Hey guys, only a short chapter tonight to keep the ball rolling, also to fill in the gaps in the character roster and finalise my survivors, I hope you don't hate this chapter too much, it's just to smooth out my averages in case i come across another long absence, I'll try not too but you know how time is :P
As the last clone dissipated and the original Naruto was hit with his final batch of information he closed his eyes to alleviate the mild discomfort caused by the influx of memories. A grim nod to his compatriots confirmed their fears. This was it.
With the additions of Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Shizune, Kiba and Shino that made fourteen genin, a chunin, five jōnin and a sanin. Not great for a city with a multiple thousand population by any standard. The office was now filled with people, eerily quiet apart from the occasional snivel and mutter from time to time, the scale of the disaster had hit almost everyone in the room similarly, some, such as Chouji, were still in floods of tears, whereas people like Hinata and Shikamaru mourned in silence, and some put their game face on and stayed tough, glaring examples being Neji and Kiba.
At the top end of the room the Jōnin shinobi and lady Tsunade were silently discussing what to do. To the right of them were Naruto, Sakura, Lee and the sand ninja, sat against a nearby wall next to a bookcase, downwards from there was Shino sat alone in dead silence but close enough to Kiba, Ino and Chouji that they opened their circle to him on the opposite side to Shikamaru who was sat also silently, leaning against the wall that separated the office from the hallway thinking at a mile a minute to understand the situation. Then opposite them was the two Hyugas and number 216 who Hinata had requested stay with them in not so many words as to hold his arm as he set her down.
"Tsunade-sama..." Naruto needn't finish the sentence, a maudlin look from the kunoichi was acknowledgement enough. After that the room once more set into a deep and eerie quiet. But suddenly, as if to break the tension, a heavy thumping could be heard from the door moments before it swung open revealing a slightly panicked looking toad sage.
"Tsunade!" he bellowed before noticing the assembly, one blonde haired shinobi of which, lit up as he saw the white haired man, restraining his enthusiasm and relief for the time being. Quickly regaining his composure Jiraiya continued "I guess you already know then" Tsunade nodded as he walked over to the desk with the other high ranking ninja and lowered his voice "Is this all that's left?"
"I'm afraid so, Jiraiya-sama" Kakashi interjected "and we have no idea what's happened" the toad sage pondered this, a grim look in his eyes.
"well have you asked everyone if anyone had witnessed any unusual occurrences during the night?"
"We're yet to discuss this matter with the children, we've been stood here trying to work out the safest course of action" Tsunade replied, the relief she felt for her teammate's safety now replaced with her businesslike attitude as Hokage.
"Well I think a discussion is needed then, surely we owe it to them to be frank with them at a time like this and who knows, we may gather some valuable Intel" Jiraiya looked around the group to the nods before stepping back and taking a seat on a nearby windowsill. Tsunade stood above the room and began to address what was left of her people.
"Everyone, may I have your attention please" with that people began to shift and turn so that every set of puffed and reddened eyes were upon her "As you all know during the night our great village has been ravaged by what is most likely the worst tragedy to ever befall us" the feeling of the room was palpable at this point "But it is crucial at this time, however that we retain our composure and take swift action. And so we shall now discuss any available information at present. So for now what we know is that, whatever invaded our city left no visible trace and didn't rouse its victims from their sleep and for some reason left the rest of us unaffected" she glanced to her colleagues for confirmation, which she received, her eyes resting finally on Jiraiya.
"So we could either be looking at some powerful collaboration of ninjutsu and genjutsu but to a scale I've never even heard of, but that wouldn't explain how we survived. Or..." he looked back at the blonde kunoichi.
"Some form of fast acting pathogen or bioweapon... again, none of which I've ever heard of before and again also wouldn't explain how we survived" her face sunk into dismay "but first we must know, did anyone see or hear any form of suspicious activity between the hours of around eleven PM and three AM last night?" as to be expected, the crowd stayed dead quiet and the dismay spread to all others in the room.
"Well if it was some sort of weapon or elaborate Jutsu, what enemies of the leaf could muster such an assault?" Kakashi enquired, moving the conversation onward.
"As far as a Jutsu is concerned" Jiraiya continued "I would rank Orochimaru high on the list of suspects"
"Surely not though" Tsunade interpolated "It doesn't seem like his way, does it? He's more of a "seize and conquer" type, this level of subtlety doesn't fit well with him at all"
"I wouldn't rule him out though, Tsunade, I mean his hatred for the leaf could one day have surpassed his need for that type of flamboyance" Tsunade nodded to her friend in agreement.
"How about the Akatsuki?" Naruto chimed in quietly.
"Good idea, Naruto" Once again, Jiraiya shook his head "But the Akatsuki's plans don't seem to have advanced to the point where they could do such a thing, but once again, we can't be sure, my spy networks aren't foolproof" he shrugged unenthusiastically "There's also a lot of possibility from the other nations possibly jostling for power, or maybe it's not even someone we've deemed a threat to this point. Realistically we can't be sure of anything until we know what happened which, Tsunade, I'm sure a thorough autopsy may be able to identify" The Hokage nodded as Jiraiya turned to the silver haired Jōnin Kakashi to take over with the plan they'd discussed in whispers as Tsunade began the address. The two sanin and Shizune left swiftly thereafter.
"Right everyone" Kakashi began "Go home in no less than groups of three and gather any important belongings, pack light and don't leave anything behind that you'll need. We're leaving the village" The final statement caused somewhat of an uproar, or an approximation thereof.
"But why, Kakashi-sensai?" Naruto asked inquisitively.
"Because, Naruto, the thing that did this may either come back or is still here, either way we'd be better off getting as far away as possible" as unhappy about it as Naruto was, he couldn't deny the jōnin's logic.
"But if it's a shinobi, shouldn't we stay and fight them!?" Kiba exclaimed dimly from the far end of the room, in a vain hope at getting some vengeance.
"And what if it's not?" Kakashi replied simply "and even if it is, this thing managed to kill upwards of fifty thousand people in one night and without waking them up, do you really wanna go up against that?" he looked at Kiba with his one revealed eye and the young ninja sat down once more, his ego thoroughly wounded "Now what is important is getting you kids out of here as soon as possible so we can figure out what our next move is" a quick glance around the room to make sure everyone's on board "Now, let's get going. Dismissed!"
again guys, sorry about the half hearted, one night of work chapter, i promise the next one will be much better, but still keep your reviews in and remember although this group is the ones who've survived here they won't be the only characters in it so keep your comments and suggestions rolling in and I'll see ya soon :D
