALLY ugly! Let me help you fix that." He pulled his arm back a little more, before launching the orb into the figure's face. "RASENGAN!"

As the attack hit, everyone (the two who had hit the floor were now looking up as well) watched as there was an explosion that sent the creature flying backward. They heard it screeching in pain as it spun through the air, before it too joined its companions outside the hollow.

"And don't let me see your ugly mug again!" Naruto yelled after it. He watched as his companions help to pick him up, before they begin to glide away. Watching them finally get back to the road, he finally
turned around to speak to the people he had just saved. "Hey! Nice to meet you guys! So can you tell me who or what the hell those things were?" He said, closing his eyes as he smiled at the assembled group.

After a few moments of silence, he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. Everyone was looking at him in awe, their mouths open as they simply stared at him. He chuckled nervously, before looking down at the person he had just saved from being stabbed.

"Would you like some help up?" he asked, while holding out his hand. The kid looked at it for a moment, before taking hold of it and shakily getting to his feet. When he finally was on his feet everyone seemed to realize who he was speaking to. The man he had noticed before dropped his stick, before moving forward a few steps.

"Frodo! Take off the ring, quickly! The longer you leave it on, the greater the chance he will discover were we are!" he yelled. Naruto could easily see that he was becoming worried.

Said shinobi then looked back down the person he helped up, and watched as he jumped before removing a ring from his hand in a hurry. As soon as he did, the child once again became visible to everybody.

"Well... that is rather interesting..." stated Naruto.

"Thank you for saving us, sir. I would probably be dead right now if it wasn't for you arriving when you did." said the now named Frodo.

"No problem kid, it's what I do. So you wanna tell me why they were after you?"

The man stepped forward at this. "I can answer that for you" he said. But before he could continue, one of the other children stepped forward. He was slightly rounder then the others. He stepped up towards Frodo, and then placed his hand on Frodo's shoulder.

"Now look here Mr. Frodo. He saved us with his timely entrance, and that's all nice and good, but I don't think we should be telling him about all this. What would Master Gandalf think?" he asked. Naruto
scratched the back of his head, becoming more confused than before.

"While you would normally be right Sam, I believe this young man to be a trust worthy one. But you are right, it is up to you Frodo, as this concerns you the most." said the man.

Naruto decided to simply wait for them to decide, and began to look at all of them. He first looked at the man who has just spoken. He was a rather tall man, with dark wavy hair and a beard that looked as though it had not been shaved in about a week. He was wearing dark traveling clothes that seemed to be made of simple wool. On his feet was a pair of worn boots, caked with mud. There was a sword at his side, but it was not like any he had seen before, but seeing as he had seen much weirder before, he didn't think much of it. Overall he seemed to have a rugged look to him, but something about his eyes told Naruto that he was a good person and leader.

Turning, he then looked at the kids around him. He watched the two who threw themselves down stand back up. They were of small stature, but looked rather similar to him. They wore traveling clothes as well, but they were of a lighter color then the man's. Both had light curly hair and eyes that sparkled with a love for mischief, although they were somewhat dimmed from the scare they had gone through. The last thing he noticed was they had rather large and feet, and neither was wearing shoes of any sort. Sam, the somewhat fatter kid, was mostly the same as them; the only real difference being his eyes held seriousness to them, with none of the playfulness the other two had.

And finally he looked at Frodo, who he realized had been looking at him the entire time. While his hair was curly like the others, it was also a darker color then theirs. Height wise, he appeared to be the tallest of the children. His face also seemed to be a little more angular then the others. They then met each other's eyes and stared at each other for a while. After a few moments, during which the other kids began to feel nervous, Frodo gained a small smile. He turned towards the man.

"I trust him, Strider. And as Sam has said, he saved my life. He deserved to know what he has saved us all from."

Strider also began smiling, with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Wait," Naruto ordered. "Are you trying to tell me... That your name... Is Strider?" he asked, with his finger pointed at the man.

This caused the man and the kids (minus Sam) to burst into laughter. Eventually Strider gained control of himself, before finally speaking again.

"Yes and no. Strider is one of my many names, used mostly by those who live in Bree. Truthfully, however, I am Aragorn son of Arathorn." He replied. "And as for those things you helped us with, they are known as the Nazgul, or the Ringwraiths. They were once mighty men, but they became consumed by greed and power. Know they do whatever their master bids them, and they are currently after the ring that Frodo has in his possession. And now, before we continue on this depressing subject, I
believe we should all introduce ourselves properly." At this he looked at all the four kids.

One of the playful ones stepped forward. "I am Peregrin Took, or Pippin for short, at your service."

The one next to him stepped forward next. "Meriadoc Brandybuck, or Merry, likewise at your service."

Next was Sam, who stayed where he was. "Samwise Gamgee."

After a few seconds, Frodo realized that Sam was done with his introduction. Giving a slight chuckle, he held out his hand to his savior. "I am Frodo Baggins, and I am in your debt."

