Okay, here it is. Time for Broken Angel to come to an end. This will be the final chapter of this story, but have no fear, I plan on starting the sequel, almost immediately afterwards. I have a lot I love about this story, and there are things I wish I did differently, but I stuck to it and got through and I'm proud to finally see this done. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing. I want to thank everyone for your support and you critique's both good and ill. I wouldn't be the writer I am today without your help, so thank you all. I know I've said it before, but to all of my readers, you are all amazing, and I appreciate your time and you support. So thank you. Thank you all. Now… time for the final chapter.
Broken Angel
Chapter 97
The Fourth Great Ninja war was finally over. The war itself had lasted only a few months, barely a half a year had gone by since the Legion had marched into the Elemental Nations and declared war on Iwagakure.
The war was finally over, after what felt like an eternity.
The desire to celebrate the end of the war and everyone's collective survival was trumped by the devastation brought on by the Ten-Tails, and the Akatsuki.
Soon after the battle was over, the Magical Alliance made for Sunagakure. An issue quickly became apparent when the trek to Suna took over three days, and that was with Riley finally having enough of the wandering and using Kamui to get the army there.
It was soon discovered after that, that the reality and spacial bending effects of Riley's and the Ten-Tails' duel had left permanent alterations to the physical landscape of the nearby lands.
If one were to look down upon the Elemental Nations and compare it's new shape with an old map, they would find various stretches of lands either missing, shortened, or elongated, stretching out for hundreds of kilometers.
The exact effects of this wouldn't be known for several months but in areas surrounding the immediate vicinity of the battle, these strange alterations would definitely change the ways of life for some people.
Villages that once sat at walking distance were now separated by more then a weeks travel, while in another case, two villages in the Land of Stone had fused together overnight leaving the residents of the two towns horribly frightened and confused.
Needless to say, the North of the Land of Wind, the South of the Land of Earth, and all of the countries between those two nations had been irreversibly altered.
Shortly after their return to Sunagakure, Gaia called for a Kage Summit, during which the reanimated Kage made their choice about what they intended to do with their newfound lives.
The second Mizukage offered to return to Kiri, at least temporarily and help to rebuild there but he made it very clear that once Kiri was stable he intended to go exploring. With the possibility of peace for the Elemental Nations, he wanted to take full advantage of that and go out beyond the borders of the continent and see the rest of the world.
Mei the Fifth Mizukage was willing to accept that exchange, knowing that the Second's help would be invaluable, but also being happy to know that he wasn't going to stick around and try to influence the new directions she intended to take her village to ensure it's safety and prosperity.
Kiri itself was very grateful to Riley, Kakashi and Guy for their help in saving it from destruction, and for avenging so many of their fallen comrades. Riley immediately cashed in on their gratitude and offered to accept repayment in the form of allowing Zabuza to roam freely without being hunted.
Not knowing the truth of their connection, Mei found it to be a strange request but she accepted it regardless, as that was more then easy enough to grant and did little to take away from the village's current state.
Mei also showed her willingness to ally with the magical alliance and share in trade agreements with them and Kumo to ensure the land knew peace, and also to take this opportunity to not leave Kiri as an outsider.
Despite things still being in the works with Yugito, the alliance with Kumo was well on it's way as the Third Raikage returned to his village to serve as an adviser. Turns out he was actually the current Raikage's father, and was highly beloved by his people.
A and many of his veteran shinobi were very grateful to Riley for allowing the Third Raikage to return.
On that note, the Third Kazekage also decided to return home and joined Lady Chiyo and her brother as a village elder. Gaia was grateful to have the old lord's time and advice as he was well respected by many, and he was a very straight forward thinker. Not to mention he held pride in being direct and focused and even after only having his role for a few days, the old lord found himself forcing Gaia to reinforce her beliefs and decisions. He didn't try to undermine her in any way, but he was consistently shown to be very conscious of each decision Gaia made for the village and he ensured that she was of a similar mindset.
Gaia appreciated the old lord's direct nature and the fact that while he never outright called out her choices or decisions, if he questioned them or if he believed they were incorrect he would call upon her to reinforce those decisions with logic and direction. He was very much like Lady Chiyo in that way.
It was also learned after the return to Suna about what happened to the other half of the army that Chiyo had been leading back into the Land of Wind. They had somehow found themselves several hundred miles off track and had ended up at the ocean on the other side of the Land of Wind.
Truly a mind-blowing experience for them, it took Riley going out and finding them on Gaia's request to get them back to Suna, and then later she had to help them reach the Wind capital, as now due to the battle, the pathways connecting the two, no longer did. Sunagakure now sat something like twice the distance away from the Wind capital as it had before, which was a point of serious discussion between Suna's government as that left them at a severely disadvantageous position when it came to aiding their country and interacting with the rest of the world.
The discussions between the three remaining Kage, along with their Daimyos, and the leaders of the Legion led to what was going to happen now. During these discussions, many of these leaders looked to Riley find what she was going to do, but more often then not her answer was short and clipped, in that she was done with this war and simply intended to go home and relax. So long as the countries stopped fighting, she didn't overly care what they did in their own time and within their own territory.
Riley did take the opportunity, while she was there to draw forth the various souls of the Bijuu and either release them, or return them to their hosts. Shukaku got his missing half back, as did Matatabi. Riley returned all of the Fragments of chakra that Mito had stolen to their original hosts. She released the Three-Tails into the sea's around the Land of Water. The Four and Five Tails were let free in the Land of Earth. The Six-Tails was released into the Land of Water, where it quickly vanished into the deepest cave it could find. The Seven-Tails was placed back into the body of Fuu, who had chosen to be brought back alongside the others after being freed from Obito's control, though without a village to call her own, she was offered sanctuary in Britain and took the opportunity to not only experience a whole new world but get as far away from the Elemental Nations as physically possible, to avoid being captured by one of the Shinobi nations and used as a weapon.
While discussions were going on, Riley and a small strike team moved through the Elemental Nations locating and destroying Orochimaru's bases of operation.
During one of these raids, another Uzumaki was discovered as a warden in command of a prison where Orochimaru was using the people to test out his curse mark.
This woman, Karin Uzumaki was taken into custody, and reacted with about the hostility one would expect from a captive, and an Uzumaki but Kushina took interest in keeping the young woman safe from harm, and it quickly became apparent that Karin had special sensing abilities as she seemed to be able to quickly tell what a person was feeling and what they intended by sensing out the state of their chakra.
Karin was held under observation for the duration of her time in the custody of the Legion. It was eventually learned that she used to be a Kusa ninja and that she had participated in the Chuunin Exams. Upon meeting Itachi, Karin momentarily believed him to be someone else, only for her to realize her mistake as soon as she sensed his chakra. It was later learned that the someone she had mistaken him for was Sasuke who admitted to recognizing her from the Chuunin exams and having a run-in with her in the Forbidden Forest where he stopped some Acromantula from eating her.
He hadn't even asked her name at that time and it was shortly before he and his team ran into Orochimaru so he didn't remember it very well.
Karin was held away from others during her time in captivity, only really meeting with Inoichi, Kushina, and Hashirama.
