The pinkette sped around the area once the group had settled down into a sheltered hollow. The sun had started to disappear beneath the horizon and Sakura decided that it was a suitable time for her to become familiar with her surroundings. She wasn't completely sure why but something was telling her that she needed to prepare for something. Maybe she was just over thinking things..

'It's part of the job description Outer.' The teenager huffed.

'There was no job description..'

'Then we should of been more careful when we decided to become a ninja.. shannaro!' The ends of Sakura's lips quirked slightly in amusement, after all the only thing in the job description for a shinobi was death... more or less.

She leaped through the air, keeping to the shadows as she dashed around. In the area surrounding the steep hill the watchtower stood upon there weren't many trees -at least none that were tall and had leaves sprouting from their branches- so the pinkette wouldn't be able to uproot one if she wanted something to swing at any foe that might come across the group's resting place. On the other hand having something to swing at any enemies wasn't a necessity, Sakura just found it fun to do. You couldn't exactly blame the girl for wanting to use one of mother nature's greatest weapons, especially one she hadn't seen for what felt like years in her world. The battlefield back in her world was devoid of any plants and the Kunoichi didn't know if it was the absence of corpses or the addition of nature that made the air she was inhaling cleaner.

~{*.*}~

The kunoichi's brows furrowed as she sniffed the air.

'Outer.. is that?'

'Dang it! I thought the stranger was at least somewhat intelligent!' The pinkette stood up and rushed towards where a small but painfully bright light was shining through the darkness of the night.

Once she had finished exploring the area she had decided to meditate only to be brought out of her focused trance by the strong smell of bacon. The bright light along with the thick smoke emanating from where the group was staying made Sakura furious. It was a dead give away to their location!

As she was racing towards the small campsite belonging to the group the atmosphere suddenly became thick and the world around her became dark. She stopped dead in her tracks and a shiver ran up her spine. Goosebumps raised along her arms and legs and her emerald eyes widened. She swallowed thickly, this was not what she needed.

'Outer, what are you doing? We need to go, shannaro!' Inner roared from inside their mindscape.

The pinkette blinked and shook her head before resuming her journey. She was hurtling twice as fast as before and she tried her best to ignore the high pitched screams coming from behind her.

'How can they even catch onto us that fast? Shannaro!' The seventeen year old ignored her other half's comments and urged herself to move faster. It was difficult to maneuver in the dark at such a pace but Sakura was determined and when she's determined she gets things done.

The four shorties seemed to have made their way to the top of the hill where the remains of the watchtower rested. The pinkette finally reached the small men and placed herself on top of a statue- which seemed to be in surprisingly good condition considering what the rest of the tower looked like- she still hadn't released the genjutsu that made her unnoticeable and she hoped that she wouldn't have to.

Her guide and the horse were nowhere in sight and Sakura guessed that he had strayed from the shorties which appeared to be a foolish mistake. From the way the short men were clumsily gripping the swords they had no experience whatsoever with handling the weapons. She was no expert swordsman but she did know her way around a blade and the fact that they were practically clueless when it came to handling a sword was starkly obvious to her. The only thing they were doing well was keeping their formation: their backs were together and they were keeping an eye on their surroundings, it was a good start but it wouldn't help them if they needed to indulge in combat.

The fact that the stranger had left them with swords that they didn't even know how to use when there was obvious danger nearby was not just stupid, it was also utterly ridiculous! It was like leaving fresh out of the academy genin alone in a building full of missing nin!

'Those midgets could at least act like they know what they're doing! Shannaro!' Sakura silently agreed with Inner as she watched one of the shadows make itself known.

The dark knight unsheathed it's sword and took a step towards the shorties. Sakura's brows furrowed slightly and she shifted her weight so that she'd be able to intervene if the need arose.

'One, two.. three, four, five.. just how many of these things are there?' Sakura swallowed thickly, the atmosphere was practically deadly as the shadows all moved towards the huddled men, each one of their swords were raised as if they were ready to strike at any moment.

One of the shorties shouted something before aiming to strike at one of the dark figures. Swords clashed and hard emerald eyes watched as the shortie was tossed aside. The shorties that looked as if they were twins stood in front of their blue eyed friend. They yelled as they too were hurled away.

The seventeen year old narrowed her eyes as she watched the last standing shortie step back and drop his sword. His clumsily large feet slipped from under him and he fell to the ground. His hand moved towards his pocket and he took out a ring.

The shadows turned to look at him as soon as the object was revealed and the one standing in the center of them drew it's blade as it stepped forward. The shortie crawled back, desperately trying to escape from the shadows as they all approached him. The dark figure right in front of him raised it's sword, ready to impale the curly haired man when-

A large spike of chakra rang through her bones as the shortie put on the ring. Sakura's back straitened and she sat forward, her emerald orbs searching for the shortie who had suddenly disappeared.

The dark knight standing in the middle of the others reached forward as if it was trying to grab something. Then it pulled back and the pinkette could only watch, confused as it stabbed the space where the shortie had once been. With the hand that wasn't gripping it's sword the dark figure reached forward again.

There was a loud yell and Sakura perked up as she watched her guide enter the scene by swinging a piece of wood that was on fire at the middle shadow. In the hand that was free of the burning piece of wood the stranger wielded his sword. His back was facing where the shortie had disappeared as he fought off the dark knights.

The medic nin shivered as another sharp spike of chakra rang through her body. The sudden flare caused her a painful migraine and she sent some healing chakra to her head to numb the throbbing pain. Once her head cleared she realised she had closed her eyes. She opened them to see her guide still battling the dark figures and the shortie who had first been tossed aside by the dark knights kneeled over somebody.

The two other midgets soon joined the crouching one and the rosette realised that they were gathered around the fourth shortie. She winced when one of the shadows let out a particularly loud shriek that rung through her head. The kunoichi turned her gaze to the fight between the stranger and the dark forms and her eyes widened slightly when she saw that only one of the dark creatures remained. The lone shadow was the one screeching as it tried frantically to put out the fire that was burning its cloak. It turned away from her guide just as one of the shorties called out to him.

The stranger rushed over to where the three shorties were gathered around their clearly in pain friend. He picked up a dark sword, one that Sakura noticed belonged to one of the shadows. The man with shoulder length dark hair said something before the blade in his hand crumbled into ashes and flew away in the wind.

The shortie who was laying on the ground let out a strangled groan and Sakura felt pity pool up inside her. The ninja got down from where she was perched and stood behind the stranger, still remaining undetected. The man pulled up the groaning shortie as he grumbled out words to the three other midgets who looked more then concerned for their friend.

Her guide picked up the screaming boy and quickly turned away, rushing off with the other shorties following behind.

A/N: I am happy to say I am cured of my writer's block.. I think.. Let's just hope it doesn't come back any time soon :)

I hope you guys liked this chapter it was so hard to write the first part but eventually my writer's block went away and I was able to write the ending.

If you didn't get what Inner was talking about when she said that the Hobbits could at least pretend they know what they're doing with the swords she was basically saying that they should at least pretend to know how to wield a sword since it's a bad idea to reveal a weakness to your foe.. sorry if that wasn't clear in the story hehe..

Sorry for any mistakes!

Hope you enjoyed!