Alright, here's the next chapter. K, so someone pointed out a few things that I'd like to clarify. I have no problem making certain characters villains but someone noted or at least hinted that both Dumbledore and Jiraiya manipulated their respective prophecy's for their own gains. I can't tell from his comments if he was talking about my story or just the concept in general, but I have to clear something up. First off, I totally agree, and second off… in my story at least. Neither one manipulated the prophecy at all, they just misunderstood it or put to much stock into it. Dumbledore believes that Naruko is the one spoken of, because he still thinks she's the girl-who-lived. He hasn't done anything to manipulate anything in my story, and in my story, I try to paint the headmaster as someone who is… naive rather then malicious.
Also, Hana Inuzuka is in this chapter. I wanted to note that while I mentioned her in the last chapter, I never stated that she was actually with the Inuzuka at that moment, just that she would leave if the Inuzuka did. Just for clearance so people aren't confused.
Anyway just wanted to clear that up. Here's the next chapter. A lot of stuff is going to happen so follow along.
Broken Angel
Chapter 58
The plan, was all set. It was simple. First, Riley would take Inoichi to Britain and the two would ambush the minister. Inoichi would implant a memory into the Minister's mind of a Legionnaire telling the Minister of a message the Legion had received from Konoha asking for help. The memory would then show the minister sending the legion off to help Konoha while keeping the whole thing quiet to avoid a panic. This way, the legion wouldn't get into any trouble for running off on their own.
From there, the Legion would return to Britain and inform the minister of what had happened. The story would be, that they arrived right as the Angel was finishing Minato off. The legion had rescued as many shinobi and civilians as they could, and launched an attack on the angel. Riley had been able to pin it down with her Wood Style and then utilized one of the Rinnegan's amazing powers and created it's new lunar prison.
The reason Riley had actually played out the fight, was so that when asked to provide memories of the attack, they could actually show them the parts where Riley fought and beat the angel. Riley herself would act as if she had suffered from magical exhaustion and was in some form of meditative trance, and that she wouldn't awaken for several weeks. The legion would keep her at the hidden village for her safety, and Britain would wait for her to awaken.
Meanwhile, Itachi would be spreading word throughout the ministry, that Riley had been speculating that the Angel had been growing in power, and that, the reason for it's growth was tied to that whole, 'belief bestows power' thing. This way, Itachi could scare the Ministry and the ICW into believing that by merely speaking of the angel, and drawing attention to it, they could be giving it power.
Riley guessed that at that point, the ICW would descend upon the ruins of Konoha, and have sensors, probably Hyuuga, confirm the angel's presence within the moon. They wouldn't even need to lie, since Riley's wood clone would be there, and it would be drawing in nature energy to keep the new moon in it's fixed position above the ruins of Konoha.
From there, it wouldn't be hard to guess what the ICW would do. They'd set up a perimeter around the small moon, and prohibit entrance by anyone. With fear of the angel's return, fresh in peoples minds, and the warning from Itachi, the angel would quickly join Voldemort on the list of things we just don't talk about.
You see, there was a reason Riley wanted this. If anyone investigated too much, they may learn the truth. But if they thought that by merely talking about it, they were giving the angel power, many would be less inclined to acknowledge it's existence, and they'd be even quicker to alienate those whom tried to learn too much about it.
With these fears in place, many wouldn't even acknowledge the angel's existence anymore. It's presence would serve as a ghostly reminder of their sins, and people would question their every action out of fear of it's return.
This would all be handled by Itachi, Sirius, Lucius, and Tom, while Riley pretended to be asleep. She'd remain that way for a few weeks, and while all of this was going on, Arturia would finally take her seat at the Wizengamot.
But that was all for later. As soon as she had finished with Inoichi, and brought her forces back to Pentref Cysgodion Hud, Riley left a wood clone with her forces, and returned to the ruins of Konoha to meet up with Arturia. The two of them were going hunting for Jiraiya and Lily.
Riley had chosen Arturia, since she knew the knight could take Jiraiya in a one on one fight, and Riley also wanted someone with a level head to make sure Riley didn't do something drastic like rip Lily's face off and feed it to her. Lily was going to die, but the question of what to do with her unborn sibling was still fresh in Riley's mind.
"Are you ready?" Riley inquired as she approached Arturia. The mighty knight was standing in the middle of a clearing staring up at the massive floating sphere in the sky.
"It's still hard to believe..." Arturia responded, her eyes still locked on the small moon.
"At times… my power frightens even myself." Riley acknowledged just how unbelievable and terrifying her abilities were.
Arturia was silent for a moment before she let out a sigh and turned to her master.
"Where shall we begin?" Arturia asked.
