AN:

Thank you e7cg13, GlidingOne, ice vixen, and DreamingIn2Eternity for the reviews! Also thank you to TrueArtIsFleeting for putting this on your story alerts, sorry for not mentioning you earlier! I hope you like this chapter. Sorry on the slow going! The reviews boost my motivation...

Thank You all for the support, now on to the show!


Aragorn awoke to the sound of arguing. The language was not Rohirric, mostly because it was too tonal and clipped. He felt his shoulder being shaken by eager hands.

"Wake up, Strider!" cried an cheerfully accented voice. "I think that a brawl might start!"

The groggy ranger forced his grey eyes open to see Merry looking down at him with a rather panicked look. Seeing that he was up, the halfling began tugging on his hand.

"C'mon Strider!" he cried. Allowing himself to be pulled along, Aragorn slowly stumbled through the hallways into the great hall. What he saw there shocked him out of his sleepy state. Smashed tables and broken benches littered the gilded hall, while flames merrily crackled in the fire pit. Foreign words filled the air, which snapped with surpressed energy. The Bradybuck pulled him through the crowd of on-lookers, who were absolutely silent. They came to a stop next to Eomer and Legolas, who were translating the angry words being said. Aragorn looked down to Merry and said quietly:

"I think the brawl might have already occured,"

The ranger looked at the shinobi, (for indeed it was them) who were standing in two groups, separated only by the fire pit. Gimli, who was standing on Legolas' left, greeted him.

"About time you awoke, laddie," grumbled the dwarf. "It's a wonder that Thèoden King hasn't been awoken by this ruckus,"

Minato, Obito, and Anko stood on the side of the fire closest to the throne. Orochimaru, Kakashi and Susano'o stood on the side closest to the door. The two teachers were screaming at each other while the students refrained to obscene gestures. Kuro stood in the middle, holding the uncloaked palantír. The uncomfortable-looking Uchiha nodded a greeting to the Dunedain. Legolas, presumably reading the confusion he felt in his eyes, launched into an explanation of the situation.

"Susano'o received a message from his clone that war had broken out in their homeland late at night, and he ended up waking all the other shinobi to discuss the news. Orochimaru contacted their leader through the palantír to verify the information, which unfortunatly turned out to be true. Now they are devided on the desicion on whether to stay here or return home,"

Aragorn nodded quietly, slowly beginning to understand. "So their ruler is listening to their debate right now?" he asked.

The blonde archer nodded. "Minato, Obito and Anko want to remain until the end while Orochimaru, Kakashi and Susano'o want to return immediately,"

The ranger was stunned. "Without their comrades?" he asked, allowing anger to color his soft tone. "Why can't the ones who want to leave, leave and those who want to stay, stay?"

"Apparently the terms are 'all or nothing'," interjected Eomer, who wore an irritated look on his face. "Their leader is reluctant to separate them,"

As the arguing reached a creshendo, the alien words and volume of the squabble caused Aragorn to recieve a headache. Just as he was about to step in, a loud command split through the air.

"Will you BE QUIET!" roared Thèoden, standing behind his throne, wearing his nightclothes. The shinobi immediately shut up, having the good grace to look mortifed. The King pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed. "Would any of you be so kind as to explain this?" he asked, waving his hand around the ruined room.

A sigh came from the palantír. "I am sorry for the damage they have caused," said a heavily accented, dignified voice. "Shinobi tend to over-react when it comes to wars. I am Sandime Hokage, their leader. You are Thèoden King, I presume?"

The Horselord cautiously walked closer to the seeing stone. "Indeed I am," he said warily. "Do you mind shedding some light as to why a brawl occured before the sun has risen?"

Aragorn peered at the image within the seeing stone. Sandime was a tan, brown-haired man with a pointed beard. He wore a strange, wide hat, and white and red robes. A tired, yet confident look was on his face. The man sighed before answering.

