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

A Shinobi of Middle-Earth

Chapter 14: Breaking the hold

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Spirits/Ents talking"

"Spirits/Ents thinking"

(Location: Fangorn)

Merry felt comfortable and peaceful as he lay on the forest floor, slowly waking up. After meeting Gandalf again (and after hastily convincing Izuna that he wasn't Saruman), the Wizard had asked Treebeard to keep them safe The Ent did as he was asked and led them to one of his homes in the forest. They had fallen asleep in the process, so he just laid them on the ground to sleep.

Now the Brandybuck was the last to awake. As he did, he looked around his surroundings. Pippin was sitting next to a little stream and Izuna was sitting against a tree. "Hello?" Merry called out as he stood up.

"We're right here, Merry," Izuna told him.

"I wasn't talking about you, Izuna," he replied. "I was looking for Treebeard. Where'd he go off to?"

"I don't know. He was gone when I woke up."

"And I had the loveliest dream last night," Pippin said, joining the conversation. He had a bowl in his hand and he was careful not to drop it as he spoke.

"Pippin, what does your dream have to do with the absence of Treebeard?" the half-elf amongst them asked him.

"It doesn't."

"Then why are you bringing it up?"

"Well, it doesn't help us to know where Treebeard is. He will come back when he comes back. So there's no point in continuing that line of conversation, right?"

"…Right," he conceded.

"Then can I continue?"

He sighed. "Go ahead."

The hobbit smiled. "There was this large barrel, full of pipe-weed. And we smoked all of it."

Merry smiled at that. "That sounds like a nice dream."

"And then…the two of you were sick."

Izuna frowned a little. "That, not so much," he commented.

The Took didn't sound like he heard him. Instead, he just leaned back on the root he was sitting on. "I'd give anything for a whiff of Old Toby," he declared, closing his eyes.

The scowl on Merry's face faded away at those words. "I would too," he admitted.

Izuna looked at the both of them. "Was that what I had in Lothlórien?" he asked the two of them.

The Brandybuck amongst them shook his head. "No, that was a lesser brand, something that's best used in small quantities on the road. Old Toby and anything better is best taken when sitting back and relaxing."

"Like what I'm doing right now," Pippin chimed in from where he sat.

"Oh," the half-elf said. He fell silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next, and then just said what came to his mind. "I thought the one in Lothlórien was nice."

Both of the hobbits looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. "The words of a novice pipe-weed smoker," Merry said in a long-suffering voice. A loud groan echoed throughout the forest, getting his attention. "Did you hear that?" he asked. The groan came again, louder this time. "There is it again."

"I heard it," Izuna told him.

"Something's not right here. Not right at all."

Pippin didn't think anything off of it. He grabbed an urn that was near him and stood up with it and his bowl in hand. He burped but it didn't sound like a burp. It sounded like something else and Merry figured it out on the spot. "You said something…Treeish," he said to his friend.

"No, I didn't," Pippin protested. "I was just stretching." He stretched to prove his point and a weird noise came from him as he did.

When he was done, Merry noticed something about his friend. He walked around him, taking a closer look at him and making sure he was seeing right. "You're taller!" he finally said.

The Took stopped taking the sip he was sipping to look at the Brandybuck. "Who?"

"You!"

"Then what?"

"Then me!"

There was a brief look of confusion on his face when he heard that. "I've always been taller than you."

Merry placed his hands on his hips. "Pippin, everyone knows that I'm the tall one. You're the short one."

"Who is everyone?" Izuna thought to himself. He didn't know that. Before he could even continue with that line of thought, he saw a flash of something beyond the current edge of trees. "What was that?" He stood up. "You two stay here; I'm going to take a look around."

"Okay then," Pippin said to him before turning to look at his fellow hobbit. "Now please, Merry. You're what? Three-foot-six? At the most?" Merry looked a little proud at the height. "Whereas me, I'm pushing 3'7"." He said something odd again and grew just a little bit more. "3'8"!"

"Three-foot-eight?" repeated Merry, unbelieving at the fact when it was right there in front of him.

That was the last Izuna heard of that conversation and quite frankly, he was a little glad to have stopped listening. He found it to be hearing two hobbits arguing about their height, especially when they were adults.

