Night without Day

by depressedchildren

Sasuke never expected to have the children he dreamed of as a genin, nor would he have expected the peace he felt. Yet all good things must come to an end. Hardship after hardship and the family he built in Middle Earth is quickly sucked into the struggles between the free peoples and the Eye in the East. It will be a long Night without Day. Sequel to "The Tale of Day and Night"

3. Chapter 3: A Knife in the Dark

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or Naruto; both works belong to their respective creators and publishers. I gain nothing but writing and editing experiences from this fanfic.

Full Summary: Sasuke never expected to have the children he had dreamed of as a genin, nor would he have expected the peace he felt, with her of all people. But there they were; the happy, "perfect" family. Yet all good things must come to an end. Hardship after hardship befell them, and the family he built in Middle Earth was breaking apart. At his wit's end, Sasuke has no choice but to be sucked into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. The sun has set, and night has taken over indefinitely. Warnings: OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

Warnings for this chapter: character death, f-bombs courtesy of Sasuke

A/N: So my outline went to shit as soon as I started writing this chapter. *sigh* It worked for the last chapter but it was basically burned to ash and was trampled on by a herd of "oliphants" about a fourth the way through. Also, I should have looked at the maps in the books better, because Fangorn is tiny in comparison to Mirkwood, so really like at least ten elemental lands fit into Middle Earth. Whoops! Well, I can pretend Sasuke only saw the north eastern maps.

Also, Sasuke is too broken! I am trying so hard to make this work, but Sasuke's ruining all my plans by how broken he is. So please just use your suspension of disbelief! I beg you readers, please! You will also see much overlap with the other sequel, and there are sections that I have taken from Tolkien so credit goes to where it is due. Anyways, hope you enjoy and thank you to those that have reviewed, and put this on alert or favorite ~ with love, depressedchildren.

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Chapitre trois

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3017 October 4

The sun was finally rising, and in the faint light Sasuke continued racing after the four cloaked figures ahead of him. Though the Nazgûl had little to fear of him, he could still divert them off course and away from the company. It also seemed that losing their cloaks did leave them at a disadvantage; they were less mobile without something containing their shape and they could not fight. It also seemed that they dissipated into the air—perhaps they had to go somewhere to regenerate and pull back together their form. Sasuke hoped that was the case, for he had not seen the Nazgûl he had uncloaked on Weathertop since it vanished the night before. He was not so naïve to think he had killed it, and the old man agreed with him. Speaking of the old man, he was supposed to be chasing after the other four riders and they would meet at noon on the Old Road.

The Nazgûl had learned quickly to avoid the black flames which shot out from his eyes. For most of the night he had used his dojutsu to bring the scattered four riders into a cluster. From there he had unhorsed one of the wraiths with the flames of Amateratsu. He had to extinguish his misses before he burned down whole fields, but thankfully he had mastered this technique over a decades ago, just as he had Susanoo.

He glared down at his bandaged arm before glaring back up at the ones he was pursuing.

Sasuke still couldn't use his arm, but whatever the old man had done with his strange mutterings and herbs had opened a few more tenketsu. The recovery would take a long time, and until the dobe returned—if she ever returned—with those medical scrolls, it would seem his fine motor skills would be reduced. In fact, it was unlikely he would be able to circulate chakra into his arm for at least a year, and even then he may never be able to use it again due to the nerve damage; if the dobe returned with medical scrolls that might change.

Thankfully Middle Earth held no fast opponents or Sasuke might have been much more worried. The average foe Sasuke would face moved at, at most, half his speed. So though he might not be able to use kawirimi form no on, he could still avoid opponents, purely from his speed. Besides, he could do mass damage with his eye techniques still.

Sasuke pushed more chakra into his legs and feet, so that to the untrained eye he blurred out of existence to appear ahead of the Nazgûl. He smirked when he saw them rear their horses back but one was too late. The horse was engulfed in black flames while its rider hopped onto the horse with the only other single rider in their group. The other horses had been successfully maneuvered to turn away from him.

He had to drive them away, he had to. Gandalf was distracting the other four, but it was too late now to worry if this was the right choice; the old man had proved himself to be formidable with his fire and speech-powers. Sasuke would just have to take a leaf out of the dobe's book: he had to put faith in the old man to hold up his end.

… … He gritted his teeth, and shook his head. How the fuck did she always do that!?

…

No one slept the night before—well, besides Dawn, but she had used so much chakra the other day. Minuial looked off to the horizon anxiously. The sun had already risen but they had yet to move out. What if the Nazgûl were out there waiting for them?

The hobbits kept shooting concerned looks up at the sky, as if they anticipated something swooping down upon them or spying on them from above. She felt just as antsy as them, and her nerves were making her ready to jump at any sudden noise. Dawn was still nodding off every now and then, and Minuial wished she could be her for a moment and be able to sleep.

Minuial looked over at her twin and saw her own anxiety and fear mirrored back. They held each other's gaze for a moment longer before Minuial shot off the ground. She couldn't wait here; she couldn't just sit and hope her father was alive.

"I'm going to scout ahead!" she announced, though she dared not speak above a whisper. Ojisan shot her a look that was a strange mixture of worry, resignation, fear, and pain. Perhaps he had known she'd ask this and it struck him like a hammer upon an anvil—he knew it was coming but he had hoped it would not, and when it had, it was a heavy blow. Perhaps Ojisan worried the riders would be waiting just outside of the alder clearing, and once someone left they would fall upon the poor soul?

"Please Ojisan, I need to know Tousan is safe," she pleaded and saw her sister agreeing with her, her eyes were just as hopeful as Minuial's own.

Ojisan had tensed at the mention of Tousan, and she could see his Adam's apple bob for one moment as he swallowed. He feared for his friend just as they. "Please Ojisan," Tinnu spoke up and he sighed as he turned away.

"I will not be able to forgive myself should something happen to you two, but neither can I leave your sister and the hobbits unguarded." He breathed deeply in what was likely thought. With a heavy sigh he straightened and looked a decade older, "We break camp in an hour and make for the Northern path to Weathertop," he announced in a gruff voice that spoke of the difficulty it took to come to that decision.

"Once we are within clear sight of Weathertop, you two may scout ahead and search for any…signs," a chill passed over Minuial at her uncle's words. A sign…remains…anything that spoke of her father being there, or having died there. She tried to swallow but found her throat dry. She looked over at her twin anxiously.

Aragorn saw the exchange and wished it wasn't so, but his friend—though powerful—had faced Nazgûl. They were immortal for all he knew and…and his friend. He shouldn't think such things, but he still feared. His friend may have proven himself a formidable swordsman and the lightning creature was a testament to his power but…Aragorn shuddered. The wraiths could not be beaten. Even by Gandalf they could not be destroyed! What hope was there for his mortal friend, his human friend when an Istar had no hope of defeating them?

The broke camp and Aragorn offered to carry the drowsy Dawn but the twins fought him, and eventually won by reminding him of their speed. Dawn was still exhausted but her strength was slowly returning.

As they traveled the hills drew nearer. They made an undulating ridge, often rising almost to a thousand feet, and here and there falling again to low clefts or passes leading into the eastern land beyond. Aragorn wondered if perhaps he should turn them away from Weathertop, but one look at the drawn expressions on his nieces' faces dissuaded him. He knew each crest and ridge, along which the remains of green-grown walls and dikes stood as the ruins of old works of stone. This path he knew, this path would keep them from prying eyes until they came too close to Weathertop; then nothing could shield them.

By mid-day they reached the feet of the westward slopes, where Dawn regained enough of her strength to travel beside her sisters—much to their protests. Shortly after Dawn was back on her feet, they found a track plain to see; a track now used often by rangers. They turned right and followed it southwards.

Aragorn favored this path above the rest when it came to approaching Weathertop discreetly, for it ran cunningly; taking a line that seemed chosen so as to keep as much hidden as possible from the view, both of the hill-tops above and to the flats to the west. It dived into dells, and the ground on either side of it had lines of large boulders and hewn stones that screened the travelers almost like a hedge.

"I wonder who made this path, and what for," Merry murmured in wonder as they walked along one of these avenues, where the stones were unusually large and close set. "I am not sure that I like it: it has a—well, rather barrow-wightish look. Is there any barrow on Weathertop?" Merry asked in an almost shaking voice as his eyes darted up toward the encroaching hills.

His nieces also looked intrigued as they looked about them. He had shown them maps time and again of this land, and all of the maps had included this track, but it seemed seeing it in person was shocking. He had noticed the awe and wanderlust in their eyes at each new setting, but his fear for their lives made their wonder seem selfish and childish. How could they enjoy the travel when they were risking their very lives!?

"No." Aragorn began as he attempted to shake away those thoughts by casting his gaze about. As they had made their way, he occasionally saw slight trails of smoke rising in the east in different spots, as if some intense fire had burned briefly in that direction; usually it was past Weathertop but it made him nervous nonetheless.

"There is no barrow on Weathertop, nor on any of these hills," he paused again, and briefly wondered what horrors the hobbits must have faced to be so afraid of barrows. He could make a vague guess given the legends circling around the Barrow Downs, but he could not say for sure. The hobbits had clearly had a rough time since the Shire; after all, he had seen the fear in their eyes when he spotted them in the Prancing Pony. Perhaps he could take their minds away from their pressing fears through a little history?

"The Men of the West did not live here; though in their latter days they defended the hills for a while against the evil that came out of Angmar. This path was made to serve the forts along the walls. But long before, in the first days of the North Kingdom, they built a great watch-tower on Weathertop, Amon Sûl they called it. It was burned and broken, and nothing remains of it now but a tumbled ring, like a rough crown on the old hill's head. Yet once it was tall and fair. It is told that Elendil stood there watching for the coming of Gil-galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance."

The hobbits stared at him in wonder, and his nieces looked at him as they often did when he lectured on past events; however their awe was still present, especially for his descriptions. Since Sasuke and his wife knew so little of this world, Aragorn had been the girls' educator in a sense. Though, with his frequent absences he had done a poor job, and wished now that he had taught them more deeply—perhaps then they would not have followed him? Even now, though, he dared not talk of what exactly the Nazgûl were.