"We have recently found ourselves in a full-blown war, and our military power is the lowest it has ever been. Although I appreciate my student's desire to return home in order to help us, there is really no reason for them to return until their mission is completed. But as shinobi are apt to do, they split into two sides and had a couple physical and verbal arguements. It is my wish for them to stay until their mission is completed, so I apologize for the needless destruction,"

Thèoden nodded, giving the shinobi leader a small smile. "It was only a few tables. I wish you good fortune in your battles,"

Sandime chuckled. "And good luck with yours," he said, before freezing slightly. "I must go now. Behave, Minato, Orochimaru!"

The palantir faded to its original dark color as the hall fell into a tense silence. Strange noise came out of the radio in Anko's hands; its odd sound strangely fitting for the situation at hand. Orochimaru was the first to break the silence.

''My deepest apologies for trashing you fine hall. I thank you for your generous hospitality, Thèoden-sama," he said, sweeping his leg and arm out for a deep bow. "I must be off. *The orcs of More-doors don't study themselves*," the serpentine ended his statement with a chuckle, and disappeared as violet flames consumed him. Aragorn had to consciencely stop his jaw from dropping, but Eomer had no such qualms; openly gawking at the jōnin's display of power. As usual, the king of Rohan looked unphased. Turning toward the on-lookers, who were mainly servants, he said:

"Off to bed! I would not like to hear complains come the sunrise,"

Slowly, the great hall emptied until only Eomer, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, the shinobi and Aragorn were left. The ranger scanned the shinobi's faces, mostly encountering guarded expressions. Minato looked furious, his hands clenched into fists and he shook with rage.

"How I wish the bastard was still here," snarled the irate shinobi, his face a stony mask. Obito placed a soothing hand on his teacher's arm, a worried look on his face.

"There is no point in antagonizing the situation any further, Sensei," the black-hair boy said gently. "We already caused enough property damage as is,"

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "I would think that you would be more upset, considering your relation with the insulted,"

The goggles wearing boy shot a glare at his teammate. *"I would have fireballed your ass if not for the fact we are inside a stupidly flammible building,"* he spat."Hoshi can field his own insults. He probably would laugh at its unoriginality,"

Susano'o surpressed a cackle by stuffing his fist in his mouth. Kuro didn't even bother, nearly dropping the palantír in his mirth. Aragorn was feeling increasingly out of the loop, and Eomer looked like he was going to blow his top soon, most likely due to the wanton destruction of the hall.

"Um, pardon me, but what happened?" asked Merry, his voice squeaking slightly.

The shinobi looked at one another, before a significantly calmer Minato turned to them. "You might want to sit down," he said. "Because I am going to start at the beginning,"


The sun had long since set as Minato had settled down near the fire pit in the main hall. The weak flames produced a sufficent amount of light for the jōnin to read comfortably. Pulling out an unedited draft of Jiraiya-sensei's new novel, Icha Icha Paradise, the Yellow Flash began to read. He felt his cheeks slowly heat up due to the perverted and racy content. The jōnin quickly finished the chapter, covering up the words, glad that nobody nearby could read the words.

"So my foolish teammate is writing again?" sighed a serpentine voice. Minato jumped, looking up to see Orochimaru standing over him, a white hand outstreached. His face flushed with embarressment, the yellow-haired shinobi handed the senior jōnin the draft. The Snake Sannin read the first two pages before handing the potential book back to him.

"Don't let Hoshi translate this," he said seriously. The Yellow Flash nodded, taking the X-rated material and pocketing it. Deciding to do something productive, Minato removed several Hiraishin kunai from a storage scroll, along with a flask of oni blood, empty tags and a brush. Setting to work, the shinobi proceeded to rewrite the seals using the chakra-dense, black blood. With occasional glances, he saw Orochimaru spread out several papers and a couple scrolls on a table across from him. The serpentine man wore an annoyed look on his face, eventually growling in frustration.

"Is something wrong?" Minato tentively asked, gently putting down the kunai he retagged.

The Snake Sannin gave him a distressed look. "I don't know if the Dunedain and the elf were playing me for a fool and feeding me false information. There is absolutely no way that anyone that calls themselves human can live beyond two centuries without truely aging. And nothing with that level of sentience can live forever without losing their sanity due to their perspective of time speeding up to nonsensical levels. It just doesn't fit!" he snarled, slamming his fist down on the sturdy wooden table. Unfortunately, the table wasn't as sturdy as it look because it broke, spilling all of his papers onto the floor. Cursing, the black-haired jōnin collected the notes off the floor, waving for Minato to sit down when the younger man started to get up. Orochimaru moved his notes to a different table, pulling out on sheaf of paper from the pile to read to Minato.

