A/N: Hey all, here's the update. Enjoy.

Chapter 15: The Search pt 1

September 25 (year 3018)

The natural chakra was beginning to dissipate the moment Kakashi had opened the portal to that alien planet and, by the time he had jumped through, the two sequential kamui portals had begun to sap at his chakra reserves at an alarming rate. The portals had only been open for 3.5 seconds total when Kakashi made his way through the second one and let the kamui portals close. He had made them as small as he could and had them opened for as short a time as he could and yet, he was now at a quarter of his reserves. How did Madara do this?!

All of these thoughts occurred during the split second between entering this alien planet and trying to land safely. Given the narrow size of the portals, they had all had to essentially dive into the kamui portals, and with their chakra powered momentum, well, landing properly before hitting an ancient tree was necessary. Speaking of, Kakashi began to twist his body into a handstand lest he hit a rather sturdy looking tree headfirst.

His palms hit the wet leaf litter and began to slide, which meant he was going to still crash into a tree unless he used his charka to stop the momentum. He instinctively connected his chakra to the ground beneath the detritus to glue him in place and yet his back still collided with the ancient tree. Then his hands slid from under him back the way he came, and he tumbled to the ground.

Kakashi closed Obito's eye and lay on the ground stunned for a half a second as the implications sunk in. His former genin weren't being paranoid when they worried chakra might not work here. Well shit. But what did that mean for Naruto or the Kyūbi? At least this world didn't seem to be on fire or baren or filled with oppressive demonic chakra (not that that would possible, apparently).

Kakashi stood and dropped his headband over Obito's eye. He saw that Sasuke was giving him a disbelieving look. "Seriously? You too?" he asked before gesturing toward Sakura who was rubbing her wrist.

"I tried to punch the tree down, it didn't work," she said as she hissed again while tenderly rotating her wrist. "I broke my hand and wrist but well…" she shrugged with another grimace—clearly, they weren't broken still.

"I tried to use my chakra to stop the momentum, but it wouldn't connect with the ground," Kakashi defended himself. "I assumed chakra didn't work here, so how did you heal yourself?"

"I've learned how to heal myself instinctively by circulating the healing chakra within my body," Sakura said. "But the closer I move my chakra to the superficial external damage, the less it's working."

"Which means chakra can't interact with this world but is still within us," Kakashi deduced while stuffing down his panic. He decided to distract himself from the realization that they were literally trapped here and turned to Sasuke. "How did you avoid the tree?" Kakashi mentally commended himself for sounding as casual as he did while he was internally cursing the fact his kamui had to occur at a distance.

Sasuke gave Kakashi an unimpressed look before gesturing to the space that would have been just outside the portals. "I made sure my dive would land me immediately outside the second portal and then I tucked and rolled," he said in a deadpan. Sure enough, the forest floor was disturbed in a manner that suggested the boy did as he said.

"I'm carrying two packs, both with fragile items," Sakura snapped at her teammate. Speaking of, she took off Kakashi's pack and literally threw it at him. He caught it deftly and put it on his back. Sasuke just shrugged as if to say: how is this my problem?

"Maa, we have bigger concerns," he interjected before the kids could start bickering.

"If chakra only exists in our bodies, what then are the limitations?" he asked with one finger raised—his voice was a little tighter that time, but he swallowed to help lessen the tension building there. He then raised a second finger, "What are the capabilities of the natives around us?" Raising a third finger he said, "And can we find signs of civilization?"

"Well, there's no rampaging Kyūbi," Sakura began sarcastically.

"And Akatsuki wants the bijū so they wouldn't send a jinchūriki to a planet that would kill him or the bijū inside him," Sasuke deduced.

"Agreed," Kakashi replied, "But how far off course are we? Our calculations are far from exact, but we should be near enough to where Naruto was left."

There was perhaps a half a beat before they each looked up at the dense canopy above them, but none of them moved to climb a tree. The ancient trees around them weren't as tall as the shodaime's but there was this feeling.

"Anyone else getting Forest of Death vibes?" Sakura asked before shuddering.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed.

Kakashi furrowed his brow. "When have you two been to the Forest of Death?" His kids had missed the Konoha Chūnin exams and that was really the only time ninja interacted with the forest unless on training missions.

"Chūnin Hazing," they replied immediately in the same deadpan.

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. Well, this would be a good distraction while he tested out his limits. "Oh? Go on, tell me what I've missed," he said with an eye-smile while gesturing to them to begin relating the story. He also began working on manipulating his chakra in different ways and attempted to have it manifest outside of his body.

His former students were quiet and shared looks with each other; their embarrassment was almost palpable. Kakashi felt himself beginning to smile and he was sure they could feel his excitement at this because they both began to blush.

"I'm going to pester you both until you tell me!" he practically sang. This was a beautiful distraction from their trapped existence on an alien planet. Their only hope of escape was hitching a ride back with Madara when he came to collect Naruto in a year or year and a half, and, well, that was a fight Kakashi did not want to have without most of his jutsu arsenal on hand.

Maybe the kids could pick up his rising panic and desperation for a distraction because they caved. "I was on a mission with Izumo-senpai and Kotetsu-senpai and well…" Sasuke trailed off with a blush.

"Kotetsu tricked you into a bet that you lost, didn't he?" Kakashi guessed with a grin hidden behind his mask. Sasuke's blush grew brighter.

"They later said it was a rite of passage for Konoha Chūnin to spend a week in the Forest of Death," the boy said as he looked around them with his sharingan activated.

When Kakashi turned to Sakura, the girl huffed and kicked at some leaves. "A senpai at the clinic said I wasn't a real Chūnin until I'd spent a week in the Forest," she grumbled with a blush.

"And you had to prove them wrong," Kakashi deduced with a laugh.

Sakura blushed more angrily and kicked the leaves harder. She hit a rock, and it sailed through the air to embed into the trunk of a tree. She blinked twice. "Well, I can still use chakra to enhance my strength," she muttered.

"And my sharingan is working just fine," Sasuke announced. "Also, this forest is teeming with energy, but I don't think it's chakra. It almost looks like that natural chakra you had been using but its…" Sasuke trailed off and shook his head.

Kakashi raised his headband and opened Obito's eye—now just the three tomoe form. He immediately noticed what Sasuke had commented on. There was indeed a teeming energy filling this forest. Moreover, having connected with natural chakra for the past several months, Kakashi could see the nuanced differences. All nature chakra had the same feeling or alignment, but the energy within this forest was something else. It almost reminded him of Tenzō's mukoton release and yet not. There was just this essence of Forest or Growth within the chakra.

Kakashi still had some of the sage oil on his person, so he tried connecting with the energy in this forest. It didn't feel malicious, but it was definitely living.

Hello, the forest seemed to say—not with words exactly, but with an impression in his mind? Do you wish to walk beneath our boughs? Will you hack, slash, or burn? There was an anger that entered those last impressions of words.

Kakashi shuddered and shook his head.

What does this one say? The forest seemed to reply.

How was Kakashi supposed to speak to the forest. He kept the connection to the strange natural energy, but he did not dare bring it into his person without Fukasaku there to disrupt the petrification process. Shit, he should have brought the toad with him unless…no, too many distracting thoughts.

