The Jinchuuriki's Brother

Prologue Chapter 3: The Aftermath

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons

Flashbacks and Setting

Chapter 3: The Aftermath

The next day

The Konoha ruling council gathered the next morning for a council meeting to assess the situation, and to make plans moving forward. The clan heads took their seat, a few new faces amongst their number, and a few faces missing. All had some degree of injury on them. The 10 civilian council members took their seat on the opposite side of the U-shaped table, and the 3 elders of Konoha took their place at a separate table that was to the left of the Hokage's seat, which remained empty, at the head of the U-shaped table.

"Where's Hokage-sama?" a council member asked another. The clan heads also wondered the same thing, looking around to see if anyone knew anything. He was never late to meetings. "Quiet!" the Sandaime ordered, as he entered the council meeting room. He walked over to the Hokage's seat in his old Hokage robes, and took a seat.

"Sandaime-sama, where is the Yondaime?" Nara Shikaku asked the former Hokage. "The Yondaime and his wife passed away last night fighting the Kyuubi." Hiruzen sadly informed a shocked council.

"It can't be... Minato-sama... dead?" The council members could not hide their shock and sadness. Their village lie in ruins, and their powerful and beloved leader was gone, never to return.

"With the death of the Yondaime, I will be taking the hat as the Hokage again, until I find a worthy successor. Any objections?" None had any objections, realizing they needed strong leadership who had the experience they needed to get this village through this crisis.

All except Shimura Danzo, Hiruzen's old teammate from back in the 2nd shinobi war. He had always thought he would be a better Hokage for the village, considering himself the only person who knew and was able to do the hard things that needed to be done to keep Konoha at the top of the pecking order. His old teammate was too soft.

He kept his opinion to himself however, knowing it would be unwise to have a succession crisis compounding to the already dangerous situation that lied ahead for Konoha. Despite being unpopular amongst many of the shinobi for being shady, even by shinobi standards, and for being a warmonger, nobody would deny the man's love for Konoha.

"So how bad are our losses?" Hiruzen asked, trying to assess the situation.

"We've lost around 20 percent of our shinobi forces. A majority of them being Jonin. The Senju clan was also wiped out." Shikaku reported with regret, explaining why the Senju seat remained empty.

"The Shodaime and Nidaime's clan... wiped out..." several civilian councilmembers sighed in disbelief.

"Their sacrifice was what bought us time to organize any kind of defense. The Kyuubi appeared right in their compound and hit them first. They fought valiantly, and led our defense until Sandaime-sama appeared." Shikaku reported.

Next a civilian councilman gave their report. "The civilian and industrial sector of the village was also hit hard. We've lost a majority of our workshops, and our manufacturing capacity is running at 10 percent until we can get emergency repairs in, which would still only raise it to around 30 percent after 2 weeks of repair." Another council member gave their report. "Not as many as shinobi, but there have been many civilian deaths as well, many of them skilled workers and important pieces of our administrative and economic system. Half our businesses are closed."