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

A Shinobi of Middle-Earth

Chapter 25: Unwanted news

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Spirits/Ents talking"

"Spirits/Ents thinking"

(Location: Edoras)

There was a small tower near the center of Edoras and atop the tower was a single iron bell, meant to call the Rohirrim together when it was time for war. And that time was now. Before, there was barely any activity on the slopes of the capital. But now there was nothing but activity as the bell was being struck again and again.

People were running every which way, gathering supplies, readying the weapons they would carry, and saddling the horses they would ride. There was a frantic but familiar pace to it all for the riders of Rohan, who had been called to action by the tolling of the iron bell.

As his people prepared, Théoden came out of his hall, dressed in his armor with his sword at his side and his helmet held in his arm. He was ready for war. "Assemble the army at Dunharrow, as many men as can be found. You have two days," he told Éomer, who walked by his side. When his nephew began to walk forward, he stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. "On the third, we ride for Gondor…and war."

The Third Marshal of the Mark nodded once in acknowledgment and turned to the steps. "Forward!" he called out to his soldiers.

"Gamling," the king called to the man, who stood to the side and watched as the preparations went on, walking over to him.

"My lord!" he said, turning to face him.

"Make haste across the Riddermark. Summon every able-bodied man to Dunharrow," Théoden commanded.

"I will," he said with a bowed head before turning to leave. The Lord of the Riddermark was left there, standing in silence as he watched the men readying themselves, heading down the hill to the gates.

Aragorn himself was readying himself for the march, saddling Brego just outside the stables. To his surprise, Éowyn came out with a horse of her own, stopping to saddle it beside him. "Do you ride with us?" he asked her.

"Just to the encampment," she answered. "It's tradition for the women of the court to farewell the men." He had a little trouble believing that and when he noticed something on her saddle; he reached out and pulled the blanket on the saddle back, revealing a sword hilt.

She noticed what he did and pulled the blanket back before anyone else could've seen it. While he pretended to not have seen it, she spoke to him. "The men have found their captain. They will follow you into battle, even to death. You have given us hope." He didn't say anything, choosing to go back to Brego.

Out near the main street, Izuna was checking over what he had in the way of supplies. Jūgo was standing nearby, keeping an eye out on what was passing by. "They move fast," he remarked as the men of Rohan passed them by.

"They're marching to war," Izuna said.

"Even so, they move fast."

The neighing of a horse filled their ears at that moment and while it shouldn't have been a surprise to them (they were in the land of the Horse-Lords), it came as a surprise due to the fact that it was coming from behind them, not out front on the street where the majority of the horses were. When they turned to look, they did see a horse there, its reins being held by Gríma. "My lord," he said with a bowed head.

"Gríma, what's with the horse?" Izuna asked him, a little confused by it.

"The Rohirrim are going to war, my lord, and you are going with them. Since they have given you a sense of standing, you must ride a horse as they would expect you to. So I have taken the liberty of finding you a steed." The horse neighed a little, like it knew it was being talked about.

The half-elf had not expected Gríma to do such a thing and was a little surprised by it all. "Uh…thanks," he said to the man, walking over to the horse and taking the reins. "Does he have a name?"

"Apologies, my lord, I did not think to ask," he said with a bowed head. "I only asked if there was a horse for the Untainted and I was given one quickly."

"Well, thank you anyway. You and Jūgo best go back and find horses of your own."

"That won't be necessary," Jūgo told him. "I'll walk."

"And I will not be allowed to ride one," Gríma said to him. The people of Rohan still considered him to be a traitor who only lived because the half-elf's good graces. If they let him saddle a horse, they would feel like they were being considerate. "Do you require anything else, my lord?" he asked Izuna.

"No. Thank you, Gríma."

As Théoden looked on, Merry approached him from behind with his sword in his hands. "Excuse me!" he said to the king, making him turn to look. "I have a sword. Please accept it!" He knelt down to the ground with the tip of the sword resting on the stone. "I offer you my service, Théoden King."

The king of Rohan took a step towards him and helped back onto his feet. "And gladly, I accept it," he told the hobbit with a smile. "You shall be Meriadoc, esquire of Rohan." The Brandybuck smiled widely and went off to find a horse and armor.

