321And thus, the story continues. Kinda liked writing this one, though I dunno why, lol. I hope y'all are staying safe out there and that you enjoy this latest installment! :)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Siege Continues
After having lost twelve of their warriors in that first assault, leaping up to harass the battlements was quickly determined to be a bad idea. No one knew what became of those girls, thanks to something making it impossible to sense youki within the village, but everyone was quick to assume the worst.
Now, they decided that a defensive strategy was the best course of action for the moment, so they waited… while chopping down the trees of a nearby forest to assemble a few siege engines, but that would take time.
Fortunately, this was a siege… a well-supplied one, no less, so they had all the time in the world. So, there they sat for the past week. While it was too early to tell what was going on in the village, the man left in charge of this operation... after Tot decided to live upto his name… ahem… (1)
...
Charles, the man in charge of this operation, was quite pleased to note that his forces' morale had at least recovered a bit. That was good. Despite the initial setback, things were going his way.
And then he awoke to find out that the camp was literally on fire. Shit!
Charles immediately got himself dressed in his overalls as quickly as possible and got to work in putting the fire out. He was also quick to relay orders to several soldiers in black that were nearby.
"Someone grab a damn bucket and put the fire out!" he barked, before running off to get a bucket himself. He was not going to let this camp burn down if he had anything to say about it. "Where the hell are the patrols?!"
"We don't know sir," one of the soldiers answered. "They must've been killed, or snuck past!"
Aya dashed to Charles' side and struggled to catch her breath as she issued her own report. "The warriors who were on patrol have gone missing," she said. "I cannot sense them at all; they're either dead or in the village, possibly both."
Burying the flames in dirt and sand to smother them, collapsing the tents and stamping them out as well, they managed to mitigate the damage. Despite the panic, everyone seemed fine, save for some light burns and smoke inhalation. (2)
"Were there any bodies?" Charles demanded, giving Aya a harsh glare. When she didn't answer his glare turned harsher. "Well?!"
"I never got the chance to look," Aya replied looking utterly stoic, though one could hear the irritation in her voice. "I rushed here as soon as we saw the smoke."
"And what of the other camps?"
"Largely untouched, though the siege engines we were assembling have been destroyed. While we were never able to catch who did it, Scarlet was able to detect three unfamiliar scents."
Charles frowned at that. "Was she able to discover where these scents went?"
"She is following them as we speak, though we suspect that they are from the village."
That wasn't surprising; in fact he expected the warrior in question to confirm it when she was done as sending out skirmishers to harass the invaders was common practice in a siege. Still, for them to achieve this undetected, with not even a sound, was astonishing.
"Has she got anyone with her?" Charles questioned.
"Ten men and Nutcracker Neo are escorting her," Aya confirmed. "Nothing has happened to them as of yet; they are still currently sweeping the northern camp."
"I see," Charles sighed, then he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled before turning to address Aya. "Keep an eye on her and Neo in that case." Then he looked around and started barking orders. "And someone, clean up this mess," he shouted. "Tighten up the patrols! I don't want this happening again!"
Naruto was pleased to see that those seven Akatsuki members did not disappoint. Along with them were three gagged and hogtied warriors of the Organization who'd been on patrol. So, that was a total of fifteen prisoners thus far… and just over 200 known enemy casualties. That's not bad, all things considered.
"So, what were they building?" Naruto asked.
"One of the siege engines was some kind of large box on a stick, swinging between two… legs," one man replied awkwardly, doing his best to articulate what that strange contraption looked like. He was the leader of this group, a man named Ishidate. "There were also two large boxes on wheels, though they appeared to be but a portion of whatever these people were actually building."
"A trebuchet and two siege towers," Garruk clarified upon hearing that. Clearly, sieges in Naruto's world used very different technology... assuming they existed at all. It was likely, but hard to say for sure, given how different warfare would likely be with their strange magic. "The 'box on a stick' is a counterweight, part of a large machine that throws projectiles at enemy fortifications—usually stones. A siege tower, meanwhile, is basically a stairwell and bridge on wheels, used to assail the battlements of an enemy fortification. You can put a battalion of soldiers on one." (3)
"I see," Naruto mused aloud. "Thanks for the information."
"Of course, milord," the militia captain said with a bow. "So, what shall be done with the girls?"
