Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Lord of the Rings.

A Shinobi of Middle-Earth

Chapter 10: The fracture

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Spirits/Ents talking"

"Spirits/Ents thinking"

(Location: the Fellowship)

They were still traveling down the river, already several days beyond the borders of Lothlórien. Izuna had been made to walk on the water the second day, but he did with much more confidence and even though he had wobbled here and there, he did not fall in. But still, his sensei was visually impressed. He kept making Izuna walk on the water until he was satisfied, which wasn't until the fifth day on the river.

Aragorn paddled his boat in silence with Sasuke helping him from the front. As the boat went down the course of the river, the Ranger looked over at the boat with Boromir in it. They had a small argument two nights past and ever since, he felt uneasy with the man from Gondor.

(Flashback)

They had set upon another bank for the night. While the others were setting up the camp, he, Boromir, and Sasuke, were looking at the river itself. A log was floating past their camp, but they could see hints of fingers on the log and a head behind it.

Despite the fact that they could only see hints, the Ranger of the three knew who it was. "Gollum," he said quietly. "He's tracked us since Moria. I had hoped to lose him on the river. But he's too clever a waterman." He walked away to get a better look. The log wedged itself against a cropping of rocks, anchoring it and making it stop.

"And if he alerts the enemy to our whereabouts, it will make the crossing even more dangerous," Boromir said, keeping an eye on the log.

The Captain-General's words were also heard by Frodo, who felt nervous more so then he already was. He knew that Gollum had been following them since Moria, but the only time he had seen the creature was on the stairs in the Mines. For him to be just on the other side of the river was unnerving.

"Have some food, Mr. Frodo," Sam told him, unpacking the food as he spoke.

"No, Sam," he replied.

"You haven't eaten anything all day. You're not sleeping neither," his gardener told him. "Don't think I haven't noticed."

"Frodo, you should eat something," Izuna agreed with Sam. The half-elf was absently rubbing his right wrist. That morning before they set out, his sensei had placed a seal on that wrist, placing Aeglos inside so it would not hinder him out of combat. He had been taught to use it (it was a brief lesson), but he still couldn't believe it was there.

"I'm alright," Frodo told the two of them.

The half-elf let it go there, but Sam did not. "But you're not," he protested, going to Frodo's side. "I'm here to help you. I promised Gandalf I would."

For a long moment, the Ringbearer said and did nothing. Then he looked at his friend. "You can't help me, Sam. Not this time. Get some sleep." He couldn't hold the look any more and turned away. Sam said nothing. He just went back to the fire.

As the rest of the Fellowship tried to fall asleep, the three who were watching the river kept their eyes on the log. Boromir dared to take his eyes off to look at Aragorn. "Minas Tirith is the safer road," he told the Ranger from the north. "You know that. From there we can regroup. Strike out at Mordor from a place of strength."

"There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us," Aragorn told him.

"You were quick enough to trust the elves!" he said in reply, but only received silence for an answer. "Have you so little faith in your own people? Yes, there is weakness. There is frailty. But there is courage also, and honor to be found in Men," he told the heir of Isildur. "But you will not see that."

Aragorn tried to turn away, but Boromir grabbed him by the shoulder and stopped him from moving. "You are afraid!" the Captain-General accused him. "All your live, you have hidden in the shadows. Scared of who you are, of what you are."

He broke his arm free of Boromir's grip. He took a half-step away but then looked back. "I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city!" he promised the man from Gondor.

That was end of that argument, for the sound of feet walking on water (something they had gotten used to) filled their ears. They looked and saw Sasuke walking on the water of the river. "What are you doing, Sasuke?" Boromir asked him with a loud whisper.

"Pest control," he answered shortly, still walking on the water. He went to about the midpoint of the river and stopped. He looked at the log, still wedged against the rocks. With a blur of his arm, he grabbed hold of a knife and threw it at the log.

It flew through the air and struck the log hard, landing just in between the gap that was created by the space of two fingers. The end result was that hand suddenly letting go of the log, which was followed with a loud yelp and a splash. When the splashing stopped, the hand was back on the log and a pair of eyes was glaring at him.

But that did not scare him. He responded in kind by activating his Sharingan, giving the log and the creature guiding it a level stare. "Move on," he ordered. In the long second that followed, nothing happened. Then the log dislodged itself from the rocks and began to float down the river again.

Once he saw that it was moving, Sasuke turned around and began walking back to the bank. But when he heard mutterings and what sounded like curses, he spun around with another knife at the ready. The sounds died away and the log floated away faster.

He lowered the knife and turned back to the bank of the river, walking across the water until he was back on land. "He will not stay away for long," Aragorn told him. "He will return."

