AN:
Thank You Deadzepplin, GlidingOne, Anonymous Reviewer, and DreamingIn2Eternity for reviewing! And Thank you WolfDemon1000 for favoriting!
I wonder how many of you (reviewers) live in a different time zone than I do (I live on America's eastern seaboard.).
But I am glad that so many of you like Minato's solution to fighting the Nazgûl. Rest assured, The Yellow Flash hasn't seen the last of that perticular Black Rider.
To Reviewer: I wish you better luck on your robotics activities. I am glad that this cheered you up.
So thank you all, and on with the show!
Obito was not sure why Ice Princess had requested his assistance with approaching Aragorn. Eowyn had entered the 'war room' to talk to her uncle moments after the shinobi left and had exited in a foul mood. Since Obito had (foolishly) decided to linger nearby, the blonde had roped him along to persuade Aragorn to speak on her behalf. Her behalf of what, he really didn't care. All he knew was that Lady Eowyn had a very tight grip. She was dragging down near the entrance to the caves, where all the women and children were heading. The goggle-wearer noticed Hoshi standing near Legolas and Aragorn. Obito recalled Hoshi saying that he needed to distance himself from his father, but the tall boy kept indulging himself by often standing in the ranger's presence.
The Uchiha sighed. "I would not like to be Hoshi when Aragorn discovers just who his parents are," he thought.
When Eowyn caught sight of Aragorn, her chilly blue eyes lit up. Her grip on Obito's wrist tightened and she dragged him along faster.
"My Lord," she called. When he didn't respond, she yelled: "Aragorn!"
Obito made eye contact with his foster sibling as Eowyn dragged the Uchiha up to the ranger. Poor Hoshi looked really confused, but shot a sympathetic look back to him. Aragorn seemed to know what Ice Princess was going to say.
"I am to be sent with the women into the caves," she said, looking upset.
Hoshi frowned. "Pardon me, Lady Eowyn," he said. "But I thought that you were going to help Rin in the field hospital,"
Aragorn gave Hoshi a bemused look. "Field hospital?" he asked.
"A temporary house of healing," explained the dark-haired shinobi.
Eowyn shook her head. "Miss Rin made it very clear that if I didn't want to help, than I should just leave," she said bitterly.
Obito sighed. Working in a field hospital was not for the faint of heart. But Eowyn could fight, so then she would be a fine choice for a medic. But if medics did not put their best into their work, the patients would suffer.
"What's wrong with going into the caves?" asked Obito.
"Indeed, that is an honorable charge," added Aragorn.
Eowyn gave Obito a look, causing him to close his mouth. Ice Princess looked quite ticked.
"To mind the children! To find food and bedding when the men return! What renown is there in that?"
Hoshi had a rather incredulous look on his face. "Renown?" he almost whispered with a twich of his ear. The boy turned to Obito. "Do shinobi abandon civilians to gloriously defeat an enemy while their charges stand there helpless? Do shinobi refuse to complete minute taskes in favor of gallaventing off on a difficult mission to bring them fame? Or do shinobi know what is expected of us and carry our duites with the greatest effort we can manage?"
"Indeed we do," Obito said, not even thinking about what Hoshi just ranted about.
Aragorn had listened carefully to Hoshi's spiteful scolding before speaking to Eowyn.
"My Lady. A time may come for valor without renown. Who then would your people look to in their last defence?"
Eowyn was still stubborn and unyeilding, dispite all the evidance that she would be of greater use in the caves than above ground.
"Let me stand by your side," she plead. Hoshi was clutching the pendant of a carefully hidden necklace, looking very uneasy. The boy was beginning to murmur words in Elvish, his grey eyes fixed on the scene in front of him.
Aragorn gave her an apologetic look. "It is not in my power to command," he said, before turning to walk away.
Desperate and a little angry, Eowyn yelled after him.
"You do not command the others to stay," she accused. The ranger turned around to face her, with a well-hidden glint of irritation in his 87 year-old eyes. Obito carefully pried the blonde's iron grip off his hand and dug through his backpack for a water bottle.
"They fight beside you because they will not be parted from you," she continued. The thirsty Uchiha looked at Hoshi, who had the unmistakeable look of denial in his eyes. Aragorn seemed to have gained a smilar look in his grey orbs.
"Because they love you," finished Eowyn. Obito, who was drinking, promptly choaked upon hearing the statement. It sounded as if Ice Princess had been reading one of the Romance books that Jiraiya-sama was writing. As if on cue, Hoshi began to sing.
"Again she fled, but swift he came.