"Well… Minato had the Yamanaka wipe his mind of his wife's location. So… sadly I have no way of knowing exactly where she is. Luckily, since I absorbed Minato's soul, I have access to his Hiraishin network. I may not know where exactly he put her… but I do know, he would have left her with a kunai, or at least left one nearby. He may not know it's there… but it is. So… I'll flash us to all of Minato's Hiraishin seals, one at a time, and I'll scan the area with my Byakugan. We'll start our hunt from there." Riley answered, earning a nod from Arturia. With that, Riley placed her hand on her comrade's shoulder and the two flashed away.
-Meanwhile in a village in the mountains of Napal -
"Ladies… I need to speak to you in private. Would you mind meeting me out in the field, later on tonight. There is some things we need to discuss." Came the voice of one Mito Uzumaki.
Before her were four woman. Each one was about five to six months pregnant.
"Lady Mito… when did you get here?" One asked with surprise.
"Not that long ago. I needed to speak with Jiraiya about some important business. And there are things I need to speak with you all about too. Meet me out in the field at ten, tonight. We'll talk there." Mito replied.
"Why so late?" One of the woman asked.
"Yeah, why can't we just talk now?" Another inquired with a bit of distaste. She didn't like the idea of having to walk all the way out into the fields around town, just to talk, when her feet were already starting to hurt.
"The walls have ears." Mito replied, giving each a pointed look, causing the four woman to glance around in suspicion. It was obvious they were all ninja.
"Ten… be there. It's important." Mito commanded and then turned and walked out of the room.
While three of the woman conversed amongst themselves, one sat aside with her faithful ninja hounds, three dogs sat around her and one let out a whine and rested it's head on her lap. This woman was an Inuzuka, one that had been sold off by her clan elders to mother a child with Naruko Namikaze. She wondered if her mother knew? No… of course she didn't. If Tsume had known that her own daughter had been used as a breeding tool by her clan's elders, then she would have murdered them.
Hana Inuzuka wondered if her mother even knew where she was. They had been told that their families were informed that they were on a mission for the Hokage. So… Hana guessed, the answer was a no.
"I don't like that woman Hana." One of her dogs whispered to her.
"I know… she gives me the willies." Hana answered as she pat the dog's head.
"Don't go out tonight. I have a bad feeling Hana." The same dog whispered.
"So do I." Hana agreed with a terrified shudder. Her and her fellow baby mama's had been here in this village since their pregnancies were confirmed. They weren't anywhere near the Elemental Nations, and no one here spoke their language. Still, the people were incredibly nice, and very pleasant to be around. And the mountains were beautiful. This place was truly peaceful.
The arrival of Lady Namikaze and Master Jiraiya, a few hours earlier had been surprising, and had sent cold chills up Hana's spine. She didn't know what was going on back home, but for the Hokage to have sent them out here… it didn't bode well.
"How are you?" Came a voice from beside her. Hana glanced up and found an Anbu standing next to her. She smiled at him, and nodded for him to take a seat next to her. This Anbu had been a good friend since she had come here. She didn't know who he really was, but she suspected that he may have a crush on her. He was always formal whenever others were looking but when it was just the two of them, he would inquire as to her well being and how she was feeling.
"I'm fine, Yamato. I… just have this really bad feeling all of a sudden." Hana replied.
"I know what you mean. I've had the willies all day. Something seems so off about the area now. Like something is watching us." Yamato replied.
"You be on your guard. Okay Yamato?" Hana asked him.
"Yeah, I'll keep my guard up." Yamato nodded in agreement.
Hana let out a sigh of relief, and from there, the two continued to chat. Neither of them knew, just how right their feelings were.
-Eighteen hours later-
"Nothing?" Arturia inquired.
"Nope." Riley let out a sigh. By the Gods did Minato have a lot of seals all over the place. Riley had first started with the nearest ones, but it eventually occurred to her that Minato wouldn't have hidden Lily anywhere close to the Elemental Nations, so Riley started to search for the furthest Kunai.
To her surprise, Minato had been literally everywhere. He had Kunai all throughout Asia, all throughout Europe, and the Middle East. Hell the man had Kunai in North America. Riley and Arturia moved from one to the next to the next, finding nothing.
Still, even with the immense boredom of the task, neither one gave up. Eventually, the two flashed to a kunai that sat atop a small cliff, overlooking a small mountain-side village.
The first thing the two noticed was smoke rising from the village. The second was that this place just felt wrong.
"Riley..." Kurama began to say, and Riley quickly stated. "I know."
"What is that?" Arturia asked as she felt this immense darkness flowing around them.
