Summary: First chapter still covers it.
Disclaimer: …what the freak makes you think I own any of this? I have an original story in the works….but this ain't it.
A/N: Gah…no excuses…just please don't kill me…+stares at schedule+ On second thought, fire away.
Kari Suttle - ^ ^ thanks! And check out OverlyInspired…I think I spelled that right.
JuMiKu – 'cuz he needed to die, and I still hate how that part came out. And Boromir is going to develop more, don't worry. And thanks.
Ice Vixen X – don't worry about that. In the next few battles the shinobi are gonna have fun. Can't say the same for the enemies.
koryssa-kory – Heh. Thanks. I will! This thing is gonna be finished, if it is the last thing I do!...hopefully it isn't though…o o
Escalus – Yeah…could have been better…but it is out, and I give up on that chapter.
Trinity Fenton-Phantom – Thanks! I will! ^ ^
rose-of-alabaster – so sorry! NOOO! Don't die! I'll try to make them longer I promise!
Flightless Bird – That's nice to see…makes me feel that all the editing to those evil little areas was not all in vain.
Katestar98 – so sorry for the wait. And I had to, but don't worry, when he pops back in it's gonna be hilarious. And thanks!
Not Yet Knowing – I was trying to even out the power and keep to the book…but I kinda regret that now…
Liliesshadow – Thanks. The ending was the easier part to write funnily enough. And Kyuubi is funny when he makes himself known. Wise-ass demon hair ball…
"Elven/Shinobi"
"Common"
'Thoughts'
'Kyuubi'
Chapter Ten: To Lothlórien
"Well this sucks…" Kiba grumbled, as they followed behind the Company, moving at a far slower pace than normal. They would have used soldier pills to give them a boost to keep up, but there was a small snag with that; the effects only lasted so long, and it looked like they were in for another long trek. Not to mention they only had so many, and this mission looked like it was going to last far longer than they had packed for.
"Be quiet…my head still hurts." Naruto grumbled, placing a hand to his temples and rubbing them. He was seeing spots, and things were wavering, but he was in one piece. Being in one whole piece was good…unless he was captured an then he was going to make sure he was in a couple dozen or so pieces – but that was a different story.
"I'm sorry…" the soft voice of Hinata came from behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder. Even with her mask on she somehow managed to look depressed…
"Not your fault Hinata." Naruto reassured her, even though he had been hoping that she could have gotten rid of the spots. Not that he was going to say that aloud.
"But…" she tried to protest, but Naruto shook his head.
"No 'but's' you fixed me up after that, so a little headache is fine." He replied easily, though she was still un-convinced.
"…you sure?" she asked, again doubting her abilities. She had improved, but sometimes her old habits kicked up. Though before Naruto could say anything else Kiba decided to pipe up.
"Oi, leave the fussing to his girlfriend." He commented, earning himself a low growl from said boyfriend.
"Inuzuka…" there was the deadly growl, and the foreboding aura to match coming from the smaller male. If looks could have killed then Kiba would have been dead several times over in increasingly bloodier displays of violence.
"Whoops…" was all the dog-nin managed before hiding behind Hinata. She was safe, that much he knew. He wouldn't kill his cousin now, not when they had become more like family…right?
"B-brother Neji, p-please don't hurt Kiba." Turns out Hinata wasn't so sure about that…then again Neji was furious. He did not appreciate jabs at his looks, and had Naruto not been using him for support he would have lunged at the Inuzuka. Oh, right there was one other thing that kept him from attacking…he was also hiding behind his cousin. That helped.
"Only for you." Neji bit out, not sounding like he was willing to forgive Kiba so easily, but he wasn't going to hurt him…while Hinata was around. Now if she would only leave him alone for a moment…
"Th-thank you. Kiba it's safe now…" she trailed off, as her boyfriend poked his head around her to see that Neji was indeed not ready to rip him to pieces. His aura was still full of anger, but at least he was not going to do him bodily harm.
"…why am I always the target of his anger?" Kiba grumbled, as he straightened up.
