Alarming News

"Lord Orochimaru, I apologize for disturbing your work, but I have some crucial information that you must hear," Kabuto called from behind a door that the Snake Sannin had been behind.

"Do not interrupt me now, Kabuto. With the aid of our unknown benefactor, I have made further progress in creating the dojutsu birthed from the Uchiha clan. The blood of one of its heirs has greatly aided me. By the way, have you managed contact yet?" a pale, yet sinister voice asked.

Kabuto took a deep breath and then exhaled. "No, my Lord, but I have a feeling that we will make progress soon. Aside from that, I must implore that you take the time to listen. It's concerning Konoha. The village...was nearly destroyed for a second time," Kabuto replied.

The sound of tools and work stopped. Kabuto took a step back from the door once he heard the knob twist. It wasn't long before his master came before him. If the medic-nin was honest, which he wasn't a lot of the time, he thought his master would have a smile at the thought. Instead, there was a deep frown and a glare directed at him.

"Explain," Orochimaru said.

"Y-Yes. According to our agents stationed in the village, it's been stated that Konoha has suffered severe casualties that harken back to the Kyuubi incident. More than half of the village has been destroyed, there have been over 35,000 confirmed casualties between shinobi and civilian residents, and...it was all done by one person," Kabuto replied.

This was not something Orochimaru was prepared for. One person had been able to nearly bring Konoha to its knees and it was someone he had never even heard of? Impossible!

Given his master's silence, Kabuto continued. "Structural integrity of Konoha's South, West, and North quadrants have sustained heavy damage. So far, these casualties are for both injured and...deceased. Yet, the count keeps growing by the hour. But, it was stated that the attack was done by a member of the Inuzuka clan," the white-haired boy said.

Orochimaru closed his door for a moment. He threw off the clothes he had been wearing for his research and then exited again. "An Inuzuka clan member? Since when could that clan of mutts produce such an individual?" Orochimaru asked.

"It has not been specified yet, Orochimaru-sama. The Hokage has not yet released a statement since the village is eagerly in the process of repairs, but it was done by Inuzuka Hana, the former heiress of the Inuzuka clan. She...disappeared before the battle was concluded,"

"Inuzuka Hana, the child of Inuzuka Tsume. Yes, I believe I remember that little girl from the briefest times that I saw her. How could she be capable of such a thing?" Orochimaru asked.

"I will find out at once, Lord Orochimaru. What would you have us do in the meantime? It looks like Konoha is on its last legs. We could strike now," he answered.

"NO! Looks can be deceiving, Kabuto-kun. When word reaches the ears of the other four nations, it's not so hard to imagine which two will be the opportunists. There is no need to stretch our hands when others will do it for us,"

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. I apologize for disturbing your work. I will take my leave,"

Kabuto then turned around, but before he could leave Orochimaru spoke. "Tell me, Kabuto-kun, what would cause an Inuzuka member to do such a thing?" he asked.

The young man pushed up his glasses. "My guess, Orochimaru-sama? Someone touched one nerve too many," he replied. He then disappeared down the hall which left his master to his business. As Orochimaru closed the door behind him, he went back to what he was doing. A scalpel in his hands, he carved the flesh beneath him.

"Kukuku, yes...one nerve...too many,"

......

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not having a good day. Actually, let him rephrase that. He was not having a good week. The reason for this was because his heart was torn every time he looked out the window of his office in the Hokage Mansion.

Debris.

Construction.

More debris.

More construction.

Both of these repeat themselves like flies buzzing around the ear with great annoyance. Yet, there was no hand mighty enough to swat them away. He could only face their buzzing time after time. How...could one former kunoichi of Konoha do all this destruction?

Heh. That was a stupid question. Of course, he knew how. Inuzuka Hana, the first test subject of a secret project thought to revolutionize the very core of shinobi fundamentals. If Hiruzen were honest, if this were a simulation, then Hana would have passed with flying colors. Hell, she probably would have passed with divine colors or what have you. It became obvious to the Sandaime that...perhaps they had done...too well in their experiment.

Half the village lay in ruin. A total of 36,000 confirmed casualties with over half this number being the injured and the rest the presumed deceased. Yes, perhaps they had truly outdone themselves this time. What could Sarutobi say? He was starting to truly hate this job.

After Hana's strange disappearance from the village, Hiruzen had ordered what remained of the city into lockdown. No one could go in or out except for sanctioned personnel. If there was a reason that Hiruzen hated this week then it was because it reminded him too much of what he had to do during the Kyuubi incident twelve years ago.

For this week, Hiruzen could count the number of hours he got to sleep on one hand. Meetings with the Konoha Council, organizing the shinobi roster, speeding through documents to handle payments of repairs, funding the overworked staff at the Konoha Hospital, by the great gods above, there were times that the Kage Bunshin technique truly had its uses.

However, amidst the front of this tragedy, a dark seed of fear took root against the Inuzuka clan. There was no way Hiruzen could have covered up the fact that it had been Inuzuka Hana who had destroyed the village and terrorized its populace. Thankfully, the Hokage was able to make a story that...the stress of shinobi duty had taken its toll on the Inuzuka and she had lashed out. That...was the story to even hope to appease the civilian populace.

....

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