AN:
Thank you Sorceric7 and DreamingIn2Eternity for reviewing! Also thank you nhwaun1 and Nyny1992 for following. Another thank you goes to InOnePiece and Liliesshadow for favoring my works.
I have nothing other to say than I am utterly sorry for taking so long to post this. Real Life, I hate you.
But Thanks for all the support and on with the show!
Obito would readily admit that he wasn't in the best of moods. He was sweaty, and covered in dirt, blood, and dust. The goggles-wearer barely paid attention to the meeting held in the cold stone throne room, and kept pinching himself to try and stay awake. His stomach growled, reminding him that he did not eat anything that day. The call for a bath woke the Uchiha up, and soon the genin was racing alongside his sensei and peers to get to Gandalf's house first. Needless to say, the unfortunate Uchiha was last, just behind Hoshi, who had pushed Minato-sensei off a roof and ended up following the sunny jōnin to the ground.
"No luck?" asked the grey-eyed boy, who was holding his splinted arm gingerly.
"As usual," Obito answered with a sigh. His adopted brother shrugged, and beckoned with his chin.
"Well, if you don't have luck," Hoshi said airily as he strode into the impromptu storage room. "Make it yourself"
He threw a scroll containing Obito's toiletries to the short-haired boy, who caught it with surprise.
"Just what are you planning?" the dark-eyed genin asked, suspicious.
"You'll see," Hoshi replied evasively, holding his own scroll and a dirty knapsack. "Just follow me,"
Too tired to argue, the Uchiha followed his brother down the stairs and through a narrow closet door. He was mildly surprised to find himself in an underground network of tunnels but his taller teammate seemed to know what he was doing. Obito could feel his head swim as he tried to remember their path, but Hoshi was moving at such a brisk pace that it was impossible.
"Hoshi, where are we going?" he asked, sliding down a particularly sharp descent.
"I took the liberty of gathering a few dirty clothes from Gimli, Legolas, and Ada," answered his faintly glowing teammate, holding up the knapsack. "There is a washerwoman who I know will take care of these clothes in a short amount of time, no questions asked,"
"Oh," responded Obito. "But how are you going to pay for it?"
The pointy-eared boy grinned. "I am the son of a King," he said. "I am by no means poor,"
The young Uchiha readjusted the slipping goggles and frowned at his brother. "About that, why didn't you tell me that you were royalty?"
They reached a dead end, and Hoshi felt around before pushing on a stone and sliding the exit open.
"Because it did not matter," he answered. "It never did. Please stay here; I will be back shortly,"
Obito stifled a yawn, and, leaning against the wall, sunk to the dirt floor.
"Might as well take a nap while I have free time," he thought. His heavy eyelids dropped shut, and he fell into a surprisingly deep sleep.
"UCHIHA OBITO!" the blue-clad genin was jolted awake by Hoshi yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Ready to get clean?" he asked, a mischievous look on his face.
With an indifferent shrug, Obito stood up and followed his strangely exuberant friend. Hoshi cheerfully lead him up the ascending tunnels, and effortlessly climbed the steeper parts of the path. After climbing up a dizzying spiral staircase, they were once again facing a dusty ivory wall. Instead of sliding, the door swung out after Hoshi gave it a strong push. The pointy-eared boy carefully stuck his head out, looked around, and beckoned his brother to join him. They had ended up in what appeared to be a sitting room, but it was hard to tell due to the Spartan setup. The stonework in the room, however, was very beautiful.
"Just keep your voice down and we should be fine," Hoshi explained quietly, not even giving the room a second glance as he crossed the beautiful floor. Suspicious, Obito hesitantly followed his foster brother out into the hallway. The large, airy space was bathed with light from a large window at the end of the corridor, and smaller windows close to the ceiling. A long tapestry hung on the wall, and the strange weaving appeared to be telling a story. Obito stopped in front of a grim scene depicting a tsunami swallowing up an island.