"What do you think of this?" he said, raising an inky eyebrow. "Apparently the Dunedain are desendents of the people from the island of Númenor, which was in the seas to the west of here. Aragorn told me that the island was a gift to the men who helped the elves fight against a demonic power, whom Sour-on served. The humans were also granted lifespans at least three times the average human life-span and the ability to choose when they die naturally, all the while retaining their youth. Eventually, they became resentful of the elves immortality (despite their own long lives), and rebelled against the higher powers of this world. Apparently Sour-on had a part in this, starting a cult to that demonic power involving human sacrifice. Númenor was destroyed and a bunch of noble Númenórians fled to Middle Earth, established Gondor and some other kingdom in the north and became the Dunedain. How arrogant are they?" finished the Sannin, placing the paper back on the table.

Minato sighed, thinking how to respond. He could see envy glittering in the jōnin's serpentine, amber eyes. Closing his blue eye briefly, the yellow-haired shinobi added his two cents.

"It sounds like a cautionary tale of sorts. The moral of the story seems to be that one should not want what one shouldn't have. It also points out that one loses their humanity along the road," he said hesitantly. His sensei's teammate gave him a chilling look, before a terrifying smile crossed his face.

"Jiraiya has all the right to be proud of you," he murmured. The jōnin looked like he was going to say something else, when something flew over their heads and crashed into the tables near the outside door, smashing three of them. The two elite shinobi looked to see Susano'o lash out with his bandages at Obito, who was standing near the throne. The Uchiha lept behind the beautifully carved throne, effectively preventing the bandages from attacking him. Minato ran over to his student, while Orochimaru nonchalantly snached the bandages out from the air while packing up his papers in the scrolls. The Yellow Flash ducked as another shinobi was thrown into the hall, hitting and breaking more tables. The shinobi turned out to be Kakashi, who promptly grabbed a bench and threw it at Anko, who was standing in the threshhold, laughing. Obito vaulted into the air and smashed it with an axe kick, expertly landing on the floor.

"Will you all stop it?" cried a distressed voice. Kuro shoved Anko aside as he charged into the hall holding the radio and covered palantír. The young medic held out the marbled ball to his sensei as music blared from the speakers.

"Sensei, please contact Hokage-sama for us," he pleaded, upset.

Orochimaru blinked in surprise. "Whatever for?" he responded, a bemused look on his face.

"Susano'o down in Osgiliath heard through the radio that Iwa has officially declared war on us and invaded the Land of Grass. We want to know if it is true," Kuro's voice was dripped in denial.

"Yeah, so we can get Hoshi and Rin and leave this place," added the copper-skinned boy, who managed to pull himself out of the table.

"By we he means Kakashi and him," added Anko scornfully. "We are on a mission that we shouldn't abandon. I mean, we are going to be filthy stinkin' rich if we complete this!"

Obito nodded. "Yeah!" he cried. "Besides, it's not convenient for us to go down south then run all the way north,"

"So you are motivated by greed and laziness not to do your duty as shinobi," said Kakashi calmly.

Before the outraged two could say anything, Orochimaru held out his hand, asking for quiet. In the corner of his eye Minato spotted Legolas listening in on their argument. He did not know how long the elf had been there, only that the amount of noise made by them must have awakened others. He turned his attention back to the palantír, only to see a dark copper-skinned women smiling coyly at the Snake Sannin.

"Do you miss me?" she crooned, twirling a lock of dark red-brown hair around an elegantly manicured finger.

"Mother!" choked Susano'o, his eyes wide with surprise. The women immediately dropped her flirty act, giving her son a brief smile.

"Ooo, is everyone here? Where is Hoshi-kun, I would like to ask him a few questions," she chirped.

"The stranger is not here, Akira," said Orochimaru. "Now where is Sarutobi-sensei?"

Akira pouted. "Not content to leave a message?" she asked sulkily.

