Alright, time to go to war. Lot's of battles in the upcoming chapters hope you all enjoy!
Broken Angel
Chapter 68
Sinnon was a small town that sat on the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Stone. It was a stopover town for merchants traveling to Suna, so a large roadway ran straight through the town. It was one of a handful of such roads, as the massive expanse of the desert often buried the various pathways. This major highway lead right to Suna and was well known for having more than a few cities along it's way. Most notable about this road was that it passed through every major city between Sinnon and Suna
The legion arrived in the small city just before dawn. It was a town of just over twenty thousand so there was quite a bit of life to the place.
At the early hours most people were preparing for work, or in many cases, readying their caravans for travel through the desert to the next town. There were only about two dozen Suna ninja present in the city, along with the city guards. The Suna nins only purpose was to check caravans for enemy ninja trying to sneak through. Otherwise the town was basically defenseless, and with a massive army of enemy forces no more than ten miles away, people were incredibly tense.
As Riley and the Legion appeared out of Kamui at the edge of town, they were spotted and tentatively approached by a handful of Suna nin that had already been alerted by the Kazekage, that the Legion was coming.
The Captain of the suna nin approached Riley, as she Tom and Itachi stood at the forefront of the Legion.
Five thousand strong, the Legion was dressed in their drakeskin armor and covered by dementor cloaks. The Legion was utterly terrifying to the small cluster of Suna nin. The cold fear of their worst memories began to dig into the back of their minds as they slowly approached the dark army.
"Greetings." The head Suna nin stated once he was close enough. His eyes were locked onto the three Legionnaires that stood in front of the army waiting for him.
"Greetings." Itachi was the one who replied.
"Welcome to Sinnon. We received word that you were coming." The head Suna shinobi, stated.
"Good. We'll begin setting up our basecamp and a perimeter around the city. What can you tell us about the Iwa forces nearby?" Riley inquired, her Rinne Sharingan, drawing the man's gaze.
"The Iwa force, it consists of nearly seven thousand ninja. Along with about twenty three thousand foot soldiers. They look like bandits mostly, but we've seen a few Earth Samurai on patrol. So it wouldn't surprise me to find trained soldiers among the bandit horde." The Suna captain replied.
"I see. Thank you. We'll begin preparations for how we'll deal with them. If you could please take me to the mayor, I'd like to speak with him?." Riley stated. Her tone was quick and direct, she wasn't in the mood to bullshit.
"Of course. The Kazekage ordered us to assist in any way we can." The man replied.
"Good." Riley stated before turning to her comrades. "Itachi, gather up some men and have them set up basecamp. I'm going to go talk to the town mayor and see if he has anything to offer us."
"Then I'll get some teams together to start setting up wards around the city." Tom stated, earning a nod of agreement from Riley.
"Be sure to take Shikaku and RAAM with you. Let them get a lay of the land around the city. If we're attacked here, I want them to be fully aware of the terrain and how to best utilize it." Riley instructed.
"Understood." Tom agreed as the three turned to begin their tasks.
"Oh and Itachi, once you finish setting up basecamp, meet with Shikaku and RAAM and set up sniper positions. Let's get this whole town covered." Riley called back to him as she headed with the Suna nin, back towards the city.
"How many men do you have?" Riley inquired as she walked with the Suna captain.
"Twenty-four. There are also about three hundred guardsman here in the city. Not nearly enough to stop the Iwa force." The man replied with a sigh.
"If we hadn't of shown up, what was the plan?" Riley asked.
"Once the Iwa army began moving, we'd seal up as many supplies as we could, force the evacuation of the civilians and leave bombs behind in the city to kill as many of those bastards as we could." The Suna captain answered.
"I see. And what about reinforcements?" Riley inquired.
"There's an outpost eighteen miles from here with around four hundred Shinobi of Suna waiting there. They'd be responsible for hindering the Iwa army as it advanced along the road way. However… with the number we're dealing with, there's very little that can be done." He answered as he led her through town towards the mayor's house.
From there the people of Sinnon were left in stunned silence as the Legion took over the city. The Suna nin had nothing to say other than 'The Kazekage put them in charge' so many people were just left tiptoeing around.
RAAM and Shikaku were able to get a good lay of the land and come up with a few meaningful defense strategies, like utilizing Foxholes and putting their newly acquired firearms to good use.
To keep people from freaking out over them, Riley had RAAM and Skorge wear large trench coats with the hoods pulled up. Anyone that got close would see the two monstrous figures, but there were some freaky looking people in the elemental nations, so Riley didn't think it would cause to much of a fuss it they were seen. Especially when you consider that the only ones who had seen them were Konoha nin and they were all either dead or on Riley's side.
