Dexter's POV;

Sasuke is gone and took Pinky with him, now all that's left on this side is Gaara and his sister. Temari is still watching us from a nearby tree.

Too bad that I'm not able to tell Gaara that I was able to beat him because I had the help of a loved one. Well, could be interesting without knowing him directly from the source.

“Oy, girl!”, I shouted and saw how she flinched. “Come down, I know you're there”.

She hesitated a moment, but then jumped down in front of me. Her head was downcast so that she wasn't looking into my eyes.

“W...what will happen to us now?”, she then asked fearfully. She realized that she is the daughter of a Kage and effectively captured. Such a person had high value as a prisoner.

“Grab your brother and run, you might be able to reach the desert without being caught. The whole invasion was planned by Orochimaru and not your father. He's most likely dead by now, I mean your father. Tell your council to claim no knowledge about Orochimaru impersonating him. You might avoid a war that way, however, it depends on the next Hokage”, I answered and she glanced upwards. Looking in my still activated Rinne-Sharingan. She flinched and hurriedly looked back down.

“Thank you my Lord”, she said with a deep bow and then grabbed Gaara.

“Tell him, if he asks why I am so strong, that I have someone I love and whom I want to help. His mind is set on killing as the only means of showing his worth. This won't do”, I called after her and she nodded once before fully jumping out of view.

°Time to go to Uzushiogakure, we need to see mom and Tayuya. And there are also the Genin, hope they followed my orders and activated the emergency Hiraishin back home°, I then muttered to Kura-chan.

°And then we will need to have some time for you to relax. Using your eye skills is taxing on you. And we don't know if there will be any side effects from absorbing Shukaku's Chakra. Right now I can only say that I feel better than ever”, replied the vixen I love. She also seemed to have calmed down a little.

°I whole heartily agree. I manage to find myself losing my so much loved 'fun before anything else' attitude. Now that the Chunin exams are over I can finally finish my business in Konoha and go back to Uzushiogakure°. I then waited for another half hour until I felt the memory rush of two shadow clones and one blood clone.

I activated the seal in my manor, back in Uzu, and left with a yellow-reddish flash.

The scenery changed and gone was the destroyed forest with large patches of sand. In place came a living room with four women and two men. Seems like Tsunade, Kushina, Tayuya, Daichi and Mikoto were waiting for me. There was also another blood clone, the clone I had in place as the acting Uzukage, for the time I was gone. I dispelled him and closed my eyes for the moment it took me to sort the memories.

He mostly did paperwork, helped some Genin train and even managed to gain another clan. They have a bloodline that gives them the skill to shoot their hair off as deadly needles.

Doesn't sound like very much, and really wasn't. However, a clan was a clan and they had their uses.

“Why the fuck are there so many of your fuckers? And what the fuck is happening to me?”, shouted an angry Tayuya. She promptly got bonked on the head from Kushina.

“Language young lady. This isn't some bar. You are here because your master thought it would be okay to trade one of his subordinates for a quick ally”, she reprimanded the young girl.

“So what? I'm a fucking slave now?”, she shot back with a glare and her fingers crept towards a pouch on her hips.

“I wouldn't do that Tayuya”, I warned with a smile and gestured to her pouch. She flinched and stopped moving.

“If I'm going to end up as a possible sex slave, then I might as well die fighting”, she shot back with a defiant glare.

“Well, you want to know why I asked to have you? I will explain, but only after getting rid of your Curse Seal”, I answered. She unconsciously touched her chest, where I assumed was her mark and took a step back.

“This mark shows my loyalty to Orochimaru, you won't take it away from me, not that it's possible to begin with you stupid fucker!”. She tried to activate the seal, but Tsunade, faster than any of us, poked a few pressure points and Tayuya slumped down like a sack of potatoes.

“What the fuck have you done stupid cow tits?”, shouted the redhead, now with a little bit of fear in her voice. Tsunade got a tick mark for being called a cow tit, but said nothing and stepped back.

In place came Kushina, who took off Tayuya's top.

“I knew it, now you're going to rape me ain't you?”, screamed Tayuya, while looking fearfully and hatefully at us.

Kushina took off the cloth that hid her seal and revealed her left breast that had the seal around her nipple.