The pale jōnin shot her a look. "Fine, I'll get him," the kunoichi grumbled, stomping out of view like a little child.

As soon as she left Anko sprung into the air, looking very much like Cookie the warg, to pounce on Kakashi. The masked chūnin, caught off guard, fell to the ground. He kicked the kunoichi into the air, scrambling to his feet. Susano'o came from behind him, leaping into the air and aiming a kick at his teammate's face. Anko expertly blocked it, grabbed his leg and flung him down, smashing the tables that broke his fall. She landed sideways on a pillar, swiftly climbing down to sturdier ground. Meanwhile, Kakashi attacked Obito, forcing the Uchiha on the defensive. The goggles-wearer fended off the many punches and kicks, even throwing a few himself. Minato looked around the room. The only thing that appeared to be severely damaged was the tables. Legolas wasn't the only onlooker now; in fact, he was joined by an army of servents and Eomer, who didn't look pleased.

"Is this the best you can do?" Kakashi taunted calmly. "Your weak and cowardly little brother is better than you. Hell, the ranger is better than you!"

The silver-haired boy was shoved toward the fire pit, and carefully aimed a tongue of fire at him. The agile chūnin backflipped over the flames, allowing the fire to land in the pit. Obito shook with indignant rage. But before he could do anything, Orochimaru interfeared.

"Be still!" he snapped. "We are guests in someone else's home! Besides, I cannot hear Sarutobi-sensei,"

The Yellow Flash turned his head to see an image of the Sandime Hokage in the strange looking stone, smoking his pipe.

"It seems that you are all doing well," commented the kage. "Where are Rin and Hoshi?"

"They are elsewhere," answered his student, leaning his pale cheek against his hand. "Is it true that we are at war with Iwagakure?"

The Professor seemed to wilt before their eyes. "So you heard the news?" he said wearily.

The Snake Sannin nodded, closing his amber eyes for a moment. The violet lids soon shot up, revealing a determined look. He sat upright and stood, handing the palantír to Kuro, who uncertainly took it.

"We'll leave at once," he said, heading toward the door, followed by Susano'o and Kakashi. Minato felt fury bubble up inside him. Clenching his jaw and fists, he willed himself to calm down.

"Just where do you think you're going?" he hissed icely. The Legendary Shinobi halted, as did Kakashi and Susano'o, who both looked back with uncertainty.

"I am going to my village, which is in dire need of support. I don't know what you are doing," Orochimaru responded coldly, refusing to turn around.

"In the middle of a mission!" cried the yellow-haired jōnin, throwing out his arm. "Without the entire team!"

"Ah, we would have to pick up Rin in Gondor," murmured the serpentine shinobi. "I forgot about that,"

Obito looked just as furious as his teacher. "What about my brother!" he added.

"What about him?" Orochimaru said cooly. "This is his world. We can leave him here,"

"No we can't!" screamed the Uchiha. "This isn't his time! We are roughly sixteen years before then!"

The Snake Sannin was silent. Worried, Obito turned toward his cousin, who shrugged at him. The pale man turned around, a wild look in his eye.

"He knows the way back," snapped the shinobi. Minato gave his sensei's teammate a skeptical look.

"Why can we not take him with us when we get Rin?" he asked warily.

The older jōnin snorted. "Do you honestly think he would abandon this situation?" he scoffed. "Besides, he's cowardly and useless on the battlefield,"

Kakashi actually shot Orochimaru an incredulous look, but said nothing.

Minato, however, practically steamed with surpressed anger. "Useless?" he roared. "Cowardly? You demean a boy who stands up for what he believes in and knows when to fight and when to flee! You insult his honor by suggesting that he would not leave the mission when he is commanded to. In fact, you are sullying the Konoha name by proposing that we bail out on a task we promised to see through to the end!"

"Curb your tongue or I shall cut it from your mouth!" hissed the serpentine jōnin, shooting the younger man a look laced with Killing Intent. It was clear that the Snake Sannin was backed into a corner. Despite knowing that the Yellow Flash was right, his pride did not allow for him to admit his error. Seeing this, the yellow-haired man jumped on his weakness mercilessly.