There was still the possibility that Konoha had released descriptions of the Angel's familiars but than again, so much chaos was going on then, and with the war, Riley doubted others got little more than a description.
A day after arriving and setting up basecamp just outside of the city, scouts began to spread out and investigate the area, getting a better feel for the topography, and how they could utilize it to their advantage.
Given how many of Iwa's forces were non-ninja, they were able to utilize a great deal of narrow pathways to set up mines.
The area around Sinnon was filled with dry desert and rock formations. The main trade Highway ran through Sinnon and into the Land of Wind. Going the opposite way into the land of Stone, the road ran along mountains and a massive collection of Rock formations, some jutting sixty feet into the air. On the opposite side of the mountains was where Iwa's forces had set up a forward outpost. It was about ten miles away, though there weren't many direct paths between there and Sinnon.
While the Iwa ninja would have an easy time maneuvering the terrain, their army of bandits wouldn't. Tens of thousands of foot soldiers would get lost in the maze of rock formations and be horribly disorganized moving through the paths.
Luckily for them, the Iwa nin specialized in shaping the earth to fit their needs. Shikaku was the one to suspect that the reason Iwa hadn't attacked the city yet was that Iwa was using Ninjutsu to carve a path through the mountains and rock terrain so that their army could easily march through, rather than go around.
Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, Blaise, and Pansy, were one of the scout groups sent out to investigate the rock formations nearby.
It was only after an hour of search that Neji spotted something with his Byakugan.
"Hold up." Neji told the rest of the squad.
"What is it?" Shikamaru inquired.
"Fifteen enemy combatants, two hundred yards, just past that ridge." Neji answered as he pointed to a ridge, to the north of where their squad was.
"How many ninja?" Sasuke asked.
"Three. The rest are bandits. It looks like an enemy patrol." Neji stated as he eyed the enemy squad.
"Right then. Our orders are to keep our eyes open for enemy patrols, and deal with them if possible." Shikamaru nodded, earning nods from the rest of the squad.
"Neji, where's a good sniping position. You and I can take out the enemy ninja from long range while the other three deal with the bandits after we take out the ninja." Sasuke stated, earning a nod of agreement from Shikamaru.
Neji was quiet for a moment as he watched the enemy scouting party. Eventually he pulled his vision to the surrounding area looking for a good place to set an ambush.
"There, the top of that rock formation, it will give us clear line of sight on the enemy patrol. There's also rocks to hide behind for the other three to get in close." Neji replied as he pointed to the rock formation then down to a map that Pansy had pulled out.
Shikamaru knelt in front of the map as Neji detailed the enemy formation and placements, and how long it would take them to reach that particular stretch, as to be open to attack.
It only took a few moments for Shikamaru to set up a plan, and with that, the squad departed.
-Meanwhile-
"Hey, did you see the commander this morning?" One of the Iwa ninja overheard a bandit ask one of his fellows.
"Yeah. The guy looked like he'd seen a ghost." The man replied.
"I've heard rumors that Suna has started to move." The original bandit stated.
"Hmph… well, if they're finally ready to fight, I say let 'em come." Was the response that was given.
The Iwa ninja sent a glance over at his comrade whom gave him a nervous look. They had been briefed earlier that day about a few rumors that had been heard from the Earth Daimyo. Apparently some of his allies in the ICW had informed him that Britain's military was on the move and marching into the Elemental Nations. This caused many of the Iwa nin to become nervous. If the rumors were true, than that would mean that the leaders of the Legion were on their way as well. Leaders that included one Hero of the Burning Leaf. The thought of facing the woman that had defeated the Angel of Carnage and killed the Third Tsuchikage, was utterly terrifying for any Iwa nin.
It was a quiet moment before a loud zipping noise was heard. The contemplative Iwa nin looked up just in time to see one of his fellow ninja fall to the ground with a hole where his heart should have been. His eyes shot to his other comrade, only to see the man falling to the ground, his head missing.
Before he could try and jump for cover, another bullet was fired and punched through his chest plate, ripping out his heart and severing his spine. He was dead before he hit the ground.
The bandits were in the midst of screaming out in confusion, when they were all stuck in place. They suddenly couldn't move and the only thing in sight was a dark shadow that reached around a nearby rock and grabbed theirs.
Right then, two members of the Legion jumped out and unleashed spell fire at the column of bandits.
Reducto spells hit each one of the bandits spraying blood and gore across the rocky landscape. Only one was spared from death, his leg taken off instead by a spell.
"Neji, any others?" Shikamaru inquired into his radio as he walked around the rock, while Blaise dashed forward and cast a silencing spell on the one man still alive to keep his screams from being heard.