"Who was Gil-galad?" Merry questioned softly, perhaps he was shocked that someone as rough looking as Aragorn was so well versed in old lore. He refrained from chuckling at their assumptions, but he did not answer. Instead, Sam began to sing in a low murmur, as if too afraid to raise his voice:

"Gil-galad was an Elven-king.

Of him the harpers sadly sing:

the last whose realm was fair and free

between the Mountains and the Sea.

.

His sword was long, his lance was keen,

his shining helm afar was seen;

the countless stars of heaven's field

were mirrored in his silver shield.

.

But long ago he rode away,

and where he dwelleth none can say;

for into darkness fell his star

in Mordor where the shadows are."

The young hobbit trailed off at the mention of Mordor, so much so that the final words in the stanza were barely a whisper on the wind. He was shaking now, and all the hobbits looked down at the ground in slight fear.

Aragorn looked at the stout hobbit appraisingly and wondered where the young hobbit had learned that lay. He seemed to have had some schooling but not a terribly good deal of it, so his rendition caught Aragorn off guard.

"That's the Fall of Gil-galad, or a part of it, isn't it?" Tinnu asked softly, while Minuial began to mouth the lyrics she knew. "You taught us it in sindarin."

"Yes I did, someone must have translated it. I imagine Bilbo did," Aragorn smiled softly at the thought of his elderly friend.

"There was a lot more," Sam whispered with his face flushed slightly from the attention, "all about Mordor. I didn't learn that part, it gave me the shivers. I never thought I should be going that way my-myself," he swallowed thickly and looked around him again in anxiety.

"Going to Mordor!" Piping exclaimed in a frightened whisper, "I hope it won't come to that!" the youngest hobbit pleaded slightly, "I can only hope we make it past those riders!"

Aragorn turned on them; the hair at the back of his neck was standing on end, "Enough talk of that place!" he hissed at them before turning to look around him once more. Dread was closing its cold hand around his stomach and he wanted to turn them all away from Weathertop, but for the girls he could not. If there was some evidence of their father's survival or…passing…they had to know.

He tried to shake away the feeling he had gained from the hobbits' murmurs of Mordor, but it was growing on him as they continued toward Weathertop. The sun was now high in the sky, and soon they would have to make camp, but they were far too exposed. He wished for Dawn's illusion's protection, but he dared not ask for it lest she overexert herself. Before they had been in more open land and now they at least were screened by the ancient passage, but soon they would have no protection from eyes on Weathertop.

They continued their travel and soon made it to the southern end of the path and their screen. Again, he wished to send his nieces out to scout, but he feared too much for their safety to ask it of them. He saw the twins look toward him with expectant gazes, as if wondering when he would issue the order for them to scout. Concealment was no longer possible but they could hope no spies or enemies were observing them.

"We will make for the north facing hill. From there we will move westward where a dell flanks Weathertop. It is a sheltered hallow which should provide grass for the ponies." He had camped there once before, and it had been a kind of refuge that offered a slight bit of protection, though it was still well in view.

Soon after his announcement they arrived at the dell, but as Aragorn looked about he felt as if his hair was standing on end. They should leave, this didn't feel safe. In fact, as he looked about the dell he found heavy boot prints, and there were many of them. However, he was pulled from his survey by his anxious nieces.

"We're going to look for-for signs," Minuial blurted out though her words faltered toward the end. Aragorn was not even given a moment to speak for Minuial had grabbed her twin's hand and raced off toward the towering hill on their right. Dawn looked torn for a moment but quickly ran after her sisters. She had been informed, Aragorn imagined, sometime during the day's travel as the sisters talked in their mélange of tongues.

"I will walk the perimeter," Aragorn began slowly as he began to climb out of the dell, "Keep your wits about you and your guard up," he murmured, still unsettled by the feeling in the air and the footprints he had seen. Perhaps they would pause here for a short moment before continuing on, even though dusk was approaching, he did not feel safe to stay in the shadow of Weathertop. He had a feeling it was not rangers that had last camped in this dell.

As Ojisan climbed out of the dell, Dawn caught up with her sisters easily, though she did feel the familiar ache in her muscles caused by her recovering reserves. She had regained most of the charka she had expended the day before, but she was not at all like her parents. She knew she had higher than average reserves, which was practically a given with her parents, but she had held up an illusion for hours. Her body had even ached at mid-day from all the chakra she had expended.

Her sisters gave her worried looks but they continued on their hurried run. They moved like burls across to the hill, which was mostly cast in shadow now. They ran up the sides and ended up at the top of the monolithic hill, but other than the area appearing burned, there was no sign of anyone having been there. They began to make their way more slowly down the hill, their eyes focused for signs of their father instead of the black specks moving toward the dell.

It was on her way down that Dawn felt a shift in the hill beneath her feet. It was uneven and oddly so. She jumped off of the hill and stood to face the wall she had been at and activated her sharingan. In the shadows she saw—burned onto the face of the giant earthen structure—Japanese characters the size of a full grown man. The angle of the sun had hidden it from view, all day that they had been in sight of the hill and even now it shielded the letters from view. Perhaps if they had left earlier in the morning they would have seen it, but the autumn sun moved quickly across the sky.

Dawn felt a smile tug on her lips for the first time in what felt like ages. Her fear for Tousan was suffocating, and she knew her sisters felt the same, but here was all the proof she needed to know he was alive. Tousan may be the more subtle parent of the two, but when he was angry he often threw caution to the wayside, and he was clearly angry.

Used karin—still alive. You're all grounded indefinitely.

The lack of sentence structure suggested he was hurried but it also suggested how worried and angry he was. Words likely were escaping him and he wrote what best he could to get across some of what he wanted to say. This also explained her father's poorly planned location for the sign.

She read what Tousan had written to her sisters and they looked visibly relieved.

"Guess that means Haldarad won't be visiting for a while," Minuial joked slightly.

"And no fuinjutsu or pranks for you two," Dawn replied with an almost playful but mostly vindictive smile. She had felt her face flush slightly from the Haldarad comment but she had known it was coming.

The twins groaned in unison but an inhuman shriek tore across the air and froze them in their places. They all stared at each other in horror for one long moment as the same thought crossed all of their minds. That shriek came from the camp and was a black rider's cry. When the three answering cries rose up into the air, Dawn was racing back to the camp along with her sisters. The hobbits were in danger and so too was her uncle.

…

It had been a game of cat and mouse until mid-day. He had unhorsed all of the riders and had left them trapped in a ring of Amateratsu; it would be their uncloaking to try to escape the fire, though Sasuke could feel the drain from keeping the technique contained and going. Since perhaps midnight he had been using his Eton techniques, and by noon it was taking its toll.

When he met Gandalf on the road—and it was easy to find the lone dot on the horizon— the Istar regard him with a grim expression and Sasuke knew immediately what was to come. He had not! This was why Sasuke didn't put his faith in others, they ultimately failed him!

"You lost them, didn't you," he didn't even try to phrase it as a question as he regarded the old man with contempt.

The old man, for his part, remained upright and with his shoulders back. He met Sasuke's glare and nodded slowly, "For most of the night I had kept them in a group but then they scattered. At least they ran off and away from Weathertop."

If his eyes weren't already burning from all of the chakra he had been pumping into them that day, he might have considered putting the old man through Tsukiyomi. Instead, he breathed out slowly as he closed his eyes for what felt like the first time all day. He wondered how long it would take to pop a blood vessel, though thankfully he no longer had to worry about blindness…

Shaking his head, Sasuke ran his moveable hand through his hair. With one arm useless he couldn't create clones to chase after these unaccounted for Nazgûl. In addition, if he was gone much longer from his ring of fire, it was likely the flames would cease to burn since they had eaten up all of the grass and likely a good portion of the ground. He had made sure the technique was highly concentrated and would not burn anything that did not cross its path, and he flames would not leave the ring he had created; however chakra and proximity was needed to sustain the technique. He was quite proud of his level of mastery over the technique, but he was truly beginning to feel the drain.

"There is little we can do to chase them again, and I have begun to wonder if it might be best to lead them away versus drive them away. Perhaps if we begin making for Rivendell as if we know they are headed there, the Nazgûl will chase after us?"

"That is a lot to be putting on chance, old man," though Sasuke wondered what else they could do. At least his four were unhorsed and a fair distance from Weathertop. Whether that was the case for Gandalf—a fair distance from Weathtertop, that is—was another story.

"I believe this might divert more of their attention away from the giant letters you burned onto Weathertop," so the old man was going to bring that back up? He just stared back with his most neutral expression.

Sasuke had said he was going to leave a message for his daughters and the old man had agreed to it. Besides, he had made the characters large enough that anyone a good distance away could see it in the early morning light—for he assumed the Nazgûl would still be being chased away and thus not be able to see, if they could see to begin with—and later in the day it would be shadowed, so that should they—meaning, Gandalf—lost their Nazgûl, they would not be able to see the message. Even then, if the Nazgûl happened to see the letters, they could assume he was warning people away from this hill or perhaps he was making a declaration of some kind. It was true it drew attention to the hill, but he had faith that his daughters would move out early enough to see the letters before they were shadowed or right next to the hill.

"Done?"

The old man pressed his lips into a thin line at Sasuke's comment, clearly not amused, but then he sighed. "There is no use in squabbling over this. We will make a wide pass back around to the west, as if we are looking for something. Then, we will make straight eastwards towards Rivendell with great haste. Perhaps we may deceive the enemy into believing we have learned something new."

Sasuke stared at the old man for a moment before glancing down at his arm in frustration once more. If he could just make clones or any jutsu—excluding his dojutsu—for that matter, there would be no need to discuss this and his daughters would be safe! He was positive his ring of flames had died out by now, and so with a sigh he nodded slowly.