Kakashi tried to gentle his chakra and tried to manipulate it to convey he was no threat. He wasn't exactly sure how to do it, but he tried to make it resonate with more Yang chakra like one needed for healing.

Ah, a friend then, the Forest seemed to say. Then you best avoid Old Man Willow to the West, he is awake and will try to bring you into his roots.

Kakashi successfully repressed the shudder he wanted to make and ended his connection to the natural energy. His former students were staring at him. "Sensei?" Sakura began nervously.

"Your chakra was trying to interact with whatever that energy was, wasn't it?" Sasuke guessed as he gestured around them.

"The forest is sentient," Kakashi stated and then swallowed thickly. "Do not hurt any of the plants or we might just become plant food."

"How do you know that?" Sakura asked slowly.

"It spoke to me," Kakashi couldn't stop the shudder this time. That had been an incredibly unnerving event, even if the sentient forest meant no harm to him.

Both kids stared at him incredulously before their expressions became perturbed and then they nodded. "Okay, right, the forest can speak, so um…" Sakura trailed off and swallowed thickly. "Did it say where to go?"

"Not West, there's an 'awake' tree that will try to eat us," Kakashi replied.

"Right, ah…maybe one of us should try to climb to the top of the canopy then?" Sakura suggested as she looked up at the dense foliage above them, which prompted Kakashi and Sasuke to look up as well.

Amongst the spattering of green leaves was a beautiful mix of oranges, reds, yellows, and browns. It almost looked like the trees were wreathed in flame. However, their examination of the dense canopy above them also revealed several fragile looking branches amongst the sturdy ones. If they tried to climb them to the top so they could have a decent vantage point, well, it wasn't promising they would make it there without harming the tress. Moreover, with the forest's ominous threat, none of them wanted to try climbing the trees without their chakra, lest they hurt said trees.

"Let's just head in the opposite direction," Sakura said after a beat.

"And which way is that? Does their sun even follow the same path as ours?" Sasuke asked as he looked at the sun filtering through the canopy above them. It was late afternoon if the sun did indeed follow the same path the Elemental Lands did during the fall.

"Well, the Forest gave me an impression that Old Man Willow is that direction," Kakashi stated as he pointed to his right. In the Elemental Lands, the sun usually traveled East-to-West in a more southernly direction during fall and winter. If Kakashi were to extrapolate this planets' sun's trajectory, it appeared similar.

"So East is this way," Sakura stated as she pointed left and then turned to face that direction.

"So it seems," Kakashi agreed as he also turned that direction.

"Did the Forest really call a carnivorous tree Old Man Willow?" Sasuke asked almost skeptically.

"Yes. It was a strange conversation," Kakashi replied before clapping his hands and eye-smiling. "Well, let's get out of the sentient forest, shall we?" he asked with forced cheer. "And while we're at it, let's figure out our limitations!"

His former students groaned at his chipper mood but began to trudge through the forest with him. Even if this was an act to keep Kakashi from panicking, his kids were reacting like they normally would which helped settle him a little.

Still, as they carefully picked their way through the Forest eastward, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had been eaten by a tree? Were there only sentient forests here? Was Naruto raised by trees or animals?! Nope, Kakashi wasn't going to spiral—now wasn't the time to spiral.

So, through sheer force of will, Kakashi practiced his chakra manipulation and then attempted to create some non-destructive jutsu. He could tell his former students were doing the same.

…

Sasuke wasn't sure what to make of this alien planet. There were sentient trees which ate people if they hurt the trees within it, but thus far it looked like Konoha. Sure, it was colder, and the trees turned different colors in the fall, but that wasn't unheard of in the northern elemental lands. Moreover, he could hear animals and insects within the forest. He even recognized chipmunks and squirrels. They looked a little different, and he didn't recognize the bird calls, but this alien planet and the Elemental Lands had some clear similarities.

The biggest difference, though, was the energy thrumming through this place. With his sharingan, he could see it, but he didn't understand it like he should. It wasn't chakra, it wasn't balanced between Yin and Yang energies either. It looked and felt like the essence of nature, which didn't make sense because when Sensei was channeling nature chakra it was different. Sasuke would wager that if they came across a river it would feel like the essence of a river and water but not be like water natured chakra, which was frankly maddening to consider.

Moreover, in the hours they had been walking, it became abundantly clear that any attempt to manifest chakra outside of their bodies was met with wasted chakra and also meant their storage scrolls could not be accessed. This meant they could enhance their bodies and disrupt their own chakra pathways, but they couldn't manipulate the world around them. Sasuke knew what that meant for their chances of getting home, but (like his Sensei) he was going to deny it until he had no choice but to face the truth.

The sun was beginning to set when they arrived at the eastern edge of the Forest and before them were grassy hills with numerous earthen domes. Atop the domes were white obelisk structures. There were no trees or rivers as far as they could see, and there was a dense fog spread across the rolling hills. The horizon was obscured by the fog, but perhaps if they got to the top of one of those domes or even atop one of the obelisks, they might be able to see more?

However, as Sasuke looked into the fog, he felt uneasy. There was an energy within the fog but what exactly it was, was difficult to discern. It didn't have the essence of water like he'd expected—no, it felt…

What had he been thinking? Right, those monoliths would give them a good vantage point. His teammates appeared to be of similar mindsets as they too began to head out across the grassy plain and toward one of the earthen domes.

Sasuke's sharingan picked up a movement and a different energy from the fog. He froze and blinked; the energy was gone but the fog remained. It felt—

Sasuke was standing atop one of the monoliths and tried to see beyond the fog to the north, east, and south. To the west was just the Forest and that seemed to spread on forever.

His sensei was on another monolith and straining his sight eastward. Sasuke looked in that direction again, but the hills and domes just stretched on and on and—no they, ended and there was a pinprick of light in the distance beyond the fog and—no there was only fog as far as he could see.

There was a growing cold, and Sasuke felt like his energy was being sapped from him. His vision swam for a moment. It was the fog, part of him thought; he knew it was affecting him but his sharingan wasn't seeing through it—no his sharingan just showed him how it curled around his body and dug icy fingers into him.

Between one blink and the next, Sasuke found himself back on the ground. He had run instinctively from the fog but the last of the sun had fallen behind the forest and now night crept upon him and so too did ghostly figures. Men with dark beards and hair, sunken cheeks, and hollow eyes that gleamed in the dark. They were pale and the skin was stretched tight over their bones like a desiccated corpse. Four converged on him.

Sasuke tried to look around him, but it felt like the fog had invaded his mind and left his thoughts sluggish. Where were Sakura and Sensei? Sasuke wondered as icy, skeletal hands grabbed him. He tried to break free of their holds, but even though he could see their movements in slow motion, his limbs would not respond.

"Cha! Get your hands off me!" Sakura yelled furiously from somewhere in the fog.

That jolted awareness back to Sasuke, and he found the strength to move his arms. He punched one of the ghostly things in the face. It reared back and hissed before there was an inhuman scream. Sasuke's vision darkened and the cold enveloped him.

The next moment he was aware of, he felt cold hands putting a white shroud over him. He was on a stone slab. Then there were jewels and gold chains set on him. His head lolled side-to-side as he tried to fight the haze he was in. Why couldn't his sharingan see through the illusions? Was his sharingan even activated? His teammates were in danger. He needed to get out of this.