"Maybe because you are worse than me?" Naruto chuckled, finally getting enough of his wits to comment.
"…" Kiba made an odd noise that sounded like a strangled choke of some sort, even as Hinata giggled, and Neji's shoulders shook with silent laughter.
"And this is coming from Naruto." The brunet managed to force out before going back to trying to stifle his laughter. Naruto only huffed at that comment.
"…I'll take that as a compliment." He grumbled, wincing a bit as Neji shifted his grip to get a better hold of him.
"Take it how you want." Was how his boyfriend replied, shifting his grip again.
"You four do know that you are irritating the others who cannot understand you, correct?" the elven prince had dropped back to talk to them, and he was wearing a small smirk, having overheard almost all of the conversation.
"Yes, but this is more comfortable." Neji replied, and Legolas chuckled.
"Thought so. But come, you are not ones that normally stay in the back at such a pace." Legolas pointed out, as he fell into step with the shinobi. It was true, they normally did not follow this far behind, but Hinata and Naruto were exhausted.
"Our apologies for worrying you. Some of us need more time to recover from the trek through the Mines." Neji was once again the spokesperson, as he replied for his group.
"Well then, hurry up. We are closing in on a place to rest. It is much safer than resting out here." Legolas said, with a wave to the surrounding open area. Not an ideal place to rest when orcs could be coming from the Mines.
"Good. We will try." Was all Neji said, as he and the other three picked up their pace, and closed some of the distance between the Fellowship and themselves.
"Excuse me…Kiba? We really could walk…" a Halfling had slipped from Akamaru's back, and was trotting alongside the ANBU with a worried look on his face, "Really…two of you look exhausted, and it wouldn't be that bad, we hobbits are not all fluff!"
"Sam was it?" Kiba asked, as he tried to remember which name went with which Halfling.
"Yessir. Samewise Gamgee." Sam said proudly, as he re-introduced himself.
"Well…you hobbits sure you can keep up with the Company on foot?" Kiba asked, sounding a bit doubtful. After all the Halflings did not look like they could keep up with a Citizen's child, let alone a full grown man, or an Elf.
"Yessir! Perfectly sure!" but the hobbit had other ideas, as he proclaimed that they could keep up just fine, and the other three voiced their agreement from the back of Akamaru.
"Okay then…" Kiba gave in, and the hobbits scrambled off of the dog, and fell into line alongside the rest of the Fellowship. Then he helped Hinata onto Akamaru, as Neji did the same for Naruto. As soon as they were settled they picked up their pace.
But it obviously wasn't fast enough for a certain shinobi.
"…are we there yet?" the injured blond asked, making Neji, and Kiba, twitch. Naruto was not going to start that…check that Naruto was going to start that, and annoy everyone within the vicinity.
"I'm warning you: do not start that." Neji growled, as he caught his boyfriend's intentions. Naruto's shoulders sagged once Neji growled at him like that.
"But-!" he whined, and Neji cut him off.
"No!" he snapped.
"…'kay." And with that the ANBU lapsed into silence, though the chatter from the hobbits was more than enough to make up for them. Then Legolas' clear voice called out, startling the group.
"There lie the woods of Lothlórien! Come we will be safe there." The elf pointed off into the distance, to what seemed to be a forest of gold trees. At the insistence that they would be safe there the Fellowship, shinobi included, picked up the pace. That was before Naruto looked around, and finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
"That's good to know…but…where are Sam and Frodo?" at his question the people in front turned around. It was Legolas who spotted the Halflings.
"…They fell behind. Aragorn! You set too hard a pace for the wounded!" the elf called, and shook his head when he saw the Man wince. What else was said was lost on Kiba as he stormed back to the two hobbits, followed by a much calmer Neji, and lifted one over his shoulder. Neji was a little more delicate in handling Frodo, carrying him on his back.