"Demons." Riley answered as she dashed down towards the village.
Arturia quickly readied Excalibur and followed after her.
At the edge of the village was a small field. From the middle of that field, smoke was rising. Smoke that rank of sulfur and corpses.
The two walked towards the smoke, both on guard as the feeling of being watched consumed them.
"Do you feel that?" Arturia inquired as her eyes darted all around them. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up, and her danger senses were warning her of an immense threat nearby.
"Yeah. It's leftover darkness from a demonic attack. Settle yourself, Arturia… the demons are gone." Riley informed her.
"Are you sure?" Arturia asked, as she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"Positive." Riley replied as she glanced over at her companion. Arturia returned the look and noticed that the veins around Riley's eyes were bulging out. She recalled that, that meant that Riley was using her Byakugan, meaning she could see through walls and detect magic.
"What happened here?" Arturia asked aloud as they made it to where the smoke was rising from the ground.
"Someone opened a portal to hell. Demons came through. And… if I had to guess… I'd say they slaughtered everyone here." Riley replied as she stared down into a dark black hole that the sulfuric smoke was rising up from.
Around the hole, was burned out black, demonic writing. And sitting in a triangular formation around the hole, were three corpses.
Each one was the corpse of a woman, each woman was laying in the center of a pentagram formation, and each one had their wombs ripped open. Their entrails looked to have been pulled out and dragged down into the pitch black hole.
"These woman were pregnant. They and their babies were sacrificed to open this portal." Riley stated as she knelt down next to the nearest woman. Aside from their wombs being torn open and their guts ripped out, each woman had demonic symbols carved into their flesh. And one of them, bore a specific mark on her shoulder.
Riley examined it, and immediately recognized the signature tattoo of the Leaf Anbu black ops.
"This woman was a Leaf ninja." Riley noted.
Arturia was keeping her eyes peeled while Riley examined the bodies of the sacrifices. Hearing that, Arturia glanced at the other corpses. She felt sick to her stomach. She'd seen such horrors before, but still… it's not something that you get use too. She glanced at the three woman's horror stricken faces, and a thought struck her.
"Riley… could these be the women your sister was studded with?" Arturia inquired.
Hearing her, Riley glanced at the woman's womb. Even with her Rinne Sharingan, Riley couldn't detect any magic on the corpse. All of it, plus their life-force had been drained out in the sacrifice. If these were the women Riley had been looking for, then they were dead now. Riley let out a snarl and rose to her feet.
She quickly pulled out her wand and released a stream of fire at each body. Within a moment, all three were burning and Riley was marching towards the village.
"Come on. If these were the women that Naruko was bred with, then there is one missing." Riley stated. Arturia nodded and followed after her. She quickly began to mentally prepare herself for what they would see in the village. The attack may have ended and the demons gone, but that didn't make her feel much better. The evil that had consumed this village was overbearing. It took all of Arturia's years of fighting, plus the light of Excalibur to stave off the horrible sickening darkness around her.
Riley made it about fifteen feet before she made a motion with her wand and a bolt of light shot into the air, and arced down into the burned out hellmouth. The blast of magic sealed the hell hole shut.
From there the two proceeded through the ruined town. Blood, bones, and the occasional severed limb littered the streets and buildings. However, there were no bodies anywhere.
"Where are all the bodies?" Arturia asked as she scanned some of the darkened out buildings.
"Probably dragged through the portal, back to hell." Riley answered.
"Why didn't they take those three women's corpses then?" Arturia inquired.
"Those women, and their babies were used as sacrifices to open the portal. The babies looked like they had been torn from their mother's wombs and taken through to the other side. The three women, were then used to stabilize the portal, while the demons slaughtered the villagers." Riley answered.
"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Arturia asked.
"No… no I haven't. These demons weren't that powerful. If they had been, the bijuu would have felt it. Whoever opened the portal must had erected a barrier around the town to keep all of the dark magic within. Then they opened that portal and allowed the demons to slaughter the townspeople. I haven't ever seen something like this, but a few years ago I consumed the soul of a demon summoner named Sabastian Yurik. With his memories, I can discern what happened here." Riley explained.
"I see." Arturia replied as she glanced around at the carnage.
The two walked quietly for several minutes while Riley scanned the area. The amount of dark energy here was immense and it clouded her sight considerably. Still, she kept her eyes peeled. If Leaf ninja were here, then there was a good chance that Lily and Jiraiya were here as well. Plus, they were still missing one of the four women that Naruko had impregnated, if the three around the hell portal, had in fact been the others.