One of the sunken faced men began to chant something over Sasuke's body. The words had no meaning to him, but it seemed to steal his very breath. No, he needed to fight this. He needed to see his teammates safe. If he was struggling with this, then surely his teammates were too?!

Maybe this wasn't some visual illusion but there was something attacking his mind. How had he disrupted genjutsu before his sharingan? Right, disrupt the flow of energy to his mind; he needed to find it, and disrupt it. He could not move his fingers to create the necessary hand signs, but he was adept at manipulating his chakra. He focused inward and searched his chakra pathways until…there, he found the foreign influence.

It didn't feel like chakra and, if anything, its essence felt malicious, vengeful, greedy. He had to excise its influence from his chakra and the base of his skull. Release he thought as he visualized and felt the process of releasing an illusion this way. He had to disrupt its influence from his senses.

And there!

Sasuke rolled to the side as the thing tried to stab down at him with a blade. Sasuke's sharingan were spinning in his eyes again, and he could see an energy that felt wrong writhing about the stone slap he'd been on. The chains and jewels put upon his person and the sword the thing held all had the same energy.

"Were you going to sacrifice me?" Sasuke snarled in outrage. The hell was wrong with this place!?

Sasuke found his pack and katana off to the side. He darted forward with a chakra empowered step and quickly unsheathed the sword. The thing rushed him with an inhuman screech. The fog started to enter Sasuke's mind again, but he quickly sent his chakra back to the base of his skull and made a one-handed sign for the release. The fog lifted, and Sasuke was able to raise his sword in time to block the sacrificial blade this monster was trying to strike him with.

Sasuke used his chakra to reinforce his muscles so he could take the brunt of the attack with one arm while using his other hand to sign the release again, for this creature and the place around him was constantly trying to dull his mind.

He struck at the creature when it pulled back from the deadlock. It moved slower than him, so Sasuke was able to skewer it through the chest and then kick it off his blade. It stumbled back against a curved, earthen wall—wait were they inside one of those domes?!—however it quickly righted itself.

How the hell was that possible. He had aimed for the heart. Unless…did this creature have no heart or maybe the heart was in a different location? Who knew what these aliens' anatomy was like? They might look human, but they clearly weren't.

Sasuke continued fighting the creature and made sure that the sacrificial blade didn't touch him—it wasn't hard given how slow this creature was, especially now that he was constantly disrupting its influence from his mind. However, every lethal attack he made seemed to have no effect. It was like these aliens had no vital organs! He even cut through the creature's neck, but no blood spilled, and the cut closed. Was it even living?!

"Shannora!" the distant battle cry broke through the din of their battle and then, the top of the dome he was in cracked open.* Moonlight filtered in along with Sakura who was dragging Sensei behind her. Both also had white shrouds on their persons and gold chains. There was the corrupted energy around them too, oh and a dozen of those creatures trailing after them.

"We're running!" She shouted as she landed.

"Why? They tried to sacrifice us!" he snarled back as he quickly fell in step with Sakura. They proceeded to protect Sensei from the dozen plus monsters. "Did he pass out from—"

"Chakra exhaustion," Sakura confirmed with a roll of her eyes. She had a strange looking sword in her hand, but it had no corrupt energy in it. She used it to parry and block the various attacks from the creatures. "No idea how, though—just had punched my way out of the dome I was in and saw him running with a bunch of these things chasing him while he stabbed them with this sword."

"And he said to run?" Sasuke guessed as he sent one of the creatures back against another with a chakra empowered kick.

"Yeah, said they were undead and unkillable before he passed out," Sakura said flippantly as she literally disarmed one of the creatures and then picked up its blade and was preparing to chuck it like a javelin.

"Keep that one, it's not corrupt," he said before diving to scoop up his pack and pick up Sensei.

"I'll ask how you know that later," she said before moving in a terrifying mimicry of a dance around the zombie creatures, while dismembering them left and right with the weird swords.

"Let's go," he said now that he had Sensei secure to his back while his pack was attached to his front. At least Sensei was wearing his pack already.

The way to the hole in the ceiling was clear so they jumped through. Once on top of the earthen dome, which was clearly now structurally unsound, they saw that the plains were filled with these undead creatures.

"There were lights to the east," Sakura said.

"I know, but if these are the natives, I'd rather take my chance with the carnivorous plants," Sasuke said before darting toward the forest line which was perhaps a kilometer or so away.

"That's fair," she agreed before charging toward the Forest with him. The zombie things were no match for their speed now that they were all clearheaded.

Just before they reached the Forest, though, Sasuke stopped them and began to tear off the shrouds, jewels and chains. "I think these are cursed," he said by way of explanation, "and I get the feeling we shouldn't leave with them on us."

Sakura looked behind them and she nodded. "I think you're right. We should have lost them by now," she said as she gestured back the way they'd come to where twenty or so of these creatures were charging for them. The girl flung off the sacrificial arraignment and then helped do so with Sensei too. They even scattered the gems and gold across the domes to see if that would deter the undead.

While the creatures without a clear line of sight on them did scatter, the others continued to charge; so, the two Chūnin nodded to each other and raced into the Forest proper. They didn't stop running with chakra empowered steps until they came out the other end and saw a cultivated hedge taller than Sensei and spanning as far as they could see in either direction.

It was nearly dawn when they arrived at this hedge, but they were too exhausted and scared to move further. Undoubtedly there was a civilization just on the other side of this hedge but neither of them was prepared to deal with that.

"Camp, no fire?" Sakura asked between pants.

Sasuke just nodded and then raised his hand as he panted, "First watch." His heart was still pounding in his chest. The last time he had sustained that long of a run with chakra was probably the Chūnin exams and back then he hadn't been carrying a grown man and two heavy packs.

"I-I think Sensei spoiled us with storage scrolls," Sakura muttered between gasps. "Why is it so much harder?" she practically whined.

"Just rest," Sasuke told her. His heart rate was slowing down now, and he finally could take normal breaths.

"Do you think all the natives are undead here?" she asked as she set about putting Sensei on a bedroll.

"I hope not," he muttered as he set down his pack. He made sure everything was in its right place before moving on to examine one of the blades Sakura had been carrying.

The metal was cool to the touch and seemed to gleam in the faint dawning light. There were engravings along the blade and precious metals had been melded into the handle and hilt. The edge was keen. While there was clear artistry to the blade, it was obvious it was functional and not just ornamental.

Sakura had set out her bedroll, but she hadn't gone to sleep yet. "Why didn't you see through the illusion?" she asked quietly.

"My sharingan couldn't," he replied with a frown as he examined the blade with his sharingan. In the miniscule morning light, he could see that the blade had a faint energy to it, but it wasn't corrupt and awful like whatever those undead were. "I could see the energy, but it wasn't like any other illusion I've faced. It was real and suffocating. Seeing it did not let me see through it."

"Well, shit. Do you think all the natives are capable of such illusions?" she asked.

"I have no idea." He replied before setting aside the blade and regarding the girl. She was covered in dirt. "How did you break those domes if our chakra can't interact with the world?" he asked.

