Chapter 4-Cloak and Dagger
Naruto easily kept up with the group on horseback, as they headed to Isengard to see it had been sacked by the ancient tree herders of the forests known as the Ents, and the sight of Saruman's war machine now destroyed. Naruto internally smirked at the sight of it, as he knew this might happen after seeing what the defeated White Wizard had done to the area around the ring of Isengard to build his Uruk-hai army, and what the Ents would do when they learned of it. Of course, they were slow to learn of Saruman's betrayal, which Naruto knew given the whispered nature of the creatures, and had to see the destruction for their own eyes before throwing themselves into war.
What the group didn't expect, even Naruto for that matter was the sight of two Hobbits sitting around eating, and smoking on the field of victory of the Ents. They were a little frightened at seeing Naruto at first, but Gandalf assured the two he wasn't a threat, and had actually been key in the defeat of the Uruk-hai army. When they made their way to the water covered base of Isengard, Treebeard greeted Gandalf, and told them Saruman was up high in the tower.
"Well let's take his head and be done with it," said Gimli knowing Saruman was better being dead then alive should he rise again to cause a repeat of things here.
"No. He has no power now," said Gandalf looking up seeing his old friend high above on the top of Isengard looking back down at him with a scowl on his face.
"Perhaps, but I like Gimli's idea better. Excuse me," said Naruto leaping up towards the tower and shocking everyone that he could stick to it before walking up the tower like it was natural.
"Where are you going Naruto?" said Aragon seeing Naruto walking up the tower casually to Saruman.
"To return a chair I borrowed!" said Naruto sensing their confusion at his words.
"And here I thought he was strange before," said Gimli seeing Naruto was now halfway up Isengard with Saruman looking directly at the mercenary.
"You betrayed me Naruto. After all I had done for you all those years ago when all that was on your person was the clothing you wore," said Saruman angrily at the Demon Fox Mercenary and watched the man nearly reach him.
"I paid my debt to you. I see that now. There is nothing you have in your possession that could tempt me into fighting for you or Sauron anymore," said Naruto now standing on horizontal ground on top of the tower a few feet away from Saruman.
"Really? And do they? Do they have the means to send you home? I doubt it. I was going to help you return home after my conquest of Rohan was complete, but you chose to join the losing side, and lose your chance to be with the woman you love!" said Saruman in a hateful voice with Naruto with incredible speed, struck the fallen White Wizard in the neck with one of his daggers, and knocked the man's staff out of his hands causing it to fall below before breaking into a dozen pieces.
"Should that be the case Saruman, I will at least have the pleasure of knowing that you are not among the living to see, and enjoy the moment!" said Naruto before throwing Saruman off the tower making the man hit one of the spikes in the waterwheel below.
"Well that's the end of that," said Gimli seeing the body of dead wizard sink into the dirty water with the Palantir with Pippin Took seeing it glowing in the water before seeking it out.
"Pippen, give that to me my boy," said Gandalf, as he took the Palantir from the Hobbit, and covered to keep the Great Eye from possibly catching the Halfling in his grip.
"Lord Saruman!" said Grima, as he saw his once great Master fall down below, and then glared angrily at Naruto.
"He had it coming," said Naruto seeing Grima pull out a dagger and attempted to kill him.
Naruto dodges the slow attempt, disarmed Grima, and stabbed the man in the throat with his own blade while keeping his grip on it despite his victim's attempt to free it. Naruto watched, as the slowly dying man died in his arms, and then let Grima fall to the ground without a shred of pity for the little man. With that done, Naruto went down to join the others, and they saw them looking at him with concern.
"What will you do now Master Namikaze?" said Aragon seeing Naruto take out his pipe and begins smoking.
"I don't know. Saruman's dead. So is Grima. Would you mind if I took residence within Isengard for awhile?" said Naruto seeing them look shocked at his question.
"And how do we know you won't try anything like they did on my people?" said Théoden seeing Naruto shrug.
"I'm not into the whole 'take over Middle Earth' thing like Sauron is. I don't want to crush Rohan under my boots. I just want to get home," said Naruto with Théoden consider this information knowing that was what he desired above everything.
"I suppose the young mercenary deserves that much. Provided he keeps the thoughts of breeding an Uruk-hai army to destroy Middle Earth like Saruman did out of his mind," said Gandalf giving him a piercing look that reminded Naruto of the one the Sandaime gave when he was child after being caught for one of his prank.
After Naruto learned the truth about everything however, those glares held no power over him, and the one Gandalf was giving didn't either.
"As I said Gandalf. I just want to go home," said Naruto seeing the new White Wizard of Middle Earth nod in understanding.
"I'll hold you to that young mercenary," said Gandalf simply.
"I'll be back to take in my new dwellings, but I would like to talk to you back at Edoras about some important things regarding Sauron you need to hear, and hear it someplace without ears loyal to the Dark Lord hearing it too," said Naruto seeing Théoden looking unsure and the others being surprised.
"Something involving Sauron's plans?" said Aragon knowing that whatever the Dark Lord had in mind for Middle Earth, it was imperative they know, and stop it from coming to fruition.
"In a sense," said Naruto simply.
"Then let's return to Edoras so you can inform us and in return I invite you to join in our celebration for the victory over Saruman," said Théoden seeing Naruto bow slightly.
"I would be honored," said Naruto with a smile on his face.
(Edoras-Sometime Later)
The events of the night were festive, as it was meant to honor the victory one at Helm's Deep, and to honor those that died to achieve it. Many were concerned about having Naruto at this party, but the Demon Fox Mercenary had made sure his presence was barely felt by sitting away in the shadows of the room smoking pipe-weed, and drinking when it suited him with the occasional bit of food to fill his belly.