As the horses and their riders, along with the soldiers on foot, began to make their way out of the city, Legolas and Gimli once again shared a horse. "Horse men!" said the dwarf with a snort. "I wish I could muster an army of Dwarves, fully armed and filthy."

"Your kinsmen may have no need to ride to war," the elf told him. "I fear war already marches on their own lands." The Dark Lord would not just attack one place, he was sure of it.

"Ack, they can handle themselves well enough," Gimli said with a conviction in his voice that Legolas believed him.

When the Rohirrim were finally ready to leave Edoras, Théoden sat on his horse in their midst. In that moment, he could see everything that was there for him to see. His men, his people, his city, his kingdom, and his banner were all there for his eyes to look upon. He particularly watched the banner as it fluttered in the wind. "So, it is before the walls of Minas Tirith the doom of our time will be decided," he thought to himself in that moment.

"Now is the hour, Riders of Rohan," Éomer cried to the riders in a great voice. "Oaths you have taken. Now fulfil them all, to Lord and Land!" The Riders of Rohan responded to his call with a shout that seemed to come from them all in a single, unified voice. With his words spurring them on, they rode out of Edoras, onto the plains of Rohan and to Gondor, to fulfil an oath made long ago between the two kingdoms.

(Location: Minas Tirith)

The three of them walked along the first level walls with Sasuke looking at Pippin as they walked. "So you just decided to climb up the wall and light the beacon because he told you too," he said, gesturing slightly to Gandalf.

"Yes," the hobbit answered.

"Why?"

"Because it would've sent a message to Rohan, letting them know that Minas Tirith needed its help."

He just stared at the Took, taking in all of his earnest and honest expression. Finally, he turned his gaze away and looked out at Mordor, for no better purpose then to not look at him. "He really is Naruto in Hobbit form," he thought moodily to himself. "I don't know if these two should ever meet or not."

Gandalf saw the look on his face and chuckled. "Thinking of someone who has irritated you one too many time but still a friend, aren't you?" he asked.

He looked at the Wizard. "What makes you think I'm thinking of that?" he challenged.

"Because I've had that look on my face when dealing with young Peregrin Took here," he answered whilst nudging Pippin to prove his point.

He didn't bother to respond to that question. "Aren't we risking a lot of anger being out here on the walls after lighting the beacons without permission from Denethor?"

"And how would we be doing that?" Gandalf asked him with a curious look. "We are simply taking a walk on the walls. Why, we are not alone up here."

Sasuke took a look around them, seeing other citizens of the city on the wall as well. The difference between them and the three of them was that they were not up on the walls to subtly check the defenses of the walls. And he wasn't sure about what he had seen. The walls were impressive but the soldiers manning them seemed to be stretched thin. There was a sense of unease in their eyes whenever they looked upon them. They knew what was coming, but they did not know if they would be able to withstand it.

"Gandalf, what's with the commotion over there?" Pippin asked, looking at the group of people gathering near the gate.

"I don't know," Gandalf answered. They all quickly went to the crowd and pushed their way quickly through to see what was happening. The answer was something that the White Wizard had hoped wouldn't come to pass.

Out of Osgiliath came the remains of its defense. It was obvious by the fact they were fleeing the ruined city that it was overrun. But while that was a reason that people were watching in crowds from the walls of Minas Tirith, it wasn't the main one. The main reason they were all watching was the fact that there were three Nazgûls on their flying beasts creating havoc amidst the fleeing men.

"Come! We must go to their aide!" Gandalf said, having seen all what he needed to see in those first few seconds.

He turned to head back to the ground, where Shadowfax would be waiting. But he stopped when Pippin cried out, "Gandalf, look at Sasuke!"

The White Wizard turned back to see that the elven cloak Sasuke had been given in Lothlórien was now on the wall. Its wearer had taken it off, leapt over the side, and was running at full speed towards the men in trouble. But he didn't stop there. He channeled his chakra into his eyes, morphing them into the Mangekyō Sharingan and promptly activated the Susanoo, this time doing what he couldn't in Moria and used its full height.

The people of Minas Tirith watched in shock as a giant made of purple fire appeared in place of the man. It continued to run towards the fleeing men and they were afraid that he would assist the Nazgûl in attacking them. An orb of black flame filled its right hand and it seemed to fulfill their fears. But then the orb manifested an arrow and a bow-like shape appeared on the left hand.