"Enough force at a structural weak point and…" Sakura trailed off before imitating the sound of her bashing through the earth. "I still have my strength, even if I can't disperse my chakra through contact anymore."*

Sasuke nodded and stood. "Right, rest for a bit. I'll see I can snare something from the edge of the Forest," he said. There was plenty of dead, if wet, wood around the hedge so he didn't think it would harm anything to start a small fire later to cook something for breakfast—especially since they had missed dinner.

…

When Kakashi woke, it was to a dull thudding headache, aching chakra pathways, a parched throat, growling stomach, and his former students squabbling.

"And what if those little people have illusions like those undead?" Sasuke hissed at (presumably) Sakura.

"You interacted with them first by dropping those caltrops on the other side of the hedge," Sakura argued back.

"So, we could know if they were undead too!"

"And we've deduced we were probably at some burial place last night where we disturbed the dead," Sakura hissed. "That's probably the only reason we were even attacked!"

"You don't know that!" Sasuke shot back.

"Oh, come on," Sakura whispered exasperatedly. "Every elemental nation has myths about disturbing the resting place of spirits, it's probably the same here just—you know, real."

"Exactly! So, what if those little people are shamans or some practitioner of dark magic."

"Magic, really, Sasuke?" Sakura drawled.

"We're on an alien planet that doesn't have chakra," he said unamused. "There's an energy suffusing this planet that isn't chakra but something else; it has to be magic."

Sakura scoffed. "The little people are clearly farmers. None of them even have weapons."

"Exactly, why would a magic user need weapons," Sasuke shot back.

Well, as amusing as this was, Kakashi needed to use the facilities. "Maa, my cute former genin need to stop fighting," he mumbled—his words were clumsy with fatigue still. "Sasuke-kun, help your Sensei to the little jōnin's room," he said with a slight whine to his voice.

"You mean the Forest?" Sasuke asked tiredly. "Don't you think that will anger the trees."

"They said nothing about pissing on them, just no hacking or burning," Kakashi replied chipperly before making a beckoning motion. Sasuke gave a put-upon sigh, but the kid helped him stand and then hobble into the tree line.

"So, what did I miss?" Kakashi asked as they slowly made their way into the sentient forest.

"Sakura found me, we got another none-corrupt sword, and then we ran back to the Forest in case the rest of the natives were like those zombie things, but we didn't want to sleep in a carnivorous forest so…" Sasuke trailed off and gestured to the massive hedge they had camped under. Kakashi could also hear the capital F being used for the Forest—it seemed right to give the sentient place the deference of a title.

"And there seems to be a peaceful people on the other side of the hedge, right?" Kakashi asked tiredly.

"Sakura thinks they are, but I'm not sure what to believe anymore," the boy muttered. "It doesn't help that they speak a different language."

Kakashi hummed, "And they're all little people? Really?" He wondered if there was something about the gravity of this planet that produced shorter people, but it didn't feel that different from the elemental lands.

"Yes, but those undead things were clearly once human so…" the boy trailed off, and Kakashi frowned as he filled in the silence. Sasuke had likely followed Kakashi's train of thought, or had already wondered the same thing.

Of course, now Kakashi had to wonder. Was it the case that these little people were purposefully segregated from other humans? Or did they create their own society separately. In either case, it was likely the average human had negative relationships with the little people here, and so their presence would be perceived as hostile. After all, what were the reasons people were segregated except for discrimination or exploitation. So, either there was a caste system which forced little people to produce food for the rest of the nation, or the little people had been so terribly treated by their fellow man that they decided to self-segregate to protect themselves. And, if it wasn't a matter of self-segregation but enforced by discrimination, then that boded even less well for them getting information from the little people.

"Beyond that," Sasuke added slowly, "They're dressed in rough spun clothes. It's all clearly handmade and…Sensei, I feel like I'm back in the warring states period."

Which meant they'd draw unwanted attention with their attire. Moreover, they had not considered packing more traditional clothes except in their storage scrolls, which were inaccessible. Plus, they couldn't steal clothes from the little people since they wouldn't fit, and they couldn't use the henge since that was about one's chakra interacting with the light around them to create a false image.

They stopped walking now that they were deep enough into the Forest. Sasuke helped Kakashi prop himself against a tree and then the teen gave him privacy. As Kakashi relieved himself, he tried to think of what they could do until he came to a plan.

"Sakura found a well by one of the little people's homes and filled up a pot for washing," Sasuke said, likely when he heard Kakashi right his clothes when he had finished.

"At least they have wells if not indoor plumping," he said jokingly. The kid gave him a look but carefully helped Kakashi walk back to the camp. Maybe Kakashi was being presumptuous, but Sasuke had said the place felt like the Warring States' period, so it was unlikely these people were technologically advanced.

After a few steps, the boy spoke again. "Sensei, how did you exhaust yourself this time?" he asked.

Of course the kid would give him grief about that. "Maa, you see, my cute former genin were separated from me by those zombie people, and I had to go through each of those burial domes to find you," he said chipperly. "It also meant constantly using my chakra, having my sharingan active, and disrupting their influence on my senses. I had to have been searching for you all for close to an hour before Sakura burst out of her dome."

"How long did you fight them until you realized they were undead?" Sasuke asked unimpressed.

Kakashi eye-smiled back at the kid because of course that was also part of the reason he had burned through the remainder of his reserves so quickly. "How long did it take you to realize that?" he turned the question back on the boy instead of answering.

Sasuke gave a one shoulder shrug and refused to the answer the question, which was damning enough. It figures that Sakura was the one with enough common sense to realize they needed to flee and regroup rather than fight.

The two didn't talk any further until they arrived back at camp where Sakura promptly tossed a bar of soap at him. His kids were going to tease him about how he'd let himself go while learning Sage Mode until he died, weren't they? He rolled his eyes but still washed his hands.

As Kakashi shook his hands dry, he explained his plan. "We need to find an isolated home with as few occupants as we can to test the waters. If the interaction is non-hostile, we will go from there," he stated.

The two chūnin looked at each other before looking northwards. "There's a house built just outside the hedge that appears isolated and has decent cover from the rest of the village," Sakura said.

"I've seen only one shadow moving from within so there's probably only one occupant," Sasuke added.

"Good, then let's put on our winter cloaks to make us stand out less when we go there," Kakashi stated. "Sakura, I suggest you cover your hair." The girl pouted but rummaged through her bag until she pulled out the headscarf she tended to use when working in labs or at the hospital. It was good enough for now. "We'll see if playing to their sympathies will work too," Kakashi added before pulling down his mask and then exchanging his head band for a rag that he tied around his head to cover Obito's eye. This inadvertently made the scar around his eye more prominent and would likely sell that he was missing an eye to anyone who saw him.

After another minute or two, Team seven began making their way to the isolated home. They picked up a fallen branch to use as a walking stick, so Sasuke didn't have to take as much of Kakashi's weight as he had been. They left their packs hanging in a tree near their former campsite, but they each had made sure they had at least two of the Naruto sketches on their persons.

Finally, after hobbling along for a while, they came to the isolated cottage. It had a thatched roof which appeared to be growing grass and a green door. There was a wide lawn and several beautiful garden beds. The chimney was smoking, and the smell of something cooking wafted along the air.