Tinúviel! Tinúviel!
He called her by her elvish name;
And there she halted listening."
Aragorn gave the pale boy a pained look, and turned to Eowyn. The Dunedain seemed to be at a loss for words. The White Lady bore a look of embarrassment on her face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, before hurrying down into the caves. Obito was unsure of how to react. He turned to Hoshi.
"Should I follow her, or what?" he asked. Hoshi was even paler than usual, his grey eyes wide. Aragorn released a heavy sigh. Ignoring Obito, he turned to Hoshi.
"What is that you are clutching?" he asked wearily, a bit of sad curiousity in his eyes.
The lanky boy's eyes quickly narrowed. "Nothing that you haven't seen before," he said brusquely, before snatching Obito's hand and dragging the poor goggle wearer off.
Aragorn and Legolas headed off to the armory to get an idea of the weapons and recruits that were to be used in the upcoming battle. Hoshi's behavior toward Eowyn and his response to his question unnerved him. The child was one large enigma, determined not to be solved. The ranger was pleasantly surprised to find Gimli, Kakashi, and the loudmouthed girl sitting in the armory. The three seemed to have organized the process of handing out arms to a pitch. Kakashi had organized the recruits into groups based on age. The group filled with the oldest fighters were directed to another room soon after they were issued their weapons.
"What's up, Gigantor?" greeted Anko as he walked into the crowded armory. Aragorn raised an eyebrow. Legolas hid a smile. Gimli shook his head and sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Pay no mind to her greetings," said the dwarf. "She is apparently lacking in entertainment,"
Anko wasted no time in blowing a raspberry at Gimli, causing several people to chuckle.
"Hey Kakashi!" she yelled. "Do you know how to fix a radio antenna?"
The silver-haired boy whipped around, his dark eyes wide.
"Where did you get a portable radio?" he said enviously. "That is still new technology,"
The conversation quickly turned to one in their native language, so Aragorn turned his attention to more pressing matters. Looking over the weapons, most of the blades were passably sharp. The armor was not falling apart, so the supplies were in an overall good condition. He really couldn't say the same thing about the recruits.
"Farmers, stableboys," he said with a shake of his head. "These are no soldiers,"
"Most have seen too many winters!" agreed Gimli.
"Or too few," added Legolas.
Both Kakashi and Anko looked up from the odd wood and metal box Anko had placed on the table. The boistrous girl wore a strange contraption covering her ears.
"We take offense to that, Mister Leaf,"
The elf gave her a look, but otherwise ignored the two. Both children quickly turned back to the box, which Aragorn assumed was the aformentioned radio. Although Anko lightened the atmosphere, the air quickly turned back to it's heavy blanket of fear.
"Look at them," said Legolas, with mild anxiety on his face. "They are frightened. You can see it in their eyes,"
The busy hum of the room halted after the elf spoke his words. All heads, bar the shinobis', turns toward Legolas.
The blonde arcer began to pace around. "And they should be,"he continued in Elvish. "Three hundred, against ten thousand!"
Aragorn was displeased with Legolas' pessamistic attitude."They have more hope of defending themselves here than at Edoras,"he pointed out.
"Aragorn, They cannot win this fight,"argued Legolas. "They are all going to die!"
"Then I shall die as one of them!" he cried, striding forward.
"Whoa, Whoa," Anko stood up, holding up her hands. "Who said anything about dying?"
Everyone was silent. Kakashi gave the girl a look.
"You didn't listen to that argument?" he said in a slightly condenscending tone.
Anko raised an eyebrow. "You understand Elvish?"
Kakashi nodded. Anko rolled her eyes then turned to Aragorn, who was still a bit shaken from the confrontation.
"Hold this, please," she said as she shoved a strange bit of thick wire into his hands. "And don't bend it," she cautioned.
The ranger wanted to leave the armory, but since Anko enlisted him, he couldn't. Legolas, bless his disparing soul, had left the armory to allow things to cool off. Many strange looks were directed toward him, but the Dunedain ignored them.
"Just what are you doing, lassie?" asked Gimli to Anko, who was fiddling with several knobs on the box.
Kakashi answered for the busy girl. "She is trying to contact Susano'o, but I don't see why she can't use a summon," he ended in a grumble.
"This is faster," she retorted, not even looking up from the box/radio. Less people were in the armory, but the place was still crowded. Frowning, Anko looked up at him.
"Do you think you could lift the antenna over your head, Mister?" she asked.
Aragorn found the request to be utterly ridiculous, but he did lift the wire over his head.