"They are to be brought to the others unharmed," Naruto ordered. "I'll let Cassandra and Miranda deal with them." Those two would hopefully know these girls and convince them that he means no harm to them personally.
"Understood, milord," Garruk replied with a bow.
Speaking of Cassandra and Miranda, the two of them seemed to be holding up rather well as the girls they'd taken prisoner proved to be rather well-behaved. They were quite the handful at first but seem to have calmed down when Sylvia told them all what really happened.
As for Sylvia herself…
"So, what's it like to raise them?"
"Does it hurt as much as they say?"
"I hear he's so popular because he has a big dick. Is that true?"
There was no end to the questions! Every time she came to check on them, these girls had more and more to bombard her with. Sylvia chuckled. It was both exasperating and endearing, to be honest. And that last question! These girls were really blunt in what they wanted to know, weren't they?
Kinda like her...
"Raising them is a little tough the first time, but it's worth it," she said. "It gets easier with time. It does hurt, yes, but how much it does mostly differs from person to person. As for that last question… I am not going to dignify it with an answer." Despite her answer, she gave the girl who asked the final question an amused smirk. In the brat's defense, Sylvia would have probably been rather curious in her position.
"Awwwww…" pouted the girl in question. She wanted to know so badly!
"If you really want to know, then you'll just have to find out for yourself," the runaway trainee teased.
"Could you please not give them ideas," Miranda whined. "Most of them aren't even of age, yet."
"That last word being the most important one," Sylvia countered with an impish grin. "The youngest one here is twelve; it won't be long before all of them are old enough to marry." (4)
"Please don't corrupt them any further until they are of age," Cassandra pleaded. "We're meant to be responsible adults. Set a good example for the next generation; things like that."
"Yes, Mom," Sylvia teased some more, rolling her eyes with a chuckle. It was all in good fun, anyway. If anyone, they should be worried about Neideen… which might explain why she wasn't here, actually. "That aside, do you girls have any other questions that aren't quite as personal?"
"I don't intend to be rude, but the handlers and Elder painted… uh… Lord Naruto, as a demon that seduces warriors and brainwashes them into becoming his slaves. And that he is a cruel tyrant… so um… my question is… what is he really like?"
"He's very forgiving for one," Cassandra answered.
"He's kind, respectful, very polite," Miranda added after her friend.
"That and more," Sylvia chimed in with a nod. "I suppose you could say that he lives up to the title of demon lord, though, given that he managed to get Riful of the West into his harem and had long-since made an actual demon fall for him by the time he met me."
"Oh, and he himself is not a demon." Miranda added, making extra sure to stress the word 'not', "Naruto is a human, through and through."
That got the warriors to look at them with visible shock. "What?! But… he has youki!"
"Because of Kurako," Sylvia clarified. "He is something called a jinchuuriki; it's basically a weird-ass word for 'demon vessel'. His father used him as a living container to imprison a demon who was attacking their village. The girl with the fox tails is that demon, by the way, and she eventually fell in love with him, so she left some of her youki inside of him as a little present before she escaped the seal to beat poor Cassandra into a bloody pulp."
"Give me a break… I thought he killed my teammates at the time…" The woman in question whined with a childish pout, her cheeks burning. They are never going to let her live that down, are they?
"To think she's that powerful," one of the girls whispered with a shudder. "No wonder she was able to manhandle so many warriors at once."
"Yeah, that girl she swung around like a toy was a single-digit, too…" another added. "Kinda scary."
"If Kurako was given the order, she could have done more than rough those girls up," Sylvia said, having heard what those two girls were saying. "I won't go into specifics… but let me just say if Kurako was to let loose, nothing short of a miracle would be able to stop her."
Cassandra and Miranda exchanged a look upon hearing that, wondering if they should add to it and. They silently agreed not to, though. Sylvia had done a fairly good job so far, being vague but informative. With Kurako displaying her prowess earlier, these girls knew Sylvia was only scratching the surface.
"...One more thing: Kurako is also a huuuge pervert~!"
There was a loud slap as Cassandra palmed her face in dismay. It was like Sylvia was trying to make these girls sneak into Naruto's bedchamber...