"'Fine' my ass…you two are idiots! We could keep a better pace, you are wounded as well! Morons!" Kiba's ranting could be heard clearly as he stomped back to the Fellowship. While the Halflings, Boromir and Gimli could not understand the words, the anger behind the words made it clear that their wolf-masked companion was not complimenting the hobbits.
"Sorry?" Sam offered, as he too picked up on the anger. Kiba either ignored him, or just didn't hear him in his anger.
"Hinata, Naruto, make room for the idiot hobbits." He grumbled, as he made to drop Sam onto Akamaru. They shifted a bit, and Frodo and Sam were back on the huge dog.
"By 'idiot hobbits' I guess you must be referring to Frodo and Sam, and not us." Pippen piped up, somewhere between Kiba telling Hinata and Naruto to move, and putting the injured hobbits on Akamaru.
"Pip, you don't need someone to recognize your stupidity." Merry commented, and Pippen whirled on him with an indignant "Hey!" before swinging at Merry as the other began laughing.
"Quit it, both of you…" Neji sighed, as he began to wonder how Iruka dealt with children for a profession.
"But he started it!" the Hyuuga only shook his head at this response, and turned the floor over to Kiba, and picked up his pace so he was closer to the ones in the lead. He dealt with children as well as Shikamaru dealt with hard labor.
"Boromir! Little help here?" Kiba, having spent most of his time dealing with dogs, had no idea what he was doing. And the hobbits had begun fighting again. It didn't help matters when Sam and Frodo began laughing.
"Why me?" the Man asked, turning his attention from the path to the shinobi in confusion.
"You're closer." Kiba replied. Boromir glared.
"…that is the only reason?" he asked, keeping his temper until he was sure he had a valid reason to become annoyed.
"Ye-no, wait, wait…ah screw it, yes it is." Kiba said, pausing for a moment as he acted as if he was truly thinking on the matter. Boromir was, to put it lightly, not amused.
"You are-!" he began hotly, ready to tell the shinobi off for such a remark, before Kiba decided he had better things to do – such as separate the hobbits before they actually managed to hurt each other.
"Quit! Oi! Hold him!" and with that Boromir had a flailing hobbit shoved into his arms, as Kiba grabbed the two to separate them.
"Ah! Hello Merry." The Man greeted, as he looked down to the scowling Halfling. Merry looked up, then back to the ground in a sulk.
"I don't think Kiba should be having children anytime soon." Merry grumbled. Boromir chuckled.
"I agree." Was the Man's only response.
"Watch it!" Kiba snapped, having overheard the both of them.
They didn't hear the group ahead begin laughing at them.
After a brief walk they had to slow down to treat the wounds. Especially the wounds that were still on Naruto and the two hobbits.
"Here, we need to attend to those wounds now. Sam, Frodo, Naruto, come here." Aragorn said, after calling a halt to the march. It was welcomed by the two hobbits that were still walking, and they almost immediately dropped to the ground in a heap. The ones on Akamaru slid off the large dog's back as he went to lay beside his partner. Soon Aragorn was patching up the injuries of the two hobbits and the lone ANBU. Naruto was not too pleased with the development, but Hinata was exhausted.
"Okay…That should do it for now…" Aragorn commented, as soon as he was finished, but before Naruto could get up the Ranger held up a hand.
"A moment please…" he asked, and Naruto shot a look to Neji, who gave a slight nod. The blond sat back down and Aragorn continued, "If you don't mind me asking…but what did you do back in the Mines? I have never seen or heard of anything like that." He asked, and noticed the entire group of ANBU stiffen in alarm.
"That…information is classified. I am not at liberty to tell you." Naruto replied, after a pause that seemed to stretch on for hours.
"Then how can we trust you?" Aragorn asked mildly, crossing his arms. The rest of the Fellowship was quiet, and he noticed some had let their hands stray to their weapons. He also saw the shinobi look between themselves, before Neji sighed.
"…Naruto, I think you should. We'll think of something to tell the Hokage." The small male said, his voice sounding tired.
'Please. I'm 'classified information' now? That's a laugh. A few more to the already numerous persons who know will not be a problem.' The Kyuubi snorted. Naruto growled.