He was more than happy to go looking for whatever had been on the edge of his sight. His curiosity was aroused. He went deeper into the woods to see what it was, but saw nothing. "Where is it?" he asked as he looked, going further and further away from Treebeard's home.

He saw it again and turned his towards the direction it appeared. He would've gone after it had the screams of hobbits filled his ears. He quickly spun around and went for the home of the Ent. What he saw was not something he wanted to see. Both Merry and Pippin were being buried beneath the roots of a tree.

He almost panicked right then and there. "Merry! Pippin!" he shouted at them, sprinting for the tree, intent on saving his friends. But he was only able to reach it just in time to see them get completely buried. "What should I do? What should I do?" he asked himself in a fearful state. He tried reaching down through the cracks left by the roots to grasp either one of the hobbits but he could not reach them.

"Treebeard! Anyone! HELP!" he shouted for the entirety of Fangorn to hear as he tried in vain to free the hobbits.

Fortunately for him, Treebeard had heard him and came back. "Away with you," the Ent commanded the tree. "You should not be waking. Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water." As he spoke, the roots of the tree began to move around, making Izuna hop off of them. It also freed the hobbits, who quickly scrambled free. "Go to sleep. Away with you."

As they watched the tree settle, Izuna turned on Merry and Pippin. "What was that all about?!" he demanded.

"I'm afraid there is no time for questions, young half-elf," Treebeard said to him. "The forest is waking up." He reached down for the two hobbits, picked them up and placed them on his shoulders. "Come, it isn't safe."

He walked off and Izuna followed in his path as they left his home. "The trees have grown wild and dangerous," he explained to them as he walked. "Anger festers in their hearts. Black are their thoughts. Strong is their hate. They will harm you if they can."

"But I had thought that the Ents would keep them in check," Izuna said to the Ent.

"Once, we may have. But there are too few of us now. Too few Ents left to manage them."

"Why are there so few of you when you have lived so long?" Pippin asked him. "Are there Ent children?"

"Bru-ra-hroom, there have been no Entings for a terrible long count of years," he answered sorrowfully.

"Why is that?" Merry asked.

"We lost the Entwives."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pippin said to him. He meant it. "How did they die?"

"Pippin!" said Izuna warningly. "You don't ask that!"

"Die?" Treebeard repeated, like he was trying to understand what that word meant. "No. We lost them. And now, we cannot find them. I don't suppose that you've seen Entwives in the Shire?" he asked the two hobbits, looking at Pippin as he asked.

The two of them shared a quick look with one another. "Can't say that I have?" Merry told him. "You, Pip?"

Pippin had the same answer as his friend but he didn't want to give it to Treebeard again. "What do they look like?" he asked. Maybe if they had some details, it might spark something in their memories.

A look of sorrow appeared on the Ent's face before he turned it away. "I don't remember now."

As he walked alongside the Ent, Izuna thought of something. "Do you think it's possible that they may have gone to a different land?" he asked Treebeard, looking at him.

"Hroom, it is a thought. But we Ents have looked everywhere in Middle-Earth after losing the Entwives and we have not found them anywhere."

"What if they went to a land you couldn't reach? If they went to a different continent?" he pressed on.

The Ent looked down at him with a curious look in his eyes. "Do you know where the Entwives are?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't. Until recently, I've never been out of Lothlórien. But my sensei comes from Southern-Earth."

"Southern-Earth?" the Ent repeated. "I have never heard of such a land before. And what does this word, this 'sensei' mean?"

"He told me it meant teacher. I am his student and he is my teacher. But since you've never heard of Southern-Earth before, it might be possible that the Entwives went there." He wasn't trying to get the Ent's hopes up. He was just raising a possibility. For all he knew, Sasuke-sensei had never seen one of the Entwives down there.

(Location: Sasuke's party)

As the horses came to a stop, so did he. They had been traveling since dawn and now it was well past noon when they crested a hill to see a city on a far greater hill before them. The shinobi amongst them was silent as he looked at the walled city. To no surprise, he had found that nothing had changed.

"Edoras, and the Golden Hall of Meduseld," Gandalf said for all of them to hear. "There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Théoden is now very strong."

"But you are here, Gandalf," Boromir said to him.

"That may be. But still, be careful of what you say. Do not look for welcome here," he warned them. He urged Shadowfax on and the others followed. It did not take them long to reach the gate of Edoras. As they rode through, Aragorn saw something disturbing: one of the king's banners rolling in the grass outside the city.