Then, the three women and twelve prisoners all perked up when they heard the door open. Three members of Akatsuki each brought one of the recent additions, bound, gagged, and squirming with every step.
"Oh, look! More friends," Sylvia chirped. This was going to be interesting.
Two more weeks later, with many a boobytrap placed to keep Naruto's forces at bay, Charles proved his worth as a siege commander. With three other handlers serving directly under him in command, he had their forces split up in shifts, taking occasional shots at Naruto's forces with powerful crossbows and longbows whenever the opportunity presented itself. Of course, while they took the occasional potshots at Naruto's forces, the guards atop the walls returned fire. Outside of a few men getting struck by arrows to the leg, shoulder, or stomach, miraculously there were no casualties on their side. Granted, those men wouldn't be able to partake in the fighting for a while, but Charles' forces had suffered no more deaths.
Due to their limited knowledge, though, Charles could not say for certain if the same thing applied to Naruto's forces or not.
Of course, the damn blond made sure to keep it that way.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Charles turned his attention to the other handlers. "Is everyone in position? I don't want a repeat of what happened two weeks ago."
One of them, a man named William, answered with a malicious chuckle. "Everyone is in place. Our patrols are now much tighter and closely knitted. Our camp has also been fortified; it will be hard for the defenders of that town to keep surprising us."
"Good." That hopefully meant they'd have no more incidents while trying to starve that bastard out. And with Riful of the West being in there it will only be a matter of time before she has to eat innards. And when she does their morale will plummet, since they will know they have a 'youma' in their midst. Charles looked to the Handler on his left, "How are our siege engines?"
"Being rebuilt" The man answered with a huff. "The trebuchet is well underway, but our siege towers will take some time."
As expected, in other words… Charles nodded. "Very well; stay vigilant and keep your eyes and ears open. They are more than likely to make another attempt soon."
Speaking of… no one present was aware of the ninja hiding up in the trees, eavesdropping on them. Thanks to a combination of Tanuki no Jutsu and Meisai Gakure no Jutsu, the young woman was all but undetectable to anyone save for the girl with a powerful sense of smell. Scarlet, was it? They'd have to ask the others about her.
Thankfully, the warrior in question was in one of the other camps. So the kunoichi's presence was unknown to her. With that in mind, the kunoichi kept on listening for a bit longer, before heading back to issue her report.
About an hour later, on his way to check on Riful, Naruto was pleased to note that the girl he'd sent out to scout the perimeter had returned in a swirl of leaves. The girl in question was one of the former Konoha ninja sent by Koyuki: a very familiar Aburame girl from that homeroom class he'd assisted in before becoming Team Konohamaru's not-quite-yet-official sensei.
The girl's name was Kemushi, a young prodigy who graduated at the age of ten and had a massive crush on Naruto so poorly concealed that even he was able to spot it, though she had never actually acted upon those feelings… thankfully. Granted, upon graduation, she was considered an adult by law, but it would have still raised some very awkward questions if she got caught trying to jump him at the time. Now, she was going on 13 and had clearly never stopped learning; as a result, she served as one of his best scouts. (5)
Kemushi was garbed in short-shorts, a bell-collar coat, combat boots, and half-rim sunglasses. She had an untamed, dark brown mop upon her head and freckled cheeks, while her attire was entirely of black and brown.
"Report," Naruto called out as he turned to address her.
"It is just as Rifuru-San had predicted, Senpai," she replied, horribly butchering said loli's name. She then dropped to one knee, much to Naruto's embarrassment. "They are indeed trying to starve us out, banking on the Awakened Ones becoming a liability and eating our men, while rebuilding those siege engines the Akatsuki team had destroyed two weeks ago; with their current manpower and resources, they should be done within the month."
Naruto found her monotone unnerving to this day, but at least it wasn't as jarring as it had been a couple years back, give or take. Such a voice simply should not belong to a girl that young...
"I see," the blond sighed as a scowl threatened to form. "We'll just have to be unpredictable in that case. Do something they won't expect."
"If I may," she began. "I'd recommend we let them finish those engines this time; lull their forces into a false sense of security and cripple their morale by destroying them in broad daylight."
Naruto felt the beginnings of a smile tugging at his lips. "Hmm… I like that idea; good thing I know Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, eh?" And that smile quickly turned into a malicious grin. Oh, yeah; if they want to play dirty then he'll gladly return the favor!