There was a sign on the green circular door but what it said, none of them knew. All the shutters were drawn, but there was still light shining through the cracks in the shutters. Sakura went to the door first and began knocking. They all were dirty and looked like they'd been sleeping in the Forest—which they had. They looked tired too, so hopefully this would invoke pity in the little person even if they had negative relations with other humans.

There was some call from within, but they did not understand the words. Sakura knocked again, and again there was another call, but it sounded a bit annoyed now. Sakura just knocked a third time. They could all hear a chair scraping against a stone floor and then feet padding toward them from inside until the green door swung open.

There, on the other side stood a rather round little person. He also had very large feet (they were bigger and wider than Kakashi's feet) that were covered in thick, curly hair. Wait, that wasn't normal, also were his ears pointed slightly. Kakashi quickly got over his surprise and he tried to bow along with his former students.

Sakura gave the annoyed little person a polite smile. "Please excuse the interruption," she said genially. The little person's eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

"You speak this language?" the maybe-little person asked in clear disbelief, although some of his pronunciations were off. Wait! Didn't his kids say the natives spoke a different language? How could this person understand them?! They'd hoped Sakura's intonation and mannerisms conveyed they were no threat, but to be understood… It was unbelievable.

"Yes, we all do," Sakura said as she gestured behind her to Sasuke and Kakashi. She hid her surprise well, but Kakashi could still hear it in the slight hesitation between her words.

"Hello, sir," Sasuke said as warmly as he could, which was a flat tone for anyone else.

"Please forgive us for interrupting your meal, but we were attacked by some undead creatures and were hoping for some aid," Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

"U-undead? W-where did you come from?" the round, little person with hairy feet asked; he was pale as death.

"East. There were these hills and earthen domes," Sasuke chimed in now.

"Y-you came from the Barrow Downs," the man said some incomprehensible words. "Y-you survived the b-b-barrow-wights?!" the little person exclaimed in shock, though whatever he said the creatures were, was incomprehensible to them.

"Barrow-wights?" Kakashi repeated the foreign word with his head cocked to the side—he assumed the man had stuttered in his fear so forewent the repeated syllables. Meanwhile, his former students stumbled over "Barrow Downs."

"You clearly aren't from around here," the little person said before shaking his head. "Please come in. I prepare more for dinner. I do not have bath ready yet, but I can get that," he said before scuttling into the house and leaving the door open.

"My friend would never let me hear the end if I were to deny his son's people welcome. You must receive word that he was in Shire and heard his father's move here," the little person said. He seemed to stumble over conjugation and tense, but the ninja were able to pick up the context well enough to understand the little person.

Kakashi's heart seized as the little person began to ramble. Had they stumbled completely on accident upon a lead to his sensei's son?

"Oh, where are my manners!?" the little person exclaimed as he paused in his bustling. "My name Bolger Fredegar, did I say my name correctly? Dôranna always complain when I give my given name first—said 'that that's not how it goes!' Of course, we ask, 'how do you know,' and that child say 'Because Mr. Fox said so!'" the now named Bolger said with a laugh. "That boy and his imagination!

"It shame you miss both—Frodo and Dôranna, I mean. I haven't clue where Dôranna is now, what with his ranger business. I swear he crosses the breadth of Shire daily. Of course, I'm more surprised you three not run into Frodo on your way out of woods."

The little person was now moving about a kitchen and heating up some meat and cutting vegetables as he continued to ramble and mispronounce things—though he did a fair job communicating and seemed to warm up to speaking their language the longer he talked. Sasuke and Sakura were looking to Kakashi to take the lead, but he felt frozen at the entryway (he had to stoop slightly to fit in the small home—Sasuke could just barely walk without stooping).

Mr. Fox? Was this an imaginary friend or-or the Kyūbi? Was Naruto in communication with the bijū; but how else would a child who couldn't have possibly remembered his parents be able to speak this language unless the Kyūbi spoke to him in it.

No! He couldn't spiral now. Kakashi shook his head and blinked as he processed all the man had said. Kakashi hobbled further into the home before addressing Bolger.

"You said his name is Dôranna?" he tried the foreign name. "He's a boy with whisker birthmarks on his cheeks, yes?" Kakashi could hear his own desperation as one hand fumbled into his vest to retrieve a blonde version of the Naruto sketch.

Bolger paused in his cooking and looked over his shoulder at the sketch. "That close enough to Dôranna looks" he confirmed. "He has rounder face."

Kakashi gestured to Sakura who quickly pulled out the picture that was essentially Kushina's face with Sensei's coloring.

"Like this?" she asked.

The little person gasped. "That is uncanny," Bolger said; though the last word made no sense, Kakashi could guess the little person said it was a match from context.

"Who made?" he asked while pointing at the picture. Kakashi raised his hand.

"Dôranna had been kidnapped the night he was born. My sensei, Dôranna's father, he and his wife died trying to protect Dôranna from his kidnapper," Kakashi explained around a tight throat. His legs were shaking, and he felt tears beginning to burn at the edges of his eyes. "I-I've been searching for him ever since."

Bolger's face looked devastated for a moment before he hurriedly moved over to Kakashi and pulled out a too small chair for Kakashi to sit in next to a table. "I am sorry," the little person whispered emphatically. He even grabbed Kakashi's hand as if to help with his grief—he also used said hold on Kakashi's hand to usher him into the seat. "I am sorry for loss and hardship. If it is consolation, Dôranna grow up happy and loved." Kakashi could infer what the foreign word was. It was not a consolation because Naruto should have been raised in Konoha; he should have known who his parents were, and Kakashi should have been there to raise him.

Kakashi closed his eyes and tried to fight the tears. One slipped down his cheek, but he eventually regained his composure. "Y-you said he's gone?" Kakashi's voice was still tight.

Bolger withdrew his hand and nodded before shaking his head. "Excuse my lack of manners; I realize I move past introductions." The little person then gave sheepish smile and laugh. "I am eager to practice dream-language now that it's not only a dream-language."

"Dream language?" Sakura repeated with her head titled to the side.

"Yes, young miss, Dôranna said he dreamed in this language," Bolger confirmed while looking pointedly at Sakura to name herself.

The girl ducked her head and bowed slightly. "My name is Haruno Sakura. This is my teammate Uchiha Sasuke, and our sensei Hatake Kakashi," she added while gesturing to them as she said their names.

"Teammate? Does this mean you both apprentice under Hatake-san?" Bolger asked about the unfamiliar term; though how teammate could be an unfamiliar term was unfathomable to Kakashi.

"The country we come from places three new recruits under an elite officer to guide and prepare them for their futures within our military," Kakashi stated. "While both Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan have been promoted, they still see me as their sensei."

Bolger furrowed his brow slightly. "I suppose Dôranna's does similar apprenticeship with those rangers," he mused. "But rangers are volunteers as I understand; you're all part of military? Even young lady?"

A vein in Sakura's forehead began to twitch, but Sasuke quickly stepped forward to distract her and Bolger. "We come from a military state."

"Military state?" Bolger asked in confusion before his eyes widened and he hurried back toward the stove he'd left unattended.

"Just a moment!" he exclaimed over his shoulder. "I have dinner on table and then you explain what that means."