Gandalf nodded in return, his expression was grim again. He turned toward Shadowfax which was panting, and prepared to mount when Sasuke grabbed his sleeve.

"I will say this once more," he began in a low, threatening whisper, "should anything happen to my girls, I will put your through hell."

The old man met his gaze head on, "And what if it is their actions alone which harms them?"

"I'll still take it out on you or whoever convinced them to commit such folly."

The old man held his stare for one more moment before closing his eyes heavily and sighing, "You are a worried father and still young, even foolish," Gandalf began. When he opened his eyes they were hard, and his smile was almost bitterly sad.

Sasuke gripped tighter to the old man's sleeve as his eyes began to bleed red again despite the burning in them. He would not be called foolish! Yes he was a father, and he was worried, but that did not make him foolish! His was thirty-four damn it! He was not young, he was not some teenager to be treated indulgently!

"But in these dark times, Dû," the old man continued, "you must be prepared for the worst and face it like man. You must bear the weight and grief on your own. You cannot take the pain out on others like a wounded adolescent," the old man finished as he tugged his arm out of Sasuke's slackened hold. He then fluidly mounted the white-gray horse and turned the creature around.

Sasuke's hand dropped to his side with his jaw clenched tightly as he began to grind his teeth slightly in anger. He was not a teenager, and he was not a coward. He would face whatever came like a man! This old bastard did not know him, and had no right saying what he had, yet… Sasuke closed his eyes tightly as he turned back toward the west; the old man had a point. He had to brace himself for the worst, for what would it do to take his grief out on those around him? Sure it might feel wonderfully good for a short time, but would it bring his daughters back? Would it bring the dobe back? Would it do any good at all? No. No it wouldn't.

If his daughters died they died, and no matter how much he raged or took it out on what was around him, it would not change that fact. And Gandalf was right, he had to prepare himself to face that possibility.

…

When they reached the lip of the bowl shaped dell, Minuial saw two fierce, black horses waiting for their masters to return, or perhaps they were just as affected by their masters as Minuial felt. The air seemed heavy and oppressive, and as she began to make her way down into the dell she had the strongest desire not to move any closer. But the hobbits were down there and so too was her uncle. She couldn't back down now because of a suffocating, palpable fear hanging in the air.

The hobbits were circled around what appeared to be a hastily built fire. Each had their backs to the flames as they held a make-shift torch in one hand and a knife—that worked as a sword—in the other. Aragorn was already meeting one of the riders head on with his usable sword in one hand to block their attacks and a torch to make it jerk away from him. This survey was completed in less than a second, for she moved down into the dell on the next one. One of these riders was reaching for Merry, who had been so kind and understanding during those difficult times when they were all subjects of Ojisan's anger and disappointment.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tinnu racing toward a rider attacking Sam, and though she could no longer see her sister she imagined she had an arrow notched to let loose on the rider approaching Pippin. She briefly wondered why there were only four riders and two horses, but as soon as she came to the bottom of the dell, those thoughts were driven away by a crippling fear.

She was going to die. The fear was cold and heavy, it made her arms and legs feel like lead as she stopped between Merry and his attacker. She couldn't move, she couldn't…even as that sword came ever closer to slicing her in two.

"Miss Minuial!" Merry's cry snapped her out of whatever daze held her, and in a flash she withdrew her broad swords and raised them up in an 'x' just in time to catch the blade coming down at her.

She gritted her teeth and widened her stance to take the force of the attack. She was then able to push the rider's blade up higher as she got into range to kick it. She twisted her blades to the side in hope of disarming the creature, but it only made the creature pull its sword away. No matter, she followed her move with a twisting kick that she laced with chakra. The rider gave a surprised shriek as it was kicked to the side several yards.

She stood there panting with her eyes wide. Why couldn't she get enough air in her lungs?! Was it this horrible feeling in the air? It was then that she heard the dying cry of a horse and it sent shivers down her spine and into her feet, but it didn't come from one of the ponies—they were behind her and the noise came from ahead of her.

She quickly looked around as the rider she knocked off its feet was righting itself. Minuial saw her sister still at the top of the dell, but instead of aiming down into the dell, she was aiming across and at the horses…why? Why would she do that? But as she was looking behind her, Minuial saw that Pippin was left unprotected and the hobbit was shaking in his place. He wildly swung his torch at the creature, but something was odd about his movements…they were slowing down, more and more. Dawn's bow movements were still incredibly fast but they were more perceptible, and as Minuial looked over at her twin she saw Tinnu moving to block and then kick away the rider much slower than she should have been moving at. What was happening?

Her rider was still down but the rider before Pippin was about to strike down on the hobbit. Her eyes widened and she moved faster than she had ever moved before. She would push aside the crippling fear she felt, she would fight, she would protect, but most importantly, she would kill these creatures. She would kill this rider.

She caught the slow moving sword in with the edge of her left sword, and as the rider's blade slide along hers she threw her arm to the side to cause the sword to divert path and fall into the ground. She cast her gaze about her and saw an almost blinding source of energy behind her, but it was foul.

It came from Frodo's waistcoat pocket, but what was most alarming were the traces of chakra at the hobbit's brainstem. She noticed the hobbit drop his blade and torch as his similarly chakra coated hands reached down to the waistcoat pocket. What was he doing? Was he possessed? Perhaps he was….didn't genjutsu work by sending chakra into the target's brain?

"Minuial!" she heard Pippin call in fright. She turned around just in time to see the rider moving his sword to cut her in half.

"Duck!" she yelled as she moved into the riders guard and pivoted around it. In that brief moment she saw Ojisan move to protect Merry who had bravely raised his knife-sword up against the advancing rider. She also saw Frodo becoming coated in that corrupted energy.

But she had no time to think as she slammed her elbow against what should have been the creature's spine. She then ducked to avoid the creature's responding spin and swipe. She was within its guard now but with its arm crossed over its body, it would swipe either back the way it came or cross down at where she was crouched. She managed to flip backwards and out of the way of either attack.

She fixed the creature, which was moving strangely slow, with a hard gaze. She would not fear these things, she would kill them; she would!

She charged before the rider had a chance to reposition his hands or ready himself. She was in his guard within the blink of an eye with her arms crossed over her body so that her left-handed blade would swipe across the creature's neck as her right-handed blade swiped diagonally across the creature's torso.

Her momentum was the only reason she was able to follow through with her attack, for as soon as her blade came in contact with the rider's body, a cold seeped up through her broadswords into her hands, and then into the rest of her body. Her swords were beginning to shake as if meeting more resistance than they should when cutting into an enemy. In fact, she saw in slow motion her swords disintegrating, or perhaps bursting, into tiny pieces about mid-way through her attack, but even then the cold had reached all of her and it was choking her.

Her vision began to spot out and she screamed in an attempt to get air or heat back into her lungs. Everything felt so cold, so terribly cold! Darkness consumed her vision as she fell backwards onto the ground, but it wasn't the ground any more, it was just dark.

Before her in this pressing void was the rider, but he appeared as an ethereal old man with a very long beard. He was perhaps a lord before he became whatever he was, but this wraith was the only source of light in the void.

It staggered away from her before righting itself and raising its sword. Minuial scrambled to her feet, but it felt strange… Her limbs felt so cold and heavy, as if all the energy had been sapped from her. The creature was no longer moving slowly, in fact, it was moving as quickly as her, even faster than her!

She scrambled backward out of the way of its downward sweeping attack, and shakily she drew out her trench knives. It was just them in this great, endless darkness. If she did not kill this rider in here, then she would die; she knew it, and that thought alone was all that motivated her numb and heavy limbs into moving.

She jerked out of the way of another swipe and wondered why this rider was moving faster than she could! She hastily rolled to the side to avoid another downward strike. She jerked back to her feet and was now in the rider's guard. She pivoted around the ethereal creature and once at its back cut it with her closest knife. It bled, surprisingly, and Minuial was calmed by the realization this thing would die in this void.

She barely ducked the rider's responding attack, and she did her best to stay to its back, but being of almost equal speed, she was forced to withdraw from it. Her technique hinged on speed and being able to get into her opponent's guard. But this blackness, this void, it almost seemed to equalize them, yet she knew this creature was more powerful than her here.

She stared at it panting, unable to get enough air in her lungs. The longer she was in here, the more drained she became; as if the darkness around her sapped at her strength, her will. Minuial had to end this, and end this quickly or she would surely die.

The rider seemed to know what she was thinking for it smiled mockingly with rotted teeth showing. It set its sword to act as a spear to skewer her, but she had to move now, she had to end this! She raced toward the creature as it knew she would. Just before the creature was about to skewer her, she twisted to the side, which caused the blade to slice across her stomach, but she was able to pivot so that she was once more at its back.

She jumped and braced herself with her left arm on the wraith's shoulder. With her right hand she reversed her grip so that she could rake her knife across the creature's throat and thus sever its arteries.

As the creature fell to its knees, she was able to touch the ground again. She was trembling all over, as if that last attack had taken what remained of her strength and will. Her legs gave out under her and she fell backwards into the sea of darkness. She could hardly breathe. She panted heavily as she lay there with her stomach dribble blood from the thin, long cut. Minuial felt herself fade farther and farther away. Farther…and farther… …away.

…

The old man's plan had worked for the most part, but Sasuke braced himself for the worst when he saw two horses chasing after them with two riders on each. That meant four horsed riders were still out there, still chasing his daughters. He could vainly hope that the other Nazgûl were hiding in the shadows of the sloping hills, or searching farther away from Weathertop, but he would be a fool.

"Let me burn them," he hissed at the old man who was practically lying across Shadowfax's neck to stay on the creature as well as move as quickly as possible.

"You will catch fire to the fields!"

"I'll put it out, and it may uncloak the rest of them. That would mean four less pursuers."

"Only if you have a good chance of hitting all of them in one," Gandalf replied in a solemn tone.

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the response, it was a reasonable stipulation. If it appeared that they were back on the offensive, they might be driving those riders back toward his family.