The village itself was only mildly damaged, even if blood littered the streets. It was obvious that the demons that had attacked, had killed and then fed on the residents, as scraps of flesh littered the streets. Still, no bodies had been found. The blood had already dried, but with the amount of demonic energy still present, Riley guessed that the attack hadn't occurred more then a few hours ago.
Still, she couldn't fathom the reason why. Who would want to do this? Who would summon demons to slaughter this particular town of people? What purpose was there? This town couldn't be home to more then three, maybe four hundred people.
The two continued in silence for several moments when Riley heard someone shout.
"Hello!" The two women stopped. They both heard the shout echo off of the mountains.
Rushing forward and focusing her vision on the direction of the voice, Riley spotted five chakra signatures.
As they moved forward Riley transfigured their clothes to look like their Legionnaire armor, so that no one would recognize her or Arturia.
They quickly passed by some buildings as they heard another shout.
"Is Anyone Out There!? Is Anyone Else Alive!?" They both heard a disparaged and terrified voice yell. The first voice had sounded feminine, while this one was obviously male.
Finally they rounded the corner and started down a street. At the end of the street they spotted five figures. Three were large dogs, maybe even wolves, while the other two were a pregnant woman, and a Leaf Anbu.
"They're alive." Arturia noted with surprise. She had expected this to be a trap of some sort.
Riley nodded in agreement with her own surprise. She hadn't even a hope that anyone was left alive in this small town. Still, she quickly surmised an answer to the five's survival when she focused on the Leaf Anbu. His chakra was light and filled with Nature Energy. In fact, it was almost the exact same as Hashirama's. She could see with her Rinne Sharingan, that the darkness around him was being pushed back by his nature-infused chakra. It must have somehow cloaked them from the demon's attack.
"IS ANYONE OUT THERE!" The woman cried out. She was on her knees surrounded by the three dogs. She was obviously traumatized, and terrified. This place, which was once so full of life, was now as silent as a grave. Where once there had been peace and tranquility, now there was an unnatural stillness that was as cold as the fingers of death.
"Hana, people." One of the dogs said, signifying that it was a ninken.
The two immediately focused on Riley and Arturia as they approached.
"Who, are you?" The Anbu demanded as he stepped in front of the woman and took a defensive stance.
"We're Legionnaires, from Pentref Cysgodion Hud. Our commanders sent us out to locate the Fourth Hokage's wife. We're allies." Riley answered, quickly coming up with a cover for who they were and why they were there.
"I've never heard of that place. Where are you from? Why are you looking for Lady Namikaze?" The man asked with suspicion lacing his voice. Even through his fear and despair, his Anbu training was keeping his senses sharp, and he knew that these two weren't from around here.
"We're from Britain. Our commanders sent us to bring Lady Namikaze to Britain, where she'll be safe." Riley explained as she raised her hands to show that she didn't mean any harm.
"How did you find this place? Where did all the monsters go?" The man demanded as he sent a glance around at the blood stained buildings and streets, along with the deep slash marks on some of the buildings that indicated that something tore it's way inside.
"One of the Yamanaka, whom worked closely with the Fourth told us. The Angel of Carnage attacked Konoha, that's why the Fourth moved his wife here, or at least I think it was here. This is just one of many places we've checked so far." Riley answered, getting a nod of agreement from Arturia.
"The Angel attacked Konoha?" The anbu stated in surprise.
"My Mother, Tsume Inuzuka, and my brother Kiba… are they alright?" Hana asked, suddenly.
"Many of the clans were in meetings just prior to the attack. I think most, if not all of the Inuzuka survived." Riley answered, giving a look to Arturia whom again nodded, giving the impression that the two were trying to remember just what exactly had occurred.
"Survived? What about the Leaf? The Fourth?" The Anbu demanded as Hana let out a sigh of relief, but immediately refocused when he asked those questions.
"I'm sorry… The Fourth Hokage perished, while fighting the Angel. He managed to weaken it enough for The Legion, along with the surviving Leaf nin, to push it back, and for Lady Uchiwa to seal it away." Riley informed them.
The two sat in stunned silence for several moments as the three dogs let out sad whines.
"The Leaf… what about the Leaf?" Hana asked.
"Konohagakure no Sato, was completely destroyed. The angel had killed almost everyone by the time we arrived. We were able to gather up all of the survivors and hold it off, long enough to have it sealed away. But… nothing remains of Konoha. The Leaf forces have fallen back to Britain where they'll be safe, far away from Iwa and Oto. We were sent to try and locate Lady Namikaze. The Fourth had the Yamanaka clan wipe his mind, but the one that did it, still knew the reason behind the mind wipe. So, we began checking all of the locations where the Fourth had placed his signature Kunai. What happened here? Is Lady Namikaze here?" Riley explained to them.
