AN:
Thank you GlidingOne for reviewing and firefoxynk for favoriting!
Sorry that this took so long. Another long round of reviews spoiled me and I could barely write when there was only one review. Sorry for the complaints, but feedback really boosts my creative thinking. But thank you for the support!
On with the show!
Minato shoved another kunai between the stones of the outer wall. The jōnin wanted to be able to teleport anywhere he was needed within the fort. He dug around his weapon's pouch, only to feel one more of his Hiraishin kunai. Minato sighed deeply.
"Thankfully, this is the last uncovered spot," he thought as he walked to the inner keep. Using a bit of wire, the Yellow Flash tied the kunai from a cobwebbed torch holder. Satisfied, Minato gazed at his surroundings. The sun was beginning to set, splaying shades of vivid red across the rapidly darkening sky. The air was chilly and tense, heavy with the all too familiar feeling of morbid anticipation. The shinobi yawned, greatful for the brief nap he took soon after leaving Thèoden King's presence. His sky blue eyes scanned the faces (or what he could see of them) of the defenders, falling on the ethereal and meloncoly face of a certain archer.
Curious, Minato walked over to Legolas, who was leaning on a sitting on the steps leading to inside.
"Something is bothering you," he said, sitting beside the elf. Legolas did not even turn his head to greet his companion.
"Are you too going to say that we can defeat this force?" he asked, eyes glued to the horizon.
Minato blinked. "Well, why wouldn't we?" he returned, slightly confused. He had seen the way Legolas acted when none of the shinobi were around. The elf was a cheerful fellow, and always seemed to look at the light side of a dark situation. It seemed unlike him to despair.
He turned his head toward him. "We number to three hundred men. They number close to ten thousand. How are we supposed to defeat such a force?" Legolas argued mournfully.
Minato struggled to hide the shock at hearing of such a number. It was rare for a shinobi army to exceed nine hundred on any given battlefield. But the yellow-haired teacher was convinced that they had the advantage.
"Hoshi will lay out traps that will decimate the front lines. Saruman's beasts will lose many soldiers in an attempt to take the wall. While my students and their comrades will not be actively fighting, that doesn't mean they will not help. I have several tricks up my sleeve," he said, counting off their advantages on his hand. "And most importantly, never underestimate the strength of a man defending his home and all he holds dear," Minato finished, leveling a sharp blue gaze into Legolas' equally blue eyes. "Understand?"
The blonde elf nodded, his face breaking out into a smile. "Kakashi and Anko said the same thing," he said with a chuckle. "They also warned me not to lower the morale of the defenders,"
Minato allowed a faint grin to grace his lips. "They have learned well," he murmured. Legolas stood up, putting a hand on the shinobi's shoulder.
"Thank You, Minato," he said gratefully. "Please excuse me while I prepare for battle,"
The Yellow Flash nodded as the elf walked away. Somewhere, a crow cawed. The shinobi stood up. Minato had to find his team and the other two genin and do pre-battle discussion. He unfasted a pouch in his flak jacket, allowing a scroll to fall into his hand.
"Good thing I always carry a couple hundred extra wherever I go," he thought. "Or else I wouldn't last a week,"
Standing up, the yellow-haired shinobi headed inside.
Kakashi did not know what to do to wake up Aragorn. Gimli, who had fallen asleep in an alcove in the armory, had woken up on his own. The ranger, however, was fast asleep. The Hatake sighed. He couldn't use any of his standard tricks, as he did not look forward to dealing with a soaking wet Aragorn and a ticked off Rin. So dumping cold water on the tall man was out. Rin had also refused to allow Cookie the warg in a hospital room, due to sanitation. The masked boy asked Hoshi for advice, but the tall foreigner wistfully replied that he never went near his father when he was sleeping. So Kakashi had to resort to the last procedure he wanted to use.
"Oi, Aragorn-san," he said, poking the man in the shoulder. "Time to get up,"
The tall man stirred, but quickly drifted back to sleep. Kakashi tried a different method.
"Wake up!" he cried, shaking the ranger's shoulder. "The siege is starting without you!"
The chunin had to jump back as Aragorn lept to his feet, disoriented. He stared at Kakashi with unfocused eyes.