The giant creation stopped running once the arrow was created, nocking it into the bow. It pulled the thin fire that acted as its taunt string back and fired. The black arrow sailed through the air, but it did not strike the fleeing men of Gondor. Instead, it flew right at one of the three beasts carrying the Ringwraiths.

The creature roared in surprised at such a move and banked hard to avoid the black arrow. Sasuke didn't stop there; he nocked and fired several more, keeping the Nazgûl away from the men. "Run!" he commanded them, amplifying his voice through the Susanoo. "Make for the city! I will hold them off!"

They needed no further prompting. Those on horseback spurred their animals on faster and those on foot ran all the more harder. They curved around the giant made of flame as they came closer to him and then proceeded to head for the city. The Nazgûls' beasts roared in anger alongside their masters and tried to go after them. But they were repelled by Sasuke again and again.

He gave ground slowly as he held them back and they soon gave up in killing the remaining defenders of Osgiliath. They turned back and flew back to the safety of the darkened clouds, which now hung over the ruins Minas Tirith had just lost. His mission successful, he turned and went back, disengaging the jutsu as he went. The footprints he had made while in the jutsu had left a path of smoldering footprints, evidence of what had just happened.

The gates of Minas Tirith were quickly pulled opened, allowing the defenders of Osgiliath to come riding in. The people who had been watching from the walls and from the nearby buildings all came down to meet them, to see that they were alright with their own eyes. Among them were Gandalf and Pippin.

"Mithrandir!" cried one of the defenders, coming towards the Wizard on his horse. "They broke through our defenses. They've taken the bridge and the West bank. Battalions of Orcs are crossing the river." There was something familiar about the Man, but Pippin could not place his finger on what it was.

"It is as the Lord Denethor predicted!" one of the other defenders said aloud as they dismounted and checked their horses. "Long has he foreseen this doom!"

"Foreseen and done nothing!" Gandalf snapped at the man. He would've continued had he not seen the first Man stare at Pippin. "Faramir?" he said while Pippin looked away. Then the Wizard understood. "This is not the first Halfling to have crossed your path."

"No," answered the man known as Faramir, shaking his head.

The hobbit amongst them looked at him with hope in his eyes at those words. "You've seen Frodo and Sam?" he asked. Faramir nodded.

"Where? When?" demanded Gandalf.

"In Ithilien," he answered immediately. "Not two days ago." Gandalf and Pippin looked at one another with happiness. The friends that they had not seen for some time were still alive. "Gandalf, they're taking the road to the Morgul vale."

A look of horror passed onto the Wizard's face. "And then the pass of Cirith Ungol," he finished, which Faramir nodded to.

"What does that mean? What's wrong?" Pippin asked Gandalf, feeling worried.

"Faramir tell me everything. Tell me all you know," the Wizard told the Man.

"Wait," Sasuke said quietly as he appeared in their midst from out of the crowd horses and men. He stepped forward and looked up at Faramir, studying him with a quiet intensity. "You are Boromir's brother," he finally said.

Pippin looked at the shinobi in surprise and then whipped his head to look at Faramir. That sense of familiarity he couldn't place was suddenly made clear. It was like looking at a younger Boromir. "Yes, I am his brother," Faramir answered. "How do you know who I am?"

"Because I have come to Minas Tirith bearing sad news and a last command," he answered, looking him in the eye.

A sense of unease filled Faramir, but he spoke once more. "What do you have to say?"

"This is how you would serve your city?" Denethor demanded of Faramir as he sat in his throne and his son stood before him after hearing his report concerning Frodo and his burden. "You would risk its utter ruin?"

"I did what I judged to be right," Faramir answered.

What you judged to be right. You sent the Ring of power into Mordor in the hands of a witless Halfling!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the hall. Yet his son and the foreign man who stood nearby said nothing. "It should have been brought back to the citadel to be kept safe. Hidden, dark and deep in the vaults… not to be used," he told him. "Unless, at the uttermost end of need."

"I would not use the Ring," his son told him. "Not if Minas Tirith were falling in ruin and I alone could save her."