On a table not far off, the two Hobbits were dancing around singing, and making the people laughing with joy in their hearts. To another part of the room, Eowyn was trying to win the heart of Aragon, who had politely declined her attempt to attract his attention, and bring forth some form of union between them. Naruto sighed at the sight of things, as everyone was happy, joyous, and didn't have a sense of fear in them tonight.
'They've earned that much,' thought Naruto before seeing a young boy looking at him from his table and then looking away contemplating something in his mind in wanting to speak with the young mercenary.
Surprisingly, the boy comes over to him with a few people watching, and were fearful for what would happen in this action.
"Thank you for siding with us in the battle. Things could have been much worse had you not fought the creatures," said the long haired boy barely in his early teens and only few years younger then Naruto.
"Your welcome little one. What is your name?" said Naruto letting out some smoke from his pipe.
"My name is Haleth. Son of Hama," said Haleth seeing Naruto nod in recognition of that name.
"My name is Naruto. Son of Minato," said Naruto extending his hand and the boy took it with a firm hand shake.
"May I sit down and ask you a question?" said Haleth hoping he wasn't intruding in the man's space.
"Of course," said Naruto motioning for the boy to take a seat next to him.
"Why did you side with us during the battle? Your army was larger, stronger, and had just destroyed the wall at Helm's Deep. Yet, you just turned around, and crush the very enemy you were leading. Why?" said Haleth curiously sitting down next to the Demon Fox Mercenary.
"Because she would not love me if I continued on that path," said Naruto thinking of his mate.
"Who?" said Haleth curious once more as to the source of Naruto's sudden redirection of fighting.
"A woman. A very special woman," said Naruto to himself with a smile on his face.
"Is she an Elf? Some kind of Sorceress?" said Haleth not understanding what Naruto meant.
"No. Though sometimes I wonder when I see that light shining around her. One day, you will understand when that special woman comes along, and your heart stops beating for more then five seconds. Your body will freeze up, your very eyes will be unable to look elsewhere, and your soul wishes to leave the body to be closer to her," said Naruto seeing Haleth look almost frightened by the notion.
"I don't think I could let any woman like that bewitch me," said Haleth making Naruto laugh, as he ruffled the kid's hair, and then pat him on the back.
"Don't be too sure young Haleth. If that had not happened with your Father finding that special woman in his life, then you might not be here now, and we wouldn't be having this conversation," said Naruto seeing the confused boy looking shocked by this.
"I don't understand," said Haleth seeing Naruto smirking at him.
"One day you will young Haleth. On day you will. Ask one of the others about this when your older. They'll help you understand what it means to be in love," said Naruto before getting out of his chair and walking over to Théoden to get the others to speak privately after the party was over.
He didn't want to rain on their fun, but the fun for them was now over, and the time for planning for the next stage of the war had begun.
When the Hall was empty, the people were now asleep, Naruto showed them a map of Middle Earth, and what the Dark Lord was planning. What he saw last time while in Mordor after catching Gollum, who had informed the forces of Sauron about someone with the Baggins name possessing the One Ring, and how the vast army was unlike anything the realms had ever seen.
"So his army is vast. That means nothing," said Théoden not seeing the big picture.
"Not just vast Théoden. Its large enough to be split into two. While Saruman was to destroy Rohan from his position, Sauron is going to move his attention to Gondor, and crush it with his own army. The idea was to fight the war on two fronts so neither Rohan nor Gondor could help the other in their time of need for allied aid. In short, his plan is to divide, and conquer with Men weak on both fronts as it is now," said Naruto seeing the King of Rohan now had his full attention.
"Saruman's army was bad enough, but are you saying the Dark Lord's is even larger, and far worse?" said Aragon seeing Naruto look at him right in the eyes.
"What Saruman threw at you at Helm's Deep was nothing compared to Sauron's army that will march on Gondor's Capital. You forget both Mordor and Gondor are neighbors to each other with only the mountains dividing the lands keeping the darkness from spreading quicker from it then it is now. When Sauron learns of Saruman's defeat at Helm's Deep if he hasn't already, the Dark Lord will launch his army at Gondor out of fear of Men not being so weak like he suspected, and wish to prevent any strength this realm has in opposing him rising to the surface," said Naruto seeing the others look at him with surprise at this little revelation.
"And you know all of this, how?" said Théoden wondering just how Naruto knew what the Dark Lord was planning despite being away from Saruman when he schemed with Sauron.
"Because that's how I would have done it," said Naruto simply looking at Théoden right in the eyes so he knew how serious this was.
"If that is the case, then the Steward of Gondor must be warned, and his armies mobilized to fight this evil," said Gandalf knowing he would need to ride to the White City and to make sure it was properly defended.
"Yes. Though I'm sure Sauron has already started and begun the means to prepare for it. If I were Sauron, I would strike here first for the staging ground of the army to advance, and then head straight for the White City with no form of opposition," said Naruto, as he pointed to the City of Osgiliath, and how it was the key for the Dark Lord's army to take it before marching to Gondor's Capital.
"They will need help. Of that much is sure. Gondor does not have the forces necessary to repel Sauron's army and if the beacons of Minas Tirith are lit then Rohan must come to their aid," said Gandalf, as he saw Théoden look thoughtful at that, and it made Naruto's eyes narrow slightly at that face.
It was the face of arrogance.
"Tell me. Why should Rohan assist Gondor in their side of the war when they did not come to our aid," said Théoden seeing the others looking at him in disbelief.
"Your joking, right?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
"No army of Gondor came to Helm's Deep to defend us so I see no reason to send my army to Gondor to defend the White City," said Théoden with Naruto shaking his head.
"You didn't get Gondor's army, but you got its future King, and one that has fought to the point of near death beside you every step of the way. Surely that counts for something?" said Naruto seeing Théoden looking at Aragon knowing the man had been in the thick of the battle at Helm's Deep.