"The Fall of Númenor, an island in the west where my people came from," Hoshi commented softly. "The King, corrupted by Sauron, led an armada into the West to attack the Valar and gain immortality. However, the Valar handed the control of Arda back Eru Ilúvatar, who broke and remade the world, sinking Númenor,"
"What are the Valar?" asked Obito, confused. "And who is Eru?"
The grey-eyed genin gently pulled the Uchiha away from the unnerving tapestry and down the hall.
"Eru Ilúvatar is the maker of Arda, the creator of Men and Elves, and giver of life," explained Hoshi, his voice slipping into an Elvish accent. "The Valar are helpers of Ilúvatar who chose to enter Arda, shape it, and take responsibility for the creation living on it,"
They stopped in front of a beautifully carved door. Obito rubbed the back of his head, feeling awkward.
"I never took you as a religious type," he said as his companion opened the door.
Hoshi shrugged. "In the days of old, the King was regarded as the earthly contact with Ilúvatar. There still are holy places where only the King is allowed to go. Now, do you want a bath or not?"
‡*‡*‡*‡*‡*‡*‡
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE BROKE INTO THE PALACE?!" Obito roared, his voice echoing off the tunnel walls.
"Scream louder and you will wake the dead," grumbled his teammate who was covering his pointed ears.
"We can't just walk in to the King's quarters and use the bathroom!" he cried, indignant. "What were you thinking? Aragorn is going to be pissed when he finds out! You never did anything like this back in Konoha,"
Hoshi looked genuinely ashamed. "I…guess I wasn't thinking properly. But if that was such a problem, why did you tag along with me until now?"
"Touché," mumbled the Uchiha as they reached the bottom of a familiar staircase. His taller teammate climbed the stairs with east and swung open the door without the least bit of caution. There was a startled yelp as Anko jumped backwards to avoid getting hit by the sturdy wooden door.
"Where the heck were you two?" she snapped. "Hoshi, you have to go help out at the Houses of Healing, so scoot!"
Looking slightly cowed, the lanky bow darted off, braiding back his dark hair as he ran off.
"And you," the kunoichi seized Obito's arm and dragged him down the hallway. They ended up in the kitchen, where Anko practically threw him into a straight-backed chair. Kakashi was leaning on the wall next to the chair, and Anko dropped down onto a stool on the Hatake's other side. Across a thick wooden table sat Eomer, who wore a serious look on his face. A plate of half-eaten chicken sat a ways away from the Rohir. Obito felt his stomach growl.
"Help yourself," said the man with a short wave of the hand. The Uchiha slowly reached out and pulled the plate closer to him. As the genin carefully plucked the remaining meat off the bone, Eomer began to speak.
"According to a discussion with Merry, the three of you were involved in getting Eowyn to battle unnoticed,"
"So what if we were?" answered Anko defensively. "What's wrong with helping her out?"
"My sister was supposed to return to Meduseld and rule the country until we returned," Eomer answered sternly. "She could have been killed in battle,"
"Eowyn was needed in battle," Kakashi pointed out softly. "She was with us and Merry, and was more than capable of holding her own. Without her the Witch-King would not be dead,"
"Rin or Anko were perfectly capable of killing the Lord of the Nazgûl themselves," the Rider returned. "As long it was not a man that attempted to kill him, the Witch-King would have fallen,"
Anko's brown eyes widened in surprise and she sat up straight. Kakashi stiffened, his head jerking up to look at Eomer. Obito continued to eat, unphased.
"Hoshi never told you about that?" the blond man did not look too surprised. "I suspected as much,"
"The information is no longer relevant," Kakashi said dully.
"He doesn't seem to care that my sister could have died!" Eomer growled, his eyes flashing with bad temper.
"Relax, she lives through this," Obito said, setting his plate down. "Hoshi seems to know her well. In fact, he compiled a book of tales from our home for her, and was intending to give it to Ice Princess when he returns home,"
Eomer's eye brows shot up toward his hairline upon hearing the news and nickname.