"Ever you desire to appear lordly and gracious as a King of old," he replied with a sneer. "Boromir would have remembered his father's need. He would have brought me a kingly gift."

What he had heard on the outskirts of Osgiliath still haunted Faramir, for Sam's words of his brother clashed with his memory and yet, somehow they rung true. "Boromir would not have brought the Ring. He would have stretched out his hand to this thing and taking it he would have fallen."

"You know nothing of this matter!" his father all but shouted.

But he pressed on. "He would have kept it for his own. And when he returned you would not have known your son."

The Steward of Gondor leapt up from his seat, angered by the words he was hearing and by the sight of the Horn of Gondor resting by Faramir's side. "Boromir was loyal to me!" he shouted, coming at his other son. "Not some wizard's pupil!" He raised the rod in his hand, the symbol of his office as Steward, meaning to strike his own son.

But before he could, Sasuke intervened. He stepped in front of Faramir and grabbed the Steward's rod-bearing hand. It was only for a second that he held Denethor in place and when he released his grip, the Steward stumbled back like he had been struck. "Father!" said Faramir, stepping forward to help him.

"Wait," Sasuke told him, holding out an arm to bar his path. "Give him a moment."

"What did you do?"

"Isn't it obvious? I stopped him."

Denethor fell back into his chair, gasping for breath that had suddenly left him. His eyes searched wildly for something in the room and Faramir did not know what it was. But then they settled on him and traveled down to the Horn at his side. He had been told of his eldest son's death at Helm's Deep and had begun to mourn before Faramir had reported on what had happened with Frodo. "Prove your worth," he said his eyes hard.

"Father?" asked Faramir, unsure of what he meant.

"You wish to bear the Horn? You will prove your worth to me. Defend this city." He stood up from his chair and in a move that his son did not expect, handed him the rod. "I give you full authority."

His son was surprised by his action and found that the only thing he could do was take the offered rod. Once he had it, his father turned and walked from the hall, the doors echoing as they closed shut. He just stood there, silent as the hall around him. "You heard your father," Sasuke said quietly by his side. "What do you plan to do?"

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "I will call the council to come together," he answered. "Minas Tirith must be made ready."

Gandalf stood to the side of the room as he watched the council of Minas Tirith discuss what they had. "What manpower do we have in the city?" Faramir asked the council, looking at all those who sat at the table.

"For the soldiers, we have enough to man the first two levels if we stretch them," one of the councilmen, a heavyset man with a grey beard, told him. "But even with the men you brought back with you from Osgiliath, Lord Faramir, it would still be stretched thin, too thin."

"Then we must recruit from the people in the city."

That caused a stir in the council. "My lord Faramir, you do not mean to recruit children into the military!" a councilman who looked to be barely older than him said in horror. "We are not the Rohirrim, who would press babes into service if they had to!"

The air in the room became colder as all eyes fell to him. "I would speak more carefully of our neighbors if I was you, my lord," Faramir told him. "They are still our allies. And no, I will not conscript children, but every boy of age shall serve. Also, evacuate the women and children in the city to the fifth level and higher."

"It will be done," he replied, looking away from him and feeling quite chastened.

"My lord, how will it take the orcs to reach Minas Tirith?" A tall man at the far end of the table asked Faramir.

"I do not know. The force that made us flee was quite large but I have a feeling that they were a striking force, not the main force itself. It could take them a few days to reach Minas Tirith," he answered. "If that much is true, then perhaps we will be able to recall soldiers from our southern lands to help us defend the city."

The other councilmen shared looks with one another after those words were said. "Lord Faramir, the southern lands have been forced to fend off the Corsairs of Umbar. We are all alone here," the heavyset man told him.

He looked at the man and then at the rest of the council, seeing in their eyes that they did not think they had any chance. "Then alone we stand and alone we will hold, until some aid comes to us."

Gandalf turned and walked away, leaving the building behind. He had not said anything during the meeting, he had only watched, as he had done several times before in his long life in Middle-Earth. Faramir had adapted well to the power his father had thrust into his hands without word, which only proved how much he was a son of Denethor.

But the question remained this for the Wizard: why would Denethor give up his power and command so suddenly like that? He never would've done that, not in the time Gandalf had known him. It was a puzzling question, but he had a feeling that he knew the answer to it already.

