AN:
Thank You Purple Pallbearer, and Deadzepplin for reviewing! Thank you foxxy nine-tails, Lordequinox, and Deadzepplin for favoriting! And Thank you to Heatherbell, foxxy nine-tails, Purple Pallbearer for putting this on their Story alerts!
Purple Pallbearer: You are correct about the OCs. I will only put two in and I will push them into the background as much as possible. However, they have been floating around in my head for sometime, and I hope that I do well with them. The suspense will continue for a few more chapters. As for the songs, Glad that you like them! I look more for the meanings. For example, I like Long kiss Goodbye, but it mentions a cellphone in a verse, so out it goes.
Please review, let me know what you guys/gals think.
Thank You!
When the Riders disappeared from sight, the three other shinobi walked out to where the Three Hunters, Rin and Hoshi were standing with the horses.
"So we are to go over there?" asked Obito pointing his chin towards the plume of smoke.
Aragorn nodded. "We hope to find Merry and Pippin there," he said while mounting his brown horse. Obito hoped that Hoshi was correct in saying that the hobbits were alive. If they weren't... Well, eternal servitude to Team Minato would be considered too kind.
Legolas was riding the white horse, with a reluctant Gimli perched behind him. Minato-sensei seemed to have seen that and turned to Aragorn.
"Would you mind having Hoshi ride with you?" he asked. "I believe that it would be a bit easier, and a lot more conveniant,"
The ranger gave it some thought. "Hoshi," the boy looked up to him. "Can you ride?"
The lanky child nodded. "More or less. I am better in a saddle than on bare back,"
"You should be fine," said Aragorn, walking the horse near the boy. Hoshi pulled himself onto the horse's back with surprising ease.
"All set?" asked Minato with a chipper grin. "Then let's go,"
Eldarion was not very pleased with his position. He was afraid to hold onto Aragorn like Gimli was to Legolas, so he ran chakra through his hands and other parts of his body to keep from falling off the galloping horse. The dwarf shot him a sympathetic look, which Eldarion returned. The ranger's son prefered and trusted his own two feet more than a horse's four hooves.
The mound of charred orc carcasses quickly came into view. He noticed Kakashi's look of disgust upon seeing an Uruk-hai's head placed upon a stake.
"How barberic," sneered Kakashi, spitting at the head.
When Aragorn dismounted, Eldarion decided not to. It would be safer to be on a horse than on the ground when Team Minato's inevitable anger. Legolas and Gimli had also dismounted, and the dwarf was picking through the pile with his axe. Minato-sensei and Obito dug into the burnt pile, too, while Kakashi and Rin stood near Legolas and Aragorn. Then, Gimli found something.
"It's one of their belts," he said sadly, holding up an intricate piece of leather.
Rin's eyes widened while Kakashi's narrowed. Obito and Minato-sensei pulled their sooty heads out of the corpse pile.
He heard Legolas murmur a prayer for the hobbits in Sindrian. Eldarion did his best to move into the saddled as subtlely as he could.
Aragorn suddenly kicked a helmeted orc head and let out a scream of grief, an action that caused all the shinobi to jump. The ranger collapsed to the ground, looking defeated.
"We failed them," whispered Gimli.
Obito was furious. "All you found was a bloody belt, so don't go jumping to conclusions! We are gonna keep digging and you guys are gonna keep looking!"
"Indeed," added Kakashi. "The ground tells many secrets, and fortunately we have some one who can understand them,"
Aragorn gave the two shinobi a mournful look before turning his keen eyes on the ground beside him.
"A hobbit lay here," he leaned forward. "And the other,"
A look sparked in the rangers eyes as he followed a trail seen only by him.
"He crawled," he said standing up to continue forward. "Their hands were bound,"
Aragorn knelt down and uncovered a piece of rope, severed. Everyone watched with a mixture of fascination and suspense.
The man stood up, his eyes pulled else where. "Their bonds were cut,"
Eldarion was entralled by his Ada's tracking abilities. As he was too young to join his father's hunting trips, he had only seen this talent manifest in finding lost objects.
"They ran over here, " he paused for a bit as he followed the tracks. "They were followed,"
Eldarion nearly gave a snort of laughter as the ranger was closely followed by Legolas, Gimli, Minato, Kakashi, and Rin. Obito stayed alongside him.
"They sped away from the battle, into Fangorn forest." Aragorn ended with a near whisper, at the edge of the trees.
"See!" yelled Obito. "What did I tell you?" Eldarion rolled his eyes at his foster brother.
But he turned his focus back to the group by the trees. Minato-sensei was addressing Aragorn.
"I believe that it would be wiser for only you three to enter Fangorn while we stay on the outskirts. These trees seem to hold a resentment for our kind, and I would prefer not to irritate them,"
Aragorn gave him a small frown. "But how would you find us again?" he asked, concerned.
His soot-covered sensei unbuckled one of the conpartments on his flak jacket. A thin scroll fell into his hand.
"This is a tracking scroll. It will give me your location for about four days through it's partner scroll," he pointed to a different compartment on the jacket. Minato-sensei gave the scroll to Aragorn.
