AN:
Wow. Thank you so much AvivA-AvivA, HeWhoWatchesFromTheMist, Metoochocolate and Anonymous Reviewer!
To AvivA-AvivA: Your Review made me so happy~! You are correct about the spelling error. I will go fix it...the update after this. (I procrastinate.)
To the Reviewer: I like Minato and Obito quite a bit. I also feel that it is actually plausable for this to happen.
To Metoochocolate: Thank You! They technically are in the Fellowship's story, so I can't have them win every battle and make the Fellowship look like idiots. But I will have to disappoint you on updates. Real life just suckerpunched me so I have a lot of work to do. But I will try!
To HeWhoWatchesFromTheMist: I will stop the accent because, frankly, It's a pain for me too. I will re-edit the previous chapters for the most part (Obito's defuct translator non-withstanding). About underpowered shinobi, you are partially correct. I hope you will hold on and we shall see.
On with the show!
The morning for the departure of the Fellowship from Lothlórien was a hectic one. Team 7 had prepared for the journey the night before. The only thing left for them to do was take a bath.
"Never in my life have I seen someone take so many baths," Legolas said to Minato when the shinobi met up with him at the base of their mallorn.
Minato laughed, toying with his drying, spiky hair. "What can I say? Our people appreciate a good scrubbing,"
"And it throws trackers of the scent," added Kakashi, who was drying his silver hair.
Legolas wondered if the serious child bathed with his mask on. The elf had never seen the boy without it.
Kakashi looked up to the talan. "Oi, Hoshi. Do you have the scrolls?"
A dark-haired head poked out from the platform.
"Weapons, clothes, supplies or food?" he asked.
Legolas marveled on how quickly the damaged feelings of yesterday were repaired. Hoshi and Kakashi acted as if the insults were never said. Each went out of their way to help the other, and that way, there were no hard feelings when the sun went down.
"Weapons," Kakashi responded dully. Two scrolls were tossed down. The masked shinobi caught them.
Minato looked up at his student. "Hoshi, I want you to give Rin the supplies scroll and Obito the clothes scrolls. You hold on to the food scrolls,"
Hoshi saluted, and then retreated back to the talan. In a few minutes Rin dropped from the talan.
The petite brunette was ready.
"Good morning Master Legolas," she said cheerfully.
"Good morning Lady Rin," he replied politely.
"Where is Obito?" asked Minato.
"He's coming," Rin responded airily.
Right on cue, Obito came running down the tree. He managed to stop himself before he ran over his team.
"Good morning Master Legolas!" he cried.
The elf winced as the boy basically yelled out his greeting into his sensitive ear.
"Good morning Master Obito," Legolas ground out as politely as possible. The elf wondered how someone could be so energetic at such an hour. Aragorn soon joined them.
"The hobbits have just finished second breakfast," he mentioned.
Minato gave him a smile. "Ah, excellent! I would like my team to see the Ring while we still are in the safety of Lothlórien,"
Legolas frowned, as did Aragorn.
"Are you sure that it is a wise idea?" Aragorn asked.
"We have to know what it looks like, just in case," pointed out Kakashi.
Legolas reluctantly agreed that it would be a better idea for them to see the Ring.
Inhaling deeply, the prince of Mirkwood scanned his surroundings. He was surprised to see Haldir walking toward them.
"Well met, Marchwarden Haldir," he greeted the newcomer.
"Well met, Legolas Thranduilion," Haldir returned the greeting. He turned to Minato.
"Is Hoshi awake?" he asked.
"I'm up!" called Hoshi. Haldir's eyes widened slightly as he saw the shinobi walk down the tree. But otherwise, the elf showed no reaction to the child's antics.
"Lady Galadriel would like to see you right now,"
Hoshi paled slightly, but otherwise showed no emotion.
"Alright, 'tis better not to waste time at all. Lead the way, Marchwarden,"
Legolas had almost felt bad for telling the Lady of the Light about Hoshi's strange utterings. But when Haldir told him the he had also heard Hoshi say a weird statement, Legolas knew that it was for the best.
"Where's Hoshi going?"
The elf turned around to see Frodo. Sam was just behind him. Merry and Pippin were further away, goofing off
"Lady Galadriel wished to see him," answered Aragorn. Frodo looked confused, as did Sam.
"Why did she want to see Hoshi?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Aragorn answered tiredly. Minato quickly turned to the hobbits.
"Ah, just the hobbits we need to see!" he said, giving them a brilliant smile.
"Is there something you want, Minato?" Frodo asked politely, but wary.
