~~Authors Note~~

Just so no one gets real freaked out about it, I'll tell how much power Naruto has within the storyline. He's not going to be super powerful that he could confidently walk up to Sauron and slap him, but he isn't weak either. I think I have a couple solutions of trying to find the balance, and some of it is thanks to you guys! Always PM me or leave a comment, and I will try and read it as soon as possible.

I tried being all technical and actually did a lot of research with timing in the LOTR/Hobbit universe, but I then started to realize that it was driving me crazy and I was getting nowhere with the story, one of the reasons I chose the east as HQ because of lack of info so I wouldn't get stuck in being "accurate", but did so anyway. So here it is and if there is something wrong you notice, feel free to PM me and tell me about it, I will fix it. I listen to reader's considerations and love your input.

Chapter 2

Naruto knew that he would be faster in terms of time and travel in this place, with his enhanced speed he could go speeds that this land only seen in the eagles. It was nearing the end of March when he heard the news, and he was almost to Lake-town and it was sometime in April, great timing if he says so himself.

He landed in the hideout with a huff, it's been a while since he traveled like that and he missed it. He walked over to the lone office in this base. It was in-between breakfast and lunch, so as long there were no active contracts at the moment, Kionwin should still be in his office. Being Lake-town, there weren't many people to hire them nor were there that many missions here that could benefit them, just mainly espionage against the Master of Lake-town.

Kionwin is one of the only people at this base and is the head of this division. He lives in Lake-town and poses as a hunter. He has traps that he maintains to bring his "hunt" back in town to keep appearances and with town mainly being a fishing town, they don't think twice about it.

Naruto opened the door to see his old friend leaning back in his chair, feet on his desk, and… snoring. Well, that wouldn't just do, even if it was a very low action base he needs to make sure all of the bases alert, or at least that was his excuse. With his classic foxy grin, there was a puff of smoke and a few seconds later there was an overcomplicated pulley system that would dump neon orange paint if Kionwin fell back.

What can he say, he gets bored when doing all of the paperwork and missed his pranking days. Also, it took him forever to create that orange paint and never had the chance to use it yet. He quietly walked to the door, his grin growing wider with every step. He grabbed the handle and slammed it shut.

The reaction was almost instant, Kionwin fell all the way back with a yelp, and paint fell on him. Moving around the desk Naruto doubled over in laughter when he saw Kionwin covered head to toe in paint.

Kionwin was trying very hard to give Naruto a death glare but coughing up neon orange paint was ruining the effect.

"I keep telling you that if you keep sleeping on the job something would happen!" Naruto said trying to get his laughter under control.

"Well, there isn't much to do here, you know that" Kionwin replied, full death glare finally working.

"You always got to be alert and hey, I just helped you with your boredom problem!"

"Sure, keep telling yourself that, you probably just haven't pranked someone in a while," Kionwin said giving Naruto a flat stare.

"Well if you get so bored, why don't you try to trade someone jobs for a bit?"

"Because other bases have too much work, I like taking things slow"

"You know Kionwin, you almost remind me of my old friend. Always used his brain to do the least amount of work, and always preferred sleep or cloud watching than to do anything else" Naruto replied.

"I like this friend, sounds like we would get along nicely" was Kionwin's answer.

"Well, I didn't come here just to prank you, so get cleaned up before that dries and we'll start planning"

"I knew you would bring more trouble" the older hunter grumbled as he walked out, towards a nearby stream.

"So what do you know so far?" Naruto started once they got settled in the office.

"Well, I just got your report last week, and I sent out my scout towards the forest, trying to see which route they will take but if they get stuck in elvish territory we won't be able to assist them. We are getting better in stealth but we are not as good as elves and nowhere even close to your level." Kionwin reported.

"Have you heard anything from the Bree HQ in Weather Hills? They're the ones that overheard this quest." Naruto asked trying to form a plan.

"Yes, they put their best stealth specialists to shadow the company. I almost feel sorry for those fellas though, they got to worry about the ever suspicious Rangers that patrol the area, the wizards gaze, and those show-offs of elves to evade."

"They should be able to hide, that company will be a distraction within itself. Even with the shadow, Bree should still have more men, send a message to them telling them to scout around. I want to know what we will be facing if Smaug gets defeated, tell them to focus on old castles and bases that are thought to be abandoned, those would be the easiest to build forces close to here."

"Sounds reasonable, anything else you need?"

"Yes, I need a layout of Lake-town. There is going to be an angry dragon and potentially a war, we need to establish escape routes for citizens and find ways to prepare them for it. Once we get reinforced from the eastern bases, we should be able to help more."

"Assuming that Smaug gets dealt with, Dale would be a great standing for the men of Lake-town, at least it's better than houses made of wood. If they can have the backing from one of the local armies, they would have a better chance."

"That sounds good, only thing is that the city will entrap them if there is an all-out war and if they are targeted."

"I'm going to get some those errands done and draw up some plans for you to review, ugh so much work," Kionwin said while getting up and headed towards the bird coop.

"Maybe you should have taken my advice months ago and visited other bases, this is about to be the busiest place for a while," Naruto said with a chuckle

"How was I supposed to know that the Lonely Mountain would not be so lonely, it's false advertising" Kionwin replied with what seemed to be a personal storm cloud forming over his head. "What are you going to be doing anyway?"

"I have my own business to attend to. Also, it's been a while since I messed with the elves" Naruto said as his foxy grin was returning. Kionwin shook his head with a smile, and when he blinked Naruto was gone.

The company of dwarves, hobbit, and wizard just crossed the Last Bridge on the East Road, heading towards Rivendell. In the distance, if one had amazing eyesight, you would be able to see 3 shadowy figures. One started going in the direction before the other two stopped them.

"No, that's too close to the elvish territory. They won't like us following the wizard, we will send a report and rush around the forest." One of the shadows said.

The three shadowy figures turned around and started to sprint in the other direction.

~~Authors Note~~

I always had a thing for strategizing and to help show how Naruto changed into a leader, I feel putting in logistical planning would help that image. I'm also still setting everything up, inserting Naruto into LOTR and showing how it changed him, so the beginning might drag on a bit longer than I expected. Tell me what you think about Naruto's personality, I'm trying to go for responsible but still childish, kind of how I imagine Naruto as a Hokage.

Sorry for the delay on this, I have been getting a lot busier lately. I am a college student and it's the end of the school year and it's getting hectic here, should be better after a week or two. After the finals, my quality of the chapters should increase too, hopefully. With the rating, the further we go in the higher it'll go, because there isn't anything yet to merit it to go higher, but as foreshadowed in this chapter, there will be fighting and violence.

Also if it seems like I forgot to update, just send me a message and I will get an update as soon as possible. I procrastinate and also have a horrible memory, so always better safe than sorry.

Thank you for choosing my story to read! Have a great time! Ace signing out. :)