AN:
I would like to thank WolfDemon1000 for reviewing, Shinigami-Chan17 and xJig of Deathx for favoriting and everyone else for all the support. Let me know if something is off.
Also, I fudged the timeline. I understand that incorrect dating is a pet peeve. However, I do not have a date of birth for Eldarion. I guessed that he was born near the beginning of the Fourth Age. Please don't kill me.
Legolas was stunned when he had seen the two boys take to the walls like their teacher. The elf was not given much time to ponder on it, due to the danger. Now that they were more or less out of danger, questions could be asked. But who was going to ask them? If Mithrandir was still with them, there was no question that he would do it.
"Ai, poor Mithrandir," thought Legolas. He looked around. It seemed that the entire Fellowship was affected by the Istari's death. It seemed to have hit Frodo the hardest. The poor hobbit looked ill. He would have also joined Mithrandir in the abyss if not for Boromir's hold on him. Legolas sighed. He then heard Aragorn telling the Fellowship to get moving. Boromir did not seem to be pleased by the idea.
"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" the man cried, gesturing toward the sorrowful hobbits.
Aragorn frowned. "We have to get out of the area. By nightfall this place will be swarming with goblins," he pointed out.
"What about them?" All heads turned to look at Sam. The hobbit was looking at the group of strangers. They were standing by the mouth of the cave. The four others seemed to have ganged up on the one called Hoshi, who seemed to be telling a story. The listeners looked angry and confused. Many times they heard shouting and looks shot in their direction. The language they spoke in was rather clipped and somewhat harsh. Finally, their teacher Minato said something which caused Hoshi to give a relieved smile. The tall child turned toward the Fellowship.
"Gandalf told us that we were permitted to travel with you. I do hope that the invitation still stands," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Aragorn looked suspiciously at the five. Legolas took the opportunity to speak.
"You may do so, but only after we know where you came from, and your purpose here," he said. The boy frowned
"You ask for much!" exclaimed Hoshi. "We do not even know your names! Give us them, and the deal is set."
Legolas was about to reply when Aragorn interjected.
"The information can be exchanged at a later time. Our priority right now is to get as far away from this place as possible. We shall seal our pact when we stop later, agreed?"
Hoshi nodded and turned back to his group. Then the Fellowship gathered themselves to march on to the golden wood.
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As soon as Team 7 was outside, Eldarion was pulled aside. His confusion as to the topic of discussion was soon banished by Obito.
"Where the hell are we?" he just about roared in the boy's pale face.
Eldarion was not sure on how to present the information. He decided to do so in a straight-forward manner.
"Middle Earth, more specifically, just outside the Mines of Moria," he answered.
Minato-sensei looked puzzled.
"How did we get from the Land of Earth to these Mines of Moria?" he asked.
Eldarion gave a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I know not," he whispered. "'Tis but a mystery to me."
"You're a mystery," grumbled Kakashi. Eldarion looked at the masked shinobi. Kakashi looked angry, and for the life of him, Eldarion couldn't figure out why.
The Hatake was kind enough to give him a response.
"We know nothing about you. It was stupid to trust a stranger in the first place. We took you in, taught you our ways, and what do you do? You send us to a dimension filled with Oni to try and kill us!" Kakashi was just about screaming by the end of his rant.
Obito bristled. "Don't you dare talk to my foster brother like that! He has been nothing but willing to tell us about himself. Ever since we met him he has been nothing but trustworthy and loyal to Konohagakure!" he countered.
"Oh really?" Kakashi said coolly. "Than what is his true name?"
Obito faltered a bit, but then responded as fiercely as before.
"It's Er-I mean-Erll-dar~lee-I mean, AARRRGGH!" he stamped his foot in frustration.
Kakashi looked a bit put out as Obito had passed the test. Rin giggled a bit, having found Obito's pronunciation to be funny. But Minato-sensei still looked stern and anxious.
"I assume this is your homeland, Hoshi-kun?" he asked.
"More like home world," replied Eldarion. "I was born further south in a place call Minas Tirith."
"Do you know anyone who can help us get back home?" inquired Minato-sensei.
Eldarion winced. Here comes the bad news.
"We have arrived approximately 8 years before my birth," he said.
Team Minato was silent for a bit. Then Rin spoke.
"That could be a problem," she said softly.
Eldarion nodded. "You see the tall man with the dark hair?" he asked
The four nodded.
"He is my father," Eldarion whispered.
"Oooh," Obito grinned. Eldarion gave his dear friend and foster brother a glare. Obito and his family had taken in Eldarion when Team Minato had stumbled across him on a mission in the Land of Wind. It was regarded as a historical moment when the Uchiha clan accepted Hoshi as part of the clan. Obito took advantage of the adoption by teasing him like any brother would. Normally, Eldarion was fine with it. But Obito was insinuating revealing his identity, and he could not have that happen.
Kakashi seemed to have read his mind.
"Relax Hoshi, they can't understand us," he stated.
"That will be a problem if we are to travel with them," Minato-sensei said, deep in thought, tapping his chin. Then, he seemed to have an idea.
"Hoshi, make arrangements to travel with them. I believe that I can make a seal that could translate for us. In the meantime, I want you to tell us everything you can about this current period of time."
Eldarion nodded, before turning around to discuss the travel arrangements. When he returned to Team Minato, he gave them the conditions.
"We are to get their names in exchange for telling them where we come from and our purpose here."
Minato-sensei nodded. "Let them know that even if they can't see us, we will be nearby," he threw his special kunai in the ground by the cave, as if to punctuate the remark.
Eldarion grinned. He had always wanted to show Obito, Rin, Kakashi and Minato-sensei his home. This would be the perfect way to do so.