He won't bother disguising the clones either; if they see him in many places at once it'll spread confusion and make their morale take a dip.
"I have one better," another voice chimed in as both looked up to see Kurako approaching. "We should let the Organization try and utilize those siege engines and destroy them then, possibly take out several of their men while we're at it and show these worms how futile their efforts truly are."
"We'd be risking the safety of the warriors," Naruto pointed out; he didn't want to hurt those girls; doing so would sow distrust with the ones they've captured.
"Not if you and Kankurou work together to snatch them out of harm's way," Kurako argued with a grin. "I'll help as well, of course."
"Hmm...I'll think about it," Naruto replied after a moment of thought. As much as he didn't like the idea of putting those warriors at risk, she did have a point. Also, her idea would have more of an effect on the siege.
"One more thing," Kemushi added. "There is one warrior in particular that we may wish to prioritize: a girl named Scarlet. She appears to have a sense of smell similar to an Inuzuka and could hinder our ability to gather information."
"Really?" That was surprising to hear; he didn't think there could be a warrior with a heightened sense of smell comparable to the Inuzuka clan! "I'll have to ask the others about her in that case," Naruto said, squatting down to ruffle her hair. "Thanks for the information, Kemushi-Chan; you did well."
The girl in question blushed so hard Naruto literally saw steam rising from her head, much to his and Kurako's amusement.
Naruto chuckled and stood up. "Go take a break, you've earned the rest," he said, dismissing her.
"Th-thank you, Senpai," she muttered, scurrying off before she could be tempted to do something… inconvenient for Naruto.
Soon after the girl scampered around the corner, Kurako giggled impishly. "Looks like you missed one," she commented.
"Oh, could you not?" Naruto groaned, palming his face in exasperation. "The poor thing would probably die of embarrassment if I so much as looked at her the wrong way… Also, the villagers might riot after catching wind of me going at it with her."
"I'm just teasing is all," Kurako giggled. Well, that was the case for now, at least. "Speaking of going at it, though, Riful seems a bit grumpy… I think she's due for another tongue-lashing."
Naruto gave Kurako an odd look at that. "Uh… Right... thanks for the info."
Apparently, checking on her was indeed the right call. Not that he was complaining. If nothing else, the loving would serve as a wonderful and much-needed stress-reliever.
The next day, with their plan of attack finalized, a respectable contingent of Naruto's forces took those of the Organization by complete surprise. In broad daylight, at high noon, nine ninja leapt off of the wall and dashed into the northern camp with five targets in mind and the secondary objective to do as much damage as they reasonably could without hurting any of the warriors. Anyone else that got in their way, however, was fair game.
Naruto's students led the charge with Maki, Kemushi, and four members of Akatsuki in tow. The first thing they did was light the pavises ablaze, leaving the archers hiding behind them running for dear life, only to be roasted alive themselves, impaled by earthen spikes, killed in a hail of poisoned shuriken, or swarmed and devoured by a cloud of black bugs. The warriors present hesitated, knowing that these people were the enemy, but unable to disobey the ironclad rule that had been hammered into them since their youth.
Fortunately, they were mostly ignored, all but one, as screams of outrage and panic filled the camp. There were a few cases of a warrior or two being chucked aside, running face-first into a wall that wasn't there before, or sent running and screaming bloody murder as thousands of little creepy crawlies slipped under their clothes, but that was about it.
Of course, the lack of warriors being harmed would start raising some very awkward questions in their ranks. But those would go unasked for some time as the nine-strong raiding party wreaked all manner of havoc upon the campsite, killing handlers, burning down tents, and stealing supplies with the help of some quick-acting seals.
But, that wasn't all they were here for; after enough time on their missions, Kemushi and the other two scouts were quick to identify the leaders of this operation and pointed them out to the others who killed three of them quite brutally. The first was shredded to bits with steel wire and the other two were lit ablaze and burned to death in an instant, much to the horror of those who bore witness.
"Kill them!" Charles bellowed at his men, trying his damnedest to get them organized and muster up some kind of counter attack. "Kill them, damn it!"