"I will not deny that Aragon has honored me with his friendship or that it has brought us additional allies in the form of the Elves and the Master Dwarf beside him. However, my people will not be so willing to join in this battle, as they wish to defend the Kingdom of Rohan, and not die for another's unless it is a worthy cause. Even if they did, it would be just for one man, who may become its future King, but there is no guarantee so long as Sauron is alive, and his army is too vast to destroy," said Théoden seeing the depressed look on their face.
"But if they were lit? Surely your pride as a King would not deny them the aid they seek should they ask for it? If the beacon of Gondor were lit would you answer the call?" said Naruto seeing Théoden looking away thinking the matter over.
"If the beacons were lit, then Rohan would answer, and come to Gondor's aid. But I know the Steward of Gondor well and his pride in being in his position will not let him give such an order," said Théoden, as he always felt the Steward of Gondor was not worthy of his station, and had only tolerated the man because of the old alliances.
"Leave that to me," said Gandalf, as he would persuade Denethor to see things his way, and that calling for Rohan's aid would be for the best.
With that being said, the group decided to get some sleep, and begin planning things out tomorrow on how to deal with Sauron. Unfortunately, the foolishness of a Took, and the Hobbit's curiosity was not something to be underestimated given the past history Pippin had in his life. While Gandalf slept, the ever bumbling fool of a Hobbit took the Palantir from its covered wrappings, and encountered the presence of the Dark Lord Sauron using his own to make contact with Saruman. Pippin screamed in pain, as the Dark Lord began his mental assault on the Halfling, and learn all that the Took knew.
Naruto awoke first, grabbing the orb from the Hobbit, and took the brunt of the Dark Lord's mental assault before the others could do anything. Within the Palantir, Naruto stared at the fiery red eye of Sauron finding it was very similar to Kyuubi's when they were still separate entities, and the potency behind it was indeed impressive.
"You! How dare you and Saruman take my Ring from me!" said Sauron knowing fully well who Naruto was.
"I don't have the Ring of Power Sauron. Neither does Saruman since he's dead thanks to me," said Naruto seeing the anger in Sauron increase.
"What?" said Sauron trying to probe deep into Naruto's mind, but the mercenary was able to keep him out of it, and use his power to repel the Dark Lord back.
"Yeah. You should thank me though since he kind of wanted the One Ring for himself and become ruler over Middle Earth," said Naruto seeing the Great Eye of Sauron just looking angrier and angrier with each passing moment.
"Then where is it? Where is my Ring of Power?" said Sauron seeing Naruto looking at the Dark Lord calmly.
"Don't know. I don't have it. Though if I were you, I'd get started on your invasion of Gondor, and prepare for the return of its King," said Naruto seeing the Great Eye look almost...fearful of this news.
"No such King of Gondor exists!" said Sauron seeing Naruto smirking back.
"Oh really? Who do you think helped Rohan win at the Helm's Deep against Saruman's ten thousand strong Uruk-hai army?" said Naruto seeing Sauron's eye consider this.
"So there is one left," said Sauron though it was more to himself then to Naruto.
"As I said, you should probably have your army move out, and crush Gondor before its King ascends the throne to rally all of Middle Earth against your forces. You know he will," said Naruto before he ended the connection with Sauron and pretended to throw the Palantir away like he was stung while Gandalf threw a blanket over the orb to keep the Great Eye from using its influence on anyone else.
"Fool of a Took!" said Gandalf, as he was so angry with Pippin, but stopped when seeing the Hobbit was in a catatonic state of fear, and had to use his power to free him from it.
After Gandalf freed Pippin from the state he was in, the White Wizard had the group once more gather together with Théoden on this, and learned that Sauron learned nothing from the foolish Hobbit. They did however, learn that Sauron was indeed planning to attack the White City soon, and with a large army more powerful then Saruman's at his disposal. Naruto informed them that just as Pippin learned something about Sauron's plans for the White City of Gondor, the Dark Lord was able to learn some of the things the Demon Fox Mercenary knew about them, and the possible return a King to the throne of Minas Tirith.
Not really a lie, yet not the entire truth either, but the purpose of it all was to keep both sides focused on the other for Naruto to begin his own plans to get what he needed.
When morning came, Gandalf walked straight to the barn where his horse Shadowfax was awaiting him, and took Pippin to take to Minas Tirith to speak to Denethor before this matter blew up in their faces. As for Naruto, he decided to head to Isengard, and take a look at things within it freely.
"Hello Treebeard," said Naruto to the massive Ent in front of him while walking on the water that still covered the ring around Isengard.
"Greetings young mercenary. Come to take a look within your new home I take it?" said Treebeard seeing Naruto walk towards the steps leading within Isengard.
"Correct. I'll be very busy looking through the tower so if you see me doing anything in or outside of the tower its because of my own changes to the place," said Naruto seeing the Ent nod its head in understanding.
"I look forward to seeing this place once more grow with life again. So many knew friends to make after losing so many old ones," said Treebeard looking at the potency this water would have on the soil around them to bring out the life that Saruman had quite literally uprooted.
"I know Treebeard. So do I," said Naruto, as he walked into Isengard, and made an army of Shadow Clones to spread out to take care of things here while he secretly followed the pathway within the tower leading directly down to the once great war machine Saruman made to breed the Uruk-hai.
While most of the water had washed away almost everything in terms of making the Uruk-hai, Naruto had made sure it was not totally lost, as he had save a small amount of it for his own use, and locked away the spawning pool with seals of his own design when here in secret behind the fallen Wizard's back. He concealed it in a Genjutsu, as Saruman had been none the wiser of what was happening here, and to what Naruto was planning.