On the mention of Kusagakure, that particular Hidden Village sent a missive to the Magical Alliance about a week after the end of the War, offering their official declaration of peace. They did not intend to fight now that Iwa was under the Magical Alliance's control, and though there was talk about going after them anyway for aiding Iwa during the war, it was decided that they played such a small role in the fighting that it really wasn't worth it to continue the war over it.
The rest of the reanimated settled in with the Legion. Tobirama stayed by his brother's side and spent a great deal of time, discussing the things that had happened in Konoha that had led to it's destruction. Both brothers spent many hours discussing where they had gone wrong and what choices were made that allowed the village to become as corrupt as it had been.
Izuna of course, stayed with his brother and got to meet his great grandchildren. Itachi and Sasuke were both direct descendants of Izuna Uchiha whom fathered children at the ripe old age of Seventeen, which considering it was the warring states period, was around the time most shinobi were having children.
Kaguya also stuck close to Madara, but she also spent time with Kushina and Hashirama as well. Kaguya was in an interesting state, as the two sets of memories she possessed slowly organized themselves in her mind. She knew of her time as Kaguya Uzumaki, and to an extent, she felt like an Uzumaki, but she also knew who she really was, and found it difficult to not see that as her true self despite her reincarnation.
Kaguya was also strange around Riley, as she worked to settle her emotions and come to terms with having an heiress. Riley was far too powerful for her to ever fight, even if she had her old power back, Riley was too skilled in battle for her to overwhelm, so even if she wanted to regain her lost power she knew she couldn't.
That in and of itself, was also a strange concept for Kaguya, as she no longer felt the drive to reclaim her lost chakra. Not having that feeling anymore, confused her, as it had been a large part of her personality towards the end of her first life.
Kaguya spent a lot of time with Madara and Zetsu, discussing the world, and Riley, so that the old Rabbit Goddess could learn more about her successor and what made her different from Hagoromo and Hamura.
Hashirama and Madara were both in a similar state as Kaguya. Both men dealt with the two sets of memories merging back together, and while they both held Riley as their granddaughter, and they both loved her dearly, both men had to work on not only the fusion of those twin memories sets, but also their detachment from Riley, as they were no longer tied to her, or her power.
Also of note, was Madara getting his Rinnegan back. Not long after he was revived, his reanimated eyes, disappeared from his body, leaving him blind. His eye was quickly retrieved from Obito, along with Obito's Sharingan. The former was returned to Madara while the latter was sealed away and left in Riley's possession for now, though she intended to look into a way of perhaps transferring it's power to Kakashi's eye, giving him access to both halves of it's abilities.
Not long after the battle, White Zetsu showed up with a small army of clones, and he provided Madara with his other eye. It was also during this time frame that Kurama noted that Izuna should also be missing his eyes as they were given to Riley to give her access to the EMS, when she was younger. Riley and Madara both speculated that the reason his eyes regenerated when Madara's didn't was because Izuna's eyes were technically destroyed when Riley ascended to the form of an Archdemon. In essence she gained new eyes when hers and Izuna's fused together.
During the first few days after the war, the Legion also held a private discussion to determine what would happen once they returned to Britain. Itachi stated that he was more then willing to remain on as a Commander, if they wanted him too, which worked for Tom, who very much intended to retire when they got back.
Now that Britain was under their control and the war was over, he was finally ready to kick back and enjoy a simpler life. He'd still be around to aid his faction and help direct and rally them when needed, but he was ready to retire. He intended to apply for a position at Hogwarts, either teaching DADA or the new Dark Arts class that was soon to start up. Riley also intended to retire, and have someone else take over her chakra lessons at Hogwarts. Her class had been left vacant during the year she was gone, so she intended to keep it that way and have someone else take over. More then likely one of the ninja that had helped the Legion during the war could take over.
Remus already intended to return to Hogwarts in whatever capacity the new Headmistress, in McGonagall needed him to be in.
With Tom's retirement, that led Itachi to question who would take his place. Riley suggested that she and Itachi work together to find a handful of individuals to take all three of their places as commanders, because she also intended to step down as a commander, and was leaving the leadership of the Legion in Itachi's hands.
This was surprising to both men as the Legion had been Riley's pet project and she had been the one to flagship it, and establish it's reputation. Riley claimed that she would remain a member of the legion and work as an adviser, and if Itachi wanted her too, she'd lead their forces when the time was right, but she had no intention of taking a day job as a soldier. She had her own dreams and ambitions, and wasn't going to be weighed down by things like titles. She knew Itachi would be the right person for the job. He loved the people around him, and he loved his clan. He would soon come to love the Legion and Britain and he would fight to defend all of it, with all of his strength.
Riley knew he'd make a good leader, and that he was perfect to keep the organization running and functioning. Riley fully intended to help him and the Legion, but she wasn't going to babysit it any longer. Besides that, she knew she was far too militant for what would be coming next. Now that the war was over, the Legion would need to establish itself, not only as a peacekeeping force, but also as a mercenary organization that other nations could call upon to deal with their issues. Riley had no patience for politics and she knew it.
She'd leave those things for a much calmer, more professional mind.
Though surprised by her endorsement, and Tom's who thought it was a wonderful idea, Itachi was quick to accept, as it not only meant a regular position for himself, but it ensured that his family would finally rise to a position of honor and respect, that he had been fighting to restore since the coup.
Itachi swore to both of his fellow commanders that he would do whatever it took to protect Britain, and all that they had built together. And he even extended an offer, that if either two ever wanted it, there would be a position of prominence waiting for them in the Legion.
The three decided to keep the change in leadership as quiet as possible until they returned to Britain and informed Lucius of what they had planned. For now they'd continue to work together, but news was slowly filtered down to the various high ranking members of the Legion, that new leadership positions were about to open up, and the three commanders began to go over the war and determine who showed genuine leadership abilities and would fit in well as a new commander.
It was on the fifth day after the war had ended that Riley and Shisui finally had the chance to just sit down and talk. Riley had been sitting on the walls of the village staring out over the village itself when Shisui approached her.
He gave her a good once over when he did. In the bright sunlight of the Land of Wind, her features really stood out.
Her skin was a light grey color now. Not so much off color that people would notice immediately in poor lighting but it was a noticeable change. Her normally pale white visage was actually a bit darker now, though not by much.
Her hair was still blackish red, and as thick and full as it had always been. Her horns were also now longer but looked to be made of a greyish metal-bone combination now, almost like they were infused with silver. There was now an always present slit on her forehead where her third eye remained as it was no longer completely hidden from view.
Nothing much had changed about Riley's face, though her ears were now pointed at the end, and her canines were slightly longer then before, making her almost appear vampiric. And the inside of her mouth as well as her tongue were both now much more inline with her skin color.
Little had changed about her main body as far as Shisui could tell, though if he had to guess there were further changes hidden beneath her clothes, such as the markings for the Ten-Tails' seal on her back, as well as the presence of her wings and tails.
Both appendages were unique and strange for many people. Riley often kept her wings retracted, actually she had taken to shaping them around her main body, almost like a jacket, similar to the one Minato used to wear, only this one matched her wings in color, and bore no design to them. In fact, other then the utter blackness, the only color they did offer was moving twinkling light within the darkness that almost looked like it was filled with stars. Beneath Riley's 'Coat'she simply wore a t-shirt and heavy pants, much like those worn by Konoha Jonin. Though there was room beneath her coat to wear her armor and battle robes if she wanted too, she could also unfurl her wings and just wear whatever she wanted.