"He's away for now," he replied, putting the knife away. "Be thankful for that."

(End Flashback)

Aragorn's memory of that night was cut short when he saw where they were. "Frodo," he said to the hobbit sitting in front of him, tapping his shoulder. "The Argonath!" he said as they came into view. "Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old. My kin."

Sasuke looked upon what the Ranger was speaking of. It was statues of two men on either side of the river. They held axes in one hand, but with the other they held out in a gesture of defiance. But while Aragorn looked upon them with reverence, all Sasuke could think of was the Valley of the End. "Who are they?" he asked quietly.

"They are Isildur and Anárion, sons of Elendil," Aragorn told him. "It was built to mark the northern border of Gondor, though that border has now changed."

That was all he said and Sasuke didn't press him. All he could do was look at the statues and be reminded of the Valley. It had been ten years since he saw it, so his image of it was more than likely vague (there was also the fact that it was in shambles the last time he had been there). But the two statues he saw before him were about the same height or so as of the ones in his memory.

An odd idea struck him as they passed by the statues. "Did Madara see them when he had been here?" he wondered to himself. "Was he the one who had built the statues at the Valley? Was it because of jealously? Or was it inspiration?" He didn't have an answer, so he let it go.

What lay beyond the statues was a lake. It was a fairly large one and it would take more than a few minutes to get from bank to bank. But what was interesting (and a little unnerving) was what lay directly opposite of the two statues. It was a waterfall, a large waterfall that was split into two by a large rock. From the distance they were at, where the edge of it looked like the edge of the world.

But they did not pay much attention to it. Instead, they rowed the boats to the western shore. Once they were there, they climbed out and began taking the supplies onto dry land. Boromir still sat in his boat, his feelings clashing inside of him. But his eyes were on Frodo, who felt his gaze.

Once the supplies were out of the boats and a fire had started, Aragorn told them the next step. "We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot," he said to all who were there as he took the last of the supplies from the boats. "We approach Mordor from the north."

"Oh, yes? Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil?" said Gimli when he heard that plan, standing up from his spot. His words weren't making Pippin more confident. "An impossible labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks! And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking marshlands as far as the eye can see."

"That is our road," the Ranger told him shortly. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

It was needless to say that said dwarf was insulted by that last remark. "Recover my…?!" he began to say, only to stop and growl half-heartedly.

Legolas, who had been watching the forest behind them, turned back and went straight to the Ranger. "We should leave now," he said quietly.

"No," Aragorn disagreed. "Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We must wait for cover of nightfall."

"It is not the eastern shore that worries me," the elf said, turning his gaze back at the forest moment. "A shadow and a threat had been growing in my mind. Something draws near. I can feel it." The man still looked a little skeptical but was not about to ignore his friend's warning.

"Recover strength?" Gimli still grumbled as Merry came back with a bundle of stick for the fire. "Pay no heed to that, young hobbit."

Merry wasn't really paying attention to what the dwarf was saying; he more focused on making sure his bundle didn't spill every which way once he put it on the ground. But once he had put it down and stood back up, he noticed something. "Where's Frodo?" he asked.

Those two words got the attention of the entire Fellowship (even waking Sam from his naps), for the Ringbearer was nowhere to be seen. But Aragorn noticed something else. "Where is Boromir?" he asked, seeing how the Captain-General's shield, which he never went anywhere without, was lying against his bag.

Sasuke was the first to take action. "We need to find them. We can't split up now."

"It'll take longer to find them if we all look together," Aragorn said, agreeing with the raven-haired shinobi. "We'll have to split up to find them more quickly." The rest of them agreed with the sentiment and quickly scattered.

Frodo was walking amongst the ruins on the hill. He was told that the ruins here were called Amon Hen and the top was the Seat of Seeing. He was quiet as he walked; looking at all that was there. The ruins were completely overgrown, with trees and roots having worked their way through the stonework. He went walked past what used to be the head to a large statue, now it was lying on its side, covered in leaves.

"What did this place look like in its glory?" he asked himself. He tried to imagine it, to see the ruins as they once stood, with no leaves, tree branches, or roots to obscure them. But all he could see were the ruins as they were, wrecked and destroyed.

As the hobbit kept wandering, Boromir appeared with a bundle of sticks in his arms. "None of us should wander alone. You, least of all," he said to Frodo. "So much depends on you." The hobbit did not say a word. "Frodo?" he said with a tone of small concern.

Frodo looked away, so he stepped forward. "I know why you seek solitude. You suffer, I see it day by day. You sure you do not suffer needlessly?" Still, the hobbit said nothing. "There are other ways, Frodo. Other ways we might take."