Sakura quickly followed Bolger. "Bolger-san, is there anything I could help with? Should I set the table"

Kakashi was still reeling slightly from the fact Naruto had dreamt in his native tongue—though is it one's native tongue if they were newly born when it was last spoken to them? Surely this meant the Kyūbi was speaking to Naruto while he was unconscious? But then that would mean the bijū would have an influence on the boy.

"Sensei?" Sasuke addressed him quietly while Bolger and Sakura went back and forth through the ritual of declining and offering assistance until Bolger eventually gave in.

"I'm catastrophizing," Kakashi explained his silence, and hoped this would keep the boy from prying further.

"Right," the chūnin stared at him for a moment before speaking again. "Well, I'm more concerned about how open we should be. I was following your lead earlier, but should we be…so forthcoming?" the Uchiha tried the phrasing softly.

Sakura had just succeeded in convincing Bolger that she could set the table for them, but in the process had discovered different eating utensils and now had the little person explain what the different cutlery were for. As such, Bolger would be distracted, and it would allow them to speak.

"I doubt anyone from this planet can get to ours, but the governmental structure of our country and the like is not secret. If it could be considered common knowledge among civilians in the Elemental Lands, then it should be safe to share," Kakashi reasoned quietly.

"So, mentioning we're from a different planet is off limits then," Sasuke guessed quietly.

"Unless our interlocutor can argue otherwise, we claim we're from some distant lands—it won't be a lie either," Kakashi whispered back.

Sasuke nodded to show his understanding. He fidgeted for a moment. "Should I go get our packs, do you think?" he asked.

"Perhaps. Given talks about baths, it sounded like Bolger expected us to stay the night," Kakashi agreed.

Sasuke then turned around and quickly left the home. He would return within a few minutes, which was enough time for Sakura to finish helping Bolger with the food. She had set the table while the little person finished the final touches.

On the slightly too short table there was a loaf of bread, half a wheel of cheese, a pan of sauteed vegetables, a whole chicken (though a leg had been pulled off already and was on Bolger's plate), and some kind of sauce for, presumably, the chicken. Bolger had also brought out what appeared to be wine (though it was in a strange bottle), and a pitcher of well-water.

Sasuke set their packs just inside the front door and had returned to the dining room before Bolger brought out the final dishes. Sakura had set the table with the forks and knives, at least the spoons were familiar if differently shaped.

"Oh, you have bags, good. I worried you travel with the clothes on your backs!" Bolger exclaimed.

"We forgot to pack spare clothes," Sakura announced suddenly. The three ninja stared at each other for a moment before dropping their heads forward.

"At least we remembered our winter cloaks," Sasuke muttered half-sarcastically.

"Maa, don't blame me," Kakashi retorted with his hands raised. "I've been preoccupied, and you threatened to burn my spare set of clothes. Besides, you two were the ones planning for this trip more than me. You packed a whole pharmacy." He gestured to Sakura on this last point.

Sakura immediately began to blush. "Firstly, did you even wash that uniform once in the last two months? It needed to be burned. Secondly, I didn't pack a whole pharmacy," she protested.

"You tried," Sasuke muttered.

"Oi! Says the one who wanted to pack an armory!" Sakura shot back.

"Oh my, you two are spirited, like Dôranna!" Bolger said with a laugh. He had been carving the chicken up until now.

"Maa, please excuse my students, they can be unprofessional."

"Says the man who's perpetually late!" Sakura screeched while Sasuke just said, "Hypocrite."

"And loud," Kakashi added unphased. "But such is youth, no?"

Bolger just seemed amused by the two chūnin's antics. "Dôranna be loud when he wants too, and he was most energetic child ever seen." The hairy little person sounded fond and nostalgic now. "I swear, that boy gave Frodo fright every day with his jumping from tall places!

"Is normal for you Big Folk? Or is it for kids from your country? I haven't heard of Bree kids jumping from roofs," Bolger asked in his slightly off speech.

"Yes, actually, it is normal," Kakashi stated. He was genuinely surprised Naruto had been able to access his chakra in such a way, although it gave more credence to the possibility of the Kyūbi influencing him. "Though, it's more common to travel by rooftop when you are in a hurry, like when reporting to a superior officer."

Bolger seemed happy to learn this and then set about serving the food to each of them. They thanked him and then Sakura explained the different utensils.

"Right, I mean to ask, how you normally eat food if not with forks and knifes?" Bolger asked.

"We use kitchen knives for cooking, but not these sorts of knives," Sakura explained as she held up one of the blunted metal instruments. "We typically eat with two sticks to pick up or pierce food," she explained before moving to her pack and retrieving her chopsticks. She then demonstrated for Bolger, who was clearly fascinated.

Kakashi ate sedately—it was good food, perhaps a bit too much salt for his preference, but the sauteed vegetables included eggplant so he couldn't complain. Once Bolger was halfway through his own meal, while continuing to discuss differences in table manners and food customs with Sakura, he decided to redirect the little person's attention.

"Bolger-san, you've said several times now that Dôranna is with rangers," he stumbled over the foreign word. "What are they? How are they similar and not similar to a military?"

Bolger frowned for a moment. "Well, there always be one or two big folk who walk around Shire's border. Sometimes they help Bounders with wolves and like. But, in last fifteen years, more rangers be camped around Shire." Kakashi deduced Shire was the location or country they were currently in.

"Bounders?" Sasuke repeated the foreign word.

"They like our military, but they volunteer. The Shire is peaceful place, not much trouble comes here. Sometimes Big Folk might try something, but Bounders or Rangers stop them."

"Eto, we are big folk and so are the rangers?" Sakura asked to clarify the terminology—she too stumbled over the foreign word.

"Well, you be human, yes?" he asked in return. They all blinked several times.

"Aren't you?" Sasuke asked Bolger in return.

Bolger laughed heartily. "Me a big folk! No, no, I'm a hobbit."

"What?" While they all asked the same question, they had different levels of intonation. Sakura was shocked, Sasuke was confused, and Kakashi felt concerned.

"You know, halfling, a hobbit," Bolger insisted nonsensically to the ninja. They shook their heads. "You mean, I'm first hobbit you met?" he asked after a beat.

"Ano…we've met little people before," Sakura said cautiously. Bolger looked confused now, which made Sakura shift uncomfortably, "Y-you know, someone born with dwarfism?"

"Dwarves aren't hobbits," Bolger said, practically offended. "One, dwarves too hairy, and don't have feet like ours," he raised one of his big hairy feet to demonstrate. "Besides, they like mines and gold too much. We hobbits prefer simpler things."

Kakashi was pretty sure his brain had screeched to a halt as he tried to figure out what the man—no hobbit was saying. "So…" Kakashi began slowly. "There's Big Folk, hobbits, and dwarves in these lands?"

"Well, not in Shire. There be no dwarves in Shire since Bilbo-san's birthday. I think many elves pass through to reach Grey Havens."

"Elves?" Sasuke repeated the foreign word.

"You know tall, pointed ears, live forever?" Bolger described this other group of people dismissively.