Her tails were often kept exposed, usually three of them were allowed to sway by her feet, while the remaining seven, wrapped around her waist to keep them out of the way.
Her change in appearance drew many looks from a lot of people, and many openly wondered just what the sealing of the Ten-Tails had done to her internally, if that's what she now looked like on the outside.
Peoples whispers never lasted long as Riley would more often then not just turn and stare at them until they got so uncomfortable that they left. She'd then laugh at their distress, to further emphasize that she didn't care what anyone other then those she cared for, thought about her.
Despite all of the changes to her appearance, and despite her being several inches taller then him now, Shisui still found it difficult to see her in any other way, other then the small hopeful little girl she had been so long ago. She was actually older then him now, though if the rumors he'd heard from her grandfathers was correct, she was actually a lot older then most people, but at the very least, she was now seventeen, and thus older then Shisui by two years.
After several moments he sat next to her, turning his gaze out over Sunagakure as he did. The two were silent for several moments before Riley turned her gaze towards him.
"Hey." She greeted, in that way two people would when things were awkward between them.
"Hey." Shisui responded.
"We on talking terms again?" Riley inquired, after a moment of silence.
"Yeah. Sorry about being so weird lately, I just needed some time to get my head in order. So much has happened since I died. The world just seems so different from how I remember it. It's been hard, ya know? Reconciling everything that was lost, and everything that's changed." Shisui stated, earning a nod from Riley.
"You don't need to apologize. I know it cant be easy to put your feelings in order when it comes to all of this. I know how much you loved the village and your clan, and now one of them is gone, and the other was nearly wiped out. I wish there was something I could do to make it better." Riley responded after another moment of silence.
"Yeah… … … Look Narumi… I don't want things to be awkward between us. I gave my life to protect the village, and in the end you ended up destroying it when it went after the people that you love. I can't say I would have done differently, were I in your position. You gave them far more chances then I would have, so I don't know why I'm so bothered by it." Shisui began, trying to explain himself as best he could.
"It was your home. You thought it could be saved, and I don't hold you at fault for that. Like I said, I'm sorry it had to be this way. I enjoy killing my enemies, but I don't enjoy having to kill needlessly. I wish they could have just left me alone. I wish I could have gone on leaving the village to it's own devices and it could have done the same with me. But the nature of the Hidden Villages, would not allow that. Their fear of outsiders, and their paranoia with anything they perceive as a threat, leads them to take drastic action, and more often then not, they commit greater harm then good. Had the village just left me alone, it'd still be standing. But it didn't. It targeted those that I love, and I destroyed without hesitation. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not sorry I had to do it. And I'm not sorry I wanted to." Riley stated earning a slow now from Shisui as he took a deep breath and finally turned his gaze towards her.
"Believe me Narumi, I understand. That part of you, the part that destroyed Konoha to protect those you love, it comes from your Uchiha blood. Believe me, I know what it's like to want to destroy everything that could harm your precious people. I'm sorry it had to happen, and I wish it could have been different. I wish I had been there to shield you from all that. I wish they had just left you alone to live your life. I wish there was something I could have done to prevent this." Shisui admitted, earning a small smile from Riley.
"You are probably one of the only people who could have talked me out of it. I always held you on a pedestal, you know that? You were my first true friend, and I loved you, and I still love you. If there was one person in the world who could have talked me out my rage, could have gotten me to stop and forgive, it would have been you. After you died, I stopped trying to forgive. I gave up on the Will of Fire. But a part of me never forgot that love. I still held it in my heart, to the point where I forgave Itachi for the role he played in your death. I forgave him because he was there when I needed him to be, just like you were. I cared for the two of you, and I loved you with all of my heart. I was willing to forgive him because deep down, I knew you loved him, like a brother, and maybe in a way I didn't want to alienate that last connection I could have to you. He's been nothing but a great friend to me ever since, and I'm glad I was willing to forgive." Riley offered, earning a smile from Shisui in response.
The two were quiet for several long moments when finally Shisui asked, "Itachi told me something. He said that he'd rarely heard you mention me, after I died. He wasn't sure if anyone even knew about me. You never mentioned me to your friends? To your family? You never tried to work through it and find some peace?"
Riley was quiet for a few moments before she spoke. Emotion played across her face as she formulated an answer. Finally she let out a sigh and spoke, "Nothing hurt more then when I lost you. All of my happiness, all of my joy, it was bound up in our time together, and when you died, I lost everything. I thought I was alone again. I thought I'd never be happy again. Losing you, hurt me more then anything I've ever experienced in my life. I swore to myself, I'd never feel that pain again. I'd never my precious people to be taken from me again. I kept you in my heart. I kept you locked away in there, because if I didn't talk about you, if I didn't let you out, then you were still with me. There has been so many nights I've laid awake, thinking about my life, and what I would've done differently if I could. One of the things I always get stuck on is my time with you. Shisui… had you lived, had we had more time together, I might have taken you away from the village with me. I don't think I would've ever left your side. I wondered about a lot of things, and it always hurt because I'd never get the chance to know." Riley admitted. Shisui smiled sadly at hearing that and without thinking, he reached out and placed at hand on Riley's shoulder, offering what comfort he could to his friend.
"You know… now that I think about it. I always told myself that I didn't want to be with a man because I'd met too many of them that were awful and I didn't think I could put the trust in them that was necessary to have a viable relationship. Thinking about it now, I know the real reason why I couldn't be with a man." Riley stated, earning a curious look from Shisui.
After a few moments of silence, Shisui felt his curiosity get the better of him. "And that reason is?"
"None of them were you." Riley stated after a moment, earning a blush from Shisui in response. Riley let out a laugh at seeing him blush, and after a few moments Shisui started laughing as well.
The two shared in their laughter for several long moments before they were able to calm down.
"Well… it's like I always used to say, my greatness knows no bounds. I'm so awesome I can even make a friend gay because she'll never find any man as good as me." Shisui stated, earning a snort from Riley.
"Don't flatter yourself. Be thankful I turned out this way. Had you lived, I'd have probably been in a monogamous relationship and you'd be the one dealing with me. Go ahead, ask any of my mates and they'll tell you, I can be quite the handful." Riley replied, giving a smirk that was both playful and flirtatious.
Shisui closed his eyes and shook his head, as he tried to get the blush off his face.
"When did my little sis become such a flirt huh?" Shisui asked after a moment.
"When she grew up and took on six soon to be seven mates, that she has sex with on a regular basis." Riley answered, truthfully earning a playful glare from Shisui in the process.
"I did not need to know that." Shisui stated, earning a laugh from Riley in response.
"You asked." Riley chuckled as Shisui shook his head. After a moment he let out his own laugh as the two turned their attention back out over the village. Finally after nearly a full minute of quiet, Riley finally asked, "We good?"
"Yeah. We're good." Shisui responded.
Riley smiled at that, happy that she could begin to rebuild a life with her friend.
The following day, Riley was walking through the city streets when she came upon Naruko. Naruko quickly spotted her twin sister when voices filled the streets with people pointing towards Riley and gawking.