"No. None here. Though from this height, I can make out smoke in the distance. Probably six miles off." Neji replied from where he lay next to Sasuke atop a rock that overlooked the narrow passageway that the Iwa troops were just slaughtered in. Both young men were armed with M82 Barret 50. Calibers, they had spent many weeks in Kamui learning to utilize the weapon due to their eyes. Members of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans quickly became some of the top marksman in the Legion due to their Doujutsu.
"Right, keep us covered. We'll gather the survivor and fall back to point B, then we'll head back to base. I'm sure HQ will want a few words with our baggage." Shikamaru ordered as Blaise stunned their prisoner, pulled out a sealing scroll and placed the unconscious bandit over it, before sealing him inside of the scroll.
Once that was done, the squad retreated back to Sinnon. They quickly headed for the command tent where the Legion had set up powerful radio receivers as well as various maps and charts.
"Commander." Shikamaru greeted as his squad approached Itachi, whom was overseeing operations.
"Yes?" Itachi inquired as he glanced over at them.
"Echo Squad reporting in. We encountered a patrol of Iwa ninja and bandits. Fifteen in total. All but one have been eliminated." Shikamaru stated.
"And the survivor?" Itachi inquired.
"Here." Blaise answered as he stepped forward and set the scroll on the table in front of Itachi.
"He's missing a leg, and will require medical attention." Shikamaru noted earning a nod of understanding from Itachi.
"Well done. Go speak to Kenshi, he'll have your new patrol route for you. Keep up the good work, and make sure one of you turns in a memory for review." Itachi ordered earning a nod from the squad. Itachi gave his brother an approving nod as he passed by, earning a hidden smirk from Sasuke, whom enjoyed his older brother's approval.
That had become part of operational procedure for the Legion. After a mission, the members would turn in a memory of the event to be viewed by the strategists to analyze the enemy's tactics and skill sets. This allowed for all of their strategists to learn from every battle, not just the ones they partook in. It was a very useful tool to utilize a pensieve and learn from the various battles.
Shikamaru's squad quickly headed over to one of Shikamaru's clansmen who directed them on their next patrol route.
Meanwhile, Itachi called over Anko and handed her the scroll, telling her what it contained and to gain whatever information she could from the person inside.
He then turned his attention back to the table which held various maps and photos that had been taken by Military bots, controlled by their shinobi. Even now, the legion was setting up machingun turrets in various narrow corridors in the rock formations, along with setting up various traps like mines, bomb tags, and various other terrible instruments.
While that was going on, certain squads were using camera wielding bots to scope out the terrain. Itachi was busy ensuring that Iwa would have a helluva time making it through that area, and that they would lose much to get close to the town.
Sniper teams had been set up in Sinnon, taking position in some of the tallest buildings, while even more teams were being placed in the hills and rock formations that Iwa had to move through. A well placed sniper could eliminate an entire enemy platoon if he was skilled and quick enough. And without a sensor on team, no Iwa unit would be able to locate the enemy sniper since the sound of the gunshot was muted.
"How are things going?" Itachi heard Riley ask as she approached him, flanked by her two grandfathers.
"They're going well. Defenses are almost fully set up. Wards are almost done. We've got scouts moving through the hills, and we've already dealt with one enemy patrol unit. I sent the survivor to Anko, for interrogation." Itachi answered.
"Good to hear. I'm gonna head out there. See if I can find out what Iwa's up to." Riley replied, earning a nod from Itachi.
"What would you like us to do?" Hashirama inquired.
"Grandfather Hashirama, I think I'll have you work with Shikaku in setting up traps. You're one of our best at using Earth Style, and I think it would benefit him in this terrain. Grandfather Madara, you're coming with me, we'll take Deimos and try and get a view of Iwa's operations from the clouds." Riley replied earning a nod from both men. Hashirama quickly headed out to find Shikaku, while Madara and Riley exited the command tent and Riley summoned Deimos.
The two quickly hopped on the dragon's back and quickly took to the skies.
Once they were sufficiently hidden in the clouds, they flew closer to the Iwa basecamp. They were within a mile of the edge of the camp, when Deimos started to circle from the safety of some low hanging clouds.
Madara used Binoculars while Riley activated her Byakugan to get a look at the enemy camp which was bustling with people.
"They're clearing away a large flat surface in the northern part of the camp. It's about eighty feet across." Madara noted, drawing Riley's gaze to the sight. Various diggers were working to prepare a wide circular flat base for something.
"What do you suppose they're building?" Riley inquired.
"I'm not sure. Maybe they intend to build siege weapons there, they could easily store them in scrolls and release them for later use?" Madara answered as he scanned the camp through his binoculars.
"That's a possibility. Loki did tell me that that he'd heard rumours that Iwa was working on something big in the mountains. He didn't have much more information as the sight was apparently guarded by the Steam Giant." Riley noted.