It was nearing sundown, and the hills before them seemed to go on forever. He cast a glance behind him, he couldn't chance it; they were riding too far apart. There might already be four riders after his daughters now, if they could keep the attention of these riders it would lessen the danger for his children. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. That was what he would have to do. Only when he had a guaranteed chance of hitting all of them with Amateratsu would he do it. He supposed if it came down to it he could always turn around in front of them, but what if there were hidden riders in the shadowed hills?

He closed his eyes tightly as he leaped across the ground in time with Shadowfax. Please, please, let my daughters be safe. He didn't know who he was pleading to, who he was begging this of; perhaps the spirit of Itachi, or the gods he had little faith in, but he continued to repeat those words in his mind.

…

Dawn saw it all happening in slow motion and each moment was burned into her mind. She had taken out their horses after she realized her arrows had little effect on the riders. With the horses gone they could then flee without the fear of pursuit. She saw Ojisan knock back the rider he was fighting before he was forced to protect Merry when Minuial had shifted her assault onto the rider attacking Pippin. She saw Tinnu holding her own but her fear was consuming, and Sam ended up throwing frying pans at the rider when Tinnu was frozen in her place at the creature's screams.

Dawn also saw the youngest of their family, if only by a few hours, unlock her bloodline, and the pride she felt lifted the fear suffocating her—but that was quickly replaced by horror when she saw her baby sister scream after attacking one of the creatures solidly. Minuial's newly unlocked sharingan faded away, and her eyes were wide open in horror as she fell backwards as if struck.

Minuial was so pale and Dawn could not see her chest rising or falling. Her bow and the fitted arrow fell from Dawn's hands. She was supposed to protect them and now…oh gods. Dawn shouldn't have let the twins persist, she shouldn't have caved in! This was all her fault! Oh gods, she killed her sister, she let this happen!

He legs gave out under her, she had promised Tousan so many years ago, after she accepted the fact Kaasan had abandoned them, that she would protect her sisters with all she had. She wouldn't let them be hurt! She failed, she let this happen.

She saw Tinnu had froze in shock or fear, but so too had Ojisan. The riders were going to take advantage of that. No! No! Dawn wouldn't let anyone else die because of her stupidity, because of her irresponsibleness!

The wind picked up suddenly around her. Two skeletal arms made of wind rushed at the riders advancing on her family and knocked them off their feet. She then noticed something was wrong with Frodo, he was screaming and that one rider… damn it, she failed again! The rider had its blade in a strangely chakra-coated Frodo. She screamed as one of the hands grabbed the creature and threw it as far as the wind arms could. Her sister, her baby sister was dead because of her, and Tinnu was so frozen in fear she would surely die soon if she didn't get the riders away.

Dawn wanted all the riders to go away, she had to and the wind—which sapped the chakra from her like a thirsty man gulped down water—responded to her wishes. Panting, the wind arms threw the two remaining riders away from them. The wind died down then and Dawn looked down into the dell.

The air was still for a long, heavy moment before she and Tinnu raced toward Minuial. Ojisan looked torn between Frodo and Minuial, and Dawn wanted to curse him for that but he ended up kneeling alongside Dawn and her sister. The hobbits were surrounding Frodo, and fretting over him, but Dawn only had eyes and ears for her dead sister.

Ojisan set a hand to Minuial's head, his face grim and aged. "She is cold as death," he breathed before searching out a pulse.

Tinnu looked as if the ground had opened up under her. She was lost, ungrounded. Dawn wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulder, her only sister left…she felt the tears burning her eyes long before they began to fall. Tinnu held onto Dawn's dress front tightly as she pressed her face into Dawn's neck and began to sob.

"There is a pulse, but it is faint," Ojisan's expression belied his hopeful words, and Dawn felt her breath catch in her throat before it came out in a sob. She wasn't dead, yet. Oh gods!

"Strider!" cried Sam from over by Frodo, who was no longer coated in chakra. "Mister Frodo's been stabbed!" the hobbit's voice was almost shrill in his panic.

Ojisan moved over to the hobbits almost reluctantly, but Dawn took Minuial from his hands and set her head on her and Tinnu's lap. Dawn brushed absently at Minuial's hair, and when her fingers grazed her sister's forehead, she almost jerked her hand back in shock. Minuial's skin was cold to the touch.

Aragorn forced himself to remain composed. He had to be level headed and strong for them. The hobbits were ready to break when Frodo suddenly reappeared with a sword half in his chest, and his nieces were barely hanging in there, metaphorically and physically—in Minuial's case.

"Sam, I want you to begin steeping this plant in a pot," he held out a pouch of Athelas. There was no time to waste. He had seen the skeletal wind monster that had covered his eldest niece, and he had seen the wind creature literally throw the Nazgûl at least a league, but who knew when they would be back. He was glad Dawn had taken out their mounts, which would make it a simple matter of mounting the ponies to flee the riders when they came, but right now he had two injured charges.

Still, Minuial was fading fast. It was almost as if her will had been crushed by a greater will. He unconsciously glanced toward the crumpled rags of what had been a Ring Wraith, though perhaps that was the case; the wraith was dead but it had destroyed her will in the process. It was hard to believe, but she had killed it; she had truly killed it, but at what a cost?

Aragorn kneeled down beside Frodo who was gasping for breath against some type of pain, likely from the poison on the Nazgûl's blade. Gingerly, Aragorn moved aside the hobbit's tunic and vest to assess the wound. For a moment, in the fading light, he saw a glint of metal, which was quite possibly a piece of the blade. No matter how much Athelas he used it would do little good until that piece of the blade was removed, though Aragorn did not have the skill to do so.

He moved the hobbit closer to the fire where he could smell the sweet and reviving fragrance of the Athelas. "Dawn, Tinnu," he called the sobbing sisters, "drench a rag in the pot and rest it against your sister's head," he ordered before turning to Sam, "scoop out some of the steeped leaves and wrap them in a cloth for me," he ordered again. "We must keep both of them warm," he ordered. He could see them both fading, and it was quite possible they could turn into wraiths without healing.

Aragorn turned back to the wound; it had to be purified of the Morgûl taint before it spread further. It would take elven healing, but perhaps he could hold the hobbit over until they reached Rivendell or help.

Sam was quick to act and handed Strider a sodden cloth, which he let the plant cool in before he set the sodden leaves against the open wound. He then used the wet cloth to wipe at the edges of the wound and clean away some of the blood. Frodo was lucky it was not a fatal wound, but without treatment he could become subdued under the Nazgûl will.

Aragorn took bandages from his pouch and began to dress the wound. As he was doing so, he looked across the fire to see Tinnu pressing a cloth to her sister's head. Aragorn was shaken from his observation by Frodo coming to. The hobbit was certainly made of sterner stuff than he had thought, but Gandalf had hinted as much.

As he finished dressing the hobbit's wound, he heard Frodo recount what he had seen and the compulsion he had to put on the ring. He wanted to curse the hobbit, but he was not foolish enough to doubt the seductive power of the ring. He could hardly blame the hobbit, though he would never want to be ring bearer himself. Not with his family history.

With the wound dressed, Aragorn began to move back over to his nieces while the hobbits wrapped Frodo in extra cloaks and brought him closer to their fire.

Aragorn knelt down beside Minuial and felt for her pulse as he took the cloth from Tinnu and soaked it once more. He couldn't speak to them now that the immediate danger had passed, for he knew he would yell and blame them for what happened to his niece—to their sister. They seemed to know this too.

"It is all my fault," Dawn whispered almost brokenly in sindarin as she stared down at her pale sister, "She is going to die because I-I did not—"

"It is my fault Dawn!" Tinnu interrupted before shakily adding, "We should not have—"

"No, you should not have! You are exactly correct!" Aragorn snapped as he interrupted his niece. He would not take their self-pity at this moment. He had warned them time and again that they were endangering their lives by doing this, but they had not listened and continued to defy him. And…and he had failed them all; Frodo and Minuial had been injured and were likely to die if they did not get proper healing!

He dropped his head and closed his eyes tightly. He shouldn't take his anger out on them. He ran a hand through his hair before standing and looking out east, "We need to move. They need treatment that my skills cannot provide," the hobbits looked up at him with wide eyes.

"These leaves," he gestured to the steaming pot, "are a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle Earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely and only near places where they dwelt or camped of old; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small."

He closed his eyes tiredly but the scent of the plant was calming his mind down and he could see it easing the hobbits' minds as well. Frodo looked up at him gravely, and he could read the question clearly in the hobbit's clever eyes.

"Frodo, you will need safety and eleven healing, for an accursed blade gave you that wound. I know you are made of sterner stuff than you appear, and I have faith you will not succumb to the evil of that wound," he paused and could see relief spreading over all of their faces, "however, we must be quick lest the wound grow worse and my healing incapable of helping."

Frodo nodded in understanding but it was Pippin who spoke up in disagreement, "What about the other five riders? Would we be running into them if we left so soon? It's nearly night!"

Aragorn looked away from them all. He knew they shouldn't have come near Weathertop but he had ignored his instincts and it had cost him dearly. What worth was his leadership when he seemed to make nothing but mistakes?

Should they run into the other five wraiths…well, they would likely be looking for a large company, especially if they happened to join back with their unhorsed comrades. No, they needed speed and stealth now; that was the only hope for Frodo and his niece…yet Minuial was responding well to the Athelas, so as long as they stopped periodically to steep its leaves and set rags against her head, she should hold on longer than Frodo should his wound grew worse, but he could not burden both of his nieces with an injured comrade.

He turned to look at his lost looking nieces. He saw guilt plainly on their faces, and for a moment they looked like little girls again—not young women eligible for marriage. He closed his eyes heavily. He did not want to do this, but time was of the essence and it was a long ways to Rivendell. He had faith in Frodo to hold out, but there was no guarantee.

"Were you taught how to transport injured persons?" the girls nodded curtly to his question. Aragorn nodded as well, "Then you will prove yourselves now and make up for your brashness," he was being harsh and cold, but his anger at them and himself was burning hot in his veins. They flinched at his words but nodded gravely in understanding. He regarded them sternly, "You will take Frodo and follow the Road to the Ford of Bruinen, hopefully you will chance upon Gandalf or one of the Eleven scouts."