Riley did as she had been and simply ignored them as she went about her day, while Naruko quickly moved to join up with her twin and walk beside her.
"So how's it feel?" Naruko inquired after a few moments of walking.
"You're gonna have to be more specific, how does what feel?" Riley inquired.
"To finally be done with this. To finally be able to go home. How does it feel knowing that she's gone?" Naruko asked.
"Liberating. Worrisome. For what feels like forever, I've been dealing with Mito's shit. Now that she's dead, it almost doesn't feel real. I know this isn't completely over yet. I know she's left something behind for us, I just don't know what it is. I'll figure it out thought. I swear I will. I wont let her ruin anymore lives." Riley admitted to her twin.
Whatever she had in store, we'll deal with it when the time is right." Naruko said after a moment, earning a nod from Riley.
"So… what have you got planned now?" Naruko asked after several moments of quiet walking.
"I'm gonna go home. Finish up my last year of school. Graduate, and find my way from there. Maybe I'll go exploring, see what the world has to offer. I still have my dream I want to accomplish, and I'm sure there's more out there for me to learn. But aside form all that, I know I need to prepare myself. That devil in command of the army that attacked alongside Obito and Mito. He's still out there. I know he'll be gunning for us in the future. So we'll have to be ready. I'd focus on upping your training, when we get back. Don't let yourself become complacent if you don't wanna die." Riley answered after a few moments of thought.
"Well… if that's the case I'll train myself into the ground if I have too. Though… I wouldn't mind a bit of a hand in that department. If you wouldn't mind that is." Naruko inquired as they walked.
"Are you asking me to train you?" Riley inquired as she sent a glance over at her twin.
"I'm not so stubborn as to deny that there's a bit of a power gap between us. How am I supposed to keep you on your game if I don't catch up to you?" Naruko responded earning a chuckle from Riley.
"I think I can give you a few tips. After all… I want to see my nephew when I get back, so I'll definitely be around." Riley stated after a moment, causing Naruko to smile brightly.
"I'm sure he'll love his auntie Riley. I tried telling him about you, but we both know he'll never remember any of the things I said. I don't even know if he'll remember me. Gods it's only been a few weeks but I miss the little guy." Naruko responded.
"Well, you'll get to see him again soon." Was Riley's response.
The two were quiet as they continue to walk for several long moments before Riley came to a halt at the building she and her mates were staying at.
"This is my stop." Riley noted earning a nod from Naruko.
The two stood in awkward silence for several moments before Naruko finally spoke up.
"Riley?"
"Yeah?"
"I know we have our issues, and I know it's still going to take a lot of work for us to make it through the crap we've got to deal with, but… I wanted to thank you. Thank you for giving me this chance. Thank you for helping me. I hope one day we can move past everything and we can build a new life together. I don't remember if I said this already, and if I did, then I didn't mean it enough, but I love you. You're my big sister and I've always loved you, and nothing is ever going to change that." Naruko stated, offering Riley a glimpse into her heart.
A quiet moment passed as Naruko patiently waited for Riley's response. After several moments, Riley let out a sigh and placed a hand on Naruko's shoulder.
"Maybe on day we'll get there. Maybe one day, we can be the sisters we both want to be. I don't know how long it'll take, and I don't know what'll need to happen to get us there. But so long as you're willing to keep trying, so will I. One step at a time." Riley offered, earning a bright smile from Naruko.
"One step at a time." Naruko parroted back with a hopeful nod. Riley offered her twin a soft smile at that, and gently pat her cheek in a very rare showing of physical affection for her twin. Riley then turned and headed into her apartment, leaving a beaming Naruko behind to stare after her for several long moments.
Despite being a long way off, Naruko knew she was making progress. She knew she'd never stop trying to earn her twin's forgiveness. No matter how long it took, Naruko would always keep pushing forward. She only hoped that one day, she could stand by her twin's side, as sisters should. The two of them, united as family.
It was as Naruko turned and started off that her mind drifted towards the rest of her family. Namely her father. Minato had disappeared, along with the reanimations of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Riley had made the information about her being the angel of Carnage a magical secret so there was no danger of them revealing that info, but the three were still out there. They were out there, and Naruko intended to find them one day. She just hoped that the three of them were putting their powers to go use, and were working to help the world, wherever they were.
Despite the state of things, Naruko was optimistic. She knew people could change. Perhaps they could as well. Regardless, it was the dawn of a new world, and Naruko had front row seats to the shaping of it. She didn't intend to miss any of the great show that was going on with each passing day.
Riley found her way into her apartment where her mates were all gathered. From the looks of things, they had heard her come in because they were all waiting for her as she wandered into the room.
She offered the five women smiles as she made her way across the room and sat on her bed, between Katie and Luna, whom were also sitting there waiting for her. The only one of Riley's mates that wasn't present was Gaia, but she was busy with meetings and hadn't made many appearances recently. Besides that, the rest of Riley's mates had taken to relaxing, now that the war was over.
Each one spent time preparing to go home. Each one excited to see there families and friends, those they left behind to fight for their country.
"How many more days will we be here my love?" Fleur inquired as she knelt down in front of Riley and rested her arms on Riley's knees.
Riley stared down at Fleur, and offered her a soft smile, knowing full well the Veela wanted to return to where she was most comfortable, back in her home, away from this war, and all the death that accompanied it.
"Only a couple more. The Legion will be ready in about three days, and I'll be sending clones and making the occasional trip to come out and help Gaia with things here." Riley explained.
"Have the two of you had a chance to talk about how you're going to deal with the whole dating/lovers game? Seeing as how Britainand Suna are on literal opposite sides of the planet." Daphne inquired.
"Yeah. We're spit-balling some ideas. We'll try some stuff out. Gaia has no intentions of leaving Suna, and I don't want her too. We'll piece something together. We've got time. We both agreed that we'll wait to have our marriage until sometime after I graduate Hogwarts. That gives us over a year and a half to play the dating game." Riley responded earning a nod from Daphne.
"What about Yugito? Have you two talked at all?" Katie inquired after a moment.
"Yeah. I told her I was going home, but that we'd probably see each other around. Kumo still seems invested in this alliance. I offered to try again whenever the time comes where we run into each other again. She seemed willing to at least try, though I think she'd kinda freaked out by my change in appearance." Riley responded with a shrug.
"Awe, I think it makes you look awesome. Like, more exotic then before." Katie stated, earning a smirk from Riley. Riley's smile turned flirtatious as she reached out and gently caressed Katie's cheek, taking her face in her hand.
Katie accepted the affectionate gesture with a smile.
"You're just trying to butter me up." Riley cooed in replied, earning a gentle grin from her beloved mate.
"Is it working?" Katie inquired.
Riley's only response was to smile.
After a few seconds she turned her attention towards the veela resting her head on her lap.
Riley reached down and gently stroked her hair. Riley could feel Fleur's heart begin to flutter at the contact, and she knew her mate enjoyed the romantic gesture.
Since taking in the Ten-Tails and it's power, Riley had spent quite a bit of time, reigning it in and slowly absorbing it out of the seal. Without the will of the Tailed Beasts, it was basically just a chaotic mass of power, and slowly but surely, Riley was fusing it's massive core to her own, emptying the seal and gaining full control over it's powers. It would take something like ten years to fully complete the process, but Riley wasn't worried. She'd learned throughout her entire growth that slow and steady was the way to success. If she took her time and mastered each and every new ability that came from this power, then she'd be better off in the long run.