"Ah, the five tails Jinchuriki. If they have him guarding a secret project than it must be important. If it's something big, that could be preparations for a massive summoning diagram." Madara commented.
"That's what I was thinking. Iwa isn't well known for using Siege equipment. They don't need it. Their Earth style techniques are more useful than any siege weapon the elemental nations has at it's disposal." Riley agreed.
"Well… we'll need more information to be sure. Without it, all we can do is guess." Madara lowered his binoculars and gazed at the whole of the Iwa camp. Thirty thousand strong. It was quite the army to behold, even if most of them were bandits.
"You're right. We need more info." Riley stated as she focused her Byakugan on one of the guards that stood at the perimeter. She waited for him to be out of sight of anyone else, then activated Kamui.
The man let out a surprised cry but was unable to flee as his whole body was quickly pulled into the black hole.
"Got one." Riley remarked.
"Good. Gather up a few more, and them we'll see what they can tell us." Madara stated. With a nod Riley continued to scan the base, looking for loners or people who were asleep that she could kidnap.
Within twenty minutes Riley had captured ten individuals. Madara and her shared a look before ordering Deimos back to their camp.
Riley handed over her captured prey to Ibiki. She could have just eaten their souls, but that would have required going through their memories, and in many cases, Bandits were bad people, and Riley just didn't want to go through their life stories. Oh she'd eat their souls, but only after the information was extracted from them. So Riley wouldn't have to see every nasty thing these people had done.
Once that was done, Madara went to work on the training of some of the Legion. Meanwhile, Riley went back to her tent to summon Loki.
"Yes mother?" Loki inquired as he appeared in a poof of smoke.
"The secret project Iwa is working on, the one you mentioned hearing rumors about in your last report, I need you to start focusing your attention on figuring out what it is. Don't do anything rash, and don't put yourself in harms way, but figure out what you can." Riley instructed earning a nod from her familiar. He quickly transformed and took flight from the camp, heading out to other Iwa bases to begin his investigation.
Once that was done, Riley summoned Zetsu.
"It's been a while, hasn't it my lady." White Zetsu stated with a polite bow.
"Indeed it has. I need a status report on the Akatsuki. What are they up too?" Riley asked.
"The Akatsuki has begun final preparations for the tailed beast hunts. Even now they're preparing to begin sealing the Three Tails." Zetsu responded.
"The Three tails? When did they manage to capture that one?" Riley asked with a bit of surprise.
"Obito was the one controlling the Mizukage to commit the bloodline purges. Once the rebels started to win, the Akatsuki offered their skills and aided in killing the Mizukage. In reality, Obito switched out the body for a doppleganger. We'll begin sealing it in a few days. Then once we're rested we'll head out to hunt the rest. Even now Iwa has hired us to help in the war and we're making preparations to kidnap both the four and five tails during the war." Zetsu explained to her.
"Shit. If I had known that they had already started capturing the tailed beasts I would have moved to stop them." Riley stated with an angry huff.
"My apologies my lady. I don't think Obito intended to seal the three tails so soon. But when the opportunity presented ltself he just jumped on it." Zetsu informed her.
"It's alright. Just keep me updated on when they'll move to hunt the rest." Riley commanded.
"Yes my lady. Is there anything else? Also do you want me to inform the Akatsuki that you are in the country?" Zetsu inquired.
"I have nothing else I need right now. And feel free to tell them after a few days. I don't intend to keep our presence a secret for very long." Riley ordered, earning a nod from Zetsu as he sank into the ground.
Once that was done, Riley headed out to Rock formations to hunt enemy patrols. Her Byakugan was able to cover the entire area so she was easily able to track enemies and ambush them.
Her first group came just ten minutes after she entered the Rock terrain. It was a small patrol of Five bandits. They seemed to be bored out of their skulls.
Deciding to end their boredom, Riley jumped high and landed right in the midst of their team.
"What the..." The first to spot her, started to say. He was quickly silenced as she shot forward and planted her fist in his gut sending him flying into a nearby rock face. She then turned and dashed between the two nearest patrolmen as they were in the midst of turning to face her.
Once between them, Riley's tails shot out, and speared the two in the throat. She then fired two kunai at the remaining two, hitting her targets in the back of their heads.
All five were dead before the first one could fully hit the ground.
"Five down. Thirty thousand to go. You've got a lot of work to do if you plan on doing this one at a time." Kurama commented.
"True. But if I just end them all myself, that just paints more of a target on my head. An army is something with fewer weaknesses. The more people I personally piss off, the greater the danger I put my friends and family in. I need to let the Legion do this. They need to be the ones to win this war. Not me." Riley thought back as she drank in the souls and gave them to Kurama. She didn't care what the people knew. If Kurama found something, then he'd tell her.