"No, I will not be silent!" he cried. "Not so long as you ridicule my student and persue a shameful plan!"

"Will you BE QUIET!"

Minato would never admit that he was briefly frightened by Thèoden's forceful command. He felt his cheeks burn with shame as he realized that their arguing had awokened the entirety of Meduseld. Sarutobi-sama seemed to have learned a translation technique, because he was talking to the miffed Rohirric king. He had to hold back a gloating grin when the Hokage ordered them to see the mission through. Thèoden and Sandime-sama exchanged goodbyes, and the kage gently warned him and Orochimaru to behave. The Snake Sannin bristled slightly at the warning, anger simmering in his eyes. Tension filled the air until the older jōnin decided to make his escape.

As he dissolved into purple flames, Minato began to contimplate murder.

"Off to bed! I would not like to hear complains come the sunrise," said Thèoden, dismissing the crowd.

Soon, only they were left, along with Aragorn, Legolas, Eomer, Merry, and Gimli.


The blonde elf cloud not believe his ears.

"What do you mean I can't be human?" demended Aragorn, looking outraged. Minato's eye twiched.

"I never said you weren't human," he said testily. "That was Orochimaru,"

Anko nodded, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, I mean, you are downright normal compared to the Kaguya,"

Everyone blinked. "The what now?" said Obito, looking confused.

"A clan in the Land of Water that can use their bones to fight," she answered calmly.

Legolas was horrified, but managed not to show it. Eomer looked intriged, but he ended up changing the subject.

"So does every place you fight in get as damaged as this?" he asked, waving his hand at the destruction.

The shinobi looked at one another, and ducked their heads in embarressment.

"Well," Kuro started, rubbing the back of his next. "The place is usually rubble and on fire..." he trailed off weakly.

The blonde horselord raised an eyebrow. "So you held back," he concluded.

"Did you want the place to be up in flames?" Kuro asked innocently, a confused look on his face.

The man chuckled, but refrained form commenting further. Merry and Gimli had fallen asleep atop each other, causing Legolas to smile softly. Kakashi, Obito and Susano'o yawned in unison, prompting a chuckle from Minato.

"Off to bed, all of you," he said gently. "The sun has not yet risen, so get some rest,"

The children slowly got up, suffling off to their room. Kakashi lingered for a moment, quickly embracing his surprised teacher before running off to join the others. The archer thought that he saw a tear rolling down the boy's face. The yellow-haired man stood up himself.

"It think I might join them in the realm of dreams. Sleep well, if you do!" he said, quietly walking out of the room. The two men and elf released a breath they did not know they were holding.

"Such anger!" said Eomer, amazed. "I would not like to be their enemy,"

Aragorn had a hurt look on his face, which was half hidden behind his folded hands. "They only remain for the reward," he whispered bitterly.

The Rohir snorted. "Of course. Their home cannot be threatened by Sauron,"

The ranger gave him a harsh look. "Then are we not their friends? Or are we simply their clients?"

Legolas inhaled quietly. This thought had been bothering him since Lothlorien, and had remained unspoken to all ears but Lady Galadriel's. The shinobi were big on secrets, he knew that from hearing the sunny Minato's threat to Aragorn should the Dunedain let slip his student's abilities. The elf was not keen to face their wrath.

"I believe that Hoshi might be related to you, Aragorn," he whispered.

The man's grey eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible," he said shortly.

"Then explain why they even ran into us in the first place," Legolas pointed out.

The prince of Mirkwood was surprised to see a flash of pain cross Aragorn's face. The tall man slowly stood up and walked out of the damaged hall. Eomer sighed, getting to his feet, too.

"This night has been quite eventful," he murmured. "But I would like to get some rest before the sun rises. Goodnight, Legolas,"

The blonde elf sighed, glaceing over at the dreaming dwarf and hobbit.

"Pip, don't put the firework upside-down," mumbled Merry, shifting in his sleep.

Gimli gave an extremely loud snore. "Don't you dare put that dress on me, laddie," he grumbled, his words slurring.

Legolas shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face. "Dwarfs are strange, even in their dreams," he thought as the first light of trickled through the windows.