Another side affect of Riley's new status as the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki was her increased strength and senses. Riley's senses were now so keen that she could detect the magic of every person on the planet. She had no idea how to differentiate most of them, but she could feel their presence. Nothing short of an actual barrier could block her detection abilities now.
The new strength was also the reason why Riley had refrained from bedding any of her mates in the last few days. She was working on getting her strength under control and had been taking month long trips into Kamui to accomplish the endeavor. She was starting to get more confident in her ability to refrain from harming her mates, but she wasn't quite there yet, so she kept their physical contact to simple touching and caressing.
Her mates were well aware of Riley's hesitance and despite their desires to celebrate her victory by giving her something they all knew she greatly desired, they respected her desire to be safe and held themselves from teasing her too badly.
The six women spent the remainder of the day in quiet discussion with one another, they talked about what they would do when they got back, all of them eager to see their families again. Their was some discussion about what Riley and Daphne were going to do about their honeymoon, which led to Riley revealing that she fully intended to take Daphne to somewhere gorgeuos out in the world where the two of them could have some time to spend together and just enjoy themselves.
Daphne seemed to appreciate the idea of just going somewhere to relax and though she hid it well, Riley could tell she was really looking forward to some pure alone time with Riley, where the two of them could focus on just each other. It was a rare thing for the members of Riley's harem, and they all worked hard to squeeze what time they could out of their beloved mate. Whenever and wherever it was possible to just be alone with her.
Before going to sleep that night, Daphne inquired about when Riley intended to introduce Arturia to the harem. Riley's response was to simply giggle and kiss Daphne's forehead, choosing to keep her plans in that regard a secret for the time being.
The following day, Riley and her friends got up early. Riley stood over them like a troop commander as she guided them through morning exercises. This was one of the first times since the war began that Riley had the opportunity to pull all of her friends together and take the time to train them, like she did before the war began. She ran them through drills and morning exercises, and the whole time, most of them wore shit-eating grins. Each one happy to experience something familiar.
Around lunch Riley took them all to a restaurant in town where they all enjoyed a meal together as friends. Riley spent the majority of the time floating between clusters of her longtime friends, chatting with them and learning about their plans once they returned to Britain. Some intended to follow Riley and take their sixth year tests and just finish with their seventh year when it began, while others wanted to actually partake in their sixth year, and experience what it had to offer. Regardless of which direction they went in, Riley offered her support and encouragement, stating that she was proud of each and every one of them.
She finished the visit by relaxing with her best friend Draco, outside of the restaurant where the two simply watched the passerby's while drinking tea, and chatted about their plans for after Seventh year.
All in all, it was a restful day and it was probably the calmest day they'd had in many months.
After experiencing it, Riley now, more then ever, wanted to go home.
Later that night she met with Gaia in her office and spent some time with her fiancee. Though Gaia hid it well, Riley could tell that she didn't want her to leave.
The two sat with one another talking about various things, mostly their time together consisted of Gaia spit-balling ideas she had planned for Sunagakure and getting Riley's input.
Riley kept the smile from her face as she answered each question honestly with her own opinion. She knew the political side of Gaia was in full working order and was already planning to utilize everything they had gained and won in this war to her advantage. That included her new relationship with Riley.
Riley's presence in the world was at an interesting place. Her friends and family didn't see her any differently then normal, but the rest of the world was an entirely different matter.
Riley was hailed as a hero by the shinobi of the Elemental Nations. She was known as the one who defeated the Ten-Tails and had trapped the beast within her, along with the Angel of Carnage and the Nine-Tailed Fox. Arturia and Kakashi also found themselves amongst the ranks of those hailed as mighty heroes for their parts in assisting with the Ten-Tails and in killing Obito Uchiha.
Riley's opinion was a valuable commodity now and Gaia was very aware of that fact and intended to use it to her advantage. Already word had spread to the ICW about just how close the world had come to destruction. Many within the Elemental Nation knew that an era of change was about to occur. This war, the Akatsuki, everything had brought the world to the brink of annihilation and everyone knew that the magical community was not going to just sit back and allow the Elemental Nations to do as it pleased any longer.
Already word had reached the Legion from Lucius about inquiries being made at the British ministry in regards to Riley's status as a Jinchuriki.
Despite her hero status, many in the ICW were terrified of the prospect of such a being setting foot out in the open world where she could cause unimaginable amounts of destruction.
They were very careful with how they worded their inquiries but Lucius could tell what was in the air, and he passed that sense onto his comrades in the Elemental Nations.
Riley couldn't have cared less about what the ICW thought of her. She singlehandedly had the power to shatter the Statute of Secrecy if she wanted too, and they knew that. No matter their complaints or fears, the ICW wouldn't take any action against her, not when she had the backing of the Magical Alliance.
By the grace of the gods, the barrier around the Elemental Nations that kept it separate from the rest of the world was still intact, however, news soon reached the Magical Alliance that reports were coming in from all over the world, of strange weather phenomenon, as well as the appearance of the Ten-Tails' massive Bijuu Dama, which had supposedly done serious damage to Eastern Asia's satellite networks, as any low hanging satellite were either thrown violently off course by the massive torrent of outpouring magic, or they were destroyed outright when the attack appeared in the sky, circumventing the barrier.
Again, with a bit of luck, none of the muggles news organizations could tie the incredible event to magic, but many governments were breathing down the necks of their magical counterparts, demanding answers for what had happened.
It was obvious that a great many people were scared and confused as the governments of the world scrambled to reach an understanding of the situation.
This in turn led to the ICW descending upon the Elemental Nations in droves, conducting massive interviews with various leaders around the continent so as to gain a much more clear picture of the Fourth Great Ninja War, and the Akatsuki's attack. Even now, a massive manhunt was underway for the remaining Akatsuki members, including Kakuzu of Taki, Hidan, and Hiroko of Konoha. The three had escaped into the ether and no one knew where to find them.
The ICW was breathing down the necks of most world leaders in the Elemental Nations to develop a working understanding of just what had happened in this war that had led to the near destruction of the planet.
The Beam of energy Riley had redirected into space, as well as the Ten-Tails Bijuu Dama had both been seen by hundreds of millions of peoples on this side of the world. No one had an explanation for it, but it was now a the focus of a massive investigation being carried out by the various muggle governments of the world, including most Eastern Asian Nations, as well as Russia and the U.S.
Not long after that, the Legion began to return home.
Riley's final day in the Elemental Nations was spent with Gaia and her mates, ensuring that her fiancee fully understood that Riley didn't intend to be away from her for long.
"Keep her out of trouble will you." Gaia stated as she offered her fellow mates her goodbyes.
"We will." Katie responded with a chuckle.
"Let me know when you two finally settle on a date, and good luck on honeymoon. You'll need it." Gaia offered to Fleur and Daphne.
Fleur offered a pleasant smile while Daphne deadpanned and shook her head.
Kaite and Luna both giggled at that while Kaede sent a smirk towards Daphne, which Daphne quickly noticed and responded with a glare of annoyance.