"The meeting still going?" asked Sasuke as he came to the Wizard's side. His sudden appearance might've spooked any other else but the Wizard was calm.

"It is. Faramir is being the leader he was made," he answered the shinobi, eyeing him as they walked. "Strange how Denethor just gave up his power to the son he did not favor."

"He's the only son the man's got left. What else was he supposed to do?"

"Rule in the place of the King, as his father and his forbearers had done before him."

"Well, guess he didn't then," the raven-haired shinobi said with a small shrug of his shoulders. Everything about him in that moment told the White Wizard that he could not care about what could've or would've happened to Denethor.

But that only made Gandalf even more suspicious than before. "Let us play no games with each other in this moment, Sasuke," he said to the man walking beside him, coming to a stop in their tracks, which had them on a wall of the city.

He stopped and looked at the Wizard. "Isn't that what you do? Play games?" he asked pointedly. "You, who had Pippin climbed up the side of the city and light the beacon despite what Denethor had decided on the matter?"

"Sasuke, did you convince the Steward of Gondor to step aside and give power to his son?"

He shook his head shortly. "No, I did not. He would not have listened to me if I had. After all, he believes that I obey you and your orders." Which was ridiculous, he was his own man.

"But you did to do something to him. What did you do?"

"I did what had to be done to make sure that this city had a chance, nothing more and nothing less."

Gandalf frowned. "That is not the answer I want from you."

"And yet, it is the truth you need."

"Sasuke, speak plainly, please."

He just gave the Wizard a look. "No, I won't. I did what had to be done. You can thank me for it later." He walked off, leaving Gandalf alone on the wall.

The White Wizard was troubled by what he had heard. He kept walking along the wall, to think silently. He had received no clear answer but after that short talk with Sasuke, he felt like he did not need one. The shinobi had done something to make Denethor act as he had.

And yet, what he had said was true. With Faramir in charge of Minas Tirith, there was a better chance of the city surviving. Denethor had ruled Gondor well enough in his time but since the death of his lady wife, he had become more withdrawn and reclusive. While the kingdom of Gondor had withheld against Sauron, it had been clear, now more than ever, that they were on the losing end of a long war. With the way their Steward had become, there was no doubt that morale would falter and possibly break. But with Faramir taking charge, that morale would possibly be bolstered.

But the fact remained the same in his mind. Should Sasuke had intervened or should he not? Gandalf had had this question plague him before, only about a different Uchiha. He had wondered if Madara should've gotten himself involved in the difficulties between Elves and Dwarves or not when Thorin's Company had captured by the Elves of Mirkwood. It had been the right thing to do in the end and despite a few difficulties, but he had still wondered. And now, he wondered again.

"It seems like Uchihas will always make me want to question their actions," he thought to himself. "And they will always make me worry about them."

As he walked, he came to a stop to look upon Mordor. The soldiers and people who were there on the wall with him saw him standing there and came to his side. He was a Wizard and to them, Wizards always had the answers. "Where are Théoden's riders?" a soldier asked him.

"Will Rohan's army come?" another asked. When he did not answer, the soldier prompted him with a, "Mithrandir?"

He looked grimly at the dark mountains that stood between Gondor and Mordor. Then his eyes fell to the fallen city of Osgiliath. "Courage is the best defense that you have now," he said to all of them.

End

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

Sorry for taking so long with this chapter and recent ones. I've been dividing my time between this and a Naruto/ASOIAF crossover one-shot I had been working on since the end of December. It had taken me four months and about 57 pages to realize that the one-shot wasn't really going where I wanted it to go.

The idea was based off another idea for a crossover story, but with a female Naruto instead of a male one and with a few changes to the original idea. And since I didn't want to do a whole story about it, I tried cramming all of it into one chapter and with multiple viewpoints throughout the story. Hopefully at this point, you can understand why I decided to drop it.

Since Faramir is in charge of Minas Tirith now, there's no suicidal attack on Osgiliath. So sorry for all those of you who wanted to see that rather idiotic charge (I mean really, who charges right at the city where every single archer can see you and has a perfect shot?).

And before you start bugging me about what exactly Sasuke had done to Denethor, he hypnotized him. Last time I checked, the Sharingan could do that.

I'll see you all next chapter!