"I know what you would say," Frodo told him. "It would seem like wisdom, but for the warning in my heart."

"Warning? Against what?" he demanded. He took another step forward, which made the Ringbearer step away and then around him. "We're all afraid, Frodo. But to let that fear drive us, to destroy what hope we have, don't you see that is madness?" He followed the hobbit, which him step back even more.

"There is no other way!"

"I ask only for the strength to protect my people!" he tried to explain, but he felt anger and threw his bundle down in a fury. He tried to compose himself and held out his hand. "If you would but lend me the Ring…"

"No!" Frodo said instantly, stepping back even further.

But he followed. "Why do you recoil? I am not thief."

"You are not yourself."

"What chance do you think you have?" he challenged the hobbit, something dark showing in his face and his words. "They will find you. They will take the Ring. And you will beg for death before the end!"

Frodo had heard enough of it and turned his back on the man from Gondor, walking away. That turned out to be the tipping point. "You fool!" Boromir spat out, going after him. "It is not yours save by unhappy chance! It could've been mine!" When Frodo ran, he ran after him and tackled him to the earth. "It should be mine! Give it to me!" he ordered as he struggled with the hobbit.

"No!" Frodo shouted at him.

"Give it to me!" But the Ringbearer put the Ring on and promptly disappeared from sight. He made his escape, knocking Boromir aside and fleeing from him. He looked around quickly, despite knowing that he would not find the hobbit. "I see your mind," he shouted at the surrounding woods. "You would take the Ring to Sauron! You go to your death, and to the death of us all!" He stood up with anger. "Curse you! Curse you and all the Halflings!"

His foot slipped beneath him, making him fall to the ground and hit his head on the earth. He lay there for a moment, and he looked shakily up. The madness and anger that engulfed him had disappeared and he realized what he had done. "Frodo?" he said to the woods, but he received no answer. "Frodo?" The woods still did not answer him and tears of shame began to fill his eyes. "What have I done?" How could he have been so weak? "Please, Frodo."

"Frodo, I'm sorry!" The hobbit heard Boromir's words in the shadow world that he was in, but they sounded far away. He did not stop because of them either. He had run right up to the ruins of the Seat of Seeing. He heard his name again and he hid behind a cluster of rocks on top of the ruin.

But he felt something pulling toward him, urging him to look up over the rocks and see. And he fell to that urging. He looked up over the edge of the rocks and saw the tower of Barad-dûr fly in closer. Once he saw the base of it as close as he could, he flew up to the top and soon, the Eye was all he could see.

The Black Speech began to fill his ears as his two eyes stared at the one. It began to loom closer and closer towards him, the Black Speech still speaking into his ears. He stepped, trying to take the Ring off his finger. He slipped and fell off of the ruins, going back into the real world just as he landed on the ground.

He laid there in shock for a moment or two and when he finally sat up, he was momentarily confused by how he got up to the top of the hill. "Frodo?" said Aragorn, standing behind him and making him turn quickly around.

"It has taken Boromir," he told the Ranger.

"Where is the Ring?" he asked, stepping forward.

What had happened with the man from Gondor was still fresh in Frodo's mind. "Stay away!" he told Aragorn, leaping from where he sat and going for the ruins.

The Ranger went after him, not sure what this was all about. "Frodo, I swore to protect you," he said to the Ringbearer.

"Can you protect me from yourself?" Frodo challenged him. Both of their eyes looked down at the hobbit's closed hand, which still held the Ring inside of it. He opened his hand, so the Man could see the Ring. "Would you destroy it?"

Aragorn looked at the Ring in the hobbit's hand. He could hear it whispering in his ears. It whispered all his names, telling him what he could do if he just took it. He walked forward and stretched out his hand, holding it over the Ring and making Frodo very nervous. But to the hobbit's surprise, he knelt down and closed his hand, covering the Ring and silencing the whispers.

"I would have gone with you to the end. Into the very fires of Mordor," he told Frodo as he gently pushed the hand away, now seeing what he was planning on doing.

"I know," the Ringbearer said in reply. Silently, he was glad someone approved of his decision. "Look after the others, especially Sam. He will not understand."

"Aragorn!" called out Sasuke, his voice getting closer until he finally appeared from behind a wall and saw the two of them. "Good, you…" He trailed off as he felt the ground tremble beneath his feet and angry growls filled his ears. They were not alone on this hill.

Aragorn felt the same thing the shinobi did, but he did not hear the growls. But he did see something that made him stand up and drawn his sword. "Go, Frodo!" he ordered the hobbit, who realized what the Ranger had seen and confirmed it by drawing his glowing blade. "Run," Aragorn told him. "Run!"

