Gandalf felt that battle was getting worse by the minute. Most of the goblins were dead, true. But the Cave Troll was still a threat. After all, the horrid creature had just skewered Frodo with a spear. The poor hobbit would be lucky to still be alive. Merry and Pippin had just launched themselves onto the troll's back, but were having trouble harming it. Gandalf would have rushed to help, but he was preoccupied by...no orcs.

"This is strangely convenient," he thought. But he shook away the wary feeling. There was a Cave troll to kill.

~•~•~•~

Boromir felt his jaw nearly drop as three children vaulted out of the well. One with short black hair landed at the feet of a goblin. The Gondorian was about to run over to the boy when the goblin let out a cry of pain. Boromir turned to see a child with silver hair ("How is that possible?" he wondered.) stab the foul creature. The black-haired child stood up faster than Boromir thought possible and slashed the goblin's throat. The Steward's son was then forced to divert his attention back to the goblins around him. Fortunately, there weren't many left. When the troll fell, The Fellowship and the three children were the only people left in the room. He was relieved to see that Frodo was alive, but there was a matter to attend to.

"Gandalf," Boromir whispered to the wizard. "We have strangers in our midst."

The Istari looked around until his eyes fell upon the youthful trio. They were three boys on the cusp of adolescence. The first sported short, spiky black hair and was dressed in blue, and wore a strange see-through mask. The second boy had short, spiky, silver hair and covered his lower face with a cloth mask. Both boys had dark eyes. The third child was notably taller than the other two. He had dark, wavy hair that brushed his shoulders and wore a strange red armguards. This boy had blue-grey eyes and a faint spray of freckles across his face.

Gandalf appeared to be surprised, as did the rest of the Fellowship. Boromir came to the conclusion that he was the only one to notice their arrival.

"This is no place for children," Gandalf said, walking toward them. "How did you get here?"

The two he saw earlier had blank looks on their faces, as if they didn't understand Gandalf. The third boy responded. "We had gotten lost, Gandalf the Grey."

The boy with the short black hair muttered something unintelligible, causing the silver-haired one to snicker and the third boy to glare.

"We came in a group of five, but have split up. Do you think that we could travel with your group?"

Boromir narrowed his eyes. It was too suspicious. Absolutely nobody would be foolish enough to travel through the mines, even if they found a way in. But Gandalf did not appear to be troubled.

"You know my name dear child, it would only be fair for you to tell me yours," he then smiled

The child looked surprised. "Well than! I am called Hoshi, my companions are Obito," he gestured to the black-haired boy. "and Kakashi," he pointed to the masked boy.

Gandalf nodded. "Come!" he said to the Fellowship. "We have lingered here for far too long,"

~•~•~•~

Kakashi felt miserable. He had deliberately disobeyed orders to stay put. But there were these yokai and oni that were trying to kill him, so he had to go. He turned to his teammates. Obito had a look of horror on his face and Hoshi was slightly shaking. Kakashi went to pocket his kunai, but his hands were shaking too much to do it.

"Kakashi, where are Rin and Sensei?" asked Hoshi softly.

The reminder that he had failed in his task nearly brought him to tears.

"I don't know," he whispered.

"I-I'm sure that they're fine," stuttered Obito, flashing a watery smile.

Kakashi looked up to see the strange group of fighters turn toward them. All were male (that was what he assumed at least) and carried strange weapons. Their appearances were odd and greatly varied from person to person. A man with shoulder-length blonde hair approached an elderly man with a staff. The old man approached their group and spoke to them.

The words that came from the incredibly ancient man's mouth were long and guttural. But they were strangely familiar. Kakashi turned to Obito, both of them trying to figure out where they had heard it before...

When Hoshi cautiously responded in the same language, their little mystery was solved.

Obito turned toward Kakashi and mumbled:

"He's probably telling the geezer that we're lost."

Kakashi couldn't help but snicker. That was Hoshi's favorite excuse. The oddball used it in every situation. He seemed to have adapted it from Obito's tardiness excuses.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard his name. He frowned when he realized that Hoshi had introduced them.

"The fool," he thought. "He could have at least given us pseudonyms."

Kakashi looked around. The group was leaving the room. He shuddered when he looked at the corpses. He was angry that he had even felt miserable and fearful.

Hoshi had stood up and turned to his friends.

"We should follow them. They know the way out."

Obito looked distressed. "But what about Rin and Sensei?"

Hoshi frowned. He then made a shadow clone and sent it off.

"That should be enough. Let's go, 'tis too dangerous here."