Wandering Heathens

Bomb

The Akatsuki ran quickly to cover as much distance as possible to protect their lands and to assist Shinjo and Ryuu who were still observing the military buildup. Pein ground her teeth in anger and frustration at the thought of her homeland, Amegakure, being threatened. By the Mizukage, no less!

Shinjo passed Ryuu some rations as the redhead pored over the map he had made of troop movements, supply lines, barriers and valuable targets. "They're using the Land of Fire for their supply route. Either the Diamyo or Konoha gave them permission for this" Ryuu said as he traced his finger along the map's border. "Then that makes it simple," Shinjo said as he sat near Ryuu," we kill the Diamyo or Konoha or both." "I'm leaning towards both but for the moment let's wait for the girls and see what they want to do."

The sun had begun its lazy descent into the horizon when Pein and the others finally arrived at the men's makeshift camp. Panting heavily, they all sat or leaned against something try to catch their breath. Shinjo and Ryuu passed out rations and water from one of their scrolls and the women ate and drank greedily.

"What's the situation?" Pein asked between gulps of water. "It's simple: Mei and Kiri are trying to establish a central territory so that they can have resources and shinobi in the region" Shinjo explained. "And they want Ame?" Konan asked. "Yes. It would be a good source of water for them seeing as they're dependent on it for jutsus and some of their clans need water to survive" Shinjo explained while looking at Kisame. She glared at him and brandished Samehada in his direction. Itachi places a hand on her shoulder and she visibly relaxed.

"Have they asked for negotiations?" Pein asked. Shaking his head no, Ryuu explained that their recon had been undetected but traps have been laid, ready to be sprung at Pein's command. "Who is the leader for them?" "Mei is still in Kiri so he's sent Ao to oversee the invasion." "Lets go see Ao then" Pein growled as she began walking towards the enemy lines.

Yells and shouts told them that the Kiri shinobi had seen them and had taken up attack positions as the Akatsuki crossed the lines. Every member's eyes were taking in details and plotting their own attacks. Hida gripped her scythe and prayed that Jashin would accept the sacrifices she would make to him, despite the victim's being lowly Kiri shinobi; Kakuza mentally calculated how much money she could receive for each body she brought in; Itachi thanked Kami that Konoha wasn't on the target list just yet; Kisame smiled savagely as she thought of the revenge she would take on the Village and shinobi who had caused her so much pain and resentment; Konan steeled himself and said his final prayers as he would die to protect Pein and Ame; Sasori silently judged if anyone was worthy of becoming a puppet while Deidara gleefully fed clay into her hand mouths and stockpiled bombs in her satchels. Tobi picked flowers along the way and wove a floral crown for herself, placing it on her head and proclaiming herself Queen of the Akatsuki. Shinjo and Ryuu brought up the rear.

The Kiri shinobi parted so the small group could pass by and watched as they entered Ao's tent. The Byakugan user looked up from the maps that were spread on a large table and patiently waited for the group to speak.

Clearing her throat, Pein spoke: "you know who I am and who we are. What are your intentions?" Ao stood straight and crossed her arms in front of her, "you know what we want." Ryuu grew exasperated with the slow pace and blurted out "you want land. You tried this during the Second War and you failed. What makes you think it'll work this time?" Ao turned to face him and placed her hands on the table. "It'll work because the Ryōshi are no more and because Konoha and Suna are backing us." Shinjo started to speak but Ryuu stopped him with a look. "Not yet" he whispered.

"I couldn't care less about the smaller Nations around us: the Sound, the Grass, the Stone, the Frost and the Hot Water. What I do care about is the River's neutrality and that Ame remains under Akatsuki control." Pein said, leaning onto Ao's table and inches away from her face. "Rivers can keep its neutrality but Ame is ours" Ao said with a deadly tone. "Then I suppose it's war" Pein replied before standing back. "ALMIGHTY PUSH!" she cried as Ao, her tent and advisors and anyone in the general area were sent flying back.

Konan added paper shurikens to Pein's jutsu and several Kiri were left resembling pincushions as their blood turned the crisp paper red. Hida laughed maniacally as she swung her scythe at the shinobi who had rushed to assist Ao, licking the blood that coated her blades and chanting to Jashin. Sasori and Deidara worked together to ensnare and bomb, watching as craters dotted the earth, the bodies of the shinobi that Sasori had trapped became unidentifiable pieces.

Kisame was fighting hordes of swordsmen and women with Itachi providing backup and taking out any threats to Kisame. Kakuza used her tendrils to grab and snap shinobi, often breaking necks and snapping backs by slamming her victims onto her knees or exposed rock, leaving them paralyzed and near death.

Shinjo swung his sword, hacking and slashing, revelling in the blood and gore and taunting his victims. Ryuu focused and the marks he had left on the medical and weapons crates around the camp began to glow. He surged his chakra and the marks glowed red hot before combusting and exploding, sending shrapnel flying in all directions while the flames consumed men and material.

The battle was progressing as planned with the Akatsuki in the lead, until Deidara released a large bomb. Several Kiri shinobi noticed the bomb and used a large water wave to move it from its original blast position to its new path, above Shinjo and Ryuu. Too late, the two saw the bomb and tried to get out of its blast radius but were unsuccessful. The bomb detonated and the once solid earth beneath their feet crumbled and gave away, plunging them into darkness. Around them the battle raged on, no one having seen them disappear.