The two sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Hana started to cry and her Ninken let out mournful howls. While this was happening, Riley had her eyes focused on Hana's womb. She was obviously pregnant, and the energy that flowed within, was very similar to Naruko's. It seems that Arturia had been right. The three woman, used as sacrifices, were in fact the other three woman, and Hana Inuzuka was the fourth.
"I can't believe it..." The anbu stated with a shake of his head.
"I'm sorry for your loss, but… please… it isn't safe to remain here for much longer. Was Lady Namikaze here, do you know? Do you know what happened here?" Arturia asked them.
Another moment of silence passed while the Anbu let out a long sigh. Finally he focused on Riley and Arturia, and answered.
"It all started late last night. Right after sun down. I was doing my rounds, checking the perimeter of our safe house, looking for any structural weaknesses." The Anbu began as he motioned towards the building behind them. "I was checking around when I noticed Hana in her room. I had thought that odd, since Lady Mito had asked for Hana and a few others to meet with her around that time so I went to talk with her."
"Lady Mito was here?" Riley asked suddenly, and she quickly had to suppress her sudden rage, as the answer to this whole situation, became apparent.
"Yeah… she just appeared a few hours before that. She said it was important that she speak with us. She wanted to meet out in the field around ten." Hana explained to them.
"Why weren't you there?" Arturia asked.
"I didn't feel like walking all the way out there. My feet have been hurting me recently, and on top of that, she wanted to meet so late. Plus… something was off about Lady Mito. She… I don't know… it was just so weird. She was giving off this vibe, that didn't sit well with me. I don't know what it was, but I didn't like it. So I stayed in. The other's went though..." Hana explained.
"The others! I need..." The anbu began, as he remembered his duty to guard all four of them.
"They're dead." Riley cut him off, earning sad whimpers from the dogs and a few tears from Hana.
"They were used to summon the monsters that attacked this place. Please… keep going with your explanation." Arturia urged the Anbu on.
The Anbu was quiet for several moments. His head hanging in defeat. He had failed to protect the other three… he could only hope now, that their deaths had been painless. He doubted it, but he still had to hope.
After a few moments, he finally continued. "I had decided to speak with Hana about why she hadn't gone to see Lady Mito, when screams began to break out through the village. Then… immediately following them were monstrous roars. I've never heard roars like that. The sound made my blood freeze in my veins. I couldn't move as the screams and roars tore through the village. Finally… survival instincts, just kicked in. I pushed Hana against the wall of her room and formed a barrier around us, and her dogs. I don't know why I didn't go out to fight. I just stayed there… holding up that barrier, keeping us hidden and safe. We heard screams all around us… I felt the monsters tear against the barrier. It went on for hours..." The Anbu explained with a visible shudder.
"Those monsters were demons. Most of them, probably minor demons, but demons none the less. The fear you felt, was an instinctual thing, derived from eons of evolution. You didn't fight because at your base, you knew you couldn't win. Your chakra, acted as a barrier to keep the demons away. It's special… I'm a sensor I can tell. It saved your lives." Riley stated to him, earning a reluctant nod from the Anbu, before he continued his story.
"I used every ounce of my focus to keep the barrier up around us. Even after the screaming and the pounding stopped. I kept the barrier up. Even hours after it stopped, I kept the barrier up. It wasn't until I finally ran out of chakra that I had to drop it. Even now… I couldn't fight off a bird, let alone a monster." The anbu admitted.
"You survived. That's what matters. Come with us… we'll get you back to your comrades." Arturia offered them, earning a nod of agreement from Riley.
"Wait… you said you were looking for Lady Namikaze. She and Master Jiraiya showed up a few hours before the attack. They are staying up in the building at the top of the village." Hana informed them, as she pointed to a large building that sat higher up on the mountain.
"Let's go. If anyone could have held off against this attack, it would be master Jiraiya." Riley stated. With that, the group made their way up the hill towards the building. Riley doubted that her mother or Jiraiya had survived. And with Mito's involvement that lessened the chances even more. Still… Riley couldn't figure out why Mito had done this. Why kill all these people? Why sacrifice three possible Rinnegan users to the demons just to slaughter a village of innocent people. I mean Mito was evil, but when she did something, she did it with reason, she didn't do things, just to do them. So why kill all these people?
It took a few minutes of walking through the ghostly ruins of the this once tranquil place, before they started up the path to the large building.
A few moments went by before they approached a twenty foot high wall of earth that blocked their path. There were deep scratches and gouges in the wall, indicating the demons had broken against it, and tried to break through. Riley could sense tiny bits of nature energy still present in the wall indicating that it had been created by a sage, namely Jiraiya. And with nature energy infused within it, it was both strong enough and resistant enough to hold the demons back. Or at least most of them. Enough to allow the sage to fight them in a manageable number as they got past it.