Minato's smile lessened from brilliant to cheerful.
"Would you mind showing us the Ring?" he asked, making no moves toward the Ringbearer.
Frodo looked anxious, but nodded. The shinobi huddled around him as he took the Ring out from his shirt. They stood still, looking at the gold band. Aragorn and Legolas practically held their breaths.
Obito broke the silence first.
"What an annoying piece of shi-mumph!" Minato swiftly clapped his large hand over Obito's mouth. Frodo and the others looked shocked.
"Annoying? Of all the words to describe it, you call the One Ring annoying?" Aragorn cried.
The shinobi were surprised to hear anger in the normally calm ranger's voice.
"Well, all we hear is gibberish in our heads," defended Obito. "Right?"
Rin, Kakashi and, Minato nodded their heads in agreement.
"But what about the desire to take the Ring?" asked Legolas. "Do you not feel that?"
The turned to each other. This time, Rin spoke.
"We can feel its darkness, its hate. We have felt the presence of things like that at home and all they do is kill and destroy. The Ring can only promise invisibility, which any genin can pull off. No, we do not want the Ring."
For the first time in a long time, Frodo looked hopeful.
"Than if you are immune to its power, please, take it! Carry it to Mount Doom instead!" he held out the Ring to the shinobi.
The whole team recoiled. "Are you mad?" cried Kakashi. "We cannot take the thing that decides whether your world lives or dies!"
Frodo looked crushed, but still hopeful. "Why, why can't you?" he pleaded.
"We do not belong in this world, Frodo," Minato said gently, his voice sorrowful. "We are not tempted by it, which makes us capable of wielding it."
Seeing Frodo slip into despair, he added:
"I might be able to seal it in a scroll," The Yellow Flash was about to take out a scroll when a voice interrupted his search.
"Don't bother Sensei. Not even a seal made for a bijuu would keep the One Ring in place."
They turned to see Hoshi walking toward them, his eyes averted.
"How did your meeting go, Hoshi-san?" asked Rin.
The child pulled a face. "I believe that she broke two ribs with that hug of hers. She also kissed me on the forehead,"
The stunned looks on Legolas' and Aragorn's faces were priceless.
"She hugged you?" They said in unison. Obito laughed.
"That sounds like my Grandmother. Oi, Sensei. Remember Aki-baa-sama?"
Minato shuddered. Instead of answering Obito, he turned to Hoshi.
"Why can we not seal the Ring? We could use your kettle and seal it with the Oni blood,"
Hoshi shook his head. "It would just eat the seal. The only thing that we could think to use as the seal is elf blood. But we would need a constant supply, and I do like Legolas very much."
Minato nodded in understanding. It was clear that the yellow-haired shinobi wanted to help the hobbit, but couldn't find a way to do so.
"Hoshi, have you seen the Ring?" asked Obito, dragging his foster brother toward Frodo.
The tall boy pulled away as soon as he could. Legolas shuddered at the fierce expression on the child's face
"Do not tempt me, Obito!" he snarled, his hands covering his ears. "It keeps whispering to me, and I dare not listen to it anymore. Hide it, Mr. Baggins; hide it before I take it!"
The Ringbearer quickly stuffed the malevolent piece of jewelry into his shirt. Hoshi was still clutching his ears, but his angry expression had vanished. Rin looked concerned, putting a hand on her teammate's shoulder.
Kakashi shrugged. "He'll get better. I presume that we have a boat to catch?"
The gift-giving ceremony came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. The Fellowship and the shinobi were both given elven cloaks, which blended in with the surroundings. The shinobi were immensely pleased with them, trying out the cloaks against the trees and ground. While Lady Galadriel could not think of a gift for the five, they ended up giving Lothlorien something in return.
"These scrolls are a token of our friendship," Minato presented a basket of red scrolls before the Lady of the Light. "In the case that any our allies approach any of your border guard, have them show it to our fellows. Then they will stand down, instead of doing any harm. It would grieve me to learn that any of your people were hurt on our behalf," The shinobi bowed low, as did the rest of the team.
Galadriel smiled at them. "I thank you for your concern. I will see that our border guard is stocked with these scrolls,"
The group grinned back. They watched as Legolas was given a new bow, and Merry and Pippin presented with daggers. They saw that Sam was given seeds and a box of dirt, as well as elven rope. Gimli requested a strand of Lady Galadriel's hair, something Obito found amusing. Boromir was not given anything in particular, which seemed to annoy Hoshi. All five were intrigued by Frodo's light-in-a bottle.
"Is it a liquid or a gas?" Kakashi whispered into Hoshi's pointed ear.