With that done, she continued her hunt through the rock formations, finding and killing another thirty before deciding to return to base camp.
On her way back she spotted a familiar face, standing amidst a dozen corpses.
"I see you're having fun." Riley noted as she approached Kaede, whom was glancing down at the bodies.
"Even after burying that part of myself. It's still so easy." Kaede muttered.
"Killing is a skill you never really forget. And humans are fragile creatures." Riley noted as she admired the fleshy pieces that used to be a squad of bandits.
Kaede was silent for a few moments, as she glanced over the collection of bodies. It's not that she felt guilty or anything she just thought it would have been more difficult to return to killing after not having or wanting to for many months.
"Are you done with your patrol?" Riley inquired.
"Yes. My squad is already heading back to camp. I just wanted to stay behind for a little while." Kaede responded.
"Well… how's about we go get something to eat?" Riley inquired.
This drew Kaede's attention away from the bodies and her dark ruby red eyes found themselves locked with Riley's.
"Eat?" Kaede parroted back.
"Yeah. I still owe you that date, don't I?" Riley replied with a smile.
"Alright than." Kaede said with a nod as she and Riley headed back to town.
They found themselves in a small cafe, out of uniform and just relaxing. Riley could tell that there was something on Kaede's mind as she would occasionally just stare at Riley for long periods of time.
"So… is there anything in particular you'd like to talk about?" Riley inquired.
"No. I'm fine with talking about whatever." Kaede replied.
"How's your puppy been?" Riley asked, after a moment of thought.
"Great. He's a happy little guy." Kaede replied with a smile.
"Well, I'm glad you like him." Riley stated as she took a drink. The two were currently tucked away in a back corner of the cafe. Given the nature of Sinnon, people were used to seeing strange faces, so out of their uniforms no one recognized the two as members of the Legion. Though Riley's eyes, and Kaede's horns did draw a few whispers, but the two mostly ignored them.
"Thank you for getting him for me." Kaede stated with a grateful smile.
"Anytime." Riley responded.
Another quiet moment passed as Kaede returned to her staring. Riley had a much more difficult time getting a read on the Diclonius due to her status as a half demon. Her emotions were much more rampant and forceful than a humans, and at the same time, Riley didn't dare peak into her mind, as demons were much more aware of such intrusions than humans were.
"Alright… what's up Kaede? I can tell you want to say something to me. So, what's on your mind?" Riley asked, after running out of ideas of how to get Kaede to open up.
Kaede looked a little surprised by the question. She then blushed as she realized that she had been staring. Finally she took a deep breath and locked eyes with Riley.
"I want to have sex with you." Kaede stated.
"..." Riley sat in silence for a moment.
"Well that was sudden." Kurama noted with a chuckle from within Riley's mind.
Riley continued to stare at Kaede, completely stunned by that statement. I mean… it was such a bold statement to make on a first date. Hell, only Fleur and Katie had ever said those words out loud, and not in the heat of lustful passion.
"You wanna have sex with me?" Riley repeated the question.
"Yes." Kaede nodded.
"Why?" Riley found herself asking, even if she partially knew the answer.
"I think about you all the time Riley. You're the only person that's ever been this nice to me. And ever since that day in Kamakura, I've been thinking about being with you. I dream about it even." Kaede stated as her eyes fell to the table and a nervous smile touched at her lips.
Riley was silent for a few moments, not really knowing how to reply to this revelation.
"Why is she saying this, Kurama?" Riley mentally inquired.
"Because she wants you to bone her." Kurama replied with a laugh.
"That's not what I mean jackass. Kaede's always been shy when it comes to her feelings. It took a lot for her to tell me those things in Kamakura. So why is she just asking for sex on our first date?" Riley clarified.
"That's the point, though. She is cautious with her feelings, and she is asking for sex." Kurama stated.
"What do you mean?" Riley asked in confusion.
"She's asking for sex. She isn't acting like a bitch in heat, she's not trying to smooth talk you. She wants to mate with you. Plain and simple. She's a half demon remember. You're incredibly powerful. You're kind to her. You're probably the only person she considers a friend. She trusts you. Her demonic instincts are telling her to be your mate. She doesn't know what that means in a human context. In a demon context it means she wants to carry your children." Kurama explained. About half way through his explanation it finally dawned on Riley.
Kaede wasn't like other girls. She was emotionally stunted by the traumas she endured her whole life. She didn't understand how emotional and passionate sex was supposed to be. Hell she didn't even understand the concept of fucking for pleasure's sake. All her instincts knew, was how to mate, and Riley was the best candidate to be that mate.
So, finally getting a handle on what was going on in Kaede's head, Riley reached across the table and took her friend's hands.