"Hey," added Anko. "She wanted adventure and renown and she has earned it. Better for her to get it out of her system while she can,"
"Except she hasn't," the Rohir refuted with a frown. "When I visited to inform her of our departure in two days, she begged for me to allow her to come. It was only when Lothíriel, Imrahil's daughter and a healer, assured her that she would not be able to fight with her injuries that she back down and agreed to stay,"
A haunted look crossed Kakashi's face. "So Eowyn is suicidal," he said flatly.
"Why would she be suicidal?" said Anko. "Not to be cheesy or anything but she has so much to live for. What happened to make her so depressed?"
Obito was hit by an utterly unexpected flash of understanding. "Aragorn rejected her,"
All eyes turned to the Uchiha, surprised.
"That's it?!" howled Anko incredulously. "What the hell? Why is she so cut up about Mr. Ranger turning her down? Come to think of it, isn't he married or something? Anyways, she doesn't need a bloody man to be happy. Honestly!"
Eomer appeared to be intrigued by the violet-haired kunoichi's outburst. "It is not that Eowyn needed Aragorn," he said softly. "He merely gave her hope to move forward, and she admired what he represented. Somewhere along the line she confused what Aragorn represented with who he actually is, and her admiration turned into infatuation," The Rohir sighed. "She has not been able to completely shake the effects of the Black Breath, and it seems to be increasing its hold over her. Unfortunately, there is nothing more I can do about it,"
The blonde man stood up and sighed, looking drained. "You are dismissed," he said tiredly and walked out of the kitchen, probably to take a well-deserved nap.
The three Konoha nin sat in silence for about a second. Then Hoshi strolled into the room, holding a bag of presumably clean laundry.
"Hey mister!" said Anko, her arms folded across her chest. "We need to discuss something with you,"
Confused, Hoshi took Eomer's recently vacated seat and sat down, the knapsack on his lap.
"What is it that you wish to discuss?" he asked, his back ramrod straight.
"Why didn't you tell us that the Witch-King could be killed by any girl, and that Eowyn was supposed to stay home and rule Rohan?" said Kakashi in a monotone. "Then she would not be in a suicidal depression,"
An irritated look flashed across the adopted Uchiha's face. "First off, I had no chance to tell any of you anything about the Witch-King. Second, she would have been depressed no matter what. Since she is here, there is a chance of her healing," he answered tightly.
"How?" demanded Kakashi. "I am sure that you don't have antidepressants and counseling,"
Hoshi rolled his eyes. "If you guys don't meddle, it will turn out fine. Eowyn doesn't need medication, she needs a friend,"
"And we can't do that because…?" said Anko, leaning forward.
"If you are willing to stay behind in Middle Earth to keep Eowyn out of a severe depression, be my guest," Hoshi said, his hands folded on the table. "I, however, do not plan on you staying, so I am going to encourage a friendship between the White Lady and Lord Faramir,"
Obito's eyes widened with understanding. "Oh! Since they both have the Black Breath they can support one another on equal ground, and he seems like the type of person not to judge her for being a Shield maiden,"
Kakashi looked wary. "Are they happily married in your time?"
"'Happy' doesn't even being to cover how healthy their marriage is," Hoshi answered. "If Eowyn was stuck in an unhappy marriage, I would do anything to get her out of it, future be damned,"
The Hatake relaxed, and then smiled at his teammate. "How can we help?"
"Can we?" said Obito. "We are going to be away while Hoshi is matchmaking. The only one who is in position to help is Rin,"
"Just allow me to take care of things," said Hoshi, standing up. "I will see you in the Houses of Healing,"
The elf-like boy strolled out of the kitchen, whistling a tuneless song.
"The Houses of Healing?" asked Obito. "But I can't heal,"
"We all can perform basic first aid," said Anko, who was leading the two boys out the door. "That has to count for something,"
The Uchiha sighed. "How long will we be there?" he wondered aloud.
"As long as it takes," answered Kakashi with a small smirk.