Unlike the other breeding areas that once filled this place, Naruto had his seals modify this one when sealing it up to change the structure of how things were done, and the spawning of the Uruk-hai. Unlike the others, this spawning pool he created could produce Uruk-hai after Uruk-hai at his command while feeding off his chakra to make them grow, and it didn't stop at Uruk-hai either for that matter.
All Naruto needed was the skin, blood, or any form of a sample from a species to be put into the spawning pool before using his chakra to make the creature of his choice come out to play. Making another army of Shadow Clones, they set to work in putting his plan to fruition, and the original went back up to the tower to gaze at the different treasure Saruman had acquired over the years.
(Several Days Later)
Naruto was feeling calmer today, as he left Isengard after informing Treebeard of some business he had to attend to, and would be gone for a little while. Without the old Ent knowing, a Shadow Clone had secretly taken a piece of its bark from the leg, and snuck it down to the spawning pool below where it absorbed it. In the tower of Isengard, the dark orb that was the Palantir glowed slightly due to the seals that enhanced, and altered its original purpose to being more then just an all seeing stone.
Now this particular Palantir was in a league all of its own, as it had become connected to the slowly growing spawning pool, and only Naruto could use it with his demonic chakra. Whenever Naruto wanted to spawn something, he just needed to use his chakra on the orb to connect to the spawning pool in order to manipulate into making loyal followers, and let them grow by feeding of his chakra. Of course, he couldn't let that happen just yet, as Gandalf, the Elves, and Sauron would sense his power being used since it required quite a bit of it to make them grow.
Naruto couldn't have that.
Quickly, Naruto made his way the open grass fields that would soon be covered with the minions of Sauron, as they would soon lay siege to Minas Tirith in the next day, or two knowing that the mountains made things narrow to travel with the army of the Dark Lord being a vast number to behold. Taking a knee at the hill where he was, the Demon Fox Mercenary looked from his position to see Osgiliath in ruins, no doubt there was a battle earlier during Rohan's own battle for survival crippled it, and left the place abandoned for Sauron to take before beginning his siege of Gondor's Capital.
Taking out his pipe, the Demon Fox Mercenary began smoking some more weed he had on his person, and began smoking it while thinking of what to do next. Naruto had every intention of staying neutral throughout this war for Middle Earth or at least to a certain point since siding with either party was not possible.
"I got the blood sample you wanted from the Elves. Wasn't easy," said a Shadow Clone of Naruto, who had gotten some Elf blood from Rivendell, and had covered his tracks well.
"No doubt. Take it to the spawning pool, but don't let the Ents see you, and what your carrying," said Naruto with his Shadow Clone nodding before heading to Isengard.
He almost had everything he needed. Just a few more samples and one other thing to make his vision perfect.
(With Gandalf and Pippin Took)
"Gandalf, can I ask you a question about the Demon Fox Mercenary?" said Pippin seeing the White Wizard smoking from his pipe and looking out at the mountain that was the barrier separating Gondor from Mordor.
"What about?" said Gandalf seeing Pippin looking thoughtful regarding the mercenary.
"Its just that...the man wants to go home, but he has no way to do it, and I wonder if its possible for him to get home to his world?" said Pippin walking over to Gandalf.
"I myself have never tried to tear open dimensional rifts to other worlds, as it is always been considered forbidden for a reason, and there are some places even I cannot venture. Naruto was not always a demon, but I fear the demonic power inside his body is slowly destroying his soul, and will lose his sense of honor," said Gandalf, as he knew the man was indeed dangerous, but the White Wizard had no way to handle it, and didn't want the Demon Fox Mercenary to be a future problem for Middle Earth.
"But if you could do it to get him home, would it be possible, and send Naruto back home to his world?" said Pippin seeing Gandalf think about it for a moment.
"It could be possible, but the energies required would have to be dark, and sinister since those were the energies used to create the rift so it will be to bring him back there," said Gandalf seeing Pippin become saddened by this.
"So your saying only someone like Sauron or his Ring of Power could grant him that," said Pippin seeing Gandalf nod.
"Regrettably so. By the time Naruto does learn of this, the Ring of Power will either be destroyed, or in Sauron's hands with all of Middle Earth consumed in a second darkness," said Gandalf knowing if Naruto's neutrality in this war could shift should he learn the means to return home.
"Well its not like Sauron's going to win or anything. I mean, Gondor had a pretty well trained army, has high walls, and it now has the White Wizard. That has to count for something, right?" said Pippin seeing the grim look on Gandalf's face.
"There is one weapon at Sauron's disposal he has yet to unleash fully on Middle Earth. A being that is said no man can kill. The Witch King of Angmar. You met him before when he stabbed Frodo on Weathertop," said Gandalf while Pippin's face went pale hearing that and the horrible memory of when it happened.
"So its going to be pretty close," said Pippin seeing Gandalf nod knowing it would be a close battle and an even closer victory.
"Yes. Even with my powers, the people of Gondor may not survive, and the White City will be forever stained in blood," said Gandalf knowing if Sauron won, then all was lost, and Rohan would no doubt be next.
Before anything could be spoken further from either Wizard or Hobbit a giant tower of light shot up into the sky from where Minas Morgul was located.
(Pelennor Fields-2 Days Later)
The massive army of Orcs, Mountain Trolls, and the Witch King of Angmar on his winged beast marched towards the White City covering the entire landscape in front of the Minas Tirith. Gondor soldiers at the walls look on, as they see this massive army with catapults, siege towers, and a battering ram shaped like a demonic wolf. Drums were heard to keep the pace of the army, as the commander of the Orcs known as Gothmog looks on at the sight of Minas Tirith, and then at the Witch King.
"Soon Gondor will fall," said the Witch King.
"What of the White Wizard?" said Gothmog knowing that was the only person able to contend with the Witch King on some level.