The hobbit did as he was ordered and fled down the hill. Aragorn walked out the opposite side of the ruins, coming to where Sasuke was standing. In front of them was the host of Uruk-hai that had come out of Isengard. Neither of them said a word, the Ranger simply raised his sword to his face in salute and the shinobi drew his katana, allowing the sound of it being drawn out of the scabbard fill the air.

The host did not fear the two Men with swords. They charged forward with weapons drawn and the two Men met them. The battle was even-sided, but in different terms. The Men had the skill but the Uruk-hai had the numbers. And even when Aragorn and Sasuke slew Uruk-hai after Uruk-hai, some of them still got pass them.

"Boromir!" shouted Izuna as he went through the woods, trying to find the Captain-General. When they had split up, the hobbits had gone to look for Frodo while his sensei followed Aragorn. Legolas and Gimli had gone with him but once the sounds of fighting began to ring down from the summit, they raced up the hill.

That left him with finding Boromir, which he did so with a much quicker pace once the sounds of fighting began. "Boromir, where are you?" he called out as he hurried through the woods. He soon spotted the man sitting against the trunk of one of the trees. "Boromir!"

The Captain-General looked up at him, "Izuna?" he made it sound like he did not believe what he was seeing.

"You have to get on your feet! Those who are on the summit are being attacked! We need to help them!"

"I can't," he said, not moving from where he sat.

The half-elf was surprised to hear those words. "What do you mean, you can't?"

"I can't help them. I've betrayed the Fellowship."

"What are you saying? How could you have betrayed the Fellowship? We're all still here, but we're under attack. We need everyone's strength."

"I can't!" he repeated himself. "I've betrayed the Fellowship! I tried to take the Ring from Frodo!" His words echoed throughout the woods, reminding him of what he had done. "I desired the Ring, I wanted it for myself. I tried to take it from him and in my failure, I cursed him. I've betrayed his trust in me."

The half-elf didn't say anything at first. He just listened to what the man from Gondor said. Only when he was done did he speak. "Do you regret what you did, Boromir?" he asked.

The Captain-General looked up at him. "Of course I am!" If he could go back, he wouldn't have that conversation with Frodo.

"Then prove it by getting back on your feet and fight!"

At that exact moment, a dark and cruel voice rang out through the woods and the hill. "FIND THE HALFLING AND THE BLOOD-EYED PERSON! FIND THEM!"

Both Boromir and Izuna shared looks at those words. "They mean to take the hobbits!" Boromir said in horror, finally standing up on his feet again.

"And Sasuke-sensei!" said Izuna. "We have to go and fight whoever they are off. We need to protect our comrades!" He raced off into the woods and Boromir followed with his sword drawn.

Aragorn had backed himself up to the top of the ruins fighting off the Uruk-hai that followed him. But when he heard the Uruk-hai that spoke utter those words, he looked and saw that more and more of the Uruk-hai were getting down the side of the hill where Frodo had fled. "Elendil!" he roared his war cry as he leapt off the ruins and landed amidst a group of the Uruk-hai.

If it had been any other time, Sasuke would've rolled his eyes and make a comment. But it wasn't any other time and he had to focus on what he was doing, which was cutting a path to the leader. It had always been his experience that if you cut down the leader, everyone else pretty much falls to pieces.

As he cut his way through the Uruk-hai host, he admired how his katana cut through the flesh. The way he handled and used felt like he had done several times before (considering his status as Indra's incarnation, it was probably true).

He managed to fight his way to the one who had spoken (who he had taken to be the leader) but did not get a hit on him. Another Uruk-hai stepped in front of his blade's path, getting cut down. In the few seconds that this happened, the leader had stepped back and vanished. Then Sasuke realized that he made his way too deep into the body of the host. It would be difficult to get out now.

"Difficult, but not impossible," he thought to himself, beginning to channel his chakra into his eyes. He had not activated his Sharingan yet, wanting to see how he did with the katana before bringing that out onto the field. And if they were looking for him, why would he hide?

Help for the two Men came in the form of a Dwarf and an Elf. Gimli and Legolas came out of the ruins and began attacking the still moving host. Gimli helped Aragorn get free of the group he literally landed in and Legolas helped Sasuke get out of his spot in the host with his bow and his arrows, opening a path for the raven-haired shinobi.

Once he saw the path, he took it, getting out with minimal problems. "Aragorn, Crabandir, go!" the elf prince ordered the two men. They all knew that he meant go after the ones who had already gotten down the hill.