\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/
The Hatake's head was vaguely aching when he and the other shinobi returned to Gandalf's house. The fight that erupted just outside the Houses of Healing between Hoshi and Sho over a lost fan nearly gave the chūnin a massive headache as he attempted to mediate the argument. Kakashi was rather surprised that Sensei did not show up to break up the fight. Luckily, Hoshi suffered nothing more than a split lip and the loss of his necklace, which he was torn up about. "Are you okay, Hoshi?" asked Kuro, a worried look on his face. "You look a little pale,"
Kakashi had to agree. His teammate seemed to have lost his faint aura.
"I am fine," answered Hoshi softly. "But I am worried about all of you,"
Kuro looked confused, and stuffed his hand deep into his pockets. "Why?" he asked.
"Because all of you have been shivering every time a gust of wind blows by," the lanky boy laughed.
"Hogwash," grumbled Susano'o, his teeth chattering slightly as a breeze caused his bandages to flutter briefly.
"Indeed," Hoshi laughed, opening the sturdy door. The shivering shinobi quickly filed in after their tall comrade. The smell of stew floated past them, drawing the hungry genin into the kitchen. Gandalf and Gimli sat at the table, surrounded by chopped vegetables, while Legolas and Minato-sensei were hovering over a pot by the fireplace, clearly unsure about their next move. Aragorn was sitting by the window, reading one of Hoshi's translated booklets.
"I was under the impression that there would be a larger crowd for dinner," said Obito, sitting down next to Gimli.
"I am glad that there isn't because I have no idea what I am doing," said Minato-sensei, still looking into the pot. "Can you cook, Hoshi?"
The pointy-eared genin looked taken aback. "My sister tried to teach me how to cook squirrels," he said hesitantly. "It didn't go over well,"
Legolas' head shot up. "You have a sister?" he asked.
"One older, two younger," Hoshi answered, looking into the cooking pot. "The younger two are twins. What in Isildur's name is this?"
The two blondes shrugged. "I wish I knew," commented Legolas. "I am a bit afraid to eat it,"
Out of nowhere Anko swooped down, and took a spoonful of the mystery stew.
"You could get food poisoning if it wasn't cooked properly," Kakashi reminded her with a small smile.
"Just because some of us have tender stomachs doesn't mean we all do," the kunoichi scolded. "It really isn't half bad. As long as nobody discloses the ingredients, we should be fine,"
"Why should knowing the ingredients matter?" asked Susano'o, who was searching for a few bowls.
"Would you eat something that has worms and pig testicles in it?" retorted Anko, stealthily trying to steal more of the stew.
"I think I just lost my appetite," said Kuro, looking green. Hoshi gave the stew a double take, and then shrugged, clearly apathetic. When enough bowls were found, everyone sat down to eat. Kakashi poked the oddly monochrome stew with his abused, standard-issue metal spork. The Hatake carefully speared a piece of mystery meat and chewed it carefully. It felt like he was eating spiced wine, not that he knew what it tasted like. The others seemed to be eating the food just fine, so Kakashi continued to eat.
"Where is Pippin?" asked Gandalf, who had finished his meal before everyone else. "I thought that he was going to return with you,"
"He decided to stay with Merry," answered Rin. "It has been a long day for the both of them, and they need the assurance that they are safe,"
The White Wizard nodded, with a look of understanding in his eyes. The table settled back into silence before Kuro broke the quiet.
"So, what's up for tomorrow?" he asked.
Minato-sensei looked thoughtful. "You and Rin probably will still be needed to help with the hospital. The rest of you will be helping with clean-up and possibly burial. But if it turns out that you are not needed, do what you like as long as it is reasonable,"
"They should not be needed to bury the dead," commented Aragorn. "I do not believe that man power is a problem, but getting the necessary supplies will be."
The yellow-haired-jōnin shrugged. "We'll see tomorrow,"
Kakashi could see Hoshi poking at his congealing stew, having barely touched it. His teammate wore an absent-minded look on his pale face. Obito seemed to be sneaking things into his brother's bowl, while the pointy-eared boy didn't seem to notice.
Kuro was face-down in the empty bowl, snoring lightly. Anko and Rin yawned in harmony, but Rin was polite enough to cover her mouth. Susano'o did not look so relaxed. He fidgeted in his seat, and kept checking the progress of others on their dinner.
