Despite it All

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Shikaku's POV (Council Assembly Building)

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was a longstanding and prideful home. Supported by the Fire Lord and protected by the Hokage and his forces. It had stood for a long time and was likely to continue doing so. Perhaps it was merely the way of the world such a place would experience the occasional tragedy. But shinobi thought differently. Even the relatively peaceful and agreeable Leaf shinobi were shinobi at the end of the day. Assassinations, theft, espionage, blackmail, etc. They dabbled in all manner of jobs. Naturally, such actions made many enemies. From there it was a matter of time. Those who brought suffering to others would surely experience dire consequences for their actions eventually. Even the Leaf could not escape such a fate. One would think that having enemies when you were the strongest force in the world is no big deal. But when you become so large it becomes easy to overlook the small details. When you ran a village on this side. Often the world became statistics, a way to make the chaos of the world more digestible.

The entirety of the Leaf Village Council was present from the meeting. This of course excluded the recently arrested Danzo and the absent Hokage. The council was the governing body of nearly the same power as the Hokage. They helped make decisions, keep the Hokage in check, and ensure both shinobi and civilians were treated fairly. They often met in the large circular-desk-filled room. It allowed Hiruzen to address them all in an organized and efficient manner. The desk seated various shinobi and surrounded a platform a young man stood on. He was preparing to discuss the casualties from the recent assault.

Perhaps Shikaku was merely already an old man. But he felt the pit of his stomach sink as someone read off the "statistics". The young man was merely an assistant of someone. Given the unfortunate task of breaking down the scale of damages. He almost looked like his son.

"Yubin Utura - Chunin: KIA. Roma Utura - Jounin: KIA. Sunama Tremal - Genin: KIA. Suuma Sunit - Chunin: KIA. Tsumik Kinza - Jounin: KIA. Guzuma Fulli - Anbu: MIA. Wazane Enith - Genin: MIA. Nekomaru - Konoha Police Sergeant: KIA. Four Jounin, ten Chunin, six Genin, and One Anbu were in critical condition. Forty more shinobi of various types were injured."

There was a low murmur as people discussed the rap sheet of shinobi casualties. Most knew of the fact it was merely two shinobi who had caused such damage. To say it was a blow to morale was laughable. Shinobi was a mix of grieving over loved ones, planning revenge, or shocked to see how many had fallen.

"C-civilian casualties are much worse." The young man continued his voice cracking as he must've read ahead. Emotions seemed to drip from the struggling man as he soldiered on. "Seventy-four dead civilians. Seventeen missing. Two hundred and twelve were injured, sixty-four of which are in critical condition. The property damage from the attack was roughly forty-three million ryo. This is predicted to hurt the economy for the next couple years or so." He finished with a bow as he ran off the stage. There was silence in the room as the people processed this. The experienced shinobi ignored the throwing up of the man charged with reading the report. Shikaku was no better but despite his racing mind, he walked to the center of the room to address the others.

Truthfully a dark part of his mind knew they were lucky for the small numbers. Jugo had been stopped relatively early in his rampage. And while Ashira had set off an explosion there had been a shocking lack of people in the area. At the very least comparable to what it could've been. Yet still, the numbers were shocking. Having that many injured shinobi weakened them considerably. Not to mention the pain it was sure to cause. Civilians were dealt the worst blow yet. Shinobi may die often in their line of work but their job was to protect civilians. They were often defenseless and killed heartlessly as they had been there.

"I won't waste any time here with pointless formalities. I consider them a drag when I'm in a good mood. After the events of last night, I'm in anything but a good mood. Here they would simply be a pain in my ass." Shikaku started with a frown on his face. He had accepted he was the Jounin Commander. It was a position with minimal responsibilities most of the time. But when things got serious like they had been recently. He found he suddenly carried an inevitable position. "As you all know, there was an assault on the Leaf carried out by two high-level shinobi. One seemed to have the goal to sow chaos while the other targeted one of our Jounin. A young mother named Kushina Uzumaki. One of the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. In the process, both seemed to intentionally cause as much damage as possible. Luckily various shinobi were mobilized. After considerable effort we were able to kill one. And drive off the other."

"Lucky?" A bald fat man said. "Lucky would be a bastard like these wouldn't get here in the first place!" The man was Hiro Buzan, Head of Finances of the Council. Known for his greedy and cowardly nature, countered by his incredible skills with money management.

"Such things cannot be controlled, unfortunately." Inochi, head of the Yamanaka, called with a frown. Openly showing his support already. "The attack was sudden and unpredictable."

"Unpredictable? We sent out all sorts of men for the exams. Of course one of our enemies saw this as an opportunity. It's only when the bird leaves their nest does the viper strike at the eggs." A young preppy woman spoke. She was Usami Yugano, head of Legality of the council. She was known for her beauty and sharp tongue. She had dark long curly hair with bangs that partially covered her eyes. Her look was a smile yet obviously was employed to hide her rage. She was known to work tirelessly for the benefit of the village inhabitants.

