Chapter 68 Aftershocks

The fires seamed to burn for hours filling the valley with the smell of burning flesh that could be smelled miles away. It was a sickening smell but while the fires were burning, there was some slight sign of life among the mass of dead bodies, which covered the ground.

"My God." exclaimed Chiasa Inuzuka as she tried to move around the dead bodies of her fellow ninjas but there was no way to get around the burning field without stepping on someone. It was as if the ground itself had been replaced by bodies and blood, the only places which wasn't covered with body parts was the parts in which fire raged.

"What could have done this?" inquired Marai, the Knights had ridden past them on their way back to the wall maybe an hour ago, since then there had been no outward signs of life.

"No idea." admitted Jun Nara as she took it all in. "We need to get out of here."

"No arguments here." Confirmed Maria as the four of them journeyed over the field of death, already crows and other birds had descended down from the sky to feast on the bodies. The whole battlefield reached of death and something that the young genin had not expected human bodily waste.

"No one ever tells you about the smells," explained Lee who was handling the field of the dead better than his own genin but only by a little. He had seen battlefields during the last war but this was on a level he had own read about in history books.

"I don't see any dead knights," noted Chiasa

"And I didn't see them carry away any wounded or dead." added Marai

"They couldn't have killed all these ninjas without losing a single person." counted Jun

"They did." confirmed Lee as they made their way toward the short wall which they had taken when they first attacked. They climbed up the back ramp only to see that the other side of the wall was untouched by the effects of the attack. The Knights had never attacked beyond it however the effects of the attack on the other part of the army had meant the forces stationed here had ran across the bridge into Bronze Country.

The four of them moved past the abounded tents and other supplies until they reached the bridge, which linked the land of Granite to the Land of Bronze. As they headed across the bridge, they noticed a single figure standing by end of the bridge. The figure was dressed in a long trench coat, which went all the way down to his knees, he had black sunglasses on even in the middle of the night and in his hands was a small clipboard.

"Ah…Lee glad to see that you made it," stated the figure as Lee blinked not really believing that he was standing there out in the open.

"Shino?" inquired Lee stunned to see him standing there.

"Yes, you did get my warning about the attack but when the blasts hit I lost contact with my insects however it was worth it to keep you alive," said Shino calmly as he wrote Lee and his team name down on the clipboard. "Kiba was sure luckily as well most of his clan from the Leaf was up in the mountains away from the blast."

"My clan made it?" inquired Chiasa

"I just said they did, they passed by maybe twenty minutes earlier." explained Shino "They were dragging a half dead Tsuchikage with them. That was amazing considering where he was when they hit."

"We should kill you where you stand." growled Chiasa

"Not a wise move." countered Shino calmly; his tone of voice was the same as a person being threaten by a six-year-old kid.

"Why is that, demon we are at war with you?" snapped Chiasa as she showed her Inuzuka clan temper.

"Chiasa calm down, we are standing in the Land of Bronze." reported Jun Nara "That means he must be a diplomat between his nation and this one. If we kill him Bronze could declare war on the Leaf or cut off all help."

"Someone has read up on their law, I expected nothing less from a Nara." stated Shino

"He isn't a diplomatic he is a spy," countered Chiasa

"Yes, I am the spy master for my nation," reported Shino "I gave our side information on every unit you brought down here. I even recorded the battle from here for study."

"You sick son of a bitch!" snapped Chiasa

"I could have let you died but I didn't, you should be thanking me," countered Shino "Oh well I guess I should have expected that you're an Inuzuka after all."

"What happens next?" inquired Lee "You can't hold us as Prisoners of war since we are in a neutral nation."

"Well I guess your head back to the Leaf and if the defeat here and the crushing defeat of the Mizukage and her fleet is enough this pointless war will be over," stated Shino as Lee blinked. "If I would give an estimate of those killed I would around 28,000 to 31,000 ninjas dead in the span of less than twenty four hours to none on our side."

The Leaf ninjas blinked as if they could not believe the numbers Shino was giving.