When he heard those words echo through the woods, Frodo ran faster down the hill. "Must run, must run, must run!" he thought to himself. As he ran, he tripped over a root and fell forward. He rolled forward an inch or so before stopping and once he did, he crawled for the nearby tree and tried to hide himself by placing his back against the part of the trunk facing downhill.

It worked. There were a few Uruk-hai who came down the hill but they were so focused on going down, they did not look to the sides, going pass their target without even seeing him. "I'm safe," he thought to himself as he watched them go past.

"Frodo!" Merry's voice whispered into his ear. When he looked over at where it was coming from, he saw Merry and Pippin hiding behind a half-rotten log.

"Hide here. Quick!" Pippin urged him. "Come on!"

He knew what they were trying to do for him. The log was a better place to hide from the Uruk-hai. It covered more of his body and there was enough room for all three of them to hide behind it. But he did not move from the trunk of the tree. He just stared at the two other hobbits.

Pippin didn't understand why Frodo hadn't moved from his spot. "What's he doing?" he asked Merry.

The Brandybuck stared at the Baggins. The two of them had grown up in the same house for a time, so Merry understood what Frodo was thinking most of the time. And when the Ringbearer shook his head, he understood. "He's leaving," he said quietly. Frodo could only look away at those words.

"No!" Pippin declared, jumping out from behind the log.

"Pippin!" Merry went after him. But the shouts and yells of more Uruk-hai filled the air and they both saw more coming down the hill. He and Pippin looked back at their friend. "Run, Frodo! Go!" he ordered before facing the Uruk-hai. "Hey! Hey, you! Over here!" he shouted up the hill, pointing his finger and then waving at them.

"Hey! This way!" shouted Pippin, waving his arms as well. That got the attention of the Uruk-hai, even more so when they started running. The host chased after the two hobbits, leaving the other hobbit free to get away. "It's working!" the Took said as they ran away from Frodo, stopping momentarily to look at the Uruk-hai.

"I know it's working!" Merry told him. "Run!"

They kept running, they ran away from Frodo and led the Uruk-hai away from him. They didn't look back because they knew that they were being chased. But as they made their way across a ruined bridge, they realized their mistake. They had thought that the Uruk-hai were behind them, but it turned out that they were in front of them as well. They had inadvertently put themselves in the midst of a pincer attack.

They drew their swords, but they did not know how many they could take with them before they were killed. They prepared themselves to fight off the Uruk-hai that was coming towards them with a giant axe in its hands, only to see Boromir and Izuna appeared from the corner of their eyes.

The man and half-elf raced towards the axe-wielding Uruk and caught him just before it brought the axe down. While Boromir pulled the axe from its grasp, Izuna threw a kick and promptly broke its leg. It roared in pain momentarily before Boromir buried the axe in its back. The two left the Uruk and stayed close to the hobbits, who were already defending themselves.

"I'm really happy to see you two!" Pippin said as he buried his sword into the stomach of an Uruk.

"Focus on the fight, Pippin!" Izuna told him while keeping his eyes on two Uruks coming straight at him with swords in the air. He didn't go for them at the same time, instead he went for one, disarming and killing it. Then he turned his attention to the other one and killed it too. This all happened in the space of ten seconds and he was using his Sharingan for every second.

He picked up both swords, noting how different they were to the swords he had seen in Lothlórien. Those swords were gently curved and graceful, these were straight and crude, but they would do. His sensei had taught him something about swordplay, so he wouldn't be too useless with them in his hands.

Another round of Uruk-hai came at them, this time from all directions. "Stay together!" Boromir ordered the other three there. They did as instructed and kept together as the Uruk-hai attacked.

Meanwhile, higher up on the hill, other members of the Fellowship were still fighting off the Uruks. They had moved down to the summit to try and cut off the flow of the Uruks, only to be blockaded by them next to a ruined wall.

Gimli had been drawn out to fight on the outskirts while Sasuke was fighting an Uruk who could handle an axe. They were going back and forth with each other around the edge of the ruined wall and the Uruk was particularly keen on keeping him away from the others. While Aragorn was trying to fight off an Uruk-hai who had its hands around his throat, Legolas was shooting any who came close to them. But since he was trying to do that, he couldn't help the others.

It was Gimli who first managed to break free of the fight he was in, killing the last Uruk that was keeping him on the outskirts. He went to where Sasuke was fighting and interceded himself into the fight. "I've got this, lad! Go help Aragorn!" he told Sasuke. The shinobi broke off and went for Aragorn. When the Uruk tried to go after him, the dwarf stood in his way. "Oh no, you don't!"

Sasuke went for the Uruk wrestling with Aragorn and sliced its legs off. Without the support of said legs, the Uruk fell to the ground, dragging the Ranger down with it. It didn't do anything since Sasuke plunged his katana into its head, killing it. "Thank you," Aragorn said to the shinobi as he stood back.