"If you need anything, just let me know. You still have my Hiraishin kunai. Anything at all, just let me know. I'll be back to see you soon." Riley stated once the other were done saying goodbye. Riley gently took Gaia's face in her hands and the two shared a long passionate kiss. Once their lips finally separated, Riley pulled Gaia into a hug which she returned along with adopting a gentle smile.
As the two separated they shared one final kiss before Riley stepped away.
Not far off was Yugito whom Riley sent a glance towards as she turned to depart. She offered Yugito a pleasant smile and a nod, which Yugito kindly returned.
As soon as goodbyes were done with, the Legion quickly returned to Britain.
Their return was marked by a huge celebration. Diagon Alley was awash with thousands of people whom cheered and celebrated the return of their heroes from the war.
The paper and the radio had kept many people appraised of what was happening in the war, so the Legion's many victories and Riley's sealing of the Ten-Tails, and the Angel of Carnage, was met by an overjoyed populace.
Embracing her new form, Riley chose not to hide her appearance under a henge of a glamour. Instead she simply kept her wings retracted in the form of a coat, and kept all of her tails wrapped around her waist, making them appear like a strange sash. She kept the skin color the same and allowed her pointed ears and horns to be shown to the world. She also closed her third eye though unlike before it was no longer hidden completely while shut and left a small crease on her forehead that was noticeable up close.
Riley looked strange now, but few people cared. Those that did, held silent in the face of celebrations. Perhaps one day, they'd be willing to make a stand and address their concerns about Britain's savior and her new appearance, but for now, everyone was just happy that Iwa had been defeated a made a protectorate of Suna.
Riley spent the majority of the first few days fielding interviews with the press and meeting with the Queen alongside Arturia, Itachi, and Tom. The Queen herself offered the group her congratulations and even offered to make Riley, Itachi and Tom knights, as a reward for their service. This in turn led to the Queen learning of the Legion's plan to reformat, with Tom retiring, and Riley taking on the role of an adviser and possibly a commander if the situation called for it, but that Itachi would take over leading the Legion.
Not long after learning this, the Queen called them back for another meeting where she requested that Daphne come along as well.
Once there, the Queen informed them that some changes were going to be made to how various British magical organizations handled their operations. She informed Itachi that one of his new commanders would be Daphne as the head of the Hellsing Organization. Once Daphne was finished with schooling she could take command of the organization or give control of it to someone she trusted, but Hellsing would begin working with the Legion as the go-between between the magical and muggle states that would be calling upon the Legion for assistance. Both Itachi and Daphne would hold seats on the Round Table alongside the other commanders of the Legion, and Arturia would sit at the head.
The round table would continue it's work as an advisory group for Hellsing and the Legion now. Offering to assist both organizations in the political, cultural, and financial aspects of their job.
What this meant in terms of their operations was that Hellsing would now oversee any all operations involved with magical threats breaching the muggle world, while the Legion acted in support of those operations. Essentially the Legion would provide the man power to assist Hellsing and the Round Table in protecting the muggle world from magical threats, while carrying out their other various duties. Daphne, as the head of Hellsing would be the one to oversee this side of their operations. So she was to either carry out the necessary training that Itachi and Arturia saw as necessary for her to hold the role, or she was to put someone in charge who could do the job.
As another change, the Queen also sent word to Lucius that the head of the DMLE would also have a seat on the Round Table as well, and would join them in various discussions and handling of operations involving Britain.
In essence the Queen planned on streamlining every organization that they had so as to prevent them from coming into conflict with each other. The Aurors were protect the magical populace and hunt down criminals. The Legion would serve as Britain's Magical army, and Hellsing would carry out operations to assist various world governments in dealing with threats that threatened the vary fragile Statute of Secrecy, that had only just survived the war.
The queen gave them until Daphne had finished her final year at Hogwarts to get everything read, that meant about a year and a few months to get their organizations structured and established.
From this point on, the Round Table would begin overseeing the aspect of all of Britain's magical forces, be they police, soldiers, or private military. The Round Table would also stand as the contact between the magical and muggle military.
Shortly after these meetings, news spread to the Wizengamot about the plans to change the format of the Legion, as well as the news that the Queen herself was beginning to take a more active role in magical society by creating this new power structure. Now the Legion, the DMLE, and Hellsing would have someone to report to in the Round Table.
From Riley's interviews, many gained a more intimate understanding of what had occurred in the Elemental Nations. She told the press all about the war and how they had to force Iwa to become a protectorate state to ensure their cooperation. She told them about Gaia's work to establish an alliance between the surviving Nations to ensure peace. She told them about her marriage alliances with Gaia and Yugito, and the plans to unify their organizations with each other to ensure that Britain had new allies and friends that they could count on. She finished her interviews by telling the population about the death of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki leaders, and how she had to seal away the Angel and the Ten-Tails to ensure the world wasn't destroyed. She finished her interviews by telling people that the seal she had used was created by the Sage of Six Paths himself and that there was no danger of the Ten-Tails getting out.
Many were placated by her words, and were encouraged that their hero was still in her right mind, despite her change in appearance. Despite the fears of some, the whirlwind of celebration soon overcame the populace of magical Britain and many quickly forgot their worries and focused more on the things that were worth enjoying.
The first few days back, allowed many time to reconnect with their families. Luna spent the first few days back with her father, telling him all about her adventures and the strange things she had seen and done in her time away. The many seemed overly pleased with her adventures and intended to write about them in the Quibbler at the first opportunity.
Katie spent time with her father, both enjoying their togetherness, and also reflecting on the absence of Katie's mother. It was a quiet time for Katie and her father, both of who sought solace in each other and those around them in order to keep going.
Daphne's return home was met by her overjoyed little sister and her worried sick parents. She had kept them appraised of what was occuring in the war, but still, having not seen her in six months, both parents were immensely overjoyed to have her back. It was slightly surreal for Daphne as she had never seen either of her parents, especially her father, act so emotional and caring. Then again, she was reminded of the old saying that you don't really know what you have until you've lost it.
Fleur spent her first few days back, in France with her family. She was overjoyed to see her little sister again, and the two spent the majority of their time together, talking about everything that had happened while they were apart.
Kaede's return was a much quieter affair. She returned to Hashirama's orphanage which was still being run by his special Wood Clone, and spent time with her little brother, whom had been the one to take care of her puppy while she was away. Both dog and brother, were jubilant at seeing her return, and for once in her life, Kaede wasn't afraid to admit that she was happy to be in the presence of her brother again, even willing to return the hug he gave her, with one of her own.
Riley's children were shown her house on the hillside as well as the Hidden Village. Some chose to stay at the village, others with Riley.
Elizabeth and Eleanor quickly returned to the place they had come to see as home since coming to Britain and were more then happy to share the space with the new arrivals, in the form of Amaru, Anna, and Elsa. The five ladies got along well enough and enjoyed spending time together, and busied themselves with learning about their new home and bonding with one another.
Riley returned Kubikiribocho to Zabuza, whom accepted the sword with few complaints. Zabuza and Haku found themselves living in the Hidden Village, spending time getting to know their new comrades and home. Both were quick to settle in on the island as it reminded them of the Land of Water, and both began to slowly interact with their family and their new comrades in the form of the Legionaries.