'Shut up you.' He grumbled, not noticing he was doing so aloud. The Kyuubi had that effect on him.
"Naruto?" Aragorn promted, and Naruto only sighed.
"Fine, fine…but this is very sensitive information, so it cannot be repeated. What I used was dubbed the 'Kyuubi Cloak' and it is a manifestation of the chakra from the demon fox sealed inside me." Dead silence, and hands tightened on the hilts of the close-ranged weapons.
"Oh come off it! He's harmless! Unless you piss him off…but really? Naruto has this under control." Kiba snapped, as he was sure Neji's scowl had warped into a silent growl under the mask. No, it was not Naruto they had to look out for…
"Our apologies…but that information was startling. We know he means no harm." Aragorn said, re-crossing his arms, as they had fallen to his side in shock. He also glanced to each of his companions with a silent order to take their hands from their weapons. A few stiff nods told him they would comply, and they dropped their hands to their sides.
"So, are we going or not?" Naruto asked, and Aragorn nodded.
"Right, come, let us continue. The Golden Woods are not far…" and he did not voice the fact that if Naruto was indeed a danger the elves of Lothlórien would make short work of him.
They finally made it into the Woods without further issue, and the audible sigh of relief came from the least likely place.
One of the ANBU. Possibly Fox, but no one could tell when they had the masks on.
For reasons that even they did not know this place felt safer…they were not going to say anything to that just yet, as they traveled a bit further into the woods before stopping to rest. Another odd thing they were going to tell the Hokage about was the river they had just crossed, one that eased their weariness as well as any solider pill. Even Hinata and Naruto, whose feet only dragged through the water, felt a bit better.
They were settling down, after listening to Legolas recite part of a poem of sorts of the Elf that the river was named for, when the ANBU all stiffened. Before Legolas could jump into the tree he was going to sleep in, Kiba had tackled him to the ground, and Neji had leapt into the higher branches. He was followed by the other three, even Hinata and Naruto. Legolas scrambled back to his feet, as Aragorn and Boromir drew their swords. The Elf glanced to the trees, as he heard a curse. It wasn't his dialect, but he recognized it.
"ANBU! Stop! They are only sentries!" he called in Elvish, not trusting that they would take the time to translate Common in this state. He was correct to use his native tongue, as the four ANBU dropped from the trees to land in front of him and the Fellowship. They were followed by a few injured and slightly harassed looking Elves, some glaring openly at the ANBU.
Who did not look like they were going to apologize for their actions.
Aragorn, in effort to preserve some type of peace between the two groups, took it upon himself to do so.
"I apologize for their actions…they are warriors, and reacted to a threat." He tried, as the ANBU moved to re-join the Fellowship.
"It is…fine. They were defending friends. Understandable." Was the carefully measured out response. Aragorn resisted the urge to laugh outright at how similar the Elf and Neji sounded. That would be rude, and embarrassing…especially once he had to explain himself. He settled for schooling his face into a mask of politeness, and praying that they had not caught his lapse of control.
"Great…while we are all standing around here talking and being polite, orcs – or whatever the damned things are called – could be heading this way. Let's move along now!" Naruto growled, as Legolas began talking to the other Elves about what was going to be done, and how they were going to get to the Golden Woods.
That was after the elven sentries had seen Gimli, the dwarf, and gone for their weapons again. It was only with the intervention of Aragorn and the ANBU that kept their weapons sheathed.
It seemed that the Elves of these woods were even more paranoid than some shinobi, and that was saying plenty. Naruto, for his trouble, only received a few glares from the sentries that were not talking to Legolas and Aragorn.
"Come, the elves have offered to let us stay with them for the night." Aragorn said, as he turned to the Company.
"Could we not just continue on? We have guides now." Neji asked, and earned himself a few odd looks, which he brushed off and continued talking, "And it was said that this city was not far from here." The one elf who had learned Common, Haldir, spoke up.
"We could. But your group…" he trailed off, letting them know what he thought of the group. The ANBU were not pleased with the implied insult.