Just then, three sharp loud blasts from a horn echoed up the hill, making them all turn to where it was coming from. "The Horn of Gondor," Legolas said, recognizing the sound.

"Boromir," Aragorn said in realization.

Sasuke didn't say anything, he just stared running down the hill and everyone else followed him. But the Uruk-hai realized what they were trying to do. A few of them broke off from the flow that was heading down the hill to stop them. The shinobi didn't waste time in fighting off the Uruk trying to attack him.

"Izuna, you better not have done anything stupid," he thought to himself as he decapitated the Uruk. He had heard the leader shout out to find the blood-eyed person, which meant Sharingan. That meant both sensei and student were targets as long as their Sharingan were active. If they were kept inactive, they were safe.

The problem was while he had figured it out; he wasn't so sure about his student. That was why he was hoping that Izuna wasn't doing anything stupid. As he fought through the host, he noticed that they were going on direction. He decided to try something and broke away from the Uruks, going down the hill in a different way.

Izuna's Sharingan were alight as he continued to fight off the Uruk-hai with the swords. He hadn't thought to pull out Aeglos when he ran to the hobbits and since he had the swords, he didn't bother. Three blasts from the Horn of Gondor filled the area as Boromir blew it again. "Let them come soon," the half-elf thought as he drove the sharpened points of the swords into an Uruk's brain.

Another three blasts were blown as they all backed away. More and more Uruks were running down the hill and heading straight for them. "Run! Run!" Boromir ordered the other three.

Merry and Pippin ran farther then he or Izuna did. But when they noticed at the other two were still fighting, they reached down and started throwing stones at the incoming Uruks. "Take that!" Pippin shouted as he hurled a stone at an Uruk, successfully hitting it in the head and making it go down hard.

Boromir was still blowing the Horn when an Uruk tried to attack. He reacted quickly enough to defend himself, but that in turn made the blowing of the Horn end abruptly. To those who were not there, it would've sounded like something bad had happened. But the Captain-General did not think of that when he fighting off the Uruk-hai, he was more focused on killing it.

Izuna was beginning to feel the weight of the swords on his arms, more so on his left then his right. He had only gotten some basic lessons in swordplay from his sensei and they were for a different kind of sword. The most he could do with the kind of swords he was using was either use the sharpen point on the back or as cleavers. "I won't be able to use both of them for much longer," he thought to himself.

At that moment, with his Sharingan lit, he saw something flying through the air. It was an arrow and it was flying straight at Boromir. Thinking of only one thing to do, he threw one of the swords at the arrow. "Please hit," he thought to himself.

It did and the arrow was snapped in two. It did further good by striking an Uruk and knocking it out cold. Boromir turned his head to see what had happened and gave a short nod of thanks to Izuna. "That's twice my life has been saved," he thought to himself, remembering how Aragorn saved his life in Moria.

"Ah! Help!" shouted Pippin, making the man and half-elf turned around. One of the Uruks had gotten past them and was going straight for the hobbits.

"Hit it, Pip!" Merry told his friend. They threw stones at it, but it used its shield to block the stones being thrown. But when it reached them, it got a surprise. The two hobbits leapt at it and brought it slamming into the ground. While it was stunned, they stabbed it with their swords. Once they were sure it was dead, they got off and scrambled for more stones to throw.

"Well done!" Boromir shouted at them while still keeping his attention on the Uruk-hai around him. As one leapt at him, he ducked down to let it land on his back. He stood back up, making the Uruk fall to the earth and die when he impaled it with his sword. He pulled it out and swung it upwards to counter a strike from another Uruk. The sound of metal clashing against metal rang as the two struck each other. In that moment, he pushed forward and caught the Uruk off-guard.

Izuna made sure he kept close to the man from Gondor. He had both hands on the remaining sword and swung it like a cleaver. He could feel his arms getting tired but he could not let go of the sword. "If I drop this sword in the middle of a battle, what would Sasuke-sensei say?" he asked himself as he used the sword to block an attack and then kicked the attacking Uruk off of its feet. "I wouldn't be able to look him in the eyes again!"

So he kept on swinging the sword even when his arms felt like they were burning. He didn't try to go for any big swings lest he leave himself wide open. He kept it to swings he could control easily with what little training he had. It was working for him and he was able to kill any Uruk that was coming at him.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Lurtz was standing at the outskirts of the battle, watching it with an analytical eye and with nocked bow in hand. He saw the blood-eyes in the elf and had been confused, for Saruman had told him it would be a man. Yet, there was an elf with black hair and blood-eyes standing right there and fighting off his Uruks. Perhaps Saruman had been mistaken about who had the blood-eyes?