"I wonder why she cannot remember my name," he thought, feeling progressively foolish as he held the 'antenna' over his head. Then she yelled something into what appeared to be a small ball of cloth attached to (another) wire. Everyone jumped as a hissing and crackling sound in the vague pattern of speech exploded from the headset Anko was wearing. The female shinobi gave a yelp of pain and fiddled with another knob as Kakashi attempted to stifle his laughter.
"Shut up!" she screamed at Kakashi. "No, not you," she said into cloth ball.
Anko quickly returned to her native speech for the rest of the conversation. Aragorn felt his arm slowly begin to fall asleep. The girl gave a sudden shriek of happiness, causing the remainin people in the room to jump. Anko promptly yanked the headset off her head, a huge grin on her face. With a subtle sigh of relief, Aragorn lowered his arm. The wire was promptly snatched out of his hand and thrown over to the box by the hyperactive girl.
"We are getting reinforcements!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Helms Deep will receive reinforcements at twilight!"
Before Aragorn could ask the girl just who the reinforcements were and how great was their number, she ran off. The ranger sighed, drained.
"You should go take a nap, Aragorn-san," said Kakashi. "And you to Gimli. You both have a long night ahead of you,"
When neither of them moved, Kakashi added:
"I promise to wake you both up in a few minutes. Now go rest," he insisted.
Aragorn couldn't help but chuckle as he walked away to find a place to nap. The silver-haired shinobi was right. Being half-asleep during battle did him no favors. The nap would have the added bonus of shaving off some of the time spent anticipating the arrival of both the reinforcements and Saruman's horde. He walked into a room, slightly surprised to find cots laid out. Not being the type of person to question any form of shelter, Aragorn lay down on the nearest cot and promptly fell asleep.
Rin felt sorry for dimissing Eowyn, but the White Lady clearly didn't have any interest with helping out in the hospital. But her disappointment was heavily outweighed by Kuro and his never-ending supply of painkillers and disinfectants, which would be needed over the course of the battle and it's aftermath. Her helpers numbered to ten women and teenagers, who were lead by the elder healer Bisgu from Edoras. Kuro was briefing them on safety and what each of the shinobi's inserments did. Rin double checked all the cots, especially the ones that were in different rooms. It amazed her just how many blankets and cots were avalible, as each one would certainly be needed. When the brunette walked into the last room, she found that someone had fallen asleep on one of the cots.
"Don't wake him up," whispered a voice, causing Rin to jump. She turned to see Hoshi doing one armed push-ups next to another cot, where Obito was sleeping.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked. "Besides the blindingly obvious," she said before he could say that he was doing push-ups.
The odd boy released a mournful sigh. "You have caught me red-handed," he said in a melodramatic whisper. "I have always admired the youthful exuberance of Maito Gai, and want nothing more than to become his desciple,"
The medic had to stop Hoshi from saying anymore because her sided already hurt from trying to hold back the hilarity his words inspired.
"Because watching your potential parent sleep was not already creepy enough," she snickered, her lively eyes flicking in the direction of the sleeping ranger.
Hoshi scowled at her. "I was looking for Obito and I found him in here. Ad-Aragorn just walked in and fell asleep,"
Hoshi's stutter on Aragorn's name did not go unnoticed by the young medic. She walked over to him and sat on the cot next to her tall teammate.
"What is Elvish for 'father'?" she asked him.
Hoshi went silent for bit, chewing his lip. "Adar," he whispered longingly. A tear threatened to fall, but he blinked it away.
Rin scanned her teammate's face, with a look of realization crossing her eyes.
"Hoshi, it's okay to miss your family," she said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. As he began to sob, Rin gathered Hoshi up in her arms. "It's okay to be homesick,"
A bleary-eyed Obtio lifted his head up and put a hand on his foster brother's shaking shoulder. "Yeah, Hoshi. You have a pretty cool home, so it's okay to miss it. Your dad is pretty awesome too, even though my dad is a lot cooler," he whispered, then yawned.
Hoshi gave them a watery smile. "Yeah, your dad is pretty awesome. But I think it would be better if we don't wake Ada, I mean, Aragorn up,"
"Does that mean we have to leave?" Obito said, with a pout.
Hoshi nodded, still looking quite sad. "He has a long night ahead of him, and I am not keen on giving him an addiction to chocolate," he whispered, pulling Obito onto his feet. "Let's go,"
Rin nodded, smiling slightly. The medic knew that Hoshi would have to return home someday. She just didn't want her friend to leave too soon.