Sasuke saw the same thing he did and did something about it. He went after the banner and picked it up, folding it until he could hold it easily in one hand. With the other, he pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head, hiding his face from the world.

The pace of the horses slowed considerably once they were in the city proper. As they made their way up the slope of the hill, they looked around at the people of Edoras. Those people were quiet and grim, looking at the strangers with uncertainty in their eyes. As Gimli eloquently put it, "You'd find more cheer in a graveyard."

"Indeed, this is a sad sight," Boromir agreed quietly. Never would he have thought to see the people of Rohan look like this.

They continued to climb the hill. A child appeared in the door of a house to watch them go by. When his eyes fell on Sasuke, they widened in surprise. Then he let out a shriek of happiness. "Bell Man!" he shouted, pointing at Sasuke. He was quickly dragged back into the house so he wouldn't continue to make a scene.

The group of strangers just looked at the child disappearing into the house and then at Sasuke. No words were said and they soon started riding and walking again, although the raven-haired shinobi did take a look back at the house the child was pulled into. He didn't dwell on it long and returned his attention back to what they were doing.

When they finally reached the stairs that would lead up to the Golden Hall, those who were riding dismounted their horses. They began climbing the steps, only to be met with guards at the top. While Gandalf looked happy to see him, the man leading the guards did not share the same feeling. "I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame," he said.

Boromir recognized the man immediately. "Has the trust of Rohan fallen so great that it doesn't trust Gondor and its Captain-General when he has come to see the king, Captain Hama?" he asked in a voice that would have no argument.

The man silently cursed himself for not recognizing the man. "My apologies, Lord Boromir, but while my trust in you and in Gondor has not faltered, this is the order of Gríma Wormtongue."

Gandalf said nothing save for an "Ah" of recognition. He nodded at the rest of his group, silently telling them to as they were asked. They did so and began to rid themselves of their weapons. It was done reluctantly and they let the guards know it by the looks on their faces.

When Hama noticed that none of the guards had touched Sasuke, he looked at them all. "He as well," he told them.

Before they even moved towards the hooded man, he stepped forward. "I remember you, Hama," he said in a quiet voice. "I remember when I brought your son back to you. You wept great tears of relief as you held him and so did he. Do you think such a man as me would harm the king?"

"Even so, I have my orders and I must ask you to give up any weapons you might have on you, Bell Man," Hama told him.

"As you command, but I will want them back." He took all the weapons he had on his body and held them out for the guards to take. The guard who took the katana did die immediately but he did look a lot paler than before.

The captain of the guard watched in silence as the weapons were taken, but then he noticed that Gandalf still had something on him (or rather, with him). "Your staff," he said to the Wizard.

Gandalf looked at him and then at his staff with a look of worry that made him seem older and frailer. "You would not part an old man from his walking stick," he replied. Legolas stepped forward and took the Wizard's left arm with his right, adding to the image of frailty.

Hama relented and turned to lead them into the hall. When he entered, he bowed briefly to the throne at the other end of the hall and the king who sat on it. Once he did that, he stepped out of the way to let the strangers in. The doors closed behind them with a loud THUD! They looked back to see that they were truly stuck inside the hall.

The man that was known as Wormtongue sat to the right of the king, who looked like an old and senile man. "My lord, Gandalf the Grey is coming," he whispered into the king's ear. "He's a herald of woe."

"The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King," Gandalf called out, letting his arm fall from Legolas's and walking on his own. As they went forward, they took notice of the fact that several young men to the sides of the hall were following them.

"He's not welcomed," Gríma whispered.

"Why…should I welcome you…Gandalf Stormcrow?" the king asked the Wizard, even when he was looking at his "advisor." His voice sounded weak and tired, like all he wanted to do was rest.

"A just question, my liege," Gríma praised him before standing up from where he sat. "Late is the hour in which this conjuror chooses to appear," he said as he began walking towards the strangers in the hall, more directly at Gandalf. "Láthspell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest," he declared as he stopped before the Wizard.

"Be silent!" Gandalf commanded, making him go silent. "Keep your forked tongue between your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to brandy crooked words with a witless worm." He held up his staff.

The Wormtongue instantly backed off. "His staff!" he gasped in surprise, stepping away from him. "I told you to take the Wizard's staff!" he shouted at Hama.