"They should take their sister, I feel well," Frodo immediately protested, but Aragorn turned on him along with his nieces. The girls had a hard look in their eye that told Aragorn they were going to prove themselves no matter what and Frodo seemed to understand that.

"You wanted their protection before, Frodo," Aragorn reminded him almost vindictively and he noticed the hobbit flinch, "Now, they will spirit you Rivendell. They know how to move with the shadows and avoid detection, I have faith you will travel more quickly and safely with them," though it weighed heavily on his heart to say so, to endanger his nieces more than he already had, "The rest of us will act as a diversion, and I doubt when Minuial is on your pony that the Wraiths will think she is anyone else but you."

The rest of the hobbits were looking at them with furrowed brows but a grim smile from Frodo stopped their questions.

"Very well, Strider," Frodo spoke in westron, "I will travel with your nieces and Minuial will travel on my pony and pretend to be me." Dawning realization moved across the rest of the hobbits and they looked ready to protest, "I trust you two to protect me," Frodo addressed the pale yet determined sisters. They nodded in return before looking back down at their sister.

"This will be for the best, Sam," Aragorn addressed the stout hobbit who was ready to protest, "My niece will need the invigorating scent of Athelas more frequently than Frodo, and my nieces will transport him to Rivendell much faster and more discreetly than we could hope to. I do not doubt that if we remained together, Frodo would make it Rivendell, but there is no telling how terrible his wound might be by then."

The hobbit's rebuttal seemed halted and he just nodded resignedly. Aragorn, satisfied with the agreement in the group, turned to his nieces who both gingerly brushed at their unconscious sister's hair. "One of you will scout ahead and search for more Athelas, I am afraid I do not have enough to split amongst us. You know how to find it," he added and they nodded curtly before gingerly setting their sister onto the ground fully and standing.

"I will carry you Frodo," Tinnu announced as she moved around the fire. Aragorn nodded in agreement, she was faster than her sister and he knew she had memorized the map of this region. She would make their way to the Ford with little trouble.

"I will begin searching for more Athelas," Dawn then flickered out of sight, and Aragorn grimly watched in the fading light Tinnu situate Frodo in a recovery position that would jostle him the least in their travel.

He had to pray for the best. He had to hope he was not endangering Minuial more by using her as a decoy of sorts. He had to hope his nieces would not run into trouble, and he had to pray his friend was a live, for he had heard no news from the girls.

…

Night was practically upon them, along with the wraiths when they suddenly halted and froze. Sasuke faltered in his run to look behind him. It was at that moment that the four following wraiths gave inhuman cries of rage and…and fear? The two horses were turned around and made to travel back west.

Sasuke glanced back over at Gandalf who had brought Shadowfax to a halt several feet away. The old man seemed just as confused as Sasuke. Why? Why were they heading back that way?!

"I will proceed ahead and look for Elven scouts—"

"Fuck no!" Sasuke cut the old man off, and of course Gandalf jerked back affronted. "We go back, cut them off, and guide them into an area where I can light them up!"

The old man stared at him from his most imposing height, but Sasuke held his ground and even began running backwards in the direction the Nazgûl had gone. "You saw them, old man, something caught their attention. It could have been an ally of theirs or the Ring. Are you going to chance it?"

The old man glared at him before he sighed and maneuvered Shadowfax to turn around. "I am assuming you can go faster?" He asked and Sasuke smirked slightly, which was all the answer Gandalf needed, "Very well, overtake them and I will bring up the rear to guide them."

The former nuke-nin needed no further encouragement and disappeared in a blur as he raced after the Nazgûl in the fading light.

He wove through the hills and cut in front of the creatures. The horse whinnied and attempted a sharp turn, which it completed successfully, but now it was galloping closer to the other Nazgûl pair, as Sasuke had intended. He flickered in front of the other pair before flicker again to the side of the same horse. The creature reared back on its hind legs and dropped its riders. Sasuke didn't hesitate and activated his eternal sharingan before setting them ablaze with the all-consuming black flames.

Now he only had two to deal with, since the others were uncloaked. He did not expect to have the same luck again, but he would do what he could regardless. He quickly put out the fires before they spread and hurried after the other two Nazgûl. He would keep his eyes peeled for any shifting shadows that might indicate their allies. He could not risk his family, not again. He had to drive these creatures away, he had to immobilize them.

The horse wove expertly between his flickering images, so much so that even when Sasuke suddenly appeared before it, the horse was able to maneuver around him.

They continued this, but now the horse had slowed down substantially, and Gandalf was closing in to their left. Smirking to himself, it would only be a matter of time until the Nazgûl were trapped.

…

Tinnu continued running with Frodo securely positioned on her back. "How are you?" she asked lowly as she darted into another night shadow, "I'm not jostling you too much, am I?" she asked as she continued moving like a blur.

The hobbit let out a shaky breath, and she began to ramble, "This is my first time actually transporting an injured person—I mean, I've practiced but that's not the same thing as actually transporting someone who's—"

"You are doing fine, Miss Tinnu," he replied in an uneasy tone, "I have just never moved so quickly before," he caught his breath sharply and she could feel his hands hold onto her shoulders in a vice like grip, "It is a little terrifying."

"Oh…sorry," she looked about her and continued moving in the darkest places. Both of them had their cloaks up and the hobbit was shrouded in several cloaks to keep warm. Dawn would likely meet back up with them soon, which might break up the awkward tension between them.

She had crossed several more yards in the matter of seconds when Frodo spoke up softly, "I am sorry to have dragged you all into this, I-I—" his voice was choked with guilt and Tinnu tilted her head down.

"No…we caused this ourselves," she murmured, "we just wanted to prove we could be so much more than housewives. We wanted to fly for once in our lives." She felt her eyes burning and her throat closing up. Look where their selfishness had brought them, Minuial was going to die…

"We wanted to help…." She began to slow down as her vision blurred around her, and before she knew it, she had stopped and couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Frodo slid off of her back when she dropped to her knees. She could hear him shifting as he moved to face her uncomfortably, but then she felt him tentatively place his hands upon her shoulders.

"You and your sisters are braver than many men, and I know Minuial will be fine…" he trailed off and squeezed her shoulders, "She killed a Black Rider; she is strong."

Tinnu looked into the hobbit's face and saw his sincerity through her blurred vision. "She is," Tinnu gasped as she nodded. She had tried to be strong but this was her twin, her other half, hanging onto life by a thread. Her head fell against the hobbit's uninjured shoulder and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and Tinnu clung to his cloak as if she might fall over.

As she cried she heard a familiar screech fill the air and she jerked back in alarm along with Frodo. Dawn touched down several yards away but it was clear it was her based on the way she moved. Dawn was looking off into the distance as if tracking people. In the darkness, Tinnu could see her sister's eyes glowing bright red with her sharingan, and not for the first time did she feel jealous that she did not have those eyes. She had been so afraid during the fight but Sam would snap her out of it and Ojisan was so near at hand she had not truly feared for her life.

Tinnu tried to look where her sister was looking, but she saw nothing but shadow—not even a silhouette on the horizon could be seen.

Tinnu pulled herself together and positioned Frodo onto her back again, and in one bound, landed beside her sister. Dawn suddenly gasped and a smile split across her face, "Tousan!" she murmured and nearly dropped the leaves she held in her hands.

"Tousan?!" Tinnu found herself repeating with growing hope. Tousan could heal Minuial, he could take them home and they could pretend this was a horrible nightmare, "You see him?!"

"Yes! He's with this old man on a grey horse—I think," Dawn squinted slightly, "They have a horse with two riders cornered and—" she broke off and gasped as another high pitched shriek filled the air, "He set them on fire, but the flames are…black. Do you know what technique that is?"

"No…" Tinnu frowned but she shook her head and looked excitedly at her sister.

"What language are you speaking? It sounds like Sindarin yet not…" Frodo spoke up from over Tinnu's shoulder, but the girls barely paid his question any thought as they both began running toward where they knew their Tousan to be.

"It's a mix," Tinnu replied in an excited tone, "Our father is up ahead and he seems to have killed two more black riders."

"Should we head that way? There may be three more!" Frodo sounded alarmed and Tinnu could understand why, but she needed her Tousan after the disaster their adventure had been, she needed him.

"He'll protect us," Dawn answered for Tinnu, her tone almost came off as cold, but Tinnu knew better. Dawn was just as excited, but she was also anxious.

As they hurried across the rather open country, Tinnu began to make out two silhouettes. One was unmistakably her father and the other was a man on a horse. For a moment she feared it was a rider but she remembered her sister's description from before.

Sasuke panted as the last of the Nazgûl's cloaks smoldered away. He stopped the fire from spreading but he felt the strain of using Amateratsu for the majority of the day. He vaguely thought he felt two chakra sources coming towards them and so tiredly turned his head to the side. His sharingan made out the figures approaching with startling clarity and his fatigue was forgotten.

He did not say a word to Gandalf as he took off in a blur to meet his daughters half way. He noted the hobbit in a recovery position on Tinnu's back but in his elation he pushed the thought aside. He enveloped both girls, and consequently hobbit, in a one armed hug. He set his head atop Dawn's head for she was the tallest. As he hugged them, he felt the stress of the last few days draining away from him.

The hobbit gave a cry of pain and Sasuke let go of Tinnu to grab Dawn's face. Screw Uchiha stoicism, he was so happy they were alive and safe. He pressed kisses upon her forehead while looking not so discreetly for any injuries. He then turned to Tinnu who had set the hobbit back on his feet. He grabbed her face and gave her the same treatment, but as he looked between the two he realized something his elation had blocked.

"What happened," he demanded as he pulled back from them, his face a neutral mask.

The girls looked between each other guiltily and looked down in shame, no…no, they did not abandon Minuial—he and the dobe had taught them to never abandon their comrades! Unless…oh gods no…

His legs gave out under him, no… no… "What happened?" he repeated, his voice cracked twice but otherwise came out strong.