"I will break him!" said Witch King with metal gauntlets tightening on the reigns of his beast.
As the army marched, Naruto watched them from the sidelines in the distance, sitting in a chair smoking his pipe, and seeing the events about to unfold. In reality, he needed a sample of blood from several creatures here before moving on, and letting this battle play out. Those armored Mountain Trolls for one, as they would be nice to have around, and the Orcs themselves were a breed apart of the usual mindless rabble. While they were no Uruk-hai Saruman made, they were great to have when his line of Uruk-hai was thinned out, and the need for cannon fodder was required. The fell beast the Witch King of Angmar was riding was also something he wouldn't mind having either, as they would be helpful in the future back home, and inspire fear into Konoha.
Question now was...how to get the samples he needed?
'Never expected it to be easy. Still, let's see if the Orcs can tell me from one of their own, and see through my illusion,' thought Naruto, as he made a Shadow Clone, and performed a henge to look like an Orc before having it sneak into the ranks of the army.
Sure enough, the Orcs suspected something since they did smell the Shadow Clone's scent being different from their own, and knew something was off even if they couldn't pinpoint the source of the reason. A quick killing of one Orc at the rear of the army where no one really looked and the Shadow Clone in disguise soon had a sample needed for the spawning pool back in Isengard. It would also be good to use Orcs to also help tame the Wargs that would be made and used against the Elemental Countries soon enough and give the Inuzuka Clan a whole knew breed of the canine family to fear when Konoha was about to crushed.
Naruto's musings on this were ended when the battle begun, as the Orcs were using the catapults, and launching boulders at the White City. It didn't matter to them if they hit their intended targets or missed since the destruction of certain parts of the walls would collapse to the level below and thus killing if not severely injuring the people of Gondor. As the catapults attacked the Mina Tirith, the siege towers were being pulled into position to take the lowest level of the city walls by the Trolls being the perfect creatures to get the towers into position, and attack Gondor's soldiers. However, Gandalf was not about to let Minas Tirith go quietly into the darkness, as he ordered the White City's own catapults to fire back, hitting Orcs, several siege towers, and had almost hit the Orc Commander.
In retaliation, the Nazgul on fell beasts swooped down upon the White City, striking at several catapult installations, and grabbing troops on higher levels before sending them to their deaths below them. The siege towers that did make it to the wall unloaded with Orcs hungry for blood, as they attacked Gondor soldiers without mercy, hacking, slashing, and even biting with a fury about them of a wild animal.
During the siege, Naruto once again sent a Shadow Clone to henge into an Orc, and get near the Mountain Orcs covered in heavy armor. Sure enough, when stabbing at one of their legs to get the sample, the Mountain Troll in question became angry, causing a fury of commotion, and the henged Shadow Clone barely had a chance to escape among the masses of Orcs while the Orc Commander was busy calming the enraged beast down.
Nightfall soon descended upon the White City, as the siege continued to press on with the army of Sauron not making the headway the Orc Commander was expecting. Deciding to make up for the loss of time, as well as troops lost during the siege, Gothmog ordered the Grond battering ram be used against the seemingly impregnable gate of Mina Tirith, and take the city one level at a time.
When the gate finally falls, Gandalf is surprised to see heavily armored Mountain Trolls storming in first, battering Gondor soldiers away with easy, as arrows only slow them down due to the armor on their bodies, and the Orcs behind them now swarming like a plague to overwhelm the enemy. Eventually, the first level of the city was lost, and the White Wizard ordered a retreat to the next level where they could defend their position better.
All the while this happened, Naruto just sat in his chair, on the grassy hill not far from the sight of the battle watching, and doing absolutely nothing to interfere. His plans had been put into effect, any further involvement directly would result in eyes of both sides aimed in his direction, and Naruto couldn't have that. It would make them suspicious of him and possibly visit Isengard to further see if anything was brewing in the tower or below it where Saruman had bred his army. They wouldn't find anything at first on account of the water their, which was ironically enough, a key catalyst for Naruto to have such a vast amount of it for the spawning pool to be potent, and allow life to blossom from it. Even if they suspected something, the seals around the spawning pool, and the Genjutsu placed around the area would keep it hidden for a time.
The real problem Naruto had was getting home though the Namikaze suspected the key to it was through the Ring of Power, which despite what many thought, did not have to be thrown into the fires of Mountain Doom in order to kill Sauron, and free Middle Earth. Everyone was so busy trying to attack the symbolic container of the body, they didn't stop to think about attacking the spirit of Sauron through the One Ring, and destroy the Dark Lord that way.
Of course, the reason no one had tried that was because the dark potency behind Sauron's spirit, and could not be defeated so easily by the different beings of Middle Earth. If they had, the result would have been Sauron's spirit overpowering the invading one, and then death would claim the person the Dark Lord destroyed. Naruto's spirit however, wasn't weaker then Sauron's, and knew that deep down the Dark Lord feared the Demon Fox Mercenary's power.
As the night turned to day, it seemed victory was at hand for the army of Mordor, and the White City would become consumed in the blood of its people. However, as one of the oldest, and truest sayings goes "its darkest just before the dawn" with the dawn having arrived.
For as the sun rose, so did the hope of the people in Minas Tirith when the massive army of Rohan's Rohirrim emerged with Théoden leading them. Naruto of course was across from them on the other side and smiled at the good timing the Rohirrim had in taking down before letting out a chuckle. True to form, Théoden rallied his men in an inspiring way worthy of any King of Rohan, and the massive army charged the Orcs now realizing that they might be in serious trouble. With so many within the army heading straight into the Minas Tirith, they had no real way of stopping the Rohirrim from flanking them, and greatly reducing their numbers.