Hashirama and Tobirama found their ways to Hashirama's orphanage where Hashirama still felt the call to look out for the lost and delicate Diclonius children. Tobirama split him time between his brother, the new Hidden Village and interacting with his Grandniece. Tobirama was critical of her at first but Riley was adamant about warming up to the man that her grandfather held so close to heart, and eventually the Second Hokage's icy exterior began to melt. It would take time, but much like with Shisui, eventually the two would reconcile and develop something with one another.
Madara, Kaguya, and Izuna moved in with Riley at her house and the three settled in to new lives there. Riley spent her time getting to know Kaguya and Izuna and develop a bond with both of them. Izuna was much more receptive to her attempts then the outwardly cold Kaguya was, but he did still spend his time poking fun at Madara for sharing a Grandchild with their once hated adversaries. This led to the two doing what they'd always done when they argued, which was fight. This of course led to Riley having to get involved and dragging the two to Kamui to hand them their own asses to get them to stop.
Riley soon found that their collective love of battle would be what allowed them all to bond as she soon found herself in training duels with Hashirama, Madara, Tobirama, and Izuna. Riley found dueling the three to be just exciting enough to get her blood pumping, and she was hopeful that forcing the four to work together to challenge her would allow her uncles to overcome their grudges, much like her grandfathers had.
Kaguya was still unsure of herself and where she stood with Riley, but Riley was patient with her. The two would often sit and discuss philosophical things, such as the state of the world, or how they viewed certain aspects of leadership and governance. Despite her outwardly cold nature, Kaguya was still heavily tied to her Uzumaki life and was thus a very emotional person. She wasn't at all happy about her inability to decide how she felt about Riley and the change to her eons old plans of return, but she was trying work through it, and for her attempt, Riley was willing to be patient with her grandmother.
During their first few weeks back, Riley and her family took a lot of time to meet with Boruto. Riley fell in love with the baby almost instantly. It brought a huge smile to Naruko's face whenever she'd find Riley holding Boruto and cuddling with him. For his part the young baby was all smiles as he met the new members of his family.
Riley's family and her mates all took great pleasure in meeting the new member of their ever exploring family, and spending time with Boruto, led to Riley spending plenty of time with her own children as well. Training with some, like Zabuza, Haku, and Eleanor, while studying with others, like Elizabeth, Amaru, and Elsa.
But those weren't the only people Riley spent more time with. She also went out and enjoyed the city with Kushina, Sirius and Remus, and got to enjoy seeing her mother restarting her relationship with professor Snape
speaking of Snape, the timing of the Legion's return coincided with the latter half of the school year, so all of Riley's friends made the conscious choice to privately study for their sixth year exams, or in Luna's case her OWLs and sixth year exams, and take them all around the same time as their in-school counterparts, and then all of them would just go and sit their last year of school together so they could all finish Hogwarts as a group.
Taking the free months that they had, Riley finally dragged Daphne out on their honeymoon. Riley took her out to a secluded cabin out in the forests of Alaska. In was spring time and the land was beautiful this time of year. It was also very secluded which allowed Riley to have her way with her beloved wife.
The two lovers spent a majority of their time, basking in each others presence and simply enjoying life on the whole.
While sex was a major component to their time away from the others, it was more so the time to simply enjoy being with each other, that the two took the most pleasure in. Though with that being said, more then a few times during the trip, Riley would sensually whisper into Daphne's ear just after releasing inside of her that they'd need to think of baby names before they went home.
Needless to say she had sufficiently startled her beloved mate each time, as despite enjoying her time immensely, Daphne was a bit on edge, waiting for the possibility of Riley experiencing another episode of sexual overload.
Luckily it never came and the two kept their time together, strictly passionate and loving. The first few days of their honeymoon, they explored the wilderness around them and enjoyed the various forests, mountains, and rivers that peppered the vicinity of their cabin. Daphne wasn't much for the outdoors, but she found the sights of springtime Alaska to be simply breathtaking. She found it so beautiful in fact that she planned on strongly suggesting to her fellow mates that they take trips up here with Riley as well to enjoy the area.
During the trip, Daphne got to experience so much nature that it almost didn't feel like just a honeymoon. She and Riley spent time hiding up in trees, cuddling and enjoying themselves as they watched the world around them carry on as if they weren't even there.
During the trip, Daphne had seen so many deer, wolves and bears, she almost felt like she was at a zoo.
Despite Riley's powerful demonic presence, the animals of the world, no longer seemed bothered by her, as they had before she started to absorb the Ten-Tails.
Now it was almost like by taking in the Ten-Tails, Riley was able to fool the beasts of the world into seeing her as nature itself. More then a few times, wild animals just walked right up to the two and stared at them.
Riley would often just offer a smile in return to the animals, almost as if she understood why they were acting this way.
Daphne willingly chose not to inquire as the strange occurrence, deciding that she enjoyed the mystery a bit more. Aside from the various hikes and enjoying each others company, the two also spent time discussing their future and what they intended to do after Hogwarts. For the first few days, they kept talks more towards the business aspect of their future, such as what Riley would do if she wasn't going to take a job at the Legion, and what Daphne intended to do with the Queen's offer to run Hellsing and work alongside Itachi.
Eventually though, their conversation turned towards something much more intimate. Children.
Numerous times while on this trip, shortly after reaching her release, Riley would pull Daphne close and make some sort of offhanded remark such as inquiring about possible baby names, or wondering aloud what a child would do to Daphne's figure. The first couple of times, Daphne actually bought into Riley's teasing and thought that her mate had actually put a baby in her, only for Riley to giggle and wave it off once she realized Daphne was taking it too seriously.
Eventually, Daphne began to entertain Riley's queries, and offered up her own idea for what she may like as a baby name or how they'd set up a baby room for their child.
The two spent nearly two full weeks together out in the Alaskan wilderness. Only briefly did Daphne wonder during the trip, when Riley had the chance to set this up, though she strongly suspected, that Riley may have built this cabin a long time ago, and simply used it as a hideout during her old trips as the Angel of Carnage.
Regardless, the time came and went and the two found themselves turning to Britain and their fellow mates.
Daphne definitely had some stories to tell them, but she also had a few things she planned to keep at heart. For the first time in their entire relationship, she had held all of Riley's attention and all of her love, and for the short time they had together, Daphne felt more in love with her wife then she ever thought possible.
She hoped the others would be able to feel such a thing when they too married Riley and got the chance to spend time alone with her, but outside of that hope, Daphne would keep those two weeks in her heart for the rest of her life. Her own selfish way of safeguarding her precious time alone with the woman of her dreams.
The remainder of the school year came and passed, with Kabuto Yakushi appearing before the Legion and turning himself over to them. After a short stay with Ibiki and Inoichi, Kabuto was released after swearing an oath to never attack the Legion out of spite.
Once swearing the oath, and being cleared by Ibiki, Riley fulfilled her promise and sat down with the turncoat and answered his many questions about her. She kept many things a secret, but she ensured that the man walked away pleased with all of the info he had gained from their time chatting.
Not long after, Kabuto joined the Legion, intending to hang around close by Riley and study her whenever the opportunity arose.
Around this time everyone took their tests and with Riley's drill sergeant like determination to see each one of her friends make it to Seventh year with her, they all ended up passing.