“Why is her seal there?”, asked Mikoto.

“Because, you stupid bitch, Orochimaru graced me with his love and gifted me his mark while doing it!”, was her shouted answer.

“What a love if he practically threw you away like trash”, commented Daichi, he was turned around, so he wasn't looking at the exposed girl.

“He loves me and I love him back”, hissed Tayuya.

“That's all good and fine. Tell us if you still love him after we have removed the seal from you”, I said nonchalantly and began to paint seals around her curse seal with my Chakra. She tried to squirm under my touch, but couldn't move very well. It nonetheless made it harder for me and I needed more time than necessary. An hour later I was finished and her whole upper body was now a painting of seals. In its center was her curse mark.

“Well then, time to power it up”, I grinned and activated the seal. A blue light shone out of my seal and closed in on hers. The moment the blue light got into contact with her seal she began to scream in pain and the seal glowed in a purple light. Her first curse seal stage activated while also glowing in an eerie purple light.

“What exactly is happening to her?”, asked Mikoto.

“The curse seal creates a new set of Chakra paths. These paths are now being destroyed. It also contains small dosages of Nature Chakra, a part of Orochimaru's soul and a mind altering seal.

The bearer gets practically mind raped into trusting Orochimaru. The downside is that they become something like a puppet. They loose their real potential and will never be as strong as they could have become. Once removed his influence will be gone, but the memory of their time under him won't. It seems like Tayuya at least once slept with him, and maybe others. So I trust you to console her if she happens to be not in agreement with this.

There is always the case that she really loves him and won't change much, but I don't think so. Orochimaru wouldn't have given her away this willingly if that was the case.

Someone who isn't forced into submission is something worthy. That or he is dumber than I thought”, I explained and the women shuddered at the images I gave them.

“She will sleep for a day or two once it finishes. She won't die from this, but will be severely weakened”, I finished and picked the girl up. Her eyes were rolled back and she was limply hanging in my arms.

The group followed me to a guest room, where I put the girl down into a bed. The women remained at her side.

“Daichi, we have to speak about further plans and what will happen once Konoha realizes that they don't have a Kage any longer”, I then said and left the room with him following me.

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Konoha, chamber of the village council:

Third Person's POV;

The most powerful people in Konoha were sitting in one room, around a U-formed table.

The left side was filled with civilian representatives, while the right side had the clan heads of the Ninjas.

At the head of the table were three chairs, two of them were held by elderly people. One man one woman, however, the center seat was vacant, this seat was normally occupied by the Hokage. Today it was empty and not because the Hokage wasn't there yet.

It was because the Hokage was dead. The entire of Konoha has not yet heard of this, yet its citizen are already grieving over many dead friends and loved ones.

So it was with a solemn mood that the leaders, of the once mightiest village in the whole world, came together.

However, there was one other seat not occupied. It was one of the Ninja council sides.

The chairs to its side held each a man with a saddened and pained face.

“I, Homura Mitokado hereby announce the opening of this emergency meeting of the village council. I will, as it's not possible for the Hokage, take charge of this meeting”, said the elderly man at the head position. No one objected and he felt silent for a few moments.

“As all of you surely know, we were attacked this day by two other villages. Namely Otogakure and Sunagakure. The first was, until now, a rather small village without a high threat level. The other, on the other hand, is one of the five great villages.

It was also an allied village to us, which is, as I think I am allowed to say, no longer the case”, he continued and everyone present nodded at this claim.

“It is now our duty to find out what parts of the village were hit the hardest, how many losses we suffered, how our defense stands and what we will do in order to retaliate”. He finished and waited for the words to sink in.

Then with a deep sigh and a blinked away tear he continued;

“It is also our duty to nominate a new Hokage. I'm sad to say that my teammate Hiruzen Sarutobi died while defending the village from the traitor Orochimaru and as we have found out the Uzukage”. This brought out many shocked murmurs from both table sides.

One of the civilians raised his hand and got a nod in response. “Do you want to tell us that the Uzukage took part in this attack? I thought we were allied with Uzushiogakure?”, he then asked.