"It's starlight," he grumbled, not bothering to look at his confused teammate.
When Galadriel approached Aragorn, the entire team strained their ears to overhear what was clearly a private conversation. The other members of the Fellowship seemed to notice what was going on, but none of them did any more than hide their amused smiles.
"Who's Arwen Evenstar?" asked Minato in his native language.
Hoshi gave him a befuddled look and responded in turn.
"I thought you had to speak in Westron because of the seal,"
Minato gave his student a boyish smile. "It's the Oni blood. It allo-"
"Do you want an answer or not?" he said with a scowl, cutting off his teacher.
Minato gave his student "the Look". "Know your place, boy," he said with deadly calm.
Hoshi shuddered as he climbed into the boat and grabbed the oar. Obito and Rin also climbed into the delicate vessel. Minato and Kakashi stood alongside to boat.
"Alright, let's get going," the jōnin-sensei said cheerfully. Before he could grab the boat, Kakashi stopped him.
"I think that it would be wiser to allow Hoshi to paddle out of sight before we go with your plan," he said, as a relieved Hoshi rowed away in a dignified manner.
Minato looked a little put out. "Alright. But then you have to get in the boat, too,"
The Hatake turned green.
Aragorn was hoping for some peace on the river. There was much to think about, and he needed to organize his thoughts. While some concerned the orcs on the eastern shore, most consisted of a certain elf. He deeply regretted telling her to go to Valinor. Aragorn wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. However, there was a selfish part of him that wish for her to be happy alongside him. But peace was cruelly denied to him in the form of five foreigners.
WAHOOO!
He, Sam and Frodo were splashed as a yellow and beige blur streaked past them. The Dúnedain wanted to scream. He had given up telling them to be quiet hours ago. Boromir paddled up beside him.
"It's a wonder that we haven't been spotted by orcs for all the racket they are making," he grumbled.
Aragorn pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have warned them multiple times about that. But every time they respond that everything is alright,"
~Splash!~
The two men jumped. Merry and Pippin were at the front of their boat, as were Sam and Frodo.
"What was that?" asked Boromir, his eyes scanning the surface of the river. Legolas pulled up his boat next to Aragorn's.
"I believe," said the elf. "That Hoshi jumped overboard,"
Right on cue, Hoshi's head broke to the surface. Sputtering and gasping, he pulled himself up on the river.
"Hoshi! Are you okay?" they heard Obito yell. The shinobi were so far ahead that they were mere specks in the distance.
"I am half-drowned and my clothes are soaked. Yes, I'm. Just. Peachy," he bellowed back.
Legolas flinched at how loud the child was. Hoshi was shaking with either anger or chills.
Aragorn heard one of the shinobi yell back to the boy in their strange language. The ranger decided that the boy had incredibly good hearing to understand what was being said.
The soaked child sighed and turned to Legolas and Gimli.
"Is it alright if I join your boat? Minato-sensei and the rest of the team are going to go on land and scout the place out,"
Legolas nodded and Gimli gave Hoshi a smile.
"Of course, laddie. Hop right in!" the dwarf said cheerfully.
Aragorn was uneasy. "Why are you not going with them?" he asked as the tall boy got in the boat.
Hoshi just about flinched when asked the question. After a long pause, he responded.
"I was told to keep an eye on you all, just in case," he was avoiding eye contact.
Aragorn was losing patience with the boy. "Look me in the eye and tell me that is true," he just about snarled. Hoshi looked up, his grey eyes meeting Aragorn's
"I swear upon my honor that what I told you is true,"
Aragorn did not want to trust the child, who was clearly hiding something. But Hoshi had not done anything to display his untrustworthiness.
The ranger broke eye contact with the boy and paddled away. As he did so, he heard Hoshi singing.
"Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet..."
The words faded as they paddled further away from Legolas and Gimli. Boromir kept up with the agitated Aragorn so the hobbits could talk.
"Did you hear that?" Pippin said excitedly. "Hoshi knows the Travelling Song!"
Frodo was about to reply before Aragorn cut in.
"I do not care if he knows the Lay of Luthain," he said calmly, with a hint of anger. "I would not trust him as far as I can throw him,"
The ranger quickly pulled ahead. Boromir let him go.
"I wonder what's gotten to him," murmured Boromir. "He never showed such animosity to Hoshi before,"
"That is true," Merry said thoughtfully. "But then again, Hoshi always avoided Strider when he could."
The Gondorian sighed. He hoped things would sort out soon. There was a darkness lingering in his mind. He wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible.