AN:

Thank You Purple Pallbearer, Deadzepplin, and FireheartNinja for reviewing! Also Thank you GlidingOne for putting this on your Story Alerts!

I am glad that most of you (aka, see the reviewers) agree with me about the Worm. Nothing about Aragorn's reasoning made sense, and seeing how shinobi deal with rogue ninja, it was easy to see that Team Minato wasn't going to stand by and let the slimeball go.

Thank You again for the reviews. They always make my day.

Aragorn found the day to be emotionally draining. After the shinobi's arguments, he could see that his decision was a lack of wisdom on his part. But Hoshi's idea of killing Grima after they found the information they wanted did not sit well with the ranger. But immediately after that scene, Theoden King was given the news of his son, Theodred's untimely death. The funeral was to be held first thing in the morning, and the guests were invited. He remembered the shinobi's reactions to the invitation. It was a mixture of "we are honored," and '' What is expected of us?". The Three Hunters and the five shinobi took the opportunity to clean themselves up. It was a relief to change into new clothes and remove the layers of dirt form his skin. Before the funeral, he ran into the shinobi, who were all dressed alike. He also noted that they lacked any form of footware.

"What happened to your shoes?" he asked, slightly bewildered. The shinobi looked up in surprise.

"We left them at the door," answered Rin. "It was rude of us to barge into the King's house and forget to leave our shoes at the door,"

Aragorn figured that they were acting out of a customary habit of politeness rather than a lapse of sanity.

"I would keep my shoes on, guys," said Hoshi, who was wearing a pair of leather boots. "Keep in mind Meduseld is a drinking hall and sanitation is not top priority at the present time,"

Aragorn was unable to see their reaction to Hoshi's tip because the funeral was just about to start.

Gimli felt sorry for the young prince of Rohan. The dwarf had heard that he was a promising lad who was grievously injured in an ambush by Saruman's orcs. Theodred had just died the morning they had arrived to Edoras. It was a shame, really. Gimli looked at his companions in the procession. Gandalf had asked him to keep an eye on the shinobi during the funeral, so he walked beside them at the end of the line. Despite their silence, there was an air of unease around them. It wasn't long before they reached the gravemound for Theodred. Gimli idly noticed that only the shinobi and Lady Eowyn, Theoden's niece, were wearing black. The lady began to sing a lamant in Rohirric as the prince was carried into the gravemound. Hoshi was humming along to the the lament until Kakashi stepped on his foot to get him to stop. Then the entrance was closed and Lady Eowyn ended her lament. Slowly, the attendees began to trickle away, returning to their homes.

The shinobi lingered behind and Hoshi pulled out a flute.

"Theoden King," he shyly asked the king. "My we sing a song? We sometimes sing it at funerals and..." he trailed off, ducking his head in embarressment.

The King gave him a watery smile. "I would be honored to hear your song," he said.

Hoshi inhaled and put the flute to his lips. Gimli had never heard a flute produce such strange notes. What was even stranger was the fact he did not put down the flute as Rin began to sing.

"Haru koro no hana no en

Meguru sakazuki kage sashite

Chiyo no matsu ga e wake ideshi

Mukashi no hikari ima izu ko,"

The petite brunette had a surprisingly low, but not unpleasent, voice that melded with the flute well. Gimli nearly laughed upon catching the look of awe on the elvish princeling's face. Another voice joined the song, which belonged to Obito.

"Aki jinei no schimo no iro

Nakiyuku kari no kazu misete

Uurutsurugi ni terisoishi

Mukashi no hikari ima izu ko,"

The harmony in the voices and flute made the hairs begin to stand on the back of his neck. The foregin language only added to the eerie tone.

"Ima kojo no yowa no tsuki

Kawaranu hikari ta ga tame zo

Kaki ni nokoru wa tada kazura

Matsu ni uto wa tada arashi,"

Minato had joined in, his deep voice adding another dimension to the song. Gimli wondered why he had never heard a song sung with musical accompaniment. Then all the voices disappeared except for one.

"Tenjo kage wa kawaranedo

Eiko wa utsuru yo no sugata

Utsusan toteka ima mo nao

Ah! Kojo no yowa no tsuki,"

Kakashi's strangely soft voice ended the song, with Hoshi playing the last few notes on the flute. Gandalf spoke first. "What is the name of the song," he asked softly.

Minato answered. "Koojo no Tsuki or Moonlight on the Ruined Castle," There was silence over the graves as the wind blew across the plains. Hoshi bowed to the King.

"I am sorry for your loss, Theoden King," he said before making his way back to Edoras. The rest of the team repeated the words and action before following Hoshi up the hill. Gimli decided to take his leave, bowing to Theoden King before leaving the graves.

Upon returning to the Golden Hall, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were offered food and drink, which Gimli and Aragorn accepted and Legolas declined. Rin and Obito were in the hall as well, eating a rather bizzare food with a pair of sticks. Both had changed from their black clothes to their regular clothing, looking very out of place. Legolas walked over to them, intrigued by their food.

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the long, wormlike substance.

"This," said Obito. " is instant ramen. You just pour boiled water on it, wait for it to cool down, then eat it,"

The elf was interested. "How do you make this 'instant ramen'?" he asked.

The black-haired boy shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is that you buy it in stores,"

That just confused Legolas. "What is a store?" he asked.

Obito turned to Rin. After slurping up the ramen, she answered:

"It is a place where you can buy food and other things, like clothes and flowers,"

She then picked up the cup and drank the broth out of the strange white thing.

"Give me your cup when you finish Obito. I'll seal it back," she said.

The shinobi slurped up his ramen and drained it like Rin.

"Why?" he asked. Rin took the white cup and placed it within hers. She then unfurled a scroll and sealed the two cups away.

"Because there isn't any dumps in Middle Earth," she explained.

"Ah," Obito nodded in understanding.

Aragorn watched the whole exchange with a certain interest.

"How come you are not at the interrogation?" he asked, chewing slightly on his pipe.

Obito's eyes were drawn to his pipe, but he managed to answer the ranger's question.

"I do not know how to conduct an interrogation and neither does Rin," he answered. " And neither of us have any abilites that would be useful,"

Rin frowned at Obito. "But Kakashi doesn't have any abilites that would be useful," she said, confused.

Obito laughed. "Nah, he's just the guard," he said, folding his hands behind his head.

Aragorn took a drag on the pipe weed, musing over what he had heard.

"So Minato is in charge of the interrogation, then what does Hoshi do?" he asked

Rin glared at the smoke coming from his pipe, but said nothing. Obito cheerfully responded.

"Hoshi is like a living lie detector. You tell him something, and he knows if you are lying or not a good chunk of the time. He also is better at genjutsu than Sensei,"

Aragorn was just about to ask another question when his ears picked up a commotion in one of the side halls. Then two boys and a squawking crow spilled out into the hall. Both had the misfortune to barrel straight into Lady Eowyn, causing the three to fall to the ground. The enterance to the hall opened, letting Theoden King, Gandalf and two children in, while letting the crow out.

Kakashi and Hoshi (for it was indeed them.) picked themselves off the ground and each offered a hand to Lady Eowyn, who greatfully took each one.

"Now what was that all about? asked Gandalf, looking bewildered.

Kakashi inhaled deeply. "Somebody didn't check to see if Grima had anything on him," he said glaring at Hoshi. "Turns out the filthy bastard had a messenger crow tucked into his shirt and he just sent it with a message out to Isengard," Kakashi finished with a hiss.

Hoshi gave the masked shinobi a venomous look. "Well excuse me for not jumping to the chance to strip search the greasy freak," he snarled.

"What's done is done," declared Theoden. Aragorn noticed that he was carrying a boy around the shinobis' age. Rin walked up to the King.

"Excuse me, Theoden King," she said. "But may I take a look at him?"

The man raised a blonde eyebrow. "Do you know the healing arts?" he asked.

Rin nodded. The King turned to Eowyn.

"Take this boy and Rin to a room," he commanded. She curtsied, and relieved her uncle of the child. Eowyn beckoned Rin to follow her down the side hall.

"Is my brother going to be okay?" The little girl asked Gandalf.

The Istari chuckled. "Your brother will be just fine. He is probably just tired,"

Minato entered the room, looking very irritated. He bowed to Theoden.

"I have a report on the interrogation," the yellow-haired shinobi said while pulling out a piece of paper, covered in a strange alphabet.

The King sat on his throne, looking drained. "Please read it,"

Minato sighed before starting. "We know from the testimony of Grima Wormtongue that Saruman the Many-Colored is building an army to destroy Rohan. It is comprised mainly of Uruk-hai, which happen to be a cross-breeding of Orcs and Humans," he shuddered in disgust. "He has allied himself with the...Dunlendings?" Minato squinted at what he wrote, then shrugged. "As you have probably seen, the worm has sent a crow out to Saruman. He told me under duress and quite truthfully that the content of the message was about Helm's Deep," The Shinobi paused, waiting for the news to sink in before continuing. "He wrote to Saruman about the journey there, how it would be the perfect opportunity for an ambush. He also informed his master about a hole in your defenses there," Minato raised a sun-colored eyebrow as he continued reading. "A drain about as tall as a mead keg and wide enough to fit five. Theoden King," he said looking up at the Horselord with disapproval. "Why does such a big gap exist in your fortress?"