"So tell me how will the people back in the ninja villages deal with that news?" inquired Shino as the sound of a train caused everyone to look back toward the land of Granite. Rolling slowly down the tracks with teams of people in front moving the bodies out of the way was a large train pulling four black cars with multiple smoke stacks on it. There were also dozens of boxcars behind them.

"What is that?" inquired Maria

"It's a cleanup crew." Stated Shino as the train came to a stop. At once teams of people moved off to collect bodies, they all watched as the teams went through the pockets of the dead. They removed the personal items and sealed them in plastic bags, and then the bodies were put into one of the multiple holes in the side of the black cars.

"They are cremating the bodies?" inquired Jun

"On a battle field of this scale there aren't enough refrigerated cars to send them back to their home before they rot." explained Lee he had seen this on some of the larger battlefields in the last war. "They burn the bodies to ash and then put them in containers for transport."

"You may call us demons but we are not heartless. This however will take a lot of time," said Shino as he checked his watch "I better get going I have an early morning meeting and I need to get some sleep. The remaining ninja forces are gathering about a quarter of a mile down the tracks from there the Land of Bronze has trains waiting to take you home."

A few miles away Naruto and the Knights of the Land of Animals where busy taking off their armor, while the armor had protected them from any real harm they had all had taken hits of some kind. Almost everyone had at least one bruise from where a strong blow of one kind or another hit them, three had broken arms and one of their numbers had almost been killed when a blow from a ninja sent him flying off the horse. It was not the fall, which had almost killed him it was the fact that he fell into the small stream, which ran in the valley. If the armor was made of steel instead of Aldhard he would have drowned, instead it was a narrow escape.

As Naruto took off his armor, he saw that his entire body was soaked with sweat, as if he had just done a training season with Lee and Guy. Sweat was sticking from his body even after he took a shower he still felt sticky from all the sweat.

"So it was a slaughter," said Naruto

"You speak like that is a bad thing?" inquired Sasuke

"No, I am just sorry it came to this," explained Naruto

"We could use this time to launch an attack on them." Offered Sasuke

"I disagree we have limited numbers and while we have a strong home field advantage in anything but a well-planned offensive plan we would lose." explained Neji

"Agreed, we should allow me to try to make a peace and at the same time." advised Temari as she leaned back in her chair a bit "The two victories should cause them to rethink this war of theirs."

"Besides it will be good for everyone to see their families after something like this." added Shikamaru and even Sasuke could not help but nodded his head in agreement to that.

"Alright we will route the forces here back home." ordered Naruto as he rubbed his temples.

"Starting with you sir." said Neji as Naruto blinked.

"I shouldn't be on the first train home, a leader should put his people first." explained Naruto

"And you haven't been home longer than any of us." Countered Shikamaru, Naruto closed his eyes as he mentally weighted his duty to his forces and the natural need to see his children.

"Alright, I'll go." Agreed Naruto and before the sunrise the first train full of people heading home where rolling out of black snake pass heading to Nadeji.

It was just past 10:30 in the morning as Tsunade had been walking for the past couple of days longer then she expected to reach the village she used to lead, maybe it was a sign that she was getting older. Her ship had docked at the far northern port right next to lightening country, and then there was a massive rainstorm, which forced her to take cover in inns for multiple days.

"I remember when I used to be able to run from the boarder back home in six days," cursed Tsunade as she neared the walls of the village nearly two weeks after leaving the ship.

As she neared the village gate, she saw more people lining up to enter the gate, most where farmers with carts full of food to sell in the market. The four chunnin operating the gate waved most of them in without even looking what was in the back of the carts.

"They need to check every chart to make sure they are not smuggling in anything." Thought Tsunade as she remembered how she had to chew out some of the chunnin when she was Hokage for the same thing. It was human nature to just wave in the regulars but there was such a thing as hedges and a cart full of paper bombs had been used in the civil war in Water country years earlier.

"Next." Said a chunnin as Tsunade moved forward. The chunnin did not even look up from the clip board where she was writing down the names of everyone entering. "ID please."