It was all for naught, though, as he quickly found himself being pulled down with a yelp and buried up to the neck. Behind him, Kemushi popped out of the ground behind him as if from a jack-in-the-box and with one hand seal, she commanded the earth itself to crush him like a grape.
Then, Charles' head shot up, followed by a geyser of blood and gore, much to her sadistic pleasure. Leaping back into the trees with a satisfied huff, two Akatsuki flanking her, Kemushi called out into her radio, speaking in her native tongue. "Target four eliminated," she said. "We are ready to return to base." (6)
Maki was already on it, the girl they sought in her sights. Stretching out her arm towards Scarlet, the large scroll on tattooed brunette's back came to life and drew a yelp from the warrior as she was plucked up and ensnared. "Target five acquired! Returning to base!"
In all, the operation was a resounding success, their mission accomplished in only ten minutes. And once they were finished they retreated back into the safety of the town walls, avoiding any further conflicts on their way out.
Needless to say, Naruto was more than a little put off to see Kemushi covered in… Charles when the strike force returned, but he smiled nonetheless at a job well done.
"Good job, everyone," Naruto congratulated as he gave them a thumbs up. "You didn't hurt any of the warriors did you?"
"Might have given one or two a light bruise here or there, but that's about it," Konohamaru replied. "None of them have died or been seriously injured if that's what you're worried about,"
Naruto let out a sigh of relief at that, "Good. That's very good." Then he looked at the 'precious cargo' they had with them, Scarlett who was struggling against Maki's hold on her. The girl appeared to be a little spitfire and glared at them defiantly as she squirmed with all her might. "So, that's her, then?"
"She is," Kemushi answered without hesitation. "Shall we put her with the rest?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied with a nod, before turning to Maki. "You mind doing that? Please be gentle."
"Of course," the tattooed girl chirped. "She's a spunky, little one, so I might need some help."
"I volunteer," Moegi chimed in.
"Alright," Naruto agreed with another nod. "Take a rest once you're done." Then, he turned to Kemushi and added. "You… might need to get cleaned up before you scare someone. No offense, but you look like you came straight out of a horror movie. You okay? You're not hurt, right?"
"Understood, Senpai," Kemushi replied unflinchingly, as if she was completely unbothered by being covered in gore. "Also, I am well," she added, her cheeks burning, though it was hard to tell with her coat and all the blood. "I shall be careful to avoid anyone as I head to the bathing room."
"Good," Naruto chuckled awkwardly and addressed the others once more. "The rest of you, take a break; you all earned it."
1; Tot (pronounced with a long O) is the German word for dead, so yeah. He lived up to his name. Just a bit of dark humor I added, lol.
2: Water's a bit more of a precious resource in the medieval period, before plumbing and other modes of easier transport were as much of a thing as they are now. This is especially the case in a siege, so people would generally use sand or dirt to extinguish a fire.
3: A lotta writers underestimate how different warfare would be with magic being a thing...
Yes, I know it's not called magic in Naruto, but for all intents and purposes, the ninja arts are indeed a magic system.
Being able to make shit go boom with no material cost would disincentivize the development of explosives, for example, if literally anyone could easily do it. Large formations would also phase out far more quickly in the world where this is a thing, if the practice of using them ever occurred to begin with, as it would be like putting a bunch of fish in a barrel for the enemy's convenience.
Food for thought...
4: For some reason, people seem to forget that 18 being the age of consent is not at all universal, even to this day. In fact, 16 is a far more common consensus, world wide. And 18 being the age of adulthood is also a very recent thing. In Great Brittain, for example, a boy was considered a man at the age of 12 for the longest time and a girl was considered a woman upon her first period in many countries. Something to bear in mind if you wanna write a medieval fantasy.
5: First introduced in Twisted Bonds, this girl is another OC I'm experimenting with. The name Kemushi is apparently a Japanese word for caterpillar, hinting at her young age. (Though, again, this is according to Google, so take that with a grain of salt.) If you wanna use her for your fanfic, lemme know. :)
6: Also, yeah, I have a bit of a weakness for homicidal danger-lolis, lol. Not sure why, though; there's a number of potential causes. I just kinda blame Riful because it's easier to explain. XD
And, yeah... that is very much that. I hope y'all enjoyed! I'll be posting another update to The Mirran in a couple weeks and then see ya'll next month! Be safe, eh?