The girls began to cry but did not answer. That seemed to seal his fears.

"Miss Minuial is alive still," the hobbit spoke up, but his head was also bowed in shame. Sasuke looked over at him uncomprehendingly, she was alive still. Still alive…meaning not dead…yet.

"What happened!" he demanded as he looked between his daughters before looking at the hobbit again, perhaps he was more willing to speak.

Just as the hobbit was about to speak, Gandalf trotted up next to them and practically jumped off of Shadowfax.

"Frodo! What are you doing here, where is Aragorn?" the tall man knelt beside this Frodo, and he grabbed the hobbit's shoulders to look at him seriously; however the hobbit winced and shied away.

"What happened?"

"That's what I've been asking!" Sasuke gritted out and glared at the still silent hobbit, who looked ready to go on a long monologue of whatever had passed since he last saw the old man. Sasuke didn't care if the hobbit was injured, he wanted to know what happened to his daughter.

"Oh Gandalf!" the hobbit cried, "I do wish Butterbur had sent your letter—"

"Tell me what the fuck happened to my daughter before I—" Sasuke had interrupted the hobbit and held him up by his cloak with his good hand. His eyes were spinning with the sharingan again despite the ache all the chakra to his eyes was causing.

"Dû!" Gandalf had cut Sasuke's threat off and sent him a hard glare. Sasuke remained holding onto the wide eyed hobbit and just sneered at the old man.

"You Middle-earthlings talk way to fucking much. For all I know, my daughter is on the brink of death and no one is telling me what happened!" he growled this out.

"We-we're sorry Tousan!" Dawn finally spoke up brokenly beside him. "I-I failed to protect—"

"We shouldn't have left, we're sorry!" Tinnu cried at the same time and Sasuke set the hobbit down as his expression softened into a neutral one.

"You can apologize and tell me your failings later," he looked them both in the eye and they nodded slowly, "What happened to Minuial?"

Gandalf looked between them before taking Frodo aside to get what information he could out of the hobbit, which would likely be a long summarization of perhaps months. Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes at them.

"The riders found us," Tinnu began, "We got your message," she attempted a wry smile but it fell short, "but then we heard the riders."

"We fought them and then Minuial…she killed one of them, but she fell into a coma, I think," Dawn looked at him in confusion and Sasuke knew he looked slightly skeptical, "Why didn't that happen to you when you killed them?"

"I didn't kill them, I uncloaked them which leaves them without a shape," he shook his head and looked at his daughters in disbelief, "What do you mean she killed it? I was under the impression they were immortal. I used chidori on it and it still did not die," he then gestured down to his lame arm and the girls gasped as they looked at it.

"Oh no! You can't heal her now!" Tinnu wailed in despair before she began crying again, "She's going to die, she's going to die!"

"I can do minor, one-handed healing techniques, but if the damage is substantial…" he shook his head. He had to focus, "Where is she?"

"Probably still at the dell below Weathertop." Dawn responded for her hysterical sister.

"Then we need to go." They could not delay if they felt so certain their sister was going to die, oh gods…he couldn't lose her after all they had gone through. He couldn't lose one of his baby girls—and they would always be his babies because in his mind they were.

"What about the riders?" Tinnu asked as she tried to get her tears under check.

"That was the last of them," Sasuke stated quickly before amending his statement, "excluding the ones you fought."

They nodded again and Sasuke straightened up next to them, but he cast one look at Gandalf who was nodding to what the fast talking hobbit was telling him. Sasuke had to interrupt, though he really shouldn't bother informing the old man—Sasuke's actions were his own—but he didn't want to be halted with questions when he tried to leave.

"I'm heading with my daughters back to their camp. Perhaps you two should continue your chatter while making for Rivendell before his injury festers." It took very little brain power to deduce where the girls were headed without their Ojisan but with an injured hobbit instead.

Gandalf blinked several times before looking back at Frodo, "What were you injured by?" he asked almost urgently.

"By one of the rider's blades," Gandalf's eyes widened and he quickly scooped the hobbit up onto his horse and mounted behind him. "Farewell, Dû, and good luck. Should we not meet again, you are a formidable warrior," he then nodded and spurred the horse on. Sasuke glared after the old man before he turned to address his daughters.

He didn't need to say anything for both girls knew what he would have said, and in unison they hurried off back toward their camp.

They moved in silence across the now open country. His daughters were on either side of him as they led the way. They had their arms thrown back as proper ninja should, and he knew they were circulating chakra into their legs to push them faster and faster across the country. He knew his daughters were exhausted, particularly Dawn, and he briefly wondered why that was—her fatigue was much greater than Tinnu's and unless she used more jutsu than her sister, he saw no reason for it. His daughters seldom used jutsu while they fought, perhaps the occasional kawarimi or illusion, but they had no true offensive jutsu.

With the speed they were traveling they crossed a large part of the country and so quickly came upon a company of four ponies and one man walking. Based on his silhouette, Sasuke deduced it was Aragorn.

"Sasuke?! Dawn?! Tinnu?!" the man walking moved faster toward them as Sasuke and his daughters slowed down. Sasuke noted that Aragorn was leading one of the ponies by the reins while its rider was slumped against the pony's neck. The other ponies were spurred faster by their riders, and soon they were all in one large group.

"Friend I am glad you are well," Aragorn began in a low voice, though the ranger did not move to clasp arms as they often did in greeting. Though, Sasuke only spared the oddity a little attention before he nodded his greeting in return. His gaze then shifted over to the slumped rider. The rider was covered in cloaks which made it difficult to see who it was, but Sasuke deduced this must be his daughter.

He started to reach for her as he began speaking, "What exactly happened? I understand she killed a Nazgûl but describe what happened." It was a struggle to get her off the pony with his one arm but Aragorn came up beside him and helped him get Minuial down onto the ground.

"I did not see what happened, only that she screamed followed by the Nazgûl which then seemed to crush in upon itself…it was…a strange sight," Aragorn replied slowly as he helped Sasuke move away the layers of cloak.

"Nazgûl are the riders?" Dawn asked, likely for clarification but Sasuke's attention was too focused on his youngest daughter—if only by a few hours—to answer. Minuial was pale as a corpse and when he brushed some hair out of her face, her skin was chilled, much like his arm.

Dawn likely got her confirmation for she began to speak, using the new term for the riders hesitantly, "Minuial was fighting the…Nazgûl with her broadswords and she was able to cut it diagonally across the chest while cutting it horizontally at the throat. Halfway through her attack she screamed and her swords…they burst into a million pieces!" Dawn sounded horrified yet also in disbelief. She knew how they forged their weapons and so knew there was no simple way for them to literally burst into pieces.

"W-wait, Tousan, you put your hand through one! I-is that why—?" Tinnu was speaking up now and was at his side as well, but he held up his good arm to silence Tinnu and hold off her concerned actions. He needed to think.

It made no sense that she would have symptoms like those in his arm if she had not physically come in contact with the creature's insides. He had been feeling for a pulse and there was one, but it was terribly faint. This would not due…

He began to circulate chakra into his tired eyes, and he heard the hobbits gasp and take stuttering steps back. However, as soon as Sasuke had his sharingan activated, you could see no glow of chakra, not even at the point where all chakra originates. That was not possible!

With one hand, he ran through the hand signs he had used to open up a few of the tenketsu points in his arm, he then set it just above his daughter's navel. The chakra flickered before being snuffed out like a candle…

"Tousan?" Tinnu began slowly, and he could feel Dawn kneeling down beside him in concern.

"My friend?" Aragorn questioned cautiously, and Sasuke wanted to yell at the man and curse him. Why hadn't he protected his daughters better!? Sasuke closed his eyes tightly, and shook his head to push aside the rage. As he closed his eyes he deactivated his Sharingan.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but I can't keep quiet no more!" a stout hobbit spoke up suddenly, "Where's Mister Frodo, what's happened to him?"

Sasuke shot a glare at the hobbit and he jerked backwards like he was struck but it was Dawn who spoke quickly and absently in response to his question, "This old man, Gandalf, took him."

"Gandalf!" the hobbits cried in relief and excitement, but before they could begin asking a million and one questions—as was the habit of Middle-earthlings—Aragorn broke in.

"My friend, what is it? You looked as if there was no hope, what do you believe is wrong with Minuial?"

Sasuke took a deep breath before he looked at each of his conscious daughters and his friend, "There's no chakra left in her, but she still has a pulse."

"What?!" Dawn and Tinnu shouted. Aragorn, for his part, looked concerned but not nearly as much as he should look, but then he did not know to the full extent what chakra meant.

"It should be impossible," Sasuke agreed with his daughter's disbelieving looks. "I tried to open her main tenketsu point but it remained shut and my chakra just disappeared," he paused and took in a shuddering breath, "I don't know what to do to help."

Aragorn looked like he was pondering something but he eventually spoke up, "Sasuke," he began, "to me it seemed that her will had been overpowered by a much stronger one. If that is the case, eleven healing may help…"

He would have preferred a more definite response but it would have to do. He would take whatever risk if there was a slim possibility for his daughter to recover.

"How do I get there?" Sasuke was already wrapping the cloaks back around Minuial.

"It takes at least a fort night on foot to get to Rivendell, and even then, sentries may attack you!" Aragorn looked like he wanted to physically stop him but he dared not.

"Then give me a letter of introduction!" Sasuke snapped back before he took a deep breath, "If you tell me how to get there, I can most likely get there before the old man and that hobbit do." He was exasperated and worried, and if anyone tried to stop him, he really should not be held culpable for his actions.

Aragorn looked ready to speak up again and Sasuke growled in frustration, "Just do this for me Aragorn before my daughter dies!"

The ranger flinched, perhaps partially because he used the rangers real name—which Sasuke seldom did in the company of strangers—and also because of the man's own guilt over Minuial's condition.