"Is that good enough?" inquired Tsunade as the Chunnin looked up at her before looking back at the Hokage Mountain. The Chunin's eyes widened as she saw Tsunade's face right beside the current Hokage's.

"Lady Tsunade." said the stunned Chunnin as she snapped to attention, the other chunnin snapped to attention as they realized that the former Hokage was now standing before them. "We didn't know you were coming home from your vacation home?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the Vacation home comment but decided that it was likely some lie that the council let out to explain why the Hokage would suddenly leave.

"We will inform the council that you have arrived." Stated the Chunnin

"No I am just passing through." Stated Tsunade wishing that the best route to the land of Granite where the people she considered her family was did not take her through the Leaf. She pushed past the chunnin and headed into the village even as another one ran off to report that the old Hokage had returned.

It was a journey down memory lane for the former Hokage and one that was not welcomed by here, as she walked she passed by places where she remembered events in her life. The restaurant where she and Dan first kissed, the training field where she had taught Sakura how to punch, the stand where she had always seen Naruto eating and finally the place where Jiraiya and her shared their last meal together before he died. She paused as she looked in at the BBQ restaurant she knew that she should keep walking and move out of the village as fast as possible. Even so something called her to enter the restaurant and take the same table that she and Jiraiya had. She had not returned to the place since. In fact she had activity avoided the place to avoid the painful memories.

"Can I interest you in a menu?" inquired the waiter

"No, I know what I want," stated Tsunade as she ordered the same meal she had all those years ago, she even remembered the type sauce she had. She did not say another word, as she looked at the seat that her old teammate and fellow Sannin had taken all those years ago. For a moment, it was if she could see his stupid cocky face from beyond the grave.

"Lady Tsunade." said a voice as Tsunade looked up to see the three people she did not want to see standing there.

"Homura, Koharu, Hiashi what can I do with you?" inquired Tsunade as her food arrived.

"Why have you returned to the Leaf?" inquired Koharu as the older woman looked at the former Hokage.

"You know I always wanted to say this while I was Hokage but when will you die?" inquired Tsunade as Koharu blinked "Same goes for you Homura when will you just fall over and die?"

"That doesn't answer our question Lady Tsunade?" inquired Hiashi

"But you already know the answer to that question." explained Tsunade as she took a bite of her food "So the real question is why are you asking me such a stupid question."

"You're heading to the demon village?" stated Hiashi Hyuuga

"Yes." confirmed Tsunade "And there is nothing you can do to stop me, if you try to arrest me I will fight back."

"You will lose," stated Hiashi as Tsunade nodded her head.

"Yes I will. I am not the young woman I used to be and even if I was the numbers of ninjas in the village would overwhelm anyone." confirmed Tsunade as the Council grinned. "But how would you explain it to the village that you are arresting the former Hokage and one of the Sannin?"

All three of them instantly saw that Tsunade had them cornered politically they could not risk the public backlash against them for arresting a Tsunade. She was still very popular in the village and while it was common knowledge she had close almost family ties with the demons, it would not allow them to arrest her.

"No matter we already have a ninja force in their country and while they stopped our first assault they will lose," stated Homura

"Besides a fleet from Kirigakure will land an invasion force and take their village while their main force is fighting the land forces." stated Koharu "The demons will either be killed or brought under control."

"One thing I have learned is to never underestimate ones enemy most of all the generation which won the last war." stated Tsunade before grinning, "Also it is impossible to bring Naruto under control."

Before the members of Village Council could say anything, a chunnin ran into the room carrying a scroll in his arms.

"Lords, Lady we have a message from the war front." reported the chunnin in between heavy breaths.

"What is it?" inquired Hiashi

"Sir, you want to hear this in private," advised the chunnin only to get a death glare from the leader of the Hyuuga clan. Knowing the trouble he was in if he asked another question he unrolled the scroll and cleared his throat, by now everyone in the restaurant was looking at them.

"Attacked last night inflicting massive casualties with few survivors. Entire force destroyed and in full retreat. Reports of Kirigakure fleet destroyed with massive losses including the Mizukage by same unknown justu that destroyed us. Mizukage believed dead, Tsuchikage in life threating state. No forces left in Granite heading home with our wounded."