Drawing her wand, Riley quickly blasted a whole through the wall. Without energy to keep it standing and make it sturdy, it crumbled with relative ease.
The group passed through the hole in the wall and came upon a sobering and tragic sight.
All in front of them, leading up to the house were black bubbling pools of foulness. Dead demons that were still rotting away. They quickly passed them and approached the house. In front of the entrance, on it's knees was a corpse. Hana let out a sad sob, while the Anbu could only sigh and stare at the sky. The dogs all let out a mournful howl at the sight.
On it's knees was the body of master Jiraiya. Black Chains, held his wrists and his ankles. There was a hole through his chest, pierced through from behind. The hole had been through one of his lungs, and he was missing his head.
Riley let out a sad sigh as she approached the body and knelt in front of it. The old man, had gone out fighting. All of these dead demons had been done in by him. The hole in his chest had been caused by something stabbing him from behind, and the black chains, were made of a foul and malevolent chakra. Riley recognized the chains as being similar to Kushina's meaning that Mito had probably pinned the man down and stabbed him in the back. The demons had probably done the rest.
"Sorry old man. You didn't deserve to go out like this." Riley stated, as she rose to her feet and once again set fire to the headless corpse. Riley had no delusions that she would have to kill Jiraiya at one point. Still… just like the third Hokage, Jiraiya had conviction. Riley had wanted to kill him in battle. At the very least, the man deserved to go out fighting. Not stabbed in the back by someone he presumed to be his ally. The group continued past his burning body and into the house. Hana and the Anbu offering silent prayers to him as they passed by.
On the inside of the house, the place was a wreck. Demons had torn through it, and right next to the stairs leading up to the second level, was blood splatters. Riley made the inference that it must have been a guard, since the demons continued up stair after something. Probably Lily.
Inside of Riley's Mindscape, Kurama, Hashirama and Madara watched the whole thing play out. Riley ascended the stairs and followed the torn apart floors and walls to a single door. Knowing full well what she'd probably find in there, Riley opened the door.
Inside, was a bedroom, and it was much cleaner then the rest of the destroyed house. Laying on the ground, and on the bed were the two halves of Lily Namikaze. She had been split in half, straight down the middle.
Riley stepped into the room, followed by Arturia and Hana, whom immediately let out a sad sigh when she spotted the body. She quickly turned away from the scene and leaned into her Anbu guard whom could only shake his head in sadness.
Riley only stared at the scene for a few moments. What made it so much worse was the look of despair frozen on Lily's face. Riley shook her head after a moment and withdrew her wand to burn the body. But suddenly, a though occurred to her. And she quickly moved towards one half of the woman who had birthed her. Both halves were positioned so that the open part was facing the ground. Riley slowly flipped one side over.
"What are you doing?" The Anbu asked.
"Looking for her baby." Riley answered. The woman had been perfectly cut down the middle. A cut that could only be achieved by magic.
Riley glanced down at Lily's open womb and let out a snarl. It was empty. No split fetus. No umbilical cord. No placenta. The womb was stretched, indicating that it had once held a life-form. But it wasn't there anymore. Riley moved to check the other side of Lily's body just to make sure, and it was much the same. Nothing.
Riley let out an angry sigh and sent fire at both halves of her body. "The baby was taken." Riley stated to Arturia whom shook her head and clenched her fists in anger.
On the inside, Kurama, Hashirama, and Madara all let out curses simultaneously.
"Was it the demons?" Arturia asked.
"No… if the demons had taken it, they would have just ripped it out of her, and kept it alive with magic. The baby was removed with magic, and placed into someone else's womb." Riley answered as she headed for the door.
"How do you know that?" Hana asked as they all moved to leave.
"It's happened to someone I know." Riley answered.
Inside of her mindscape, the three were having a discussion with one another.
"It was Mito. She took the child and must have implanted it into herself or one of her pawns." Madara stated with a snarl as he started to pace back and forth.
"But why? Why not just take Lily? I mean the woman thought Mito was an ally, surely Mito could have manipulated the child through Lily?" Hashirama asked.
"Remember… if she used the same technique that Lily used to take Riley from Kushina, then that means that this baby will now absorb some of Mito's traits. Mito knows that Riley is born with all three genetic types, Lily's, Kushina's, and Minato's. Maybe she thinks by taking the child into herself, and giving it her superior Uzumaki genes, that it'll be born even more powerful then Riley." Kurama guessed.
