The Perils of Dimension Hopping | A Naruto/LOTR Crossover

Chapter Seven: Facing Facts and Unknowing Adventures

Tiptoeing around their host was surprisingly easy, though Sakura kept having to remind herself to look around and check whether this Baggins was in the room with them. He was awfully quiet for a civilian without a smidge of chakra. Then again, they were both amazingly quiet and light on their feet despite their loss of chakra. Despite their compacted sizes too. Sakura thought she was adjusting rather well to being a child again. It wasn't as horrible as she'd first thought, despite the less than stellar company. She could deal with Madara though, especially since he wasn't out to kill her. Well not yet anyhow. "I'm braiding your hair tonight," she grumbled, awareness coming back to her as she choked on the fluffy black strands of hair which had somehow ended up in her mouth. "I don't care what you think—"

"Quiet!" Madara hissed, dark grey eyes already wide awake and narrowed in suspicion as the sounds of voices reached them. He recognised both voices, as did Sakura, despite only having heard the second once a matter of weeks ago when they'd both been brought to the house of their host. 'Let's see what's going on,' he signed, and Sakura acquiesced without any sort of snarky retort.

She padded out of their room close behind him, peering around the corner of one of the numerous rounded corridors, eyeing their curly-haired host, and the one called Gamgee. Green eyes narrowed on what they were doing – both of them appearing to be packing away supplies into a bag. 'Are they going on a trip?'

'Obviously, idiot.'

Sakura gave him the middle finger. 'I was just double checking.'

'Sure.'

'Are they gonna leave us behind do you think?' she signed, watching as food and other necessities were packed away. 'They can't leave us, can they?' she added, nervousness stirring in her gut as she watched the short people pack away their belongings.

'Well they are locals,' Madara concluded. 'They might be going out to hunt or something. Well, if they hunt to find food. This world seems rather primitive compared to ours. They don't even have chakra... but we should probably stick with these two. They haven't done anything untoward, and they're probably our best bet of survival in these lands.'

Together, they hurried back into the bedroom they'd been given, hunting out appropriate travelling clothes and a small pack Madara filled with some essential clothing, before heading back out into the corridor, dressed and ready.

'I think we can trust them.' She folded her arms, looking on at the preparing pair as they went to make their presence known.

'If I wasn't here you'd already be dead with that naivety of yours,' Madara signed, sighing quietly, rolling his eyes as she determinedly ignored him and went and tugged demandingly on the sleeve of their nice host.

He spun to face them, confusion written across his face as he spied what they were wearing, that unfamiliar language sounding again, his blondish friend joining in. Sakura tightened her grip on his sleeve, staring up at him unflinchingly with her hard green eyes, trying to drive the point in. They were going with him, wherever he was going, and for however long their trip would be. He was their best choice for survival. Her meeting with those strange big people had only proven that much. Not everyone was nice in their new world, and without any way to communicate, she had no way to pick out who she could and couldn't trust. This Frodo Baggins had fed them, clothed them, and generally been very nice while they were staying with him. She wasn't about to let him leave them both behind when they went off on a long trip – because judging by how much they packed, it'd be a decently lengthy trip. Their hosts would probably be able to forage for more food, so it might be even longer than any of her predictions.

So when their hosts left, concerned and worried glances thrown their way, they followed close behind them, not even bothering with subtlety. Sakura felt uneasy, heading out into the bigger scarier world, but Inner was all for their little travel. They both knew they couldn't remain in one place for too long... not after the nightmares she was having almost every night. She saw twisted, rotting creatures, and wolves twice as large as any man. Trees whispered to her, urging her forwards, and Sakura took strength from that. Not that she told Madara that. Saying anything along those lines would just result in yet another argument between them, and as much as she despised him, she also took comfort from his presence. He was weirdly like a rock in that sense. A rock she'd happily kick as far away from her as possible if they ever made it back to the Elemental Nations.