The entire restaurant was stunned and then a few of the people ran out to inform the rest of the village. Tsunade and the entire council knew that within two hours the entire village will hear the news about the stunning the defeat. Tsunade only grinned as order a bottle of the best Saki that the restaurant had.

Well I hope you liked this chapter even if it was shorter than normal. Now if you have not please go vote for what couples you want to possibly see in my next story please go do that. Now since this is such a short chapter I believe you all deserve a little clip of the story Idea I am working on. I hope you enjoy.

CLIP OF POSSIBLE UPCOMING STORY

"So you're the ones who killed Tsurugi and his men." said the man in blue as he looked toward the group of six figures. They all had orange hair and wore the black robes with red clouds on it.

"I am building a peaceful world and for that I need you." said one of the six as he opened his eyes to show the multiple rings of the legendary Rinnegan "Rather the tailed beast inside you."

"So you're the Akatsuki." said the man in blue.

"He is more than that, Utakata. He is Pain the puppet leader of the Akatsuki," said a new female voice as Utakata turned to see two people standing on the other side of him. One was a man the other was a women, both of them where dressed in cloths that would not be uncommon for either a farmer or a village trader simple pants, shoes and a work shirt. They were not Akatsuki and they looked unremarkable, the male was rather tall and muscle while the woman was slightly thinner than average other than that they looked normal.

"Who are you?" inquired Pain in a board tone.

"We are here to stop you Pain," said the man in a very deep voice "You and your Akatsuki has been a pain in our side for years, time to end that pain."

"There is no end to pain," said Pain as he raised his hand "Almighty push!"

With that a blast of chakra sent everything flying, trees where ripped out of the ground. It sent everything flying backwards for almost a mile however to the amazement of Pain the man dug his hand into the ground and took the blow as if it was nothing. The woman was sent flying backwards as he expected however moments before she would hit the ground she stopped midair.

"What the?" inquired Utakata, he had moved out of the way seconds before the attack. He could not believe what he was seeing, the woman was hovering in midair on a two sets of almost see through insect like wings.

"Well that was fun." Said the man as he stood back up brushing some dirt off his cloths. He turned around to see the woman landing behind him. "So you broke the justu?"

"I didn't want to land on my head; some of us actually use it," laughed the woman as the man rolled his eyes before reaching for a small silver ring on his pinky. He pulled it off and instantly his whole body changed, he was no longer dressed as a simple trader, he wore full-scale armor a massive sword hung from his hip and something was very wrong with the shape the armor on his feet and hands. Then there was his actually face, it was covered not with skin but what looked to be red and black scales. Small horns stuck out from different spots around chin, down his nose and top of his head. He rocked a little bit as large bat like wings unfolded themselves from behind him.

"This feels good," said the man as he actually breathed a little bit of fire.

"I can believe it." confirmed the woman as she reached for a small metal wrist man and pulled it off, instantly she changed as well but into something very different. While the man seemed to have gained mass, she lost it. Her body which was already thin got slightly thinner, she seemed graceful as if she was a natural dancer. Her sin seemed to be unnaturally perfect but slightly pale and her now green fingernails were perfectly manicured. She wore a tight leather looking armor over her chest, which ran down in scales down her thin arms. Her legs had high knee-high greaves that almost went up to the warrior skirt. Her hair was now a bright lime green with dark green inlays. Then there was her face, it was strangely attractive even though her eyes where now a deep forest green and her ears where very large and pointy. The four insects like wings where still visible coming from her back.

"What are you?" inquired Pain

"That doesn't really matter now Pain or should I call you Nagato." said the woman in a music like voice. "We end you and then we take care of the real leader Obito."

"Did you really think that you were the only ones with plans for the tailed beasts?" inquired the man with a grin

Well I hope you liked this clip of a story idea I am working on. In case you are wondering I am currently working on a story idea similar to my Demon Plan only instead of using animals for demons I am researching actual mythical creatures to be the demons. If you haven't please go vote for what couple you want. Also tell me what you think.

Thanks Wilkins75.