"Such a thing is expected from us. We hold a reputation to uphold after all. Sending a meager group to the Exams would risk the Genin and give our enemies the wrong idea." Hiashi countered snidely. "Besides we defeated the trash. Perhaps civilians should not offer opinions on shinobi matters."

"Such closed-off thinking is why the civilian side of this council is necessary." A jolly smiling man spoke while slurping from a mug. Porume Rumi, Head of Shinobi/Civilian Relations. The man was known for his never ending smile and patience.

"Not to mention the amount of work my men are going to have to do to fix things!" A brash and gruff voice called. A scarred, buff, buzz-cut man was Fubuki Fulura, Head of Construction. The man was a genius of construction and led his men passionately. Though was known for his nasty temper.

"Doubtless tonight was a difficult one. But surely we can all agree this is likely to happen to a militarized village like ours?" Choza Akamichi interrupted nervously.

"Perhaps, but I think the point they are raising is we failed to do our part. As the military, defense is our concern." Shibi informed calmly.

"That's exactly our point!" An older, portly, motherly-looking woman screamed. "Our children are not safe with you incompetent lot!" Qurani Ikad, Head of Education chimed in. Her love of children was unmatched. As well as her proclivity for shouting.

"We did the best we could." Tsume countered, looking bored. She was the fiery alpha of the Inuzuka. Known for defending the village and hunting down its foes. "We kicked ass, of course, we'll cover damages. But there nothing we can do about random attacks."

"Covering damages is good. But we need to consider some kind of response. I think we need to bunker down until Lord Third returns!" Jack Willows Head of Agriculture called. He was known for his green thumb and cowardice.

"Bunkering down isn't the best idea against shinobi." Shikaku warned. "We tend to make such strategies fail miserably. It's merely the nature of the job."

"Perhaps but I hesitate to trust your lot in this regard. We barely managed to defend the village. Is attacking a great idea?" Fubuki asked angrily.

"Offense, especially for our forces, is a much easier task. Not to mention doing so would surely throw off our enemy." Shibi chimed in.

"Now someone's talking in my language. Let's hunt down these little pussies!" Tsume called excitedly.

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Qurani screamed angrily.

"Make me bitch!" Tsume countered with a shit-eating grin.

"Ladies. Please behave according to your status." Usami chided.

Shikaku sighed as the two sides started screaming at each other. Both sides came to the aid of their "allies." Leading to an even split between the civilians and the shinobi. The shinobi couldn't see it. But the cold way they had been trained to cultivate was upsetting the already stirred-up civilian council. Now the two had formed sides and no longer caring for a logical debate had decided on screaming at each other. He tried to gain their attention but failed. Right as he went to scream his eyes widened. The man rubbed his eyes to ensure he had seen correctly. The entire room grew silent as a man silently walked into the room and stood next to Shikaku at the center of the room.

"I see some things never change. You two sides have never truly seen eye to eye. Unable to understand the perspective of each other." Danzo Shimura stated as he faced the council. "To think Hiruzen would allow this today. Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks." He joked with a small smile.

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Dez's POV (Hidden Leaf Main Hospital)

He was an experienced man. Maybe not wise but he had experienced plenty. Originally he had been a gangster running a casino in a small village. He had nothing but a bad habit of smoking, unique ninjutsu he learned to use, and a drive to rise to the top. And rise he had, he killed, lied, and stole to reach the top. Soon his village and casino grew tremendously. It made sense since Dez was secretly engaging in criminal behavior on the side with the local mob. Dez knowing shinobi were commonly sent for thugs like him had even learned ninjutsu and a unique one useful for himself. For a while, he had felt unstoppable but oddly unalive even then.

One day a golden egg rolled into his turf. The Legendary Sucker Tsunade Senju. Known for her timeless beauty, furious strength, and gambling addiction. It was easy money. Truly for a while it had been. But Tsunade had always been a shrewd woman. And upon discovering they were a gang she owed money to she had crushed him. Knowing the local law would only applaud her for doing so. Dez had never seen anything like it. Armed men, samurai, missing ninja, even him and Nekomaru had not been enough to even slow her down. After witnessing her terrifying power Nekomaru and he had pledged loyalty to the woman on the spot. After all, in the mob the leader often decided by a hostile takeover. She rejected them and the mob at first but as they followed and served her she warmed up to them. Eventually tired of owing money she had asked Dez a question that led to the life he currently led. How to take over the mob. Using her it had been easy. And though Dez never had thought he would reach the top as a lackey it was good enough. Besides Dez had never been the leading type anyway.