When his gaze was turned, Sasuke acted. He suddenly appeared in front of Gríma and struck him in enough spots to make him lose strength in his legs and fall to the ground. The young men who had been walking parallel to them charged. They were intent on attacking the strangers. But the strangers had seen them coming.

The brawl that occurred was no contest. The young men in the employment of Gríma had been barely more than common village thugs before joining his employment and they still held to their roots, whereas their opponents were trained, skilled, and experienced warriors who had faced worse things than them. The only time the thugs looked they had an advantage was when Boromir lost strength in his arms and was knocked down. Fortunately for the Captain-General, Sasuke had been close by and had grabbed the thug who tackled him and promptly threw him at a one of the columns.

While all of this was happening, Gandalf walked towards the throne. Gamling, another member of the guard, reached for his sword, wanting to protect his king, but Hama stopped him. "Théoden, son of Thengel," Gandalf called out to the king, who seemed to try to look away, only to keep his gaze on the Wizard. "Too long have you sat in the shadows."

At this point, Gríma managed to regain control of his legs and tried to get away, only to have Gimli's foot press down on his chest and stopped him. "I would stay still if I were you," he growled.

"Harken to me!" Gandalf commanded Théoden, getting his full attention. He lowered his staff and raised his hand. "I release you from this spell." He closed his eyes and the hand, concentrating.

But Théoden only began to laugh, a bitter and cackling laugh, making Gandalf open his eyes. "You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey!" he told the Wizard, continuing to laugh. It may have been the king's voice that was speaking, but it was Saruman's word in his mouth.

Gandalf raised his head and in one smooth motion, pulled the cloak covering him off, revealing the color of his robes to all who could see it. Light filled the hall and the laughing of Theoden was cut off in a cry of pain as he was thrown against the back of the throne. He tried fighting it, but could only bring his upper body forward. "I will draw, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound," Gandalf declared, thrusting his staff forward and slamming the king back against the throne.

No one in the hall said a thing as the Wizard approached the throne. But from a corridor leading to said hall, a woman of golden hair wearing a white dress appeared. Seeing what was happening, she rushed forward, only to be stopped by Aragorn. "Wait," he told her.

"If I go, Théoden dies," Saruman spoke through the king.

Gandalf thrust his staff again, forcing him back against the throne. "You did not kill me. You will not kill him," he replied, coming even closer to the throne.

Again, he tried to fight off the spell. "Rohan is mine!"

Again, Gandalf forced him back. "Begone!"

With a last surge of strength, the king threw himself at Gandalf with a cry. The White Wizard replied with a cry of his own and swept his staff over the king, forcing him back down onto his throne.

He sat there, groaning in pain while Gandalf lowered his staff. When it looked like he was about to fall out of the throne, the woman broke free of Aragorn's grasp and ran towards him, catching him as he fell out of the chair.

Everyone there (with the exception of Gandalf) stood in silent surprise as they watched a miracle happen. King Théoden, who had looked like a tired old man who let his hair become overgrown. But now, he was becoming younger by the second. His overgrown white hair became shorter and turned yellow. His beard, which had been long enough to reach his lap, shortened until it became a respectable goatee. And his eyes, which had been lightened by the glaze they had, darkened with youth.

When the transformation was done, he looked around like he did not know where he was, until he looked upon the woman. "I know your face," he told her. When she smiled, he remembered: she was Éowyn, his niece. "Éowyn, Éowyn," he repeated the name, remembering how it felt on his tongue. He turned his head to look at the rest of the hall and saw the Wizard standing before him. "Gandalf?" he asked.

"Breathe the free air again, my friend," Gandalf told him.

He stood up on his legs, his niece helping him up. "Dark have my dreams been of late," he said, mostly to himself, as he looked at those in his hall. Then he looked at his hands like he had never seen them before. They felt stiff and weak.

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword," the Wizard before suggested.

Hama, having been the keeper of the sword, came forward and took a knee, holding out the sword of the king to him. Théoden reached uncertainly for the hilt, but once he took hold and held it aloft, what little strength that had escaped him returned. Gone was the old man who was held by the grip of Saruman and the lies of Gríma Wormtongue. In his place was Théoden, Lord of the Mark and King of Rohan.