Meanwhile, Naruto was laughing his ass off in his chair at this turn of events, saying this was just too perfect, and loved how things were going. His smiled widened when army of Orcs were retreating back to Mordor while a new and much larger threat headed towards the Rohirrim in the form of the Mumakil from the jungles of Far Harad. The Rohirrim was losing a great deal of their forces to the massive beasts, but the forces of Men were anything if not determined, as they struck at the massive legs of these beasts, shooting arrows at their commanders, and eventually taking them down.
However, with near certain victory came a price for it, and the price that was about to be paid was the life of King Théoden of Rohan. The Witch King of Angmar had swooped down upon Théoden with its fell beast, knocking the King of Rohan off his horse, and with the now dead steed crushing half his body prevented any kind of defense against the leader of the Nazgul.
"Feast upon his flesh," said the Witch King of Angmar, as his armored winged beast was looking at the King of Rohan with hungry eyes, and moved to do what its rider had just commanded.
"I will kill you if you touch him!" said a member of the Rohirrim now standing between them.
"Do not stand between the Nazgul and his prey!" said the Witch King and his fell beast moved to killed this fool stand in the way of its meal.
"I will stand against an army of you to protect him," said the Rohirrim with a sword pointing directly at the Witching and his fell beast.
The fool in question dodged the head of the fell beast and chopped off its head after a few strikes using the sword in hand. However, even with the beast beheaded, the Witch King was far from finished, as he rose from the ground wielding his sword, and large spiked mace that had killed many people in the past. As the two fought, the Nazgul's opponent had kept at a safe distance from the Witch King's sword, and careful dodged the mace the shadowy robed figured used with the skill of a Master.
However, the dodging of the long range weapon did only so much, as the Witch King moved an extra step faster then his opponent anticipated, and destroyed the Rohan shield while knocking its user onto the dead horse covering the lower half of King Théoden. Walking over to his downed prey, the Witch King grabbed the Rohan warrior by the throat, and raised his sword for the kill.
"Fool. No man can kill me. Die!" said the Witch King before he felt a blade strike him in the back belong to a Hobbit named Merry causing the Nazgul to cry out in pain due to the blade being enchanted by the Elves when the Halfling was first at Rivendell before the forming of the Fellowship.
"I am no man!" said the Rohirrim warrior proudly before removing her helmet to show she was none other then Eowyn and stabs the Witch King right in his helmeted face with her sword.
The effect was instantaneous, as that was the secret behind how to kill the leader of the Nazgul, who no one realized required a female to be slain since not many women in Middle Earth charged into battle, and fought like their male counterparts. Aside from that little weakness, the Witch King was nearly unbeatable in battle, and Sauron knew this fact too.
Until now.
Eowyn collapsed back onto the dead horse that had crushed her King with its weight seeing him slowly dying and looking at her for the last time. She could tell he was quite surprised, yet proud to see her here on the battlefield, wielding a sword, wearing armor of the Rohirrim, and slain the Witch King in combat. It was a strange thing for him to feel pride in the woman he had come to embrace as his daughter, even though Eowyn was really his niece on his sister's side, but was proud nonetheless, and smiled at the woman trying to hold back tears.
"I know your face. Eowyn," said Théoden in a tired voice seeing the woman crying now before his eyes and after a long moment closed them to let darkness take him.
"He died a great King of his people," said Naruto standing behind Eowyn, as he stood in front of the body of the Witch King, and the fell beast before picking up the head of the beast to put away for later in a sealing scroll.
"You? What are you doing here?" said Eowyn seeing Naruto kneeling down and prying the crushed metal helmet of the Witch King off his Nazgul's head before putting the body in a sealing scroll.
"Me? Just gathering some things. As for you, I would get treatment for the damaged the Witch King inflicted, and soon unless you wish to join Théoden on the other side," said Naruto seeing the woman looking at him shocked, but before she could saying anything to him, the woman collapsed from the overwhelming feeling of pain her body was feeling right now.
Smirking, Naruto walked over to the down Mumakil in front of him, and plucked out an arrow covered in the creatures blood. More then enough for the spawning pool, as he put the object away, and then moved over to the riders of the Mumakil, and was about to take some of his blood when he realized that he didn't need to have a sample for the spawning pool since his Orcs could be used to tame his own Mumakil when spawned. Instead, he had made a few Shadow Clones secretly mark the Grond battering ram with seals, and waited until they were done.
With his time here now over, Naruto had concluded it was time to put the final part of his plan into motion, and headed for Isengard to drop off his genetic samples while keeping the "crown" of the Witch King on him for now. He knew his Shadow Clones had finished their secret job of putting the seals all around the tower of Isengard, making sure that they went all the way down to the spawning pool, and knew the small army he sent to Minas Morgul were doing the same there too now that its garrison was now empty.
Once he dropped off the samples, Naruto planned to head to Mordor, and intercept Frodo before he could destroy the One Ring along with his only means to return to his world.
And his mate.
(Mordor-Several Days Later)
"We did it Mr. Frodo. We're in Mordor," said Samwise Gamgee seeing the terrain of the cruel wasteland that was home to the Dark Lord.
"We have to be careful Sam. The closer we get, the more danger we're in, and the Great Eye may learn of our presence through the Ring," said Frodo Baggins, as they made their way down slowly towards Mount Doom in the distance though they found approaching it to be difficult due to the vast army within Mordor, and the risk of getting caught even higher should the Eye of Sauron look upon them.
It had not been an easy trip since departing from the Fellowship after Boromir's death, as they had encountered Gollum, made their way to the borders of Mordor, had to go around through a swamp, got kidnapped by Gondor Rangers, learned of Boromir's death, and Frodo nearly surrendering the One Ring to the Nazgul.
That was just the tip of the iceberg.