With the beginning of summer, Riley turned some of her attention to Arturia. True to her word, Riley began to pursue a much more intimate relationship with the ancient king. Things proceeded slowly, as one would expect, due to Riley's very busy life, as well as Arturia's.
The two would continue their relationship throughout the summer and grow closer and closer, spending more time one another, and finally learning more about each others past. Knowing where they came from and what their dreams were, helped the two to bond.
Towards the end of the summer another interesting thing happened. While spending time with Itachi, and Shisui, Itachi humorously noted that Sasuke had found himself a girlfriend in Karin. This was surprising to both Riley and Shisui as both believed that Sasuke was more then likely asexual. Not necessarily in a literal sense, but more so in the sense that he was so focused on himself, he'd never have to find someone to date.
Itachi informed them that the only reason Sasuke even accepted Karin's advances at first was because the Uchiha needed to repopulate and she was an Uzumaki, with powerful abilities. A shallow beginning yes, about one step above prearranged marriage, and one step below a one night stand, but according to Itachi, Sasuke seemed to be reacting more to her presence and their relationship as time went on. Itachi suspected, that at first Sasuke only agreed to it, because it was his duty, and he figured with Karin being the one to pursue him, it meant he could focus more on other things. Which was expected of someone like Sasuke who didn't form bonds easily, and was more focused on his personal desires.
Itachi did note that Sasuke was slowly starting to pay more attention to her, which was why Itachi had yet to stop him brother and have words with him.
All three of them recognized that Sasuke was an emotionally stunted young man whom still dealt with the deaths of his family, and with the war, their resurrection, and the fact that he still didn't know what had happened to them after they were recalled from the battlefield, left him in an emotionally fragile state.
Riley didn't really know what she thought about the whole thing. It was definitely shallow on Sasuke's part, but from the sounds of it, Karin was the one pursuing him, and not the other way around. Maybe she could bring him out of his shell, like Naruko, and Kakashi did. Maybe they'd build a life together. Or maybe this would pass in a few months, Karin would get over her adoration for the young man, and they'd go their own ways.
Riley didn't know what would happen, she simply offered Itachi a warning to make sure his brother was careful. Uzumaki women were ferocious when angered, and if he made the wrong moves the younger Uchiha brother may find himself unable to continue the clan after all.
Itachi took their words to heart as the conversation continued with Shisui questioning Itachi about his role in repopulating the Uchiha. This in turn led to both Riley and Shisui teasing the man about her current bout of celibacy, while Itachi did his best to ignore them.
During the summer, Tom officially resigned and took the job as the new Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Remus was asked to take over DADA again, as he was one of the best teachers they'd had in a long time, and a man named Iruka Umino was brought in to teach the children about Chakra. He came heavily recommended from Naruko and some of her pals, and he quickly found his nitch amongst the professors at Hogwarts.
A few other new classes began that year, which included an upgrade to muggle studies, that would be taught by an actual muggleborn with knowledge of the outside world. This class would be mandatory for anyone raised in a magical household, while a new history of the magical world class was also established for all children, to learn about the magical world and the various events that had occurred throughout history.
Despite all that had happened in previous school years, this one would be the most memorable for Riley. The entire year flew by faster then anyone thought possible, which was saying something considering the number of month long training trips Riley had taken during the school year and it still flew by faster then she could believe.
During that time, Fleur got a new job at Gringotts and became one of the financial liasons between the bank and the Legion itself. This was a great source of pride for the Veela, as it was not only a well paying position but it gave her the chance to do something that had nothing at all to do with her appearance or allure. Fleur was more then proud of the work she did, and often met up with Riley, wearing a proud smile after a hard days work.
During the school year, Riley kept in contact with Gaia, visiting and bedding her weekly. Sometimes she'd bring along some of her mates, if they weren't busy with studies or other things and they'd spend time all together.
During those weekly visits, Riley would seek out Yugito and the two would have chats with one another. It was slow going, but that was perfectly fine for the both of them, as neither was ready for a relationship with the other at this point in time.
Kaede joined Fleur in visiting Riley at Hogwarts every night to spend time with her, and she occupied her time either training at the Hidden Village, or spending time with the other Diclonius.
The year shot by at lightning speed, and before anyone even realized it, Riley was walking out of her final class after finishing with the last of her NEWTs.
That night she spent with all of her friends as they sat out by the lake, uncaring and unafraid of the teachers sending them back to their rooms. They spend the whole night out there, enjoying campfires and reminiscing.
Finally the last day came and went, and Riley found herself on the train headed home. She spent the entirety of the train ride in deep reflection as she thought about her future and what she'd be doing now.
She arrived home that day to find the house mostly empty. The only two present were Kaguya, and Dobby. Dobby kept to himself and ran about cleaning the busy house.
Riley took the opportunity to step into the living room to find her grandmother, knelt at a table, drinking tea. Riley sat across from her and offered the woman a pleasant smile.
"You look like Hagoromo when you do that." Kaguya noted absentmindedly.
"Do I? I haven't gotten the chance to spend a lot of time with him. Once I gather my paths, I intend to pursue the training her offered me. But until then, I can't say I really know him." Riley responded with a shrug.
"He is quite a quiet and thoughtful boy. I'm sure you'll find him boring." Kaguya noted with a small smile as she turned her murky pale eyes towards Riley.
"Well I've got that to look forward too. Regardless, shall we continue our debate from earlier?" Riley inquired.
"No. I believe you've made your position very clear. I'd actually like to ask you about the past. It's been over a year now, and neither of us have opened up about it. Madara suggested that I ask you about it, and I feel the time is right." Kaguya stated.
"You sure? You do realize this door opens both ways right. If you expect to learn about my past, then I'll expect to learn of yours." Riley responded. Kaguya was silent for a few seconds before offering a nod.
"I do believe I'm ready to speak with you about this. I think the time is right." Kaguya responded to her heir, earning a look from Riley in response.
Riley was quiet for a second as she stared off at nothing in particular. She looked thoughtful for several minutes before finally letting out a sigh and smiling.
"Well where to begin?" Riley responded.
"Where else? At the beginning." Kaguya replied with a smile of her own.
"Alright then. My tale began with an attack by a monstrous fox..." Riley began and from there, she started to recap her life to her grandmother. The year was 1998. The beginning of summer.
War had come and gone, and old foes lay dead. The future was open, but in the dark, a threat remained. The young goddess would take the time she had to rest and relax because she knew that the coming days would be filled with conflict and death. Still, she would face it head on, as she always had. She had a dream she wanted to see to fruition. She had people she wanted to protect.
With the end of the school year, the final tie to the life of a child had come and gone. The broken young girl that had been mistreated and loathed by her family, and her village had risen above all to become a god. And with her power, she would protect this world and those she loved. It was her destiny, her duty to those that had saved her from darkness.
The Age of Humanity had come to an end. The Age of the Archdemon, was about to begin.
-To Be Continued in the sequel.
Here we are everyone. Final chapter is done. I tried my best to tie up as many loose ends as possible. I'll be starting the sequel right away. I hope you've loved this story as much as I have and I hope you're all excited for the ride ahead. Not for the last time, I fucking love each and every one of you. You're all amazing and I want to thank you all for the support. Hope to see you all in the sequel to Broken Angel. Rising Demon. Until then… See Ya!