Yep, Kakashi's brain had in fact processed what the hobbit had said correctly. There were different species of humanoid beings on this planet. "I'm afraid there are only Big Folk in our country, so please excuse our shock," Kakashi said with an eye-smile to hide his own disbelief. His former students quickly composed themselves at his not-so-subtle remark.

Bolger's eyes widened in shock as well. "Really!? Not even orcs or goblins?" the hobbit asked, shocked and almost envious.

Sakura's smile became strained, Sasuke stared, and Kakashi blinked. "I do not know what you mean," Kakashi responded a bit stiltedly.

Bolger nodded seriously for a moment. "Well, closest word might be dark spirits or demons in this tongue, but they not that. Hmm, what did Dôranna say make orcs again?" Bolger muttered to himself for a moment before remembering and frowning. "Right, it sad. There is evil in East. No one say His name, but he took elves and hurt. He made them evil, and they became first orcs. Goblins and Orcs are bad, evil. They kill and hurt. They serve thei Master, Evil in the East."

So, presumably, a long time ago, elves were prisoners of war by some enemy and then were mutated into a creature that serves what was once their enemy. That was…horrific. Kakashi looked down at his plate for a long moment. He had eaten everything he had been served, but now his stomach felt uneasy.

Sasuke broke the tense silence first. "The Barrow-Wights," he stumbled over the foreign word for the undead, "are they touched by the Evil in the East too?" he asked. Kakashi blinked several times as he tried to figure out how the boy drew that conclusion.

Bolger frowned. "Evil of Angmar. Long-ago war caused the wights, or so I recall Dôranna tell me."

"And Angmar is?" Sakura asked slowly.

Bolger shrugged. "The enemy of rangers is what Dôranna say. His mentors taught him their enemies, but I not heard much."

They all sat in silence for a moment longer while Bolger regarded them. "You not from Middle Earth, yes?" the hobbit asked after another beat. "But if you from the Undying Lands, then you know these thing too. Where you and Dôranna from? Why it take so long to come for him?" Bolger asked quite shrewdly.

From context, Kakashi deduced that Middle Earth was the country or even continent they were currently on. The Undying Lands he had no reference for, but assumed it was another possible location on this planet.

His former students looked to him uncertainly while Kakashi regarded Bolger. The hobbit was clearly close to Dôranna or at least his adoptive father. However, could he trust the hobbit? "Thank you for the meal and information, Bolger-san," Kakashi began slowly. "But I am not sure if I can trust you—we are a secretive people, after all," Kakashi explained carefully.

The hobbit seemed to deflate but he did not seem surprised—perhaps he was used to secrets too? Bolger just nodded. "I understand. These dark times as Gandalf say." Then the hobbit's expression became determined. "How I prove my trust?" he asked clumsily.

Sasuke and Sakura were clearly looking to Kakashi to lead this interrogation since they remained silent and were watching the exchange.

Kakashi thought for a moment before nodding. "Very well. I will ask you questions, and I expect you to continue answering my questions truthfully." The implication was that he knew when Bolger was lying, not that the hobbit had done so yet.

Bolger nodded but stood from the table. "Come, serious talk best done around fire and with drink. I saw none of you touch wine. Would you drink tea or beer?" he asked.

"We're too young to drink alcohol," Sakura said with a gesture between herself and Sasuke.

Bolger blinked several times. "Really?! I know Dôranna not care for drink, but because he say it taste bad."

"There are drinking ages in our country. Since Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan are still growing, they are not supposed to drink for a few years yet. As for myself, well, I tend to get a stuffy nose and a flush when I drink even a little bit," Kakashi confessed.

His students looked at him sharply in surprise. He raised an eyebrow back at them. Then Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Stupid mask," the boy muttered. Kakashi eye-smiled in response.

Bolger looked at their exchange in confusion before laughing good-naturedly and moving off to the kitchen again. "Well, I prepare kettle for tea. If apprentices need not attend conversation, they welcome to bath. I'm afraid I still not collect and heat water for bath but—"

"It's fine, we can do that," Sakura interrupted the hobbit. "I want to get this grave dirt off of me anyways," she said.

Bolger nodded and gave them instructions to find the well and wood for heating the water. While the kids were off collecting water and the like, Bolger stoked the fire and moved two comfy (if small) looking chairs closer to the hearth. One chair had been near a window in a reading nook, while the other had been near the hearth but a bit further away from it than it was now.

The sun had fully set by now and the autumn chill had begun to creep into the small cottage. Kakashi hobbled over to one of the chairs and sat down heavily. He felt like he was going to fall given the too-short nature of the armchair, but he immediately relaxed into the softness of the cushion—at least it was made wide enough for him if not tall enough.

Bolger brought out a tea set that he set on an end table which he had dragged to be between the two armchairs. "Did wights injure you?" he asked with a frown.

"I overexerted myself," Kakashi corrected. "They had lulled us into a sleep and separated us. When I woke from mine, I was in a funeral shroud with jewels and a wight was doing some ritual—likely to sacrifice me. I fought it before escaping the ah, is it barrow? The burial dome?" Bolger nodded to suggest Kakashi had said the correct term.

"Then I needed to search for my students which meant fighting more wight and entering more barrow and…" Kakashi shook his head with a sigh. "It was a taxing trip to get to the ah, Shire. Fighting the wight made it worse."

Bolger nodded his head understandingly before the kettle began to whistle from the kitchen. He rose from his seat and hurriedly retrieved the kettle. When Bolger returned, he poured the water into the teapot before setting the kettle on a hook near the fireplace.

"That sound harrowing," he said some incomprehensible word. When Kakashi looked at him nonplused, the hobbit remarked. "You not know westron, common language of Middle-Earth, do you?"

"No."

"It be best if you learn some before continue travel. Only few people know this language in all of Middle-Earth, and all but me and Folco are off in the wilds."

"Folco?" Kakashi repeated the name.

Bolger smiled. "Yes, my friend and Frodo's friend. We all be surprise when Frodo adopt a big folk child, but…" Bolger trailed off with a fond smile. "Dôranna be light for Frodo. We all fear he leave after his uncle, but then Dôranna appear one October night—just baby then—and Frodo's whole world change.

"We all help him raise that boy, and Dôranna taught much in turn. He is kindhearted and want to do good in world. He apprentice with rangers to protect Shire and his father. And he try to help anyone he can, be they hobbit, big folk, or elf."

Kakashi found himself smiling even as tears began to gather in his eyes. "That sounds like Sensei," he croaked, "and Kushina-nee." Kakshi laughed a moment, "Does he have her appetite and temper too?" he asked before elaborating. "That woman could eat a restaurant out of business, especially if it was ramen, and whenever Kushina-nee was teased her face would get red as her hair and she would get so loud—she was a force of nature when angered."

Kakashi sniffed and wondered why he was crying! He was a Jōnin, damn it. He should have better control of his emotions than this.

Bolger smiled empathetically and once more reached for Kakashi's hand and held it. "Dôranna parents sound like good people," the hobbit murmured as he squeezed Kakashi's hand. Kakashi nodded his head and felt more tears trying to slip down his face. "You not talk about them with other?" the hobbit asked softly.

Kakshi wiped at the damn tears and closed his eyes. "Not anymore. The last people who knew them and knew about Naruto…" He trailed off. Jiraiya and the Sandaime were the last people he had been able to talk to about Naruto's parents. Tsunade-hime knew them but not as well as those two men had.