"Good, you're up," Kakashi said in a monotone. "The sun is setting, so you don't have much time to prepare before the Uruk-hai arrive,"
Aragorn nodded, giving the shinobi a brief glare while cluching his head. Kakashi waited until the tall man stumbled out of the chamber before giving him a quick bow and leaving. The Hatake had seen both Obito and Hoshi wait for their human alarm clock to leave them before falling back asleep. Despite the ranger's status as a light sleeper, Kakashi wouldn't put it past him to pull a stunt like that.
"Ah, Scarecrow! We were just wondering where you were!"
Kakashi's silver eyebrow twiched at Anko's obnoxiously loud voice as he entered the armory. Everyone was gathered around a table, looking bored or, in Hoshi's case, depressed. It seemed that his teammate had finally become homesick. The Hatake took his place at Minato-sensei's right.
"Just to recap the current situation," the jonin said in their native language. "There is an army made up of roughly Ten thousand Uruk-hai that will arrive here in 3-5 hours. A reinforcement comprised of an unknown number of elves and Susano'o is to be expected here in 30 minutes or 2 hours. So what is the game plan?"
Obito raised his hand, as if he were back in the Academy. "Hoshi, Kakashi, Anko and I will carry the wounded to the hospital, which Kuro and Rin will run. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, Hoshi will lay his traps. You will provide backup to the defenders where backup is needed,"
Minato-sensei nodded at Obito. "That is correct. So does everyone understand their tasks?" he asked, blue eyes scanning the table.
"Hai," said several voices in unison, accompanied by nods of understanding.
Minato-sensei smiled. "Excellent. I am off to see Thèoden King and his men on the matter of long-range jutsu. You still have some time before our preparation starts, so use it wisely and don't cause any trouble," he said pleasantly before teleporting to the 'war room'. Kakashi wondered how the Rohirrim would react to the Summoning Technique.
Kuro and Rin looked at each other before turning to their teammates.
"We are going to return to the hospital. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything," Rin said with a smile.
Anko nodded. "I need a nice long nap, so can I go with you?" she asked, finishing off with a yawn.
Kuro grinned. "Of course! Hoshi had some coffee, so we brewed some," he said, flashing a toothy smile at the meloncoly boy, who gave the Uchiha a weak smile in return.
The hyperactive kunochi turned to Kakashi with a serious look on her face.
"Could you stay in here to answer the radio if Susano'o contacts us?" she asked.
The Hatake gave her a curt nod, and the three left for the makeshift hospital. Kakashi turned his gaze toward Obito and Hoshi, who were sitting on barrels on the otherside of the table. Hoshi's mournful grey eyes were fixed on a booklet lying on the wooden surface. Obito's dark eyes were darting from his foster brother's pale face to the white papers, sewn together with red thread. Kakashi leaned forward to read the title. Much to his surprise, it was written in another language.
"It's *The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi*," whispered Hoshi. "I translated it into Sindrian,"
Obito's eyes finally came to a rest on the book. "Can Lady Eowyn read Sindrian?" he asked.
Hoshi frowned slightly. "I think so," he murmured. His eyes then lit up slightly, his fickle ethereal aura returning. The tall oddball yanked out another white book from his backpack and turned to Obito.
"Could you deliver this to Lady Eowyn, please Obito?" pleaded Hoshi. The Uchiha raised a black eyebrow.
"What makes you think that I would deliver that book to Ice Princess?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"You want to apologize for not backing up her arguement," Hoshi answered, holding out the strangely written book to Obito. He sighed and took the book.
"I'll see you in a little bit," grumbled the goggle-wearer as he headed off to the caves to find the White Lady.
So only Kakashi and Hoshi remained in the armory. Both settled into a comfortable silence, allowing Kakashi to nod off against a support beam while standing up. Hoshi seemed to have fallen asleep, too; his eyes becoming glazed and unfocused, and his forehead pratically touched the table. An uncounted measure of time passed, leaving the shinobi undisturbed until a certian elf approached them.
"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi?" read Legolas uncertainly. Hoshi's head shot up and Kakashi quickly shook his head to wake himself up.
"Is the grammer alright?" Hoshi asked anxiously, wringing his hands. The blonde archer smiled at him.