"So she sacrificed the other possible Rinnegan children to summon demon's to steal Lily's baby? I mean… that was obviously her plan, but why kill all these people? Why not just kill Jiraiya and steal Lily's child and be done with it? Why kill everyone here?" Hashirama asked.
"I don't know. All I do know is that Mito now has Minato's unborn child, and who knows where she's gone with it." Madara stated.
"Yeah… I doubt we'll be seeing Mito for a while. If she placed the child in her own womb, then that means she's now vulnerable in battle. She'll most likely go to ground for a few years, until the child is born and begins it's training." Hashirama informed them, earning nods of agreement from the other two, and a grunt from Riley, to let them know she heard them and acknowledged what they were saying.
Once back outside, Riley quickly set to work, using fire magic to burn the whole town to the ground. It was now tainted with demonic energy and it was wise to wipe this whole place from existence.
After that was done, she made a portkey back to Britain, and her, Arturia and the survivors quickly headed for Britain where they were reunited with their comrades. And more specifically Hana was reunited with her family.
Needless to say it was tear filled reunion followed by a bloody massacre when Tsume learned that her clan elders had forced Hana to breed with Naruko. The woman was furious and kicked the ever loving shit out of the five elders of her clan. Needless to say, those five spent the rest of their time in a cell while Tsume decided what their deaths would be like.
Upon her return, Riley pulled Naruko aside and told her what had happened. Both to the women that had held her unborn children and to Lily and their sibling. Even though she had hurt them, Lily was still Naruko's mother, and to hear about her death and Jiraiya's left her heartbroken. The fate of her unborn sibling more so. It took all of the strength Hinata and her fellow Hyuuga could muster to keep Naruko was slipping into a Rinnegan enhanced rage and leveling everything around her.
Riley did little to stop her sister's anger, and instead simply went to inform Itachi and Voldemort as to what had happened.
Once that was done… Riley went home. She went home… and she slept for two whole days. Her clone was in the hidden village, still in a coma, so Riley had to keep a low profile. Her mate's had heard what had happened from Itachi, but Riley hadn't said much to them. The only people she spoke to were Kurama, Hashirama, Madara, and Kushina. It was obvious to all of them… that Riley was at that point again. Her eyes glowed red, constantly.
She spent her time plotting Mito's death. The woman was her last main target. Minato was gone. Lily was dead. Tsunade was dead. Hell even Jiraiya was dead. Mito was all that was left. And now she had Riley's unborn sibling.
-A month Later-
Riley spent the whole month, either in her house, in the hidden village, or in Kamui. She had ascended to the sixth tail during the month's time. And with her ascension came a few more changes to her persona. Most notably, that Riley no longer seemed clingy or needy after being alone in Kamui for months at a time.
The Six tails was used to being alone, and found solace in it. Riley didn't prefer to be alone, but it no longer bugged her to be away from her friends or mates for months at a time. She was still overjoyed to see them, but it seemed like her loneliness didn't bother her anymore.
Also her water style techniques were much more powerful, and she gained access to many poison based attacks. Her already insanely virulent chakra, had become even more so, to the point where it could literally melt steel with it's presence if she wanted it too. Also in her Animagus form, her Saliva had become an immensely potent acid, that could melt through even the thickest armor. (Think like Sesshomaru's poisoned spit from Inuyasha)
Also during the month's time, the plan played out, exactly as Riley had anticipated it too. The ICW had descended upon the ruins of Konoha in droves and had quickly confirmed the angel's demonic presence within.
The survivors from Konoha quickly integrated into Britain and many joined the Legion, since they had nowhere left to go, and with their presence the number of warriors within, swelled into the thousands. The people of Britain offered sympathy and comfort to their allies, whom had lost so much. The animosity that had recently grown in the last few months, all but forgotten with the destruction of Konoha.
Investigations were quick, and only a few memories were required. The sight of Riley sealing the Angel into that massive earthen sphere, had left several Investigators dumbstruck. Itachi also, quickly began to spread his fears that by giving the angel attention, they may be feeding it power. Many historians and occult specialists, bought into that theory and offered their agreement. It was still ongoing, but it was obvious that many people wanted the investigation to be over and done with, and to have the angel forgotten. Fear was quickly spread during the months time, in this regard, and the angel quickly earned a new moniker to identify it's presence. No longer was it addressed as the Angel of Carnage. Now… people simply referred to the Angel, as 'It'.
Over the months time, Riley's name quickly elevated to god status. As many within the ICW viewed her as the Second Sage of Six Paths and the Second Merlin. Speaking of Merlin, during the months time, Arturia revealed herself to the Wizengamot. During a meeting about a week after the fall of the Leaf, Arturia entered into the Wizengamot chamber with a goblin. The Goblin quickly informed the gathered hall, of who she was. Arturia Pendragon. Heir to the Pendragon bloodline.