"Are you expecting a visitor?" asked Hoshi with a small smile, surprising everyone at the table.
"No," answered the bandaged genin, looking vaguely embarrassed. "I would just like to be excused so I could listen to the war news on the radio,"
Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "How in the world is that radio picking up a station?" he thought.
"You are all excused," Minato-sensei said with a smile. "But make sure to get some sleep!"
Susano'o practically flew out of his chair, only pausing to drag his sleeping teammate after him.
Anko stretched, not even attempting to hide her yawn.
"G'night everyone," she proclaimed mid-yawn and followed her teammates. Rin and Obito left at the same time, saying their good-nights and sticking the bowls they had collected into a basin of water. Only Hoshi and Kakashi remained at the table.
"When are you going to confront Sour-on?" asked the Hatake, curious.
Aragorn blinked, apparently caught off guard. It looked as if he didn't have an answer to the question.
"Right after I finish this," answered Sensei, surprising Kakashi.
"You are going with A-Aragorn?" asked Hoshi, looking surprised.
"No sane person should have to confront a giant fiery eyeball alone," Minato-sensei continued cheerfully as he stood up from the table. "Let's go, Strider,"
The tall man stood up, inclined his head in farewell, and followed the sunny jōnin out the door.
Gandalf wore an intrigued look on his face. "What was Aragorn's plan?" he wondered aloud.
"He was going to bait Sauron by revealing his identity as the heir of Isildur and pretending to have the Ring," answered Gimli. "Minato is going with him just in case things go sour,"
"I hope they do not," whispered Hoshi, a wistful look on his face.
There was the sound of feet rapidly hitting the floor as they ran to the kitchen. Kakashi looked over to the doorway in time to see a white-faced Obito skid into the room.
"Hoshi, Kakashi, you have to listen to what's on the radio, now!"
\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/\•/\/\/\/
The air in the throne room must have dropped two degrees, as nothing broke the chilling silence. Minato and Aragorn had frozen upon hearing the silky voice echo through the hall. Warily, they turned around, looking for the source of the voice. Minato's blue eyes darted around, finding nothing. But Aragorn was cautiously walking back toward the abandoned palantír, with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Orochimaru?" he asked, hesitantly, picking up the Seeing Stone.
"No, your Great-Aunt Sally," the Snake Sannin responded sarcastically, an furious look on his face. "How's the family?"
A look of cold anger crossed the ranger's face, and his free hand clenched into a fist. Minato quickly went over to Aragorn's side, his eyes narrow.
"Watch it, Orochimaru," the jōnin rebuked him, warning the serpentine man.
The white-skinned shinobi gave him a scathing look. "You also would be in a rotten mood if you had to explain your tactics." He sneered. "As "unethical" as they might be, they are right now saving Konoha's collective behind from getting crushed by Iwa. Do you know how many times I tried to get into contact with you?" he practically yelled. "No a single response, and when I finally got in touch you two had the gall to walk away from me!"
Minato frowned, feeling confused. "Wait, where are you?" he asked.
"Mount Myōboku," Orochimaru answered sourly.
"What are you doing there?" the jōnin asked, bewildered.
"Well I obviously wasn't going to take two hobbits to the Ryūchi Cave for safekeeping, and Konoha was defiantly out of the question,"
"Two hobbits?" interrupted Aragorn, a shocked look on his face. "You found Frodo and Sam?"
The Snake Sannin nodded. "Yes. Tell me, who the hell thought it was a brilliant idea to send two utterly defenseless creatures with a dark object to its maker? It has completely ruined the mental health of the one carrying it!"
Minato was in a state of shock. "WHAT IS THE RING DOING ON MOUNT MYŌBOKU?!" he howled, snatching the palantír from Aragorn's hand.
"Would you rather I allow Frodo to go off and get captured, or bring him to a safe place where he can heal at least a little bit?" snapped Orochimaru. "Jiraiya is here with me, and he seems to have taken a liking to them. If you don't mind, I have contacted you to ask what your next move is and what you have been doing since I left,"
"Who are you talking to?" asked a deep, familiar voice.