"Tousan, I'm sorry I should have protected—"

"We shouldn't have left, I'm sorry—"

Both his daughters had decided to speak up at the same time, and Sasuke closed his eyes tightly as he interrupted them in a very controlled voice, "We will discuss this later." They flinched but Sasuke continued on, "I will take your sister now, and you two will travel with your uncle to Rivendell. Am I clear?" He wouldn't be separated from them any longer, and he was not sure if it would be safe in Bree for them.

The girls looked down at the ground and nodded heavily. Sasuke then prepared to set Minuial on his back in a recovery position. It would be awkward and he would likely have to tie Minuial's hands together in front of him so she would not fall off. He could only hold onto her with one hand, which made matters very difficult.

"My friend," Aragorn began, though his voice was low and suggested the guilt he felt, "when you take breaks steep Athelas and soak a rag in the water to set upon Minuial's head." He paused and seemed to be rummaging in his pack. He continued to do so as he continued speaking, "The scent may revive her failing will, and should her condition worsen, I would suggest doing the same again."

Aragorn was now scribbling on a piece of parchment quickly before he began to work off the silver ring he wore—the one with the two snakes with emerald eyes who were eating each other. He straightened and handed the parchment and ring to Sasuke, who tucked them into his makeshift kunai holster, "This should get you entrance into Rivendell, and I have explained what happened so you will not be required to," there was a slight glimmer of amusement in his gray eyes as he said this, and Sasuke scoffed. The ranger did know him well, for Sasuke would not have the patience to deal with the questions the elves would likely ask him.

"H-here you go sir," the stout hobbit who spoke up earlier held out a small cooking pot, "for the King's Foil," he stated as he put into the pack Sasuke had moved from his back to his front.

Aragorn then gestured off toward the south, "You will take the Old Road since you do not know the landmarks well enough to travel as a ranger would. You will pass the Last Bridge and after passing through the Trollshaw you will come upon the Ford of Bruinen. At that point you will likely gain the attention of sentries, and once presenting the letter and my ring they should escort you the rest of the way."

Aragorn set a hand onto Sasuke's shoulder and looked at him gravely, "I should have protected them better, or sent them away," he practically whispered these words and Sasuke sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Like they would have listened," his voice came out gruffly. Aragorn sighed and shook his head at the truth of the statement, "We'll talk about this later." Sasuke had spent enough time with all of this, it was time for him to make for Rivendell and quickly.

He nodded to the company around him before shifting Minuial on his back slightly before bending forward so she would be resting more on his back without choking him or falling off. Sasuke then began to run as quickly as he could without jostling his daughter.

Within a matter of moments, Aragorn could no longer see his friend, though Tinnu and Dawn continued to look into the distance as if they could see him still.

Aragorn refrained from sighing, but he felt like a failure all around. He had proven himself to having poor leadership skills and his friend—practically brother—could now lose one of his daughters. With Arad—because Aragorn would never feel comfortable calling her Naruto—possibly gone forever, his friend would not even have the possibility of growing a larger family to try to ease the ache of losing a child.

He felt eyes on him and repressed a sigh again. The hobbits and his nieces were likely looking to him for leadership. Sure enough, when he turned around they were staring at him expectantly.

"We should continue on as planned. There are Nazgûl behind us on foot, but if we rest they may catch up with us, for they travel most swiftly by night. He then looked to his two nieces, "Had your father informed of their status? Are the rest chasing after Gandalf and Frodo?"

"No…" Dawn began before Tinnu piped in.

"Father said he uncloaked the last of them," her tone rang with forced enthusiasm and her expression was tight.

"Uncloaked?" Pippin asked, though his voice broke in the middle of it. "What does that even do?"

"Umm…well…" Tinnu furrowed her brow and grimaced in thought.

"Father said they were left without shape, which seems to make them harmless?" Dawn frowned slightly. Though she wasn't positive this was the case, it would certainly make her father's dismissive nature of the information make sense. He seemed to think those riders would not bother them again.

"I see," Aragorn nodded his head, "then we should continue on, and the road may even be safe to travel, though I know more secret and sometimes faster routes," Aragorn thought over which travel path would work best and nodded his head when he came to a decision, "We shall take the fastest routes which will be a mix of the two."

With a plan in mind, he began to lead them across the fairly open country. It was quiet for a few moments, but he could practically feel the hobbits bursting with questions.

"Why was your father traveling with Gandalf?" Sam spoke up, "And Mister Frodo is truly traveling with Gandalf to Rivendell?"

Dawn looked over her shoulder at him in confusion for a moment but Tinnu spoke up first, "Is Gandalf that old guy with the really long beard and hair and the blue hat?"

"Yes," Sam replied quickly, visibly relieved.

"Um, well we don't know how father began traveling with him," Tinnu grimaced and shrugged slightly, though Aragorn noticed her actions and expressions were stiff; a sign that she did not want to be interacting with the hobbits, but rather be with her thoughts. Aragorn could almost imagine of what nature her thoughts were, for he imagined they were like his own: he had failed, allowed this to happen, but above all else, he feared for his niece's life.

No, such dark thoughts could be thought on later in the light of day, for now they must be driven away. "I imagine your father discovered your absence and went to search for me or my location," the girls winced but he proceeded on, "and chanced upon Gandalf. Though I do wonder how exactly they came to travel together," the girls nodded their heads, perhaps because they knew their father did not trust easily. Aragorn agreed but he also knew that Gandalf did not trust so easily either.

"We must be pretty lucky then," Pippin chirped, which earned him looks from everyone around the young hobbit, he grimaced and shrugged, "well Gandalf will get Frodo to Rivendell quickly, as will your father—Sasuke wasn't it?" the hobbit seemed to find the name strange.

Dawn and Tinnu nodded their heads slowly, though they did not look as positive as the young hobbit did, and Aragorn had to agree with them. If they had truly been lucky, they would have avoided the Nazgûl altogether.

"You know, your father seems awfully familiar," Merry murmured with a pensive expression. Pippin had his brow furrowed for a moment but then recognition appeared upon his face, though Sam continued to look puzzled.

"Yes, he does seem familiar…" Pippin trailed off with his own confused but pensive expression, "You know, he looks an awful lot like that blacksmith apprentice that lived in Crickhollow before it became haunted."

Aragorn chuckled slightly as they continued traveling. The hobbits, as well as his nieces, turned to look at him in alarm, "What is it Strider, do you know of whom we're talking about?' Merry asked with an almost excited edge to his voice.

"By any chance was this blacksmith apprentice named Dû and did he have a wife with golden hair named Arad?"

"Yes!" Pippin practically jumped up and down before he paused, "Strider, have you had much business with hobbits then?"

"Mother and Father used to live in the Shire, didn't they Uncle?" Tinnu asked and Aragorn nodded. He remembered his friend telling him so once when Aragorn described what the Grey Company often did—that being, protecting the Shire.

"What?!" exclaimed the hobbits and Aragorn found himself chuckling slightly.

"Perhaps one of you two could demonstrate how your parents were able to blend in with the hobbits?"

The girls nodded and held their hands up in a strange form before there was a cloud of smoke and a replica of Sam and Pippin stood before the hobbits. The hobbits' eyes looked about ready to pop out of their heads.

"We're not sure how Mother and Father created their own illusions," Dawn, or at least Aragorn presumed the Sam replica was Dawn, stated before continuing, "Though they have had many more years of experience transforming their appearance."

The girls then released the illusion and the hobbits continued to stare at them in amazement. "Your magic is so fascinating!" Pippin exclaimed while Sam threw a wary look their way.

"Gandalf doesn't do any magic like that," the stout hobbit had a slight frown on his face after the initial shock and awe had passed. He even looked unsettled.

"It is not magic. We use this energy to shift the way the light hits us so that a different image is given off," Dawn stated confidently.

"I am afraid, my niece, that they will not understand what you mean, for I do not understand it in the least," Aragorn looked wryly at his nieces who both opened their mouths as if to speak, and explain just what they meant, but the last time that happened Aragorn's head had been left reeling. There was something about how the eye perceived a reflection of light off of things, which made absolutely no sense to him, and then there was the following discussion on night vision being a widening of a part of the eye to let in more starlight. He just shook his head.

"Why not I tell you more of Gil-galad?" he asked over his shoulder to the mounted hobbits, who visibly looked relieved while his nieces began to pout again. "You two may aide me in the telling, or perhaps we should recite another old lay?" he mused and Dawn practically jumped in excitement, though they all knew this was to stave off the dreadful thoughts and worry she had for her sister.

"The Tale of Tinúviel!" she exclaimed smiling slightly, "You sang it to me often as a child," she added in a smaller voice.

"That I did, perhaps both of you could sing it with me?" the girls nodded, and again relief shown in their eyes for the distraction. And so they traveled through the night and shared ancient elven songs with the hobbits.

---

3017 October, 5

He had to stop; his limbs were burning from the chakra he was expending as well as from the near non-stop running of the past five days. Sasuke had had no sleep either in at least two days, and even before when he did sleep; he would only get a few hours' sleep at a time.

He crouched down and carefully took Minuial's arms from around his neck and did his best to lay her gently on the ground. It took a bit of contortionism but he managed even with his lame arm.

Sasuke knew he had passed the old man sometime near dawn, for he was now traveling much faster than Shadowfax, but he was still perhaps only half way through the plains. He could see the shadow of a tree line on the horizon, which he presumed was the Trollshaw. If it took a fortnight on foot to reach Rivendell, what would that mean for him?

He pulled up a mental map. That forest Fangorn, though vast, spanned a fair bit of the Elemental Lands but was about the distance from Bree to the Bridge of Mitheithel or the Last Bridge. That bridge was about a half-way point between Weathertop and Rivendell. If a ninja was running at full tilt with few stops, it would take perhaps four or five days.

He sighed heavily and shook his head. Sasuke then moved to feel for Minuial's pulse. When she had been on his back he could feel her shallow breath puff against his neck, but now that she was laying down he had no way to tell if she was still alive, and it was not cold enough to see if her breath fogged up a kunai. He sighed in relief at the slow but still present pulse he felt beneath his fingers.