"I appreciate the offer Kaede. But, I'd like to get to know you more first." Riley stated as she locked eyes with her friend.
"Oh… I'm sorry. I… I didn't say something wrong did I?" Kaede asked, not realizing just what she had admitted. This was a woman whom spent her whole childhood running and hiding from people, and most of her teenage years trapped in a lab. The concept of sex, only existed as reproduction in Kaede's mind. The voice in her head, kept telling her that Riley was the perfect mate. That she should be the one they should mate with, and it filled Kaede's mind with images of that possibility, which drew strange and unfamiliar reactions from the Diclonius Queen.
"You didn't say anything wrong Kaede. I just don't think you fully understand what you're saying." Riley replied.
"What do you mean?" Kaede inquired with confusion.
"While sex is meant to be used as a reproductive tool, humans use it for other things as well. While I want children with them one day, I don't have sex with my mates just to get them pregnant. I have sex with them because it feels good. It makes me happy, and I can show them the depths of my desires for them." Riley explained.
"So… you have sex because it feels good?" Kaede asked, as she made a face. Again, she didn't understand these concepts. Life on the run, little to no schooling or social interactions, and being trapped in a lab for many of her teenage years, meant the Kaede hadn't a clue what to make of that.
"Yeah. I believe, sex is the best when it's with someone you care for very deeply. That's why I think we should get to know each other better before trying it out. Let's work on our relationship, and once we build it up enough, I'll show you what I mean." Riley offered, knowing that explaining sex to Kaede would be like explaining flight to a dog. She just had no concept of it, outside of reproduction, and it was obvious that whatever type of demon Kaede descended from, it wasn't one that drew power from lust or sex.
"Alright than. If you wanna get to know each other better, then what should we talk about?" Kaede inquired after a moment of thought.
"Anything. What do you like? Do you have any hobbies? Have you tried anything new since coming to Britain? How's your little brother doing? We can talk about all kinds of stuff. That's the point of a date. You spend time with the person you're with and get to know them better." Riley answered.
"Okay. Thank you for clearing that up. I'm sorry if my earlier statement came off as weird… I don't really know a lot about this stuff..." Kaede apologized.
"Hey, it's no problem. It's more me than you anyway. I'm the kind of person who finds more enjoyment from sex, when it's with someone I'm in love with. If I were a different person, I would have jumped at the chance to show you all about sex, because you are absolutely gorgeous." Riley replied, earning a deep red blush from Kaede.
"You… really think I'm gorgeous?" Kaede inquired, a light smile touching at her lips, while her face remained red.
"Of course. Your red hair, flawless pale skin, striking ruby eyes, even your horns, it all ties together and leaves a stunning young woman sitting before me." Riley responded, causing Kaede's blush to deepen. She had never been called beautiful, and she had most certainly never had someone compliment her appearance like that.
"I… really like your eyes as well. They're striking and mesmerizing. I feel I could get lost in them for hours." Kaede replied.
"I could tell." Riley stated with a chuckle, recalling how Kaede had been staring at her earlier.
After moving past the awkwardness, the two were able to have an enjoyable date. They spent most of it in the cafe talking about whatever and just getting to know one another better. Kaede now understanding that sex was supposed to be more intimate, didn't bring it up again, and was thankful that Riley didn't tease her for her lack of knowledge.
The date ended with Riley walking Kaede back to her tent and giving her a firm kiss on the lips.
As their lips met, Riley allowed a bit of passion and lust to slip through her Youki, this earned a very surprised look from Kaede whom was surprised by the kiss and just how great it felt. Riley gave her a smirk before leaving the starstruck Diclonius to think about their date.
Riley quickly made it back to her tent, and found her mates already there. While on the outside all of the Legion's tents were small, and looked only big enough to house a single person comfortably, on the inside they were all giant. Riley's for instance was big enough for her and her mates to live comfortably within. It had a massive bed for the five of them. A bathroom, shower, kitchenette and even a den.
Inside, Riley's mates were preparing for bed. Each one had undergone a day of patrols or of other busying work like setting up camp. While Riley didn't say anything to them about it, she had given her wraiths orders to protect her mates with immense ferocity. Most of the time, Riley just ordered the wraiths to watch and if her mates started to fall into life threatening danger, then the wraiths would intervene. After the recent assassination attempt, Riley was left a bit paranoid, so she now had the wraiths watching her mates and her daughters, with orders to kill anyone whom approached them with deep seated malice in their hearts.
Riley glanced at her lovers, Fleur was brushing her hair, Luna was doing the same, next to Fleur. Katie was already in bed, watching Fleur and Luna, while Daphne was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.
It took a few moments but Fleur finally spotted Riley in the mirror and turned to greet her.