"Sensei!" cried Minato, a delighted look on his face. The white-haired toad sage moved into view, and a large smile crossed his face.
"Minato! How has my favorite student been?" he asked.
"So, this is your teacher?" asked Aragorn, a mildly disconcerted look on his face.
The yellow-haired jōnin nodded. "He is a bit on the lecherous side, but I doubt that that particular topic would be broached in this conversation," he whispered. The ranger struggled to mask the disapproving look that crossed his face. The Yellow Flash shrugged; there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Toad, I am trying to talk to them right now," growled Orochimaru through gritted teeth.
His teammate waved him off. "So, did you like the draft?" he asked, with a hopeful look on his face.
Aragorn looked confused, while Minato winced, putting on a fake smile. "Uh, it was...good?"
The Snake Sannin looked ready to explode. "Oh for crying out loud, it was one of the basest, most morally defunct stories I had ever read, and was only in the first chapter, the first chapter!"
The ranger shot the Yellow Flash a questioning look. With a sigh, Minato quietly explained.
"Jiraiya-sensei is a writer. He makes up stories and puts them in books so people could buy them and read them. I really enjoyed his first book, but it did not make him a lot of money. So now he is trying his hand at writing what can tactfully be called 'romance novels', which seems to be in his area of interest,"
Aragorn's expression was a mix between fascination and disgust. Clearly he found the idea of novels and career authors interesting, but hated the idea of romance novels.
"Minato," said Jiraiya. "Thank Hoshi for me next time you see him. He gave me this plot idea which is a huge success with my editor. Now if you excuse me, I have to introduce Frodo and Sam to the wonders of the hot spring,"
All three men were struck dumb as the long, spiky-haired toad sage waltzed out of view. It was a while before Aragorn broke the silence with a defeated sigh.
"I hope that the tale Hoshi told him was not well-known or respected," he said.
Orochimaru arched an inky eyebrow, but said nothing on the matter. Minato idly wondered what story Hoshi told Sensei that inspired the lecherous man.
"Hoshi isn't the type to know or retell sordid tales," jōnin thought.
"As much fun it is to give commands to utter imbeciles," said Orochimaru smoothly. "I would very much like to piss off the Lord with Nine Fingers more and I cannot do that until you explain the situation to me. So tell me, Elessar, what is your plan?"
The ranger looked surprised, but ended up explaining the plan. The Snake Sannin fixed Aragorn with a toothy grin.
"The sins of the ancestor will aid the descendant," he purred. "You really are a fascinating person,"
The grey-eyed man seemed to be disturbed by the hungry expression that appeared in the pale shinobi's amber eyes for a moment before quickly fading.
"If you don't mind sharing," said Minato carefully. "What were you up to in Mordor?"
The serpentine man seemed to glace over his shoulder, an imperceptible paranoid look on his face.
"As you know, I went to that forsaken place to study to orcs that lived there," he started quietly. "It was surprisingly nice, the area I ended up in. The soil was fertile from the ash of volcanoes, and the orcs there were surprisingly cultured. Everything seemed perfect, until I saw the slave labor," he hissed. Aragorn's face had darkened, apparently familiar with the scene that was described to him.
"It seems that I am not alone in meeting these people," the Sannin said. "What a sad, pitiful group with no hope left. Not when the Lord of Gifts was so kind to give them a confined life. So I, along with a couple hot-headed youths, decided to change the situation,"
"I am guessing it wasn't successful," commented Minato flatly.
An empty smile crossed Orochimaru's haunted face. "Sauron's servants took me to Barad-dûr, and decided that I should…entertain them. I feel like I lost something there, something that will never come back. I earned their trust, and was allowed to wander around that sickening place. Eventually, I was given command over the Tower of Cirith Ungol, and I left with the entire library of Barad-dûr and its palantír. I decided to make a little experiment out of the position, and attempted to humanize the orcs,"
Aragorn snorted through his nose, skeptical. The serpentine man did not look offended.