Bolger squeezed his hand again. "You carry much grief," the hobbit stated understandingly. His expression was open, kind, and, while there was sympathy, there was also empathy. That seemed to break whatever tenuous grasp Kakashi had on his emotional control.

Perhaps it was the fact the hobbit was so genuinely kind to a stranger that let Kakashi cry. After all, that was something Kushina-nee would do—she could be empathetic too. Moreover, Bolger had no reason to trick him, he could do nothing with the information he had gained thus far, and he had nothing to gain from his kindness. Lastly, the hobbit wasn't a threat. Perhaps those were all reasons why Kakashi found himself grieving for his Sensei, Jiraiya, and Kushina.

But perhaps there was more to it than that. Maybe Kakashi was also grieving the time lost with Naruto that this hobbit got to have. Because Bolger was there for Naruto when Kakashi hadn't been. And the hobbit clearly loved Naruto just as Kakashi did. Or maybe Kakashi was allowing himself to grieve because he was finally close to finding Naruto after all these years. Perhaps it was not just grief but relief that led to Kakashi's tears and breakdown.

Kakashi didn't know how long he was lost in his grief, but Bolger kept holding his hand—which should have been uncomfortable but somehow wasn't. Finally, Kakashi had his emotions back under control, and he gave a raspy thank you when Bolger handed him the tea. A quick sniff, despite his runny nose, proved there was nothing but tea in the cup.

The liquid was closer to lukewarm now, but it still helped. Kakashi took small sips and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "That was completely unprofessional of me," he murmured.

"Well, you have right to grieve and sometimes we all need good cry," Bolger said with a smile, especially for the last part.

The smile grew as Bolger began to tell Kakashi about one of Dôranna's first tantrums, which had been over a bird he'd tried to nurse back to health with Frodo only for it to die. The hobbit then continued to share more stories about Naruto, including a time the boy had been so excited at his father's friends visiting that the three-year-old had raced out of the bath to launch his naked self at the first hobbit entering the hole (apparently hobbits often lived in holes in the ground). Kakashi soon found himself laughing as Bolger shared story after story of Naruto growing up in the Shire (and yes, that was the country they were currently in).

At some point, both Sakura and Sasuke returned to the living space but remained near the edge of the room to observe. They were both wearing different clothes—clothes that matched the style of dress Bolger was wearing but were clearly for someone either shorter or thinner than the kids. While the pants and sleeves were a bit short on Sasuke, the shirt was a bit tight for Sakura but otherwise fit well. Kakashi deduced they were spare clothes Naruto's adoptive father kept on hand for him.

Eventually, Bolger noticed the two kids watching them and gestured for them to sit with them. He smiled once they had pulled up dining chairs to do so and then began refreshing their tea. Kakashi did his best to ignore the rather pointed looks his kids were giving him. Sasuke looked a bit unimpressed, while Sakura looked amused. Kakashi wished he had his mask on so it would hide his blush.

Fortunately, Bolger returned quickly and smiled at the two kids. "I'm glad you found Dôranna old clothes. When Merry and I unpack, we thought to leave spare clothes in washroom since that boy come home in mess.

"Do you know how many times I hear Frodo lament how he get all rips out of clothes!? Rangers," Bolger huffed with a shake of his head.

Sakura laughed with the hobbit before bringing up the matter of clothes. "Neh, Bolger-san, is there a way we could obtain clothes to better fit in?" she asked. Her hair was still wet and uncovered, but other than a brief and initial widening of the hobbit's eyes, he did not comment on the color.

"Well, Brandybuck tailor up at Hall. Uchiha-kun could take letter up to Hall with measurements and payment for sets of clothes. I not think you have currency for Middle-Earth, but I spare some coins and sure Frodo keep money for Dôranna somewhere." Bolger gestured around the house on the last part.

"Oh no, we couldn't accept that!" Sakura interjected

At the same time Sakura said this, Sasuke shook his head and said, "You've already shown us such hospitality."

Kakashi gave his own protest alongside his former students. "Please, we'd rather trade or some such. We can do tasks to earn coin as well."

"We're good at weeding gardens," Sakura said with a wry smile as she gestured between herself and Sasuke.

"Painting fences and walls," Sasuke added with a begrudging grin.

"Finding wayward pets, delivering messages, babysitting," Sakura continued to rattle off.

"Military officer do these service in homeland?" Bolger asked with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Baby officers, yes. It's drudge work to build their teamwork so they work better together when things get serious," Kakashi explained with an eye-smile. His kids rolled their eyes.

"He read the whole time we had to do those missions," Sakura groused.

"I was editing Jiraiya-sama's manuscripts." Kakashi protested.

"Or you were sketching us like some weirdo," Sasuke commented sotto voce.

"Maa, I wanted to remember my cute genin working so hard!" he teased them.

"Nin?" Bolger repeated the unfamiliar suffix.

"Ah, I have a feeling you do not have a word in your tongue for the kind of military we are, which is why I've used the word officer until now" Kakashi said dismissively.

Bolger accepted this with ease. "Well, I write letter of introduction," he stated and consequently got them back on track. "I explain you kin to Dôranna, who travel for many years to reach Shire. However, you be attack on East Road by bandits and now have no possessions. While Master Frodo offer replace possessions, you refuse charity and want work to gain possessions. Is this fair?"

"You've said Frodo is gone but the rest of the populace does not know this, do they?" Kakashi deduced.

Bolger nodded once. "We must keep old Frodo leave secret, hear?" There was a hardness to the hobbit's tone that suggested they not push the topic. They could understand the need for secrecy being ninja, after all.

"Now, Haruno-chan, you keep hair covered. None in Middle-Earth have pink hair," Bolger said rather pointedly. "We need darken brow too, so none know you all from elsewhere."

Ah, so the hobbit had gathered they weren't from this planet then even without verbal confirmation. Well, he was cleverer than he appeared.

"Lastly, you best learn little Westron. I think alphabet made in Westron from dream language not make sense, because I think words are pictures in your tongue, yes?"

"More or less, yes," Kakashi agreed for simplicity's sake. The hobbit was now leading them to a study. He gestured to a loosely bound series of parchments.

"Right, well, we write words phonetically with these accents for intonation," the hobbit explained as he pointed to the strange characters on the paper, specifically the left side of the page. "Then we translate phrase or word to Westron proper there" he pointed to the right side of the papers which had similar characters minus the little dashes above or below the characters.

"Let us go over together with your words written beside left-side words, then you learn to sound Westron sound?" The hobbit seemed rather excited about this all.

Well, learning the language would likely help them in the long run anyways, especially if Naruto did move around as much as Bolger has suggested thus far.

A/N: I realize Kakashi seems a little OOC here, but he was isolated for several months with just crazy frogs for company and he's so close to finding Naruto after everything he went through—including infiltrating ROOT and doing things he never wanted to do there. Also Bolger's a nice, unassuming hobbit.

* Sakura's battle cry of "Shannora" definitely acted like a magic spell to enhance the effect of her attack. Will she realize this? Maybe.

I hope to update August 1st. I hope you all enjoyed and stay safe ~ Love, DC