"So you meant 'not far' in relative terms. It is 'not far' for you – a well rested group – but for us – a group that has already been worn down – it would be. Correct?" Neji's comment was met with dead silence, his veiled insult just as blatant as theirs had been. Behind the mask the young man smirked. No one irritated a Hyuuga without feeling some type of recoil. No one.
Aragorn watched with a mix of amusement and trepidation, as the male Hyuuga verbally countered an Elf. Legolas, for his part, was finding this rather entertaining. But he also remembered the time.
"Excuse me. I would like to point out that this is an argument that can still be carried out once we are all safely in the trees. Away from where the orcs will be." He commented lightly. But the group needed no further prodding – they were exhausted, and in need of some rest. And up in the trees would be a convenient place to do so. And the sentries had offered. So both groups went back to the trees for rest, regardless of how much they…disliked each other at the moment.
The next morning brought few surprises. Once again the ANBU were the first ones up, seconds before the Elves. Aragorn was dragged back to the world of the waking once he was nudged in the side with a pointy something.
"Dude. He sleeps like a rock." A voice muttered, as the person continued to poke him.
"I do not. Rocks do not sleep. Stop jabbing me." Aragorn sighed, as he sat up.
"Whups." He recognized the fox and wolf masks as Naruto and Kiba, and shook his head. He was beginning to wonder how Neji and Hinata dealt with the two.
"Told ya. Wake up, fearless leader. The more paranoid Elves want to get moving now." Kiba said, as Naruto began playing with the dagger he had used to poke Aragorn with. At Kiba's statement the Man could only blink.
"'More paranoid?' Compared to?" he asked, standing up and stretching out his muscles. He had slept oddly, thanks to the talan. Not that he was going to complain…
"Legolas. He's not as hair-triggered." Kiba answered blandly.
"Or pushy." Narutop added, and once again Aragorn was left to wonder about the odd group Gandalf had left with them.
"…right." He finally said, before rubbing at his side. How they managed to jab him through all the material he did not want to know.
"What are you two doing to Aragorn?" at that they turned to see Boromir looking them over. He saw Naruto with a dagger, and Aragorn rubbing absent-mindedly at the area where Naruto had poked him. He raised an eyebrow at this.
"Waking him up." Naruto answered, grinning behind his mask. Both Men gave the ANBU an odd look.
"…with a knife?" Boromir asked, skeptical of the group. He also wondered what idiot would wake a warrior with something sharp and pointy.
"Yep!" and his answer was, of course, Naruto would. He sighed. It was far too early for this…
"Good morning Boromir. Please get them away from me." Aragorn pleaded. Even he was not awake enough to deal with them. But Boromir only sighed and nodded.
"Fine. Come on you two, help wake the Halflings…without the use of sharp objects." He said, climbing back down, followed by the two masked men.
"Kay!" one answered, and the other only gave a grumbled "Oh where's the fun in that?" before their voices faded.
"Those two…I apologize for them." Another voice spoke up, and Aragorn turned to face the person. He gave the shinobi behind himself a crooked smile, showing that everything was fine and there had been no harm done.
"Neji…when did you wake up?" he asked, attempting to avoid any uncomfortable subjects for the moment. It really was too early for such things. But before Neji could answer, another did, making the Ranger jump slightly.
"They all woke before I did." Legolas answered, as he made his way back up to the platform, but Legolas seemed a bit distracted, as he was not looking entirely at the Ranger.
"Legolas. Good morning." Aragorn greeted, before looking over to where the Elf was staring. When all he saw was the ANBU he turned back to his elven friend in confusion.
"Were you up last night?" the elf asked, and Neji nodded.
"Of course. They made enough noise to wake the dead." Legolas did not comment further, though even if he had wanted to he was interrupted by Haldir calling for them to start moving.
It was time to continue on towards Lothlórien.
(A/N:…helpful hint to all writers…never argue with your muse. Especially if they are like mine and will not hesitate to flip you the bird and storm off…)