He reached down for a small vial that was given to him by Saruman. The White Wizard had told him to use specifically for the blood-eyes, saying that it would shut down the energy he would use and put him into a coma. While he still wasn't sure if this was the right person, he would not let such a chance to slip by him. He opened the vial and poured the green glop inside onto the arrow he had nocked. Once the tip of the arrow had been covered, he pulled the bowstring back and released it, firing the arrow at the blood eyes.

In the time the arrow was fired and was flying straight at its intended target, Boromir saw coming and where it was flying towards. "Look out!" he cried, shoving Izuna aside.

Izuna was looking in the opposite direction when he heard those words and was surprised when he felt himself get shoved. The half-elf fell to the ground, losing his grip on the sword. When he turned around to see what that was all about, he saw a horrifying sight: Boromir standing before him with an arrow in his side.

Lurtz growled angrily at the failure of the arrow. "Get in there!" he ordered his second-in-command, shoving him forward. The Uruk did as he was ordered, charging into the fight with several more Uruks at his back.

Boromir felt pain like he had never felt before burning from his side but he would not let that stop him. With a shout, he turned back around to face the Uruk-hai. He killed more of them as they kept coming at him until the strength in his arms disappeared and his sword fell from his fingers. The Uruks didn't bother to kill him. They just swatted him aside like he was nothing.

"Boromir!" cried Izuna, scrambling back to his feet. He was reaching for his right wrist when an Uruk slugged him hard across the face, making him spit out blood and becoming nauseously dizzy. The end of an axe's shaft finished him, knocking him unconscious and making him fall to the ground.

Both Merry and Pippin could only stand and watch in shock as this all happen. Realizing that they had to do something, they dropped the stone that lay in the palms of their hands, grabbed their swords and daggers, and charged forward to protect their friends with a cry of defiance on their lips.

But their plan did not work. The Uruk-hai did not even bother to try fighting the two hobbits. They just grabbed them and lifted them up into holding positions, making them drop their weapons. Izuna's unconscious body was also picked up. Once they were grabbed, the host of Uruk-hai began to run away with the two hobbits and half-elf, breaking the swords and daggers the hobbits had tried to wield beneath their feet.

Boromir felt too weak to do anything to stop what was happening. He tried to rise up from where he had been knocked down, but a foot seemingly appeared out of nowhere and pressed him back down to the ground. When he looked up to see who the foot belonged too, he saw it was an Uruk-hai with a bow. They were the only two left alive in the area.

Lurtz had an arrow nocked and drawn, pointing it directly at the Man. He let out a snarl of satisfaction as he aimed the arrow. Boromir knew he was a dead man when he saw the arrow being drawn back. There was nothing he would be able to do. The only thing he could do was close his eyes and prey. "Eru, Father of All, take me gently to the Halls of Mandos and let me judged with mercy."

But to his surprise, there was no arrow. Instead, what he heard was the sound of one body slamming into another and a surprise snarl of anger from the Uruk-hai. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Aragorn was now fighting the Uruk-hai. His heart was filled with relief at the sight, even though he still felt weak.

The Ranger from the North had been glad to have reached the scene just before the Uruk had fired that arrow. He slammed into the Uruk, making the arrow fly somewhere else and the two of them away from Boromir. When he stood, ready to fight, he saw that Lurtz had already grabbed a sword and shield.

Without saying a word, the two of them leapt at one another. The proceeding fight was more akin to a brawl then an actual fight. More fists were used then swords, especially after Lurtz pinned the man to a tree with his shield. Aragorn was able to himself in time to save his head, but the fact that it had happened surprised him.

Their fight almost turned into a wrestling match when Lurtz tried to reach for him when he was momentarily sitting beneath the tree. Instead, he punched the Uruk in its stomach, drew the dagger that had been a gift from Lord Celeborn, and plunged it into the Uruk's leg.

Lurtz roared with pain and frustration with he felt the dagger pierce his flesh. He grabbed hold of the man and tossed him away from the tree. In a show of strength and rejection, he pulled the dagger out of his leg, licked the blood on the blade extensively, and then threw it at the man.

Aragorn could barely lift his sword up in time to swing at the incoming dagger, swatting it away. He stood back up and charged Lurtz, hitting the Uruk in the stomach with his shoulder. The attack pushed the Uruk back and when he leapt away, it gave him more room to fight with.

Lurtz was undeterred and attack the man again, this time with only a sword. Again, it was more of a brawl then a swordfight. Whenever they could, they would punch each other with a free hand. And yet, Aragorn looked worse than the Uruk did. That didn't make him stop in the fight. If anything, it made him fight on.