"Hello my love. Where have you been all day?" Fleur inquired, drawing the rest of the ladies' attention to Riley.
"Business mostly. Though I did go on a date with Kaede." Riley replied as she walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down.
"Oh, how did that go?" Katie inquired as she sent a smirk over at Fleur whom was also smiling.
"Well it started off a little odd. Kaede's half demon instincts are telling her to mate with me. So she asked if we could have sex." Riley responded.
This caused most of ladies to adopt curious looks, and even led to Daphne poking her head out of the bathroom at hearing that.
"What did you say?" Daphne asked as she wiped off her mouth and moved to sit next to Riley.
"Well… at first I was dumbfounded. I mean don't get me wrong, I think she's beautiful, and I wouldn't mind getting a better look at those curves, but… I don't know it just seemed to odd to me, since Kaede seemed to have so much trouble expressing her emotions. It didn't really make sense as to why she was just asking to have sex with me. Then Kurama reminded me that she's a half demon, and probably only sees sex for what it is at it's core. An act of reproduction. So… figuring that out, I was able to explain to her what she was actually asking. You have to understand, Kaede didn't really go to school. When she was little she spent a lot of time on the run. And then she was captured by those scientists. So in reality she doesn't have a clue about sex, other than it's a tool of reproduction." Riley explained to them, earning nods of understanding or looks of contemplation.
"It is sad to zink about ze life she has lived. Zough I will point out that even wiz her basic understanding, she still wanted to carry your child." Fleur pointed out.
Riley blushed a bit at that, but nodded in agreement.
"She really likes you Riley. And we can tell you like her. So… if the day comes you feel you're ready to invite her to join us, well… we'll be ready and waiting." Luna noted earning a nod of agreement from Katie.
"Yeah… thanks ladies." Riley offered them with a smile.
From there, the group settled into bed. Riley was a bit restless as she found herself thinking about the state of the world around them.
All of the land of Wind was on edge, waiting for the war to begin tearing the country to shreds.
Iwa was working on secret projects and if that giant summoning circle was anything to go by, it was something massive that they intended to unleash.
Kiri, hadn't been seen at all since the civil war ended. It seems that they were rebuilding in peace, and leaving the rest of the world to fight out their troubles.
Kumo was only interested in securing as much land as they could while everyone else fought. It seems they were strengthening up their territory, more then likely waiting to strike after the war was over to destroy whomever the victor was, when they were at their weakest.
The Land of Fire was mostly occupied now, with Kumo taking a vast expanse of their territories and the Fire Daimyo having no way to fight back without Konoha.
All in all, the world was in great shape.
By the second day of their time in Sinnon, Iwa must have known about the loss of some of their squads. Most likely they assumed it was the Suna ninja's doing. On the first day the Legion managed to kill around seventy enemy soldiers.
The second night they were there, Hashirama stopped an incursion of around thirty Iwa ninja that were trying to sneak into Sinnon. They had entered the rocky terrain and by a great misfortune ran right into Hashirama. He captured six of them and killed the rest.
By the end of the second day, they had killed around one hundred and sixty. By the beginning of the third day, the Legion had fully prepared Sinnon for war. They had wards erected. Traps set up. Fall back point established. Supply cashes set up in the city. Snipers were posted in the city and in the hills between them and the Iwa army. Those same hill were littered with traps ranging from typical shinobi traps like pit falls and rock falls, to more elaborate traps like automated machine gun nests, claymore mines, and advanced seal based traps, courtesy of Hashirama, Kushina, and Riley.
The third night a much large assault force was sent to investigate the hills, only to walk right into a preset kill zone where they were pinned by automated machingun turrets on one side, while two nearby snipers picked them off one by one. All in all, fifty shinobi were gunned down.
Later that morning a second squad tried to circle around the machingun nest, only to stumble over a half dozen Legionnaires hidden under Notice-me-not charms. The Iwa squad of about seven, had their throats split by the hidden Legion members.
The Legion also suffered it's first casualty on the third day when a Legion patrol stumbled into a trap set by Iwa. It caused a rock slide that left one member crushed. His body was quickly sealed and returned to the camp where Riley revived him.
As a countermeasure, Riley and Kushina had place a special seal on all of the Legion's equipment. A small seal resided on each piece of equipment, this seal was keyed into the combined chakra signature of the Legion, and if anyone other than a legionnaire tried to use it, the equipment would just break.
Riley had wanted to make them explode but Kushina pointed out that there was a chance of things getting left behind and civilians picking them up. So something that would just cause a firearm to break down was much more useful and saved lives. This way, if an Iwa ninja picked up a rifle, the second he pulled the trigger, the weapon would fall apart in his hands.