Many were simply stunned to hear this. Some even called bullshit, but they were quickly shut up when Arturia strolled over to her seat, which sat above the rest of the chamber, alongside three others and planted herself in it. The Seat did not reject her and instead glowed with the Pendragon crest, signifying that her house had been reactivated. After a quick explanation about the state of Britain requiring her to take her seat at this point in time, the Wizengamot was quickly able to continue with their meeting.
Still, the return of the Pendragon line became a major talking point for quite a while, and if it weren't for the destruction of Konoha and the Angel's defeat, it would have been much bigger news.
However, even with that said, news still broke fast about Arturia's appearance and the reactivation of the Pendragon house. Added in with Riley's new global Hero status, and Britain quickly became the focus of the magical world. The angel had attacked dozens of counties during it's reign of terror, and with it's defeat, many of those countries hailed Riley as a Savior.
Riley spent her time training in her new powers at the Sixth tail. She didn't leave her house often, and only really used the Gravemind to keep in touch with her friends and Itachi, and Voldemort. Her mate's still came to see her often, using the pretense that they wanted to see Remus or Sirius, to visit Riley. She still hadn't told them what had actually happened on the mountain-side village in Napal, and she probably never would. To Riley, that place felt normal. She was a demon, and the presence of Demonic energy was almost comforting to her. But she recognized the tragedy that had occurred there, and knew it was best for that place to fade from memory.
During the months time, Naruko, Hana, and Tsume sat down to have a long talk about the baby Hana was carrying. Naruko expressed her desire to get to know the child and help take care of it, and that she wouldn't mind if it was raised as an Inuzuka. This made things much easier on the Inuzuka since Naruko could have made thing much more difficult. If may not have been a formal union, but Naruko's insistence of being in her child's life, would help immensely in serving as a Bridge between the Hyuuga and Inuzuka.
Finally, after thirty days of pretending to be asleep, Riley finally decided that enough time had passed and 'awoke'.
Her awakening was met by cheering crowds, and glowing praise. By now, news had spread everywhere, and there were pictures in every newspaper of the small moon that now hovered over the ruins of Konoha. She was hailed as a hero all throughout Britain. She was paraded before the Wizengamot and throughout the streets of Diagon Alley, hell there was even word that the Queen had intended to meet with Riley now that she was awake.
All in all… everything was working perfectly. Everything was going great. That is… until Riley made it back to Hogwarts a few days after waking. She had arrived in the great hall early in the morning, where she found the teacher's in a panic at the head table. They were talking in hushed tones but the emotions they were giving off was not good. She quickly approached them, and announced her presence.
Dumbledore wasn't present and neither was madam Umbridge.
McGonagall, was the first to see her and quickly pulled her into a hug and welcomed one of her favorite students back.
"Professor… what's going on?" Riley asked as she pulled away from the hug.
"My dear… it's terrible. Albus… he passed away, last night." And like that… her perfectly laid plan came crashing into a wall.
"No one had seen him all morning. I went up to check on him, and I found him in his room. He was laying on his bed, unmoving. His face was frozen in this look of surprise. There were no injuries and Pomfry says that his heart simply stopped." McGonagall whispered to her.
"But how? Fawkes..." Riley began to reply, but McGonagall shook her head.
"Fawkes was undergoing his rebirth. He's no more then a chick right now. He can't even fly. And there are no paintings in Albus' room. Pomfry thinks he died, sometime last night. We've contacted the Auror's but the students are starting to get curious." McGonagall explained. Hearing that, Riley cursed under her breath. Last night meant that it was probably too late to revive the old man.
With a sigh, Riley turned and headed for the exit to the hall. McGonagall and Snape were following close behind. It didn't take a genius to know that she was headed up to the Headmaster's office. Riley barely knew that they were following her. Somehow… she knew that the Headmaster's death wasn't natural. The old man was too strong to just keel over and die. She smelt foul play.
So with that thought in mind, she quickly made for his office. Intent on figuring this out. Though, deep down, she knew that her problems were only just beginning.
-To Be Continued-
Alright, there you go. I'm gonna start on my rewrite of Naruto: The Runaway Chronicles soon. I hope you enjoyed. Wonder what Mito is up to and why she killed all those people. There is a reason so feel free to guess, and no it isn't that she's just crazy.
Dumbledore is dead, How? Why? You'll see in the next chapter. Can Riley ever get a break, is Iwa or Oto involved. What's gonna happen, who knows. See ya next time. JA NE!
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