Theoden was unable to come up with an answer, which caused Minato to shrug.

"Mistakes happen," he said, folding away the paper and putting it into his back pocket. He sniffed the air, frowning slightly.

"Is someone smoking in here?" he asked.

Aragorn sighed. He wondered what the shinobi had against pipes.

The young boy who had arrived earlier had just woken up from a long nap, and had been brought into the hall for some food. Minato, Kakashi and Hoshi had also been offered food, and only the elf-like Hoshi accepted. Eowyn frowned at them.

"Is there something wrong with our food?" she asked, rather offended. Both Minato and Kakashi pratically jumped up, protesting.

"Oh no, not at all!" cried Minato, a look of slight fear in his eyes.

"We just are used to eating food that has been treated with lots of medicine, that's all," Kakashi said hurriedly.

Eowyn was confused, but decided that the bunch had weak stomachs and left it at that.

She walked over to the two children who had arrived after the funeral. She asked them why they came to Edoras

Between bites of food, the young boy and his sister told Eowyn that they came from the Westfold because of the Wildmen. She was horrified to hear about the Dunlending's attacks.

Her uncle wished to know why they were here and Eowyn spoke for the shy siblings.

"They had no warning, They were unarmed," she spoke, referring to the people in the Westfold. "Now the Wildmen are moveing through the Westfold, burning as they go,"

Their guests seemed disturbed, and Theoden had his head in his hand.

"Where is Mama?" asked the little girl. Eowyn shushed her, while putting a blanket around the girl's shoulders.

Gandalf was sitting next to Theoden on a stool. Addressing the King, he said:

"This is but a taste of the terror Saruman has unleashed. All the more potent as he is driven mad by fear of Sauron," The Wizard's eyes became intense. "Ride out to meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight!"

Theoden looked unshure, as did the strangers.

"Head on?" whispered Rin.

Hoshi nodded. "As in approaching him instead of waiting for Saruman to come to us," he said quitely

Rin sighed. "No matter what, it sounds like the recipe for a massacre," she muttered.

Aragorn's voice tore her away from the odd children.

"You have a thousand good men riding north as we speak. Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king," he said.

Eowyn was glad to hear that her brother was alright. But the strangers tore her attention back to them.

"Pssst, Hoshi," the boy dressed in blue poked the dark-haired boy who was enjoying the food from the kitchens. "Who is Aimer?"

Hoshi's eye twiched and he swollowed his food. "Eomer is the Horselord who threatened to cut off Gimli's head. He is a good man,"

Rin snorted. "Lacks in manners, though,"

The Shieldmaiden was irked that they talked as if they were the only people in the room. She was pleased that Hoshi stood up for her brother, though.

Theoden King stood up from his throne, looking irritated.

"They will be 300 leagues from here by now," he paced around, anxious. "Eomer cannot help us,"

There was a loud bang and everybody jumped. The lanky boy's dark head had pitched forward on to the table. The short-haired girl had pulled the stew out of the way just in time, and was smiling apologeticly.

"Oh, it seems that Hoshi needs more sleep," the spiky-haired adult said pleasently, though his eyes told a different story. "Carry on, don't mind us,"

Slowly, the rest of the room returned to the topic at hand. Gandalf had stood up from his stool and steped forward, about to say something.

"I know what it is you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people," Theoden said with conviction. "I will not risk open war,"

Aragorn did not look pleased by that statement, removing his pipe from his mouth.

"Open war is upon you, whether you risk it or not,"

Theoden turned to Aragorn, displeased.

"When last I looked," he said coolly. "Theoden, not Aragorn, was King of Rohan,"

"Burn," hissed Obito, who was promptly thumped on the back of his head by Kakashi.

Aragorn's eyes flicked toward the strangers, but he said nothing.

Gimli bealched, helping to difuse the situation. The White Wizard moved forward.

"What is the King's decision?" he asked.

Theoden turned towards Gandalf and said:

"We will go to Helms deep,"

At that, Hoshi shot straight up, eyes wide. He promptly grabbed Minato and said:

*"I need to talk to you, now,"*

AN:

Although I made this story purely for personal entertainment, It worries me that the number of views on this story is significantly less than on the previous one. Is it because this is a sequel, or that no one is interested? I know that some readers probably have dropped me due to the potential OCs. Please let me know why you like/hate this overall plot and let me know if there is anything I can do for the awesome reviewers. (I Like the favoriters and the ones who put me on their story alert list, but anyone who gives me feedback earns a special place in my brain.)

Sorry about that, I just really wanted to get that off my chest. Thank you all.