“We were once allied with Uzushiogakure but had no treaty with this new village, so we were not allied with them. However, we have witness reports about the Uzukage speaking with both Hiruzen and Orochimaru. He erected a silencing seal and spoke with them for a short amount of time. We do not know what they spoke about, but it let to the conclusion that the Uzukage helped neither the Hokage nor Orochimaru until almost before the end of the fight.

Reports say that Hiruzen had Orochimaru captive in some kind of Jutsu and Orochimaru sought out help from the Uzukage. They spoke about something before the Uzukage seemingly agreed and killed Hiruzen.

After that both parties fled before ANBU could get to them”, answered Hamura. The civilian representative looked horrified.

“Then does that mean that we are at war with three other villages, while not having even one allied village?”, he then asked.

“No, it does not. There were no Ninja from Uzushiogakure taking part in the invasion and it does not seem as if the Uzukage and Orochimaru were on good terms. The Uzukage was seen to grab Orochimaru at the throat shortly before departure. We assume that this was some kind of treat and showed us that they aren't allied.

But let us not diverge further from the main issue. Our first topic will be the losses and wounded we suffered during the attack. What can you tell me about this?”, was Hamura's reply. He then looked at the faces of each person and waited for anyone to say anything.

“Around two thousand civilians died while fleeing, another five thousand are wounded. Six hundred of these are in a live threatening condition”, said finally one female representative from the civilians.

Homura and the elderly woman beside him gave her a nod and then looked over to the Ninja side.

“We lost three hundred Ninja and have another seven hundred wounded. Fifty of them won't be able to continue their career. Only the fact that we were on high alert allowed us to react this quickly and with such few causalities.

However, we also lost Shikaku Nara and Asuma Sarutobi. They were seen fighting against enemy forces when they were suddenly engulfed in black flames. The fire was not extinguishable and we lost another two Ninja before realizing that it could jump over to other targets. It burned all four of them to ashes”, explained a man with blond hair and a long pony tail. He was the head of the Yamanaka clan and a close friend of the now deceased Shikaku Nara.

“So roughly a twentieth of our civilians are dead, while another eight are wounded.

We also lost 3,5 % of our whole Ninja force. *Sigh* It could be worse”, concluded Homura.

“WORSE! How could it be worse? My son is dead!”, screamed a woman on the civilian side with tear flowing eyes.

“Worse would be the death of more or even the fall of Konoha!”, shot Hamura back and flared his Chakra. The woman began to sob silently but didn't argue back. Homura also calmed down, he knew that many were on edge and that these weren't good times for Konoha.

“Let's come to the next topic, I'm sure we will be able to speak about our loses later in more detail”, began Homura a moment later when the audience had time to calm down as well.

“I think we should speak about the next Hokage, we need someone in the position of power who is also able to represent strength and show our people that there is hope and that not everything is lost”, spoke a gruff and old voice. It belonged to Danzo Shimura, the head of the civilian side. He is also called War Hawk under the Ninja population. His head was almost fully in bandages and he held one of his arms in a bandage as well. He claims they were old wounds, but many thought it was only a trick to downplay his own capabilities.

“Yes, I find myself agreeing with Danzo on this topic”, agreed the elderly woman next to Homura. Her name was Koharu Utatane. Homura nodded and then looked around for an opposition. None came and he opened his mouth.

“Good, then let's speak about the nomination of the next Hokage. Is anyone here who wishes to nominate a candidate?”

“I wish to nominate Jiraiya of the Sannin. He has the strength of a Kage and is loyal to the village. He was trained by the third Hokage and trained the fourth Hokage himself. He is more than able to fill the position”, said a woman from the Ninja side. A few Ninja nodded at her suggestion, but not everyone. Most of them also knew about his bad sides, like his tendencies for seeking out prostitutes, or drinking.

“I won't be able to accept the proposal. My spy network is too important for me to forsake it. Especially in times of need as it is right now. I have to leave the village right after this meeting if I want to block any rumor of our possible weakness”, said suddenly a man from the corner. He was standing there from the beginning and was watching the whole thing without any comment. That was until his name fell.

“I agree with Jiraiya-san, it's of utmost importance for us to not seem weak to other villages”, said Danzo hurriedly while, at the same time sounding calm.