When his attention turned away from his sword, it fell on Gríma, who had tried to escape Gimli's grip (he failed). "Gamling, Hama," he said to his two men, who stood up straighter at their names. "Get this worm out of my hall."

Feral grins appeared on their faces at those words and they turned to Gríma. They grabbed hold of him, dragged him to the entrance of the hall, and threw him down the stairs. He landed with shout of pain and felt pain everywhere. When he turned his gaze up to the hall, he saw the king coming towards him with the sword drawn. "I've only ever served you, my lord!" he pleaded, crawling down the steps as he spoke.

But the king would not be moved. "Your leechcraft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!" he replied, going after the man with the entirety of the hall behind him.

"Send me not from your sight," Gríma pleaded again.

All Théoden did was raise his sword into a killing strike. But what the people who looked upon the scene heard was not the sound of metal cutting through flesh and bone, but the sound of metal striking metal. What they had seen was Sasuke drawing his katana (having taken it back) and stopping the king's strike. When Théoden turned to look at him with anger in his eyes, he was calm. "Your first act of freedom should not be murder," he said quietly, still holding the sword in check.

Aragorn, who had been surprised by the move the shinobi made, still took advantage of it. "My lord, enough blood has been spilled on his account," he said to Théoden, looking at Gríma.

The king said nothing and Boromir came to his other side. "He is not worth killing, Théoden King," he said. That seemed to have been the right words as Théoden's anger disappeared and he lowered his sword.

Sasuke saw him lowering the sword and promptly withdrew his own. But he did not sheath it. Instead, he walked down the steps and placed the tip of his weapon beneath Gríma's chin. He held it there for a second and then he lifted it to point down the steps. "Run," he ordered the cowering man. It was the only thing he said.

The Wormtongue did as he was ordered, scrambling to his feet and fleeing into the crowd that had gathered at the base of the steps. "Get out of my way!" he shouted at them as he pushed them aside.

His fleeing by horse did not get attention as the people in Edoras were more focused on who stood on the steps. Both Aragorn and Boromir saw this and as one, they shouted, "Hail, Théoden King!"

They all knelt to him and bowed their heads, even the man from the north and the man from Gondor. Théoden saw this, but he did not see it. As he turned from the crowds and looked around, he could not find one particular person. "Where is Théodred?" he asked. "Where is my son?" The looks on his niece's and guards' faces was all the answer he needed.

As the sun set behind the mountains, he stood before the tomb of his son. Théodred's funeral had been taken care of that afternoon and all of Edoras had watched as his son was carried down from the hall and to his tomb. It was a quiet, somber affair. The silence was only broken when Éowyn began singing an old song of mourning.

Now Théoden stood there with a white flower in his hand. "Simbelmynë," he said, naming the flower. With one last look at it, he threw it to the ground. "Ever has it grown on the tomb of the forbearers," he said to both Gandalf and Sasuke, who stood nearby in silence. He turned to look at them. "Now it shall cover the tomb of my son. Alas that these evil days be mine. The young perish and the old linger. That I should live to see the last days of my house."

Gandalf broke his silence. "Théodred's death was not of your making," he told the king.

But those words did not help. "No parent should have to bury their child," Théoden said in reply. As if those words had suddenly made him realize that his son was now gone, he began to weep. Tears poured out from his eyes as he fell to his knees.

Sasuke did not say anything. But even though he silently agreed with what was said, there was a part of him that said something different. "No child should have to bury their parents when they still have their innocence." That was something he would never forget, attending the funeral of his entire clan.

"He was strong in life," Gandalf said to Théoden. "His spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers." He said a few more words in Quenya and turned away to leave the king in his grief.

Sasuke followed the Wizard and the two of them walked back up the road to Edoras. But something caught their eyes and made them stop. A horse was coming towards the city and on its back were two children. The younger of the two, a girl, was still conscious and had raised her head when Edoras came into her view. But the elder, a boy, had fallen into unconsciousness and fell from the horse.

Sasuke was at the horse in a matter of seconds, catching the boy before he hit the ground. "I have him," he told the girl.

"Tha-thank you," she said, obviously weak from hunger and no sleep. But she was also glad. It was obvious that they had reached the king and safety.

End

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

Tolkien never did actually say where the Entwives went (despite some vague references in his letters that they might be dead), so that a little leeway. And the Elemental Nations are a big place to hide in.

I'll see you all next chapter!