"You wrote this?" he asked, flipping through the book. "You have a good hand for someone so young,"
The pointy-eared child flushed crimson. "I merely translated it. It is an interesting tale that reveals much about the world of the shinobi. I wanted to share it with my friends in Gondor,"
Kakashi noticed that Hoshi had included illustartions from an artist of everything from shurikin to flak jackets and a glossery of terms in the back of the book. Legolas handed the book back to Hoshi.
"It is a good book. I would like to read it someday,"
Hoshi gave him a half-bow of thanks, a large smile on his face. The archer returned to bow and moved to another part of the armory, leaving the two alone again.
"I see that you two have moved quite a distance," said a cheerful voice.
Obito stood in the entrance. Kakashi rolled his eyes, while Hoshi gave his foster brother an expectant look.
"Did she like it?" he asked as he put the booklet away.
Obito frowned. "She seemed to like it. What book did you give her anyway?" he asked.
"A compilition of the tales and deeds of various kunoichi with illustrations," replied Hoshi. "I think she would like the subject matter very much,"
Kakashi blinked. "You made it for her," he said plainly. The lanky boy nodded.
"I was going to give it to her when I got back, but since she is here..." he replied, trailing off.
Kakashi sighed, preparing himself for another long wait until the sound of a horn reached his ears.
"They are here!" cried Obito, bolting out of the armory, closely followed by his two teammates.
Minato was standing next to the King when he heard a horn being blown. He had recently finished his speech and demonstration of various techniques, causing several of the officers to give him a wide berth. The shinobi exhaled in relief as a messanger from the gate ran into the 'war room'.
Thèoden gave the man a nod, permitting him to speak.
The soldier seemed to be in shock. "A host of the Eldar have arrived, my lord," he managed to get out.
"Did you let them in?" asked the King.
The messanger nodded vigourously. "Of course,"
Thèoden nodded again, before turning to his officers. "Come, let us greet our allies," he said before walking out to greet the elves.
Minato, on the other hand, was a little less patiant. "May I meet you down in the courtyard, Thèoden King?" he asked, walking up to the man.
As soon as Thèoden nodded his consent, Minato hiraishin-ed to the courtyard. He landed right next to Susano'o, who gave a yelp of surprise.
"Minato-sensei!" he cried, basically saluting the jonin with a horn. The boy's signature bandages were covered in black oni blood. "Is Hoshi here?" he asked, almost whispering.
The Yellow Flash nodded, pointing his chin in the direction of the newly arrived Anko, Obito, Kakashi and Hoshi.
Susano'o frowned, before turning and walking up to the tall boy. *"Hoshi, why didn't you set your traps?"*
Hoshi's grey eyes narrowed slightly. *"Would you prefer to be blown up?"* he retorted.
The bandaged shinobi blinked. "You knew we were coming?" he asked in a raspy voice.
Before Hoshi could respond, Thèoden and his men arrived.
Minato's eyes flicked over to see the commander, who stepped toward the King. Much to his delight, it was Haldir. Thèoden had a rather awed expression on his face.
"How is this possible?" he whispered as Haldir gave him a slight bow of greeting.
"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell," said the armored elf. "An alliance once existed between elves and men. Long ago we fought and died together," he paused to look up the stairs as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli arrived. "We come to honor that alligiance,"
The ranger pratically ran down the steps, greeting Haldir in elvish as he reached him. The following action caused the shinobi to double check their eyes. Before Haldir could return the greeting, Aragorn pulled the Marchwarden into an embrace. Despite being taken aback, Haldir returned the ranger's bearhug.
"You are most welcome," he said eagerly, after releasing the elf from the embrace. Then Legolas stepped forward to greet Haldir.
Minato, however, was taken in by the disipline of the Elvish force. They moved as a unit, impressing him when they all turned and set down their long bows in unison.
Haldir had turned and addressed Thèoden again, but the yellow-haired jonin was not listening. In the corner of his eye he saw Hoshi sneak out of the crowd to set his traps in the wide open plain in front of the fortress. It was not easy to see with what little light they were granted. But even after straining his eyes, Minato gave up and turned to Susano'o, who was nursing a bottle of sake.
"Susano'o, where is Orochimaru?"