Sasuke looked around him but found little he could use for a fire in this wide plain. Instead he poured some water from his water skin into the pot that stout hobbit had given him. Sasuke then put in a few Athelas leaves before he set the pot on the ground and began to channel his fire aligned chakra into the pot.

It was soon steaming, and the scent revived some of his energy and soothed his sore limbs, but this wasn't for him. He grabbed a cloth and dipped it into the steaming water though he refrained from grimacing at the heat. He then used the side of the pot to help him wring out some of the water. From there he gingerly set the rag against his daughter's cool forehead.

He rummaged through his pack for a moment and found one of his apples. It was bruised and beginning to wrinkle, but he had eaten very little in the last five days and had expended far too much chakra for the amount he had eaten. Once he ate down to the core, he tossed the remains behind him and wetted the cloth on Minuial's forehead once more.

Sitting down for what felt like the first time in days, and the clear scent of the Athelas invading his senses, emphasized the lethargy he felt in his limbs. Without really knowing, his head dropped forward and his eyes closed.

"Teme" the dobe whispered into his ear before she pressed kiss against the shell. Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he turned to see the dobe kneeling behind him. Her arms were draped over his shoulders and she was pressed against his back. She smiled slightly.

"Teme" she whispered again as one hand slid down his damaged arm, and for a moment he could feel the nerves react and tingle. "War is coming" she murmured before she dropped her chin onto his shoulder. Sasuke furrowed his brow as the dobe continued speaking.

"War is coming whether you fight or flee," her hand moved away from his arm again and grabbed his jaw. She turned his head toward the east.

The line of trees in the distance glowed with fire, or so it seemed. When he saw no flames eating away the leaves, he thought it was a sun rising above the tree line. But then he saw it, an eye wreathed in flame. "See, teme, war is coming no matter what. The question is: what will you do?"

He turned back to the dobe and she gave him a small smile before fading from existence. With a gasp, Sasuke's head shot up and he looked around him in confusion.

"Dobe…" he called but saw the area was just as it had been when he must have fallen asleep. The east was clear, and the sun was getting higher in the sky—it was perhaps mid-day. He shook his head and moved to check on Minuial.

He would eat one more apple, and help Minuial drink little water—so she would not die of dehydration—before setting off again. He would get Minuial to Rivendell as quickly as he could, and once there he'd let himself think. War is coming, hmm? Well, his family wouldn't fall into it so easily.

---

A Suivre

---

Naruto smiled as she pressed herself against the teme. They were outside somewhere but it wasn't the Old Forest or the chetwood that surrounded Bree. In fact, they seemed to be in an open yet slightly hilly plain. Off in the west was a large hill with a conical top that was slightly flattened. Hmm… why would she and the teme be out here?

No matter, she was with the teme again. Smiling, she pressed a kiss against his ear while calling her endearment for him. The teme turned his head to look at her, but he looked so tired and haunted. She frowned slightly and moved to drape herself over his shoulders. It was then that she noticed his arm was bandaged. Curious, she slid her hand down his arm and could feel the coolness of the teme's skin through the bandages.

She frowned and wanted to ask why his arm was the way it was but he continued to look at her with a tormented expression, "War is coming, dobe; no matter if I fight or flee, it is coming," he almost looked frightened.

"Teme?" he ignored her worried question and turned to face the east.

"At least you will be safe from it," he sounded relieved, "War is coming to Middle Earth and I don't know what I will do."

"Teme!?" she tried to get him to look at her again but he wouldn't. Growling at his stubbornness, Naruto looked over into the east and gasped. There was a huge ball of fire! Wait…no, that was an eye—a fiery eye! She stumbled backwards in alarm and felt her body collide with something else. She looked down and felt her breath catch.

Minuial? What?! She looked so pale, like death. "Minuial?!" she called, but as she reached out for her daughter she faded away, along with the teme.

No, no! "TEME! MINU!" Naruto shot up on the hospital bed, grasping outwards as if her husband would be there waiting for her, but all she met was air.

Kakashi shot awake at his former student's worried cry. His back felt stiff from falling asleep in the chair, but at Naruto's renewed sobbing, he set aside his back pains and reached a tentative hand outwards.

Naruto jerked back slightly and looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. "Kaka-sensei?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes Naruto-kun," he gave an eye-smile and the blonde sniffled a few more times before hugging him. It seemed strange to call this full grown man—this replica of sesnei— –kun, but that was how he had always called Naruto. Naruto would always be that seventeen-year old that joined the five great nations in battle against Obito.

"You're Hokage?" he asked with a wavering smile as he pulled back.

Kakashi swallowed thickly as he nodded. "We searched for you…" it felt wrong wearing this hat with Naruto awake and before him. The blonde looked down almost guiltily.

"I should get Tsunade-hime,"he stood slowly and began for the door but he paused and looked over at the skeletal blonde on the bed, "I've thought about passing the hat off to Konohamaru in a few years."

The blonde smiled broadly and Kakashi could tell it was genuine, "Good, I bet Konohamaru will be an excellent Hokage."

Kakashi nodded and left the room. Once he left the room he took a moment to collect himself. That had been a test, a test to see if Naruto still wanted the Hokage title, and he…he didn't. Oh gods, that was like seeing Obito behind the mask all those years ago. It felt like some fundamental part of who Kakashi was had turned out to be false. Whoever the skeleton on that bed was, it wasn't really Naruto…not any more.

"Hokage-sama?" Tsunade was walking down the hall at that moment with a clipboard in hand, "Has the patient awakened?" he could only nod. "I see, well, should be begin questioning?"

"I suppose," Kakashi was surprised by how even his voice came out.

She nodded and entered the room first, Kakashi followed her numbly. He sat down in the same chair he had vacated only a few minutes ago. Naruto immediately greeted Tsunade with the warmth and over familiarity he had always greeted the woman with. She smiled fondly in return before sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Naruto-kun," she began once pleasantries were completed "We searched for you for seven years, what happened?"

Naruto looked down at his lap in shame, clearly understanding the stress and sadness he had put everyone through.

"Naruto-kun?" Kakashi ventured, "I tried to follow you with the Kamui but I never could. Please, what happened? Where have you been?" the blonde bit his lip as if anxious and uncertain whether he should tell them or not.

"I woke up naked without any idea who I was, where I came from, or where I was," Naruto stated at last in a small voice, "Otherwise I would have found a way home sooner."

"How long did your amnesia last?" Tsuande asked in a professional manner.

Naruto's hands began to tremble and Kakashi could see tears gathering in his eyes. "Kurama was prolonging it, but I eventually regained them eight years ago." Naruto closed his eyes tightly and clutched her blankets as tears began to fall, "I spent nearly three years trying to find a way back after regaining them but…" he shook his head, and Kakashi wished he could read minds.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Tsunade asked in an almost motherly tone.

The blonde just shook his head and tried to wipe vainly at his tears. Tsunade sighed, "Naruto," she dropped the honorific to suggest the seriousness with which she was going to speak, "We know you were a woman there and have likely had children, you can—"

"Were a woman…?" the blonde asked with dawning horror as he looked down at his chest and groped at it with his skeletal hands. He gave an 'eep' before feeling between his legs and actually screaming. "I'm a man again?!" he asked in horror before clutching at his far too thin face. The blonde was beginning to hyperventilate and Kakashi closed his eye heavily before standing up while Tsunade tried to calm the man down.

"I should stop into my office." He was expecting the Kazekage sometime soon, and he needed to make sure Gaara did not find out about Naruto. It looked like…Kakashi sighed and shook his head as he moved into the hospital hallway. He wasn't sure what to make of things.

Naruto no longer wanted to be Hokage; he had let that dream go for some reason. Naruto had gone to some strange world where he was a woman and likely had children, possibly even with Sasuke—when the dobe shouted teme there had been an emotion, the Naruto Kakashi knew had never used with Sasuke…it sounded almost like love, romantic love; then there was that second name, possibly a child? Kakashi couldn't exactly accuse Naruto of defecting either, since he had been without his memoires for almost a decade and then had dedicated three years to research and likely continued his research if he came back now—and Kakashi knew the man was telling the truth, he was still transparent and couldn't lie to save himself. But Konoha secrets were likely being leaked somewhere and there was likely an army of sharingan users being born in that land.

If Naruto could return, what was stopping Sasuke with his unholy spawn from showing up in the Elemental lands and lighting it all up with their demonic eyes? What stopped Sasuke from finishing what he started seventeen years ago? Perhaps he was experimenting with Naruto's return here. He was trying to see if he could send his army of sharingan, and possibly rennigan users here.

Kakashi had much to think about, and with someone as sharp as the Kazekage, Kakashi had to appear calm and collected before he had any meetings with Gaara. No one could know about Naruto; at least not until they had more information and he came to a decision on what to do with Naruto. He had sworn a pledge to protect Konoha, and if he had to, he would protect it from Naruto's possible Uchiha children any means possible.

---

A/N: So I hope I didn't cop out with Minuial killing the Nazgûl. I've had many a discussion with people over the "no man can kill the witch king," and after one discussion it was suggested that Eowyn was able to kill it because she was the only one that dared to, not solely because she was a woman—because that would be cop out. So it was tricky and subtle, but I hope you all are able to pick up on the intentions I gave the characters as they fought the Ring Wraiths. Also, the void battle is the battle of wills that I'm going to say Eowyn went through too because that is way too simple otherwise.

Next chapter will be in Rivendell, unless you guys want to have the four days and week of travel written out wherein everyone blames themselves for what happened with Minuial. … I'll just assume you won't want to read that, and that is why my outline went to crap because originally Dawn and Tinnu would have had an epic chase with the Ring Wraiths, but that obviously didn't happen since Sasuke is too broken. So jumping ahead to Rivendell in the next chapter—well, there will be a little travel and an appearance from Glorfindel, but otherwise it's all Rivendell. Thank you for reading ~ with love, depressedchildren.