Surprisingly however, the army of Mordor soon moved towards the Black Gate, where an allied army of Gondor, Rohan, an Elf, a Dwarf, a White Wizard, and two Hobbits had all come to fight against the last army Sauron had. The Great Eye of Sauron now turned his attention to the army rather then the power of the One Ring telling the spirit of the Dark Lord that it was near. Its call being ignored by the distraction of the Heir to the Gondor throne leading the army outside of his domain and seeking to oppose him on an offensive front.
The insult to the Dark Lord was far greater to him then his own Ring of Power at the moment with his full attention focused on this...this...Fellowship Army!
As for the two Hobbits, the volcanic fire of Mount Doom raged deep within, as Frodo Baggins along with his friend Samwise Gamgee made their way under the disguise of being Orcs to the entrance leading deep into the center of the mountain. The closer they got to the mountain entrance where the One Ring needed to be thrown into in order to destroy it, the hotter it got, and they had to remove the Orc armor for their simple Hobbit attire to barely withstand the intense heat the volcanic environment created around them.
Unfortunately, as they made their way inside the mountain, Gollum had decided to make himself known to them, and fight for what he believe was his by right. His obsession with the Ring of Power brought out the monster and savage inside of him one more that had made the former Hobbit wishing to hold his "precious" once again. Gollum had already knocked Samwise away from Frodo and was now fighting the Ring Bearer for the right to be just that though for different reasons.
Enter one Namikaze Naruto.
The two fighting for the One Ring never saw him coming, not that they ever could, but they didn't nonetheless, and paid for it with a few quick Taijutsu moves from the Demon Fox Mercenary. Frodo was knocked unconscious before being thrown next to Sam and Gollum was kicked into the fiery abyss below while the One Ring was thrown into the air spinning in the process like a coin being flipped in the air before it was caught. In this case, Naruto caught it with an outstretched hand, and brought it closer to examine with his own eyes. Looking behind him, Naruto saw Frodo getting up off the shaking ground around them with Sam trying to pull him away, but the member of the Baggins family was to enraged to be stopped now, and charged at Naruto for the possession of the One Ring. Naruto backhanded the Hobbit back onto the ground with enough force this time behind his strike to knock Frodo unconscious and looked at the shocked Hobbit behind him.
"Take him out of here. Hurry! This place is unstable," said Naruto seeing Samwise pick up Frodo and carry him out of here.
"What about you? You have to throw that into the fire to destroy it," said Samwise, as he saw Naruto looking at the Ring of Power, and saw a strange look in Naruto's eyes.
"That's not entirely true," said Naruto before positioning the One Ring above his Ring Finger much to the Hobbit's horror.
"NO! Don't!" said Samwise, as he saw Naruto looking at him again with crimson red eyes, and heard the dark chuckle from it.
"Too late," said Naruto, as he put it on his finger, and his entire form disappeared from Samwise's sight.
And into the Dark Lord Sauron's line of sight.
"You! You have my ring. Give it to me now!" said Sauron staring at Naruto with his one fiery eye and using his power to force Demon Fox Mercenary into submission.
Or at least trying to anyway.
"No," said Naruto simply much to the rage of the Dark Lord.
"You dare defy me? I am the Dark Lord Sauron. Ruler of Mordor and soon...all of Middle Earth!" said Sauron seeing Naruto smirk begin generating demonic chakra around his person.
"No your not. Not anymore," said Naruto, as his chakra swarmed around him, and then manipulated to directly into the Ring of Power on his ring finger.
"What are you doing? Stop! Stop!" said Sauron, as he surprisingly felt pain, and his very spirit being cast out of the Ring of Power.
His Ring of Power.
"Why? By killing you, Middle Earth is saved, I have a new found power, and I can go home to my mate. Everyone wins. Well...except you of course since you'll be dead," said Naruto, as he increased the output of his power, and heard the cries of agony of the Dark Lord being killed under his power.
"Damn you! My dreams, my ambition, and desire to rule over Middle Earth are ruined because of you!" said Sauron trying to fight against Naruto's power, but did not have the means to due so, and the Namikaze could see cracks forming around the eye Great Eye.
"Thank you. I try to balance myself out. Do a little evil. Do a little good to balance out my evil actions. I can't really determine if what I'm doing now is considered good or evil. Maybe it's a little of both. Oh well. The point is everyone that matters gets what they want out of your death," said Naruto, as he let out a mighty demonic roar, and used even more power to finish Sauron off.
"NOOOO!" yelled Sauron in pain, as his image in the form known to all as the Great Eye cracked in pain, and then shattered like glass from a mirror.
At the Black Gate, everyone heard the cries of anguish coming from the top of Sauron's tower, as they saw the tower crumbling, and the Great Eye vanishing before their eyes. Merry yelled out "Frodo" in the belief his friend had done what no other could, the minions of Sauron now fled, and tried to stop the crumbling ground from consuming them. When Mount Doom exploded however, the heroes of Middle Earth realized with horror that their friends were now lost to them, and were consumed in the lava of the angry mountain like a spiteful form of revenge by the Dark Lord to kill those that killed him.
While this occurred, Naruto had contacted the other Ring Wraiths to pick him up, and be prepared to serve their new Master. Before leaving though, Naruto had found the two Hobbits barely alive on a boulder surrounded by lava, and quickly put a Genjutsu on them to think that they had been the ones to kill the Dark Lord instead of him using the very Ring of Power they wished to destroy. When the Ring Wraith came to pick him up, Naruto ordered it to take him back to Isengard, but to do so quietly, and without anyone spotting them.