"Of course it was a doomed venture, but I was able to civilize them as much as I could. The one day an operative from ROOT showed up, lost,"
Minato suddenly went cold. "Please tell me you did not introduce orcs into our world," he said softly.
Orochimaru grit his teeth, an angry gleam in his eyes. "Oh, would you prefer genin on the front lines?" he hissed. "Because that was what was going on when I returned. Only three out of the twelve that had been sent were left. Whether you noticed it or not, Konoha has a shortage of chūnin and jōnin. Ever since Hatake Sakumo's mission went sour we have been losing our top shinobi. It is a more desperate situation than I thought here, and the timely arrival of the Black Oni is keeping Iwa focused on the Land of Stone and nowhere else,"
Minato sighed, and looked over to Aragorn, who was patiently waiting for the two shinobi to finish their conversation.
"How long have we been gone?" the sunny jōnin asked tiredly.
"Your team has been away for two months at most," Orochimaru answered. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to take a brief nap before I map out my return plan,"
Before Minato could protest, the image in the palantír faded away, and returned to the stubborn image of a pair of hands burning. Aragorn picked up the stone and wrapped it in the brown cloth.
"This should have been in the Tower of Ecthelion," he commented quietly. Minato nodded numbly, still trying to digest the information. The jōnin followed Aragorn out the door, and carefully closed the heavy wooden barrier behind him. As they walked across the courtyard to reach the Tower, he could hear heavy breathing and a number of pounding feet behind him.
"Sensei!" cried Hoshi as Minato stopped. His student halted in front of him, soon followed by Obito and Kakashi.
"Orcs," he gasped out, looking rather distressed. "Orcs in the Land of Stone,"
The Yellow Flash nodded wearily. "I know. Orochimaru told me,"
Kakashi's dark eyes widened in shock. "You were able to contact him?" he asked, astonished.
"He was in Mordor, but was forced to flee to your home world," answered Aragorn quietly. "He found Frodo and Sam, and they are safely with him,"
"No, No, No, No, NO!" moaned Hoshi, rocking back and forth with his head in his hands. "This is wrong. This is wrong. Everything is messed up! We are doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed, DOOMED!"
Obito wrapped his panicky brother up into a hug. "It's okay Hoshi," he said soothingly. "Things aren't doomed,"
"Orochimaru invited the orcs into the Land of Stone anyway," added Minato, allowing distaste to color his voice. "They are under his command and they seem to be helping,"
"Since when could orcs be helpful?" howled Hoshi.
"Well," said Obito, letting go of his foster brother. "Would you be able to fight a foreign country when a mysterious force is literally eating your army?"
The wavy-haired boy sighed, and seemed to calm down. His grey eyes landed on the wrapped palantír, and a wistful expression appeared on his face.
"So you are returning the Seeing Stone to the White Tower," Hoshi murmured quietly. "It's an awfully long climb up all those stairs,"
Aragorn seemed to guess what the lanky boy was asking for. "Would you prefer to return the palantír?" he asked.
"Alone, if you don't mind," Hoshi said, perking up. The ranger looked at the bundle, then back to the hopeful boy.
"Do not attempt to use it," he warned, handing the wrapped sphere to the faintly glowing boy.
"I don't think I could make it work even if I tried," murmured the elf-like child while cradling the palantír in his arms.
"You are underestimating the power of your bloodline," Aragorn chided, an odd look in his grey eyes.
Hoshi flushed, his pointed ears turning dark in the low light. The pale boy bowed slightly to everyone, wishing them goodnight before running off. The tall ranger watched him until his lanky form disappeared into the Tower, much to Minato's interest. He did not miss his two students exchanging looks.
"Did I just hear an admission of sorts?" asked the yellow-haired jōnin with a sly grin. Kakashi's eyes widened and Obito began to shake his head frantically.
*"Sensei, don't give him any hints!"* the Uchiha hissed.
Aragorn turned back to the shinobi with a blank look on his face. "Hoshi is not my son," he responded flatly.
"Just keep telling yourself that," Minato thought as the four walked back to the Istari's house in the dark.