They went back and forth against one another, moving around in the area. Aragorn was using every trick he knew to kill the Uruk, but Lurtz kept coming at him with rage-filled strength. The man did not know if he would be able to win this fight while the Uruk just wanted to kill him. They were both surprised to see a sword suddenly burst out of the Uruk's stomach.

While Lurtz roared in pain again, Aragorn took the opportunity to swing his sword and behead the first Uruk-hai that had been created. As the headless body of the creature fell to the ground, he looked to see Boromir on his knees behind it, his hand weakly gripping the sword. He then fell to the side, what strength he had mustered to crawl and then stab the Uruk leaving him.

"No," Aragorn said in horror, instantly going to the Captain-General's side. He rolled him over so they could see each other face-to-face.

"They took the little ones!" Boromir told him with a gasp of breath. "They took Izuna!"

"Hold still," he said, trying to see if there were any injuries beside the arrow. So far, there were none.

"Frodo, where is Frodo?"

His hands stilled for a moment when he heard those words. "I let Frodo go," he admitted. He had been afraid that the man from Gondor would be angry to hear those words.

Instead, he smiled with relief. "Then you did what I could not. I tried to take the Ring from him," he confessed.

"The Ring is beyond our reach now."

"Forgive me. I did not see it. I have failed you all." Tears threatened to leak out from his eyes at those words.

"No, Boromir," Aragorn disagreed with him. "You fought bravely. You kept your honor." The sound of feet running lightly on the ground filled his ears and when he looked back, he saw Legolas coming towards him. "Help me, Legolas!" he called out to the elf prince. "Boromir's been shot!" Legolas did not waste time coming to his side and helping him heal the Captain-General of Gondor.

(Location: Frodo)

He stood at the bank of the river, staring at the river and the other bank where the path to Mordor lay. The Ring was still in his hand and it felt heavy. "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." The words he had said in Moria came back to him as he looked down at the Ring. Tears leaked out from his eyes as he torn them away from his burden.

But even as he remembered those words, the words of Gandalf came to him as well. "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time given to you." And he had decided.

With a renewed resolve, he closed his fist around the Ring and placed it in his pocket. He went for one of the boats, only to stop when he heard someone else standing on the bank with him. He turned his head to see and saw it was Sasuke. "Don't try to stop me, Sasuke," he said with his hands still on the boat. "I have to do this."

The raven-haired shinobi did not say anything at first. Instead, he just looked at the hobbit. "I won't stop you, Frodo," he finally said. "But don't go alone."

"I must travel alone," the Ringbearer said, turning his attention back to the boat, pushing it out onto the river.

"That was my mistake," Sasuke's voice carried over the air and into his ears. When he turned back, the shinobi was walking away.

Sasuke wasn't worried about Frodo, though. He was confident that a very loyal gardener would reach him in time.

"Hurry!" said Legolas as he pushed a boat into the river. "Frodo and Sam have reached the eastern shore." The remaining members of the Fellowship had reached the bank just to see the two hobbits disappear into the trees on the other shore. When no one else joined the elf in pushing the boat, he turned to see them all just standing there. "You mean not to follow them," he said to Aragorn.

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," the Ranger replied. Boromir looked away at those words. His face was a bit pale due to the blood he lost. But he did have the arrow safely taken out.

"Then it is all been in vain," Gimli declared, walking back towards them from where he stood. "The Fellowship has failed."

For a long moment, no one said anything and it seemed like those words were true. But then Aragorn roused their spirits. "Not if we hold true to each other," he told them all. "We will not abandon Merry, Pippin, and Izuna to torment and death. Not while we have strength left."

"I'll agree with that," Sasuke said from where he stood near the woods. He was not done with his student.

Aragorn went back to the supplies left on the shore and picked the dagger he had gifted with, having retrieved it earlier. "Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light," he declared as he sheathed the dagger. "Let's hunt some orc." He turned and went back into the woods, with Boromir right on his heels.

Sasuke soon followed, leaving the elf and the dwarf on the bank of the river. But it did not stay like that for long. "Yes!" Gimli agreed passionately, running after the men with a laugh. Legolas was right beside him. Together, the five members of the Fellowship went on the hunt.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

We now have a change in the story, Boromir's still alive. That might be a bit of a Fanfiction cliché, but there's a reason.

As for why Izuna didn't whip out Aeglos at the beginning, he's still young by elf standards and this was his first battle. He wasn't going to be thinking straight.

From here on out, Frodo and Sam's journey will be pretty much the same. So I won't cover it (what would be the point if I did?).

I'll see you all next chapter!