"We will take care of the horses, and follow you on the outskirts of the forest. I wish you luck,"
With that, the Three Hunters disappeared into Fangorn forest.
Minato immediately unfurled the scroll. A detailed, up close map appeared, with different colored dots indicating Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli and...
"Gandalf!" he cried. Everyone looked up.
Hoshi walked his horse while leading the other over to the jōnin. Obito followed him.
"Gandalf was reincarnated from Grey to White after he killed the Balrog," he said.
Minato looked up with shock. "That terrible thing of fire and shadow? The Old man defeated it?" he asked.
Hoshi sighed. "And we will never hear the end of it. Should we get going?"
Minato nearly chuckled. He had been informed that Hoshi was born a prince, so it was not surprising when the tall boy's voice took a commanding tone.
"Aye, aye, Taichō," mocked Kakashi, saluting him. Hoshi scowled at the masked chūnin.
"Alright, Alright," chuckled Minato. "Let's go,"
Aragorn was pleasently surprised to find the shinobi waiting for them with the two horses when they exited Fangorn.
"Welcome back, Gandalf the White," they chorused.
The Istari was delighted to see them. "So you have decided to stay on?" he said cheerfully. "No need to worry, I will see to it that you are richly rewarded for your services,"
They bowed, thanking him. "Merry and Pippin are alright, right?" asked Rin, concern etched on her face.
"Indeed they are, young medic. You do not need to worry about them,"
As Gandalf whistled for his horse, Aragorn walked over to Hoshi.
"How is your ankle?" he had been meaning to ask the question earlier, but other things got in the way.
"It's fine, I guess," Hoshi lifted the ankle for him to see. "Rin put it in a splint, she told me that I shouldn't walk on it yet,"
Aragorn examined the splint. It was made of metal, cloth and other strange material. It's fastenings piqued his curiosity.
"Interesting material," he said, looking at the black split. Hoshi shrugged.
"It is too strange for me. I do not care for it," he said, gesturing to the fastenings.
Aragorn decided that now was not the time to ponder about the shinobi's clothes. Rin was a good healer, as there was little to no swelling in Hoshi's ankle. He gently released the ankle, allowing the boy to place it against the horse.
Aragorn then turned his attention to a white horse that was approaching them.
"That is one of the Mearas, unless my eyes are decived my some spell," murmured Legolas, peering at the horse.
"Shadowfax," introduced Gandalf. "He is the Lord of all horses and has been my friend through many dangers," he said while stoaking Shadowfax's white coat.
Minato, despite his smile, looked confused. "Excuse me," he asked. "But what is a Mearas?"
Gandalf answered him. "Mearas are the strongest, fastest and most intelligent horses in all of Middle Earth. They are capable of understanding languages,"
Minato's smile only got wider. "We have animals like that at home. Shinobi can enter a contact with a perticular species which allows them to summon the animal to fight alongside them. Some summons can even speak,"
The Istari returned the smile. "I assume you have such a contract, yes? Could you demonstrate how it works later?" Gandalf asked.
Minato's smile got so wide his eyes disappeared. "I would be delighted to!"
His students all gave him a look and said in unison:
"Don't summon Gamabunta!"
The jōnin deflated. "You always have to spoil my fun," he pouted.
Aragorn chuckled at the scene. Gandalf then mounted Shadowfax, turning his head to the shinobi.
"Will you join us to Edoras?" he asked.
Obito grinned "Heck yes! Aragorn has Hoshi after all, and we can't have him having all the fun!"
Aragorn found himself laughing at the boy's comment as he mounted the horse. Hoshi had slid back off the saddle, sitting like Gimli, who was unhappily perched behind Legolas.
"Where and what is Edoras anyway?" asked Rin to nobody in perticular.
"Edoras is Rohan's capital city," responded Hoshi. "I have a feeling that you might like it,"
Rin shrugged as she started to run ahead. "As long as nothing strange happens,"
Aragorn heard Hoshi sigh. The boy moved closer to him, laying his head on his shoulder.
"Everything we encounter is strange, is it not Ada?" he whispered.
Aragorn stiffened slightly. He was not sure if Hoshi was addressing him or not. The elf-like boy unnerved him quite a bit, especially since the boy sometimes reminded him of himself.
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."
Hoshi half-sung, half-mumbled into Aragorn's shoulder. The ranger began to ponder on Frodo's theory on the tall boy's origins.
"Frodo," he thought.
"He is fine," Hoshi whispered. "He has Sam, and he is strong. Frodo will not fail," The boy yawned.
"How are you are so sure of it?" he asked.
The horse reared up slightly, so Hoshi quickly wrapped his arms around Aragorn's torso to keep from falling off.
"Think about it. Do you not have that feeling that he was meant to succeed?"
"Making prophecies again, Hoshi?" came a teasing voice. Aragorn turned to see Kakashi easily keeping pace with the galloping horse.
Hoshi glared at him. "It is going to be sunny and windy tomorrow, if that is what you want to know," he snapped.
The masked shinobi shook his head. "Just be careful, some premonitions are false,"
Hoshi gave his comrade a tired smile. "Most won't be this time,"
Aragorn was given a lot to think about. Exhaling deeply, he urged his steed on to Edoras.