Looking at him, Naruto then smiled and shook it. "Like I said, don't worry about it. I gotta say though, you guys sure do have funny names, especially you kids."

Three of the 'kids' seemed to take offense to this, while Frodo and Aragorn simply laughed. Pippin then walked up to him and poked him in the stomach.

"Who do you think you are calling a child? I will have you know that I am at least twice your age!" This caused Naruto to raise a brow.

"Sorry, but I am 17, and you don't exactly look like your all that old."

"I will have you know," started Pippin. "That we are all (approximately) 50 years old. So who is the child now?" he taunted, now feeling rather smug.

"WHAT? REALLY?"

Still laughing, Aragorn answered him. "Indeed they are young man. The reason they look so young is that they are Hobbits."

'What the hell is a Hobbit?' he wondered. "Umm... Okay... guess you're not kids after all... but your names still sound weird!" At which point he stuck out his tongue.

"Oh really? And what exactly is your name then?" This time it was Merry who asked the question.

"I am Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto! And I am going to be the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen!" he exclaimed, causing another awkward silence.

"And you think our names are weird?" asked Pippin and Merry.

"What the hell is a Hokage?" was Sam's response.

"Where is Konoha?" wondered Frodo, having never heard of it before.

Aragorn, however, simply let them finish their questions. He had never heard of such a name or a Hokage before, and had never been to any place called Konoha. And seeing as he had traveled just about everywhere (and seeing as the boy had never heard of Hobbits), that only left one explanation in his mind. He wasn't from Middle Earth. After they were finished, he looked the boy in the eyes and asked his own.

"How exactly did you get here?" And then, after noticing something odd, he also asked, "And what happened to your companions?"

"Huh? What companions?" was Naruto's intelligent answer.

"The two men who were with you. They wore the same style of clothing as you, and they were taking care of the other wraiths while you took on the one after Frodo." Naruto continued to look confused, before snapping his fingers when he realized what he was talking about.

"Oh, them. They weren't my companions, they were my clones." He answered matter-of-factly.

"Clones?" this time everybody asked the same question.

"Here, I'll show you!" With that he made a cross with the pointer and middle fingers of both hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he exclaimed. Everyone was shocked as a puff of smoke appeared on both sides of the blond, before clearing to show two more Naruto's.

"Yo." said the one of the left.

"What's up?" was the right.

"See! Clones! Pretty cool, huh?" asked the one in the middle.

All they could do was nod their heads slowly with wide eyes. Even in all his years in the wild, Aragorn had never seen anything like this, so what chance did the group of Hobbits have?

"And how exactly did you get here?" Aragorn asked again.

"Oh, that's easy, Kami sent me."

"Kami?"

"Oh yeah, he said he did go by something different here... But what was it?" He turned to the clone on the left, who shook his head no. "How about you?" he asked the one on the right.

"If I am you... and you don't know… how the hell so you expect me to know?" it asked in an exasperated tone.

"Hey! Don't use that tone with me!"

"Come ok guys, don't argue!" pleaded the one on the left.

"SHUT UP!" the two yelled in synch, before glaring at each other.

Off on the side, the group if five watched on in amazement. Slowly Sam turned towards Frodo.

"Mr. Frodo?" he asked. "Is it just me, or is he getting in and argument... with himself?" Frodo could only nod his head.

"Yes Sam, I believe he is."

Then, suddenly, the three look-a-likes snapped their fingers, looks of realization stamped across their faces.

"Oh ya!" yelled the Naruto on the left

"He said..." continued the original.

"His name was..." said the right.

"ILUVATAR!" they exclaimed together.

Three of the hobbits (Merry, Pippin, and Sam) were slowly edging away from him, eyes wide as they stared at the insane person before them. Frodo, seeing his friends' faces, couldn't help but laugh at them, even though he was rather surprised by Naruto's claim. Aragorn, on the other hand, didn't seem very surprised at all.

This changed after a few moments of thinking. Aragorn's face them contorted into a look of worry.

"This does not bode well for Middle Earth." he stated, earning a confused look from all of the hobbits.

"And why would you say something like that?" asked Pippin.

"If Iluvatar is sending us someone from a different world, it must mean that something is going to happen and that we might not be prepared for it."

"Hmm... your probably right." said Naruto, turning much more serious than those around him would have thought possible. "Just before he sent me here, he told me he was sending me to 'A world that might fall into an age of darkness much like yours was at risk of doing'."

Catching the part about Naruto's own world, Aragorn filed the information away to question him about later.

"It is as I feared. We shall rest for the night, and then in the morning we shall continue on our way to Rivendell." Then, turning towards Naruto, he asked, "Will you be joining us Naruto? We could use someone of your skills."

"Ya, as far as I can tell, you guys are probably tied into whatever I am supposed to be helping with." he replied.

"Good. For now, we shall rest."

"Alright, I'll take watch then, since I'm not really tired."