“I'd like to nominate Danzo Shimura”, said suddenly a civilian representative.

“Danzo, would you agree?”, asked Homura.

“I would feel honored to be in the position of Hokage”, said the man. The woman who nominated Jiraiya scowled and thought furiously about other possibilities. But there weren't many who could fill the spot. The village only had Jiraiya and Danzo left who were on the level of a Kage. Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy were near, but not there yet. Other than that was only Tsunade, but she wasn't seen in the village since the attack of the Kyuubi.

“What about Tsunade?”, she asked, grasping at straws. She didn't want Danzo, as his war preferring opinion was widely known.

“She is the granddaughter of the first Hokage, the grandniece of the second, was trained by the third and had a close relationship to the fourth. She is also a Sannin and should have the strength to represent Konoha. Her medical skills would also help us with the wounded we have to care for”, she then added quickly. The more she thought about it the better it sounded.

“Yes, she was also not seen near Konoha in the last decade, is a known gambler and drunk addict. She would hardly be in any trained form, if even in her mind at all”, countered Danzo without any emotions and the woman found her hope falling.

“Jiraiya, would you be able to track her down?”, asked Homura after a moment.

“I might be able to”, replied Jiraiya thoughtfully.

“Let's say we have Danzo as the acting Hokage until Jiraiya is able to track Tsunade down and convince her to become the next Hokage. If he's not able to, then Danzo will become the next Hokage. Are three months enough?”, suggested Koharu.

“Three months should be enough to find her”, replied Jiraiya, he didn't voice out the chances of Tsunade becoming Hokage. That was better left untold.

“Good, then it's decided. Danzo Shimura will be the acting Hokage until Tsunade either agrees or refuses to become the next Hokage. Anyone against this?”, said Homura. Again, no one voiced any rejections and it was concluded that Danzo will become the acting Hokage.

He will take his position once this meeting is concluded. No one saw the slight smirk that framed Danzo's mouth. Finally, he was the Hokage and only Tsunade was in his way to stay it. His ROOT Ninja couldn't find the woman for over five years and the last records told about her traveling and advertising Uzushiogakure. So there was little chance she would agree to become Hokage. He will, just to be sure, have Jiraiya followed by his ROOT Ninja. If, and that is a very large if, he manages to find and convince her to become Hokage, then they will ambush and kill her. An out of training Ninja shouldn't be able to hold anything against his elites.

“Then let's get back on track, what are the damages to our village on how are our outposts?”, asked Homura and brought the discussion back on track.

“We haven't lost a single outpost, it seems like Suna and Oto came disguised as civilians. They only brought a small fighting force in comparison to what would be likely in a full out war. This might have only have been an attempt to weaken Konoha or possibly only a bad thought out plan.

They did damage the southern outer walls of Konoha heavily and most other destruction is also near this breaching point. The western part is unharmed, while the northern and southern part are mostly intact.

We are able to support the people who lost their homes thanks to this confined damage.

I think, and the T&I Department agrees with me, that Orochimaru main plan was to overwhelm us quickly and then take out most of our head position in the confusion that was going on during the attack.

He succeeded, partially, in killing three important people. Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage, so a target to begin with. Shikaku Nara was the head of the Jonin and another highly important target. And Asuma Sarutobi was the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, a possible Kage candidate and an important person with his own connections to the fire temple and the daimyo.

As Homura already said, it could be worse, but not by much”, listed a the Yamanaka clan head. He was the unvoted leader of the Ninja side, now that Shikaku was gone.

“This sounds better than what I first assumed when I saw the damage. Is the civilian side able to help with rebuilding the houses and shops?”, said Homura and looked at Danzo, who was still the leader for the civilians. Even if he's only going to be it until this meeting would end.

“Yes, we had an increase in taxes and got a good profit from the festivities that were held during the last month”, answered Danzo. Some smiled at the memory of these festivities. They were the parties, parades and other celebrations over the death of the Kyuubi brat.

“That is good to hear. I for once am in need of good news. I also think we should take a short pause to refresh ourselves. We will then go into finer detail about the rebuilding of the village and other things that might be needed to be spoken about”, said Homura then and stood up. The other followed him and left the room. They would soon be back to continue.