Maybe he had taken his job too seriously. All he had seen was a man rampaging. He figured he and Nekomaru would take him out easily. They even launched an intelligent assault just as the Boss had taught them. Yet he had smashed them both. Nekomaru literally… Dez sobbed at this. Nekomaru had been a harsh man in the mob. A heart of gold broken by the criminal world he had originally gone around killing gang members until Dez had met him. Nekomaru had explained they had killed his family accidentally and now he would crush the local gangs with his superb biology. Dez saw the opportunity and picked him up for his gang. The two are both in gang culture and both do not support it fully. They had overcome the gang and even joined Tsunade's together. He had been something similar to his own brother. What was Dez to do now? He hoped the boss would return soon to help. To let him know what to do. Little did he know he was in a coma.

"Dez you with me?" Shizune asked the injured man as she checked up on him. The man clearly in his world did not answer and Shizune sighed. She moved on to some of her other patients. Anko Mitirashi and Mikoto Uchiha had been the first to encounter the Uzumaki man and had clashed hard with him. The two had been defeated with relative ease. She checked their vitals. Both suffered from several cracked ribs as well as a variety of bruises and cuts. Luckily the man had been distracted or he surely would've finished them off. She continued to her next patient in the next room. This one was critical due to her small frame and now unique circumstances. The rampaging man had killed her father on arrival, apparently accidentally crushing him as he leaped over the wall somehow. The mother witnessing her beloved's death and surely fiending for vengeance. She had tossed her daughter away, surely hoping to keep her safe. But the destructive battle had left her in the crossfire. A large piece from the building had struck her, shattering her ribs and spine. She would be lucky to wake up again, yet alone walk. Shizune held back tears as she treated the girl. Shizune knew the cost of a tragedy like this. This was likely not the first nor last heartbreaking thing she would see today. She supposed sometimes it was simply a lot to deal with.

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Yahiko's POV (Unknown Location)

"Much has happened since we last moved." Yahiko said simply.

"Certainly has, there seems to be a lot of variables for us to consider." Nagito reasoned. "Where should we start?"

"Konan." Yahiko ordered simply.

"Kami." She acknowledged. "I had Sasori and Deidara look into the jinchuriki subtly as you asked. They discovered the identities of the One, Two, Three, Five, Eight, and Nine Tailed jinchuriki. We have the active location of One, Two, Five, Eight, and Nine. Most of which are in Hidden Villages and will be difficult to get. The Five Tails in particular is roaming solo and should be easy enough to capture. Leaving the identity of the Four, Six, and Seven-tailed jinchuriki. The last message received from the duo had them entering the Land of Iron to see if any jinchuriki were present. Of course they won't engage for now simply to scout."

"Hmm…" Yahiko pondered out loud. "Any news of the snake Nagito."

Nagito's Rinnegan seemed to shine at the mention. " Kami. Not too much, unfortunately. I had Kakazu and Hidan hit a few Sound locations but no luck. However, they did gain a curious piece of info. You remember the Uzumaki who made a move on me before? I believe he nearly harmed me before your arrival."

Yahiko smiled at this. "I can somewhat remember a somewhat powerful fighter, Ikam. I'm sure I showed that nonbeliever the light."

"You did indeed. He originally offered us Fuinjutsu service before attempting to take my life. You arrived after he had sprung a trap on me and defeated him with ease. He barely escaped. Well from our sources from Sasori's spy in his group, the man is aiding the Snake. Both of which are earning the ire of the Leaf." Nagito explained.

Yahiko stalked forward into the rain. Nagito and Konan followed behind him slightly behind. "The problem is that either Ikam or Orochimaru could be a threat to us. Together I would hesitate to send any team except for "that" one. The Leaf being involved complicates things even further. Even a God such as I can't afford the attention of all the villages. We will sit tight for now. Earn money and keep lowkey. Besides, we could use the funds and experience. The snake is likely to betray the Uzumaki at some point. And both aren't likely to escape the Leaf's ire forever. Surely the three will wreak havoc upon each other. We need money and influence. Let us focus on that for now. The time for our true goal will come. Once it does the fools would've destroyed or weakened each other. Making them non-factors against us." Nagito and Konan don't even think of questioning Yahiko. How could someone question someone like him? Both flinched as they realized the rain had stopped. Over the entire Rain Village, famous for its seemingly endless rain before Yahiko's rise. Stopped experiencing a downpour with a casual flex of chakra from the man who called himself God. Yahiko held a single hand to do so. With a twirl of his finger, the now unmoving rain all collects into a large orb. "After all, a God does not do his dirty work."As he said this he flicked his finger. The large orb of water flew away so fast it left the village view within seconds. Causing a loud boom of air as it did so.

Doubtless no one could stand before Yahiko as he was now. That thought spread through the heads of Nagito and Konan, the longtime best friend and lover of the man respectively. They would stand with him even now. After all, even a god needed his allies.