(Isengard-Sometime Later)
"You all know why you are here. Why I summoned you after secretly retrieving your leader after he was killed by the woman from Rohan. As far as everyone in Middle Earth is concerned, you have perished in the lava at Mordor with the Ring of Power gone, and Sauron now destroyed. However, we all know the Ring of Power is not destroyed, but Sauron is, and the Ring of Power is now mine to command. The question you must be thinking now is, where do you stand in this world, and what can you do now that you serve a new Master? The answer is simple really, as you will join me after I resurrect your leader, and follow me to my home that is the Elemental Countries where I will one day rule," said Naruto seeing eight of the nine Nazgul looking at him in a circle formation with the Namikaze in center with the leader on a table looking almost royal in his dead like state.
"If the White Wizard learns of what you've done, an army will gather again to smite, and destroy all that you hope to accomplish," said one of the Nazgul seeing Naruto smile at him.
"By the time he does, it will be too late, and we will be gone from this world along with all the other places I've marked. Now I do believe we have a Witch King of Angmar to revive," said Naruto taking out the crushed helmet belonging to the leader of the Nazgul before placing it on the former King of Men's chest.
"How can you revive him?" said one of the Nazgul seeing Naruto walk to where the Witch King's head was and placed both hands on the robed face.
"Simple. I'm going to use my demonic powers combined with the One Ring to bring back the fallen Witch King before I setout to begin my plan of taking us all to my world," said Naruto, as he covered his hands in demonic chakra, the Ring of Power glowing with the Elvish tongue of Mordor written on it, and sent that power surging into the Witch King of Angmar.
The fallen Nazgul body began to spasm under Naruto's power, as power of his chakra spread throughout the Witch King's form, even covering the crushed in helmet worn during the siege of Mina Tirith. The helmet began to reshape itself back to what it once was like it was showing the rebirth of the Witch King of Angmar to everyone watching the event take place.
When it was over, Naruto let go of the fallen King of Men's hooded face, and walked over to the helmet before picking it up off the Nazgul's body. Slowly, the Witch King sat up, and took the helmet from Naruto when presented with it to once more where like it was his own version of a crown. It seemed to signify he was the leader and ruler of the nine Nazgul that once served the Dark Lord Sauron.
"I am alive. How?" said the Witch King seeing the One Ring on Naruto's finger and knew it was only through the man's manipulation of it that he could be seen.
"Through me. Your new Master," said Naruto knowing the One Ring was pulsing with power around in his ring finger.
"We live to serve," said the Witch King kneeling before Naruto and the other Nazgul doing the same before their new Master commanded them to rise..
"Everything so far has happened has gone according to plan. I have the means to return to my world, taking Isengard, my prized spawning pool below the Fortress, Minas Morgul, and Weathertop with me. It won't be easy, but its possible using my powers, combined with the One Ring, and manipulation from my Palantir to open a rift to the place I want all the things I've collected to land when we arrive in my world," said Naruto walking over to the Palantir with the nine Nazgul following knowing they were told this for a reason aside from the fact they would join him in his world.
"And where in your world will we relocate to my Lord?" said the Witch King seeing Naruto manipulate the Palantir to show them a place of ruin that had not been touched for many years.
"The place my Mother was originally born in the Elemental Countries was once called Whirlpool Country, which is a medium size continent unto itself that had whirlpools covering one section of it, and explains the reason behind the name. All the Elemental Countries are either named after an element, animal, or something else surrounding that particular region that people give it that name. It was destroyed during one of the wars from the past around the time my Mother was born and now considered lost to the ages completely forgotten. That is where we will rebuild everything and that is where a new age in this world will begin," said Naruto grinning before using the Palantir to show him Hinata sitting in her room holding a picture of himself and how she was crying.
"Naruto-kun, I wish you were here. I'd run away with you to prevent this stupid sealing my Father is going to have done to me. In the next two Months, I will no longer be yours, and belong to some old baka of a man for political gain," said Hinata through the Palantir and it was made Naruto's heart ache with sadness followed by intense rage at what was going to happen.
"Hang on my love. I'm coming. No soul in Middle Earth could stop me from getting what I need to be with you. Soon there won't be one in the Elemental Countries who is going to stand in my way of saving you from such cruelty either!" said Naruto with a voice filled with righteousness, as he saw the Nazgul looking at Hinata, and could they felt something akin to sadness for their new Master.
"We are ready to follow you my Lord," said the Witch King, as he saw Naruto nod, and knew that the Ring of Power in his possession was changing them slightly to make sure they followed things according to his plans.
"Good! Now let's see if all I have done here in Middle Earth has been worth this moment in time," said Naruto, as he activated the seals on the Palantir that were now glowing red throughout traveling outward through the internal workings of Isengard, and the other places he'd marked while knowing he had one shot at this.
In the Palantir, the form of Whirlpool Country appeared in all its vast, yet destroyed glory from the time it was removed from the world after the last war it was in, and Naruto felt the dimensional rift surrounding the entire tower. The seals Naruto had placed on various locations throughout Middle Earth were designed to be absorbed into the dimensional rift and then placed in different locations when they landed in Whirlpool Country in Naruto's world.
Though the real challenge for Naruto was not opening the portal to his world, but rather maintaining it long enough for everything he wanted to take with him to the Elemental Countries, and not dying from chakra exhaustion. However, Naruto wasn't going to back out now, as he put all the power he could muster into this, and pushed himself to the limit in accomplishing his goal. All around him, everything seemed to becoming long dragged out smears, and the Namikaze could only scream out in pain at feeling his body along with everything else around him being pulled into the dimensional rift.
The last thing that had entered Naruto's mind before blacking out from the strain was the image of his mate, as he vowed that not even death, should that be what awaited him, would stop the mercenary from protecting Hinata, and from crushing the people that seek to destroy that wonderful woman.
(A/N:YAY! I updated. Hope you enjoyed it and the way I'm bringing Naruto back to his world. Until next time...PEACE!)