Hearing this, Sam was about to say something, but was stopped by a hand over his mouth. When he turned his head, he saw that it belonged to Frodo. Seeing his reaction caused Naruto to start laughing.

"Don't worry Sam." he started, gaining a mischievous look. He quietly created a shadow clone right behind Sam, which quickly pulled out a kunai and pressed it to Sam's neck. "If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it a long time ago."

Nodding, very carefully and nervously mind you, Sam apparently forgot about his reluctance. Aragorn decided to jump in before anything else happened.

"Thank you Naruto. That would be very much appreciated."

"No problem, just make sure you guys are ready in the morning."

Nodding, everyone began getting setting up their 'beds'. This basically consisted of using their back packs as a pillow, and then covering up with a blanket. As they were making themselves comfortable, the two Naruto clones nodded to the original, before running off into the darkness.

As Naruto sat there, he watched as they fell asleep. Pippin and Merry were the first to go, having been worn out by a long day of walking and the night's excitement. Frodo soon followed them. Sam had attempted to stay awake, obviously still a little wary of him. He fell asleep after half an hour. The only one who didn't seem to sleep was Aragorn.

Naruto continued to watch the camp for a few hours. During that time his two clones had dispelled themselves, informing him that the black cloaked creatures had indeed left the immediate vaccinate. Eventually Aragorn awoke, telling Naruto to get some rest while he had the chance. Nodding, Naruto got up, popped his back, and walked off to the side. He then removed the remains of his jacket, leaving him with his tattered black shirt to cover his chest. He rolled the jacket up and set it under his head as he lay down.

"Well..." he thought, just as he was about to fall asleep. "That was a rather interesting first day in a new world."

That night Naruto had a weird dream. There was an old man who reminded him of the Sandaime, having an almost aura of wisdom about him. He had long gray hair, as well as a matching beard. Held in between his two hands was what appeared to be a staff made from a long tree branch, and at his side was a sword similar to Aragorn's. In the dream, the old man was reciting something Naruto had never heard before.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-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.

Chapter End

Omake:

Naruto continued to watch the camp for a few hours. During that time his two clones had dispelled themselves, informing him that the black cloaked creatures had indeed left the immediate vaccinate. Eventually Aragorn awoke, telling Naruto to get some rest while he had the chance. Nodding, Naruto got up, popped his back, and walked off to the side. He then removed the remains of his jacket, leaving him with his tattered black shirt to cover his chest. He rolled the jacket up and set it under his head as he laid down. It only took him a few minutes to fall asleep.

Aragorn spent his time on watch contemplating the mysterious boy who had saved them. Turning, he stared at his prone form, looking as if he thought it would help unravel the mystery surrounding him. As he watched, said boy began to toss in his sleep, as well as gain a somewhat pained look across his face.

"Naruto? Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper.

The boy continued to toss and turn in his sleep, apparently not hearing Aragorn. After a few moments, however he began to speak.

"Why did he take our ramen?" he asked in a quiet voice. "why did he take it from us?"

"Ramen? What are you..." he started, before the boy began speaking again. This time in a differed tone of voice.

"Because he is an evil and cruel Kami, young one. He tooked our precious to watch us suffer." By now Aragorn was becoming confused.

"Naruto?" he asked again.

"No! Kami wouldn't do that to us! He wouldn't take our precious for fun!" he spoke again, switching back to the quiet voice.

"Yes, he would. He enjoys seeing us in pain. But that is ok. We will defeat him soon enough, and then we will have our precious back."

"But how? How will we defeat Kami?"

"Yes... it will be difficult. He is a tricksy Kami. But nothing will stop us. We will defeat him, and then no one shall ever take our precious again!" The two voices seemed to merge back together as he began to laugh, rather evilly at that.

"Ramen! Ramen!" he said, with a very wheezy voice (imagine when Sméagol says "Gollum" and that is oh he says it).

The boy the settled down, going back to laying still. Aragorn stared at him with wide eyes, obviously frightened very much by what he had just seen. He slowly backed away until he was at a, what he deemed, safe distance. He then curled up on the ground in the fetal position, and began to rock back and forth.

A small ways away, the two clones that had previously run off watched the scene unfold before them. When they saw Aragorn's reaction, they burst out in laughter.

"Did you see the look on his face?" said the one on the left.

"Ya! It was priceless! Man does boss know how to prank someone!" replied his double.

"Ya, I know what you mean. So do you think Aragorn will realize that it was just a joke?" asked the first.

"I don't know man, that was pretty convincing. Even if he does he will probably be having nightmares for quite some time."

"Probably."

The clones fell into silence. After a few minutes, the one on the left turned towards his companion.

"Hey, boss was awake when he was doing that, right?" The other clone slowly turned towards him.

"Well… I think he was…" he answered.

Both clones stared at each other, slowly gaining looks of anxiety. They then began to slowly turn their heads back towards the original Naruto, just as he began to laugh evilly once again, causing Aragorn to rock even faster.

Omake End!