With that in mind, a game of who can outplay who, began in the rocky hills. Both sides began to implement different tactics to try and best the other. The legion was pretty sure by the third night, that Iwa knew that the Legion was the ones responsible. So with that thought, Iwa began to set up traps for the Legion, leading the scouts and patrols to be much more cautious.
All in all, it seemed that sooner or later, Iwa was going launch a much larger attack and try to punch through or circumvent the hellscape that the hills were becoming.
It was on the fourth day that Loki returned with grave news. He had been investigating Iwa's secret project and through his own investigation he came to a realization.
"It's hidden under Fidelus?" Riley asked, earning a nod from Loki.
"Yes. All of my investigating points to the project being under Fidelus." Loki replied.
"If it's something hidden under Fidelus that means they've obtained the help of some very powerful witches and wizards." Riley noted, her familiar nodding in agreement.
"They would have to be very powerful indeed if even I am affected by it." Loki added which earned a nod from Riley.
"Yes... You're about half as strong as the one tails. They'd have to be Kage level to cast a Fidelus that would affect you." Riley agreed.
"Is it possible one of the Bijuu cast the charm? The five tails Jinchuriki was spotted in that area?" Loki inquired.
"While they use different methods, I'm sure the bijuu could make something a magical secret if they really wanted too." Riley responded. She would have to ask Kurama but to her knowledge there was nothing stopping one of the Bijuu from casting a Fidelus.
"Well... Regardless of who cast the charm, we now know that whatever Iwa is working on, they don't want anyone to find out." Riley stated, letting out a sigh as she did.
With that, Riley went to gather her fellow commanders and deliver a report about what she had learned.
It was worrying to think that Iwa was actually starting to adapt. And given the size of the area they were preparing, whatever they were building for the war was massive.
"Well this is troublesome. It seems they're learning." Shikaku noted.
"So what do you assume they're up too?" Hashirama inquired to Riley.
"I think they're building a weapon. And I'm almost possible that, that summoning circle we saw the other day grandfather is where they plan to bring it." Riley stated earning a nod from Madara.
"If they're building a weapon then we need to learn what it is." Tom stated.
"But how do we do that? If this secret project has been hidden under Fidelus then that probably means so has it's exact location. We couldn't possibly find it without tracking down the secret keeper." Itachi asked.
"While true, there is a way to circumvent the Fidelus." Riley informed them.
"How?" Itachi asked, while everyone turned to look at her.
"Unless the five tails cast the Fidelus, I'm pretty sure I'm too powerful to be affected by it. And even if the five tails did create the secret I still might be strong enough to know it." Riley explained.
"So you intend to go looking for Iwa's secret project?" Tom inquired with a curious look.
"Yeah. If the five tail's Jinchuriki is guarding the site than I know where to start looking." Riley stated.
Her fellow commanders shared some looks but they all knew they needed to learn what Iwa was planning. So without many other suggestions, Riley created a few Wood Clones to keep an eye on the Legion and moved to depart.
With her clones around to keep an eye on things and Madara and Hashirama to deal with any threats, Riley felt safe with leaving to go hunting. She stopped by her tent where her mates were gathered, preparing for the day.
"Ladies." Riley greeted, drawing their attention to her.
"Hey Riley. Is your meeting done?" Katie inquired with a smile.
"Yeah. I've learned some disturbing things. Iwa's planning something big. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm going to find out. I'm leaving a few clones behind to keep an eye on things and you can contact me through the Gravemind if you need to." Riley informed them.
"Alright. Please stay safe Riley." Katie replied. Her natural concern mirrored by her fellow mates.
"I will. I'll see you ladies in a few days." Riley stated, kissing each one before departing.
Once that was done she threw on her invisibility cloak, took on her demonic form, and took flight. Her destination was the mountains to the west of Iwa. As Riley flew, she couldn't help but feel an uneasiness. She knew it was inevitable for Iwa and other shinobi to start to evolve but it still unnerved her to not know what they were up too.
Her nervousness came from the fact that for the last few hundred years magic had been hidden from muggles, it was designed to leave very little trace behind. With that being said, the power of magic was limitless and if Iwa was already using magic or had hired magicals to assist them, it meant a whole new direction for the war. This would mark the first time in centuries that magicals fought out in the open, unafraid of the statute of secrecy. Riley was worried because without those limitations the level of destruction that could be wrought was unimaginable.
So with focused determination she directed herself towards the mountains. She quickly picked up speed and after a few moments a loud boom was heard as she shattered the sound barrier.
-To be Continued-
Alright. Hope you enjoyed! What is Iwa up too! Will Riley begin hunting for Orochimaru soon? How long is it gonna take Riley and Kaede to hook up? Find out next time! Ja Ne!