Wandering Heathens

War Begins

Madara shook Shinjo awake, putting a finger to her lips to tell him to be silent. He looked at Kakuza who was still sleeping and silently slid out of the warm bed.

Tossing on his cloths, he followed her out of his room. "It's time" she said. "This couldn't wait until a decent hour?" He asked, stifling a yawn with his hand. "No. There is much to do. Zetsuki has left already with her clones and the Tailed Beasts are sealed in the Statue. I need you, and your Sharingan, to move the Statue into position." She ordered. "Where are we fighting?" Madara looked at him with a crazed look, licking her lips, "we take the fight to Konoha."

Ryuu stretched lazily in his bedroll, working out the kinks in his joints and muscles. He hated sleeping on the ground, preferring a soft bed or body to sleep on. "Rise and shine" Itachi called from a few feet away. He nearly jumped out of his skin and clutched his chest, breathing heavily. "Goddamn Uchihas! Warn a man before you sneak up on them!" He lectured and Itachi giggled, "they're on the move. Konoha. See you there" she said before disappearing into a murder of crows.

"Konoha? Shikaki! Shitshitshitshit!" He ran around his camp, frantically sealing everything into carrier scrolls then undoing a scroll to pull his clothes out and dress before sealing it back up and running towards the Land of Fire. He needed to get there before the Akatsuki, so he could at least warn them. Let me make it in time, he begged himself.

Standing on a cliff overlooking the peaceful Village, Shinjo released the Gedo Statue from his time-space dimension. Obita had transported all of them here using her Kamui and Madara looked at the Village that had caused her so much pain and was the target of her fury. "In seconds I will undo decades of oppression for the Uchiha! And I will cement the Akatsuki as a ruling force!" She almost drooled thinking of the battles and bodies that were sure to litter the landscape.

Shinjo stood quietly next to her, a gentle breeze ruffling his hair and cloak, his hand on his sword's hilt. He didn't feel the way Madara felt about her mission but he was too far gone in his commitment to the Akatsuki and couldn't back out. After all, Madara had trained him, raised his fighting potential and had given him his eyes and free reign to use his powers as he saw fit. He had ascended Zuko-sensei's  expectations of him and threw off the limits of morality. He fought for himself and to protect those he loved: Kakuza and Hida. The rest were just collateral.

Panting heavily, he ran to the side gate and ran smack into it before realizing he hadn't opened the mechanism. Rubbing his nose and cursing his luck, Ryuu ran into the Village, frantically searching for Shikaki, Kakashi, Tsunade, someone who would take him seriously.

"Gotcha!" An ANBU shinobi said as Ryuu's feet were swept out from under him and he fell onto his knees. Two pairs of strong hands gripped his shoulders as he was hauled upright to his feet. "Thought you could come back? Not on our watch!" The ANBU shinobi said gleefully. "If I wanted to kill you, I could've done it days ago! Let me go! I need to talk to Tsunade or Shikaki!" Ryuu howled as he tried to break away from his captors.

His cursing and screaming caught the attention of Kakashi who was passing by, her nose buried in her book. "Hmmm?" She looked up and strolled over. "What's the problem?" She asked, already bored with the situation. The ANBU agents explained what was going on to her and she listened, nodding every few seconds. "You're gonna be under attack!" Ryuu tried to tell her but his words were drowned out by a thundering CRASH! and parts of the Village's walls crumbled.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Frantic and panicked Villagers and shinobi yelled and Ryuu sighed, "that's what I was trying to tell you!" Kakashi grabbed him and they ran for cover, ducking behind a rubble pile.

Madara laughed crazily while watching the freed Tailed Beasts rampage the Village. Hida was lightly bouncing on the balls of her feet, anxious to get into the fray and begin her ritual. Itachi grew even paler watching her Village fall and familiar inhabitants perish. She didn't have to worry about Sasuka being hurt since the poor girl had committed suicide upon learning of the death of her lover. Since she was a weak Uchiha, Itachi didn't feel terrible about her dying but she did feel terrible about abandoning her.

Samehada searched the environment for chakra, whining when Kisame wouldn't let him go to feast and was temporarily placated by Kisame's soothing words and promises. Deidara fed clay into her hands and Sasori, after much internal debate, selected her puppet.

Kakuza stood next to Shinjo and squeezed his hand. "Come back to me or don't come back at all" she said before Madara gave the order to attack. Her, along with everyone else, leaped down, swinging weapons, shouting jutsus, and into the chaos that Madara called "orgasmic".

"What the fuck do we do?!" A genin cried and Ryuu pushed him towards the Hokage Rock. "Take refuge or fight! This is your home! Defend it!" He shouted at the preteen. "Go" Kakashi said and the kid took off running. "Am I invisible? Or do Konoha shinobi not know how to listen?!" He spat while readying his senbons. "A bit of both" Kakashi answered, her Sharingan swirling open.

He spotted Itachi fighting with some Jounins, taking them down effortlessly. Kisame was in her element, drowning Villagers and cutting down anyone in her path. Deidara bombed from above while Sasori fed her enemies' blood to the earth. As suddenly as the attack began, it stopped.

Peering around their rubble pile, they watched as Madara walked into the center if the Village, her arms commanding the Beasts to cease their attack. "Where is your Hokage?!" She demanded and a bloodied Tsunade was forced in front of her. Kakuza's tendrils dug into his flesh painfully and blood began seeping from the tight bonds where they cut his skin. His lip was split and his ribs were broken. He was slowed but not out.

"Ah, the final Senju" Madara cooed, stroking his hair in a perverse mimicry of affection. Tsunade remained silent, knowing anything he said could goad the psycho into action. "Your grandmother began all of this," Madara explained, her gloved hand gesturing to the destruction around her, "and I intend to see it destroyed!" She shrieked, fire chakra covering her hands which clutched Tsunade's face and burned him alive.

The stench of cooked human flesh filled the air and several people vomited at the sight if watching their Hokage be burned to death while alive. Madara let go of his smoking corpse and turned to face the Villagers and shinobi. "One by one," she said lowly, "kill them all."

Shinjo nodded, having stood by and watched the scene unfold, unsheathed his sword and motioned for the nearest Shinobi to attack.